The Nation July 16, 2014

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OSUN 2014 Nyanya blast ‘mastermind’ repatriated from Sudan

•APC raises alarm over threat to Aregbesola’s life •Expelled PDP members defect to APC •K1 attacked •Oyinlola: why I’m not campaigning for PDP • PAGE 9

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•Ogwuche

HE police recorded a major breakthrough yesterday in the battle against insurgents, with two arrests.

A Boko Haram suspected “chief butcher” was arrested in Bauchi State.

INTERPOL, also yesterday, repatriated the suspected mastermind of the April 14

•Police arrest Boko Haram kingpin •Sect ‘kills 2,053 civilians in six months’ From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

Nyanyan, Abuja bus station bombing from Sudan where he allegedly fled after the blast which killed no fewer than 71 people.

Police spokesman Frank Mba said Ogwuche was hand-

ed over to the Interpol Unit by the Sudanese authorities.

Mba added that the suspect was flown into the country on a special flight from Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.

The plane landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at

3.00pm.

The statement said: “Following the conclusion of tortuous legal and diplomatic processes between Nigeria and the Republic of Sudan, the co-mastermind of the Nyanya Motor Park bombing in which scores of citizens

died and hundreds wounded, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, was Tuesday, 15th July, 2014 extradited to the country from Sudan where he had taken refuge.

“It will be recalled that the terror fugitive who had Continued on page 4

•INSIDE: HOW PDP-LED FEDERAL GOVT GAINS FROM BOKO HARAM, BY APC P1 6 P16

Nyako vows to fight his impeachment in court Speaker sworn in as acting governor Governors, Saraki, Atiku, Balarabe, condemn action

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From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

A

N acting governor mounted the saddle yesterday in Adamawa State after Governor Murtala Nyako’s controversial impeachment.

Speaker Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri took the oath of office in Yola, the state capital, at a hurriedly organised ceremony witnessed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains.

Lawmakers impeached Nyako shortly after the “hawks” in the ruling PDP forced Deputy Governor Bala Ngilari to resign.

There were plans to arrest Nyako, who was said to have left Yola late Monday.

After deliberating on the report of the Investigative Panel headed by Buba Kaigama, 18 of the 25 members of the Assembly opted to remove Nyako.

The Assembly actually needed the consent of 17 members to remove the governor.

Continued on page 4

?

INSIDE

•How he was removed •Uncertain days ahead •A governor’s travails WHERE ARE •Failed rescue efforts THE CHIBOK •Jonathan begins GIRLS ‘gunboat democracy’ KIDNAPPED ON APRIL 15? •AND MORE ON PAGES 2-5

•Nyako

They have done their worst; they can’t go beyond this. But there is divine justice waiting for all in the end. Can anyone run away from divine justice?...Sometimes, Allah chooses the most difficult path to take power but at the end of the day a pleasant era will come.

“Allah’s will has been done but we are challenging the process in the court

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•EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT HITS $4.05B P53 •SHOT ABIA COMMISSIONER IS DEAD P9

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

2

NEWS NYAKO’S IMPEACHMENT

Jonathan News Analysis

T •The retiring Head of Service of Oyo State, Alhaji Tajudeen Aremu (centre) flanked by the Deputy Governor, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo (right), the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Ismail Olalekan Alli (left) and some commissioners shortly after a valedictory State Executive Council meeting held for Alhaji Aremu at the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor's Office, Ibadan...yesterday.

•From left: Comedian T. A; Project Fame presenter, Joseph Benjamin; General Manager, Consumer Operation, MTN, Kola Oyeyemi, and CEO Brilla FM, Larry Izamoge during 'Readers R Leaders' Destiny Walk Campaign in Lagos.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

•Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga (left),being welcomed by the Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa during the inauguration of the Board of Directors of the bank in Abuja...yesterday. With them is Chairman of the Board, Mr Abdulsamad Rabiu.

PHOTO: NAN

•Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Mrs. Adenike Animashahun (left) speaking at the graduation ceremony of students at Oracle Workforce Development programme, a Lagos State government Initiative at the Digital Village, Alausa, Lagos...yesterday. With her are Lagos State Head of Service, Mrs. Oluseyi Williams (second left), Chairman, Lagos State Civil Service Commission, Olujobi Oshosanya and Oracle Public Sector Manager, Ihuoma Okoroafor (right).

PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL.

HE hasty impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, a ferocious critic of the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, presents Nigerians a terrible dilemma.

On the one hand is the fact that some of the governors, including those who are candidates for impeachment, are difficult to defend on account of the misrule alleged against them by the electorate through their lawmakers.

On the other hand is the fact that Nigerians also know that the Goodluck Jonathan presidency is believed to be covertly manipulating the impeachment processes for malevolent political ends. If the Fourth Republic is not to be endangered, the electorate and their legislators will have to do a delicate balancing act to separate reality from illusion, and distil truth from falsehood. The outcome is, however, by no means certain.

Governor Nyako, who defected to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) with four other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors last year, was impeached yesterday in a process that lasted barely one week. It is feared in opposition ranks that his impeachment presages similar plans deliberately aimed at a number of vulnerable APC states, including Nasarawa – which is ongoing – Rivers, Edo and Kano, among others. The impeachment drive is presented to the unwary public either as punishment for executive malfeasances or strictly local politics in which the presidency has no hand, but only passing and amusing interest.

To the wary, however, the reality is much more troubling. Not only is the impeachment weapon emblematic of brute presidential power to whip erring governors into line, especially if they are vulnerable, they are also part of an overall strategy to secure re-election for Dr Jonathan. In order to guarantee a second term, the president’s strategists estimate that a few APC states, especially those previously under PDP control, will have to be reclaimed before the next general elections, and if possible, before he throws his hat into the ring a second time. A previously quiescent Nasarawa State, with a legislature controlled by the PDP, has begun the process of impeaching its governor. Like Adamawa’s Governor Nyako, who was removed post-haste in spite of his aides enacting a series of fancy but tortuous footwork, Governor Tanko Al-Makura of the APC is not expected to survive the ordeal.

Other than through impeachment, there is no other way the president and the ruling party can achieve favourable political dynamics for the 2015 polls, for they are tarred with the same brush as the governors they seek to unhorse. Were Adamawa and Nasarawa to be left in the hands of the APC, especially in the face of the superior electoral votes the APC potentially retained until last week, party strategists calculate that Dr Jonathan would face an uphill task in securing a second term in office. With Adamawa gone, and Nasarawa expected to follow, amidst the domino effect of a few other opposition states falling into the PDP column, the president’s re-election chances are believed to be much brighter than they were until last week.

More importantly, after having suffered a number of reverses in the past one year, among which were the defections of five governors and scores of national lawmakers, the ruling party may have finally determined that the president must bare his fangs bru-

Nyako addressing a crowd of supporters during a solidarity rally in Yola on Saturday.

PHOTO: NAN

By Adekunle Ade-Adeleye tally and ruthlessly in order to make electorally safe states even much safer for him, and unsafe states to suffer acute trepidation. If he couldn’t attract defectors, his strategists reason, he must at least not tolerate deserters or let them off lightly. All options were put on the table, not minding whether they were extralegal or unconstitutional measures. In their calculations, they banked on the indifference of voters, their ignorance, and to some extent, their cowardice. So far, the Jonathan presidency and the PDP have not been disappointed.

The Nigerian presidency is one of the most powerful in the world, suffused as it is with wide-ranging powers and domineering excesses. This is not simply because of constitutional provisions that nourish the president’s appetite to deploy power tyrannically, but also because of other cultural factors that manifest principally in traditional subservience to authority. Since institutions here are either weak or susceptible to inducement, presidential powers, much more than what the constitution envisages, become even more pronounced and counterproductive.

It is not clear beyond speculations just how many states the president and his party intend to undermine, though nearly all the states suffer from either incompetent executives or misrule. But if the opposition required to check them is not urgently mustered, there may be no end to the subversion of opposition states until the country falls under the iron grip of the president. The moment Ekiti State was won by the PDP in the June poll, the party’s frenzied plan to rein in other states switched into high gear. Unfortunately, the electorate, elite, media and even civil society organisations largely appear to believe that the problem is essentially that of the opposition, especially the APC, to tackle. This is not only short-sighted; it is criminal negligence.

It is time the electorate began to ask questions about the pattern of impeachment obviously orchestrated by the Jonathan presidency. In spite of the noticeable shortcomings in the administration of Adamawa State, the impeachment processes activated in that state and Nasarawa are not quite the local affair the PDP has tried to paint them. The motives of impeachment, which are designed to create favourable dynamics for the PDP in those states and many other states in next year’s polls, show a cynical disregard for the constitution and due process. If you must impeach, by all means do it decently and procedurally in order to lay a good precedent for future governments. More porten-

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

3

NYAKO’S IMPEACHMENT

begins ‘gunboat democracy’

Security operatives at the main entrance of the Adamawa House of Assembly shortly before Nyako’s impeachment...yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

F

And Atiku failed to save the Admiral

ORMER Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, an indigene of Adamawa State, tried to help Governor Murtala Nyako from being impeached by the State Assembly dominated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But, his efforts yielded no result.

Atiku, like Nyako, defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the mega party which came into being through the fusion of some opposition parties. Members of the PDP that were opposed to the dictatorial tendency of the PDP leadership staged a walk-out of the party’s national convention held at the Eagle Square, Abuja, last year. The aggrieved members, led by Atiku and five governors, later regrouped and announced the formation of a splinter group christened “new PDP”. Most of the members have found refuge in APC .

Both Atiku and Nyako became political tously, the continuing subversion of a few more opposition states both endangers democracy and lays the groundwork for totalitarianism.

Since he became president, Dr Jonathan has himself enacted a string of unconstitutional and impeachable offences. He has subverted the judiciary, muzzled the press, albeit briefly, perhaps as dress rehearsal for 2015, inducted security agencies into partisanship, serially violated the constitution, propped up and canonised miscreants as a counterpoise to existing authorities in states, and generally constituted himself and his presidency as the most divisive in the nations’ history. But in spite of these flagrant violations, the people have indulgently overlooked the infractions of his government and glossed over his abuse and misuse of power.

Considering how indifferent Nigerians are to the Jonathan government’s loathing for constitutionality, they may wake up one morning, like Germans did in the 1930s, to discover that the democracy they fought for under the military has either disappeared or has been seriously abridged and distorted. A culture of brazenness and arbitrariness is already taking root.

And that culture is fed by the undignified and petty squabbles among the political elite. Political parties can have ideological and policy differences, and can punish erring executives and other officials of government. But to mask personal hatred for opposition parties and their leaders under partisanship, while also encouraging unlawful use of power, will doom democracy, enthrone dictatorship, and may also bring many of Dr Jonathan’s supporters, if not the president himself, to ruin.

The French reign of terror should in-

By Leke Salaudeen

allies, strategising for the success and acceptability of the APC in Adamawa State.

The first step taken by the Abuja forces in perfecting the plan to unseat Nyako was to get the nine legislators loyal to Nyako defect back to the PDP. So, Adamawa House of Assembly became a one-party legislature.

When it became obvious that the state legislators were willing to act Abuja’s script on removal of Nyako from office, Atiku made moves to abort the plan. He and former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Malam Nuhu Ribadu and other leaders of APC held several meetings with the nine legislators, pleading with them not to support the planned impeachment of Nyako. .

It was also learnt that Atiku, who holds the traditional title of Turaki Adamawa, used his connection with the traditional institution to rally support for the embattled governor.

In spite of these efforts, Atiku failed to save Nyako who was impeached yesterday by members of the House of Assembly.

The question being asked by analysts is whether Atiku still wields political influence in Adamawa State. They argued last night that being a politician who won governorship election in 1999 before he was appointed vice-president, he could have saved Nyako, if he is still relevant politically in the state. Party affiliation apart, analysts contend that a political leader of Atiku’s stature should be able to prevail on the legislators to drop the impeachment plan.

But a banker from Adamawa State, Adnan

‘

Since he became president, Dr Jonathan has himself enacted a string of unconstitutional and impeachable offences. He has subverted the judiciary, muzzled the press, albeit briefly, perhaps as dress rehearsal for 2015, inducted security agencies into partisanship, serially violated the constitution, propped up and canonised miscreants as a counterpoise to existing authorities in states, and generally constituted himself and his presidency as the most divisive in the nations’ history

‘

struct those willing to learn from history. For there is always no guarantee that the proponent of terror today will not end up as victim tomorrow, or that those who remain silent today will have anyone speaking up for them tomorrow.

Voters can of course theoretically punish the president and the PDP in 2015 no matter what the latter do to demean the constitution and secure a second term, but there is neither firm indication nor proof that any such punishment would be carried out or be contemplated. More worrisomely, there is no proof that whatever anyone does now would cause the president to moderate his overenthusiastic use of power. The clear fact is that going by the president’s wilful subver-

sion of the constitution, there is nothing to suggest that either he or his party has lofty notions of what democracy is all about, nor a vision of where the country should be or aspire to be now or in the future. Yet, the country cannot afford to succumb to fatalism.

Even if the country is unable to grasp the dangers ahead of it, partly because of ignorance and docility, the opposition must take on the onerous responsibility of defending and promoting Nigerian democracy.

But to do that, the opposition must itself be above suspicion. Indeed, it is precisely in the worst of times that the opposition can best flourish. They can anchor their campaign for political rectitude on two fundamental grounds. First, since Nigerians cher-

Awwalu, said Atiku is still a factor in Adamawa politics. He said the impeachment of Nyako was beyond local politics.

According to him, President Goodluck Jonathan was bent on removing Nyako because he was seen as a thorn in the flesh.

The Nyako episode, he said, rekindled political rivalry between Atiku and the PDP chieftains in Adamawa State. Awwalu said the likes of the former Chairman of the PDP Alhaji Bamanga Tukur former Political Adviser to the President Ahmed Gulak and Senator Jibril Aminu are from Adamawa State. He said they would go to any length to undermine the efforts of Atiku and APC leaders. These people relocated to Abuja to devise counter strategies to whatever Atiku and the APC were doing to save Nyako, he said.

ish their democracy, with all its imperfections, the opposition can show the Jonathan government in its worst colours as an oppressive and incompetent government determined to doom the Fourth Republic. The Jonathan government can be shown as cynical haters of the constitution for the countless number of constitutional provisions it has broken. It can be painted as abusers of institutions for its manipulation of the judiciary and loathing for press freedom. And it can be denounced for its brinkmanship in re-introducing the military into politics, an institution just slowly emerging from the rancour and divisiveness that manifested in its ranks under military rule. A sustained campaign using examples from history, including the First Republic, should help to discourage further abuse and vote into office a party that respects, defends and promotes the constitution.

Second, the Jonathan government is vulnerable in policy formulation and execution. Given the parlous state of the economy, the worsening human development indices and the state of social and cultural decay, it is not surprising that the Jonathan presidency has sought to atone for its shortcomings by a most disingenuous and ruthless use of extra-constitutional measures. It is precisely at this point that the opposition can best mobilise the electorate by deploying persuasive and credible information about the harm the ruling party in all of its about 16 years in office has inflicted on everyone. More importantly, the opposition should draw the attention of the public to the fact that the Jonathan presidency is reluctant to campaign on programmes or achieve-

ments, but relies on the brutal manipulation of political forces and dynamics in many states, and the use of divisive ethnic (minority v. majority) and religious politics.

Crucially, the opposition must paint a vivid picture of what four more years of Dr Jonathan would mean for democracy, societal cohesion and security, economic progress, and religious harmony. There is no question what great harm the Jonathan government is doing to democracy and good governance, especially the impeachment processes it appears to be inspiring for ulterior reasons. However, the greatest challenge the opposition will face in seeking redress is how to clean up its own politics and methods. It welcomed all-comers to its fold during the giddy months of defections, some of them already liabilities to their constituencies; how then does it summon the puritanical zeal to present itself as champions of the new politics the country desires so badly? In other words, the opposition must repackage itself before it can sell itself and programmes to an electorate already alienated from and tormented by the Jonathan government.

It is, indeed, at this point the electorate must wade in strongly to help set the right priorities for their leaders and the led alike. The agonising option they must contend with is whether to ignore the rampage inspired by Dr Jonathan, his gunboat democracy, because his victims have a sullied past; or to compel him to justly use his powers as well as honour the oath he took to defend and protect the constitution. That oath is obviously not being kept, thereby making him not only a hater of democracy as a whole, but a promoter of instability.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

Nyanya blast ‘mastermind’ repatriated from Sudan

Speaker sworn in as acting governor in Nyako’s office

Continued from page 1

long since been arrested in Sudan following an international red notice issued for his arrest by the Nigeria National Bureau of Interpol, had not been repatriated to the country before now due to some necessary processes involved in transferring suspects from one country to another.

“Meanwhile, the InspectorGeneral of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, while commending the personnel of the Nigeria Police Interpol Unit

From Barnabas Manyam, Yola

S

PEAKER Ahmadu Fintiri was sworn in yesterday as Acting Governor of Adamawa State shortly after Governor Murtala Nyako was impeached.

Former Ag. Chief Judge Justice Ambrose Mammadi, whose tenure had expired, administered the oath on him amidst tight security at the Government House.

Speaking after the ceremony, Fintiri, who moved into the Governor’s Office, said he would probe the Nyako administration.

Fintiri promised to order all the 21 Local Government Chairmen and councilors to move to the PDP immediately.

Continued on page 59

Nigeria: Boko Haram kills 2,053 civilians in six months •Justice Mammadi (left), administering oath of office on acting Governor Fintiri at the Government House in Yola…yesterday.

Many dignitaries from the National Working Committee of the PDP witnessed the

ceremony.

State Chairman of the PDP Chief Joel Madaki, urged Fin-

tiri “to sweep clean” the activities of the former governor.

Nyako recommended Umaru for deputy before removal

I

MPEACHED Governor Murtala Nyako remained defiant till the end yesterday. He appointed Hon. Adamu Kamale as deputy governor.

Nyako wrote the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Ahmadu Umaru before the Assembly removed him from office.

The letter was in response to Nyako’s former Deputy Governor Bala Ngilari’s resignation.

Dated 15, July, 2014, the letter notified the Speaker as follows: “Pursuant to Section 191(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the powers vested in me as Governor of Adamawa State, I hereby nominate Honourable Adamu Kamale as my Deputy Governor to replace Hon. Bala Ngilari who resigned this morning (Tuesday’s).

“Please accept the assurances of my highest regards and esteem.”

Ngilari resigned to stave off impeachment.

In his July 15, 2014 letter ref-

for a job well done, noted that the successful repatriation of the terror fugitive to Nigeria shows that the global coalition against terrorism championed

by Nigeria is beginning to yield the desired result.”

Mba, also yesterday, said the police arrested Boko Haram “chief butcher” Mohammed Zakari, on Darazo-Baasrika road in Bauchi State.

The 30-year-old suspect was arrested on Saturday while fleeing security bombardment

T

HE Islamist insurgency Boko Haram in Nigeria killed no fewer 2,053 civilians in an estimated 95 attacks during the first half of 2014.

The figures are based on detailed analyses of media reports as well as field investigations.

The killings and other abuses were part of widespread attacks on civilians in over 70 towns and villages in northeastern Nigeria, in the federal capital, Abuja, and elsewhere that are apparent crimes against humanity.

There has been a dramatic increase during 2014 in the numbers of casualties from bomb

blasts, including several apparent suicide bombings.

Since January, at least 432 people have been reported killed in 14 blasts in crowded marketplaces, a brothel, a technical college, and, on two occasions, places where people were watching soccer matches.

Three of these attacks were in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital; two in Kano; two in Jos, the Plateau state capital; and three in Abuja, the federal capital.

The Abuja attacks may demonstrate a southward trend of Boko Haram operations, HuContinued on page 59

How governor was impeached

G •The letters From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

erenced as DGO/GHY/PER/ 60/75, Ngilari said: “Pursuant to Section 306(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended), I

kindly notify you of my resignation from the office of the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State forthwith on personal grounds.

“I want to thank you immensely for the opportunity to

serve Adamawa State and wish you and the good people of the state well in the remaining period of your administration.”

Nyako’s security aides were withdrawn at about 1pm shortContinued on page 59

OVERNOR Murtala Nyako was impeached during an extraordinary session of the House held at the Assembly chambers.

The session reviewed the report of the seven-man panel which investigated allegations of misconduct against the governor.

Sixteen of the allegations levelled against the governor were upheld by the panel.

Speaker Ahmadu Fintiri called for a motion for the adoption of Deputy Governor Bala James Ngilari’s resignation letter.

After looking at the panel’s report, the members representing Gombi and Numan

From Barnabas Manyam, Yola

constituencies, Jerry Kumdisi and Kwamoti Laori, moved the motion for Nyako’s impeachment. Eighteen lawmakers signed. One of the signatories, Ishaq Bala, was absent.

The House passed a resolution directing the acting chief judge to swear in the speaker as the acting governor immediately.

The House said this is in pursuant to Section 191 (1) and (2) of the constitution.

Before the impeachment, soldiers and other security forces rode in armoured tanks on Yola streets. There was tension. Streets were barricaded.

Defiant Nyako vows to fight his impeachment in court ‘My impeachment is illegal’

Continued from page 1

Shortly after the impeachment, the Assembly wrote the acting Chief Judge of the state to inaugurate Speaker Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri as the acting governor.

The letter, signed by the Clerk of the House, Francis Gbanisenso, reads: “The Honourable House during its sitting on Tuesday, 15th July 2014 resolved and directed you to swear in the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri as the Acting Governor of Adamawa State today 15th day of July 2014.

“This is in pursuant to Section 191(1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(As Amended).”

According to sources, PDP leaders in the state opted for “arm-twisting” when they discovered that they could not initially secure the majority to remove Nyako.

But to push the impeachment proceeding through, the “hawks” prevailed on Ngilari to resign.

A source said: “The resignation of Ngilari was the joker which was used to convince pro-Nyako lawmakers that the game was up.

“Those against Nyako que-

S

ACKED Adamawa StateGovernor Murtala Nyako has described his impeachment by the House of Assembly as illegal.

He vowed yesterday to challenge the process in court to reclaim his mandate.

Nyako, who spoke through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Ahmad Sajoh, said divine justice would soon be done.

He said: “Everything they have done is illegal. They have contravened the Constitution; they have violated court order.

Their motto is that if they don’t subdue, they will destroy.

“They have done their worst, they can’t go beyond this. But there is divine justice waiting for all in the end. Can anyone run away from divine justice?

“They have done it. We are people of faith. Without the leave of Allah, they can-

ried the rationale of leaving the governor untouched when the deputy has quit.

“The game-plan is to compensate Ngilari with a juicy appointment.”

Ngilari wrote: “Pursuant to Section 306(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended), I kindly notify you of my resignation from the office of the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State forthwith on personal grounds.

“I want to thank you immensely for the opportunity

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

not do it. Sometimes, Allah gives and takes power. Sometimes, Allah chooses the most difficult path to take power but at the end of the day a pleasant era will come.

“Allah’s will has been done but we are challenging the process in the court. This is not only for the sake of reclaiming the mandate but for the sake of posterity.”

Earlier, in a statement, the former administration said it was wrong for the House of Assembly to consider the resignation letter of former Deputy Governor Bala Ngilari.

The statement said: “Our attention has been drawn to the purported resignation of the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Barr. Bala James Ngillari, which was supposedly read on the floor of the State

to serve Adamawa State and wish you and the good people of the state well in the remaining period of your administration.”

It was gathered that to intimidate the Assembly members, those against Nyako in the Presidency mobilised troops, policemen and security agents to Yola.

The National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Northeast, Mr. Babachir David Lawal, described Nyako’s impeachment as “illegal”.

House of Assembly “We wish to state categorically that Section 306 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as Amended requires that the deputy governor resigns not to the House of Assembly but to the governor.

“As at the time the supposed resignation was said to have been tendered in the House, Murtala H. Nyako was the Governor of Adamawa State.

“This clarification is necessary to avert another subversion of the Constitution since the other processes relating to the impeachment saga have all been in contravention of the Constitution and the Law. “We wish to observe that continued abuse of the constitution and the laws of the land may spell doom for our democracy.”

Lawal said: “The whole process was characterized by a litany of illegalities. The constitution requires a direct service of impeachment notice on the governor and this was not done by the House of Assembly. The Assembly opted for substituted service but the Supreme Court has ruled that such a notice must be personally served.

“But we know we are dealing with people who have no respect for law; we are dealing with members of the House of Assembly who have

no respect for the constitution they have sworn to obey.

“They are doing this because they have the assurances of their sponsors in Abuja that whatever illegalities they committed, they would assist them to sustain it.”

The Assembly raised a seven-man panel to probe Nyako and Ngilari.

Members of the panel, led

by Buba Kaigama (Mubi Northern Zone), were Laraba Hassan (Michika Northern Zone), Njidda Kito (Song Central Zone), Joshua Abu (Hong

Central Zone), Binanu Esthon (Guyuk Southern Zone), Sa’ad Lawan (Mayo-Belwa Southern Zone) and Esthon Gapsiso (Genye Southern Zone) The provision for the removal of a governor and his deputy is contained in Section 188 (1-11) of the 1999 Constitution.

The section states: “A motion of the House of Assembly that the allegation be investigated shall not be declared as having been passed unless it is supported by the votes of not less than twothirds majority of all the members of the House of Assembly.

“Within seven days of the passing of a motion under the foregoing provisions of this section, the Chief Judge of the State shall at the request of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, appoint a Panel of seven persons who in his opinion are of unquestionable integrity, not being members of any public service, legislative house or political party, Continued on page 59

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

NEWS NYAKO’S IMPEACHMENT

Nyako’s travails… From genesis to revelation The impeachment of Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako underscores the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s agenda to emasculate the opposition party, ahead of next year’s general elections, writes Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU the notice on the wall of the Govern- went ahead to constitute the panel, al-

H

E had a premonition of the tragedy. Yet, the governor could not avert it. The handwriting was bold on the wall. But, little did he guess that the House of Assembly would complete the impeachment process with speed. After two weeks of anxiety in Adamawa State, the hammer fell on Governor Murtala Nyako yesterday. He was removed from office by 18 of the 25 members of the House of Assembly. The impeachment, according to observers, may have created a hollow in his political career.

But, his deputy, Bala Ngilari, a lawyer, was spared by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislators, which gave him a soft landing. Faced with options of impeachment and resignation, he swiftly embraced the latter to avoid disgrace.

Since he defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nyako has been in the eyes of the storm. His foes have been plotting his downfall. Indeed, the forces against him were formidable. Apart from the legislators, prominent politicians who supported the plot include the former PDP National Chairman Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, his son, Awwal, former Lagos State military Governor Buba Marwa, former Education Minister Senator Jibril Aminu, former Adawawa State Governor Boni Haruna, former Minister of State for Health Dr. Idi Song, former presidential Political Adviser Ahmed Gulag, PDP elder Joel Madaki and governorship aspirant Makus Gundiri.

The motivation, said a source, was provided by the Presidency. The aggrieved PDP leaders were united against Nyako’s continuity in office for two reasons. The first is to weaken the APC and decimate its Governors’ Forum. Nyako is a vocal member of this forum that has given President Goodluck Jonathan sleepless nights. The second is to punish him for his shift of political allegiance. When the lawmakers issued an impeachment notice, it was evident that they were acting the scripts written in Abuja. The impeached governor’s ordeal may not be over. Outside office, he may become a victim of witch-hunting. The new governor may beam a searchlight on his administration and push for his prosecution.

Nyako clearly understood his plight, limitationS and threat to his political career. He is a retired soldier, former military governor and member of the highest ruling class under the military rule. He is conversant with the grammar of military politics. But, the impeachment battle under the civilian regime is a different ball game. It is not a conventional war which a General like him is not prepared for. In a battle of this nature, the weapons of war include the federal might, the militarisation of the impeachment process, massive funding for the plot and the numerical supremacy in the House of Assembly.

Even, an opposition governor, who is endowed with exemplary negotiation skills, persuasive talents and power of political inducement, would still have a slim chance of survival. Thus, a political solution was foreclosed.

For the septuagenarian politician, the last two years have been turbulent. Nyako has been battling with the insurgency by the members of the Boko Haram. In the Northeast state, a state of emergency has been declared. On two occasions, the former governor escaped being killed by the sect members. Few months ago, he forwarded a letter to the Northern Governors Forum, alleging that the Federal Government adopted a wrong strategy in tackling the insecurity. Stressing that the military was incompetent to han-

dle the crisis, Nyako said soldiers relied on obsolete and inadequate weapons. He also complained that a fullfledged genocide was being committed against the Northern Nigeria in the name of fighting insurgency. He alleged that ill-trained soldiers were drafted to curb the menace. ‘‘They are being poorly trained, totally illequipped, given only uniform and are killed by their trainers in Nigerian Army training centres as soon as they arrive in the Nigerian Army camps being used by the so-called Boko Haram insurgents.

“Virtually all the Nigerian soldiers killed or murdered in these operations so far are of Northern Nigeria origin.

The administration has also hired militia men from across the continent, especially North Africa, who have been deceived into accepting to come because they were made to believe that they would be fighting infidels,” he added.

The letter may have been misunderstood by Jonathan. According to sources, the President, who was infuriated by the tone of the letter, complained that Nyako had refused to withdraw the memo or apologise. But, the governor insisted that he would not compromise the security of Adamawa State.

To observers, Nyako’s nightmare started when he lost grip on the House of Assembly. When he defected to the APC, the legislators did not defect with him. During the impeachment saga, the odds were against him. Of the 25 legislators, 20 insisted that he should vacate office. Following his defection, relations between the executive and legislature became frosty. When cracks appeared on the wall, the stage was set for the inducement of the legislators by the governor’s detractors.

As the impeachment drama was unfolding, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) froze Adamawa State bank accounts. Instantly, the administration was crippled.

The House met and drafted the impeachment notice. Many allegations were raised and the burden of proof was on the embattled governor. According to the notice, Nyako was expected to defend 20 charges of gross misconduct. He was accused of abuse of office, misuse of public funds and personalisation of power. In addition, there were allegations of squandering N1 billion Scholarship Trust Fund and the abuse of the law by appointing his wife, Dr. Halima, as the Chairman of the Adamawa State Action Committee on AIDS. Some officials of his administration were also accused of looting. The legislators explained that some of the impeachable offences were committed by Nyako three years ago.

To save the governor from the looming disaster, some Adamawa opinion leaders attempted to broker peace between him and the House. But, the conditions for truce were stringent. The House led by Speaker Umaru Fintiri demanded that Nyako should render accounts. It accused the government of illegal deductions from the allowances of the civil servants totaling N142 million. Nyako was asked to submit bank statements showing income and expenditure and pay the withheld salaries of teachers who had embarked on strike.

Asked why it took the House three years to beam a searchlight on the administration, a legislator, Adanu Kamale, said time factor was a non-issue.

Nyako’s real offence was his defection from the PDP. But, the lawmakers also had another axe to grind with him.

He had come under attack for not inaugurating the chairmen and secretaries of 37 Development Areas Authorities (DAA). Many of them were nomi-

•Nyako

nated by the lawmakers. When he sought to appease them with their inauguration last week, it was too late.

Also, last week, Nyako, said a source, was offered the option of resignation.

But, he rejected it, saying that the impeachment plot lacked basis.

Moving the motion for the impeachment, the Deputy Speaker, Kwamoti Laori, said the House relied on Section 188, sub-section 3 and 4 of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulate that the process can proceed after a 14-day notice.

It was seconded by Hon. Umar Abdulkareem.

“We have satisfied the two-thirds majority, with 20 out of 25 members, which empowers the House of Assembly to call on the Chief Judge to constitute an investigation panel,” Laori said.

However, when the Clerk of the Assembly showed up at the Government House to serve the impeachment notice on Nyako, he was not around. For two days, efforts to deliver the letter was abortive. The Clerk later pasted

ment House.

To save his career, Nyako approached the temple of justice. The former Acting Chief Judge, Justice A.D. Mammadi, granted his prayer for an order of interim injunction restraining the House from taking any further action on the impeachment. But, four days later, the jurist, whose tenure was about to expire, approved the plot by swearing in members of the impeachment panel. The seven-man committee was chaired by Alhaji Baba Kaigama.

Nyako and Ngilari shunned the panel, claiming that it was not properly constituted. They neither sent their aides nor counsel to represent them.

Two issues were raised by the governor. He said the panel was not inaugurated by the Chief Judge because the Acting Chief Judge who set it up had to retire immediately. Also, the impeachment notice was not served on the governor. It was pasted on the wall of the state secretariat. Thus, the governor’s aide, Peter Elisha, submitted that the procedure is wrong. “The panel was not properly set up. It was not properly constituted. It was not inaugurated,” he said.

The APC Publicity Secretary in Adamawa State, Phineas Padio, was in the same frame of mind. Faulting the process, he said it violated the law. Padio pointed out that it was strange that the acting chief judge, who highlighted the guidelines for the impeachment, later set up the panel when it was clear that the procedure had been breached. He also said the method used by the lawmakers to serve the impeachment notice on the governor and his deputy was unconstitutional. “The acting chief judge had ruled that the notice of impeachment must be served through personal means. He even quoted a Supreme Court ruling that said it could not be served through the pages of newspapers as the House did. Yet, he

though the notice was not properly served,” he fumed.

Nyako’s spokesman, Ahmed Sajoh, defended the refusal of his boss to appear before the committee. He said: “It is an illegal body, which has no basis in law.” Sajoh said that the House should have served the notice directly, instead of pasting it. “They are supposed to serve it. Besides, the panel was illegally constituted because those behind it ignored a subsisting court order. The composition of the committee itself is faulty. Card-carrying members of the Peoples Democratic Party are among the panelists,” he added.

Efforts by non-partisan Adamawa leaders to save Nyako also hit the rock.

Pleas by traditional rulers led by the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Mohammed Musdafa to the lawmakers to have a change of heart fell on deaf ears.

The Council of Pastors led by Rev. Victor Ordinan also offered to broker reconciliation, but without success. Prominent PDP chieftains were monitoring the 20 legislators. A member of the PDP Elders and Stakeholders’ Forum, Dr. Umar Ado, warned the legislators against backing out. He described the impeachment as a party assignment, stressing that only the PDP has the power to discontinue it. Although sources also said some retired Generals requested the President to intervene in the crisis, he refused to assist his political foe and ardent critic.

At the weekend, the investigative panel hurriedly concluded its assignment on a controversial note after sitting for two days. As the panel was writing its pre-determined report, Nyako was receiving supporters on solidarity visit.

Yesterday, the hammer fell on the governor. Before the impeachment, a source said he had packed out of the Government House.

The question now is: What next after the impeachment?

For ex-Adamawa governor, uncertain era beckons

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T last, the axe that had dangled on embattled Governor Murtala Nyako for weeks finally fell on him. With 18 votes of 25, he was impeached by the Adamawa State House of Assembly, dominated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, thus abruptly ending his reign ten months before the expiration of his second term. He is of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), having dumped the PDP last year along with four other governors elected in 2007 on the PDP ticket.

After deliberating on the report of a 7-man investigative panel that probed allegations of financial impropriety against him and his deputy, Bala Ngilari, the Assembly moved against Nyako, putting a stop to weeks of uncertainty that enveloped the state as a result of high-wired political intrigues that pitted the two parties against each other. The panel that investigated the two former helmsmen submitted its report to the House on Monday, though the duo shunned the panel. The speaker of the House, Umaru Fintiri, speaker, led the plenary that axed the former governor yesterday.

Unlike Ngilari, who resigned from office to avoid being impeached, Nyako, a former naval chief, braved the odds throughout his travails with the state lawmakers. Instead of throwing in the towel to avoid impeachment, he stood his ground till the end like a soldier that he is. But he did not watch with arms akimbo as his traducers dug his political grave. While the plot against him was being hatched, he approached the court to stop the onslaught.

On July 3, an Adamawa State High Court, presided over by the Acting Chief Judge, Justice Ambrose Mamadi, dismissed Nyako’s application to restrain the Assembly from proceeding on his impeachment process. Delivering the ruling, Mamadi said no breach of Section 188 (1-9) of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended was committed by the Assembly.

Curiously, the same court had earlier granted an interim injunction on June 26, restraining the Assembly from proceeding with the impeachment process against the governor. The injunction only lasted till July 2. It was the same acting chief judge that the Assembly asked to set up the panel that nailed Nyako.

By Adekunle Yusuf, Assistant Editor

But the impeached governor does not seem to be a stranger to political upheavals, especially the type that can rock the boat. In February 2008, shortly after he was elected in his first term of four years, the Election Petition Appeal Tribunal pronounced Nyako guilty of all the 16 allegations against his election. The Tribunal upheld nullification of his election, and the then House Speaker, James Barka, was sworn in as Acting Governor on 26 February 2008. He however bounced back after a fresh election was conducted, winning a landslide victory in all 21 Local Government Areas. Soon after he resumed on April 29, 2008, political intrigues resurfaced, as the House initiated moves to impeach him before he completed his tenure. It took the personal intervention of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua before the Assembly rescinded its decision.

Fortunately for him, the relationship blossomed again, so much that in March 2010, the Adamawa State House of Assembly passed a vote of confidence on Governor Nyako, calling him a “messiah” to the people of Adamawa State. It was on the crest of the popularity that he ran for a second term and was once again re-elected.

Now that he has been stripped of paraphernalia of power, Nyako has few options before him. Will he return to the PDP and use it as an umbrella to shield himself from the long arms of the law? Not a few rule out this option, given the way he exited the party and brickbats he has thrown against its bigwigs since then.

Not only did his dumping of his former party bruise the ego of the self-styled largest political party in Africa, Nyako later labeled President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency as incompetent. He also fired a sling at the presidency, accusing it in a letter to the Northern Governors’ Forum as the brain behind the insurgency ravaging the Northeast. Will Nyako then remain in the APC? That seems plausible for a man who refused to hearken to the hawks in the ruling PDP in order to save his face during his impeachment ordeals. There are strong indications that he may stay in the APC and ask for legal opinion on his removal which he has described as unfair.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY JULY 16, 2014

NEWS Alegeh wins NBA presidential election From Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

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SENIOR Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from the Benin branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Augustine Alegeh, emerged yesterday the association’s 27th president in the association’s election in Abuja.

He scored 691 votes to defeat four other candidates.

The NBA also elected other national leaders to pilot its affairs in the next two years.

Oladele Adeshina (SAN) was the runner-up with 370 votes; Mrs. Olufunke Adekoya (SAN) came third with 255 votes; Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) was fourth with 126 votes and Osas Erhabor polled 17 votes.

Former Abuja NBA Chairman, Afam Osigwe, was elected the National Secretary with 684 votes. He defeated Barth Okoye, who polled 118 votes; Steve Abar, with 401 votes and James Usman, 242 votes.

Alegeh succeeds Okey Wali (SAN) who, along with other national officers, are expected to hand over to the new officers on August 29 in Owerri, Imo State.

In his acceptance speech, after he was declared winner, Alegeh said Akintola had sent him a congratulatory message.

The lawyer promised to lift the association and sustain the legacy of his predecessors.

NBA’s Electoral Committee Chairman Okey Amechi (SAN) said four of the 13 newly elected national officers were returned unopposed. They include Taiwo Taiwo, the Second Vice-President; Adebisi Ayeni as Legal Adviser; Ochoga Attah, Financial Secretary and Ephraim Nwaeke, Second Assistant Secretary.

There were 1,482 accredited delegates from 1,729 registered delegates.

Francis Ekwere was elected First Vice-President with 771 votes. He defeated Umar Yakubu, who got 669 votes. Akintokunbo Oluwole was elected Third Vice-President with 685 votes. He defeated Muheeb Komolafe, who polled 430 votes, and Sunnie Orlando, 320 votes.

Mark seeks stronger public, private economic partnership From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

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ENATE President David Mark yesterday bemoaned the dwindling fortune of the economy and called for stronger public and private sectors participation to salvage the situation.

Mark spoke in Abuja when the executive members of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) visited him.

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, quoted Mark as saying such collaboration would bail the economy out of the woods.

Mark also requested the organised private sector (OPS) to participate in the policy initiation and formulation so that its implementation or execution would not be a challenge.

He said: “Good policies, no matter who initiated them, must be sustained by the succeeding administration, irrespective of different political affiliations.

“Tribe or religion must not affect the implementation of good policies.”

•Lagos State governorship aspirant, Senator Ganiyu Solomon (sixth left) with Federal lawmakers from the state, from left: Moruf Akinteru-Fatai, Solomon Adeola, James Faleke, Aliu Kazeem, Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, Jumoke Okoya-Thomas, Oluwatoyin Suarau, Lanre Odubote, Olukolu Tunji, Babajide Akinloye and Hakeem Muniru, during consultative meeting between Solomon and the lawmakers at National Assembly in Abuja...yesterday PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE

Chibok girls’ parents shun meeting with Jonathan

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HE meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and parents of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls at the instance of the Pakistani girl-child education campaigner, Malala Yousafzai, could not hold yesterday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

It was learnt that as the President was waiting for the parents at the Villa for the meeting by 4pm yesterday, he was told the parents would not attend the meeting. They had reportedly left Abuja earlier for Chibok, Borno State.

Addressing State House correspondents, the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe said the government cancelled the meeting on getting the information.

Okupe said Jonathan authorised a fresh invitation letter to be written to the parents for another meeting next week.

The presidential aide said the government’s rescue plan of the Chibok schoolgirls was being politicised by the opposition because of the 2015 elections.

Okupe said: “The meeting was scheduled for 4pm today (yesterday) at the instance of Malala, and the President graciously agreed within 24 hours to meet with them. Unfortunately, the ‘BringBackOurGirls’ leadership prevailed on the parents of the girls, stopped them from coming. Therefore, what happened was that they actually shunned the meeting with Mr. President. The foreign media and everybody was waiting for this meeting. Since they were no longer coming and they made it expressly clear that they were no longer coming, in fact, the girls were just few minutes away from Chibok, the meeting was aborted. It was aborted by the failure of the girls and the par-

•Tambuwal urges Govt to negotiate with Boko Haram •Dabiri-Erewa condemns blackmail of activists From Augustine Ehikioya, Victor Oluwasegun, Abuja and Miriam Ekene-Okoro

ents to show up. They actually shunned the meeting. The President was waiting, the National Security Adviser (NSA) was waiting, top government officials were waiting to receive them for a private consultation with the President, as promised.”

On whether or not the BringBackOurGirls was having the upper hand over the President, Okupe said: “It is not a matter of upper hand. It was the leadership of BringBackOurGirls that brought them to Abuja. That gave them some leverage. They accommodated them. It is obvious now that the BringBackOurGirls (campaigners) are interested in showmanship, not genuinely concerned about the plight of the children and their parents.

“That is what has become clinically clear by this action.

This is because if the parents of the girls travelled from Chibok to Abuja, why would it be impossible for them to meet with the President, who graciously agreed to give an appointment within less than 24 hours to meet with them?

“We are just coming from the President, and he authorised that an official letter be written to the parents, inviting them to formally to come and meet him and it is going to be sometime next week.”

In a statement, Okupe said Jonathan was displeased with his inability to see the Chibok girls’ parents.

It reads: “It now appears that our fight to get the girls of Chibok back is not only a fight against a terrorist insurgency but also against a political opposition.

“It is with great regret that I announce the cancellation of

the meeting with 12 parents of the abducted Chibok children as well as five of the brave girls who escaped from the terrorist organisation, the Boko Haram. I scheduled this meeting, which was to be open to the media for coverage by Nigerian and international press, to listen to their stories and to privately brief the parents and the girls on our efforts to rescue the abducted girls.

“My priority is not politics; my priority is the return of these girls. Unfortunately, political forces within the Nigerian chapter of BringBackOurGirls have decided to take this opportunity to play politics with the situation and the grief of the parents and the girls. They should be ashamed of their actions.

“Those who would manipulate the victims of terrorism for their own benefit are engaging in a similar kind of evil: psychological terrorism.

I want to be clear: this government stands in complete solidarity with the girls and their parents.

“We are doing everything in our power to bring back our girls. Despite the shameful and disgusting games being played by the Nigerian chapter of BringBackOurGirls, as a father of girls, I stand ready to meet with the parents of our abducted children and the truly brave girls who escaped this nightmare through the grace of God.” Also, House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal has urged the Federal Government to negotiate with Boko Haram insurgents to rescue the abducted schoolgirls.

Tambuwal spoke yesterday at the National Assembly during a visit of the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners, led by the former

Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ekwezeshili, in company of Mrs. Maryam Uwais and a former House of Representatives member, Dino Melaye.

The Speaker said it was imperative to bring back the abducted schoolgirls alive.

He said the Federal Government should not hesitate to negotiate, if this is the only option left.

Tambuwal said: “I have personally come out about two, three years in Kano to advocate for negotiations with Boko Haram. So many Nigerian leaders feel that we should not negotiate. I have maintained my position that we should negotiate. If negotiation is what will bring back the Chibok girls, for goodness sake, let’s negotiate and safe the children.

“After all, as I said somewhere else, Israel and Palestinians are still talking. As recently as last night, I read the news on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World Service that the United States (U.S) Secretary of State was on his way to Egypt. So, they can continue to talk about Israel and Palestinian conflict.

“Negotiation is not submission, it’s a strategy. So, let’s get these girls out. Then, if you want to confront them, you can go ahead and confront them head-on. But whatever we need to do we must do as a government to bring back these girls safely and alive.”

The Speaker urged the group not to relent in its campaign to ensure the safe return of the abducted schoolgirls.

He said through their activities, the world had been sensitised on their plight, adding that the House of Representatives and well-meaning Nigerians supported their activities.

Presidential Committee on Flood distributes materials today

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HE Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation will today distribute materials, including food and non-food items, to victims of insurgency and communal clashes in 10 states.

The states are: Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Benue, Kaduna, Katsina, Gombe, Nasarawa, Plateau and Yobe.

A statement yesterday in Abuja by the committee’s Media Officer, Dave Akoji, said the committee broke news of the distribution at a stakeholders’ meeting in Bauchi with the Executive Secretaries of the State Emergency Management Agencies from the 10 states.

It said representatives of Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Red Cross, the National Emergency Management Agency (UNICEF), the National Commission for Refugees

From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

and the National Orientation Agency were among the stakeholders at the meeting.

The statement also said the distribution will start today in Bauchi State and similar programmes in other affected states.

The statement quoted the committee’s chairman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as saying that even though the committee’s mandate did not cover material intervention for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from insurgency and communal clashes, the committee was moved by the plight of the IDPs to give them materials.

Dr Sani Lugga, the Wazirin Katsina, representing Alhaji Dangote, is expected to perform the grand opening of the distribution of the materials in Bauchi today.

Dr Ekwezeshili said 92 days had passed since the Chibok schoolgirls were abducted.

The former minister recalled that her group was at the National Assembly 72 days earlier to meet the leaders on the abduction saga.

She explained that contrary to the perception in government circles, the group was not against the government.

According to her, the group is determined to ensure that the abduction does not become a non-issue in the minds of Nigerians, like other attacks before it.

Mrs. Maryam Uwais, wife of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Muhammadu Uwais, said the government had given the group bad names for insisting that the innocent girls be rescued.

She noted that despite the state of emergency in the Northeast, the insurgents had stepped up attacks.

According to her, the increased spending on the military and other security forces had not led to any positive development.

Also yesterday, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, condemned attempt by the Federal Government to blackmail the BringBackOurGirls campaigners for making legitimate demands.

The lawmaker spoke at a valedictory service for the graduating pupils of the Queen’s College, Yaba.

This happened as a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, urged parents, students and teachers to intensify prayers for the release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

Dabiri-Erewa said some of the girls might have been abused and violated.

The lawmaker urged parents and students, irrespective of their ethno-religious lines, to join the BringBackOurGirls campaign.

She said: “We hope our girls will return safely one day. We should all earnestly pray for their divine protection and release.”

Dabiri-Erewa faulted the Federal Government for intimidating the campaigners.

She urged the groups across the federation not “to be intimidated”.

Dabiri-Erewa added: “The groups not succumb to blackmail.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY JULY 16, 2014

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NEWS EU gives •750m for Africa’s peace, security

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HE European Union (EU) has said it adopted an action programme that will provide •750 million to support peace and security in Africa.

The funding, which covers 2014-2016, will be channelled through the African Peace Facility (APF) to support the African Union (AU) and African sub-regional organisations in their peace and security efforts.

A statement yesterday in Abuja by the commission explained that “an initial •325 million will be committed for 2014 and funding will rapidly be made available to support ongoing peace operations”.

Andris Piebalgs, EU’s Commissioner for Development, said: “Since its creation in 2004, the African Peace Facility has had a direct and positive impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Africans who are affected by conflicts and crises. Today’s new and significant financial contribution demonstrates the EU’s continued commitment to

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

supporting Africa in its work for peace and security.

“The funding will allow us to extend the EU’s support that is essential for the success of ongoing African-led peace operations, such as the peace missions in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Central African Republic (MISCA) in the Central African Republic.

“The new action programme also introduces simplified and swifter decisionmaking procedures for extending or renewing support for peace operations or support to the APSA. “The APF is a central instrument for cooperation between Africa and the EU on peace and security. With today’s action programme, the APF will continue to support the following three main areas: African-led peace operations, the strengthening of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and quick impact actions aimed at conflict prevention and crisis management.”

‘Work place malaria test increases RECENT research has income by 10%’ shown that testing

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and treatment of malaria at work place increases workers’ income by 10 per cent.

It also showed that the trend increases labour supply and productivity.

A Professor of Public Health Parasitology at Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, Oladele Akogun, spoke at a presentation in Abuja on the research finding.

The research also showed that malaria treatment in the work place increases daily physical activity.

Besides, it showed that workers are willing to pay modest amounts for malaria insurance, though there is a variation in such willingness to pay among workers as the demand is price-sensitive.

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

Akogun noted that “the major finding is that you don’t need to wait until somebody is so sick as to say he can’t go to work the next day”.

He added: “We know this is a malaria-endemic country. Periodically, test your workers and treat them of malaria. You will see that the productivity will be one naira more on top of every N10, meaning 10 per cent.

“Our findings suggest that improved access to malaria testing and treatment has a substantial effect on labour supply and productivity of workers. This indicates that studies that do not take into account the productivity costs of malaria make substantial underestimates.”

Debts may cause power collapse

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HE Chairman of the Senate Committee on Privatisation, Gbenga Obadara, has said the Power sector may collapse, if the debts it is owed are not settled soon.

Obadara spoke in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, during the committee’s visit to the National Control Centre (NCC) of the Nigeria Electric Power Grid.

The senator noted that the present power generation is so low for the nation’s needs.

By Sina Fadare

He said the Senate was unhappy with the state of power supply, adding that it was taking steps to address the challege.

Obadara urged those responsible for power generation and transmission to ensure effective service delivery.

Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Executive Director Sahid Mohammed said the company could generate 7,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

Senate passes N271b FCT budget

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HE Senate passed yesterday N271 billion as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) budget for this fiscal year.

About N161,804,111,031 was earmarked for the capital expenditure and N109,238,434,881 for recurrent expenditure.

A breakdown of the recurrent expenditure showed that N60,03,490,023 is for overheads and N49,200,944,858 for personnel cost.

The approval of the budget

•NDDC, NCC Appropriation too From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

followed the Senate’s consideration of the report of its Committee on FCT. The capital expenditure is expected to take care of the expansion and rehabilitation of Airport and Kubwa Expressways and the provision of infrastructure in the districts, such as Jabi, Wuye, Maitama Extension and Abuja Northwest.

There is also a provision for the opening of new districts in

the FCT, such as Kyami, Mbora, among others.

The budget provides N2 billion for the construction and completion of various engineering infrastructure projects in the satellite towns.

The Senate also passed N52.5 billion and N322.6 billion as budgets of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The NDDC’s budget comprises N15.08 billion for personnel expenditure, N9.9 billion for overhead cost, N1.912 billion for Internal Capital expenditure and N295.63 billion for development projects.

The NCC’s budget comprises N14.8 billion recurrent expenditure, N15 billion capital projects, N3.4 billion special projects, N10.8 billion transfers to the Federal Government and N8.4 billion for Universal Service Provision Fund.

•From left: Minister of Culture and Tourism, Chief Edem Duke; President Goodluck Jonathan; Chairman, National Council on Heritage and Endowment for Arts, Igho Sanomi; Senator Daisy Danjuma; Chairman, Nkrah Marine Limited, Joseph Williams and Mrs. Chika Balogun, during the visit of the council’s visit to Jonathan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja...yesterday.

PHOTO:AKIN OLADOKUN

2015: Presidency, PDP plan to win in more states

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KWA Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio has said the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is planning to win in the states it lost to other parties during and after the 2011 elections.

The governor spoke yesterday in Abuja after a meeting of some PDP governors and House of Representatives members with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Akpabio, who chairs the PDP Governors’ Forum, addressed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting yesterday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The governor said PDP members in the House of Representatives passed a vote of confidence in Jonathan and endorsed him to run in next year’s Presidential election.

He said: “Then, after we moved into a further meeting with Mr. President and the PDP governors and members of the National Working Committee (NWC), led by the National Chairman of the party (Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu) , based on the fact that in the next few months, we shall be going into major primaries.

“So, we want to deepen in-

PDP Reps endorse Jonathan for 2015 From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

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EMBERS of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives yesterday endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan to run for the 2015 election.

But Speaker Aminu Tambuwal was absent at the meeting.

Addressing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja after the meeting with the President, House Leader Mulikat Adeola-Akande said the caucus passed a vote of confidence on Jonathan.

She said: “We are the PDP Caucus of the House of Representatives. A meeting like this is not strange because we met with the President, who is our leader.

“We deliberated on issues affecting our party. The House Caucus, on our own, decided to pass a vote of confidence on Mr. President and also endorse him for second term.”

On whether or not the President accepted, she said: “We did the endorsement and we are urging him to run for second term.”

On Tambuwal’s absence, Adeola-Akande said: “I am sure when you see Mr Speaker, you will ask him. This is a PDP meeting. Obviously, he will have his reasons why he was not at the meeting.”

The House Leader said security issues were also discussed at the meeting and the government received kudos for efforts to restore peace in trouble spots of the country.

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

ternal democracy and strategise on how best we can win the primaries and, by implication, ensure that we bring out the best candidates, taking a cue from what happened in Ekiti. If we are able to carry out proper internal democracy and bring out the most popular candidates, then the main election will be less rancorous. Of

course, the party will sail through with a view to getting up to two-thirds of the states of the federation, as it was when we started in 1999.

“When I came in, there was a period that the PDP had 29 governors. In 2011, we still had 25 governors. Then, some governors tried to defect to other political parties, which they are at liberty to do, because this is democracy. But we are gaining

more.

“Now, we have at least 19 governors with the coming of Ekiti State. We also have three deputy governors who are still with us - those of Sokoto, Adamawa and Nasarawa states.

That brings our number to about 22. So, if we shoot to 28 in the 2015 elections, it is not too bad.

“It (the meeting) was an appraisal and for us to use the opportunity as PDP governors to congratulate the party leader on the very successful election that was held in Ekiti State.

It was very free and fair and applauded by the international community and all Nigerians to a point where even the candidate of the opposition announced that indeed it was a victory well deserved. There was no need to contest such a victory in court. That is the kind of thing we would like to see.

“Mr President has entrenched true democracy in Nigeria. This has happened in Edo State; it had happened in Ondo State. It will happen in August in Osun State. For me, as a Chairman of PDP Governors in Nigeria, my hope and prayer is that God should increase our number and make us to have the majority of governors in the country. This is because the PDP is the only true national party in Nigeria...”

Saraki hails ASUP for suspending strike

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ORMER Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki has hailed the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) for suspending its over 10-month old strike.

Saraki, who is representing Kwara Central in the Senate, described the union’s action as “good news for the academic community and the society at large”.

In an electronic mail, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment also congratulated

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

“the newly appointed Special Assistant on Students’ Matters to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, Comrade Patrick Adewumi Adekunle, from Oke-Ero”.

The senator noted that the appointment was “a timely and well deserved gesture from the Kwara State government, which places the students as integral part of our society”.

The statement added: “I commend Governor Ahmed for his keen and fatherly inter-

est in the educational development in Kwara State, which he has demonstrated through the appointment of the S. A. Students’ Matters.

“I want to charge the entire students community in Kwara State - from campus to campus and unions to unions - to unite with the state government through the S. A. on Students’ Matters in order to ensure students in Kwara State emerge best among others in welfare, social, academic and communal activities.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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NEWS Cross Country boss appears in court

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HE Managing Director of Cross Country Limited, Mr. Bube Okorodudu, was on Monday brought to the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, by a team of policemen from the Zone II Police Command, where he reported himself on Friday, in compliance with a court order.

Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo had on July 8, 2014 issued a bench warrant directing the police to produce Okorodudu in court on July 14, 2014, following a case instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Cross Country over an alleged N82.8 million theft which his counsel, Mr. Godswill Mrakpor, has described as “spurious and a calculated attempt to embarrass, ridicule and intimidate his client”.

The EFCC alleged that they stole the money through the fraudulent sale of 17 units of Volkswagen transporter buses belonging to AG Moeller Ltd and one Adeloye Olukemi.

However, the trial could not go on because of the nationwide judicial workers’ strike.

A statement issued yesterday by his lawyer, Mr. Godswill Mrakpor, said: “While my client was out of the country on medical grounds, a bench warrant was issued against him directing the Nigeria Police to produce him in court. As an officer in the temple of justice and knowing my client to be a law abiding citizen, I advised him to return to the country and report himself to any police formation, in obedience to the court order.

“Hence, upon Mr. Okorodudu’s arrival in the country on Friday, 11th July, 2014, he reported himself at the Zone II Police Command where he was granted bail and asked to report back on Monday, so as to be taken to the court as ordered.

“Again, as an honourable man who has a lot of respect for the laws of the land, he turned himself in on Monday. A team of about eight policemen took him to the court to answer the summons as reported by the several newspapers on Tuesday, 15th July, 2014. But unfortunately, the court did not sit because of the ongoing judicial workers strike.”

Mrakpor stated that contrary to the impression being created out there, his client has no reason to disobey the court, adding: “He only travelled out of the country having received a wellconsidered legal advice that his presence was not yet required since there were two pending applications challenging the jurisdiction of the court.

“This is more so that this is a civil/business transaction in which AG Moeller Ltd gave a N140 million loan facility to Cross Country Ltd with an agreement that the beneficiary would pay back N228 million within 24 months. However, Cross Country Ltd was able to pay back N223 million in 30 months.

“Surprisingly, AG Moeller and its promoters wrote my clients claiming a balance of N213 million as default charges and others. When my clients challenged this with facts and figures, they turned round to petition the police alleging that the 40 units of Volkswagen buses that were procured with the facility were stolen by my clients.”

Ogun deputy governor, APC chieftains celebrate Osoba at 75

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OLITICAL associates, friends and wellwishers in their hundreds marked yesterday the 75th birthday of former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Segun Osoba, at his Ibara GRA home, Abeokuta, the state capital.

The associates and the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains, who included the state’s Deputy Governor, Prince Segun Adesegun, Chief Olu Agemo and members of the Ma T’agba Mole, extolled him as a “man of peace, great political leader and a true welfarist.”

Although Osoba was not around, but his followers and party chieftains said

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

they decided to celebrate him at 75 because of his integrity and leadership qualities.

Mr. Adekunle Adeyemi, a serving lawmaker representing Ewekoro Federal Constituency, in an interview with reporters, said the celebration was organised because Osoba “is worthy of celebration.”

Adeyemi said: “Aremo, as you all know, would not want to have anything to do with celebration of his birthday. But we the followers have decided to mark it for him in absentia and to let people know that the man is worth celebrating.”

Also, Mr. Clement Adeniyi, a chieftain of APC, said the celebration was informed by their conviction that Osoba “is a good leader, who will never lead us astray.”

According to Adeniyi, the ex-governor believes in helping people.

He noted that Osoba’s spirit of charity and advocacy for peace among politicians of younger generation greatly made them fall in love with his leadership and style of politics, adding that they would continue to celebrate him “even in death.”

Adeniyi said: “Baba happens to be a good mentor and he doesn’t believe in violence. He doesn’t believe in

•Osoba

destroying people. He believes in his own mission, his own principle and as a progressive politician, he believes in that spirit and letters of progressiveness.

He doesn’t believe in conservatism and that is why he always consults with people before taking decision.”

Why we must plant trees, by Fashola

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AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has advised residents to intensify efforts towards rehabilitating the environment through tree planting.

Fashola spoke while flagging off this year’s tree planting campaign at the secretariat of Oriade Local Council Development Area.

The governor, who was represented by the council’s Vice-Chairman, Gbolahan Dauda, noted that trees play significant role in the fight against environmental problems, which include global

By Chinaka Okoro

warming.

The theme of this year’s tree planting exercise is “Life is better with Trees.”

He said: “The environment is everything and everything is the environment. That is why the regeneration of the environment is a critical component of our calling as a government. We have come together once again for the tree planting exercise because it has been proven that the quality of our health largely depends on the number of trees around us.”

He emphasised that cutting of trees and clearing of forests make the earth poorer.

This is so, he said, because trees give life, improve life and sustain life, even as he lamented that global environment has been ravaged by eco-degradation, which, he said, resulted in climate change caused by man’s unwholesome activities that impinge negatively on the environment.

“When we kill trees, we kill life, reduce biological diversity and cheat our children out of a healthy environ-

ment,” Fashola said.

On the benefit of the tree planting initiative of government, the governor said the exercise has generated over 75,168 jobs for horticulturists, pruners, gardeners, welders, tanker drivers and security personnel, all of who help to keep the trees alive.

He was optimistic that the efforts invested in the environment would not be compromised, adding that “with Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), these initiatives will be sustained.”

Ekiti women stakeholders reject governorship poll results

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GROUP of women representatives in Ekiti State, under the aegis of Ekiti Women Stakeholders, has faulted the outcome of the June 21 governorship election, describing it as “a mystery”.

The group said the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was not a reflection of the people’s votes.

A communiqué by the group dismissed the notion that the touted ‘stomach infrastructure’ phenomenon supposedly played a significant role in shaping the outcome of the election.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs, Social Development and Gender Empowerment, Mrs. Fola RichieAdewusi, endorsed the communiqué on behalf of the Forum of Women in Leadership, which comprised women in leadership positions.

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

Other signatories were the State Women Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Funke Owoseni, for the APC Women’s Wing while the Iyaloja of Ekiti State, Chief Waye Osho, endorsed the document on behalf of market women.

The group dismissed as unfounded the alleged disconnect between the Fayemi-led administration and the grassroots on the premise that the governor’s programmes and policies in the last three and a half years centred on gender mainstreaming and women empowerment.

Judging by its findings in the past two weeks, the group came to the conclusion that the election was neither free nor fair.

The statement read: “We represent Ekiti women cutting across social, religious and class divides from all the

16 local governments in the state. We hereby declare that the ‘result’ announced by INEC following the election of June 21, 2014 does not reflect the actual votes of Ekiti people.

“Fifty- two per cent of the total registered voters in Ekiti are women, of which 70 per cent are ardent supporters of JKF (Fayemi’s) administration as a result of the governor’s gender equality and women empowerment programmes.

“The 70 per cent instituted a monitoring group at all the voting units across the state and made sure they all voted en masse for Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

“We call on the APC leadership to intensify their efforts, as well as all wellmeaning Nigerians and the international community to help us unravel the mystery and retrieve our missing votes”, the women said.

APC sues Jonathan to court over soldiers’ deployment during polls

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HE All Progressive Congress (APC) has dragged President Goodluck Jonathan to a Federal High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, where it is seeking an order restraining the president from deploying soldiers to Osun State during the August 9th governorship election.

Joined in the suit number FHC/L/CS/1108/14 is the Attorney-General of the

Federation.

According to the originating summons filed by M.A. Banire & Associates, the legal chamber of the National Legal Adviser of the APC, Dr. Muiz Banire, the suit was brought pursuant to Order 3, Rules 1, 6 and 9 of the FHC (civil procedure) Rules 2009; Sections 217 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The party is contending

that by provisions of the 1999 Constitution, it is ultra vires for the president to deploy members of the Armed forces to Osun state for the election.

Besides, the party is also asking the court to grant its reliefs, including costs of filing the suit should the two defendants: President Jonathan and AGF fail to enter an appearance within the next 30 days.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY JULY 16, 2014

9

NEWS OSUN 2014

•ALL FOR THE HOMEBOY: Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola (standing left on a bus) addressing the crowd during his re-election rally in Ijesa South Federal Constituency, Ilesa...yesterday.

Expelled PDP members defect to ruling party

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OUR expelled stalwarts of the Osun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The former PDP members were received into the APC by Governor Rauf Aregbesola at a campaign rally organised by the APC in Ilesa.

But popular Fuji musician King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (K1) was attacked by thugs after the rally.

As at the time of going to the press, the state of health of the musician and his band boys could not be ascertained.

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

The four defectors were among the six expelled on Monday for anti- party activities.

They are the former PDP State Secretary Chief Yinka Adeojo, former Chairman, Osogbo Local Government, Alhaji Teslim Igbalaye, former Personal Assistant to former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola Mr. Razaq Oyelami and a former Assistant State Secretary Alhaji Razaq Oyetunji.

Aregbesola urged the people to pray fervently for a smooth elec-

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

HE Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) suspended National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has said he cannot join the party’s governorship campaign train since his alleged suspension has not been lifted.

Oyinlola also asked a former Deputy National Chairman of PDP, Chief Olabode George, to speak on what the South-West PDP leaders discussed recently at his Abuja residence on the party’s National Secretary’s office.

The former Osun State governor, who made the clarification in a statement yesterday, said the alleged endorsement of Prof.

Wale Oladipo as the Southwest’s candidate for the office was contemptuous of the court.

The statement said: “The party said I am on suspension and a suspended member of any organisation cannot be expected at the same time to be part of its activities.

“Those who went to the Supreme Court should withdraw their appeal against the Court of Appeal decision which reinstated me as the party’s National Secretary. I call on the party to obey that verdict of the court on the post.”

Oyinlola warned against sub judicial comments on the issue by some persons who claimed to have been part of the Southwest PDP leaders’ meeting.

He said: “I have been reading some funny, sub judicial comments from some comical fellows purporting endorsement, at that meeting, of someone for a post that is subject of a case at the Supreme Court.”

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tion, saying the poll will determine the destiny of the state in the next 20 years.

He said the people should not be intimidated by the proposed deployment of soldiers and police during the August 9 governorship election.

He described the seven and a half years of the PDP in Osun State and 15 years at the centre as a waste.

Aregbesola urged the people not to fear soldiers and the police, saying they are constitutionally

charged to protect the people.

He said: “All security agents, according to the constitution of Nigeria have the responsibility to protect the people. Therefore, police or soldiers cannot point his gun to any Nigerian who has committed no crime.

Also, Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun said the APC government had brought back the glorious era of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to the Southwest.

Amosun described as ridiculous the opposition’s reduction of governance to “stomach infrastructure,” warning the people not to be deceived “by cash and carry politics.”

Speaking on behalf of the defectors after receiving the APC flag, Oyelami described PDP as a party that has nothing to offer the people.

He described the three and half years of Aregbesola in office as progressive, enterprising and growth-oriented, advising the people not to vote wrongly to a party of “buccaneers”.

APC alleges murder plot against Aregbesola

Oyinlola: why I can’t join PDP campaign train now •Asks George to speak on PDP Caucus meeting

•Thugs attack Fuji musician K1 at rally

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SUN State All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to use Israeli snipers to assassinate Governor Rauf Aregbesola during his campaign rally.

The party’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, accused two chieftains of PDP as the masterminds of the plot.

The APC urged the Israeli Embassy to check on its citizens, who might have been contracted “to nip the evil in the bud” before the Middle East country gets itself negatively involved in an explosive situation in Nigeria that could affect relationship between the two countries.”

It also called on elders not

•I can’t wish him dead, says Omisore From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

to fold their arms and watch the PDP set Nigeria ablaze, since, according to APC, “that is what assassination of Aregbesola would spontaneously cause.”

The APC said PDP sources informed it that “there is great consternation within the party that for as long as Aregbesola is present and visible, there is no way the PDP can rig the election. So, their last option to ‘win’, according to sources, is to take out completely the governor.

The APC recalled that it had alerted Nigerians and the international community to PDP’s plans to militarise the state one week to the elec-

tion and terrorise the APC leadership and assassinate some of them.

“We also alerted the nation that the PDP has brought into Osun, fake police and army uniforms which their thugs will use to terrorise voters at polling units and possibly snatch ballot boxes.”

Also yesterday, the APC said that “lying is a trademark of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from top to bottom.”

The party was reacting to a statement credited to PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, that “while its candidate and members had been campaigning and seeking the support of the people, the APC had been engaging in

political gallivanting, rigmarole and ineffective propaganda…”

But, in a reaction to the alleged murder plot, the governorship candidate of the PDP, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has denied the allegation.

Omisore, who spoke through his Director of Media, Prince Diran Odeyemi, said he would not want Aregbesola dead, but alive to congratulate him after he might have defeated him at the poll.

Omisore said he was sad that what pre-occupied Aregbesola and APC were not serious issues, but allegations.

He advised the APC and Aregbesola to focus on development issues instead of “unsubstantiated” allegations.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

11

NEWS Group organises youth boot camp

Jonathan condoles with Wada

By Everistus Onwuzurike

From James Azania, Lokoja

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday extolled the virtues of the late Pa Alilu Wada Ejiga, father of Kogi State Governor Idris Wada.

Represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, who headed a Federal Government delegation to Odu-Ogboyaga in Dekina Local Government Area, Jonathan urged the family to take solace in the quality of life the deceased lived and the number of successful children he left behind.

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GROUP, Action Aid, under the aegis of Activista Nigeria, has held its annual youth boot camp at Mater Dei Catholic Centre in Akure, Ondo State.

The camp, with the theme “Organising for camp change”, drew participants from various states in the federation.

The Ondo State Coordinator, Akinola Adekunle, said young people have decided to mobilise themselves to fight poverty and hunger.

He added that Activista focuses on youth campaign through mobilisation and engagement of youths on local, national and international level.

The Lagos State coordinator, T. Ewebiyikeye, said the camp has equipped participants with skills that will help change the old order.

A participant, AbdurRasheed, thanked Action Aid for providing a platform to enable him participate in decision making and processes that would affect lives positively.

55 convicted for drinking alcohol From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

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HE Hisbah Board in Kano State has secured the conviction of 55 persons for alcohol consumption during Ramadan.

The Director-General, Abba Sufi, told reporters yesterday in Kano that the convicts were apprehended last week, following raids of their hideouts.

He said they were sentenced to four months imprisonment without an option of fine.

According to him, 50 of the convicts are married men; the remaining are women.

Alumni meet

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LUMNI of Ijebu Jesa Grammar School in Lagos and environs will meet on Saturday to discuss the 60th Founders’ Day next year.

The Publicity Secretary, ‘Supo Atobatele, said the meeting will hold at Plot 22 Lateef Salami Street, Ajao Estate (off Murtala Mohammed International Road or via Osolo Way/ Asa Afariogun Street by Joy Avenue at 2pm.

He urged members to attend and invite others.

Ex-governor Kure loses mum From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

From left: District Superintendent, West and Central Africa,Apostlic Faith Church, Rev. Bayo Adeniran; Director, Welfare Services, Rev. James Olaleye and Director, Public Relations, Bro. Kayode Adeleye, at the Annual Camp Meeting briefing In Lagos...yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Gunmen kill five in Plateau attack

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IVE people were killed yesterday in a fresh attack on another village in Plateau State.

The attack followed the attacks on Zamadede, Pil-Gani District in Langtang North Local Government Area, where 11 people were killed on Monday.

From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

The total numbers of villagers killed within 24 hours in the state has risen to 16.

The gunmen are widely suspected to be Fulani men.

Early yesterday morning, the gunmen stormed Rakung village on the outskirts of Barkin Ladi Local Govern-

‘Tor Tiv has no power to prune aspirants’

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HE Tor Tiv, Alfred Akawe Torkula, has come under fire for purportedly selecting four governorship aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP).

Last week, the monarch and his council of chiefs reportedly selected four aspirants to reduce acrimony and help the Tiv aspiration to succeed Governor Gabriel Suswam next year.

Some groups have condemned the action, saying it was not the Tor Tiv’s place to select aspirants; others have said what the monarch did was just to advise the aspirants.

Chairman, MINDA PDP Governorship Aspirants Forum Prof Daniel Ker, in a statement, said there was no time any aspirant from MINDA, a Tiv group in four local governments (Makurdi, Guma, Gwer and Gwer West), was screened

Wada sends list to Assembly

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

and selected as it was widely reported.

Ker, a former Benue State University (BSU) vice chancellor, said the meeting with traditional rulers from MINDA, MINDA Elders Forum and the Tor Tiv was on the need for peace and harmony among the aspirants and supporters.

He said: “It is totally unacceptable that our meeting with the Tor Tiv and his council of chiefs could be named a screening and selection exercise.”

He dismissed the rumours and described them as untrue and urged the public to wait for the PDP primaries.

“We agreed to submit ourselves to such efforts and modalities initiated by the monarch so as to streamline and moderate our participation in the race.”

OGI State Governor Idris Wada forwarded yesterday the names of 17-commissioner nominees for screening and approval to the House of Assembly.

The list includes the names of nine members from the executive council, which was dissolved three months ago.

It also has the name of the Editor of Blueprint, Hajia Zainab Okino.

The Speaker, Momoh Jimoh Lawal, said the screening would begin immediately and urged the nominees to present themselves for the exercise.

Also on the list are Umoru Mohammed, Zakari Alfa, Idris Omede, Fidel Unekwu Egwuche, Dr Agnes Okai, Zacchaus Oluwagbotemi Atte, Kayode K. Olowomoran and Abdulrahman Wuya.

Others are Yabagi Bologi, Abubakar Abuh Ainoko, Steve Mayaki, Dr. Abdulmumuni Usman, Ali Ajuh, Joe Abraham (SAN), Olatunji Oshanisi and Stephen Tayo Aremu.

The Senate Minority Leader, George Akume, condemned the Tor Tiv for turning his palace into the PDP secretariat.

The senator said the Tiv traditional stool has been bastardised in the name of politics.

The former governor said the Tor Tiv is a father to all Tiv people and advised him to play the role of a father instead of a politician.

A group, Aliegba Vanguard, said it was not the duty of the Tor Tiv to screen and select candidates but to uphold the customs of the Tiv people and promote peace and harmony.

The monarch’s chief press secretary, Godwin Ber, said the monarch was misunderstood. He denied that he screened any candidate.

He said he stands for the peace and harmony of the Tiv people.

‘Court did not stop UniAbuja VC’

From James Azania, Lokoja

K

ment Area at 2:30am.

A resident, Andrew DanGyang said: “The gunmen shot sporadically into the air, waking people from their sleep.

“We realised we were under attack and we started looking for a way of escape.

“Some of us hid and from

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

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FORMER President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and counsel to the University of Abuja, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said yesterday that there is no order from the National Industrial Court restraining the new Vice Chancellor, Prof Mike Adikwu, from performing his functions.

He said: “Nothing can be farther from the truth, because at no time did the National industrial Court, presided over

by Justice B.A. Adejumo, or any judge make any order restraining the vice chancellor.

“Put in more direct terms, neither is there any trouble in the University of Abuja nor any order restraining the vice chancellor, who was appointed by the Council on June 30, from performing the functions of his office.

“Furthermore, contrary to some publications, there was no order of the National Industrial Court made on or dated Thursday, July 10 or any Thursday whatsoever.

there we called the Special Task Force on Jos Crisis.

“Before troops came, five of our people have been killed. Among the victims was a STF soldier.

“The troops responded swiftly to the distress call and were able to repel the attackers.”

The villagers said normalcy was restored to the area as soon as the troops came on the scene.

They dispersed youths who mounted road block in protest.

THE mother of former Niger State Governor Abdulkadir Kure, Hajiya Hauwa Kulu Salihu, died yesterday. She was 85.

She was buried in her hometown, Lapai, at 3:30pm after a five-minute prayer led by the Chief Imam of Lapai, Sheik Bashir Mohammed, at the palace of Emir of Lapai, Alhaji Umar Tafida Bago.

Former military president Gen Ibrahim Babangida, former Head of State Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar and Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu joined sympathisers at the prayers.

Also present were the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, the Emirs of Suleja and Agaie, a delegation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Senator Ibrahim Musa, Abubakar Magaji, Abubakar Sani Bello and David Umaru.

She is survived by three children.

Activities yet to start in KadPoly

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OLLOWING the suspension of the 11month-old strike by polytechnic lecturers at the weekend, academic activities are yet to resume at Kaduna Polytechnic.

The Nation’s investigation revealed that many students were yet to resume.

At the main campus at Tudun Wada, few students were on ground for registration, while services provided are still skeletal.

Some of the students who spoke to our correspondent expressed disappointment in both the Federal Government and the lecturers for allowing the strike to linger.

They called on the gov-

From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

ernment and the lecturers to arrive quickly at a compromise, and call off the strike totally to allow smooth running of their programmes.

PUBLIC NOTICE BASSEY I, formerly known and addressed as MISS GENEVIEVE OQUO BASSEY now wish to be known and addressed as MRS GENEVIEVE IBE KANU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

CITYBEATS ‘I’m tired of my husband’s irresponsibility’

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32-YEAR-OLD housewife, Olayemi Odemakin, is praying the Customary Court at Alagbado, a Lagos suburb, to dissolve her marriage with her husband, Shola Odemakin, a motorcyclist.

She alleged that her husband often drink heavily without caring for her and their children.

The woman also alleged that her husband lacks respect for her folks. The marriage is blessed with four children: Damilola (11), Jemima (7), Akin (5) and Richard (1).

Olayemi said: “From the outset, my husband has been irresponsible. Knowing that I was pregnant, he disappeared four days to our wedding, saying he was not the father of our unborn child. Our first child is now 11 and has three younger ones, but he still denies being their father.

“I am young, but I can’t count the number of odd jobs I have done to cater for the family.

When I was expecting my last child, from the little I earned, I bought a new stove because I was tired of borrowing from neighbours. My husband burnt the stove with the rice I was boiling; beat me with a broom as if he was casting a demon out of

By Basirat Braimah

me.”

Mrs Odemakin added: “Recently, my husband said he wanted to have ‘fun’ with me, I ran to an uncompleted building close to where we live. Why should I keep sleeping with him when he doesn’t cater for us? ” Odemakin, however, said: “We sleep on the same bed, but she never told me she was expecting my child until after four months. Who can accept such a child? My wife is stubborn and doesn’t seem to want my prosperity. Her parents have never bought ‘cycling shorts’ let alone a pencil for our “children.” I bathe and take the children to school on my motorcycle. My wife and “her children” finished half a bag of rice within six days!

I cannot continue to give her money if I still wash my cloths. I pray the court teaches her good manners because I want her back and I am also ready to change.”

The Court President, Mr Olubode Sekoni, ordered Odemakin to deposit N10,000 monthly for the children’s upkeep and advised both parties to maintain peace. He fixed chamber interview for the couple and adjourned the case till July 28.

Community elects exco

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PELOYERU Community Development Association (OCDA), Igbo-Olomu, in Ikorodu West Local Council Development Area of Lagos State has elected new executives to run its affairs in the next two years.

The new officers are: Mr. Ogunfemi Oladeji, Chairman; Mr. Raimi Musibau, 1st Vice-Chairman; Mr. Yusuf Muyideen, 2nd Vice-Chairman, Mr. Nseabasi Umoh- General Secretary, Mr. Omowumi Abiodun- Assistant General Secretary; Mrs. Babalola Christiana, Treasurer; Mr. Foster Omoregie, Financial Secretary; Mr. Peter Okonji, Auditor; Mrs. Popoola (Marigold), Public Relations Officer; Mr. Wasiu Olowe, Chief Whip; Mrs. Tayo Ogunnaike, Socials, and Mr. Adeoye Nurudeen, Welfare.

CITYBEATS LINE: 08023247888

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Four feared dead in Lagos clash

OUR persons were feared killed on Monday evening in Festac, Amuwo-Odofin, Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos, following a clash between operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Neighbourhood Watch, and traders.

The incident occurred in front of the council’s secretariat on 41 Road, Festac about 4pm, when some traders whose stores were demolished in Alakija area protested the seizure of their good.

Sources said the council had ordered men of the Neighbourhood Watch to demolish the shops that were tagged illegal.

However, during the demolition, the traders attempted to salvage what was left of their wares without success as the wares were loaded into the operational vehicle of the officials who

•Nobody was killed, says NSCDC

By Jude Isiguzo

insisted that they were seized goods.

They also tried to seize the money machine of an operator of the popular ‘Baba Ijebu’ lotto centre.

Sources said the area boys and some members of the National Union of Road Transport Worker (NURTW), who had staked their money in the lotto and were waiting for the result, resisted the move.

The council was said to have invited two patrol teams of OPMESSA, comprising policemen and soldiers, to arrest the situation.

Operatives of the OP-MESSA were said to have arrested about eight of the traders and trans-

port union members and later released them on realising the illegality of the arrest.

At Alakija, there was a freefor-all between the traders, NURTW members and the Neighbourhood Watch during which broken bottles and other weapons were freely used.

The Nation gathered that during the fight, the wares seized were moved to the council’s secretariat even as the protesting traders followed them.

As the protest went on, operatives of NSCDC made futile attempt to disperse the traders. An NSCDC operative allegedly opened fire on the protesters, killing about four and injured many.

The wounded were rushed to some private hospitals in the

area, where they are being treated.

Area ‘E’ Commander, Dan Okoro, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), confirmed the incident, but could not confirm the number of casualties.

He said investigation was ongoing, adding that he had briefed Commissioner of Police Umar Manko on the incident.

The NSCDC spokesperson, Chibuzor Mefor said the allegation is not true.

He said: “Our men did not kill anybody as far as we know. What happened was that a mob besieged the Chairman of AmuwoOdofin Local Government and the Secretariat. To protect him, our men shot into the air. Even nobody was injured.”

Civil Defence parades suspected pipeline vandals

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WO Nigerians and nationals of the neighboring countries like Benin, Togo and Ghana, were among the 15 suspected pipeline vandals paraded yesterday in Lagos by the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lagos State Command.

They were among the 16 suspects arrested on Monday with 21,000 litres of petrol carried in 700 jerry cans of 30litre capacity each in wooden boats.

One of them had taken ill and was undergoing treatment in an undisclosed medical facility, the command said.

The Commandant, Donatus Ikemefuna, who paraded

By Uyoatta Eshiet

them at the NSCDC state command headquarters at Alausa in Ikeja yesterday, said they were arrested based on information received through the machinery put in place by his command immediately he assumed duty three months ago.

Ikemefuna said the suspected vandals were arrested on the high seas behind the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) in the Badagry area of the state.

He said one of the core responsibilities of the Corps is the protection of national economic assets, especially petro-

leum pipelines.

“We were informed that they were going to carry out the operations; we laid ambush for them and arrested them. We will take them to court after investigations”, he said.

On why he paraded them, the commandant said they had been arresting vandals without parading them, but since they kept increasing in number, he had no option than to parade them for the country and their families to see.

He appealed to relevant agencies of state in charge of foreign nationals to help

check their influx, adding that the Corps was working hard to unravel the sponsors of the vandals and their patrons.

One of the suspects, Gbeleyin Adeyemi, a Lagos resident, said he came to give information to NSCDC, but was caught along the line with others, while Imate Fatai, another suspect, said but a boat operator.

He said somebody from Benin Republic asked him bring goods from Nigeria for him, adding that he boarded the boat only to discover that it was not fish or other products, but petrol.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

Life

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The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

Text only: 08023058761

All hail Kongi at 80 •Prof Soyinka

Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Akinwande Soyinka turned 80 last Sunday amid tributes from scholars, writers and politicians. Ace poet Prof Niyi Osundare, renowned playwright Prof Femi Osofisan and Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, among others, sent him birthday greetings.They share their thoughts on the man and his works in this piece, writes EVELYN OSAGIE.

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OBEL laureate Prof Wole Soyinka is 80. Soyinka has lived through pre-colonial times, survived a civil war and several military regimes. An activist of the highest order, he remains a crusader even in old age.

Because of his scathing writings, he was accused of treason and jailed without any formal charge for over 20 months. Soyinka was forced into exile because of his stand against injustice. But despite the storms, Soyinka’s voice is not stilled and his pen remains as potent as ever.

With many titles in all genres, Soyinka is known as “one of the finest poetical playwrights in English”.

His literary voyage covers drama, poetry, prose fiction, biography, film and music. In 1986 when he won the Noble Prize in Literature - the first African to do so - his literary prowess was captured in these words: “He possesses a prolific store of words and expressions which he exploits to the full in witty dialogue, in satire and grotesquery, in quiet poetry and essays of sparkling vitality.”

Welcome to the world of the acclaimed dramatist, poet, novelist, essayist, musician, culture icon, Wole Soyinka.

In the words of his colleagues, friends and fans, “words are not enough” to describe what Soyinka has come to mean to them and the world of Literature.

Amid several literary festivities commemorating the thespian’s birthday, is the avalanche of tributes in his honour. Some called him, “a man of stupendous courage and candour”, an “indomitable writer”, Asayagbangba and more. In this piece, renowned poet Prof Niyi Osundare, celebrated playwright Prof Femi Osofisan and Rivers State Gover-

nor Rotimi Amaechi, among others, relive their encounters with Soyinka.

‘Asayagbangba Soyinka is Pathfinder and Pioneering Spirit’ – Ace poet, Prof Niyi Osundare: My first encounter with Wole Soyinka’s works came though his poem Abiku; and that was in my secondary school days at Amoye Grammar School, Ikere Ekiti in the mid- 60s.

It was about the same time my class was introduced to the woks of other African writers such as Chinua Achebe, and JP Clark.

From then on, I saw Soyinka from a respectable distance. Well, until 1970 when he became Director, School of Drama, University of Ibadan, and Drama was my main Minor in the degree course. It was supremely inspiring having a great man like Soyinka around and seeing him on an almost daily basis. Young, good-looking, creative, iconoclastic with an unmistakable swagger, he smiled not too often in those days, and we put it all down to his well- deserved fame. But kind-hearted he was, and his patented baritone and posh English accent were a bliss to the ears.

Soyinka’s contribution to the field of Literature is epochal and phenomenal. Drama, poetry, prose fiction, biography, film, music; name it: the man excels in all of them. An anthology of world drama without Death and the King’s Horseman would be incomplete; •Continued on page14

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

KONGI AT 80

All hail Kongi at 80

‘indigenised English’ language fascinated me, and has stayed with me since.

‘May his genius be recognised for generations to come’ Professor of English, Hofstra University, United States, Joseph McLaren:

•Continued from page 13 just as Ake would stand out supreme in the comity of world prose fiction. Add to these Soyinka’s innumerable essays and you get the picture of a truly world-historic writer.

Soyinka, a man of stupendous courage and candor; the kind who speaks out when others have bowed under the sword of Silence.

Asayagbangba (one whose chest stands out like a solid shield) whose courage serves as a spur to courage in others. A true ecumenical spirit whose being traverses the world.

Like Ogun, his personal orisa, Soyinka is Pathfinder and Pioneering Spirit, an indefatigable fighter for Justice. We would be glad to have him around for another 80 years.

•

‘My only regret as Soyinka turns 80’-Rivers State Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi: •Prof Soyinka and some of his friends

‘Father, don’t tire, not even tomorrow’ Head, School of Languages, Rhodes University, South Africa, Prof Russell Kaschula: Soyinka’s contribution to the field of Literature is gigantic! His work has now influenced generations of writers and thinkers not only on the continent, but globally. He has taught us to be vigilant through creativity.

I first came across his work at university as a young white South African who had grown up under apartheid. Scholars such as Soyinka were not permitted to be mentioned in the schooling system. It was then in the more liberated university environment that I began to understand creative writing and the work of Soyinka as a powerful socio-political commentary.

As he marks his 80th, in isiXhosa we say: Ungadinwa nangomso, Tata (Don’t tire, not even tomorrow, Father)!

•

‘Indomitable Soyinka is my role model’ Renowned Professor of International Law and Jurisprudence, Akin Oyebode: As one of Africa’s most illustrious sons, Soyinka has been my role model since my secondary school days. I was the school’s drama producer, and in my teens then, when I was opportune to produce two of his plays The lion and the Jewel and Trial of Brother Jero.

In fact, so engrossed in his grammatic prowess had I become that I had actually sought to go and learn at the feet of the master in the University of Ibadan where he had held forth as the Director of Drama. I was admitted to combine Honours in English and Drama degree programme and had indeed secured accommodation at Melani Hall until providence decreed otherwise. Well, that is a story for another day.

As part of my encounter with Soyinka, while schooling in Toronto, he had come for a writers’ festival and he came to give a talk at the York University and one of the eminent professors of Language and Literature asked WS himself “Prof Wole Soyinka, yesterday you wore this hat, in another plane you wore another hat, can the real Wole Soyinka stand up and be identified”.

And the indomitable Soyinka had a one-line response for him, and I never forgot it, “It takes a writer to unmask another”.

Renowned playwright and former Association of Nigerian

I first read Soyinka over 25 years ago. I was exposed to his performed drama when Death and the King’s Horseman was performed in New York. It was well received and demonstrated Soyinka’s brilliance. I also saw the film Kongi’s Harvest, which showed how Soyinka’s work was relevant to the transitions in leadership during and after the Independence era.

Soyinka has contributed immeasurably to the world of literature. His gift of language and dramatic ingenuity is incomparable.

As he turns 80 this month, I am hoping that Soyinka will continue to comment on the state of affairs in Africa, in general, and that he will offer additional dramatic works reflecting 21st century concerns. May his genius be recognised globally for generations to come!

Soyinka’s birthday cake

Authors (ANA) President, Prof Femi Osofisan: What words can be adequate to offer in tribute to such an outstanding personality?

Soyinka will continue to be a beacon of light.

Long may he stay yet among us.

Outlining his contribution to the field of Literature deserves a long answer really, since he has been active in almost all the genres. That is clearly impossible here. But one significant contribution however is his creation of what I will describe as a ‘condition of plausibility’ for the existence of an authentic African drama in the English language. After him, all of us became empow-

ered, and credible. Another area that is still to be well discussed is his resuscitation, and exploration, of myth.

I met Soyinka for the first time through his poems, Telephone Conversation and Abiku.

I can’t recall accurately now, but I think it was in the Mbari magazine, Black Orpheus, edited then by Ulli Beier, that I found them.

But the real encounter with his works that mesmerised me was watching his production of Kongi’s Harvest at the Arts Theatre of the University of Ibadan. I was then still a student at the Government College, in the southern suburb of the town, and we were taken in the school bus one night to see the play. The blend of music and dance and

‘Soyinka’s struggles transcend ethnicity, class, religion and race. His life of struggle and a writer-activist career goes back to 1964 when he participated in the Nigeria Labour Congress rally that threatened the Balewa Conference. He has since been involved in all forms of activism’

Let me speak like a soothsayer, we shall celebrate your 90th. Poet, playwright, essayist, scholar, Nobel laureate and political activist, Wole Soyinka has for over the period of five decades pursued his dreams and goals for a better Nigerian society with inventiveness, thankless energy and radical tenacity.

Some of us, who were the liberal arts students at the university, first encountered Wole Soyinka through his works, but I must confess I wasn’t a fan of yours in the class!

Reading Prof was like reading William Shakespeare with his ancient riddles, ancient words, we took more time unravelling the works than studying them. And although some of us experienced initial difficulties over his works, over the years, as we have come to know the man better, a lot has become clearer.

Soyinka’s struggles transcend ethnicity, class, religion or race. His life of struggle and a writer-activist career goes back to 1964 when he participated in the Nigeria Labour Congress rally that threatened the Balewa Conference. He has since been involved in all forms of activism.

In all his writings, his main objective has always been to admonish, to chastise and to hold up a mirror of society to itself and to warn of the dire consequence of ignoring the path to progress in the polity. Without question, his public concern remains that of a permanent intellectual precedence against misrule: corruption and man in humanity to man. He is one writer who has put his life at risk in furtherance of the best political conclusion.

Prof Soyinka, I salute you sir and wish you well! I have only one regret and it derives from the fact that while we all know your colossal royal wines, I do not take alcohol – in whatever form. And, therefore, I cannot even drink to toast your good wines. But I give you my word sir, that when next you go hunting for wildlife, I will accompany you hunter.

‘The world will not forget in a hurry this exponent of existentialism’ Former Bursar, University of Benin and first female Vice-President, ANA, Dr May Ifeoma Nwoye: Wole Soyinka is one of those writers for whom a determined philosophical position is the centre of their artistic being. Soyinka’s theoretical writings as well as his novels and plays constitute one of the main inspirational sources of modern literature.

I see Soyinka as an extremely practical man in the sense of putting into practices his thoughts and ideas. As exponent of existentialism, Soyinka was prepared to use any literary form or genre to communicate his ideas widely.

This is particularly true in the works he produced during the Nigerian Civil War – •Continued on page 47

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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NEWS

Boko Haram: How PDP-led Fed Govt is benefiting, by APC

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the PDP of aiding, abetting and benefitting from the Boko Haram insurgency, saying the mismanagement of national resources, massive corruption under the PDP watch and the incompetent handling of what started as a localized insurgency have been responsible for the festering of the crisis.

In a statement in Lagos yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also accused the federal government of using the fight against the insurgency as an excuse to punish and witch-hunt the opposition, trample on civil liberties and abuse national institutions on a scale that is unprecedented in the country’s history.

It said had the PDP-led Federal Government not misgoverned Nigeria since 1999, perhaps the country could have been spared the canker worm of terrorism, epitomised more than anything else by the Boko Haram insurgency.

APC said the international community is not unaware that the Federal Government has been the biggest cog in the wheel of efforts to tackle Boko Haram, apparently because the Jonathan Administration has seen the insurgency as its surest ticket to re-election and international acceptance. ‘’Far from the baseless and irresponsible accusations and fingerpointing by the PDP and the government it controls at the centre, it is time to tell Nigerians that the only reason the insurgency has continued unabated is because the PDP and the Jonathan Administration are benefitting massively from it. ‘’That explains their quick dismissal of our call for an international inquiry to unravel the sponsors and modus operandi of the terror group, while latching on to what remains a mere conjecture on the probe of Boko Haram links by the British Parliament. Pray, which is bigger and more authentic, a probe by the British Parliament or an international inquiry? If the PDP and its cohorts have nothing to hide, they would have embraced that call. We maintain that only an international inquiry can unravel those behind Boko Haram, and we thank Nigerians for their favourable response to our call,’’ APC said.

The party called the attention of Nigerians to the testimony given

by a US official, at the US House Foreign Affairs Sub-committee on Africa’s hearing last Thursday in Washington, identifying the human rights abuse record and uncooperative attitude of the Nigerian government and its military authorities as factors hindering the security assistance offered to Nigeria by the US to tackle Boko Haram. ‘’The Congress was told, by the Specialist at African Affairs Congressional Research Service Lauren Blanchard, that the Nigerian government and its military had not been yielding to America’s suggestions; that the main impediment to America’s efforts to support Nigeria’s broader response to Boko Haram is ‘gross violations committed by the Nigerian forces, the Nigerian government’s resistance to adopting a more comprehensive approach to Boko Haram and the continued lack of political will’.

“The Congress also heard that the he Nigerian government has appeared reticent in some cases to allow its security forces to participate in US training programmes, adding: ‘Multiple systemic factors further constrain the effectiveness of the Nigerian security force’s response to Boko Haram, notably security sector corruption and mismanagement, and some of these factors impede US support even for units that have been cleared for assistance’. ‘’Does anyone need any more evidence of whose cluelessness and incompetence have allowed Boko Haram to fester to such a level that it has killed over 3,000 people since the beginning of this year alone?

Does anyone need further evidence of whose non-cooperative attitude with the US and other foreign friends of Nigeria has been responsible for the failed and tepid efforts to tackle Boko Haram?’’ it queried.

APC said it is an undisputed fact that Boko Haram emerged against the backdrop of intense poverty and political misrule by the PDP since 1999. ‘’Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the PDP has ruled Nigeria till date, and has been responsible for mismanaging over 60 percent of national revenue. Still, very little has changed in terms of progressive improvement in the socioeconomic conditions of most Nigerians. It is hardly a coincidence that Boko Haram emerged in the North-east

region of Nigeria, given that it is the poorest region with higher than national average rates of poverty, illiteracy, mortality rates, youth unemployment and social immobility. ‘’Moreover, states in the Northeast receive some of the least allocations from the national treasury individually and collectively. The North-east region, reflecting broader national and even African patterns, is experiencing a ‘youth bulge’ that accentuates the socio-economic deprivations across the region. Given the poor literacy rates of the region, there are millions of young people with neither formal nor Arabic education, not to talk of even vocational skills. Indeed, a majority of youth in the North-east region are unemployable, thus providing a fertile ground for the recruitment of idle youths into groups that engage in criminal acts. ‘’In short, the PDP’s failure to deliver credible democratic dividends, specifically socio-economic progress (employment, social infrastructure, quality of life initiatives, regular power supply etc) and its obsession with retaining political power at all cost, a la ‘do or die politics’, provide logical grounds for the horde of security challenges witnessed across Nigeria since 1999,’’ the party said.

APC accused the PDP of profiting from the Boko Haram insurgency, hence the ruling party has always been dismissive of any genuine efforts to end the crisis, preferring to continually demonize the APC as the sponsors of Boko Haram even when there is no scintilla of evidence to back this up. ‘’Fortunately, US officials interviewed by the international wire service Reuters for a recent story said there is little or no evidence to back up the claims by the Nigerian government that some prominent northerners or politicians are sponsoring Boko Haram. Now, the Jonathan Administration has been hoisted by its own petard,’’ the party said.

Backing up its claims that the Jonathan Administration is profiting from the Boko Haram insurgency, it said the PDP is using the crisis to launder the image of the Jonathan presidency by securing attendance and participation for President Jonathan at important international summits and meetings. ‘’Curiously, Boko Haram has become a way of getting the interna-

•Mr Paul Adefemi ( a teacher at Grace High School, Lagos); a counsellor, Mrs Florence Ojo; Mrs Bukola Ladigbolu, writer and career counsellor and Mrs Florence Oyewole also of Grace High School, after a career talk by Mrs Ladigbolu at the school.

•Alhaji Mohammed

tional community to talk and meet with President Jonathan and gain international media coverage. The PDP-Federal Government is also using the Boko Haram crisis, especially the #Bringbackourgirls campaign, to blackmail the main opposition party and the Civil Society, impose emergency rule in states and areas controlled by opposition political parties, harass and restrict media freedom (through military clampdowns), and to justify other illegal activities. ‘’The Boko Haram crisis is readily used by the PDP to rationalize the Jonathan Administration’s abdication of its constitutional responsibilities, including visits and assistance to areas affected and effective response to kidnappings and abductions (e.g. the Administration was silent over the Chibok girls kidnaps for over 15 days). Little wonder that it took the visit of the Pakistani girl education campaigner Malala to Nigeria to force President Jonathan to now promise to meet the parents of the over 200 school girls who were abducted over three months ago in Chibok. ‘’Under the guise of ensuring security, the Maiduguri Airport has been closed, hence the Borno Governor and the people of the state, including the pilgrims heading to less Hajj, have been forced to travel by road to Kano to board their flights.

However, the reason for shutting the airport has suddenly vanished as the private plane bearing Ali Modu Sheriff was allowed to land at the airport on Monday, the same day the Governor had to travel by road to Kano to see his brother who was involved in an accident on the same road! ‘’It is also not a secret that bil-

lions of Naira have been allocated to security in order to tackle the Boko Haram menace, yet our troops have not been adequately equipped to confront the insurgency. One wonders what happened to the huge funds allocated to the anti-terror fight. Against the backdrop of the huge war-chest that the Jonathan Administration has amassed ahead of the 2015 elections, one can easily understand who such funds have evaporated into thin air. ‘’Also, the Boko Haram crisis and the Jonathan Administration’s response to it must be seen in the context of 2015 elections. The status quo favours the PDP and President Jonathan. Why? Because Boko Haram affected areas and indeed the Northern region are opposition strongholds, hence the Administration is hoping that the Boko Haram crisis, the declaration of emergency rule and general atmosphere of insecurity in the North will lead to the cancellation of voting in some areas and limit voters’ turnout in general, a development which the PDP believes will minimize its electoral losses in the North and enhance the likelihood of a PDP victory,’’ APC said.

The party reiterated its position on the Boko Haram crisis, saying it has no links whatsoever to the terror group and challenged anyone with contrary information and proof to present such to Nigerians without delay.

It also restated its earlier recommendations for resolving the crisis, saying any solution that will be effective must be multi-faceted, since scorched-earth military tactics alone have failed to quell the insurgency ‘’The Nigerian government, if indeed it is interested in ending the Boko Haram insurgency, must integrate military action with a clear political strategy as well as socioeconomic initiatives. ‘’In the short-term, law enforcement and security action must bring violent situations under control.

Then a clear political strategy must be integrated with law enforcement and security operations with an unambiguous intent of political dialogue and negotiation as the basis for sustainable peace and security.

Finally, socio-economic initiatives that align with security and political components must be integrated into the efforts ‘’The structural conditions (undercurrents) of sub-national violence in Nigeria must be tackled holistically through credible policies, programmes and investments in youth-related services such as employment, vocational skills training, education, agriculture, electricity supply, roads and microcredit,’’ APC said.

•Managing Director, Hauwei Technologies Co Ltd., Mr Jimmy Pang (left) speaking when he visited the corporate headquarters of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation in Lagos...yesterday. With him are Executive Director, Lilly Huang and Sales & Marketing Director, Julius Akhalumenyo.

PHOTO: DAYO ADEWUNMI

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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COMMENTARY EDITORIALS

FROM OTHER LANDS

‘High risk’ banks •We need periodic assessment of our banks in the interest of the economy

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repayment of a debt) constitutes a threat to the survival of any bank. The risk assessment is important because many banks have died because of lack of supervision, especially in some banks with high risk appetite. For instance, a number of high risk loans were routinely given to high-standing politicians whose defaults in payment could have led to high cost of litigation against the defaulters, while delays in delivery of justice often compound the chances of loan recovery.

Although the probability of loss is inherent in every loan, proper loan appraisal is made difficult when sufficient information is not available for screening and assessing the lenders in order to determine the level of risk involved in granting the loans. For this reason, banks should be periodically assessed to check their state of health and for early detection of likely collapse.

But it is curious that at least six of the banks listed by the CBN as “high risk” banks made the list of The Banker Magazine’s (of the Financial Times Group) “Top 1,000 World Banks” for the second year running, in its 2014 ranking, based on the Tier-1 capital. In all though, 13 Nigerian banks made the list. But their positions, despite the report of increase in the profit on capital of three of the banks that are not foreign-owned subsidiaries, are nothing to write home about. For instance, the first Nigerian bank on the list is in the 293rd position, followed by the next 415th, then 424th, 532nd, 539th and 622nd, respectively. We do not need anyone to tell us that this is not good

ENTRAL Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) assessment of 14 “high risk” banks in Nigeria is a welcome development. The purpose of the exercise, which is probably overdue, is to bring sanity to the banking sector by applying stringent conditions for credit facilities obtained, especially by big borrowers.

This has necessitated the introduction of risk-based supervision as a structural approach, focusing on risk profiles of banks as opposed to the “age-long compliance-based supervision mechanism and regulatory approach whose level of supervision is the same for all banks, irrespective of the size and the type of risk they take.

Also, it has generally been observed that credit risk (the likelihood that a borrower will default on a debt or fail to meet a contractual obligation, such as the

‘While we support the CBN’s assessment exercise, this should not be a fire brigade approach but strictly a routine exercise. The banks should be periodically assessed to check their state of health. The situation in the past where we kept celebrating dying banks in ignorance is bad for the economy and should never be repeated’

enough.

While we support the CBN’s assessment exercise, this should not be a fire brigade approach but strictly a routine exercise. The banks should be periodically assessed to check their state of health. The situation in the past where we kept celebrating dying banks in ignorance is bad for the economy and should never be repeated.

Of course we expect that the required mechanism to facilitate access to the information that the banks require to make them take informed decisions on the loans they grant will also be put in place.

The banks’ knowledge about the antecedents and characters of borrowers is enough ammunition for the banks to effectively scrutinise the borrowers’ records in order to determine their risk levels. The efficiency of the screening approach may foreclose risky borrowers from securing loans and minimising defaults. The rise in default rates and the size of non-performing loans among Nigerian commercial banks may put into question the efficiency of our “banking system screening criteria” and the “stringency” of the bank screening measures.

This is why the CBN’s assessment should be thorough. Yes, banking is about risk taking, but the risks must be responsible and sensible rather than the reckless risks that killed some of our banks in the past. When banks collapse, it is unlike when cards collapse because it is the hard-earned incomes of people that get trapped. The results, of course, are unintended economic and social consequences to the nation.

Life expectancy •Although this is said to be improving in Nigeria, it is still not good enough

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ESPITE the stressful lifestyle most Nigerians go through daily, it is surprising that life expectancy has reportedly improved in the country by eight years. Hitherto, the country’s life expectancy since 1990 has been 46 years.

But the 2014 report of World Health Statistics (WHS) that has just been released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that the nation’s life expectancy is now 54. This is however still an appalling improvement considering the enormity of resources at the nation’s disposal that could have been deployed to improve medical standards and healthy habits necessary to prolong human life span.

Life expectancy is crucial to national development and growth, being the number of years lived in good health by citizens. By this latest report, when a citizen dies at any point before 54 years in Nigeria, such death is considered as premature. This is why the ratio of occurred deaths below this age should not be higher, otherwise, Nigeria would be deemed to be relapsing in life expectancy. We know that death is inevitable but we are aware that medical science has proved that human life span can be prolonged through quality lifestyle and affordable medical care necessary to reduce the risk of early death.

We doubt whether the prevailing harsh economic realities staring Nigerians in the face provide the congenial atmosphere necessary for healthy living. The pathetic state of most teaching hospitals and primary healthcare centres com-

pounds the health woes of Nigerians. The government’s commitment to health services and treatments, despite the huge budgetary investment in health, is suspect. For this reason, most preventable diseases have degenerated in most Nigerians, leading unfortunately, to their untimely deaths.

Also, most avoidable health challenges, including malaria, tuberculosis and heart diseases, cirrhosis of the liver, diarrhoeal and Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), among others, as depicted in the report, are rampant in the land. They have become major sources of most premature deaths of recent. And when this is juxtaposed with government’s insufficient efforts in the health sector, it is curious to note that WHO could adduce a report projecting the country as improving in her life expectancy. Yet, we are aware that WHS, published since 2005 by WHO, so far, remains a reliable global source of information on peoples health in 194 countries.

Particularly heart-warming is the revelation that Nigerian women still live longer than men in spite of the rampancy of child birth deaths, among others. But this should not detract from the fact that we still need to do more; partly by citizens - by embracing a healthy lifestyle and; largely by governments - through the provision of better and affordable medical care facilities in the country. It is sad to note that Liberia, Ethiopia and Rwanda are doing far better than Nigeria in this regard. How can these two African

countries that are still recuperating from the ruins of war be recorded as having better life expectancy than Nigeria?

Something fundamental is definitely wrong somewhere!

All said, life expectancy of 54 years is an improvement though, but it is something that is too shameful to be celebrated by a country that professes to be the ‘giant of Africa’. If the average life expectancy of citizens in some other countries with less resources than Nigeria is 80, with Japan, an Asian country topping global life expectancy record with 87 years, nothing stops Nigeria from reaching a considerable life expectancy height in the nearest future, with proper health/medical planning and purposeful direction.

‘If the average life expectancy of citizens in some other countries, with less resources than Nigeria, is 80, with Japan, an Asian country topping global life expectancy record with 87 years, nothing stops Nigeria from reaching a considerable life expectancy height in the nearest future, with proper health/medical planning and purposeful direction’

UnGoogled: The disastrous results of the ‘right to be forgotten’ ruling – Two months after a European Court of Justice ruling, the “right to be forgotten” is not looking too wise.

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OMPLYING with the court’s order, Google, which has received more than 70,000 “right to be forgotten” requests since May, this month

began removing links to Web pages with “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant” personal information from its European sites. But backlash ensued when it erased the links of several news articles from the Guardian, BBC and other British media outlets. A Guardian writer, echoing concerns of many, called it a “huge, if indirect, challenge to press freedom.” Others alleged that the removals are part of Google’s strategy to stir resistance against the ruling.

Publicity stunt or not, these deletions could have been predicted the moment the court handed down its vague, clumsy decision.

Take the three delinked Guardian articles on Dougie McDonald, a former Scottish soccer referee who lied about his reasons for granting a penalty kick. Google judged that Mr. McDonald — now retired — was no longer a public figure, so his privacy right trumped the public’s right to know. It deleted the articles from search results of Mr. McDonald’s name.

Most would disagree. Accounts of a recent soccer scandal should remain part of an easily accessible public record. Another case, in which Google removed a BBC article that explored a Merrill Lynch banker’s role in the financial crisis, raised another set of questions. There, a commenter on the article — not the banker — requested the deletion.

The court ruling offers no guidance in navigating these dilemmas. As we wrote two months ago, the opinion doesn’t define a “public figure” or the appropriate amount of time that would make information “no longer relevant.” Nor does it list the practical criterion of who constitutes a direct or indirect “data subject.”

Google has hired a team of paralegals to help sort through requests. But with 250,000 links contested so far, handling each request with care is virtually impossible. Google has no incentive to protect the free flow of information beyond its professed pledge to free expression. On the other hand, it has plenty of interest in approving deletions and avoiding complicated challenges by data protection agencies and courts.

The government and courts, not a company, should perform these balancing tests, if they must be done at all. Under the existing structure, we can expect more misjudgments — most of which, unlike the ones cited above, will go unnoticed.

There are other ways to protect privacy. Harvard professor Jonathan Zittrain has suggested allowing individuals more control over how search results of their names are displayed on the first page while maintaining separate, “unvarnished” result pages like the ones that now exist. Google News once allowed those quoted or mentioned in articles to write a comment next to them.

The E.U. Council is considering a regulation, passed by the European Parliament in March, formalizing what is now called a “right to erasure.” The law, among other things, would place the burden of proof on companies to prove that data cannot be deleted. This would exacerbate an already deleterious situation.

Britain’s justice minister, Simon Hughes, warned last week that this right is developing in a way that would “close down access to information in the E.U. which is open in the rest of the world.” The council should heed his words and learn from recent incidents.

The integrity of Europe’s free flow of information is on the line.

– Washington Post

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye •Editor, Online Lekan Otufodunrin •Managing Editor Northern Operation Yusuf Alli •Managing Editor Waheed Odusile

• Executive Director (Finance & Administration) Ade Odunewu

•Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon

•Advert Manager Robinson Osirike

•Deputy Editor (News) Adeniyi Adesina

• Gen. Manager (Training and Development) Soji Omotunde •General Manager (Abuja Press) Kehinde Olowu •AGM (PH Press) Tunde Olasogba

•IT Manager Bolarinwa Meekness •Deputy Editor (Nation’s Capital) •Press Manager Yomi Odunuga Udensi Chikaodi •Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu •Legal Counsel John Unachukwu •Group Business Editor Simeon Ebulu • Manager (Admin) Folake Adeoye •Group Sports Editor Ade Ojeikere •Acting Manager (sales) •Editorial Page Editor Olaribigbe Bello Sanya Oni

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: The feature “N9.9 billion fund… still a long way to cassava bread” written by Sina Fadare as published on pages 2 and 3 of Wednesday July 2, edition of The Nation refers.

We are constrained to respond to the story as the story looks like a deliberate effort to fit our institution into preconceived mindset based on half-truths and absolute falsehood.

To start with, as the official spokesperson of Bank of Agriculture (BOA), I wish to state that I received no enquiry of any sort or any contact whatsoever from Sina Fadare, the author of the said feature.

It is important to put this in perspective as the introduction of the feature attempted to present the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) as an unresponsive and unaccountable public institution that was “dodging enquiries”. This is not true.

I wish to affirm that the Bank of Agriculture is committed to the Cassava Fund Development Fund (CBDF) programme. It should be noted that prior to the CBDF BOA disbursed N1.1 billion to 7,372 cassava farmers in 2013 alone.

The author premised his story on the assumption that the Cassava Bread Development Fund (CBDF) programme started one year ago.

This is also not true. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and BOA to signal the commencement of the CBDF was

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EDITOR’S MAIL BAG SEND TYPEWRITTEN, DOUBLE SPACED AND SIGNED CONTRIBUTIONS, LETTERS AND REJOINDERS OF NOT MORE THAN 800 WORDS TO THE EDITOR, THE NATION, 27B, FATAI ATERE ROAD, MATORI, LAGOS. E-mail: views@thenationonlineng.net

Re: N9.9 billion fund… Still a long way to cassava bread signed on November 28, 2013. The story on the MOU signing was published in The Nation of December 8, 2013.

This fallacy notwithstanding, the MOU signing ceremony has been followed by several processes which has involved the leadership of Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA) in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT. For the fair minded, it is important to state

that the majority of the fund is not designed to be disbursed as cash, but as inputs. These include improved cassava stems, mechanization services, herbicides etc. The only cash element is for working capital, part of which is to pay labour engaged in the business.

It is understandable that putting the necessary structures in place for the procurement of these inputs is a process. The processes are on

stream. This much has been attested to by the national president of the NCGA. Rather than misinform the public that “one year after,…….”

Fadare should have left out what he is unsure of and at least, protect the integrity of the medium.

It is however important to point out that the CBDF is on course as Pastor Segun Adewumi, the National President of the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA)

NBA president must hear this!

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IR: I humbly wish to draw your attention to the challenges being faced by new wigs/lawyers especially during their service year. This letter is neither calculated to attract unnecessary attention nor in any manner to expose our noble profession to ridicule. As a matter of fact, I duly and sincerely apologize beforehand if any unexpected event or reaction becomes direct or probable fallout of this letter. I just did not figure how else to bring the instant issues directly to your attention.

The legal profession is an envi-

able and respectable profession. In fact, the first set of fields that immediately come to the mind of a layman as to who a professional is, are Law, Medicine and Engineering. If you agree with me that law is as professional a field as the medicine, then you must equally, agree with me that the practitioners of the former profession deserve no less a treatment than the practitioners of the latter. Lawyers and doctors ought to be accorded similar rights and privileges, mutatis mutandis.

I regret to inform you that this is far from the case as far as the gov-

ernment and NYSC are concerned.

Or how else could one explain a situation where there is a huge disparity in the duo’s general welfare; a situation whereby qualified legal practitioners are posted to secondary and primary schools for their primary assignment under the NYSC scheme? How could one explain the reason doctors are accorded preferential treatment in being afforded the time and facilities to practice their profession during NYSC while lawyers are not?

On postings, it would interest you to know that doctors are strictly

Open letter to new education minister

IR: I congratulate you, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, on your well deserved appointment as minister of education and to also pray to God, Almighty, to lead you as you settle down to confront myriads problems bisecting the sector.

In appointing you to this portfolio, the President must have reckoned with your eyes for excellence and bias for equity to all who come in contact with you. It is this attribute of yours that ginger a humble citizen and secret admirer of yours like me to write about an apparent injustice and inequity that has been perpetrated in the “appointment” of the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, Dr. Shetima Saidu on February 3. I strongly feel that due process was not

was reported to have told the writer. Adewumi affirmed that “his members have benefitted”, and that “the process is the most simplified process since Nigeria was birthed”.

The writer unfortunately found it convenient to put a negative slant on his story, painting the picture that the Cassava Bread initiative is a failed project. This is not true. This is one project that is on stream. Passing judgement on the Cassava Bread Development Fund in six months is extremely unfair when it is common knowledge that the cycle from planting to harvesting for cassava is at least 10 months. While your correspondents are free to publish, it is expedient that they approach affected institutions for facts before publishing.

• Oluremi Olaoye Bank of Agriculture, Kaduna.

followed and that some group of persons are out to circumvent the due process.

The following are some of my reasons which informed my conclusion that there is more to the emergence of Dr Shetima as Rector than meet the eyes.

Shetima emerged in distance third position in the interview conducted by the institution’s Governing Council, with Mal. Shuaibu Omame Madaki coming top. Although, this is not the first time the last is becoming the first in this country, but I feel as a serious nation with eye for merit and excellence we don’t have to continue that way.

Another reason is that the person who came first was not in any way

disqualified by reason of federal character, as he hails from Nasarawa State, rose through the rank to become senior lecturer having joined the institution from the scratch, passed all the security tests and was a two time Deputy Rector of the school. He has never been administratively or otherwise found wanting as a civil servant of the federal civil service.

And now, wait for the most curious aspect of the whole saga; as the Deputy Rector of the school, Madaki was made Acting Rector on February 3, while Shetima emerged with a letter a week later, dated January 31, claiming he had been confirmed the substantive Rector via a letter. By this letter, it means the federal government went ahead to appoint Madaki

as Acting Rector even when it had already confirmed Dr Shetima as the substantive Rector!

These are some of the inconsistencies that informed my conclusion that it is either government has ceased to do things right, or a cabal exists and has arrogated to itself the duty of hiring and firing on behalf government and this cabal care less for decency, decorum and pursuit of excellence.

I end this letter believing that as soon as it comes to your attention, you shall cause investigation to be carried out and the right thing is done.

•Musa Adamu Keffi, Nasarawa State.

posted to hospitals and health institutions for their primary assignment.

However, in the case of lawyers, the somewhat fortunate ones are posted to the Ministry of Justice and private law firms (where, more often than not, they are rejected), the rest are shipped off to secondary schools, local governments, the judiciary etc.

I humbly ask, what are lawyers expected to be doing in furtherance of their skills and profession working in Local Government Areas which are usually over-staffed, or in secondary schools, or in a High Court Library?

On allowances, the federal government pays Corp members N19,800 monthly. Unlike doctors, who receive as much as N50,000.00 excluding the NYSC allowance, most lawyer/corps members receive only what the federal government pays them and no more. Even the set of lawyers posted to private law firms are either paid paltry sum or are not paid at all.

I could go on and on and on. I, however, am certain you would not hesitate in verifying the veracity or otherwise of these several claims. I also humbly urge you sir, to liaise with the appropriate authorities with a view to finding immediate and lasting palliatives to these ills bedeviling the legal profession especially as regards NYSC lawyers.

• Mascot Okeke, Ado–Ekiti, Ekiti State.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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COMMENTS

‘Our Girls’; WSoyinka@80; NSNC: Urgent increase life of driving licence to 5-10 years pls

W Tony Marinho

HERE are ‘Our Girls’, missing since April 15, when they were wickedly kidnapped, destroying hopes and dreams and instilling terror. The kidnapping destroyed the laughter of their families and most

Nigerians.

On Sunday July 13,, we celebrated Nobel Laureate, theatre guru and passionate road safety maestro Professor Wole Soyinka’s 80th Birthday in the Theatre Arts Department in the University of Ibadan with a reading from Ake-The Years Of Childhood page 25, Soyinka’s first day at school at nearly three years old, which I had the honour to read-and which should be in every home as Soyinka is NOT difficult. The short extract was followed by the entertaining performance of the Wole Soyinka play Alapata Apata with Yemi Akintokun directing the Oracles Repertory Theatre Company and with film and literary guru Professor Akinunmi Ishola, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) president Professor Remi Raji-

‘The World Cup is over and it goes to Germany and shamefully still no footballs in Nigerian schools to train Generation Next! Is it not diversionary ‘foolball’ as politicians, civil servants and contractors collude to steal our inheritance? What gain, what pain, what cost? What corruption and incompetence in the NFF? Not all work is play! Now we can get back to work’

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T was Arthur Gordon, famously known as “Art” Linkletter, a Canadian-born American radio and television personality (July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010), who said: “There are four stages of man: infancy, childhood, adolescence…and obsolescence”. In all through these stages, the first two - infancy and childhoodthough form the building blocks of a man’s life, are hardly well documented like the events of the other stages of his life. That is why it is safe to conclude that growing old, gracefully, is something to cherish, especially when you have played your part so well in life. For Prince Henry Olukayode Odukomaiya, who clocked 80 last Thursday, July 10, he has played his part well. If you had come across him during his busy days as a journalist, of course, I have no apology for not saying his active days in Nigeria journalism, because the man is damn still active. Not ‘obsolete’.

Not expired either. The story of his meteoric rise in his chosen profession has been properly placed in the public domain by the man himself in series of interviews in the newspapers.

Odukomaiya is a product of the late Babatunde Jose’s hard-nosed journalism school. After his stint with the Daily Times, where he rose to be the Editor, he was invited by the late business mogul, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, otherwise known as M.K.O. Abiola, to pioneer his Concord group of newspapers as the first Editor-in-Chief.

A few years after his exit from Concord, he was again invited by multimillionaire businessman, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, to set up and become the first Editor-in-

Oyelade and Oyo State ANA chairman Dr Solomon Iguanre, Professor Nelson Fashina in close support with an approximately 200 plus keen audience. And a fine time was had by all. In this event we joined similar nationwide events and thousands of theatre arts professionals, students, literary giants, gurus and aficionados and many millions of Nigerians just happy that our human rights and democracy champion has defied the military and political odds and reached this 80th milestone in one democratic piece.

As we congratulate him we must encourage all parents and youth to fight to get Soyinka books available in every home and booklist. Has Nigeria monetised books, recommending on the booklist only those for which money has changed hands, ‘book corruption’? Is it possible that corruption disrespects even a Noble Prize sufficiently to allow governors and commissioners to strike a Nobel Prize winner from every booklist unless money has changed hands? There is no excuse for Soyinka not to be permanent number one to be on every Nigerian and African book list. Shame. And congratulations to Akin Bello, former chairman of ANA, Oyo State for winning the 2014 International Soyinka Prize for Literature. Google him and buy the book. Will it make booklists nationwide?

Stop Press: Even at this closing stage, can the Non-Sovereign National Conference (NSNC) or the Senate or Reps recommend that driving licences be issued for five and probably ten years. This is especially important because of the managerial stress experienced in obtaining the new licence needing renewal in three years. Shame. Nigerians must value their time and fight anything which can be streamlined by extending the life of any government instrument like a passport or a driving licence. I am sure the ‘ayes’ will have it and save millions of Nigerians billions of hours in queues.

You will recall that I suggested in this column at the beginning of this NSNC that the delegates should visit a day and a night across the Niger and Benue rivers to see firsthand one another’s territory? Such an exchange visit, had it been carried out, would perhaps have given opposing sides in the resource control debate a deeper understanding of decay, destruction and denial of the use of the land for

livelihood, water, food or rest caused by oil and gas flaring on one hand and the severe effects of desertification caused by the sun, sand and Sahara empathy for the other. One should add first-hand look at erosion troubles also. Whatever figure is agreed we all know that the reason why Nigeria is 50 years behind in development in most areas has nothing to do with revenue allocation formulas and everything to do with massive political and civil service corruption.

Every state, every local government has had more than enough to provide and equip all the hospitals, clinics, schools, roads and running water needed to be first class. Our national, state and LGA primary problem remains corruption at every level from politics to civil service to contractor corruption taking up to 50% and sometimes even 100% of allocated funds.

This is clearly shown by the huge sums involved in corruption cases across Nigeria. Just imagine where the amenities and social services would be with such sums properly utilised.

Unless the NSNC can offer severe quick penalties for political, civil service and contractor corruption, no revenue allocation formula will translate to an improves standard of living for the masses of people living near and in the poverty range in Nigeria. The politicians, the powerful and contractors will continue to steal in the name under the evil cloak of politics. The NSNC can recommend a corruption-proof funding strategy for all political parties. If not we may as well invite the political class to continue to rape and rob us through excessive salaries and perks, (SAP) and constitutional projects from which only 1/3 to ½ of the funds are estimated to actually reach the citizens. NSNC should have studied international practice and related political salaries to other jobs to reduce hyper-salaries. It has recommended part-time sitting. Hurray! Did it recommend one house- Senorep or Reposen House – the house of survivors?

O yes, the World Cup is over and it goes to Germany and shamefully still no footballs in Nigerian schools to train Generation Next! Is it not diversionary ‘foolball’ as politicians, civil servants and contractors collude to steal our inheritance?

What gain, what pain, what cost? What corruption and incompetence in the NFF? Not all work is play! Now we can get back to work.

Reminiscing about Odukomaiya @ 80 Chief of Champion newspapers. You may wonder why Odukomaiya was such a hot cake that was sought after by every investor that wanted to put his money in the newspaper business. The reason is simple.

Odukomaiya is a thoroughbred journalist of the highest professional hue who handles news publishing with a fiendish fervor that would make investors and practising journalists anywhere in the world green with envy.

My first encounter with Baba, as Odukomaiya was then called, was in 1988. On the day I met him, I had gone to the corporate headquarters of the Champion newspapers in Lagos, armed with a letter from the late Frank Russel, and addressed to the late Alhaji Jamiu Fola Ashiru, who was then an Executive Director with Champion newspapers. As soon as Alhaji Ashiru opened the letter, he asked me a few questions which I promptly answered. There and then, he led me out of his office to Baba’s office. We met Baba who was busy working on some materials on his table. Nevertheless, he took time off to listen to Alhaji Ashiru who introduced me to him and showed him the letter from Russel. Baba asked me a few questions too after which he invited Emma Agu, the editor. I was later told to report for work within a few days.

I had a challenging but highly rewarding engagement in the almost three years I spent in Champion newspapers from December 1988 to June 1991. Baba was a no-

‘Odukomaiya is a thoroughbred journalist of the highest professional hue who handles news publishing with a fiendish fervor that would make investors and practising journalists anywhere in the world green with envy’

nonsense administrator, thoroughly professional and very strict on matters relating to the ethics of the journalism profession. He led by example. He was always the last to leave office and often returned early every day. On a normal day, Baba resumed at work at about 8 a.m and remained permanently in the office, except there were official engagements to be attended to outside the office, till about 8:30 pm, Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, he came in around noon and stayed till about 8:30pm. On Sundays, he came in immediately after Sunday service at about 1 to 2pm and remained till around 8:30pm. During his days at the helm of affairs, the rule was that whoever was driving out of the compound should open his car booth to enable the security men to undertake a check before driving out. Most evenings, Baba drove himself. As soon as he got to the gate in his lemon-coloured Peugeot 505 saloon car, Baba would stop and personally come down to open his booth for the security men to do their job. He never missed it.

There was no lazing around whenever Baba was in the office and everybody knew this. Whenever he was coming in, his presence was always heralded by commotion, particularly among those who would have gathered at the reception area doing nothing. As soon as his car was sighted, you would find people falling over one another to escape to their various offices.

For the members of the editorial department, each day was like writing examination. Usually, Baba held a copy of the first edition of the newspaper and went through from the front page to the back page as a routine every day. In the process, he did a lot of markings with either green or red biro to point out errors which might either be in the casting of the headlines, typographical or punctuation errors, transposition, wrong bylines,

wrong photo illustrations, bad captions, wrong application of inhouse styles and many others.

So, naturally, even if you call yourself an editor, there was another superior editor somewhere in the person of Baba who was ever willing and ready to summon you at the sight of the slightest mistake or error in the newspaper. Depending on how grievous the error or mistake was, you could either earn a verbal warning, especially for a first offender or a suspension or even a sack or dismissal, whatever the case may be. If you are in the production department, if the error or mistake warranted using additional materials like films, plates and others, you were instantly surcharged. That strictness kept everybody on his toes as long as you wanted to remain a staff of Champion newspapers. Here was a man who took active interest in whatever went on in the company from the highest quarters to the bottom of the company’s organogram.

However, Baba’s work does not terminate in the office or during official hours alone. He carries his work to his house where he maintains an office complete with all gadgets. This was the area I had the greatest of my challenges. Every evening, on his way out of the compound, Baba stopped by in my office located on the ground floor to oversee what was going on at the proof–reading section and also to find out how quick production was going. As he made to leave, the usual refrain was: “Dele, give me the first call at 2:30 am. I have a lot to clear on my table”. What this means is that though he had closed for the day in the office, he would want to be woken up from sleep at 2:30 am in other to do some work.

This could either be some office work, simply reading or putting things together for another hectic day in office.

Baba is a workaholic. From morn-

Dele Agekameh ing till night, when he closed, he was always working on his desk.

He ate right there in his office. Some afternoons, when he felt like relaxing, especially on Sundays, you could enter his office and see some fried, peppered ‘goat meat’ on a saucer on his table with a bottle of icecold, chilled beer, usually Harp, waiting to be gulped down. He is kind, humane with a listening ear.

At the same time, Baba does not brook any nonsense as he is quick to temper but his anger subsides as quickly as it rises. That is Baba’s nature and I am told he is still like that. Just don’t play any pranks with him and you will be the best of friends.

Mary Kathleen Turner, popularly known as Kathleen Turner, 60-year-old (born on June 19, 1954), American actress, singer and stage director, once shrugged off an inquisitive reporter who was all over her determined to know her age, by saying: “Professionally, I have no age”. Odukomaiya’s exceptional contributions to Nigerian journalism practice must have attracted eminent Nigerians who gathered in Lagos last Thursday to celebrate with him as he joined the Octogenarian club. Though, now an Octogenarian, professionally, Baba is ageless!

Send reactions to: 08058354382 (SMS only)

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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COMMENTS ‘Re: Ajibola Ogunshola at 70. Why I admire Chief Ogunshola so much is because of his unassuming nature. He goes about unnoticed despite his societal stature. This is an example of a leader Nigeria needs. An actuary could do a lot with mathematics to turn things around hence, extremely few people venture into specialising in the course.

Not even many universities include Actuarial Science as a course. The thinking level is equivalent of that for Geology, Medicine and Surgery! To have been able to turn The Punch around from the grave is consequent upon his actuary science and personal discipline qualities. I join millions of Nigerians in wishing Chief Ogunshola a happy 70th birthday. From Lanre Oseni’ For Gbenga Omotoso •Ajibola Ogunshola

For Olatunji Dare Dare, “Once upon another commonwealth games” relieved me of pressure as I read it along because there are some funny bits, especially towards its tail end. For example, your feeling cheated by government for claiming that it triggered boycott of the games instead of The Guardian. It is funny because if the accolade was given to Guardian, it would still have been reported as championed by Nigeria. Another funny side is your bringing the issue to the general public exactly 30 years after. I thank God for sparing your life to tell us what confused us then. How I wish I were Jonathan, I would have given all the Guardian staff connected with the globe-stirring action next to the highest national honour immediately; for your achievement. Those were the days of true journalism unlike now that most mediamen are tied to aprong string of their corrupt political masters. God save us, Amen. From Lai Ashadele.

If Nigerian Government actualy boycotted Common-Wealth Game consequent upon The Guardian editorial, it was still proper to be refered as d Nigeria-led boycott, and not The Guardian. The newspaper merely presented its well-argued case on why d country shouldnt participate in the game,and never forced the government to boycott. The decision to participate or not to was still on the government to decide.That it eventually opted to withdraw from participation shouldn’t then mean that the credit should authomaticaly go to The Guardian newspapers, if the whole matter is logically followed - From Emmanuel Egwu

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OHN Boyd, an American military strategist and essayist once said “Machines do not fight wars. People do, and they use their minds and the destruction and distortion of the enemy’s will to win and perception of reality through ambiguous posturing, and severing of the communication and information infrastructure should be the driving force in mental warfare “.This in my view underscores the strategic role of the military and media in the war against terrorism in Nigeria.

Indeed in the past, relationship between the military and the media has been marked by periods of distrust particularly during the Buhari -Idiagbon and the Babaginda – Abacha era. But since the return of civil rule in 1999, there has been cordial relationship with the media without harassment and intimidation. With the recent clamp down and seizures of copies of newspapers, the relationship has again suffered some major setback and indeed reminding us of the dark past of the military and obnoxious Decree 4 of 1984.

Regretably, this acrimonious row is being driven by the Boko Haram insurgency in the north and the perceived negative reportage of the military engagement strategies with the terrorist and also the unfounded notion that media is being used by the opposition party to heat up the polity. However, the media, especially the press in contemporary Nigeria, is undeniably the most responsible arm of the state. The social responsibility role of the media which essentially include impartiality and self censorship mechanism in my view is the key driver in setting agenda for public opinion and the military do not have the monopoly of what constitutes national interest.

The experience of the military across the world in the fight against insurgency and separatist movements and the Boko Haram in the case of Nigeria, has shown that victory on the battlefield is not simple as defeating criminal gangs by force of arms but rather successes is

An elegy for Brazil: it is not true that Brazilians did not walk out of the stadium.They did, the commentator mentioned it. You always look for the exit door when you face shame. It is natural, don’t make it look like a Nigerian spirit. From Emma, Lafia The introduction of armed forces into the politics of Nigeria of today has alter the political calculation in the country. Nigeria will remain in darkness as long as politics of stomach infrastructure persist. Long live Federal Republic of order from above. Long live amala politics. From Hamza Ozi Momoh Apapa Lagos.

In your elegy you wrote and I quote “The Super Eagles went on strike to force the government to pay their appearance fees.” Bad leaders plus followers equals systems failure!

Anonymous Re-2015: A Lexical analysis-The new method of rigging is Stomachstructure which is not strange in Nigeria Politics starting from NPN ERA.It is unfor tunate that our power drunk politicians can never have a change of heart.

It is a bad omen for the future of this country.

From Past odunmbaku.

How can a country like Nigeria under the vicious grip of unrepentant and kleptomanic cabals of election riggers and looters ever learn? Our leaders are demonic and thrive in impunity.They even dare God. Our sitiuation appear hopeless especially with the type of masses we have as shown in Ekiti State. From Chief Solomon Egwuenu, Delta State Nigeria will learn when people like you the media show patriotism in your write up about her.when you learn to stand by our leaders and support them in times of nation trials irrespective of where he comes from. Anonymous Gbenga, your write up . Lexical analysis.

On point of correction, Tom is not a short form for Thabo Mbeki to the best of my knowledge. Secondly, Thabo Mbeki was not rejected

by African National Congress (ANC), Thabo Mbeki ran into trouble with ANC during the second term and that necessitated temporary replacement before the election that brought in Jacob Zuma. From Chief Olabode Majekodunmi.

Abeokuta I enjoyed your lexical analysis of 2015. One little fox, however: you mentioned Barnabas (who was rather the “son of encouragement”) instead of “Barabas”! From Brother Ame A. Aba. The Brazilian/German encounter may be shocking to many, for me there is nothing spectacular about the result of that match. That is football for you! Talking about patriotism: an average Nigerian is a self-centred animal, the fault being in our nature. We have not yet arrived at nationhood-The Gods are to blame.

From Moyosore Aladetohun, Iyana Ipaja.

Why were they crying as if winning is their birthright. There is nothing Nigeria should learn from then. We crashed out from round 16 we did our best. From Patrick, Abuja Having had about the passion of Ekiti people for education,I thought free, qaulity education would have earned governor Fayemi a second term in office, but he seems to be elite minded only to learn in a bitter way that the so-called poor are equally stakeholders in the state and are the majority he need to remain in the state house. He should be more realistic if the opportunity comes again just like it did to Fayose. From Uzoma, Owerri.

For Tunji Adegboyega It is good to praise achievers so they can do more, instead of showering encomiums on never-do-well leaders. Ajibola Ogunshola deserves encomiums for lifting The Punch newspaper when it was about going under.

Ogunshola demonstrated leadership worthy

of emulation for making Punch readable worldwide. Happy birthday, Chief Ogunshola. Congratulations! From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

Re: Ajibola Ogunshola at 70. Why I admire Chief Ogunshola so much is because of his unassuming nature. He goes about unnoticed despite his societal stature. This is an example of a leader Nigeria needs. An actuary could do a lot with mathematics to turn things around hence, extremely few people venture into specialising in the course. Not even many universities include Actuarial Science as a course. The thinking level is equivalent of that for Geology, Medicine and Surgery! To have been able to turn The Punch around from the grave is consequent upon his actuary science and personal discipline qualities. I join millions of Nigerians in wishing Chief Ogunshola a happy 70th birthday. From Lanre Oseni.

What makes a man a good leader is his integrity and straightforwardness. Chief Ogunshola has proved to the world that a leader without integrity has no business being a leader. Our leaders are stealing our money because of lack of integrity; politicians trying to differentiate stealing from corruption because of lack of integrity. Integrity makes a man; without it you become nothing. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

Good day, Tunji. I read your article “Ajibola Ogunshola at 70: The actuary who brought The Punch ‘back from the dead’ joins the septuagenarian club tomorrow” (i.e. July 14). In the first place let me congratulate Chief Ogunshola for clocking three scores plus 10.

Also, let me commend you for going down memory lane on progress so far made towards uplifting Punch by Chief Ogunshola. This is a man who knew every individual in the newsroom by his or her full names. He is a crisis manager of great dimension. I could recollect as a former Punch chief crime correspondent and later assistant editor, Chief Ogunshola would say “Musa, come and see me in my office in Lagos”. He would want to know what your individual problems were and how to enhance efficiency in the organisation. He however felt very sad when I resigned my appointment with the company in 1989. The Punch has produced great writers; Tunji, you are one of these. Others are Kunle Fagbemi, Prince Dayo Adeyeye (now Minister of State for Works), Lateef Ibirogba, Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Innocent Adikwu, Demola Osinubi, the current managing director of Punch. I praise the magnanimity of Chief Ogunshola for making the late Chief James Olubunmi Aboderin realise his dreams, even if post-humously, as his eldest son Wale is now chairman of Punch Nigeria Ltd. Congratulations, Chief Ogunshola and well done, Tunji. From Abubakar Musa Abuja.

Military, media and national security BySamuelAkpobomeOrovwuje defined by public perception which the media helps to shape through its reportage. Therefore, the military high command in my view stands to gain more than ever before from the media in their engagement strategy and indeed in shaping their operational output.

While International Humanitarian laws and conventions which regulates the conduct of war do not reflect the critical role of the media in shaping outcome of internal conflicts, the media is given a primacy of the right of civilian population as a neutral force on the battlefield.

Therefore the military high command should close the gaps in its relationship with the media with a view to galvanizing supports for its operational strategy and other engagement with the civilian population.

The perceived possibility of bad press has always been a challenge to the military high command, but indeed bad reportage does occur. But it is expedient on the military particularly the directorate of defence information to understand that reporters bring their own perceptions, level of access and the freedom to publish what is considered in the public interest.

Going forward, the relationship between the military and media should be hinged on the understanding of the impartiality and balanced media reporting and on other hand, the military objectives of internal security particularly on terrorism and other perceived threat

to the corporate existence of Nigeria. The military high command must also purge itself of the arrogance of the gun and the clandestine seizure of publications in the name of national interest and security.

Therefore, the military should give attention on how they can influence the activities and output of the media for national security.

Fudamentally,there is need to draw up internal security reporting manual or code for the media in Nigeria that would help to shape public perceptions which will help to balance the interest of the media in the pursuit of headline stories and similarly, the military pursuit in winning the war against insurgents. It is instructive to note that in the United State of America with a long history of democratic values, warfare and strategic engagement with the media has a guideline called, The US Army Field Manual: Public Affairs Tactics, Techniques and Procedures which has helped to shape information operations and ensuring that the media themes and messages are consistent with national aspirations and interest. This in my view has reduced the area of conflict between the military and media in reporting war.

Therefore a code of engagement with the media and the larger civilian population must be clearly defined in a democratic setting.

The military must also be strategic in their engagement with the media beyond news conferences and releases to more robust techniques of understanding the political slants and media representation in the area of operations and media ownership. The wide variety of non- traditional media should be explored to engage the enemy rather than open confrontation with the media in recent

time.

More importantly, the principle of embedding which is a feature of conventional warfare has been used by the US military to influence the media. Reporters are embedded with different units of the military and the strategic-level news presentations is given by senior military personnel before they are relayed to the news rooms. The mechanism also provide the military with the power of influence media output allowing the media a firsthand experience in tactical, operational and strategic dimensions of military campaigns.

Lastly, the media has increasingly become an important party in the fight against insurgents because of the growing importance of information management in warfare whether they are non conventional as the case of Boko Haram or not.

Furthermore, the military means and objectives of winning the war against terrorism has changed dramatically, the media itself particularly the press has undergone some transformation in recent years. These developments cannot be under estimated. From 24 - hours rolling news stations, on-line media platforms and websites, the Nigerian discerning public and indeed the world have greater sources of information more than ever before, and the military in my view has a more complex task in information management and intelligence rather than clamping on the press. Therefore the military and the media must build an enduring partnership and consensus to address the new realities of war-reporting in the interest of national security.

• Orovwuje, Founder, Humanitarian Care for Displaced Persons writes from Lagos.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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THE NATION

BUSINESS

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net Stories by Taofik Salako

ITF warns defaulters

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By Toba Agboola

HE Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Dr Juliet ChukkasOnaeko has warned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that fail to remit one per cent of their staff salaries to the Fund or face the wrath of the law.

She said the money is to enable the agency train people in technicals to reduce unemployment.

Dr. Chukkas-Onaeko told The Nation that the agency is soliciting for the support and cooperation of the stakeholders in ensuring that employers register and pay their training contributions to ITF, adding that the Fund is in working with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) to achieve maximum results.

She said the agency would advocate a strategy to resuscitate skills training.

The short term plan, she said, involves training youths and the unemployed in occupational trades for employment and job creation, while the medium term involves revamping existing vocational and technical schools by re-equipping them to commence training immediately.

She said: “The long term plan involves establishing new vocational and technical school training schools in all parts of the country by all tiers of government to complement existing ones and establish 32 skills training centres in various locations of the country.”

She said these are the agency’s way of keying into the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda, under the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP).

S

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

-Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga

Capital market regulators issue guidelines on online trading

ECURITIES regulators have designed guidelines for the growing number of retail online stockbroking portals that allow investors to execute their own orders on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

A reliable source said the regulators have raised a team to review the retail online stockbroking portals and develop a robust regulatory framework that could aid the growth of the segment and protect the investors and the market from abuses.

The regulatory framework is expected to provide clear rules and guidelines for stockbroking firms and users of the online trading portals.

There are no specific rules and guidelines for the online trading portals, which have emerged with the launching of the NSE’s new multi-faceted trading engine in 2013.

At least four stockbroking firms have launched online re-

By Taofik Salako

tail stockbroking portals. These included Meristem Securities Limited, Lead Capital Plc, Morgan Capital Group and Capital Bancorp Plc. The regulatory framework, according to sources, would seek to protect the market and investors from the main risk of identity theft while allowing enough flexibility that could stimulate the growth of the online trading.

NSE’s new trading engine, XGEN, became fully operational in 2013. A dynamic platform that has numerous opportunities and capabilities, it is able to process some 100 million orders per day with 5,000 trades per second. It has a highly flexible and configurable market structure that can be enhanced to support the auctioning process and trading of several asset

classes including Treasury Bills, a wide range of Fixed Income securities (including FGN Bonds), Equities, Exchange Traded Funds, Commodities and Derivatives.

Based on NASDAQ OMX’s proven X-Stream technology, the X-Gen allows investors, through their stockbrokers, to have real-time access to market prices and their portfolios and provide them with ability to execute market orders in near real-time on a wide range of devices including smart phones and laptops from any location.

Capital Bancorp is billed to formally launch its online stockbroking portal, Bancorp e-Trade, tomorrow. Bancorp eTrade enables retail investors with as low as N1,000 to open stockbroking accounts and trade on these accounts.

Managing Director, Capital

Bancorp Plc, Mr. Higo Aigboje, said the portal will provide investors with round-the-clock access to their portfolio and cash statements while investors can also place their orders within and outside the trading hours of the NSE. According to him, Bancorp eTrade is designed as a convenient and transparent means to ensure investors are in control of their investments at any time.

To be eligible to trade on the portal, one needs only access to internet, a functioning e-mail address, any active bank account, a fair understanding of the workings of the stock market and a stockbroking account with Capital Bancorp.

He outlined that his firm has simplified the account opening process for new investors as they only need to fill account opening form and upload

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Maritime workers give 14-day ultimatum

By Chikodi Okereocha

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Debt may collapse power system

By Sina Fadare

HE Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation Senator Gbenga Obadiah has raised the alarm that if the debt owed the power sector is not addressed, the power generation and transmission in the country will collapse.

Obadara, made this observation during the committee's oversight visit to the National Control Centre, (NCC) of the Nigeria Electric Power Grid in Osogbo,the Osun State capital, said the present status of power generation is so low that it cannot take the country to anywhere.

According to him, the Senate is not happy with the present state of electricity in the country and would try its best to address it. He challenged stakeholders in the power generation and transmission system to be dedicated as the senate would do all that it is necessary to address all the issues involved.

Replying, the Executive Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, Sahid Mohammed said the company is capable of generating 7,000 Mega Watts of electricity.

scanned passport photo, scanned utility bill that is not later than three months, scanned specimen signature, scanned mode of identification and their bank details.

The features of Bancorp eTrade, which sits on the infoware e-business suite platform, included display of balance in any currency of choice, online mandate, ability to specify expiry dates on orders, display of portfolio balance and portfolio analysis, statement of account, ability to view and download contract note in different formats, ability to view certificates and verification status, live streaming of stock market prices, live portfolio valuation, amendments or cancellation to undone transactions, graphs and charts and online real-time client information.

•From left: Head, Information Security & IT Risk Mgt, Keystone Bank, Gideon Adekile; Executive Director, Operations & Technology, Mrs. Yvonne Isichei; Associate Partner Phillips Consulting Nigeria, Wole Ogundare; Associate Partner Phillips Consulting Nigeria, Paul Ayim, during the presentation of the PCIDSS Certificate of Compliance to Keystone Bank on the successful completion of Phillips Consulting assessment.

Finance companies to handle N220b MSME funds

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INANCE Companies (FCs) have secured the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) backing to participate in the disbursement of N220 billion Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) funds meant for deserving entrepreneurs.

CBN Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Ahmad Abdullah, said the finance companies sub-sector was planned to operate at the middle tier of the financial system, largely to cater for the financial needs of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Before the current directive, management of the MSME funds was handled by the CBN through the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), or Managing Agent that included Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

The apex bank also directed on how the funds would be dis-

BDCs fight CBN over fresh rules - P 26

By Collins Nweze

bursed.

The regulator said there are many un-servedandunder-served clients in the MSME sub-sector that needed financial backing. To address the funding requirements of this critical segment of the economy, 80:20 ratio for on-lending to micro enterprises and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has been designed.

The CBN said women’s access to financial services should increase by 15 per cent yearly to eliminate gender disparity in lending. It also said to achieve this, 60 per cent of the N220 billion, representing N132 billion, has been earmarked for providing financial services to women.

Also, 10 per cent of the fund representing N11 billion, will be earmarked for social and developmental objectives as

grants; Interest Drawback Programme, N6.60 billion; Managing Agent’s (MA) Operational Expenses N4.4 billion.

However, the participating financial institutions can only finance agricultural value chain activities; trade and general commerce; cottage Industries; artisans, among others. The banking watchdog said to ensure that productive sectors of the economy continue to attract more financing necessary for employment creation and diversification of the country’s economic base, a maximum of 10 per cent of the commercial component of the fund will be channeled to trading and commerce.

The CBN said in operating the fund, special consideration will be given to institutions that will provide financial services to

NASD, CSCS create alternative dematerialisation - P28

graduates of the CBN’s Entrepreneurship Development Centers (EDCs).

Abdullah said the CBN had in a bid to sanitise the subsector, revoked the licences of 208 finance companies and cancelled the approvals-inprinciple of 462 others due to the distress in the sub-sector.

By 2012, there were 116 FCs in the records of the CBN; 51 licences were revoked by the CBN in September, 2012 thus leaving a balance of 65 FCs with valid licences.

“The idea is to have finance companies that are strong and virile to perform the functions they were set up to per form.

The objective of shareholders in the operation of finance companies is to make profit, but for the CBN, it is to have stable and strong finance companies,” he said.

ARITIME Workers Union of Nigeria, (MWUN) has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to, among others, evacuate all petrol tankers and other heavy duty vehicles on the access roads to the seaports or risk a shut down of all ports operations nationwide.

The union in a petition to the Federal Government through the Minister of Transport, also demanded the relocation of all the tank farms along the access roads to the sea ports and rehabilitation of all the access roads to the sea ports within the next 14 days for industrial peace to reign in the ports.

In the petition dated July 9, MWUN through its Secretary General, S. Aham Ubani, lamented that incessant gridlock on Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, had practically shut all economic and other activities on the Oshodi/Apapa axis besides inflicting untold hardships on residents and those whose businesses were located in the environs.

The petition read: “We observe with dismay that petrol tankers and trailers have permanently taken over the access roads to our Sea Ports; Apapa and Tin Can Island Port in particular.

The resultant gridlock caused by the indiscriminate parking of the petrol tankers and trailers that daily want to load petrol from the tank farms on the access roads to the sea ports have made movement of people and goods in and out of our sea ports and work places within the Apapa Industrial/ Commercial area impossible.”

Ubani said the deep pot holes on the roads, which are better described as gullies, have turned death traps, and is another contributory factor to the unprecedented grid lock that daily occur on the roads.

Lady cobbler find her passion - P39

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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THE NATION

BUSINESS MONEY

e-mail: money@thenationonlineng.net

• From left: Executive Director, Wema Bank Plc Mr. Ademola Adebisi; Second Vice President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Dr. Uche Olowu; CIBN President Mrs ‘Debola Osibogun; Group Managing Director, Wema Bank Plc Mr. Segun Oloketuyi; National Treasurer, CIBN Mr. Bayo Olugbemi; Executive Director, Wema Bank Plc Mr. Moruf Oseni; Executive Director, Skye Bank Plc Mrs. Ibiye Asime-Ekong and Acting Registrar, CIBN Mr. Seye Awojobi during a meeting with banks in Lagos.

BDCs fight CBN over fresh rules

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UREAUX De Change (BDCs) have risen to fight the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over its recapitalisation of their operation.

The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) said the recapitalisation was an indirect attempt to empower few operators and force many into liquidation.

Last week, CBN amended the fresh capital requirements for BDCs unveiled on June 23 and extended the deadline to July 31.

In a circular, Director, Financial Policy and Regulation at CBN Kelvin Amugo said interest would be paid on the mandatory cautionary deposit of N35 million, based on the savings account rate.

The CBN, Amugo said, would on expiration of the deadline, cease to fund any BDC that fails to comply with the fresh requirements.

But ABCON President Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe said the amendments were far from the recommendations made by the association during a meeting with the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele on July 1.

“We recommended that deadline for compliance should not be less than one year as it is the tradition of the CBN in the recapitalisation exercise for other regulated entities. This is because no organisation can meet the statutory requirements for recapitalisation, either by raising fresh capital or through mergers/acquisition, within the period stipulated as deadline by the CBN for BDCs to meet the new minimum capital requirements. By asking BDCs to recapitalise within one month,

Stories by Collins Nweze

the CBN is probably asking them to disregard these statutory requirements, and hence commit illegality.

“We also recommended that the mandatory caution deposit should be eliminated as there is no justification for such deposit.

BDCs are not deposit taking organisations, we operate on cash and carry basis. We pay for CBN dollars two days in advance. So there is no need for such deposits,” Gwadabe said.

ABCON, he said, also rejected the CBN decision to limit the weekly dollar sale to BDCs that meet the new requirements by July 31. This, he said, would bring back the activities of black market and fake currency operation, which the BDCs were able to abolish following their emergence as monetary tool of the CBN in 2006.

The policy, Gwadabe said, would give banks opportunity to hijack the weekly dollar sales to BDCs. “Before CBN started selling dollars to BDCs in 2006, banks were not interested in BDC business. But as soon as the dollar sale started, they saw it as an avenue to make cheap profit, and pressurised the CBN to catego-

rise the sub-sector into Class “A” and Class “B” BDCs. He explained that the minimum capital requirement for Class “A” BDCs, mostly owned by banks and money bags, was set at N500 million, adding that they were allowed to buy $1 million per week, while Class “B” BDCs with N10 million minimum capital requirement, were allowed to buy just $50,000 per week. That was how the CBN allowed the banks and money bags to hijack the dollar sales to BDCs in 2009, he added.

“This, we believe is what will happen once the CBN limits dollar sales to BDCs that meet the N35 million minimum capital requirement, and mandatory caution deposit. It is an indirect way of handing over the weekly dollar sales to banks and money bags, which had no interest in BDC business until CBN started selling dollars to BDCs.” “The savings interest rate on caution deposit should also be reviewed to reflect market reality as the chunk of deposits to be realised by the CBN would be placed in treasury bills that attract between nine and 10 per cent per annum presently,” Gwadabe said.

‘We also recommended that the mandatory caution deposit should be eliminated as there is no justification for such deposit.

BDCs are not deposit taking organisations, we operate on cash and carry basis. We pay for CBN dollars two days in advance. So there is no need for such deposits’

NDIC denies seeking more power

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HE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has denied some reports that it is seeking powers to liquidate insurance companies.

In a statement, the corporation explained that as a deposit insurer and liquidator of insured deposit taking financial institutions, the liquidation of insur-

ance companies does not fall under its purview.

The corporation said its proposed amendments bill which is before the National Assembly does not seek powers to liquidate insurance companies or terminate the insurance firm’s licenses as erroneously published in the national dailies.

Bank unveils ‘high networth’ services

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COBANK Nigeria has unveiled its dedicated banking service delivery christened Premier Banking Service targeted at high net worth customers. The Ecobank Premier Banking personalises banking services that suit individual life style of customers in a collaborative way that provides additional value beyond everyday banking.

In a statement, it said the initiative signifies the beginning of a redefinition of banking in Nigeria characterised with the appointment of dedicated Relation-

ship Manager as primary point of contact providing a 24-hour, seven days a week (24/7) financial advisory service to Premier Banking customers and their family.

Unveiling the service in Lagos, Ecobank Nigeria Managing Director Jibril Aku said it gives customers the privilege to have exclusive lifestyle benefits, including preferential airline and hotel rates and unparalleled rewards from luxury brand retailers across the world.

Shared services project

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HE Executive Director, Operations and Technology, Mainstreet Bank Limited, Anogwi Anyanwu, has announced the completion of the first phase of the firm’s Group Shared Services (GSS) project.

Speaking on the project, Anyanwu said the first phase improved the bank’s ability to respond to customer needs in promptly and efficiently.

He cited some of the benefits recorded so far to include consolidation of 41 Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) centers and 34 clearing centers into one centre thereby ensuring prompt process-

ing and delivery of service. The project, he said, has also led to an end to end processing of many hitherto branch functions from the Group Shared Service Centre.

Other benefits of the first phase of the project include standardisation of services across the bank, centralised processing of basic customer requests, prompt and seamless funds transfers, instant advice to customers on various types of transactions, and card issuance on the electronic card request management (e-CRM) platform which facilitates processing of all card requests under 24 hours.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

MONEY The release, last week, of Nigeria’s growth rates under the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) revealed that growth is two percentage points lower. An analysis showed that telecom is a maturing and slower-growing sector. The growth sectors are manufacturing - particularly food, cement and textile – and real estate. Banks are expected to be major gainers during the spendings for 2015 elections. COLLINS NWEZE reports.

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HE actual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for 2013 was last week brought down to 5.49 per cent from an estimated 7.41 per cent.

The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its latest GDP data, said the economic growth for 2012 was revised down to 4.21 per cent, from an estimated 6.5 per cent. Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa’s largest economy in April, after a rebasing calculation almost doubled its gross domestic product to more than $500 billion.

Chief Economist, Renaissance Capital (RenCap) Charles Robertson said in an emailed report that the downward growth revision, which was expected, is in part the result of better measurement of previously understated but fast-growing sectors, such as telecoms.

Roberson said a moderate improvement in growth in 2014 to 5.7 per cent is expected, partly due to a boost from higher electionrelated fiscal spending, including potential wage hikes for civil servants. Some sectors that are likely to gain from a looser fiscal policy include trade, financial services and telecoms.

Also, preliminary oil output numbers for the first half of the year suggest a slowdown in the decline of the oil and gas sector, which is positive for growth. “We expect growth to moderate in 2015, particularly in the second half of 2015 – as the largesse that typically surrounds elections dissipates. However, this time around, we expect any fiscal stimulus related to elections to be much more moderate than that of 2010/2011,” he said.

Telecoms maturing

He explained in the report titled: “Nigeria’s GDP: Bigger but slower Manufacturing is the growth engine” that under the new series, telecoms accounts for nine per cent of GDP and grew by 4.7 per cent in 2013. “The rebased growth numbers confirm that telecoms’ rapid growth is in the past and the sector has matured. The decline of oil and gas partly explains the lower growth, particularly in 2013 when the sector contracted by a sizeable 13 per cent and shaved 1.5 percentage points off total growth,” he said.

Manufacturing sector

On the manufacturing sector, Robertson said the sector is a much bigger, faster-growing sector under the new series, with nine per cent of GDP as against four per cent previously. In 2013, it recorded substantial growth of 22 per cent as against 14 per cent in 2012, comprising one-third of total growth.

Food, beverage and tobacco producers account for half of the manufacturing sector.

The sub-sector’s growth accelerated to 12 per cent in 2013, against seven per cent in 2012.

“We believe Nigeria’s large population of upwardly mobile consumers, particularly in the south-west, coupled with investments in power, implies the strong growth of manufacturers, including food producers and breweries, is sustainable,” he said.

The cement market

Several of the smaller manufacturing subsectors are growing even faster than food producers. Cement, which only comprises per cent of GDP, grew by a sizeable 39 per cent in 2013, up from a strong 14 per cent in 2012. This is consistent with a fast-growing construction sector 14.2 per cent in 2013, against 9.4 per cent in 2012 and real estate sector 12 per cent against 5.6 per cent.

Nigeria’s cement stocks give exposure to strong expansion in the building material itself, as well as the construction, real estate and infrastructure sectors. Upside for finance given lower penetration, lower rates outlook. The trade and real estate sectors trumped agriculture and financial services in 2013, to become among the top three growth drivers, together with manufacturing. The decline in agriculture’s growth contribution in 2013 was partly due to the third quarter 2012 floods.

The sign of things to come

• CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele

Oil and gas sector decline

The report said the oil and gas sector’s GDP share – 11 per cent – is more or less the same as it was under the previous series. Since the sector has been contracting since 2012, its GDP share has dropped by four percentage points under the rebased series, from 15 per cent of GDP in 2011.

“The oil and gas sector contracted by an alarming 13 per cent in 2013 after a decline of five per cent in 2012. The decline in recent years of oil and gas’s importance as an economic sector is largely attributed to industrial-scale oil theft,” it said.

It said that preliminary oil output data suggest that the rate of decline in the oil and gas sector has slowed in first half of this year. Output was at 2.15Mb/d in June, according to a Bloomberg survey of OPEC producers.

However, output remains volatile and there has been little in the way of reforms to suggest that there will be a material increase in output over the medium term.

The passage of the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which we believe is not going to happen before the February 2015 elections, is seen by experts as a potential positive trigger for improved production.

Head of Research, Standard Chartered, Razia Khan said the low weights given to rapidly growing sectors such as telecoms and financial services in previous GDP measures most likely mean that activity in these sectors is understated.

• Khan

• Popoola

She said the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill and uncertainty over future fiscal terms mean that conditions will remain difficult for the oil sector.

“Delays in the passage of the 2014 budget are an additional source of uncertainty,” she said.

Khan explained that under Nigerian law, at least 50 per cent of the recurrent budget expenditure allocated in the previous fiscal year can be used for spending in the new year, without requiring a new budget to be passed. Also, should last year’s spending levels be maintained, this should be enough to see Nigeria through the first six months of this year.

“With elections approaching in February 2015, few stand to benefit from a postponement of capital expenditure plans.

Officially, the 2014 budget aims to reduce the budget deficit to 1.9 per cent of GDP (from 2.17 per cent in 2013). Our higher estimates reflect our doubts over whether the oil output levels assumed in the budget, of 2.39mn barrels per day, can be sustained.

Augmentation of revenue, using windfall oil savings from the Excess Crude Account (ECA), is likely to be required.

Ahead of an election, there is always a risk of further fiscal deterioration if spending plans are increased,” she said.

Khan said revenue shocks arising from constrained oil output will cause the mix of recurrent to capital expenditure to fall short of plans in the medium-term ex-

penditure framework (MTEF) which aims to create more room for investment spending.

Managing Director, CRC Credit Bureau, Babatunde Popoola said the rebasing has finally laid to rest, the controversy over the actual size and ranking of our economy.

He said that from the rebased GDP, it makes sense to set out the fundamental implications of the new reality. “Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa with a GDP of US$510 billion. Our per capita income has moved up to $2,688, which still places us on 121 st position. The per capita income position is an indication of an economy with low productivity,” he said.

Popoola said the rebasing of the GDP has also provided Nigeria with the impetus and the stimulant to see herself as a big economy. “Hopefully, it also should be able to further improve the attraction of foreign directive investment provided we are able to put together the other important factors especially appropriate policy and conducive investment climate,” he said.

The CRC boss said Nigeria is a country blessed not only with huge human resources but also with natural resources.

Nigeria is the largest producer of crude oil in Africa and also has the seventh largest crude oil export in the world with a daily production capacity of over 2.5 million barrels per day.

“We are the 28 th largest gas producer in the world and may be the second fastest growing gas producer in the world. But as an oil dependent economy, substantial revenues of government are derived from oil and gas which also account for over 90 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. Apart from oil and gas, Nigeria has thirty-four other unexploited mineral resources,” he said.

Continuing, he said: “With democracy and the pursuit of a free enterprise economy, we have given impetus to free ownership of means of production and equal opportunities to all who may wish to embark on their own private initiatives.

“The size of the economy through its newly calculated GDP, the growth of the GDP over the last decade and the nature of our youthful demographic all provide a beautiful outlook for Nigeria.”

‘Also, preliminary oil output numbers for the first half of the year suggest a slowdown in the decline of the oil and gas sector, which is positive for growth. We expect growth to moderate in 2015, particularly in the second half of 2015 – as the largesse that typically surrounds elections dissipates.

However, this time around, we expect any fiscal stimulus related to elections to be much more moderate than that of 2010/2011’

28

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

THE NATION INVESTORS

NASD, CSCS create alternative dematerialisation system

T

HE NASD Plc and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc have devised an alternative dematerialisation system that allows investors to deposit their physical share certificates with the CSCS in exchange for a tradable digital account.

Dematerialisation is the process of converting a physical certificate into a digital account balance at the CSCS, much like the conversion of a physical cash note to a bank account balance. The NASD- the over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform for unquoted securities only trade on fully-dematerialised and freely transferable securities that must have been registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The NASD OTC was formally launched on July 1 and opened for trading on July 2. Formerly known as the National Association of Securities Dealers, NASD OTC is registered with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform for unquoted securities; including equities and bonds.

Managing director, NASD Plc, Bola Ajomale, said the alternative dematerialisation was meant to solve the difficulty in the share certificate conversion.

According to him, since the launch of the over-the-trade

•OTC market marks one year Stories by Taofik Salako Capital Market Editor

(OTC) market, it has been noted that some registrars had difficulty in completing the conversion from physical to digital balances.

“To solve this difficulty, NASD and CSCS have agreed on a procedure to allow shareholders transfer their physical certificates to CSCS as their custodian. CSCS will hold custody of the physical certificates, but will also create a digital account for the shareholder. ’This ensures that the shareholder is relieved of the risk of holding a physical certificate and the company secretary does not bear responsibility for digital trading,” Ajomale said.

He urged stockbrokers to advise their selling clients to transfer their holdings in such securities to CSCS by filling a form that makes CSCS the transferee or custodian.

He noted that the alternative is a major step towards creating more transparency and liquidity on the OTC market and a win-win by NASD measures.

Reviewing the performance of the NASD since inception, Ajomale said the OTC platform has made some significant inroads into creating a transparent and liq-

uid over the counter market.

According to him, in line with their objectives, more public companies are registering with the SEC, thus providing greater regulatory protection to shareholders.

“Reference prices have been created for 80 per cent of the securities traded on the market, making price discovery easier for investors and operators. ’Dematerialisation of unlisted securities has started; a critical step in creating a safer market for investors, while trade volumes and investment flows are being reported, providing important planning information to portfolio managers. Of course, there are many more targets and milestones to meet and NASD shall keep market watchers informed every step

of the way,’’ Ajomale said.

Meanwhile, NASD has also opened up analyst pages for investment and equity analysts who wish to cover OTC securities. Reports will be specific to each security on admitted to trade and will come with a clear “buy”, “sell” or “hold” recommendation.

Analysts who have volunteered to submit equity analysis and reports believe this will deepen the knowledge base of the investing public and at the same time give firms the opportunity to advise a wider public. The first reports are expected to be uploaded before the end of this month.

“Our vision is to create a market that is accessible throughout West Africa. We intend to become the hub of first call for capital formation in West Africa and we are guided by the principles of Integrity, Performance and transpar-

ency in all our dealings with every point of contact- be they investors, issuers, regulators business partners and especially your good selves,” Ajomale had outlined the vision of the OTC..

He enthused that NASD would fuel economic growth in the West African sub-region by developing and operating active markets that adhere to the highest standards of performance and principles of integrity while also creating value for its stakeholders and the investing public.

According to him, by offering more liquidity in investment instruments to the Nigerian capital market, NASD will play a crucial role in the ability of Nigeria to sustain a real growth rate of above seven per cent per year and ensure that desired capital intensive projects can get cheaper and faster access to funding.

New pension act to boost capital market, say experts

T

HE new Pension Act, which was recently signed into law

by President Goodluck Jonathan, could lead to further inflow of funds and help to deepen the liquidity of the Nigerian capital market.

Investment experts told The Nation that although the new Pension Act does not include any direct provisions that may have immediate impact on the capital market, many changes in the Act would indirectly impact the market.

Head, Research and Intelligence, BGL Group, Mr, Femi Ademola, said the changes in regulatory powers of National Pension Commission (Pencom) and enforcements would quicken the pension pool.

According to him, the new pension act contains changes to regulatory powers of the Pencom especially in terms of compliance to the mandatory retirement savings while it also seeks to increase pension contribution by expanding covered persons, especially to the informal sector. All these developments will definitely help to grow pension assets in the coming years.

He noted that while investment allocations by the pension fund administrators (PFAs) would still be governed by the periodic regulatory guidelines from pencom, which restrict investments in equities, the increase in pension assets would lead to larger investments in the capital market.

“As the pension assets increases, the amount of assets to invest in equities, corporates and other non-sovereign securities could increase. The increase in pension assets may also result in the altering of permissible investments by the regulator which may eventually favour the capital market,” Ademola said.

Group head, research, Lead Capital Plc, Mr. Sadiq Waziri, pointed out that the increase of total contribution from 15 per cent to 18 per cent would accelerate pension assets that can be created by PFAs noting that pension assets, which currently stands at more than N4 trillion, could have a 20 per cent boost in it growth.

“Since PFAs can invest in equities, it would simply mean more funds will

be available to them to invest in various asset class including equities. It would add more liquidity to the market,” Waziri said.

Meanwhile, many capital market operators had called for more flexible investment guidelines that would allow PFAs to aggressively grow their funds and finance creative financial solutions without necessarily undermining their assets.

Group deputy managing director, BGL Plc, Mr. Chibundu Edozie, noted that capital market operators and investment managers would like to see a pension sector that is creative and more amenable to more exotic assets to meet the market’s needs.

According to him, while the guarded approach by Pencom saved the industry from the market meltdown of 20082010, the industry is ripe now to start allowing more innovation and skilful management expertise from the fund managers.

“We may start this by allowing investment according to the demography of beneficiaries where funds with more young contributors are allowed more investment in equities than funds with older contributors. We may also allow fund managers to invest in some private products such as infrastructure funds and other development-focused products and funds which may not fulfill all the current investment guidelines by the Pencom as long as the fund manager is convinced that it is a beneficial investment to the fund contributors,” Edozie said.

Managing director, Capital Assets Limited, Mr. Ariyo Olushekun, also noted that there should be flexible in pension fund investment and management in line with the structures and classes of the contributors.

According to him, increased pool of capital and flexible investment rules should allow aggressive fund managers to play in the equities market without violating any rule.

He noted that pension funds as collective assets of the Nigerian people should be used as catalyst for the Nigerian capital market, which would in turn impact on the nation’s economic development.

•From Left: Stella Mujakperuo, company secretary, Mr. Olutola Mobolurin, chairman and Bola Ajomale, Managing Director all of NASD Plc at the first annual general meeting of the company in Lagos.

NSC to ease cargo clearance at ports

T

HE Nigerian Shippers’ Council says it will concentrate its efforts on ensuring that the clearance procedure at the nation’s sea port is made faster, even as it vowed that the agency would cut unreasonable charges in the system, because the ports are in competition with other neighboring ports.

Its Executive Secretary Mr. Hassan Bello also said he was determined to make the ports attractive for business and accused maritime stakeholders of being impatient over its new regulatory role, even as he said the Council would not be blackmailed or rushed in its efforts to bring harmony and sanity into the port operation.

Bello who said those criticising the Council of not living up to expectations in its newly assigned regulatory role at the port intended to blackmail

By Oluwakemi Dauda

the council to abdicate its responsibility.

He said that the Council will end arbitrary charges at the port when all stakeholders do what they are expected to do.

“The Shippers’ Council will be accused all the time by stakeholders, if we are not accused then we are not doing our work. We have to be accused, abused everyday, but what we want is harmony, representation in Nigerian economy through the ports and nobody is going to rush us to do what we are not expected to do.

“We are going to take a scientific approach, it is not a beauty contest or a popularity contest, but by the time there is harmonisation in the port, I am sure everyone will see it, regulation is not ‘ABC’ that you re-

cite for people to get impressed, it has to be scientific so that we can make the ports attractive for business,” he said.

Bello said the council, as a commercial regulator is supposed to be allowed to study the situation in the industry for not less than three years for it to be properly grounded.

He said he was happy that the council has what it takes in terms of experience and past dealings to regulate the industry well, and insisted that it will not carry out its regulatory on the pages of newspapers.

“We are going to consult and have the buy-ins of the stakeholders before we do everything, even now we have started the regulation and regulation is consultation, transparency, unbiased and these are part of what we have embarked on” he said.

Goldlink will emerge strong, says NAICOM

T

HE regulatory body of the insurance industry, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has assured that Goldlink Insurance Plc will be repositioned.

The assurance is coming on the heels of its intervention in the company when it sacked its management two years ago.

Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel made this known while giving an update on companies under its management in Lagos. He explained that their intervention in Goodlink is to rescue the company from collapse.

He said: “I think our intervention in Goodlink is to rescue the company from imminent collapse. I am very happy to say that the company is on its right track and to coming back fully.

By Omobola Tolu-Kusimo

“We actually put in a place an interim management that was meant to work for only six months. We found it necessary to extend it further because the interim management is doing a good job. “We have been able to track the assets that were shrouded in cloudiness. We know the exact liability of the company and the company is being repositioned.”

NAICOM took over the management of Goldlink for financial reports and corporate governance failures.

The commission has also reconstituted a seven-man interim board of directors to oversee the affairs of the company for the six months with effect from October 31.

The commission uncovered anoma-

lies and misstatements in the audited financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2011.The interim board was charged with the responsibility of carrying out full investigation on the 2010 financial reports and corporate governance failures observed in the course of reviewing the company’s financial statement.

The interim board, has James Olatunde Ayo, former Managing Director of Royal Exchange Assurance Plc as Chairman and Gbolahan Olutayo, Managing Director, Adeyinka Olutungase as Chief Finance Officer (CFO), Ambassador Umar Damagun, Alhaji Sashe Dabana, Prof. Chioma Kanu Agomo and Mallam Abubakar Sadiq Mijinyawa as an Independent Director.

Newspaper of the Year

AN EIGHT-PAGE PULLOUT ON THE SOUTHWEST STATES

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

PAGE 29

All is not well in Oto Ilogbo kingdom in Lagos Mainland Local Government as communities are accusing the Oloto of Oto, Oba Ganiyu Odesanya and some of his chiefs of illegally demolishing their settlements and harassing them with thugs. SEUN AKIOYE reports

•The demolished school

I

Trouble in Oto kingdom

INSIDE

T was the perfect deal for the leaders of the Ma-Had Arabiyat Liummatil Islam of Nigeria, an Islamic and Qur’anic school. The agreement was signed, sealed and delivered — or so it seemed.

In 1996, the group had approached the Oloto Chieftaincy House in Oto Ilogbo in the Mainland Local Government Area of

‘We don’t rob during Ramadan’ •PAGE 35

Lagos State to buy a piece of land.

The only available piece of land was a waterlogged area along the railway line on Oyingbo-Otto road.

The school agreed. According to the Secretary of the Institution, Alhaji Sikiru Akanbi, the land was sold at N18, 000 for the space of four rooms. The group bought 160room size of land measuring 80 by 150 square meters.

For the next four years, it struggled to fill the marshy land with rubbish and other items until it was able to erect temporary structures on it. “Our plan was to build our Islamic school, a mosque and hostel for our students. We have a branch of our group on Herbert Macaulay Road but we felt another branch was needed here in Oyingbo, that was the reason

Ondo monarch in prison for alleged stealing •PAGE 32

we bought the piece of land,” Akanbi told The Nation.

But trouble began immediately the group started to erect structures on the land. The Lagos State Government challenged their rights to build on the land. Also, the Federal Ministry of Works claimed that the land belonged to it. In a letter dated February 13th, 2002, the Chief Resident Surveyor (Lagos),

Rumpus in Akure’s palace over ex- Deji’s property •PAGE 34

A.E Eseodili, acting on behalf of the Surveyor General of Nigeria informed the group that, “ The four corner points with plan N0 MAF/57A/88L of the referenced plan falls inside Ebute-Metta Creek, which is within the railway line right of way.”

The ministry thereafter ad•Continued on page 32

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

30

SOUTHWEST REPORT Senator Sola Adeyeye, representing Osun Central Senatorial District, is the Director-General of Governor Rauf Aregesola Campaign Organisation. The Professor of Molecular Biology spoke on the August 9 governorship election in Osun State and why he thinks Aregbesola will defeat his opponents hands down. He spoke with ADEKUNLE YUSUF.

‘Aregbesola will be re-elected overwhelmingly’ B

Y the time the result of Ekiti gubernatorial was announced, were you surprised by the outcome and why?

I must confess that the outcome of the Ekiti election was a total surprise.

Most analysts before and after the election have maintained that Fayemi governed well. To explain the results, pundits have introduced a new terminology into our political lexicon, that is stomach infrastructure. I have wondered whether this is the latest manifestation of Nigeria’s descent into neofeudalism. Are our masses contented to accept crumbs falling from the iniquitous tables of the dukes and knights of our appalling estate? I am not convinced that this alone can explain the outcome of the Ekiti election. I have a haunch that something untoward took place. Time will tell. My prayer to God is that it tells soon. In any case, had our own parents chosen stomach infrastructure and rejected the shifts in paradigms espoused by the visionary and sagely Obafemi Awolowo, where would we all be now?

Don’t you fear that the bandwagon effect can affect the coming governorship election in Osun?

I am confident that the Ekiti outcome will have no bandwagon effect in Osun.

Why do you think so?

For one thing, Aregbesola is a consummate politician. He is a grassroots mobilizer par excellence. In addition, the people of Osun are known for their political sagacity and trail blazing.

When you look at the ineptitude oozing daily from the presidency, Osun people can hold their heads high that they did not succumb to the folly of voting for President Jonathan in 2011.

Osun was the only state out of 36 in which Jonathan lost.

You have been made the chairman of reelection committee of Ogbeni Aregbesola, how easy or difficult do you think the job will be?

Honestly, I am extremely grateful to Governor Aregbesola for giving me the privilege and responsibility to direct his campaign. I have always believed that it will be an easy job. I said so because Aregbesola is a fantastic product; he is a product that does not need any advertisement. He has done what any objective observer must admit to be a superlative performance.

For that reason, I am glad to embrace the opportunity. That said, I do not take our opponents lightly, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Because historically, from independence, we have seen over and over and over again that when given a chance, the Yoruba people have always chosen - in any free and fair election - a progressive government. They have always voted for a progressive government. That was what happened in 1960. That was what happened in 1979.

That was what happened in 1999. But in each instance, we have always seen that the more conservative wing of Nigerian politics had always taken power at the center and had always manipulated and abused and misused that power to subvert the electoral mandate of Yoruba in subsequent elections.

That was what we saw in 1964/65 that eventually led to the weti e episode and the first coup. That was what we saw in 1983 that led to the moonlisde and the landslide that eventually saw to the termination of Shagari regime.

That was what we saw in 2003 when of the six governments of the then South-

•Senator Adeyeye

western states, five were captured. And of course, they have always said that it is because our people chose to effect a change in leadership. We must ask them, were the worst government of 1999-2003 in Yorubaland that only Yorubaland had that kind of shift in political loyalty? Of course it was nothing but the same pattern of misuse of federal might to subvert the electoral sovereignty of the Yoruba people. But I will not be surprised after what we saw in 2011 if the iniquitous manipulators of the process are again determined to use federal might to subvert the electoral sovereignty of our people. And that is my own challenge to make sure by the grace of God that will not happen under my directorship in Osun State. If it is to simply assess Aregbesola on his record, if it is to look at him based on his performance, if it is to look at him based on his character versus the character of his opponent, I have no doubt that overwhelmingly the people of Osun will return Aregbesola as governor for another four years of dynamic performance.

Violence is gradually rearing its ugly face in Osun State as election approaches. Are you saying you are not afraid at all that things might suddenly go wrong in the state that can change the game?

Any lover of peace must be afraid that violence is rearing its head. You see, violence is like cancer; once it begins, it keeps growing and causing deadly damage. Unfortunately, it is those who can never win a free and fair election that orchestrate violence to supplant the sovereignty of the electorate. If the police would do its work well, violence can quickly be curbed.

Regretfully, since 1999, the Nigeria Police itself has often been used as if it is the PDP Police. It has repeatedly dispensed needless terror and victimization. The examples are countless of Nigeria Police being misused as a wicked machinery for intimidation and repression. Most recently, the utterances of Jelili Adesiyan, the Minister of Police Affairs, have revealed a sophomoric grasp of the demands of the exalted office he now occupies.

You are not a politician in the Nigerian sense of that word, but you have been asked to direct a reelection campaign that promises to be interesting.

What do you think qualified you for that responsibility?

Thanks to Governor Aregebesola, he respects my love for truth, he respects my courage, he respects the fact that whenever I put my hand in the plough, I don’t look back. Many people in Nigerian politics today are scared of the person who is our principal opponent in Osun State today. They be-

‘Any lover of peace must be afraid that violence is rearing its head. You see, violence is like cancer; once it begins, it keeps growing and causing deadly damage. Unfortunately, it is those who can never win a free and fair election that orchestrate violence to supplant the sovereignty of the electorate. If the police would do its work well, violence can quickly be curbed’ lieve his antecedents are of such of dubious nature that you must fear for your life if you dare to oppose him.

And honestly, I am concerned for my own life too. I know that only God watches over our lives. Even without politics, I could meet my death today on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. For that reason, having put my confidence in God, my Governor knows that I am not scared of anyone. My Governor also knows that by the grace of God, I have the intellectual preparation and the innate qualities to be able to think on my feet and respond to whatever shenanegians might be brought into the campaign process by our opponent. My Governor also knows when I believe in a cause, I am willing to spend whatever is within my means for that cause. I don’t need anyone to

A

FTER over a century years of existing in darkness, AbaAladie village in the Oyo West Local Government Area of Oyo State has joined the league of rural settlements in the state now enjoying electricity.

In line with the the transformation agenda of Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi’, the village was ‘light’ up so to speak on Monday to the admiration of the rural folks.

The light up of the village provided ample opportunities for nine other adjoining villages to be connected to the national grid with 33KVA transformer.

The rural electrification projects embarked on by the Local Government was aimed at transforming lives of poverty-stricken rural dwellers for the better.

Joy knew no bound for the villagers who turned out in their thousands to appreciate and give their solidarity to both the state governor and the local government care-

give me a penny to spend; whatever I need to spend for the triumph of a candidate in whom I believe - not because I need anything from the candidate but because I believe it will augur well and work in the best interest of the people of Osun. Because afterall, that is my purpose of being in politics.

Your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), is embrolied in serious crisis in some state chapters. Don’t you think the crisis may snowball into bigger crises that may cost the party dearly in the forthcoming elections?

Of course I do think so. And that is why all of us in our party must put on our thinking cap and do everything to either reverse ongoing crises, solve them or try to minimise their impact.

That said, I must also point out that our party is not the only one having

crisis. If you talk for example about the internal crisis in APC in Ogun State, are we going to be oblivious to the internal crisis going on within the PDP? You can look at personalty ABC bickering with personalty DEF in APC. But when you look at the PDP, you will also find that personalty GHI quarelling with PQR and so on. No party is completely free of these schisms which are natural to contestation for power. You find similar things in Oyo State. Again, are you going to say that there are no schisms within the PDP? Are we going to say Jumoke Akinjide, Teslim Folarin and Alao Akala are best of friends? Of course not! When the time comes for contestation for power, you will find the same schisms again.

At the national level, the PDP has been trying to paint the APC with brush of an Islamic party, alleging without proof that some APC chieftains are sympathetic to Boko Haram.

How do you feel seeing others talking about your party in such negative light?

The PDP is a pack of iniquitous liars, a pack of manipulators, a pack of revisionists. Let us look at the record.

First, Bola Tunubu is a Muslim but he is married to a Christian. Bisi Akande is a Muslim but he is not only married to a Christian; all of the children of that marriage are Christians. So if Bisi Akande has not islamised his own children in his own family where as the head he could have absolutism of power, how do you expect him to now go to another village to islamise them?

That is not the only one. Isiaka Ajimobi is a Muslim but his wife is a Christian.

Ibikunle Amosun is a Muslim but his wife is a Christian. Babatunde Raji Fashola is a Muslim but his wife is a Christian. Fashola’s siblings are Christians. Among the Yoruba, this issue of what religion you belong to does not matter. It is a shame that those who want to chase shadows and leave the substance untouched are the ones who are peddling these nonsequitors about our politics.

Look at Osun for example, we know whether we like or not in the curent manner of politicking in Nigeria, it is difficult for candidates to emerge within any state if they are not supported by their governors. In Osun State today, we have three senators two are Christians. The two of them who are Christians, including myself, enjoy the supreme confidence and support of our governor. In Osun today, there are nine House of Representatives members - five of them are Christians. All the five enjoy the supreme confidence of our governor. In Ila local government - I was born in Ila and I grew up there - it is almost seventyfive cent Muslim. Though I don’t know the true population of Christian of Ila Continued on page 31

Oyo Council lights up com From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo

taker chairman, Soji Ojoawo, for their commitment to improve the well-being of rural dwellers.

Commenting on the development on behalf of other communities, head of the Fasola-Aladie village, Chief Bello Alarape, who shed tears of joy said he never thought of seeing light in the village, let alone the suburbs before he dies..

According to him, ‘’no administration considered us for a moment whenever request for electrification of the community was put before them. Since the village was founded about 100 years ago, according to information made available to me through my late father, we had been in darkness. We started making efforts to have light since late ChiefBola Ige’s tenure but all to no

avail until the administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi considered us worthwhile. We are indeed grateful.’’

Chief Alarape who thanked the council caretaker chairman, Ojoawo for considering the village and its suburbs worthwhile in his development agenda despite their long distances to the town, also described his administration as ‘’focused, sensitive and responsive’’.

Other completed projects by the council include eight township communities provided with 11KVA transformers each to boost their epileptic power supply. The communities include Aiyetoro, Baptist Church, Isokun, Iyaji, Farinu, Akeetan, Obalente, Upper Cele and the Akesan post-office.

Also, six primary schools were provided with three blocks of classrooms including Headmaster’s office

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

31

SOUTHWEST REPORT

•Aregbesola at a campaign rally in Ibokun

‘Aregbesola will be re-elected’ Continued from page 30

now, I am confident that Muslims are still in the majority. The senator from that area is a Christian. The House of Reps member from that area is a Christian. The State House of Asembly member from Ila is Christian. The commissioner from Ila is a Christian.

Come to the cabinet of Aregbesola himself; the overwheming majority is Christian. Leave the cabinet, let us now go to the appointment Aregbesola has made, the number of permanent secretaries is above fifty per cent Christian. Because Aregbesola simply said he wanted to change his permanent secretaries and everyone above the rank of director can participate in the examination. They did, and said anyone below the cut-off point, whether he or she is an atheist, agnoist, no matter where he or she comes from, will not be permanent secretary. In the end, Aregbesola is a man who believes in meritocracy. Let us look at the programmes of Aregbesola.

For example, they tried to create crisis about the merging of schools.

The truth is that Aregbesola never

‘Aregbesola never merged or combined a Muslim school with a Christian school.

The crisis we had at Iwo was a Methodist school being combined with a Baptist school. Before the combination, in the Baptist school, they did not allow wearing of hijab while they allowed it in the Methodist school. When they now combined them, the Baptist now said you can’t bring hijab. The children are now saying “but we have been wearing hijab to the Methodist school before’ merged or combined a Muslim school with a Christian school. The crisis we had at Iwo was a Methodist school being combined with a Baptist school.

Unfortunately, before the combination, in the Baptist school, they did not allow wearing of hijab while they al-

lowed it in the Methodist school. When they now combined them, the Baptist now said you can’t bring hijab. The children are now saying “but we have been wearing hijab to the Methodist school before.” If we are a nation of serious people, should that cause a cri-

•Senator Adeyeye

sis? My children went through twelve years of basic education - that is six years of primary school, three years of middle school and three years of high school.

They never wore a uniform for one day.

So why should we now use uniform as a means to destabilise government?

If you give Jesus Christ a chance and Jesus wants to offer education to the people, Jesus will not care if we are wearing kijipa or lace or school uniform so long as you come to school to learn your physics and chemistry because

what matters is to give our children education. These children themselves do not care; it is the elite who want to use any contraption to destabilise government that are promoting this chaos.

Thank God, when you speak to ordinary people of Osun, they know it for what it is - the atempt by confusionists to create their own stock in trade. The have failed because Aregbesola overwhelmingly enjoys the support of the people of Osun.

Now that you have spent some considerable time in politics, how do you describe the transition from life as an academic to that of a politician?

I have enjoyed it. The transition cannot be too stressful because in every sphere of life there is politics - even in academics. In fact, the quality of politicking that goes on within the Senate of a typical university is as rigorous and as robust as what you will find in any national assemly or legislature. So I have enjoyed it. Unfortunately, unlike in an academic setting where you come to defend either the interest of your faculty or college, in the political setting you are not only defending the interest of your constitutency, you are sometimes defending the interest of your political party. So partisanship does introduce a complexity to a national legislature that one does not find in an academic setting. But trust me, in any human environment, lots of politics goes on. It has not been too stressful for me.

Does the complexity introduced by partisanship help the process of governance or limit it?

Partisanship always hurts whenever loyalty to a party is elevated over loyalty to the Republic and its Constitution. Look, there are good people in every party. Senator Nurudeen Abatemi belongs to the PDP but he is a young man for whom I have great admiration. He and I have had occasions not to vote along our respective party positions. Politicians often get snared by the web of diabolical partisanship.

That is why nominees who clearly combine poor intellect with ill-preparation and dubious antecedents sometimes scale with ease through parliamentary screening.

Let us go a bit into your private life.

How do you unwind?

I have two addictions. I learnt many years ago that he who loves to read will never be alone. At any time, I am always reading. I have two games to which I am addicted; I am addicted to scrabble and Suduku. Those two, so long as I have them, I can never be alone.

What type of readings do you fancy?

When I was in high school, I never liked history. I thought it is about stories of people who have long died. But in recent times, I have got to know that the past is inescapably linked to the present and becomes a bridge to the future. So I read a lot about history books. I read about world civilisations, world leaders who shaped the destiny of our world both in the last century and in contemporary times.

ommunities, after 100 years in darkness and a store each.

One of the schools, Army Children School located at Isokun along the new Oyo/Ibadan Expressway was in pitiable condition which necessitated the local government’s intervention.

Children were being taught under the tree due to shortage of classrooms. The school’s fence had also collapsed thus making it vulnerable to intruders.

Meanwhile the State Government has also granted approval to the Local Government for the reconstruction of a collapsed bridge at Sanga area.

Terrains of most of the rural feeder roads inspected, which were once undulating, have now become passable and stress-free to villagers..

Township roads too are not left out as asphaltic tarring with drainages had been constructed on them.

Some of the roads include Fatuki/

Opapa, Owode bakery/Alliance and the Catholic Bishop’s court/Expressway which is the longest to be constructed by any of the local government councils in Oyo Federal constituency .

The constituency comprises of Afijio, Atiba, Oyo-East and Oyo-West Local Governments.

Briefing newsmen after the inspections, Oyo West Local Government caretaker Chairman, Soji Ojoawo, disclosed that all the projects were financed from N100 million Excess Crude oil Allocation released to each of the 33 councils by Governor Abiola Ajimobi about two years ago.

Ojoawo said were it not for the Alaafin of Oyo’s zero tolerance on corruption coupled with his sense of belonging, no meaningful development would have taken place in all the ten wards in the council area. ‘’We (the four local governments’

chairmen in Oyo Federal constituency) are able to impart positively on the lives of our people because we have a foremost ruler who will not compromise good service delivery, meritocracy for mediocrity and treasury looting. On assumption of offices, Alaafin called the four of us and gave a standing order that meaningful project that has direct bearing on the people must be embarked upon at least every month. That is the secret of my success in almost three years of my tenure’’.

Ojoawo who equally praised Governor Ajimobi for his un-relentlessness and penchant for better living standards of the people, expressed delight at what he referred to as ‘’unusual loyalty of the Alaafin of Oyo to the present administration which has been making it possible to give back to the people the dividends of democracy’’.

•One of the 11KVA transformer

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

32

33

SOUTHWEST REPORT

Trouble in Oto kingdom

NSCDC harps on quality nutrition for security agents

‘

Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

•Continued from Page 29

vised Ma-Had Arabiyat Liummatil Islam of Nigeria to seek approval for regularization of stay.

A building plan was sketched and approved by the government and annual tenancy was agreed at N63, 558.00. That was in 2005. By this time, the group had built a mosque, a hostel and an Arabic school where it produces Idadiyya (Junior secondary students) and Thanawiyyah ( Senior secondary students) every year.

It began to pay and for two years everything went well, however, in 2007, the Oloto family which had allegedly kept quiet during the group’s ordeal with the Ministry showed up demanding the group should have been making payment to it for the same land.

“We told them we were not aware of any payment to the family since we were already paying the government for the lease and had already paid off the family at the initial purchase,” Akanbi said.

But the family insisted, demanding N10, 000 a year for the 12 years the group had spent on the land.

Things got messy and the Oloto family took the matter before the Magistrate’s Court, Atitebi, EbuteMetta. The court asked both parties to dialogue.

But the family allegedly continues to harass the Islamic group until it agreed to pay N100, 000 and settle out of court. “We paid the N100, 000 hoping that when we go back to court, it will be to close the case and settle out of court. But when we got there, the family insisted they wanted the land back.”

In 2012, the Federal Ministry of Works issued a Gazette which proved the land to be under the acquisition of government. the Gazette issued on the 7th of June 1919 and signed by D. C Cameron, Acting Lieutenant-Governor of Southern Provinces read in part: “ Notice is hereby given that the lands situ-

•Akanbi

•Some of the students protesting

ate at Iddo, Lagos, described below are required by the Governor for public purposes absolutely.” The Gazette described the land as “All that land at Iddo to the west of and immediately adjoining the existing boundary of Government land and bounded on the remaining sides by the Ebute Metta Creek and the Lagos Lagoon.”

The Gazette did little to placate the Oloto family who got a court injunction that the group owed the sum of N66, 703.16 being balance of the rent due to the family on the land.

Early morning raid The morning of June 24, 2014 was like any other at the Ma-Had Arabiyat School, both day and boarding students had resumed as early as 7:am and the initial preliminaries were ongoing preparatory to the start of the day’s academic business.

But that was not to be. As sudden shout and a bang was heard at the gate of the school, outside, policemen numbering about 40 led by a court Sherriff stood at the gate battering it down. The invaders gained access and brandishing a court order, ordered the school management to vacate the premises immediately.

‘We told them we were not aware of any payment to the family since we were already paying the government for the lease and had already paid off the family at the initial purchase. But the family insisted, demanding N10, 000 a year for the 12 years the group had spent on the land. Things got messy and the Oloto family took the matter before the Magistrate’s Court, Atitebi, Ebute-Metta’ Panic was everywhere, students running helter-skelter, armed policemen trying to enforce the Court’s orders of forceful eviction left no one in doubt about their capacity to do their job. Salihu Yahaya, the Vice Principal of the school recalled: “It was one of the scariest things to happen, we were confused and there was chaos everywhere. In the ensuing fracas,

some of the students were injured,” he said.

The invaders insisted they were there to enforce an injunction by the Ebute Metta magistrate court which had ordered the school’s eviction. But they refused to show the school management a copy of the judgment. “We asked them to let us see the judgment but they refused, instead they just destroyed

everything in sight,” Akanbi said.

The school also alleged that the Oloto family later brought in ‘thugs’ who demolished the mosque, the school and the hostels while the police extorted from the Imam, Alhaji Abubakar Olayeri, the sum of N50,000 to allow him pack his most treasured processions. Also, the ‘thugs’ later auctioned the remaining properties left by the school.

When The Nation visited the school, nothing was left standing in the compound. The property was guarded by some group of tough looking youths and in the middle of the compound a sign read: “This land belongs to Oloto Royal Family. All enquiries to The Attorney,” a phone number was provided.

The school is alleging the family wanted to dispossess it of the property in order to sell it to a popular hotel in Lagos. It also alleged that some of those who came to demolish the school told them the hotel was behind the travails of the school.

So where is the Federal Ministry of Works in all these? According to the leadership of the institution, when the school and mosque were demolished, they contacted the Ministry and were advised to seek legal redress at a Federal court of competent juris-

diction.

Akanbi also revealed that the school had paid the yearly rental to the Ministry which will expire at the end of July 2014. “We have paid to the ministry who are the rightful owner of the land according to the documents we have, we are at a loss how an injunction can be granted to a family without a claim to the land,” he said.

Midnight fire But the Ma-Had Arabiyat Islam of Nigeria is not the only water logged community to be at loggerheads with the Oloto Chieftaincy House. A few meters from the school was a bubbling community of about 5,000 inhabitants called the Oto-Ilogbo extension. A slum which was built on water that has been filled up with debris and rubbish, the first settlers purchased the land from the Oloto Royal Family in 1996 in a contract similar to that of the school.

But over the years, many of the residents alleged that chiefs from the royal family have been using thugs to harass the residents. In the center of the opposing to the alleged overbearing of the Oloto ruling house is Isola Agbodemu, the community leader and head of the vigilance group.

On April 2, 2014, a midnight fire

•Agbodemu

‘The royal family ordered us not to build our houses back after the fire. I waited for 20 days during which time my family was sleeping all over the place before I began to build my house. Then one of the chiefs came with three thugs and they demolished the house I was building. I was also beaten almost to death’ razed through the community. It was like a scene in a fast action movie: children screaming as mothers hurled them out of the burning houses, goods went up in flames, there were smells of burning logs and flesh. The woods used in building the community aided the wind and by dawn no house remained standing.

“The royal family ordered us not to build our houses back after the

fire. I waited for 20 days during which time my family was sleeping all over the place before I began to build my house. Then one of the chiefs came with three thugs and they demolished the house I was building, I was also beaten almost to death,” Agbodemu alleged.

Now deprived of the use of their school, students of the institution have been moved back to a branch of the Islamic group in Herbert

Macaulay. Last week, they held a protest around their former school calling on the Oloto family to return their properties.

“Whatever the government can do to help us get our school back, they should do. We are peace loving people and our presence in that community has actually brought sanity to the place, we are pleading with the government to help us get our school and mosque back,” a student said.

Yahaya said the court and the royal family did not notify the school about its intention to carry out an execution of a court order; he also wants the government to help the school regain the use of its properties.

“We have over 60 students in the school and there are about 40 of them in boarding house, we are adding value to the community so we believe they should let us stay.

We are pleading with the government to intervening and give us our school back,” he said.

When The Nation contacted the Oloto royal family, the Eletu of Oto, Chief Samsudeen Pedro said the royal council is currently debating the case. “I cannot talk to you about the case now, we are meeting over the matter, until we conclude I cannot say anything,” he said.

THE Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has advised members of the Nigeria Police, Army and other security agencies to form the habit of always taking meals that would enhance their ability to cope with the demands of providing “security for lives and properties” of Nigerians.

The NSCDC said there is the need for members of the security agencies to eat regularly, meals rich in fruits, vegetables, cabbages, protein to enable the body system fight off stress as well as make them healthy and fit to respond to emergencies often associated with their jobs.

This was the thrust of the one day health talk organised by the Disaster and Rescue department of the NSCDC, Ogun State Command of the Corps and attended by the Police, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Prison Service (NPS), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) among others.

The facilitator, Miss Iyabo Adedotun, an Assistant Superintendent of Corps11, said with the on - set of fruits season, uniform men should avail themselves of the their availability and eat fruits at least three times a week.

Miss Adedotun, a Nutritionist, said good nutrition is not for them only but also for their families, since the health fitness of family members may influence one’s effectiveness at work.

According to her, cabbage and cucumber for examples, help in digestion, weight control, fight cancer and also serves as anti - oxidants.

Other speakers - the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Olaokun Soyinka, Dr Kafayat Lawal from the state Primary Healthcare Board also recommended quality dieting, right meals combinations and regular check - up.

Ondo monarch in prison for alleged stealing From Damisi Ojo, Akure

•Oba Adewola

A

TRADITIONAL ruler in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Pius Adewola has been remanded in prison custody by a

Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ore, headquarter of the local government.

The monarch who is the Akamuja of Igburowo was arraigned in the court presided over

by Mr. O. J Adelegan, a Deputy Chief Registrar (DCR) over a fourcount charge of stealing, impersonation, fraud and forgery.

According to the charge sheet, the embattled monarch and others at large allegedly committed the offence in the agrarian settlement of Igburowo between 2004 and 2014, in addition, the charge sheet also indicated that the monarch allegedly stole the sum of N16.131m belonging to Idowu Adegunloye, Akinsebi Modesayo, Celina Ariyo and Adebayo Adewola.

Other charges levied against the monarch were, that he (Oba Adewola) on the same time, place in the aforementioned magisterial district, did fraudulently converted the aforementioned amount

of money and forged the signatures of the persons who he claimed to be workers of Odigbo Local Government and allegedly colleced their monthly salaries in the Local Government.

The offences according to the prosecutor Inspector Agboola, are punishable under section 516, 390 (8B), 383 and 467 of the criminal code cap 37 Volume I of the Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.

When the charge sheet was read to the accused he pleaded not guilty. Subsequently the prosecutor told the court of his intention to prosecute the matter by inviting 10 witnesses.

He equally urged the court to grant him short adjournment to enable him peruse the case file and assemble all witnesses.

In his application, counsel to the accused, Otunba Yemi Akindugbagbe, who was represented in the court by Barr.O Akinfe, pleaded with the court to admit his client on bail, stating that the accused person was a retired civil servant and a reputable com-

munity leader in the state, before he was recently sacked by the people of his community unceremoniously.

He added that he would produce a reliable surety, while also promising that the monarch would not jump bail.

After listening to the application of the both parties, the presiding Chief Magistrate, Mr. O.J Adelegan, granted the bail application in the sum N5m with two sureties in like sum. The magistrate also said the surety must produce three years tax clearance and a relevant document of a landed property within the magisterial district He thereafter adjourned the case to July,18 for further hearing.

The matter however turned dramatic when the counsel to the embattled monarch, Otunba Yemi Akindugbagbe could not meet the bail condition.

The monarch was immediately whisked away to the Shegede prison custody in Ondo town, where he is currently cooling his heels.

•Representative of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Sports and Youth Development Mr Sewedo Whenu (left) and Chairman, Ayobo-Ipaja Local Council Development Area, Hon Shakirudeen Yusuf and Council Vice Chairman, Alhaja Falilat Ajijola, during the state’s 7th Annual Tree Planting Exercise

•Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (middle) presenting an award to Provost, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Otto, Ijanikin, Lagos at this year’s Tree Planting Campaign at the Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie Road, Sangotedo, Eti-Osa Local Council Development Area...yesterday. With him is Commissioner for the EnvironPHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES ment Mr Tunji Bello.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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SOUTHWEST REPORT Amosun urged to develop rural areas

‘By tradition, whatever belongs to Deji belongs to Akure. His children, wives and properties belong to the Akure community and we will not sit down and let anybody change the tradition. I was in my house when I received information that materials for the completion of the new palace had been removed. I got here and discovered that it was true. We cannot allow this to happen as the custodian of tradition and culture’

T

HE Ogun State Government has been urged to intensify effort on infrastructural development in rural areas to boost the socioeconomic development of the state.

The President, Ogun State Cooperative Federation Limited (OGSCOFED), Alhaji Abdulrazaaq Balogun, gave the charge during a visit of the newly elected board members to the state Commissioner for Community Development and Cooperatives, Chief Samuel Aiyedogbon in his office at OkeMosan, Abeokuta.

Balogun, said this would further boost the socio – economic development of the state, and would pave way for small and medium scale businesses to thrive.

The president said cooperative movements remains major stakeholders in turning around the socioeconomic situation of any state, saying that majority of members would see such development as an opportunity to enhance their businesses.

Speaking on the N25m loan given by the state government at the rate of 7 per cent interest, Balogun, said the loan has been fully recovered, noting that the movement in the state awaits the governor to fulfill his promise to double the loan to N50m.

“During the 2011 Cooperative Day, hosted by Ogun State Cooperative Movement, and which the Excellency graced by his personal and physical presence, he promised and granted a soft micro loan of N25m to our movement with a promise that he would double the amount as soon as we repaid the loan. We thank God that we did not disappoint the Excellency as we’ve fully paid the loan with interest since 2013.” Balogun said.

He added that this and some other benefits such as sponsorship of members to international and local trainings, mobility of executives to effectively monitor and manage the affairs of various cooperatives societies, review of annual grant beyond N500.000, prompt payment of deduction to curb delay in disbursement of loans to members and sponsorship of International Cooperative Day by the state government to mention but a few.

Replying, the Commissioner for Community Development and Cooperatives, Chief Samuel Aiyedogbon, said the entire request shall be tabled before the governor, saying he acknowledge that the deductions of various societies in the state had been fully paid and salary would also be duly paid.

The commissioner added that the present administration-led by Senator Ibikunle Amosun would leave no stone unturned at making life meaningful and worth to the citizens.

Calling for the collaboration and support of the cooperative movement in the state, Chief Aiyedogbon, said “mission to rebuild” the state is the responsibility of all, adding that the governor holds the cooperative movements in the s tate in high esteem.

•Deji of Akure's Palace

Rumpus in Akure’s palace over ex- Deji’s property B

UT for providence and prompt intervention of security operatives, the palace of Deji of Akure would have been thrown into chaos last week when some Akure chiefs and Olori Mojisola Adesida, widow of late Deji of Akure, Oba Adebiyi Adesida engaged themselves in an argument over ownership of some properties in the palace.

Olori Adesida was in the palace to remove some building materials which she claimed belongs to her.

However, Akure Chiefs insisted that all properties of any late monarch including his widow(s) and children by tradition belong to Akure Community and should be kept in custody of the community. But the Olori disagreed.

Trouble started when the Chiefs noticed that Olori Adesida had brought trucks to the premises of the new palace under construction to remove some building materials which she claimed were her personal property and not that of the late monarch According to her, it was the dream

•Adebiyi Adesida From Damisi Ojo, Akure

of the late Oba Adesida to construct a modern palace for the town which he could not fulfill but that all the items removed were meant for her own personal project but only kept in the palace.

Olori Adesida said she had earlier informed the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko and the state Attorney General Eyitayo Jegede about the development immediately her late husband passed on but admitted she failed to inform the high chiefs about her intention to remove

the materials and goods from the palace.

But speaking on the development, the Asamo of Akureland, Chief Rotimi Olalusi said the chiefs were caught unawares about the action of the Olori.

The Asamo said he was at Ibadan, Oyo State when he heard about Olori Adesida’s attempt to remove some things out of the palace and had to rush down to Akure to confirm the matter, only to discover that it was true that she attempted to remove those items Olalusi said the materials were meant for the completion of the new

palace which had been uppermost in the heart of Akure sons and daughters.

He said: “By tradition, whatever belongs to Deji belongs to Akure. His children, wives and properties belong to the Akure community and we will not sit down and let anybody change the tradition.

“I was in my house when I received information that materials for the completion of the new palace had been removed. I got here and discovered that it was true. We cannot allow this to happen as the custodian of tradition and culture”.

Chief Asamo said some personal properties of the late Deji and his wife were taken out of the palace by his family before the final announcement of the death of the Oba Adesida.

The chief however insisted that no government could change the tradition of the land stressing that all the goods and materials must be returned to the palace.

The timely intervention of policemen from ‘A’ Division saved the chaotic situation as Akure youths had mobilised themselves for a showdown with the Olori.

As at press time, the materials already loaded in trucks and vans were still within the palace.

The Regent of the town, Princess Adetutu Adesida was not in the palace during the row.

Court fines two men for exhuming woman’s body from grave

A

•Amosun

MAGISTRATE’S Court sitting in Ibadan has sentenced two men— Godwin Adebayo and Kayode Michael—to one year imprisonment each with an option of fine, for damaging the tomb of the late Madam Aduke Abiola and exhuming her body at Bolumola, Ring-Road, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The crime was committed by the duo on the 19th of June, 2010 at 7am. They were later arrested and charged to court on a three count charged of conspiracy, felony and misconduct.

The charge sheet presented by Investigation Police Officer, Inspector S. Ogunremi of the State CID, Iyanganku, Ibadan read that “Godwin

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

Rotimi Adebayo (62yrs) and Kayode Michael (53yrs) on the 19 of June, 2010 at about 7 am at Bolumole area of Ring Road, Challenge Ibadan conspired together to commit felony to wit mis-conduct with regard to corpse and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 516 of Criminal code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State Nigeria, 2000.

Count II read that: “Godwin and Kayode on same date, time and place aforementioned with regard to corpse of one Late Madam Aduke Abiola and thereby committed an of-

fence contrary to and punishable under section 242 (1) (B) of Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 200.

Count III:”That Godwin and Kayode on same date, time and place aforementioned damaged the Late Madam Abiola Aduke tomb valued at N50,0000 and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 451 of the Criminal Code Cap 38 Vol II Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria 2000" In her judgment, Magistrate S. Oyediran of Court 7 Iyaganku, Ibadan sentenced the two accused to one year imprisonment with the option of a fine of N60,000, on the basis of N20,000 each on each count charge.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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SOUTHWEST REPORT The essence of Ramadan seems not lost on a group of armed robbers in Ibadan, Oyo State as one of them has suprisingly confessed that the group does not operate during the fasting season and Fridays. TAYO JOHNSON reports

•The suspects

•Guns and other ammunition recovered from the suspects

Confession of an armed robber

‘We don’t rob during Ramadan’ I

N what might be seen as an attempt to keep away from sin and truly keep the Ramadan period holy, a member of an armed robbery gang in Ibadan has confessed that his group does not operate during the Muslim fasting season.

Lawal Kabiru, 32, who together with some members of his gang were arrested in their hideout at Mechanic Village, Iyanna Church in Ibadan by policemen from the Special AntiRobbery squad (SARS) of the Oyo State Police Command also confessed that they do not rob as well on Friday, a day they have earmarked to seek forgiveness of their sins from God. Others arrested alongside Kabiru were Olaitan Ayodele, Abiola Alaba, Oyewole Ogunwole, Adedeji Mustapha and Omooba Oyewole.

Speaking with The Nation, Kabiru said: “I am a plumber by profession.

When I gained freedom as an apprentice, I went to Lagos and spent three years there hustling to make a living but I couldn’t make it. I returned to Ibadan where I met a group that introduced me to this robbery profession.

“I have gone for operations four times. My first operation with them was at a rice seller’s place in Osun State. We made N70,000. I was arrested last week Friday (July 4) after leaving the mosque where I had gone to pray. I received a call from another member of our gang who said he wanted to see me urgently, but when I got there I saw policemen with him and that was how I was arrested” Kabiru who usually disguised as a woman during their robbery operations, using a female wig, explained that the wig belongs to another member of the gang who had been killed by the police. He used it to disguise like a woman during their numerous operations.

An accomplice of Kabiru, Ayodele, said he got into armed robbery because he lacked good parental upbringing, adding that he was lured into robbing through peer group influence.

His words: “We have never killed anybody during our numerous operations and we don’t rape. We only use these guns to threaten our victims and we will get what we want

•Oyo Police recover six posh vehicles from Kano and leave the place immediately.

“I was arrested in Iwo-Road, I was not robbing anybody then but the police trailed me there. I advice other Nigerians involved in this type of act to desist because one day they will be caught like myself and will face the wrath of the law” Ayodele warned.

The supplier of arms to the gang, one Sunday Omoba, was alleged to be a member of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). He claimed that he did not know that they were using the guns to rob.

Omoba looking devastated insisted that:” I am not a thief but I used to supply themý guns, bullet and other ammunitions because they told me that they are night guards at Iyana-Church. So I used to get these weapons for them from another man so that I can also have a cut when I stand as a middle man between them. I bought the Pump Action gun for them for N70,000 from a friend and I was only given N5,000 out of it as a gift. I was arrested in my house. If I had known they were using the guns to rob I will not have been supplying them the ammunitions.”

The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Indabawa listed the items recovered from the group to include; one pump action gun, one English cut to size double barrel gun, one single barrel gun locally made, sixty-eight rounds of live cartridges, two female wigs, a bunch of criminal charm, two gas cylinders, one burglarious instrument among others.

In a related development, the Oyo State Police Command has recovered six posh vehicles stolen from the State in faraway Kano State.

The recovered vehicles include; a Toyota Matrix, an unregistered Toyota Camry, Toyota Highlander jeep, Honda Odyssey, an unregistered Toyota Highlander, and a Honda Civic.

The police boss disclosed that on 1st of October, 2013, one Alaka Ayoade of the Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo reported at SARS office at Kosobo Area, Oyo that his Toyota Camry with registration number ABC 761 AE, was snatched

•Owners laud effort

‘I have gone for operations four times. My first operation with them was at a rice seller’s place in Osun State. We made N70,000. I was arrested last week Friday (July 4) after leaving the mosque where I had gone to pray. I received a call from another member of our gang who said he wanted to see me urgently, but when I got there I saw policemen with him and that was how I was arrested’ at gun point by four armed men.

“Sequel to this information, all efforts made by SARS operatives to recover the said vehicles and arrest the culprits proved abortive. But on the 17th April, 2014, Akinwumi Olatide and Uwatse Samson were arrested in another armed robbery operation and confessed to be members of an armed robbery syndicate that had been terrorising Oyo town, Ogbomoso and Ibadan metropolis by snatching of expensive cars at gun point.

“They confessed that their leaders are: Oluwole and Oyelade Olamilekan aka (Alex) who had relocated to Kano State on discovering that the police were on their trail.

They stated further that their major receivers are based in Kano and Kaduna States. This information shed more light on previous robbery operations in Oyo town and this made the SARS operatives to move to Kano State where the six vehicles were recovered from the armed robbers, major receivers and some of their owners have since been identified” the Commissioner explained The major receivers of the stolen vehicles according to Indabawa were, Moruf Bello (35yrs), Mohammed Mustapha (35yrs), Mohammed Issah (37yrs), Yussuf Ibrahim (45yrs) and

Azeez Adamu (43yrs).

One of them, Bello, in an interview with The Nation said:”It was a friend named Oluwole Makinde that introduced me to the car selling business but I did not know that they were stolen cars. We stayed together in Kano for many years and I only trusted him.

He normally showed me a receipt and other car particulars to make me believe that he iwas actually buying the cars. My role is to sell the cars for him and they will give me my own percentage through my account.

“We sell Toyota Highlander jeep for N850,000, Toyota Camry for N350,000 and we don’t go for cars that are not easy to sell but highly demanded brands like Toyota and Honda”.

One of the four owners of the recovered vehicles who were on ground at the Oyo State Police Command, Eleyele to collect ýback their vehicles, Mr Jame Akinade, gave kudos to the Nigeria Police, especially the SARS operatives, whom he said acted promptly and went into action when he reported the case.

Akinade narrating his ordeal on how his car was stolen said:” On the 1st of October, 2013 at 8:00pm, four armed robbers attacked me with guns in Oyo town and took

away my Toyota Camry car. I immediately reported to the SARS, but I never believed I could recover back my car, but today the policemen have done a wonderful job” Another owner, Mrs Titilayo Bashiru who was filled with joy said:” my joy knows no bound because I couldn’t believe I will set my eyes on my Honda Odyssey again. My car was parked in front of our house on May 10, 2014, only for us to wake up the next morning and we could not find it again. A complaint was lodged at Orita Challenge police station and we were directed to Eleyele Command headquarters ý to report the incident. Last week Tuesday (July 2) a policeman came to our house to inform me that my vehicle has been recovered” For 62 year old, Mr Kehinde Ogunsina whose car was stolen from his son at the gate of the University of Ibadan (UI), the recovery was unbelievable.

He said:” I never believed the Nigeria police could recover my car back when it was stolen from my son.

My son was taken away with the car and was dropped off along Lagos/ Ibadan Expressway. I was afraid and shocked but he later returned home. I am grateful to the Nigeria police force and the SARS operatives” On how the cars were recovered and the suspects arrested, the Commandant of SARS in Oyo, SP Olusola Aremu said it was through thorough investigation and intelligence gathering.

“When this incessant car snatching cases were being reported, we swung into action and arrested a famous ýserial car robber in Ogbomoso called Akinkumi Olatide and he confessed about his operations and other members included in the operations. We then proceeded to arrest one Oyelade Olamilekan (Alex) but we didn’t meet him at home, so we searched his house and saw some bank statement and we got a court order to freeze his account. This was how we discovered Moruf’s name as the receiver and sender of the money to his account after selling the cars for him. We arrested Moruf but Alex is still at large but will be arrested soon”

‘

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

36

SOUTHWEST REPORT

Driving to Apapa, home to Nigeria’s premier port and the Tin Can Island Port, is not something most people look up to nowadays — no thanks to the seemingly unending traffic gridlock in the commercial area. OZIEGBE OKOEKI reports on the lamentation of the lawmaker representing Apapa in the House of Assembly on the traffic jam and the threat posed to resident by tank farms.

I

F there is one thing that is a nightmare to the lawmaker representing Apapa 1 constituency at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mufutau Egberongbe it is the danger posed by the indiscriminate citing of Tank Farms and parking of tankers on highways and bridges in Apapa.

But for providence, what the lawmaker feared most would have happened about three weeks ago when a Toyota Sienna bus suspected to have been laden with explosives exploded near a Tanker that was loaded with gas at Creek road. The explosion led to death and destruction of properties like the building housing Enterprise Bank, and Sobil House all on Creek road.

“The Sienna bus which exploded was parked close to a Tanker that had just loaded gas right opposite the gas depot and was ready for takeoff. The explosion was meant to ignite the truck which would then affect the main depot and lead to a big fire and if that had happened, the whole of Apapa would have been engulfed in fire because gas fire spread more than gasoline fire because it travels by air.

But as luck would have it, the particular Tanker is fire resistant so it did not catch fire. Just imagine the scenario I just painted, if you add it to the tank farms that are abound on the Creek road, the extent of the damage can only be imagined”, Egberongbe said.

More worrisome, according to him was that even while he is busy agitating for the relocation of the tank farms “somebody is currently putting up another tank farm in Apapa, on the same Creek road on the former premises of Trebor company.

“And to this the community has said no; the chairman of the Community Development Association, Engr. Bolaji Laja has formerly put up a petition to the Lagos state House of Assembly copying the state governor and we will ensure that the laws of the state apply appropriately”, he said Egberongbe, currently on a second term at the Lagos Assembly said he has been on the crusade to relocate the tank farms since his first term as a lawmaker. Ever since, he said he had been trying to impress it on the government the danger posed to residents, workers as well as visitors to Apapa by tank farms in such a highly populated and one of the nerve centres of commercial activities in Lagos state.

According to Egberongbe, the location of these tank farms have not only heightened, but also worsened the traffic situation in Apapa, because the Tankers that come to load fuel park indiscriminately on the highways and bridges obstructing and blocking free flow of traffic resulting in gridlock.

“About 400 trucks come into Apapa on a daily basis to load fuel and they park on this road, on about four lanes permanently, sometimes completely blocking the road. The gridlock in Apapa today arose from the reckless abandonment and indiscriminate

•Wreckage of the Sienna bus beside the Tanker

Many troubles of Apapa and its residents •Lawmaker cries out over menace of tank farms, tankers parking of trucks not just on the highway but including the bridges adorning Apapa. These bridges are not meant for static vehicles and that makes them susceptible to imminent collapse.

“The Coconut axis of the ApapaOshodi road is no longer motorable as it has totally broken down, so motorists now go to the Port through the Western Avenue axis; that is, there is only one route into and outside of Apapa because the Coconut-Oshodi axis has collapsed, totally bad. You can imagine the fleet of trucks and other vehicles coming in and going out from Apapa through one road”, the lawmaker said.

While commending the governor of the state, Babatunde Fashola for the proactive step he took to tackle the latest incident by visiting Apapa and meeting with the truck drivers who

agreed to park only on one lane in the interim, Egberongbe however, disclosed that “up till now the truck drivers have not complied”.

He also said that since he started his crusade against tank farms in 2008 only the federal government of the late President Musa Yar’Adua responded, setting up a committee in which the then state commissioner for the Environment, Muiz Banire was a member, to look into the matter and proffer solutions. “But at his demise the committee dissolved. Since then the Federal Government has not done anything”, he said.

He appealed to the Federal Government on behalf of his people to urgently rehabilitate the ApapaOshodi Expressway from the Tin Can Island/Creek road to the Coconut axis and to rejuvenate the railway in Apapa, “there are rail lines already

•Egberongbe (2nd from left) Tanker driver (left) and two community members there, it is just to get the Coaches.

“The FG should relocate the tank farms to the Ibeju-Lekki Free Trade Zone which was originally designated for them in the state master plan.

He also wants the government to initiate the distribution of fuel through pipelines as it is done in other countries.

“It should be noted that from January to June 2014 (half year), N1.4trillion revenue was made by FG from Apapa, yet nothing comes in terms of infrastructure or development from FG (to the area). Something should also be given to the state

from the proceeds accruing to FG from Apapa. You don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg”, the lawmaker said.

Egberongbe who says he is also worried about the effect of the activities of the tank farms on the health of residents said, “I equally challenge Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) to do an environmental impact assessment of the poisonous emissions from these tanks so as to protect the health of residents”.

The lawmaker is sure that if all these measures are put in place relief will come to Apapa.

Ojodu plants 1,000 trees

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•Ojodu Council chairman, Olumuyiwa Oloro during this year’s tree planting exercise

HE Executive Chairman, Ojodu Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Engr.

Olumuyiwa Oloro has said tree planting has enhanced the environmental conditions of the council.

Oloro said this on Monday during this year’s tree planting exercise in the council.

The chairman said there has been serious awareness campaign to residents on the importance of tree planting and the efforts have yielded positive fruits.

“All the trees we planted last year survived, none of them died. On our part we have been protecting the trees the best way we can. But our success is mainly because the people of Ojodu council have taken ownership of the trees and are taking care

By Seun Akioye

of them,” Oloro said.

Tree planting, the council boss said has also generated employment especially for those at the lower sector.

The council chairman also said apart from beautifying the council the people have bought into the vision of Lagos state government of creating a greenery Lagos through tree planting.

He also said this year the council will plant 1000 trees while many individuals will continue to plant in their homes and offices.

This year’s tree planting exercise with the theme: “Life is better with trees” signifies the importance of

trees to life.

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), said the yearly tree planting exercise has generated over 75,168 employments in the state.

The governor also disclosed that in seven years, the state has planted over five million trees which far outstrip the target to plant one million trees in 10 years.

Also at the event, the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, represented by Engr.

Olalekan Ajani said indiscriminate felling of trees in Lagos is a crime and anyone caught will face the full force of the law.

He also said with the yearly tree planting exercise, government is set to bring back as much greenery to Lagos as possible.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

37

DUE DILIGENCE

F

Forte Oil: Growing profit

ORTE Oil Plc continued in its strides in the first quarter with significant growths in sales and profitability. Key extracts of the unaudited report and accounts of Forte Oil for the three-month period ended March 31, 2014 made available by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday showed that turnover grew by 30.74 per cent while pre and post tax profits rose by 100.6 per cent and 107.8 per cent respectively. The report showed that turnover rose to N34.78 billion in the first quarter of 2014 as against N26.6 billion recorded in comparable period of 2013. Gross profit rose by 72.4 per cent from N2.68 billion to N4.63 billion. Profit before tax doubled from N633.07 million to N1.27 billion. After taxes, net profit stood at N1.10 billion

by March 2014 as against N530.60 million recorded in corresponding period of 2013. Basic earnings per share rose from 49 kobo to 75 kobo.

The first quarter report came on the heels of distribution of N4.32 billion as cash dividends to shareholders for the immediate past year ended December 31, 2013. Breakdown of the dividend indicated that shareholders received a dividend per share of N4. Forte Oil had consolidated its recovery in 2013 with impressive growth in turnover and profitability as the downstream oil-marketing company intensified its diversification into the allied power and energy sector.

Audited report and accounts of Forte Oil for the year ended December 31, 2013 showed that turnover rose by about 41 per cent while pre and post tax profits jumped by 467 per cent and 396 per cent respectively. With 292 per cent increase in pre-tax profit margin and a double in return on total assets, the underlying improvement in profitability and return in 2013 was underpinned by the diversification of income stream and improvement in its core downstream business.

Total balance sheet size doubled by 146 per cent while total equity funds leapt by about 459 per cent. Besides, the balance sheet structure became more supportive and stable in 2013. With significant reduction in financial leverage,

By Taofik Salako Capital Market Editor

increased equity funding, improved liquidity and positive working capital, the balance sheet structure was evidently in a better stead.

As earnings per share rose from 93 kobo to N4.32, the company paid a dividend per share of N4 to shareholders, totaling N4.32 billion. Besides, net assets per share increased by 458 per cent from N7.03 to N39.25.

However, the performance of the core downstream business was still tepid.

With negative operating profit, the midline performance was buoyed largely by the impetus from the new power business and efficient financial management. This was evident in the decline in gross margin and the increase in cost of business relative to turnover.

Financing structure The financing structure was generally positive. The proportion of equity funds to total assets increased from about 18 per cent in 2012 to about 41 per cent in 2013. The rooftop gearing ratio of 130 per cent in 2012 dropped to 12 per cent in 2013 as immediate bank loans halved from N9.9 billion to N4.9 billion. Current liabilities/total assets ratio improved from 77 per cent to 44.6 per cent while long-term liabilities/total assets ratio was relatively better at 15 per cent in 2013 as against 5.1 per cent in 2012.

Forte Oil’s group paid up share capital remained unchanged at N539 million. Total equity funds meanwhile rose from N7.58 billion in 2012 to N42.35 billion. The improvement in equity funds was due to increase in primary equity funds attributable to shareholders of the company, which rose from N7.58 billion to N13.04 billion, and special equity funds of N29.31 billion. Total assets rose from N42.51 billion to N104.68 billion while total liabilities increased from N34.93 billion to N62.33 billion.

,

notable increase in administrative expenses. Average cost of sale per unit of sale increased in 2013 and this was compounded by substantial increase in operating expenses. Total cost of business, excluding finance charges, inched up to 100.1 per cent in 2013 as against 97.5 per cent in 2012.

Profitability

Underlying indices showed improvements in profitability and returns.

While gross profit margin decreased from 11.2 per cent in 2012 to 9.9 per cent, average pre-tax profit margin increased substantially from 1.3 per cent in 2012 to 5.1 per cent in 2013. Return on total assets doubled from 2.7 per cent to 6.2 per cent while dividend cover stood at 1.08 times. However, return on equity declined marginally from 13.3 per cent to 11.8 per cent.

Group turnover rose from N90.98 billion in 2012 to N128.03 billion in 2013.

Cost of sales however rose by 43 per cent to N115.4 billion as against N80.84 billion. Gross profit thus increased by 24.5 per cent from N10.15 billion to N12.63 billion. Total operating expenses stood at N12.77 billion in 2013, about 62 per cent above N7.89 billion in 2012.

Administrative expenses had jumped Efficiency from N5.01 billion to N9.81 billion while Average cost efficiency declined dur- distribution expenses increased from ing the year underlining the low mar- N2.87 billion to N2.94 billion. Non-core gin in the downstream business and business incomes-including finance incomes; however leapt by 1,055 per cent from N738 million to Fiscal Year Ended December 31 2013 2012 N8.52 billion. Finance expense was moderated at N1.88 bilNmillion 12 months % change 12 months lion in 2013 compared with N1.85 billion in 2012. These Profit and Loss Statement boosted the bottom-line with pre-tax profit rising from N1.15 Main Business Segment 128,028 40.7 90,984 billion to N6.53 billion. Profit Total turnover 128,028 40.7 90,984 after tax also quadrupled from Cost of sales 115,400 42.8 80,839 N1.01 billion in 2012 to N5.0 billion in 2013. With these, baGross profit 12,628 24.5 10,145 sic earnings per share inOperating expenses 12,766 61.9 7,885 creased from 93 kobo to N4.32.

Interest and other incomes Finance expenses Pre-tax profit(loss) Post-tax profit (loss) Basic earnings per share(kobo) Gross dividend (Nm) Cash dividend per share (kobo) Net Assets per share (kobo) Balance Sheet Assets: Fixed assets Total long term assets Trade debtors Current assets Total assets Liabilities: Trade creditors Bank loans Current liabilities Long-term liabilities Total liabilities Equity Funds Share capital Total Equity Funds

8,521 1,878 6,525 5,004 432 4,316 400 3,925

1054.6 1.6 467.4 396.4 364.5 458.3

738 1,849 1,150 1,008 93 0 0 703

51,844 55,393 31,486 49,285 104,678

478.1 211.3 143.0 99.4 146.2

8,968 17,794 12,959 24,719 42,513

36,191 4,906 46,651 15,678 62,329

69.3 -50.3 42.3 627.9 78.4

21,376 9,878 32,776 2,154 34,930

539 42,349

0.0 458.5

539 7,583

The board of the company has recommended payment of nearly the entire net earnings to shareholders at a ratio of N4 per share.

Liquidity The company’s liquidity position improved significantly during the period with positive working capital and increased financial agility. Current ratio, which measures the financial readiness of a company by relating current assets to relative liabilities, crossed the thresholds to 1.06 times in 2013 as against 0.75 times. Working capital/turnover ratio improved from -8.9 per cent in 2012 to positive 2.1 per cent in 2013. Debtors/creditors ratio closed 2013 at 87 per cent compared with 60.6 per cent in 2012.

Governance and structures Forte Oil, formerly known as African Petroleum (AP), is a major downstream company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Forte Oil has more than 500 retail outlets spread across the country, a fuel storage facility at Apapa and aviation joint users hydrant in Ikeja, Lagos. It also operates another large storage depot at Onne, Rivers State as well as joint aviation depots in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano. The Forte Oil Group includes a foreign subsidiary, AP Oil and Gas Ghana Limited (APOG), which operates some eight retail outlets in Ghana; an indigenous upstream services company, AP Oilfields Services Limited (APOS) and its new power plant subsidiary, which owns the 414-megawatts Geregu Power Plant.

The board and management of the company remain stable. Mr Olufemi Otedola, the core investor in the company, chairs the group’s board of directors while Mr Akin Akinfemiwa leads the executive management team

Fiscal Year Ended December 31

2013 %

2012 %

Financing structure Equity funds/Total assets Long-term liabilities/Total assets Current liabilities/Total assets Debt/Equity ratio

40.5 15.0 44.6 11.6

17.8 5.1 77.1 130.3

Profitability Gross profit margin Pre-tax profit margin Return on total assets Return on equity Dividend cover (times)

9.9 5.1 6.2 11.8 1.08

11.2 1.3 2.7 13.3 -

Efficiency Pre-tax profit per employee (Nm) Staff cost per employee (Nm) Cost of sales, operating exp/Turnover

NA NA 100.1

NA NA 97.5

Liquidity Current ratio Working capital/Turnover Debtors/Creditors

1.06 2.1 87.0

0.75 -8.9 60.6

•Femi-Otedola

as group chief executive officer. On the basis of available information, the company has largely complied with extant codes of corporate governance and best practices.

Analyst’s opinion The outlook for Forte Oil is reassuring. The performance over the 15month period reinforces the continuing success of its business development programme, especially the landmark diversification into the electric power business. Two years into its three-year strategic business transformation initiative which started in 2012, immediate past year further evidenced the continuing solidification of the business. With the steady success of the immediate initiative, the company can transit into its medium-to-long term corporate plans, which entails expansion into the upstream oil and gas sectors. Obviously, the new power business will continue to be a major driver for group performance in the years ahead.

Forte Oil was recently added to the MSCI Frontier Market Index 100, a global index for the 100 of the largest and most liquid stocks in some 26 countries generally classified as frontier markets. The MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index is designed as the representative and more easily replicable alternative to its broader parent index, the MSCI Frontier Markets Index. With the May 2014 semi-annual review, frontier markets countries now include Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Vietnam.

The MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index was launched on Apr 11, 2012 and placed strong emphasis on tradability through three main features of a minimum liquidity level and proportion of shares still available to foreign investors relative to maximum allowed. The 100 largest securities are selected from the eligible universe and ranked by float adjusted market capitalization.

Notwithstanding, Forte Oil needs to strengthen its capital base to support its business expansion. It also needs to strengthen its downstream marketing business to increase its complement to the group performance.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

38

THE NATION

BUSINESS PENSION Pension professionals, stakeholders and regulators in Africa and from other parts of the world gathered last week in Nigeria for the World Pension Summit, ‘Africa Special,’ co-hosted by the National Pension Commission (PenCom). The agenda was to brainstorm on how best to harness the continent’s pension fund assets as catalysts for economic development and prosperity. OMOBOLATOLU-KUSIMO, who was at the summit, reports.

Africa set to utilise pension funds for growth

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ITHIN 10 years, the pension industry in Nigeria has experienced phenomenal growth from a deficit of N2 trillion in form of pension liabilities in 2004, to accumulation of pension fund assets worth N4.3 trillion by the end of last year.

The achievement in the industry will further grow with the recent passage of the new Pension Reform Act, 2014 by President Goodluck Jonathan.

These developments and more were showcased at the just concluded World Pension Summit ‘Africa Special,’ hosted by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) which held for the first time in Africa.

Thoughts and experiences were shared among African countries in particular, and the world in general on how pension funds can evoke pragmatic, sustainable and most effective initiatives for pension fund governance and regulation in the continent.

According to PenCom, the summit was also held in recognition of the increasing significance of pension funds in shaping Africa’s future.

Speakers, panelists and other discussants dissected many of the issues and proffered solutions that will ensure that Africa remains at the cutting-edge in the conception and implementation of sustainable pension policies.

They also deliberated on strategies for developing an appropriate framework for leveraging pension funds across the continent to accelerate the implementation of critical high-impact infrastructure projects.

Prior to pension reform and the establishment of PenCom in 2004, pension schemes in Nigeria had been bedeviled by many problems. The public service operated an unfunded Defined Benefits Scheme and the payment of retirement benefits was budgeted for annually.

The annual budgetary allocation for pension was often one of the most vulnerable items in budget implementation in the light of resource constraints. In many cases, even where budgetary provisions were made, inadequate and untimely release of funds resulted in delays and accumulation of arrears of payment of pension rights. It was obvious therefore, that the Defined Benefits Scheme could not be sustained.

In the private sector, many employees were not covered by the pension schemes put in place by their employers and many of these schemes were not funded.Besides, where the schemes were funded, the management of the pension funds was fraught with malpractices carried out by the fund managers and the trustees of the pension funds.

This scenario necessitated a rethink of pension administration in Nigeria by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Accordingly, the administration initiated a pension reform in order to address and eliminate the problems associated with pension schemes in the country.

The outcome of the reform was the enactment into law of the Pen-

•President Jonathan

• Mrs Anohu-Amozu

• Founder and Chairman WPS, Harry Smorenberg

sion Reform Act 2004 and the establishment of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to regulate, supervise and ensure effective administration of pension matters in Nigeria.

At present, there are 20 Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and four Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) under PenCom. Since its establishment, PenCom has been able to implement the contributory pension system that has pension administration and custodianship intertwined; duly licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) open Retirement Savings Accounts for employees, invest and manage the pension funds in a manner that the Commission may from time to time prescribe, maintain books of accounts on all transactions relating to the pension funds managed by them, provide regular information to the employees or beneficiaries of the fund and pay retirement benefits to employees . The Pension Fund Custodians, on the other hand, are responsible for the warehousing of the pension fund assets. The employer sends the contributions directly to the PFC, who notifies the PFA of the receipt of the contribution and the PFA subsequently credits the retirement savings account of the employee.

Meanwhile, the new Pension Reform Act 2014, which repeals the Pension Reform Act, No.2, 2004, is meant to further fortify the pension assets against mismanagement and systemic risks, govern and regulate the administration of the uniform pension scheme for both public and private sectors in Nigeria.

The 2014 Act also empowers PenCom, subject to the fiat of the Attorney-General of the Federation to institute criminal proceedings against employers who persistently

fail to deduct or remit pension contributions of their employees within the stipulated time. This was not provided for by the 2004 Act. Similarly, the new law allows PenCom to revoke the license of erring pension operators.However, the huge pool of funds that the contributory pension scheme has put together has been identified by analysts and other stakeholders as a firm backing to the economy.

The Acting Director-General, PenCom, Chinelo Anohu-Amozu, while speaking at the summit, said the outcome of the event has set modalities that can address the challenges of infrastructure gaps in Africa, which will indeed help in creating the economic pre-conditions needed for longer-term growth as well as to foster poverty alleviation.

She said in achieving the set goals, African government must be mindful of the fact that our hopes and aspirations as a continent are primarily hinged on the evolution and development of retirement benefits into a veritable instrument of social change, not in a theoretical or abstract sense, but in terms of an intrinsic transformation of our institutions, and our operators.

She said: “We need to attempt to set out what could be considered a set of challenges that pension professionals and regulators around Africa must surmount, in order to engender the evolution of a retirement pension system that will be rooted in our collective social consciousness.

“We also need systems that are relevant to the fundamental needs of our continent, which are dynamic enough to initiate and also respond to developmental challenges facing the continent in an increasingly interdependent glo-

bal economy.

“Infrastructure development remains a key driver and a critical enabler of sustainable growth in Africa and the current favourable economic landscape on the continent provides a unique opportunity for the public and private sectors to collectively address the infrastructure gaps. Focusing on Africa’s infrastructure challenges will indeed help in creating the economic pre-conditions needed for longer-term growth as well as to foster poverty alleviation.

“Given the size of pension fund assets across Africa, there is a real opportunity for policymakers to collaborate with pension professionals so as to effectively leverage these assets for sustainable progress.”

Mrs Anohu-Amazu stressed that as the proportion of retirement income provided by private pensions continues to grow, the regulatory framework designed to protect those funds becomes even more crucial.

She noted that the theme of the summit, ‘Shaping the Future’ underscores the imperative of institutionalising a risk-based approach, which ultimately allows the regulatory agencies to channel their resources towards, issues that pose the greatest threat to the stability of the industry.

The Chief Executive, Kenyan Retirement Benefits Authority, Edward Odundo, while citing the Kenyan example, said pension operators in Kenya are not attracted to private equity and venture capital.

He said they rather tilt towards lending to workers for housing purposes.He said: “One of the ways that pension fund could put to good use to the benefit of contributors is to allow Retirement

‘One of the ways that pension fund could be put to good use for the benefits of contributors is to allow Retirement Saving Account holders to borrow from the scheme. If one has N10 million accumulated savings, instead of going to the bank to borrow at 21 per cent interest rate, he could be allowed to borrow from his accumulated fund and repay at a friendly interest rate while his savings serve as collateral for the credit. This is the case with Kenya’

Saving Account holders to borrow from the scheme. If one has N10 million accumulated savings, instead of going to the bank to borrow at 21 per cent interest rate, he could be allowed to borrow from his accumulated fund and repay at a friendly interest rate while his savings serve as collateral for the credit. This is the case with Kenya, he added.

“Pension Reform in Kenya has resulted in a sea of change in the operations of retirement benefits schemes in the country. This has led to rapid growth of the industry coupled with enhanced member protection and security. Building on this success, the government has introduced further reforms aimed at securing and consolidating these gains.”

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole who spoke on investment of the pension assets in capital market, faulted the investment of pension assets in the capital market saying the fund should rather be deployed to areas that would benefit contributors directly.

He observed that the fund is largely being invested in government bonds and quoted stock in the capital market, saying it wasn’t the poverty of government that informed the scheme but old age poverty.

He added that the instruments benefit the rich who have the capacity and connections to access the fund to do business and make profit while the workers who are contributing the fund don’t have access to it noting that investing pension assets in the capital market is tantamount to pooling the resources of the poor for the benefit of the rich.

The Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Issa Aremu, concurred with the Kenyan regulator, that pension assets should be used to provide houses for the working people. He charged pension stakeholders to deploy pension asset to financing home ownership schemes for workers. This is one of the ways to deploy pension funds for the benefits of contributors directly, he added.

He said houses are expensive when mortgage institutions and other intermediaries build for sale to workers stating that Kenya workers are allowed to borrow from their retirement savings to build houses.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Service, Mr. Aloysius Etok o n h i s p a r t i d e n t i f i e d some lacuna in the new Pension Reform Act, 2014.He said the National Assembly was discovered though belatedly that the pension law left out employers and political appointees.

He advised that the pension stakeholders should do everything possible to ensure that the law is returned to the National Assembly to be upgraded with a view to bringing both employers and government appointees under the contributory pension scheme.

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Babangida Aliyu raised the issue of non-compliance by some states of the pension reform law.He said it is important that PenCom ensures the law permeates the states.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Soya bean processing has become a viable business for entrepreneurs. Not only does the product improve human metabolism, it is believed to contain potent supplements helpful in curing many ailments. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

I

The magic of soya bean powder

T is believed that the composition of a man’s diet, to a large extent, impacts on his state of health and general well-being.

Therefore, the fad now is for man to control or regulate his diet for a healthy living.

Several food items, especially in their natural state, have been discovered to be of immense assistance in this regard. One of such is the Soya beans- which have been proven to be efficacious in the treatment of diseases.

Owing to this, dealing in soya bean products has become a very lucrative business for entrepreneurs. One entrepreneur that has latched on this, is Mr. John Eboh, Chief Executive, Beloved Joge Limited, a firm involved in the manufacturing of soya bean flour.

Eboh, who started the business in 2011, has not regretted his deci-

sion to venture into this aspect of manufacturing, considering that the discovery about soya beans products has led him to entrepreneurial success, making fortune to smile on him.

The journey into this enterprise began from Eboh’s kitchen. On a particular day, his wife brought soya beans with little condiments which they prepared for meal. It turned out to be very tasteful, and consequently became a traditional meal in his household.

The turning point came when Eboh’s friends, who tasted the meal in his house, advised him to explore the business side of it by finding a way of getting the flour to the market as it could turn out to be a commercial success.

Consequently, they began to think of the product as a viable business. After a careful market

survey, Eboh saw the big potential inherent in it, with the discovery ot the underserved market.

The couple believe that there is a big opportunity for a new entrant that will offer the one thing that the players in the market are not offering: superior taste, and they capitalised on that opening.

Subsequently, Eboh started the business with N4, 000. He bought soya beans and the other ingredients he used to make the first batch of the product.

He runs it as a family business, with his wife focusing on creating the right mix of the product. Marketing of the product is done through a salesman.

Today, the business that started in their home has grown into a venture with assets in excess of N2 million, and still growing. Eboh is satisfied that his company is of-

fering Nigerians a “delicious healthy tasty product.”

But like every other start-up business, the challenge has been funding to expand. According to him, raising capital is a challenge for micro entrepreneurs, hence, he has had to rely on his personal savings and proceeds from sales to capitalise the business.

However, Eboh remains undaunted, and continually hangs on to the belief that they have a good product and that people will love it as much as he did.

The other strength is that they have been able to make the business profitable. For the amount of work or risk involved, though, the premium is about right.

For the Ebohs, money and joy have been achieved not only through soya beans, but also through the potential in human ca-

T

•From left: Executive Director, Business Development, Bank of Industry,Mr Waheed Olagunju; Managing Director/ CEO,Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa and Executive Director, Operations, Alhaji Muhammed Alkali, at a briefing to unveil the bank’s transformation plan in Lagos.

PHOTO: BOLA OMILABU

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Lady cobbler finds her passion

LIZABETH Ojelua is the upand-coming entrepreneur behind shoemaking startup firm, SureLift Tranx. The company, which was launched in 2010 with eight staff, has been developing a name for itself in the fashion industry for its boutique, handmade shoe and handbag designs.

Ojelua found time to answer questions from “How we made it in Africa” on her inspiration behind Surelift Tranx, and what it takes to be a first-time entrepreneur in Nigeria.

What inspired you to start Surelift Tranx?

I first conceived the idea in 2008 but officially started in November 2010. The name Surelift Tranx is a combination of my childhood nickname “Surely”, ‘lift’ inspired by God and ‘tranx’ from transformation.

What actually inspired me was my creativity and the fact that I have always loved to work with my hands. I learnt bead making and some other skills after I graduated from school and before I found a job. I started to make the beads but couldn’t sell them because a lot of people, even my friends and family, were already making beads too.

I couldn’t sell my beads, but it got me thinking and I finally arrived at the concept of putting the beads on easy-to-wear slippers.

A lot of people loved the concept but complained about the finish because I initially used roadside shoemakers to help me fix my beautiful knitted beads onto the slippers. But their finishing was poor. So I was

encouraged to learn the skill…. And just like that I found my passion in shoemaking. Today I still make shoes with my hands and train people and groups to do the same.

How did you go about financing your startup?

I actually started with as little as N8, 000 ($49) cash that I gathered from the sale of cosmetics immediately after my time at the National Youth Service Corp because I hate idleness.

Who are your customers?

Middle and upper class men and women; people with a taste for quality and unique products in a variety of designs.

Describe the potential in Nigeria’s clothing and fashion market.

Nigerians love fashion and wearing beautiful clothes. Nigerians are always striving to be outstanding and are really good at keeping updated on trends… So with constant and creative work on colour combinations and designs, the fashion industry will never run dry.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in business and how do you plan to overcome them?

Power supply is a big issue but we are overcoming that by using a generator. Another challenge is the constant non-availability of some materials, sometimes when demand is high on a particular product design… I have to tell the clients we may have to alter the materials.

The best part of being an entre-

preneur?

I am a happy entrepreneur because I love my line of business as a shoemaker. I also have control of my time (even though I work around the clock some days).

In your opinion, what qualities must an entrepreneur have to be successful in Nigeria?

Entrepreneurs in Nigeria need to be focused… and passionate about what they do.

What entrepreneurial qualities come naturally to you?

The ability to keep on learning, creative thinking and planning, and, of course, being very friendly.

Do you think more can be done in Nigeria to encourage young entrepreneurs and foster a supportive environment for startups?

Yeah, sure. A lot should be put in place to assist young entrepreneurs, especially to tackle the high rate of unemployment. Grants and loans should be more readily available to them and, of course, the power supply should be more regular. Also, more forums should be organised for them on entrepreneurial matters to help them improve their business and achieve faster growth.

Do you have any advice for first time entrepreneurs?

Put God first, follow your passion only, and be consistent in giving your best. The sky is your starting place and together we will improve our world.

• Culled from how we made it in africa

• Eboh

pacities they are currently tapping.

Things successful entrepreneurs do daily

HE most effective entrepreneurs view themselves as assets. They continually invest in themselves and in their future through continuing education and self-improvement.

If you want to become a better entrepreneur and successfully grow your business, dedicate time and energy to improve your daily habits.

Here are 15 things many business influencers make time for in their busy schedules.

• Eat breakfast. To work at your peak performance, your body needs fuel. Rather than just grab a cup of coffee on your way to the office, take a few minutes to eat a meal or drink a protein smoothie — even if it’s on the go.

• Plan your day. First thing in the morning, look at your calendar and prioritise your schedule. If you work best during a specific time of the day, block out those hours for quiet work time. I do my best work in the mornings, so I try to schedule at least 90 minutes to work on my writing before daily distractions begin. While you’re at it, schedule short breaks throughout the day to eat a healthy snack and keep your energy up.

• Don’t check email right away.

It’s tough not to hop on your smart phone first thing in the morning and see who’s emailed you. Often checking email is a distraction from what you want to focus on early in the day. Try to wait until 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. to check email, after you’ve completed at least one of your critical to-do items. If you’re working on an important project, try not to check your email more than three times a day.

• Remember your purpose. Take a few moments at the start of each workday to remind yourself of your company’s goals. Think about your core customer and which areas of your business are most profitable.

We oftentimes get caught up in the minutia of daily tasks we lose sight of what brings us happiness and profitability.

• Single-task. We live in a world that praises multi-tasking. Unfortunately, when you have too much going on at once you may become distracted by interruptions and unimportant glitches. To be productive and effective, prioritise, delegate whenever possible and focus.

• Visualise. It may feel silly, but close your eyes and envision your success. Imagine what you will feel like when you reach your goals.

Visualisation is a powerful tool and can help you keep your aspirations at the front of your mind. It might

By Jacqueline Whitmore

also help to post a picture of what you’d like to accomplish. For example, if you’re interested in taking a trip to Paris, post of photo of the Eiffel Tower on your desk.

• Say no. Entrepreneurs especially feel pressure to accept every opportunity that comes their way. However, not every opportunity will benefit you or your business. Time is our most valuable commodity. Be selective about what you agree to do.

•Value your time. Unlike money, time is a non-renewable resource.

There’s simply no way to make more of it. Guard your time and spend it doing the most important things for yourself and your company. Avoid distractions whenever possible.

Whether you facilitate or attend a meeting, online or in person, get clear about the start and end time.

Whenever someone requests a meeting or consultation with you, try asking for the questions in advance so you can do your research ahead of time. This will keep you on time and on task.

• Delegate. In the early days of my business, I thought I could save money and do everything myself.

Then I realized the small, mundane tasks were taking me away from those things that generated the most income for my business. I was on the fast track to burnout. When you become overwhelmed with work or can’t figure out a solution, hire someone to help.

• Listen. Be present when you speak with a colleague or employee.

Take the time to fully understand what the other person is saying. Leaders who listen effectively avoid miscommunications and are less likely to have to ask for clarification later.

• Show gratitude. Make it a daily habit to sit down and be thankful for all the opportunities you have been given and all the things you’ve accomplished so far. Simply reminding yourself of your past successes will keep you focused, present and productive.

• Stand up and move around. Did you know sitting is the new smoking? This car-commuting, deskbound lifestyle can be harmful to your health. Studies show it raises the risk of disability, diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer and obesity. No matter when you can make time for it during the day, take a few minutes to stand up and take activity breaks every hour or so. It’s good for your body and mind.

• Culled from how we made it in africa

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

40

BUSINESS

Bank boss Richard Pym to PHCN pensioners shelve planned Co-ophead Allied Irish Banks protest against minister T

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UT for the quick intervention of the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo and the Minister of State, Hon. Mohammed Wakil, the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja would have been picketed by aggrieved PHCN pensioners for the non-payment of their four- month pension.

The Federal Government owes the pensioners under the auspices of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners NUP (Electricity Sector) N4.5 billion monthly pensions since March, this year while some have not been paid since February.

The pensioners who were set to embark on a peaceful protest to the Ministry of Finance on suspended the planned protest following a meeting with the two ministers at the Ministry of Power in Abuja and promise to pay within one week.

NUP President, Comrade Temple Ubani, while addressing journalist in Abuja said the pensioners unanimously agreed to suspend the protest following high level of intervention by the ministers.

He said the ministers related to them what they have discussed with President Goodluck Jonathan and his willingness to find an immediate solution to their problems.

•Nebo, Wakil plead

By OmobolaTolu-Kusimo

He lamented that they have been suffering while some have died as a result of the non-payment of their monthly pension for the past four months, noting that they are also owed gratuities and other pension benefits.

He said the ministers also informed the pensioners that they were assured by the Coordinating Minister of finance and Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to pay the arrears in one week.

He said: “We wish to inform the general public and the world at large, about the callous, inhuman and undignified manner the Federal Government of Nigeria has been treating NEPA/PHCN retirees since the advent of reforms in the electric power sector and privatisation of PHCN. “The PHCN management at the end of August 2012 failed to pay pensions to our members. The Federal Government had at the time, directed the Market Operator (MO) to stop the payment without any form of consultations or communication with our union. Government also directed

Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Ltd/Gte (NELMCO) to assume the responsibility of paying our members monthly stipends with immediate effect, again without our consent or input. This was the genesis of an array of challenges of PHCN retirees up till this moment. Death of reliable data, non-payment of pensions, and other retirement entitlements, delayed release of funds by Federal Ministry of Finance to NELMCO bedeviled the transition.

“None of the agreements reached with the Labour has been honoured

by Government as we speak. These include but not limited to, “Failure to address the superannuation fund deficits to meet outstanding pension liabilities; outstanding pension arrears; non representation of the union in NELMCO Board; outstanding electricity rebates and non-payment of monetisation arrears.”

Ubani further said that their pension was also wrongly classified as capital supplementation while all other pension funds were captured under Service Wide Vote.

“NELMCO Pension Appropriation is classified as ‘CAPITAL SUPPLEMENTATION’ while all other pension funds were captured under Service Wide Vote.

HE Chairman of the Co-op Bank, Richard Pym, will stand down later this year to lead Allied Irish Banks (AIB).

Pym, a former chief of Alliance and Leicester, had already announced he would be leaving the troubled lender, which is now seeking his replacement.

He will be appointed to the AIB board as a non-executive director and chairman-designate from 13 October.

AIB Chairman David Hodgkinson will retire from the board of the nationalised Irish bank in December.

“I am delighted to accept the invitation to be the next chairman

of AIB and I look forward to contributing to the progress that has already been made in re building a strong bank,” said My Pym. “Irish taxpayers have made considerable sacrifices in supporting the banking system and I am very conscious of my responsibilities in that regard.”

AIB is 99.8 per cent state-owned after it was forced to take a •20billion (£15.91billion) taxpayer bailout in 2011.

The bank said its losses had more than halved last year.

Chief executive of AIB, David Duffy, said Mr Hodgkinson had “led the company through a turbulent and difficult time”.

NEPC, UNIDO seek new areas in non-oil sector

N

EW areas for development and promotion of the non-oil export sector are being explored by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

The Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo made this known at a meeting with the Country Representative of UNIDO in Nigeria, Dr. Patrick Kormawa.

He said: “The Council has collaborated with UNIDO over the years in areas of human capital development with the establishment of leather and leather products Common Facility Centre (CFC), at Aba Abia State, Kano CFC on textiles and the Human Capital Development Centre (HCDC) also known as the AGOA Training School, Ikoyi, Lagos.

“The Council has prioritised some products for export as part of its effort to stimulate export culture among Nigerians, with future plans to establish a world class export training institute.

“Concerted effort is being made by NEPC to shift focus from post to pre-

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

shipment incentive with the re-introduction of the Export Development Fund (EDF) which is targeted at promoting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) exporters.”

Speaking, UNIDO representative, Dr. Kormawa confirmed that there was need to first build strong export culture within the ECOWAS sub-region before launching out to other regions, stressing that the development of a national policy that would ensure acceptable international quality standards for exportable products was of paramount importance.

Kormawa said for the country to actualise the objectives of the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) all stakeholders in the nonoil export sector as well as relevant Government Agencies in the sector should own and drive the plan.

Towards this end, he said UNIDO was willing to partner with relevant agencies and identified stakeholders in proffering strategies that would help in achieving the goals and objectives of the NIRP.

Bayelsa business forum to enhance rice production

B • From left: Head, Business Development and Marketing, NAHCO Plc, Sanya Onayoade; Managing Director/CEO, Kayode Oluwasegun-Ojo; Executive Director, Operations, Norbert Bielderman and Customs Area Comptroller, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Mr. Tajudeen Olanrewaju at the launch of the 24-hour cargo process at the firm's warehouse in Lagos.

FAAN, Customs, others lose N200m to ports’ congestion A S the protest by clearing agents and freight forwarders over air arbitrary charges by foreign cargo airlines lingers, the Nigerian Customs Service Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), Aviance Plc Skyways Aviation Handling Company Limited ( SAHCOL) and other operators at the cargo wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos have lost over N200 million as revenue because of the uncleared cargoes at the tarmac.

The loss is sa a result of the refusal of clearing agents and freight forwarders to clear cargoes flown in by international cargo airlines.

A source close to a Customs clearing agent said, the agencies earn about N22m daily from major international airport on cargo operations.

The bulk of such earnings come from Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. Fifty percent of cargo volumes coming into the country are from the Lagos Airport, while Kano remains the second busiest in terms of cargo.

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

For eight days, inbound cargoes piled up in Lagos and other airports, raising fears of further congestion if the matter is not resolved.

Attempt by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to resolve the matter failed at the weekend, as a meeting between the affected airlines, clearing agents and freight forwarders ended in deadlock.

Agencies affected by the refusal of the clearing agents and freight forwarders to clear cargo include Nigerian Customs Service, FAAN, NAHCO and SAHCOL. NAHCO Aviance said it has not stopped the clearing of goods in its warehouse.

In a statement signed by its spokesman, Mr. Sanya Onayoade, the firm stated that the clarification became necessary due to insinuations making the round that it had stopped clearance of goods as a result of a disagreement between some major airlines

and customs licensed clearing agents.

While urging a speedy resolution of the issues by the parties, NAHCO Aviance said its facilities are open for business in both its export and import warehouses.

It said to resolve the impasse, NAHCO had begun 24 hours cargo operations. ‘’This is sequel to the agreement reached between the organisation and Nigerian Customs Service to extend its hours of operation at the Cargo Airport Complex. ‘’With the commencement of the 24hour cargo operations by nahco aviance, there would be prompt facilitation of cargoes.

This would reduce the stockpiling of cargo at the tarmac and bulk breaking areas due to enhanced operational capacity.

‘This will also lead to proper maximisation of cargo potentials thus expediting on timely delivery to customers, smoother flow of operations and enhancing daytime capability,’’ it said.

AYELSA State Commissioner for Trade, Industry and Investment Kemela Okara has said the government will double its efforts in rice production to earn foreign exchange for the country.

He spoke during a cocktail in Lagos organised for investors for the First Bayelsa State Economic Forum.

He explained that Bayelsa has the natural topography that is favorable to the production of rice, noting that the country could earn foreign exchange from the mass production of the product.

Okara called on small and medium scale investors to tap into the opportunities at the forum, adding that the state’s virgin land was waiting to be harnessed.

He said: “The investment forum is place for dialogue and intends to provide both private and public

T

By Musa Odoshimokhe

organisations the opportunity to see what it can offer to entrepreneurs.

“Bayelsa has the capacity to provide all that will enhance business life for Nigeria. The state is one of the richest states in gas and we have the intention of creating the power hub in the state.

“The commissioner noted that investors should partner with the state government in areas of trade, tourism and agriculture in order to enhance the country’s economic fortunes.”

He said adequate security has been provided for all participants at the three days business dialogue, stressing that the forum is a one stop shop for those who want to learn new skills on productivity and capacity building.

Empower Nigeria road show

HE Anabel Group is hitting the road with its empowerment, job creation and investment opportunities’ teaching.

The first-ever trade and investment road show will reach all geographical zones in the country to spread the benefits of the group’s teachings to Nigerians.

Cities, such as Enugu, Nnewi, Umuahia and Owerri are expected to be covered in the southeast.

Corporate organisations travelling with the Empower Nigeria Team include Diamond Bank, Honeywell Industries, Standards Organisation of Nigeria and Fidelity Bank.

The road show will be used to get younths signed up onto the Clear Path to Entrepreneurship programme of the Anabel Leadership Academy, which covers support and assistance to young Entrepre-

neurs in access to finance, access to skills, affordable business premises and bankable business products.

Also, Empower Nigeria initiative will be unveiling its unique and strategic relationship with fund providers for Micro, Small and Medium scale businesses. The Road Show will also include seminars for young entrepreneurs as well as business people who need reeducation and these will include on “How to make it big in Business”, “ Making it in Nigeria”, “Building a Global Entrepreneur from Rags to Riches”, “How to Finance your Business” etc. Attendance is FREE for all who wish to attend provided you are registered. The Empower Nigeria Road Show is chaired by Hon Emeka Ihedioha the Deputy Speaker Federal House of Representatives and will be kicking off the Road Show on the 21st of July at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

43

NEWS OLATUNJI DARE @ 70

The man Dare

ing. There’s journalism in his behaviour. Everything he does is journalism.

“He’s a man that I admire and I’m so proud of him, as we both worked together as colleagues, and I feel proud to say I was the one who released him to go and join The Guardian and he has continued to represent us. We do keep in touch from time to time when we meet in the United States. I’m happy that he’s 70 and I wish him long life and prosperity in the spirit of journalism.

“If you read his editorials and columns, you will know he’s very constant just like your newspaper, just like the northern star. He’s very humble, very polite, but does not fail his conscience and that is one aspect that I admire in him. He’s a news man anytime.”

Prof. Olatunji Dare, one of Nigeria’s famous newspapermen, will be 70 tomorrow. Who is he?

What do people say about him? RAYMOND MORDI, JOSEPH JIBUEZE, ADEBISI ONANUGA, PRECIOUS IGBONWELUNDU, EVELYN OSAGIE and OLATUNDE ODEBIYI spoke to those who know him.

O

LATUNJI Dare, a professor, studied Mass Communi-cation at the University of Lagos, graduating with a First Class Honours. He earned a Master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York, where he was prizeman in Editorial Writing.

He obtained a doctorate in Communication Research from Indiana University, Bloomington, with specialisations in international communication and public policy analysis.

Dare taught at the University of Lagos from 1984 till 1988, when he was appointed a columnist and editorial page editor at The Guardian, where his award-winning and wide-ranging weekly column, in turn satirical and serious, attracted a wide, appreciative national audience. Two years later, he became the chairman of the Editorial Board.

As a correspondent for The Guardian, Dare filed stories from more than a dozen countries on three continents, interviewed several statesmen of global stature, including reporting from the White House.

He has served as an editorial writer for The Seattle Times on a fellowship from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. He has also served as a consultant to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department for International Development of the U.K. Foreign Office.

Dare’s weekly column in The Nation enjoys a wide and appreciative readership. His awards includes The Robert A. Curry Prize in Editorial Writing from Columbia University, The Nieman Foundation’s Louis M. Lyons Prize for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism, and the Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching Excellence from the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts at Bradley University, which he joined in 1997.

What people say about him Kunle Ajibade, Executive Editor/Director The NEWS “Arthur Miller, one of the great American writers, once said that ‘we must re-imagine liberty in every generation especially since a certain number of people are always afraid of it’. In all-embracing term, Olatunji Dare’s journalism is a fervent defence of liberty of creative and growth-inducing thinking. In jest and in earnest, he insists on the moral function of journalism, the power of journalism to create change.

“With his lofty thoughts couched in pure language, Dare constantly provides insights as he mirrors and focuses his eyes like camera lenses on our country’s severe conflicts and crises. When he rails against our vulgar tastes and values in his mordant satires, he shows that he cares enormously for our wellbeing, and wants us to take ourselves and our country seriously. Dare is a man of incredibly broad knowledge yet he doesn’t dazzle or overwhelm us with his deep knowledge and wisdom— they only shine through his writings effortlessly.

“For me the significance of Olatunji Dare lies not just in the power of his observation but, more importantly, in the nobility of his vision

as a selfless patriot and humanist. If many of his well-flavoured essays have stayed in my mind very stubbornly since I read them, it is because each time I re-read them, I find in the beauty of his words, in the beauty of his phrases, in the ravishing beauty of many of his sentences, the beauty that we all should create to make humankind a lot better.”

Dapo Fafowora The Nation Editorial Board member

Lai Oso Dean, School of Communications, Lagos State University “He was my lecturer in UNILAG. He taught me news reporting and feature writing. One incident that I would always remember was when I was to do a story on one of the centres in UNILAG, Centre for Cultural Studies and he made me to write the article about five or six times before he was satisfied.

“He is a perfectionist; he wants you to bring out the best in your writing and he demonstrates that in his column. I also think that his writings show a lot of maturity and a good user of the English Language.

He has a very good style, very readable, very straight forward.

“He is a great patriot and a democrat who is highly committed to the principles of democracy even as a lecturer. He gives his students opportunities to say their minds, they discuss issues and so on. So, he is a great democrat; he believes in it and practises it. He doesn’t impose his will on the students. He allows free discussion in his class and some of us really benefited from that.”

Prince Adebayo Onanuga MD/Editor-in-Chief, Independent Network Communications

“I have known Prof. Olatunji Dare since the late 70s. He was my teacher and a very good teacher at that.

When we were in the University of Lagos (UNILAG), in the Mass Communications Department, he was our teacher on newspaper writing and we did enjoy him. We enjoyed him more when he was writing articles in the Daily Times and at that time, he was writing satire. We knew him much as satiric writer and he carried that to the Guardian.

“What I noticed is that in recent time, the man has stopped writing satire. He used to mock our military leaders but now he writes straight talking. May be he is saying that the time for mockery is over. As a human being, to me, he is a very easy going man, an extremely humble man, a very brillant man and all these days I have known him, I have never seen him get angry one day, very respectful man and even respects people who are much younger than him. On the whole, I would say Prof Dare is a very nice man and a very good writ-

•Prof. Dare

er.”

Lateef Ibirogba

Yusuph Olaniyonu

Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy

Ogun State Commissioner for Information “Prof. Tunji Dare is a journalism teacher per excellence. He is also one of the rare ones who made it as a journalist but also one who not only belongs to the rank of the celebrated journalism teacher but also as a journalist and a rare practitioner. He teaches it, he practises it and everybody can acknowledge the fact that he is a master in the profession.

“Prof Dare is also somebody who is a mentor to many of us who are into journalism. You read his piece and you hope that you can write like that, you see the depth in his writing and you see that it depicts the fact that he is a man who has read so widely. When he corrects a columnist, he does it in such a way that you don’t feel offended; you don’t feel that you are little.

“Those who went through him at UNILAG and those who went through him just by reading his writing, either in The Guardian or now The Nation, all of us, should join in celebrating the man and we should showcase him to the entire world, that this is a great journalist that Nigeria has produced for the world.”

Femi Falana Activist-lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)

“Prof. Olatunji Dare is a patriotic intellectual and a consistent critic of bad governance in Nigeria. Through the weekly column maintained for years by him in The Guardian and The Nation, Dare has regularly joined issues with the reckless managers of the neo-colonial capitalist state in Nigeria.

“A country governed by a ruling class which believes in impunity certainly needs the likes of Dare to insist on the sanctity of the rule of law and due process. He is an unrepentant defender of the interests of the marginalised majority of our people.”

‘

He was my lecturer in UNILAG. He taught me news reporting and feature writing. One incident that I would always remember was when I was to do a story on one of the centres in UNILAG, Centre for Cultural Studies and he made me to write the article about five or six times before he was satisfied

’

“Prof. Olatunji Dare is a professional, a highly intelligent individual, a very upright personality and a rare Nigerian. He has really contributed to the intellectual world. I think that Nigerians have benefited so much from him. I want to wish him the best of times so that he can use the rest of his time to enjoy all those good things he has contributed to, particularly, the generations that are now making waves, people who are doing very well in their chosen industry. Our generation benefited from Prof Tunji Dare.

“The essence of having this rare gift is to build a generation that can take over from him. This is what Prof. Dare has done. I wish him the very best, a very good time such that he can sit back and watch his products doing well and that can be his joy. I wish him very many good times in years to come.”

Ralph Akinfeleye

Chairman, Centre of Excellence in Multimedia, Cinematography and Radio UNILAG 103.1, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos (UNILAG)

“Prof. Tunji Dare is an excellent scholar; an excellent journalist. We both taught news writing, news editing, graphics/communication and editorial writing at the University of Lagos. I was the Head of Department when he was released to The Guardian. Since that time, he has been adding value to the profession of journalism. And I’m not surprised, because he’s a graduate of the famous Colombia University Journalism School in New York.

“I used to joke with him that Colombia University comes after my own school, that’s the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Colombia. They’re famous journalism schools and were competitors. There’s University of Missouri in Colombia; there’s Colombia University in New York, and graduates from those schools have it.

“I wasn’t happy when he left UNILAG for greener pastures, but it has been very profitable. We miss him seriously. He’s somebody that is very dynamic and very resolute, and highly reliable, dependable and loyal. Everything he does is journalism. There’s journalism in his talk. There’s journalism in his laughter. There’s journalism in his think-

“Tunji Dare was himself a victim of the consequences of the events of June 12, 1993. Through internal and external intrigues, he was forced to resign his job as the chairman of the editorial board of The Guardian, as the owners of the paper sought to mend fences with the military authorities after the paper was closed on account of its editorial policy with which the military rulers were uncomfortable. Under threat by the military authorities, he eventually fled the country with his family for the United States where he now resides.

“I left The Guardian in disgust at this sad turn of events. This was not difficult for me as I had waived my fees when I was on the paper’s editorial board. At meetings of the board, Tunji Dare said very little and would only interject if someone said something that was plainly absurd or morally outrageous. But he left no one in any doubt about the moral rectitude that he wanted the paper to espouse.

“As a political writer and columnist, Dare has established, with his objectivity and moral courage, the finest traditions of the art of political journalism for which he has set a high standard. Dare has a wide network of friends, including the politicians. He knows them personally and has a good grasp of their characters, which is why he is often cynical about politicians. But he has never allowed friendship to develop to the point at which his views are warped by prejudice, or inhibited by the fear of causing offences, even to his friends.

“As Paul Johnson, the celebrated political writer of London News Statesman once advised: ‘Journalists should develop a proper pride in their profession and deal with politicians on a basis of friendly and civilised equality. They must seek information, but never cringe for it; if they know their job, the politicians will always be prepared to meet them on equal and fair terms.’

“Tunji Dare is an exemplar of these attributes. It is this that has made him Nigeria’s pre-eminent political writer and columnist.”

Odia Ofeimun Author and poet

“Of Nigeria’s columnists, Olatunji Dare is the most consistent memoirist and instant biographer of the nation. His dairies are flawless markers of our national travails and foibles. Witness his insightful entries for the June 12 Debacle. He is a master of the art. At 70, he deserves every celebration.”

Debo Adesina Deputy Managing Director, The Guardian “I was his student at UNILAG and I learnt a whole lot from him. He is

Continued on page 44

44

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

NEWS OLATUNJI DARE @ 70

The man Dare Continued from page 43 one of the most brilliant brains who passed through not only the Mass Communication department but the entire UNILAG. “I learnt real journalism practice from him. He was a leader for many of us who took our studies seriously. He was never tired of mentoring us and he is always ready to assist us. I’m so surprised that he is already 70 and I wish him a happy birthday.”

Lanre Arogundade Director, International Press Centre “When he was in The Guardian, he was one of the columnists that made people to buy the paper because people looked up to his write-ups.

During the June 12 period, he wrote a series that if compiled, would serve as a big history of what transspired during that particular period.

“I think that he made that contribution, in 1996, when the NUJ Lagos State council published a book on Journalism. He served as the editor of the publication and the book was titled: Journalism in Nigeria, issues and perspective. The book has been recognised as a great job on the history and processes of the media in Nigeria. He ensured that we had a publication. At the level of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, we will remember him for undertaking that responsibility and ensuring that we had the publication that is still a reference point till today.”

“He is an old friend and a colleague who has proven his worth in literary endeavours. He made a First Class at the University of Lagos and I was the one who did his reference for admission in Columbia. Tunji Dare is one of the greatest editorialists Nigeria has ever produced and I wish him many happy years.

“He is a man of high integrity and one with a mighty pen. He wields it tremendously and his pen is one in a million. He is a man of the house and more power to his elbow.”

“On a personal note, he is one of the people one looks up to. There are journalists and there are journalists. He has succeeded in keeping his integrity intact. I have not heard of any untoward thing about him in about 30 years that I have known him.

“It is something to commend and I recommend him as a role model to younger mass communication professionals. He is not a poor man and he is not a moneybag but still Prof. Dare is a name that cannot be missed by students of public affairs and mass communication.

“He has remained relevant and has never stopped raising his voice on issues of public importance. I pray his pen would not go dry. He should continue to trouble those who trouble Nigeria. I contributed a chapter in his book and I said a lot more there.”

Lanre Idowu:

Martins Oloja

Akin Oyebode

Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Ado-Ekiti and professor of International Law and Jurisprudence at UNILAG

Managing Director, Diamond Publications (publishers of Media Review and organisers of the Diamond Award for Media Excellence)

“He is one of the academics who have been able to marry the gown with the town. Aside lecturing, he was able to keep his column going consistently for about 20 years and so, his students and colleagues have the opportunity to not only hear him teach, but to learn from the sound arguments his columns provide.

“He has done it for so long and has remained relevant through the years, which speaks volumes about his scholarship. He is diligent and committed to his craft. He is a long distance runner and maintains an unblemished record.

Editor of The Guardian “He is a very big source of inspiration to all reporters, writers and those who want a good career in journal-

ism, especially in ability to write well and ability to use English language very well. He is a teacher and he is so committed to the use of language.

“We will continue to remember his write-ups. I want to wish him well, more ink to his pen and encourage him to publish some of his writings, his experience, so that they will not go to the grave with him.

He is a world-class journalism teacher, who also has both local and international experience. He should publish a book that can endure, that journalists will continue to use.”

Jumoke Anifowose

Lawyer, politician and daughter of the late Governor Michael Adekunle Ajasin “I would say Prof. Olatunji Dare is just an acquaintance; I won’t say I know him. On his part, he doesn’t know me either. If he sees me on the street, I don’t think he would recognise me. But at the same time, I admire him as a good writer, who talks about issues that affect the polity.

“He is certainly somebody we

‘

His column is such that when you have read it, on any issue he deals with, you would feel satisfied about what you have read. He has a thorough grasp of the issues he writes on; he would have done his research; by the time you finish reading, you will be satisfied. When he was at The Guardian, he was always winning awards as the best columnist of the year

’

should celebrate at 70, because he is one of those who have helped to shape the democracy we are all enjoying today. I am a kind of a faraway admirer of him; I can’t say much about him, apart from his writing. He is somebody we should celebrate at 70. I wish him the very best on his 70th birthday!”

Femi Omowunmi

Information specialist, Public Affairs Section of the United States Consulate-General, Lagos “We worked together when I first came to the American Embassy, in the sense that he was always a resource person in several workshops we had for journalists. During these workshops, Prof. Dare showed his kind of man; that he was very thorough in what he does. As a writer and professor of journalism too, he was very thorough as a professional. That was one of the reasons why I believe he left The Guardian during the military era, when they were asked to go and beg the military dictator then, the late Gen. Sani Abacha. He didn’t like the idea, so he opted to resign. For that singular act, he got an award from an American institution. That incident clearly illustrates the kind of stuff he is made of. Professionally, we worked together and interacted very well.

Like I said, he is a fine gentleman.

“His column is such that when you have read it, on any issue he deals with, you would feel satisfied about what you have read. He has a thorough grasp of the issues he writes on; he would have done his research; by the time you finish reading, you will be satisfied. When he was at The Guardian, he was always winning awards as the best columnist of the year.”

45

WEDNESDAY JULY 16, 2014

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

NATIONAL CONFERENCE The National Conference has ended its deliberations without resolving the contentious issues of derivation and resource control. LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the implication of the non-resolution of the national question.

W

HEN the National Conference was inaugurated on March 17, many thought that delegates would go there with open minds and proffer solutions to the national question especially power structure, revenue sharing, derivation and resource control. But, Nigerias later lost hope because delegates could not adequately address the fundamental issues.

The controversey over derivation and resource control deepened the rift between northern and southern delegates, forcing the conference to adjourn abruptly many times. Delegates engaged in shouting matches, thereby frustrating several attempts by the leadership to broker peace and restore normalcy. Parochial mindset and regional interest were projected by delegates. They were not ready to make compromise on more issues.

In his inaugural address, President Goodluck Jonathan had said: “The purpose of this conference is to discuss and reach consensus on any aspect of governance arrangement for re-enforcing the unity, cohesion, stability, security, progress, development and performance of the Nigerian Federation... I believe, that certain issues must by now be accepted as minimum issues that must be regarded as given.

These are issues that have resulted from decades of political engagements and contestations, dialogues, conflict and negotiations, networking , and confrontation with stark realities that unite us as a people”.

The 50 -wise men, in their report, have increased the derivation fund to 18 per cent. There five per cent first line charge for the development of mineral resources and another five per cent is proposed as the National Intervention Fund in Northeast states affected by the insurgency.

In analysts’ opinion, the delegates derailed from their principal task of reforming the imperfect federal structure and fostering true federalism. Instead, they engaged in regional and ethnic politics that has further polarised the country. In the process they reduced the conference to an arena of ethnic competition and regional antagonism.

The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference, Dr Femi Okunrounmu, who is also a delegate, has reflected on the commotion. He said very early in the conference, three categories of delegates were at the conference.

Okunrounmu said the people in the first category consist of delegates from the Southwest and to a lesser extent, the Southeast, who were eagerly anticipating fundamental changes in the status quo is a return to regionalism and parliamentary form of government and a substantial devolution of powers to the regions or zones. The second category is made up of delegates from the minority zones. The Middle Belt delegates were opposed to regionalism, believing that they may once again come under the domination of the Hausa-Fulani. They wanted more states for ethnic minorities still entrapped in the core North.

The South-south wanted of resource control and resource ownership. The delegates from the core North constitute the third category. They came with a very straight forward agenda, which was to block any change and ensure the sustenance of the status quo.

According to Okunrounmu, the coreNorth wanted to frustrate regionalism, and resist the call for a referendum. He also said that the North had the numerical strength to insist that the report should go to the National

• Delegates at the conference.

Controversy over resource control Assembly.

Public Affairs analyst Dr Frank Ezimora observed that the National Conference is threading path that led to the abrupt end of the National Political Reform Conference conveyed by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2005. He recalled that the issue of derivation and resource control tore the conference apart. He said the three geo-political zones that make up the North, including the Middle Belt, had presented a united opposition to the Southsouth’s demand for a return to the status quo, whereby the federating units, that is, the regions, controlled their economic activities and finances.

Ezimora noted that the contentious issue had been settled by the 1960 Independence and 1963 Republican constitutions.”It was the law of Nigeria before and after independence that the federating units the regions, controlled their economic activities and finances, keeping 50 per cent of all revenues and contributing 50 per cent to the Federation Account, out of which another 30 per cent was shared among the regions, leaving 20 per cent to the Federal Government,” he said.

Ezimora said the law was changed in 1969 by the General Yakubu Gowon military administration when the crude oil from the Niger Delta became the mainstay of the economy. “The change was done without consultation with or mandate from the people,” he added.

The social critic said many delegates do not understand the fundamental premise of fiscal federalism. According to him, the Southsouth delegates are simply asking for a return to the post-independence practice after 45 years. His words: “In fact, the zone has shown an understanding and political maturity by agreeing to a gradu-

ated increase from a base of 25 per cent over a five year period to 50 per cent, thereby allowing some time for other regions to wean themselves of the oil addiction. A return to resource control is the much needed panacea to Nigeria’s present state of arrested development that would at the same time offer relief to the impoverished and degraded peoples of the oil producing communities, Ezimora postulated.

Elder statesman Alhaji Femi Okunnu agreed with Ezimora’s submission. The legal luminary said: “We are not fair to the oil-producing states. The retention of the 13 per cent of the profit from sales of petroleum and agricultural products to state of origin under the 1999 Constitution is grossly unfair to the states of origin of minerals and agricultural products. “ We are not ready to face the historical truth about the basis of the revenue allocation; the reason why in the colonial era , and until 1979, why the Federal Government was assigned only 20 per cent of the revenue allocation, instead of the 54 per cent the Federal Government now takes for running the central government.”

The former Federal Works Commissioner cited Section 134 (1) of the 1960 Constitution that stipulated that: “There shall be paid by the Federation to each region a sum equal to 50 per cent of the proceeds of any royalty received by the federation, in respect of any mineral extracted in that region and any mining rents derived by the federation during that year from within that region”.

The constitution further provided that, “the federation shall credit to the Distributable Pool Account, a sum equal to 30 per cent of the proceeds

of any royalty received by the federation, in respect of the mineral extraction in any region and any mining rents derived by the federation from any region”.

Okunnu said the remaining 20 per cent was kept by the Federal Government as its own share. He explained that, under the colonial rule, the revenue allocation was fashioned in such a way that regions would derive revenue from the Federation Account according to the functions and powers, which the regions would carry out under the constitution.

He explained further: “Before independence, the colonial government, with the consent of the regional governments, appointed the Fiscal Commission to look into the functions and powers of the legislative list and determine the percentage of revenue the regional government will need to carry out their functions and the percentage that will go to the Federal Government; to determine how much the Federal Government would spend to service its own functions. That was how government at independence up to Murtala/ Obasanjo era followed the fixed constitutional formula of 20 per cent to the Federal Government, 50 per cent to state of origin and remaining 30 per cent to the distributive pool to be shared among the regions or states.”

An activist, Bala Zakari, said there was no justification for increasing the revenue allocation of the oil-producing states. According to him, what a state like Delta collects from the Federation Account in a month is more than what five states in the North receive. His argument is that to increase the derivation allocation from 13 per cent will further impoverish states that do not produce oil.

Zakari argued that the oil-produc-

‘Delegates engaged in a shouting match, thereby frustrating several attempts by the leadership to broker peace and restore normalcy. Parochial mindset and regional interest were projected by delegates. They were not ready to make compromise on more issues’

ing states do not spend money on the exploration and exploitation of oil.

All the expenses, he said, were borne by the Federal Government. It is wrong for any state to claim ownership of the oil, since they don’t make any in-put in form of capital andtechnology towards production,” he said.

The Arewa youth leader queried the basis for the additional revenue being sought by the Southsouth. He said the Southsouth governors have not used the proceeds of 13 per cent derivation accrue to them judiciously. The special allocation has not impacted in the living standard of the people. He cited the case of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori who is serving jail term in Britain for diverting public funds meant to provide infrastructure for Delta people into his personal bank accounts in United Kingdom.

But, Ezimora faulted Zakari’s position. He said it was wrong to say that since the South-south governors have not used the 13 per cent derivation judiciously, they should not be given their states entitlement. He asked: What has the Nigerian governments controlled by northerners for the past 40 years, got to show for one trillion US dollars oil money. He said people should not play God by thinking that they will take away what belongs to others because in their warped minds such people have not used it to their own satisfaction.

Ezimora also said that, “if you give more to the Southsouth, there would be less for other zones. He said: “The corollary to this argument is that the oil producing communities should continue to be impoverished and vanquished because other zones need their wealth. Are South-south people being asked to sacrifice their lives so that northerners can live?”

In Okunrounmu’s reckoning, the core North has a fixation for power.

He said there is nothing wrong in any section of the country wishing to have the Presidency, but when a section is so desperate for it, the country is moving towards crisis.

46

THE NATION WEDNESDAY JULY 16, 2014

POLITICS Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso spoke with reporters in Kano, the state capital, on the National Conference, the insecurity and preparations for 2015 elections. Correspondent KOLADE ADEYEMI was there.

‘Jonathan wants to be life President’ Y

OU kicked against the National Conference when it was convocated. Can you tell us your reasons?

You see, in politics, like any other business, you know one plus two is three, as far as it is the normal arithmetic. Everybody knows the answer, especially when you have the capacity to understand that arithmetic. Since 1st of October, 2013, on hearing the broadcast of Mr. President, when he mentioned the issue of the conference, I knew very well that it was just going to be a waste of resources and a waste of time. I knew it was going to be very harmful to the people of this country. Even those who could not understood what I was saying, can now have every reason to believe that we were doing the right thing.

Now, what have we achieved in the conference so far? This country is being divided further by the conference. You see them talking about Muslims on this side and Christians on the other side. They are talking about the North on this side and the South on the other side. People are talking about those who have oil and those without oil. People are talking about ethnicity.

I believe the same issue are being discussed in the Churches and in the Mosque, markets and beer palours. What we need today is how to unite our country.

You have seen it that at the end, the poor will be poorer and the rich will be richer. What we want to see is fairness. Fair distribution of wealth, fair distribution of education, fair distribution of industries, electricity and so on and so forth. But what we are seeing now will certainly not help anybody, and whether anybody likes it or not, there is this correlation between poverty and what we are seeing today in this part of the country. All our friends, the United States of America, Britain, Germany, anywhere you go, it is the same story about us. It is common arithmetic like the one I have mentioned that one plus two is plus three. All of you here, I am sure will not be too happy to go and terminate your life. I am not even talking of Northwest or here in Kano and by the grace of God, even by the history, we are not doing too badly.

In the Northeast, we are appealing to the Federal Government to show interest. If you are talking about distribution of wealth, now you are talking about additional five per cent to 13 per cent. At the end of the day, who is losing because it is the same project? Somebody must be a winner and somebody must be a loser; and from what we are saying, everybody knows who is going to be the loser.

What is the implication for this?

The implication is that, with the way the issues appear, the level of insecurity, the people are made to be poorer. Everybody has reasons to lose one or two things. Many of the goods that are coming from the South have big market here in the North, but with crises, with violence, hardly can they sell anything. So many things that are happening in this country, as long as we don’t have peace in any part of the country, it affects all other parts of the country.

That is why I don’t see anything wrong with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I don’t see anything wrong with formula of this country. But I have seen many things wrong with the operators. I think what we need in this country, is to change the operators and bring better ones. Every part of this country should participate, every part of this country should come out. I knew very well that the Conference is going to be a waste of time and a waste of resources. It was allocated N7 billion and in the budget, only N2 billion was allocated to the Northeast to alleviate poverty. What is N2 billion?

I remember during the Musa Yar’Adua days, there was this issue of militancy in the Southsouth, Yar’Adua came with his own version of support to that part of the country; and as far as I am concerned, to a very large extent, it is working. And that is the type of thing the Federal Government should come up with.We have seen so much money going to that particular part of the country. We are not angry about it but what we are concerned about is that fairness should be shown to people from the other parts of the country. That is why we are telling our representatives, the delegates to the Conference that they should do whatever possible to ensure that peace and unity of this country remain. The poor should not be made to be poorer, they should as it is, and not to worsen the situation, but I am surprised that many of our delegates unfortunately went there, as far as I am concerned, not to represent us because anybody

‘He got two years after the death of Yar’Adua. Now he is spending four years; and he wanted another six years of one term, making 12 years, at least, for now. That seem not to be working. Now, we are hearing that they smuggled a new constitution through the confab. The arithmetic of the handlers there is saying that they want to throw away the six years, have a new constitution and, in 2015, start another eight years’ • Kwankwaso

who will go and say he is giving them additional five per cent, 10 per cent, must go and also ask for 100 per cent. We have seen a situation whereby monies are being allocated elsewhere which is against the constitution and against any law of the land. That is why many of us are concerned, not because of the poor, but also because of the rich, because if you make the poor poorer, that means the rich cannot sleep.

It is alleged that the conference is organised to further make the North poorer. How do you see this?

That is what I am saying. I agree with that notion 100 per cent. I said that the day he mentioned it. The worst of it, is all about the extension of his tenure. You have seen recently that he took a bill to the National Assembly, wanting the National Assembly to approve a sixyear one-term. The implication of that is that he wanted to lift himself. He got two years after the death of Yar’Adua. Now he is spending four years; and he wanted another six years of one term, making 12 years, at least, for now.

That seem not to be working. Now, we are hearing that they smuggled a new constitution through the confab. The arithmetic of the handlers there is saying that they want to throw away the six years, have a new constitution and, in 2015, start another eight years. We have seen it during the first term of governors of Yobe, Taraba, Ogun, Kogi.

Now, there is a new constitution on the ground to start another eight years by 2015. People are saying okay, another eight years, after six years; but do you want us to continue like this? With this level of corruption, this level of insecurity in this country; because we have seen that the only corrupt people in this country are APC! If you are not in APC, no matter what you steal, even the unbelievable money of Abacha doesn’t matter. They have dropped all the charges. Even when you have about more than 10 countries outside this country that have cases, who have bank files and documents all that should be dropped. Look at even our Emir, Muhammad Sanusi, what is his crime? That he said some money was missing.

Look at what happened in Ekiti. they surrendered people with arms. Look at what is happening now in Adamawa. I was there, I sat down with all of them, we discussed, especially, the governor of Adamawa who knows the situation better than anybody, all is interference.

All these are interference from the above. Look at other cases, look at Rivers State with five members, they want to impeach the Speaker.

They want to remove everybody including the governor. Look at Edo, they are being supported by the police. Look at what happened in Kano, just to appoint Emir, somebody who is under the local government, the Federal Government wants to come and put their friend here. They have been appointing our enemies. The last three appointments in Kano were from one local government; Aminu Wali from Nasarrawa Local Government, the Minister of Education (Ibrahim Shekarau) is from Nasarrawa Local Government, even Adviser on Agriculture (Baraka Sani) from Nasarrawa Local Government. We have 44 Local Governments but there is no sense of distribution.

Whether they are from the same family it

doesn’t matter. In Nigeria, we have two senior Ministers from the same local government.I have never seen anything like this, where the beneficiaries of this democracy are working towards destabilising it.

Looking at these precedents you have enumerated, how do you see 2015?

Well, I don’t know; but we are praying it will be better. We are working to have free and fair elections. We want to see one united country.

But from the way they are working, I think everybody are worried. They want to continue by all means and that is the whole idea of divide-and-rule. They want to rule forever and I think Jonathan wants to be the life president because we have seen the precedents. Look at this our 486 young men and women who were being detained in Abia, almost 500 people were arrested. This is a very serious issue, maybe, they don’t understand the size of the problem.

If we close our trench leading to the South within one or two hours, you will get more than expected who will feel the impact. And all these put together, is giving the people concern about 2015. We here in the North are worried, everybody is concerned about the state of insecurity. My own father was attacked in the Mosque. People piled on him in the Mosque.

Three people were killed and 13 people were injured because of insecurity. I am not supporting the insurgents or insurgency, or any crime.

We are fighting it here and by the grace of God, with the police, army, we have been promoting peace in this state. But some of these decisions that people are taking is on selfishness, will continue to create problems. And unless they understand and I hope they have the capacity to understand, I foresee a situation where we run into more crises. We are Nigerians, this country belongs to all of us. So, the best way to do it is to get a way of uniting us, looking at the areas of strengths, not areas of weaknesses.

Many of you here are Christians. I never looked at anyone of you to even imagine or to say oh, you are a Christian. We are all friends, and we shall continue to be friends. Christians and Muslims should see themselves as one. Recently, we had a meeting with the leadership of Christians under General Yakubu Gowon and all the leadership of Muslims, different sects— they were all here; and we talked about how we can work together. Any politician in this country, who decides to divide this country, from these lines is not a politician. That is why we have political parties. I see my friends from the South as my brothers and sisters. If there is election today, I am ready to go there and do whatever I can to support them vice versa. But, when you start to talk about the South, North, they are abusing themselves. But we know that at the conference, that what is happening is much less than what we are expecting. The agenda certainly is wrong, even though we are yet to see the end of the conference, but we told our members to be vigilante, though the outcome will go to the National Assembly, but we want a situation where what can get from the conference will be good enough to be presented at the National Assembly. I f you have so much and I have nothing, you should assist me and vice versa. Again, look at what is happening there, people are saying we are Middle-Belt,

far North, South, we have oil and all that cannot help us. We are dividing ourselves.

What Nigerians want is what is happening here in Kano. I have over 2,000 young men and women of Kano state origin in 14 countries. We have given free education. All our children are encouraged to go back to school. I have over 200 students in Katsina, a private university; 250 students in Igbinedon University in Edo; 200 in Bells University; 200 in Crescent University; 25 in Auchi. Here in Kano, I have two universities, everybody is going there. Everybody is engaged. We have 24 institutes, which almost on daily basis, they are graduating people, some three months, five months or one year courses.

People are happy.

What is the way out of the Adamawa political crisis?

I don’t want to go into the details of what Governor Murtala Nyako has done right or wrong. But all I know, is that he is not the worst governor in the country. Look at Nassarawa and see what is happening there. They are only after the APC governors. Look at how billions are being looted from Abuja in the name of ecology or whatever and nobody is talking about that.

It is only APC governors that they are after.

They want to destabilize us. Look at what they did here. They instigated young men with money and bribes that we are fighting. They came to streets of Kano and were destroying street lights, setting bonfires simply because we selected our own Emir through due process.

They sponsored these young men to destroy bill boards and what have you, blocked the road to the Emir palace, simply because this is an APC state. But it is only foolish men that can foment trouble in his own domain. We don’t know where it will end. People who are beneficiaries of this democracy are the ones that are getting the masses to start the crisis. This will not help the country, divide-and-rule doesn’t help the leader, and will not help this country.

Do you foresee Governor Nyako going back to PDP? I don’t know what is written in his mind, but I know very well that right in him, the last thing he will want to do is to go to PDP. Do you still believe that state police can be part of the therapy needed to solve the problem of insecurity in this country?

You see, I didn’t like state police. But many of my colleagues, including Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, wanted state police. The group was headed by Amaechi and my group was headed by me. And literally, we stopped the issue of state police at that particular time. However, recent development and because every day we are learning, the recent development made it necessary for me to support state police. I have seen what happened in other states, especially Rivers State. I have seen what happened in other states and also what happened in Kano. On Friday, the Emir (late Ado Abdullahi Bayero) died; on Saturday, I called the kingmakers, we chatted and I said okay, tomorrow come by 12 noon; before they came, it was already in AIT and Abuja had installed their Emir. And everybody, even the social media and their party congratulated him. It was here that my boys came and say look at AIT, that they have congratulated him. And that was when I said go and call the kingmakers because they were all there waiting. And by the time we went and followed all the procedure, we came up with the real Emir. I can tell you that all of them had Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who is now referred to as Muhammad Sanusi 11, as their candidates.

All kingmakers of Kano sat with and they said, okay, let us go and think about it. And we came back and we agreed that by the time it was announced, the stage was set to crisis because they have already gone to the streets and started burning bonfires and all that. That was on Sunday; and that same Sunday, they planned more riot and they to remove police guiding me—about 75 of them. Up till now, as I am speaking to you and I think today is July 12, only 25 were returned. Now, with all these, for goodness sake, why can’t I support state police? A governor should be able to protect himself. If you look at what is happening elsewhere, it is the same story.

Police from other states from the South and other parts of the country like Kano should know the geography of their state. If you are talking about abuse of power b y the governors, we have 36 states and 36 governors—now you can see democracy—some APC, some PDP states, some Labour Party and other ones APGA and so on.

Now it is one man who is misleading and misusing the police—one man. So, I am supporting state police 100 per cent.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

47

The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

KONGI AT 80

‘Soyinka’s contribution to the field of Literature is epochal and phenomenal...Soyinka’s innumerable essays and you get the picture of a truly worldhistoric writer...Soyinka, a man of stupendous courage and candor; the kind who speaks out when others have bowed under the sword of Silence’

•Continued from page 14 The Man Died.

He realised that the Theatre was a good way of doing this, but he also felt that the novel might also prove to be useful.

All of his work served to reinforce the basic principles of existential thought, to show humanity as it is, and he realised that the Theatre was the best place to demonstrate man in action, in dramatic circumstance, and in the midst of living. Although the plays sometime seem pessimistic, he demonstrated that commitment is essential for human freedom and dignity.

Soyinka writes extremely dense and complicated critique.

Indeed my first contact with one of his works, The Lion and the Jewel was in my second year in High school. I couldn’t conceptualise any part of it. I understood and appreciated it 15 years after. I took delight in laughing at myself in retrospect.

With his birthday in perspective, I rejoice with him and proudly declare as a Nigerian: This is ours! One of the most substantial thinkers and writers of the 21st century and will remain known for his tireless contributions to existentialism and hence, whom the world of literature will not forget in a hurry.

poet, novelist and critic to African and world literature. He remains a prolific writer. But, he is not only an eminent scholar but also a courageous voice for human rights worldwide. He is an eloquent speaker who uses the English language better than many of its natives.

I certainly wish our own WS many happy returns of his birthday as he celebrates the 80th this year! May he continue to retain his sharp and clear mind in the coming years, and may he spend these years in good health and happiness!

‘Soyinka

for our literature is a watershed’ Director of Research, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru. Prof Olu Obafemi:

I read of the production of A Dance of the Forest in Daily Times old copies left by our uncle, a retired Sergeant Major who shortly after fought in Burma and Congo.

Years later, I heard of The Masks and Orisun Theatre. Then of course we had to read those lovely pairs of poems Abiku by both Soyinka and Clark. The ordeal of piercing the concrete metal jarring the drink lobes in The Interpreters. All in the scripts. I was not a Soyinka disciple in the direct sense that Osofisan, BJ, Ogunbiyi and Omotoso were. A distant mentee somewhat. I had sent a message to him in Ife for a copy of Opera Wonyosi running on stage then. I came from Leeds where I was working on my doctoral thesis in 1978. It was Yemi that gave me the copy. He had travelled. I didn’t meet him until 1980 I think in Leeds. It was a delightful, even electrifying experience. Soyinka for our literature is a watershed- a delightful inspiration. A lifter from the deluge of imperialist paternalism and hegemonic concept. The Nobel is a critic lift for the literature of Africa and its humane civilisation exploded on the world literati. His political activism is a baffling mix of profound creativity lending valve to radical politics. We had criticised his mythopoesis and ahistoricism while he was out there confronting the reality of our socio-political decadence and dysfunctional political leadership.

At 80, he appears battle-ready for the fight meant for the next generation in a rudderless, adrift Nigeria. It is really not true that he is 80 but he is. Happy welcome to deep winter in the midst of late spring to our own Kongi!

‘Soyinka remains a vital force in Nigeria’s polity’ Associate Professor of African and African Diasporic Literatures, Villanova University, United States, Chiji Akoma: First, Happy Birthday, Prof! Prof Soyinka has done humanity an incredible service by sharing his prodigious talents with us. Significantly, he remains a vital force in Nigeria’s polity.

I don’t remember my first encounter with Soyinka’s work, but it must have been either the poem, Telephone Conversation or The Trials of Brother Jero, both in secondary school.

Indeed, we staged the latter as part of a Patrons Day event.

For the poem, I thank God for a textbook that broke down every line and practically every word or phrase of that poem and made it accessible for me. Jero was sweetly despicable!

I believe I met Prof Soyinka personally for the first time at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in the early 1990’s. We had just formed the International African Students Association (IASA) and had invited him to speak. The “Abiola Election” upheaval and the Ken Saro Wiwa tragedy were still unfolding. Soyinka’s own escape was legendary and we greatly felt inspired by what the great man had to say.

I would say that the citation for his Nobel award pretty much sums up contribution to the field of Literature for me.

‘May this courageous voice for human rights retain his sharp, clear mind in coming years’ Founding President, WRITA, Mrs Mobolaji Adenubi: I first met Prof Soyinka in 1993, after the manuscript of my story, Splendid, was given to him as advised by Chief Simeon Adebo. His comment, “That story, full of love and courage.” stunned me, coming from Africa’s first winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature! That would be my first published work, and he generously wrote a superb Foreword to it!

Ake: The Years of Our Childhood was the first of Soyinka’s works I read, and I was enthralled by it. It is so readily

Playwright and Chairman, ANA Lagos (Chapter), Mr Femi Onileagbon:

•Prof Soyinka

All hail Kongi at 80 ‘Soyinka’s contribution to the field of Literature is epochal and phenomenal. Drama, poetry, prose fiction, biography, film, music; name it: the man excels in all of them. An anthology of world drama without Death and the King’s Horseman would be incomplete; just as Ake would stand out supreme in the comity of world prose fiction. Add to these Soyinka’s innumerable essays and you get the picture of a truly world-historic writer’ accessible!

The Nobel Prize for Literature, awarded to WS in 1986, is a testimony to his incalculable contribution as a playwright,

As an acolyte of this incomparably talented writer, a large chunk of my engagements have been patterned after his without any conscious attempt to do so. He just grew on me.

It was in 1989 that I first heard the name Wole Soyinka. I was a precocious boy who was already taking the lyrics out of Don Williams’ songs and putting in mine. In JSS 2 at Mainland High School, I was gradually setting in solid cast a reputation as one of the best Literature students. Writing and directing a play titled The Beggar and the Princess with the cast made up of my classmates earlier that year did not do my reputation any harm.

My fame as a Literature guru, an avid reader and then an amateur thespian brought me to the attention of my seniors and I was invited along with our star actors, Shakiratu Shodipo and Usang Mbang, to join the dramatic society called SOCULT. I did not join up then because I was the goalkeeper of my class and we were in the thick of the interclass football competition. The day we were knocked out by the huge, brawny SS1C students, I sat dejectedly near the school gate and heard a chant and involuntarily listened…without realising it, I was at the door of the drama group meeting. As they sang, “you dance like him/you talk like him/ you walk like him you’re just as clumsy in your Lagos way/ you’ll do for him”, I was truly and irrevocably caught and stayed for that rehearsal and for many more.

A week later while scouring the bookshops along Fadeyi, Ikorodu Road, for The Lion and the Jewel, I came across Trials of Brother Jero and Jero’s Metamorphosis. The names and the titles held my attention and I bought all. It was a weekend: I remember because I had finished them before the next rehearsal which was a Tuesday.

The daily rehearsals grew the love for Soyinka’s works in me and though I did not get to act because I insisted that I wanted to direct, I was a Soyinka acolyte. Interestingly, I had to wait till 1995 to read another work by Soyinka and I couldn’t have been faced with a tougher challenge than understanding the novel, Interpreters.

Rather than run away from Soyinka as a few of my colleagues did, I wanted more.

I had the opportunity to be the theatre workshop student director for my department and others who borrowed the course. Unsurprisingly and to the chagrin of Chief Charles Somade who was the lecturer-in-charge of that course, I selected Death and the King’s Horseman. He felt we were not sound enough to stage a play like that but we knew we could. I knew that my colleagues and I were ready.

Led by Abiodun Idowu, the assistant director, Wole Oduwusi, stage manager and me, artistic director, we put up a show that convinced Baba Somade and other lecturers in the department that we were the best set of thespians in the department up to that time.

By that time I had read The Man Died, Dance of the Forest and many other works.as well as being deeply influenced by his theory of the four worlds. Further encounter with Soyinka at Prof Niyi Osundare’s class at the University of Ibadan only furthered my desire to explore themes similar to Soyinka’s though I was resolved that I would write in the language of Osundare and the grammatical eccentricity of E. E. Cummings. I wrote the poem Abiku in Ibadan. One of the poems in my latest poetry collection, This Forge, My home titled Return is based on Soyinka’s poem, Rust. I have completed a verse drama entitled Tides which is based on his version of Abiku and mine.

I constantly have the itch to write prose but I feel I am not ready yet. One thing I know is that whenever I do get to write fiction, my thematic preoccupations and explorations will not be too far from those of Wole Soyinka who is for me, the greatest African writer and a legend alive.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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‘Why I produced poetry video for Soyinka’

By Evelyn Osagie

FILM

A

•

•Mrs Kalango and Prof Soyinka

Founder, Rainbow Book Club and Project Director, Port Harcourt UNESCO World Book Capital 2014, Mrs Koko Kalango recalls her encouter with Prof Wole Soyinka

An encounter with Kongi

F

ROM my vantage point on the balcony of the theatre, I could see the speaker clearly. The Hall in East London was full on that cold evening in January 1999. I had left my office on Brompton Road earlier than usual to get to the venue well before the doors opened at 7pm. The seat I had secured afforded me a good view of the event’s proceedings. A Nigerian band, Tamayan, played highlife, just before the writer took to the centre of the stage. The light from the ceiling made his bushy white head of hair appear silver. His beard remained grey. Wole Soyinka was casually dressed in a grey, sleeveless jacket with a white band around its arm, over a black jumper and a pair of black trousers. He began to speak, but there seemed to be a problem with the microphone. He muttered something which I did not quite catch. I don’t think anyone else in the audience did either. We all burst into spontaneous applause anyway!

I had travelled across town to attend The London Festival of Literature where three literary legends would be under one roof, on one night. I was not about to miss this lifetime opportunity to see, hear, and perhaps even meet, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Derek Walcott.

After Soyinka gave his Lecture, Alastair Niven, then Director of Literature at The British Council, had an interview with Achebe and, following an interlude, Walcott read some of his poems.

At the end of the programme I joined the queue to get Soyinka’s autograph. In anticipation of this meeting I had purchased a copy of his 1972 memoir The Man Died: Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka. I shuffled patiently in the line, every step inched me closer to meeting the man.

After about 20 minutes, I came face to face with Wole Soyinka. In the little time I had, I managed to get my book autographed and to take a picture with the author.

Seven years later, I found myself seated in a four-wheel drive beside Prof. Soyinka, riding from the Port Harcourt International Airport to the British Council office. We were going to meet with over 100 eager young students who had studied Ake: Soyinka’s childhood memoire, and were waiting to interact with the writer, as part of the Rainbow Book Club’s 2006 ‘Get Nigeria Reading again!’ campaign. Soyinka had turned 70 a couple of years before and his latest memoire You Must Set Forth at Dawn was being launched at this time. As we made plans for the second Rainbow Book Club national reading campaign, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate for literature was our natural choice for guest writer.

When I met WS at the Airport, he was obviously very tired; he had, only the day before,

CELEBRATION come in from Finland. In spite of his fatigue, the Professor came across as easy going, warm and kind. During the 70 minutes ride into the Garden City, I could not help noticing how the faces of people we passed lit up when they recognised the man with the trademark bushy grey afro.

In the car, I intimated WS of the programme for the day and informed him that I would be interviewing him before the audience at the dinner that evening. “You?” he asked, surprised.

I looked him straight in the eye and replied “Yes, me”.

Someone had warned me: ‘you don’t just get up and interview Soyinka. You have to do a lot of study and preparation. He could get irritated if he senses that you have not done your homework.’ I was not initially billed to interview him and had approached a couple of literature scholars to conduct the interview; each of them turned down the invitation. I suspect that they dreaded the thought of confronting this literary lion, who had a reputation of taking his prey apart, effortlessly. As the organisation of this event rested largely on my shoulder, and I could not find anyone with the courage to face Wole Soyinka, I had no option but to take on the giant myself. I must confess that when the hour did come I really felt like a David before a Goliath. But it was too late for me to back out… without thinking too deeply, I shut my eyes and took a leap of faith!

That event would mark the beginning of the association between WS and me. Now an honourary member of the Rainbow Book Club, Prof. Soyinka has not held back on his goodwill, personal participation or counsel whenever we have reached out to him. At our instance he has read to children, taught aspiring writers, taken part in various interactive sessions and ofcourse he delivered the keynote address at the historic occasion of Port Harcourt’s assumption of the prestigious title of World Book Capital 2014!

When we put in the bid to UNESCO for a city in Nigeria to be World Book Capital, Prof. was not very optimistic but he encouraged me all the same. When UNESCO contacted me to say Port Harcourt had been nominated World Book Capital 2014, beating cities like Oxford, Lyon, Sharjah and Moscow, I was ecstatic. Naturally, Prof. was one of the first people I informed.

Prof. threw his weight behind our preparations and even came all the way to Port Harcourt to make his input and offer his assistance.

Today, a decade and a half since my first meeting with Prof. and almost a decade since we first hosted him in Port Harcourt, Prof. has become, easily, one of my favourite people. I en-

joy chatting with him as we often have during the long rides to or from the Port Harcourt International Airport or the University of Port Harcourt. Over the years, in the course of my work, i have related with many people but Prof. has stood out tall amongst others. I recall that when we invited him to the maiden edition of the Garden City Literary Festival (now the Port Harcourt Book Festival), in 2008, I inquired what honorarium I should give him. Prof. never responded to my emails. I went ahead to propose a sum that was a real sacrifice to Rainbow but nothing near what he would usually accept. I waited in anxious anticipation for his feedback, not sure if he would feel I was taking his goodwill for granted. Rather, Prof. reverted to say what I was offering him was ‘too much’ and that he did not want ‘to empty the coffers of the Rainbow Book Club’. That is vintage Prof., ever ready to go the extra mile for a cause he believes in! Prof. belongs to the endangered specie that is the detribalised Nigerian. His tribe is any tribe in trouble. Like a chameleon he takes on the colour of the oppressed and when their problem is solved he assumes the pigmentation of the victimised.

A man of courage, Soyinka remains a voice for the voiceless. A typical example is the now world famous Bring Back the Girls campaign which grew out of a passionate plea he made at the opening ceremonies of the Port Harcourt World Book Capital programme on World Book Day (April 23rd) this year. I quote him “Today, we shall not even be so demanding as to resurrect the slogan BRING BACK THE BOOK - leave that to us. It will be quite sufficient to see a demonstrable dedication that answers the agonising cry of BRING BACK THE PUPILS!” As I write, my mind still goes back to that evening, in 2006, when I took the stage in an interview with Wole Soyinka, at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt. I survived the encounter and the audience seemed to have enjoyed it as much as I did, even if, at the beginning, I had felt like David and, in my eyes, Soyinka was like Goliath. Unlike the biblical Goliath, however, Soyinka did not fall down.

Infact, at 80, he still stands tall.

In my few years of relating with WS, I have found this giant to be gentle, young-at-heart, giving, fearlessly loyal and fiercely intelligent.

My prayer for Professor Wole Soyinka, on his 80th birthday, is a promise God has made in Psalm 91 verse 16, ‘with long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation’.

•This article is a revised edition of an article written by Mrs Kalango and published in WS A LIFE IN FULL (Bookcraft.) Mrs. Kalango is the founder of the Rainbow Book Club and the Project Director of the Port Harcourt UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 programme.

FTER a successful outing in Wonderland (Eleleture), award-winning poet, Akeem Lasisi, is out with a new poetry video, Ori Agbe, a poetic tribute to the Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka.

In 2010/2011, Lasisi had climaxed his adventure in poetry performance when he produced Wonderland, a sixtrack poetry album whose acclaimed video has been on air since then.

In Wonderland, he dedicates one of the tracks to poet laureate Prof Niyi Osundare and another to the late Justice Minister, Chief Bola Ige. But now, his muse seems to have berthed in the house of the Nobel laureate, whose 80th birthday is being celebrated with cultural festivity.

The poet, who is also the Art Editor of The Punch, said Soyinka deserves all the accolades he is getting because his commitment to the development of humanity is enduring.

Lasisi’s Ori Agbe will be extending feast to television as the video is due to be aired. Besides, he adds that Open Door Series, led by Alhaji Teju Kareem which is organising programmes exhibitions, dramatic performances, spoken word show and an essay competition by pupils, has also endorsed the work.

The Ori Agbe video, shot at Freedom Park, Lagos is a cultural spectacle.

While the poems are rendered in English, the singers in Yoruba traditional costumes burst out in highly proverbial songs. Viewers are also entertained by the talents of drummers, especially talking and bata drummers which have the accompanying dance steps of dancers led by seasoned actor and singer, Emmanuel Adejumo.

Viewers would find interesting the engaging steps of Adejumo, who honed his talent at the National Troupe of Nigeria, along with those of his performance group of six male and four women.

Lasisi, however, said the video directed by fast rising Sanjo Adegoke also benefitted from the talents and experiences of artistes such as Edaoto, Aishat Kafidipe, Kabirat Kafidipe.

He said: “The kind of poetry that I have been producing makes it possible for the written word to benefit from the beauties of music, drama, film and more. But one thing we also watch whenever we are shooting – indeed right from when we are recording in the music studio – is the tempo of the accompanying arts in relation to poetry itself. We ensure that poetry is not overwhelmed so that the listener and viewers can get the message we are passing across. Also, as is the case with Eleleture, the verses of Ori Agbe video also appear on the screen.”

•Lasisi

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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‘Greatest sickness today is not HIV but lack of love’ The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), John Kennedy Opara, is a rare Christian. Like the former president of the US, the late John F. Kennedy who was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, Okpara’s tenacity, steadfastness and commitment to humanity endear him to most Nigerians, non-Christians alike. He spoke on among other national issues, the increasing spate of violence in the land, religious tolerance, relevance of religious pilgrimage to the citizenry and whether he will go into politics. The Assistant Editor (Arts), OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.

I

T is common knowledge that Nigeria is currently facing an unprecedented challenge in terrorism. This is also linked to religion and to some extent politics.

As a major personality in Christendom what is your take?

I want to say that no religion encourages destruction of lives. No religion allows people to take lives. People don’t understand the meaning of religion. It means that every man or woman is free to worship and wherever he wants to worship. And it mustn’t be that I must get you to worship in my church or mosque. God created us as Nigerians, he created us Christians, Muslims and some don’t go to church. No matter how I try or everybody tries all Nigerians cannot be Christians, it is practically impossible. There is no way every Nigerian can become a Muslim even if we have 20 Muslim presidents back-to-back.

Most of us take the issue of religion to the extreme. How are you sure of the lineage of the person who is being persecuted for his religious leanings? You may discover that you are linked up somewhere. So what do you stand to gain from all these killings and maimings? It is unfortunate that someone will kill in the name of religion. It is not acceptable at all and I want to say I have a lot of respect for my Muslim friends, most of them that are reasonable and sound do not agree on this either and say everyone of us values our lives.

Most of what is happening are politically motivated acts cloaked in religion. And I tell you politics will fail you and human beings will fail you. The only thing that is permanent is God. As head of a Christian body and a key player in that domain, what is your commission doing to resolve these crises?

You know I have taken part severally in some of the inter-religious dialogues and meetings and the CAN president has been calling series of meetings between Christians and Moslem leaders all for us to find a common ground to understand ourselves better.

Myself and my friend, the Hajj Commission Chairman also relate a lot and I will give you a practical example. Before we got our present headquarters, we were accommodated by the Hajj Commission for three years. We were given accommodation at no cost. In fact, it got to a point they had to pack from the building accommodating the two commissions because we couldn’t stay together as we were growing and the space constraint was there.

A Moslem leader conceded his accommodation to me, he was the landlord and I was the tenant. And when I vacated after three years, I gave him the key and I said Bello, I am very grateful and I invited him for the commissioning of our new office and he obliged me.

He did what most of my Christian brothers would never have done and I can never deny him anything he wants from me.

I always believe that we are the change that others see. And you must be the change that the world must see. I always tell people that the greatest sickness today is not HIV but lack of love.

The ongoing National Confab is proposing that government should reduce its sponsorship of pilgrims to the holy land, thus making pilgrimage a personal affair. Also, some delegates are advocating for the review of the commission. How do you react to this?

I read about it and I said the greatest challenge they had was the issue of communication. What they should have done if the delegates wanted to do a thorough job is to invite the DG of the Hajj commission and I to tell them about these commissions. By the way, they don’t know that these commissions generate a lot of revenue which we pay to the Federal Government. We generate money here.

Pilgrims pay what we call administrative charges, also the ground handlers and air carriers pay administrative charges too and that money goes to government and government

•From left: Governor, Niger State Babangida Aliyu and Opara

INTERVIEW can bank on our internally generated revenue (IGR). My own model is to leave an organisation that is self sustaining and pay its overhead without relying on government.

The Federal Government does not sponsor people on holy pilgrimage. Government sponsors doctors and nurses, at times 50 doctors and 50 nurses. It is the same thing applicable to the Hajj. People say what is not true.

Agreed that during last year operation we had an increase in the number of self-sponsored pilgrims of 100 percent. We are not sitting pretty either, we are doing all we can to encourage self-sponsorship through adverts on radio and word of mouth and the turn-out is unbelievable because this is what they owe themselves.

We are also using it to transform the citizens of this country. What is pilgrimage all about? In the NCPC, pilgrimage is used as a tool for moral and spiritual transformation.

We believe that when Christians go on holy pilgrimage and are spiritually transformed, they will come back as citizens of our great country and move Nigeria forward and pursue peace where the enemies of peace may be sited. And I have testimonies of people that have been touched by God. Any responsible government will always look out for the welfare of its citizens.

It is practically impossible for any govern-

ment to fold its hands and say we are not interested. Massive movement of Nigerians entails a lot in the diplomatic circle and other areas. No country will deal with you as an individual. Like the Hajj that goes with more than 100,000 Nigerians, you expect Federal Government to sit down and watch them.

What of the overhead costs of these commissions?

The offices that government set up are for administrative convenience. When you have a commission administering the process of pilgrimage, it gives a standard. Why we are not able to achieve what we want to achieve is because we do not plan. I believe what government is doing is commendable, many people are gainfully employed. For example, part of our success story this year is our own Christian Pilgrim Guest House. Christians are lodged there and this generates IGR, it is not free. I think something is missing somewhere for people to advocate the scrapping of NCPC and the Hajj Commission. This is very unfortunate.

We are also doing something new. We are partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture, exposing our pilgrims to the area of agriculture, so they can learn how to farm and do other things when they get there, it’s a rare privilege.

You grew up as a strong Catholic who dreamt of becoming a priest. Are you still

‘The Federal Government does not sponsor people on holy pilgrimage. Goverment sponsors doctors and nurses, at times 50 doctors and 50 nurses. It is the same thing applicable to the Hajj. People say what is not true. Agreed that during last year operation we had an increase in the number of self-sponsored pilgrims of 100 percent. We are not sitting pretty either, we are doing all we can to encourage self-sponsorship including adverts on radio and word of mouth and the turn-out is unbelievable because this is what they owe themselves’

within the Catholic faith?

I was born a Catholic but you know my position is very simple. I am born a Catholic but I am a Pentecostal by fellowship and I always tell people I am an Anglican by association because many of my friends are Anglicans and when they do their programmes I have to join them. Many of the fathers who have blessed me and inspired me to be who I am today are men of Pentecostal fellowship and I fellowship with them. When I visit them I hear the word of God and my faith increases.

Are you interested in politics?

I am one man that cannot do anything except the Lord speaks to me and tells me what to do. He has never told me to go into politics. For everything you do, the Lord must lead you.

Nigeria is witnessing an increase in influx of people on religious tourism especially with some Pentecostal churches. What is NCPC doing about this development?

I was at the last Holy Ghost congress in June and I tell you what we have done since we came on board is to introduce what we call the local content. We now have Nigerians who are into ground handling services, providing services to inbound pilgrims and work with different churches. There are so many of them who can take care of people coming from different countries. We register them to empower them. The churches are aware and have responded positively with some registering their own ground handlers with us and the government generates IGR from this, they pay tax and other levies, you know. We make sure we license them and empower them.

Who do you admire?

I have come across great men but one man that has stood out without fear of contradiction (because he is my boss) is President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. He is a man with wisdom. He is a man I admire so much. I also admire President Barrack Obama of the US and Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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‘My regrets over pools business’

POEM

A journey with fear My journey begins from under The Mighty Oak My journey with him alongside As I walk farther, I become nearer As I climb higher, it becomes lower ‘He that is up dreads the fall’ he says But shall I remain on the ground and eat from the dust?

Shall I die in wait at the mercy of all that is above?

For over three decades, Pa Julius Adelewa was into pool business. Today, he regrets getting into it.

TAIWO ABIODUN met the septuagenarian.

As I continue along, I arrive at a vegetation I toil, I serve, I make means, I possess, now I may rule ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’ he says Shall I abide as a slave in my own land?

Shall the proceeds of my labour be a reward to another man?

H

E is always dressed in immaculate white: his buba and trousers are all white in colour. His cell phone and shoes are also white! Meeting him for the first time one would wonder why he wears only white apparels. In fact, he has become so known with his white outfit that many do not know his real name. He is fondly known as ‘Mr. White ‘or ‘Baba White’. Only his childhood friends who grew up with him in Ondo State know his real name. In Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Edo states Pa Julius Adelewa is known as ‘Mr. White’ when he was in pool business in the late 70s.

According to him, he wears white “because it is the best in the world. I have become synonymous with white. When I was younger I used to go to Owambe parties. I became Baba Egbe (leader) for many clubs and they used to give me clothes (aso ebi) but I mistakenly wore the wrong one on a particular party or ceremony. This used to cause confusion no matter how I explained.

Many of the celebrators did not like it.”

As a way of saving himself from this, he resorted to wearing white to all occasions.

“I became free as they all knew my manner of dressing and could be predicted. I have been wearing white for over 40 years, I have never made a mistake not wearing the colour white since then”, he said.

Why I abandoned Pool business Three decades after being in the pool business, he decided to abandon the trade that made him popular in the South West because according to him, “Playing pools is the easiest way to make a poor man poorer and the rich poor. The habit (pools betting) has broken many homes.”

He added that he has seen how those who play pools are being deceived daily and how many customers sold off their property. This made him leave the business. He said: “the pool agent will swear with everything that his prospective customer will get a ‘sure banker’ in the week. And when you put in all your money to play and in the end when you lose all the money you invested, you will again be looking forward to another week, which is false hope.

This is bad.”

Remembering the past he continued “I remember my nickname Adelink. I once worked with the Face to Face Pools for some years when I saw that the business was booming I went ahead to set up my own called Cardinal Pool, it was popular all over old Ondo State and some neighbouring states. I used to travel to Lagos to print my coupon. Pool business was the main business and it thrived. When a customer wins he is paid his money, that is the credibility of Pool Houses. I started doing it but later I discovered that it is only a rich man who could do it and be successful. I mean a man who is not very, very rich should not to go into pools betting, it will ruin him.”

Asked if it is a profitable business, he shook his head, sat up and gave a heavy sigh. He said:“For the pool agents there is money in it, it is a profitable business for them because during our time the agent will take seven shillings as commission on a pound, and every Saturday I used to have about 100pounds as my commission from my sales which was a lot of money then.

But, I did not like it - I have conscience, and I believe it was a rip- off. For those who did not win would be downcast and worried and out of pity I would give them money.”

Along my way, I meet with a stranger on their own journey We become friends, we share our stories, we care for each other, we fall in love ‘Lay your trust in no man lest they betray you’ he says Shall I persist as an island to myself?

Shall I not be of help to those whom I am blessed to help?

•Adelewa

INTERVIEW On why he decided to leave the business, Pa Adelewa said “I left the business for a reason too painful. The business is evil.”

He, however, remembered some of the sad incidents he witnessed, “I could remember there was a man who bet with his radiogram to play pools but did not win at all and all his money was gone and radiogram gone too. when he got home he started fighting his wife when she demanded for money for house keep. He was lying at home that the radiogram was with the repairer. So when I went to his house I discovered this, I did not like it. Many who lost in pools betting committed suicide because they borrowed money to bet while many could not afford to meet up family expenses. Some of these customers who patronize pool houses make false promises that they would pay their debtors, and some would be looking forward to buying cars and when the pool result comes out and he does not succeed .Seeing all these I was discouraged”, he said with pity .

He described those who indulged in the pool business as haggard and unkempt.

Asked whether he quit the business on religious ground but he said no, “It is not religion that made me to stop it. I don’t go to church, I don’t go to mosque, so it is not religion that made me left it but seeing human beings wasting, rotting and dying because of coupon, no, no. I don’t like that. There is no shortcut to success. You will see these pool betters who would stay indoors deceiving themselves with coupons, the day the coupon will click he would not have money and that is the spirit of money. I will not encourage anybody to patronise pool house”.

Adelewa said he went into hotel business to establish White Palace Hotel after leaving the pool business, “when I left the pool business, I sat down and thought of what I could do and I discovered that whenever I had visitors I used to spend heavily in booking for hotels. I am a socialite, I have a lot of big men as friends. Each time they come visiting, I would be looking for hotels for them.

I remember the late magician Professor Peller visited Akure in those days, I would go and book hotel for him. He was my very good friend , he used to come to me in Akure here. Later I decided that I should have a hotel.”

I taught myself English Adelewa said he was illiterate in spite of his fame. According to him, he did not see the four walls of any school but forced himself to learn through friends and by mixing with ladies who did not speak Yoruba but English. He said: “ I did not go to school but

I had all kinds of latest English suits. Then in the 60s I had a bicycle and as a ladies’ man, I had a lot of girl friends who were attracted by my dressing and my decorated Raleigh bicycle, with my bicycle then I was a big man but I could not speak a word in English .

“I started as a painter, I painted houses and one day in 1964, a Briton who was a principal of a school in Akure called me and asked me to bring a grey paint, but I went to bring green paint. This annoyed him and he sent me away. I later went to tell a friend after bribing him with a tin of Bournvita that he should teach me how to tell the Briton that ‘I don’t understand English language when you speak to me’ he told me. I then memorised the sentence but on my way to the Briton which was about two miles I forgot the sentence. I had to return to him again and it was about a mile going back to my friend and when I got there he wrote it on a piece of paper and asked me to give the Briton , again I paid by giving him another tin of Bournvita. When I got to the school I called a student and asked him to read what was in the paper and he read ‘ I don’t understand English when you speak to me,’’ I then quickly ran into the principal’s office and told him ‘I don’t understand English when you speak to me ‘ the Briton took pity on me and asked his Bursar to be my interpreter.

Later when I knew I needed to be speaking English if I needed job or contracts I then went to have a lot of friends who were Ibo and they started speaking English to me while I would reply anyhow. Most of my girlfriends were Igbo who could not speak Yoruba and one of them taught me how to quickly understand. He said if I could read alphabets then ‘I should pronounce it as I spell it’, that was all. Later I went to buy lot of books and read about a great lot of people like Abraham Lincoln, Socrates, Plato , and a lot of literature books too like Macbeth, Julius Ceasar. Not only this I employed a teacher and was paying him. I bought motivational books and that is all.

Today my children are well educated” He observed that life is ephemeral, “Life is like a flower in the morning it’s attractive but in the evening it withers. Early in our lives we were all handsome and beautiful but when we grow old things changed.

“When I was young, I used to watch Indian films where I used to watch beautiful girls and my wish then was to marry a beautiful lady, not knowing that it has lot of problems. When you marry beauty you marry wahala , I didn’t know. Now I know better “ Asked the secret of his good health, he said “I eat good food, and so I don’t get sick. I don’t think of anything that would increase my blood pressure, if I eat food that disturbs me I would stop it.”

I hear of a woman who has seen it all, a woman who is blessed with all fruits I ask, so I may meet her I seek, so I may find her And when I arrive at her shelter; I knock, so her doors of knowledge may be opened to me ‘What a man knows not, kills him not’ he says But shall ignorance be my excuse for not being aware of the dangers that may lie ahead?

Shall my foolishness lead to my demise?

As I begin to return with all I have garnered through my journey, I meet with the enemy ‘Every man shall have to fight his own battle alone’ he says But with my bones battered by my exertions, I know I cannot fight alone I remember what has carried me through my journey – Faith Shall I not pray for strength to subdue the enemy?

Or shall I not pray for protection when their strength finds my weakness?

As evening comes, so do I return to the Mighty Oak ‘You may proceed to rest, as the biggest reward in life is to die in your sleep’ he says Shall I not first invest my profits, or shall my struggles be gainless?

Shall I not nurture the young ones about the journey which lies ahead, or shall my wisdom be in vain?

Night falls and the end is nigh I lay my bed and prepare to sleep; content about all I have fulfilled ‘You had better stay awake, for you know not what awaits you on the other side’ he says Indeed I know not But did I not set out on the journey?

Did I not walk; did I not climb?

When I arrived at the vegetation, did I not toil; did I not serve; did I not make means; did I not possess?

When I met the stranger, did I not make friends; did I not share my story; did I not show care; did I not fall in love?

As I heard of Mother Nature, did I not ask about her; did I not seek her; did I not knock on her door to be wise?

When I met with the enemy, with my bones battered, did I not have faith; did I not pray?

As I returned to the Mighty Oak, did I not invest my profits; did I not nurture the young ones?

Indeed, I know not what awaits on the other side, but I know what lies in there shall be just reward for all of my works You may have seen me along the way, or you may have heard about my journey, but that’s only a side of the story You may have had an opinion, or even judged me, but you might only be partly right For I was not alone I was on a journey with him He, with more appeal than the fairest fairy, more vapour than the fiercest demon I journeyed with him, but you saw him not, and you heard nothing of him I was on …

•By Anonymous (a 14-year old Lagos school girl).

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E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

‘No cash value increase for now’

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HE Chair of Etisalat Prize for Literature, Dr. Sarah Ladipo Manyika has said that it would be premature to start considering an increase in the cash value of the annual prize, saying that the Etisalat Prize for Literature is not about providing gift for the few but the community. She spoke in Lagos during the unveiling of the judging panel for the second edition of the prize.

Other members of the panel include award winning British/Sudanese writer Jamal Mahjoub, prolific Francophone writer Alain Mabanckou and writer and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga.

Manyika described Etisalat Prize for Literature as a phenomenon in any scale noting that she would ensure that the panel gets better and stronger in the discharge of its duty. “The prize is very unique and is poised to be African most prestigious prize,” she added.

On whether there is likelihood of raising the cash value of the prize, she said: “We are always looking at several ways of improving the prize. For now, the prize is significant but it is not all about cash value. It is much bigger than individual award, not about providing gift for the few, but the community.”

She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and currently teaches literature at San Francisco State University.

Her writing includes essays, academic papers, reviews and short stories. Sarah’s first novel, Independence, is published by Legend Press (London) and Cassava Republic Press (Abuja).

Sarah was one of the inaugural Judges for Etisalat Prize for Literature 2013.

Now in its second year, the Etisalat Prize for Literature is the first Pan-African prize for debut fiction writers of African citizenship. The prize was launched last year June and has become one of Africa’s most prestigious literary prizes for fiction.

Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher said the judges for this year’s prize are some of the most respected individuals in the literary world and they will bring in diverse experiences and expertise to the judging panel. “What is most exciting is that we have a very diverse panel that will bring in their individual perspectives to the judging process. They are an accomplished

BOOK REVIEW Title: Author:

The Woman and Her Ministry Christiana Chineneye Ndubuisi Udemma Chukwuma

Reviewer: Publisher: Minasol and Weg Pagination: 200 Published: 2013

I

N many societies across the world, women are facing lots of challenges, especially in the area of gender inequality and discrimination. And women who have been able to find their ground in the society despite the odds have been tagged with all kinds of names.

Contemporary Nigerian author and preacher, Christiana Chineneye Ndubuisi in her 9 chapter- book, A woman and Her Ministry captures some of these challenges women encounter on a daily basis with vivid examples on how they can overcome them and maintain balance in their life, in marriage, career and their ministry as women. The author notes: “The societal discrimination between male and female, married and unmarried seems to create insecurity in women.

There is also arising from lack of understanding of one self.”

The chapter one dwells on the importance as a woman, her purpose as destinies carrier, as a wife and as contributor to her society.

The chapter opens with a question titled; “Who is the Woman?” The author notes: “I believe that answer to this question and explanation of who the woman is from the perspective of the word of God is very important. Men will appreciate the women better and treat them with greater honour and respect when they understand the person of the woman and her purpose of God in creating

•Manyika,Wilsher and Dangarembga

By Ozolua Uhakheme Assistant Editor (Arts)

AWARDS panel with vast amount of experience in the creative writing world”.

He noted that building the brand is a long term journey and that the literature prize shows that ‘we care and it differentiates us.

The direct business building may not be there now. The prize according to Willsher is a long term commitment by Etisalat to develop African literature as well as enhance the flame in African literature.

Dangarembga who expressed happiness that the prize would make younger generation feel they are not left out, is hopeful that a homegrown African prize will lift African literature. “It will go a long way to unlock new talents as well as encourage publishers,” she said.

She is a contemporary African feminist. She published a short story in Sweden entitled The Letter and in 1987, she published a play in Harare entitled She No Longer Weeps. Her real

success came at age twenty-five with the publication of her novel Nervous Conditions. This novel was the first to be published in English by a black Zimbabwean woman. In 1989, Nervous Conditions won her the African section of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. She had made many film productions, including a documentary for German television. She made the film entitled Everyone’s Child in 1996.

It was shown worldwide at various festivals including the Dublin Film Festival. In 2006, she published The Book of Not: A Sequel to Nervous Conditions.

Jamal Mahjoub is an award winning writer of mixed British/Sudanese heritage. Born in London, he was raised in Khartoum where the family remained until 1990. He is also an award-winning novelist, translator and essayist. Jamal Mahjoub reflect on notions of ancient Egypt in modern life and art. He was awarded a scholarship to study in England and attended the University of Sheffield. He has lived in various countries including the UK, Denmark and currently, Spain. He writes in English and has published seven novels under his own name. In 2012, Mahjoub be-

The Lord’s general the woman because as the notable author aptly stated many men around world still have their own opinions about the place of women and want to impose certain standard of behaviuor upon them. “ Supporting her believes with the scripture-Gen 1: 27: “So God created man in his image; in the image of God He created He him; male and female He created them.” A woman in the author’s opinion “Is a necessary part of the man. Man is incomplete without the woman” The book is a complete reading guide for a contemporary woman who has discovered herself, who has lost faith in herself, who is yet to discover herself and who is struggling to find herself. The author claims that “a woman who understands her purpose in life will not give in to debasing acts.” That is to say a woman who believes in herself will not venture in the act of using what she has to get what she wants, rather she should be a virtuous woman who works hard to achieve her purpose and desires life as the author puts it.

She claims “being submissive to your husband does not stop you from achieving greatness.”

The author dedicates chapter 3 and 4 to insecurity, wrong relationship, competition among women and it consequences, misplaced confidence, pride, low self esteem, how a woman should stay tough in tough times, how to pursue peace and among others. The author observes what women go through life, which made her wonder ‘how many women are under this bondage of having to wait on a man to meet their needs.

Obviously going through frustration; unfulfilled, and looking for the acceptance of the male folk without discovering themselves.’

Ndubuisi did a very good job not by discoursing these challenges but also by providing practical examples and supporting the

examples with the scripture, which any woman who follows the principles will not regret the time she vested in reading book because it will lead her to self discovery, how to have confidence in herself and how to depend on herself without waiting for anyone’s opinion before taking and decision.

Once you pick the book you will not want to drop it because you can relate to the book.

This is very realistic due to the scripture and it will aid those who read their Bible and find it hard to understand it.

The topic of competition was not left out because the most women compete among themselves “event in the church. The book also discusses how a woman can discover herself and her purpose in life as well as harnessing her potentials in her. In author revealed how a book she read and her personal experience made her know that low self esteem has made lack the knowledge of who they are in Christ, society pressure and influences emanating from cultural settings.

The book is a most read for every contemporary woman; it is written in a clear and simple language for both young and old because it is based on the daily activities of every woman.

Ndubuisi took a bold step to talk about these issues in The Woman and Her Ministry, which many women shy away from. The male folks can also find the book useful because it will help them understand their women better and see them as wonderful beings with unique attributes not as complex entity as most men see women.

However, there are some typographical errors, which the author will correct in the next edition. Christiana Chineneye Ndubuisi is a lawyer and a preacher of the Gospel of God. The Woman and Her Ministry is the second book she has authored.

gan writing a series of crime fiction novels under the pseudonym Parker Bilal.

Alain Mabanckou is considered to be one of the most talented and prolific writers in the French language today and the first francophone sub-Saharan African writer to be published by Gallimard in its prestigious “collection” called La Blanche. He is mostly known for his novels, notably Verre Cassé (BROKEN GLASS) which was unanimously praised by the press, critics and readers alike.

In 2006 he published Memoires de porc-épic (Memoirs of a Porcupine) which garnered him the Prix RENAUDOT, one of the highest distinctions in literature written in French. His novels are published in more than fifteen languages.

Zimbabwean NoViolet Bulawayo emerged winner of the maiden edition with her debut Fiction novel Bom Boy. She received £15,000 in Prize money and a fellowship at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom which she gifted to runner-up Yewande Omotoso.

Figurine for launch at MUSON

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UNLE Afolayan’s popular film, The Figurine (Araromire) is returning to the limelight five years after making waves, winning five awards including the best film category at the prestigious African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) and travelling far and near at Film festival circuits.

The film’s story is now being told in a scholarly book titled Auteuring Nollywood: Critical Perspectives on THE FIGURINE, which will be unveiled at a major ceremony on Thursday July 31, at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

According to a statement by Relentless Media, the outfit coordinating the book unveiling and launching in conjunction with Golden Effects Services, the ceremony will witness a rich array of Nollywood stars, allied film professionals, academics, top government functionaries, captains of industry and members of the diplomatic corps.

“Former Minister of National Planning and a respected patriarch of the arts, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, will chair the ceremony that is designed to be one of Nollywood’s greatest moments outside movie location.”

The book, a collection of scholarly essays, is the first of its kind devoted to the work of a single Nigerian film director. It interrogates the thematic focus and cinematic style employed in The Figurine, while also using that singular work to engage the new trends in the new Nigerian cinema popularly referred to as Nollywood.

Edited by Dr. Adeshina Afolayan of the Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, the book’s foreword was written by Prof. Jonathan Haynes of the Long Island University, USA and a notably scholar on Nollywood.

Contributors to the 455-page book include Dr. Sola Osofisan, Dr. Dele Layiwola, Dr. Chukwuma Okoye, Jane Thorburn, Matthew H. Brown, Gideon Tanimonure, A.G.A Bello, Foluke Ogunleye and Prof. Hyginus Ekwuazi.

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The Midweek Magazine

E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

•From left: Chief L.E.A Aimiuwu, former president, Nigerian Institute of Management, Managing Director/CEO Infogem Ltd, Mr Ayo Olumoko and Head, Training and Consultancy, Institute of Directors (IoD) Mr Olufemi Mosaku-Johnson.

ANA Lagos holds monthly reading

T •Kids playing on the street.

PHOTO: Isaac Jimoh Ayodele

Catching them young

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HE 7th edition of the Children’s Art Competition/exhibition, organised by the King’s Children’s Foundation was held recently at the Terra Kulture, Victoria Island Lagos.

The competition was set up in 2008 to encourage children gifted in Fine Arts.

The theme of this year was Nigeria at 100.

The event drew pupils from primary schools across Lagos State. They included Indian Language School, Word of Power; Lagoon School, King’s School, Topgrade; Reagan Memorial Baptist; Avesina International School; Supreme Education Foundation; Regency College; Lagoon College and Amvil schools.

This year’s edition was organised by King’s Children Foundation in conjunction with the National Gallery of Art. The judges were Mr Folusho Ajanaku; Mr Isreal Benamaisia; Mr John Igwatu and Mr Anointing Aminu.

Director of the foundation, Mrs Victoria Tandoh, said that in the past such competitions were mostly held for adults and secondary school students. This, she said informed the initiation of the competition to provide a unique way for the children to express themselves.

“This is a platform that will allow them experiment with texture and colour shades. Their skills too will come to play,” she added.

Head of Planning, Lagos State Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development, Mrs Shade Lawal, urged the participants to see arts as life which is interpreted differently by different individuals and as a means of uplifting the inner minds. She noted that numerous opportunities abound in the world of art.

“Dream of good dreams and begin to aspire for greater heights. Numerous opportunities abound in the industry because your parents have given you all it takes to excel.”

Mr Ajanaku said the National Gallery of Art shares in the vision of Kings Foundation, thus the partnership. He noted that it is the concern of the foundation to see the growth of the young ones, just like great men of arts began in such fashion.

By Nneka Nwaneri

VISUAL ART He also explained that just as art encompasses every facet of life, those who ventured into the profession don’t look for jobs as it is something one can begin alone. To him, the destinies of the young ones begin in such fashion.

Among guests was a Magistrate of the Lagos State High Court Hon Funmi Demi-Ajayi, who recalled that such event reminded her of her childhood when she once ventured into the world of paintings.

The Magistrate who applauded the talents and gift of the pupils, urged them to use such talents properly. Not only are the exhibits pleasing to the eye, they are of international standard .

Principal of Redeemers Secondary School Mrs Olatundun Adetoye said God endowed people in different ways and it is the ability to use it wisely that sets one apart. she described art works as a means of expressing emotions and feelings, a feature that has been before the time of Jesus, where people sculpture using woods, iron and stone.

She observed that the rich these days now store their wealth in form of artworks, which is the beginning of something big to come.

“You will not only enjoy yourself doing what you love, it will be a source of wealth. We parents often emphasis academics more than arts, forgetting that it can also be a source of livelihood,” Mrs Adetoye added.

The principal urged the students not to look down on whatever they do no matter how little, but rather take their God given talent to greater heights.

The winning painting for the competition that was held in 2010 was displayed in the museum in England to commemorate Nigeria at 50. There will be a grand exhibition of the winning works in December, where they will be put on sale.

‘You will not only enjoy yourself doing what you love, it will be a source of wealth. We parents often emphasise academics more than arts, forgetting that it can also be a source of livelihood’

HE Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has held its monthly reading at the senior staff club, University of Lagos.

The programme featured resolution of new policies, issues facing the association and profering solution and reading from different books by different authors.

Femi Onileagbon, ANA, Lagos Chairman enjoined the members of the association to endeavour to study the constitution of the association, noting that for any organisation to function well, the constitution must be studied and understood.

“It is high time we took this association more seriously. Things get done easily when you look at it dispassionately. ANA should not be run based on the whims and caprices of anyone” Besides, the writers discussed was the “purported suspension of the General Secretary, in person of Tanko Okodua.

In response, Tanko said that, “an individual cannot be bigger than the larger society. I was trained to be truthful and respectful. Integrity is a price that I have placed on myself and I will not sell it cheap. Since this matter began, I have apologized to the Congress.”

This month reading was done from different books which were basically centered on prose and poetry. Femi Onileagbon read a poem titled Battles; Yemi Adebiyi read from a book, which encouraged young girls in secondary school to hold on to their virginity; Margaret Iragbo chose a poem named, “Golden Jubilee and True Independence”; Vincent Ikedinachi delivered a beautiful rendition of a poem titled This World My Hope authored by Femi Onileagbon; Ngwuli Oliver read from his book, The Naughty Sheep; Daggar Tolar read a poem titled, How the world gave us prison while Tanko

By Suliat Abodunrin

LITERATURE Okodua read a lengthy poem titled An Island of Self.

A major highlight of the reading was an acted out scene from Olatunbosun Taofeek’s yet to be published book, Mr. Grammar which he did with Iquo Eke. It illustrated how security workers in the country adopt an indifferent attitude towards the discharge of their duty.

Subsequently the books and poems read were also criticized by the writers and different modern methods of writing were suggested in order to create a more creative and well-written books or poem.

Onileagbon also unleashed proposed plan of organizing a play-reading workshop within the next four to five months. He explained that, “this will further enable a professional touch to the readings, and it will also help us to have a better and more interesting reading.”

Conversely, another matter of discourse at the meeting was the release of the names of people in the Local Organizing Committee. It included distinguished individuals from different fields of human endeavour. It comprised names of journalists, writers, activists, poets among others.

The names included; Chairman Editorial Board, the Nation newspaper, Sam Omatseye; Writer and lecturer, Prof Akachi Ezeigbo, a Medical doctor, Dr. Tolu Ajayi, Mrs Iquo Eke, activist and environmentalist, Mrs Sola Alamutu; Writer and poet, Austin Njokwu, A.J. Daggar Tolar, Dr. Arnold Ndoka, Akin Adeoya, Yemi Adebiyi, Oluwakemi Omoyare, Chukwuyere Chukwu, Adetokunbo Pierse, Chief Larry Williams, Nike Adesuyi Ojeikere among others.

Association calls for papers

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IGERIAN Oral Literature Association (NOLA) conference will host the world in August. With theme Arts and Literatures in Nigerian Festivals, this year’s edition, which is its third, will hold in Benin City, Edo State between 12 and 15, August.

The organisation is calling for papers with its deadline as July 30.

Interested paper presenters have a wide range of topics to choose from, such as Theories and Discourses on Festival Events and Institutions; Documentation and GeoEthnic Distribution of Festivals; Forms, Classification, Typology of Nigerian Festivals; Song-poetry and Musical Traditions in Festivals; Dances and Masquerade Performances in Festivals; Theatrical and Dramatic Arts in Festivals; Religion and Rituals in Festival Events and Festivals and the Cultural Economy in Nigeria. Other sub-themes include Festivals, Travel/Tourism & Hospitality Industries; Festivals; Visual and Design

Arts in Nigeria; Organisation, Management & Marketing of Festival Events; Women and Children Arts/Performances in Festivals; and Environment and Health Issues in Festivals; African Festivals in the African Diaspora and Festivals, Mass Media and Digital Communication.

According to the organisers, abstracts of not more than 250 words can be sent to the email address of the conference convener, Prof. Gidini G. Darah (ggdarah@gmail.com); conference administrator, Dr Mark Ighile (mighile@gmail.com) and chair, organising committee, Okey Okwechime (oraclechime@gmail.com). The conference has as registration, N10,000 (Nigeria), $100 (Foreign). In terms of accommodation, the organisers say hotel room charges in Benin City range from N5, 000 to N15,000. Interested participants can call the lines 234-(0)803-608-8913, 234(0)803-495-9317 and 234-(0)803-7217824 for more details.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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BUSINESS EXTRA ECA swells to $4.05b • Fed Govt, states LGs share N755.95b

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HE balance in the Ex cess Crude Account (ECA) has increased to $4.05 billion, following the approval by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for the transfer of N50.35 billion into the ECA. At the end of the FACC meeting for the distribution of June 2013 allocation to the three tiers of government, members of the committee, especially those from the states, kicked against the retention of fuel subsidy They described the retention of fuel subsidy as a fraud against the country.

The Chairman, Forum of Commissioners of Finance, Timothy Odaah, who made known the position of the Committee while briefing journalists shortly after this month’s FAAC meeting in Abuja, yesterday noted that while the report of the 12man committee on the review of subsidy was still being awaited, “the current position of FAAC is that subsidy must be removed since the purpose for which it was established had been defeated.”

“The issue of subsidy removal re-echoed today and it became an issue of discussion and the report of the Committee set up three months ago is being awaited

From Nduka Chiejina, Abuja

and we still stand on the removal of subsidy as it will be of much benefit to the states, because what we have now is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. The purpose for which government set up subsidy is being defeated and so it should be based on consumption.”

On revenue generation, Odaah expressed delight that there has been a tremendous improvement in non-oil revenue, noting that there is a reduction in the rate of oil theft.

For the month of June 2013, N755.95 billion was shared by the three tiers of government.

A breakdown of the allocated amount, showed that N582.93 billion was shared under statutory allocation, N66.414 billion under Value Added Tax (VAT) envelope and the balance of N71.04 billion was shared from excess non-oil revenue.

The Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, who presided over the meeting, put the gross revenue received in June at N784.88 billion, which he said represents a decrease of N59.15 billion over the N844.03 billion received in May.

Glo boosts Puuskaat festival, signs MoU

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IGERIA’S national telecommunications company, Globacom, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the people of Mwangu, Plateau State, for the sponsorship of the Puuskaat Festival, an annual event which is celebrated in April.

The sponsorship of the annual festival is aimed at promoting and preserving the rich culture of the people of Mwangu and Plateau state as a whole.

Globacom has been in the fore-front of promoting the rich cultural heritage of the Nigerian people, having sponsored similar cultural festivals including the Ojude Oba in Ijebu Ode, Lisabi in Abeokuta and Ofala in Onitsha.

In his address during the signing, Globacom’s Zonal Business Coordinator, North East, Samuel Ibrahim, said “

as a brand with an authentic African heritage, we have resolved to support any credible endeavor that will promote and celebrate our cultural icons….as we believe that culture has a very profound role to play in the peace and unity of our dear country.”

Also speaking at the event, Amos Iliya Putman, who represented the National President of Mwangu Development Association, said they were excited by the collaboration with Globacom.

Samuel assured the people of Mwangu of Globacom’s continued support and partnership and urged them to avail themselves of the network’s pocketfriendly tariffs and an array of its products and services designed to empower the people.

Guests at the event were entertained by a cultural dance group which showcased some of the activities displayed during the Puuskaat Festival.

• From left: Head, Financial Inclusion, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Richard Oshungboye, Principal Manager, Financial Policy & Regulation, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Elizabeth Kwaghe, and Assistant Director and Head of Financial Inclusion, CBN, Mr. Bbatunde Oluwole, at a Workshop on Financial Inclusion organised by CBN for Banks in Osogbo.

Services, manufacturing main economic growth drivers • NBS puts GDP at 6.21%

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HE nation’s Gross Do mestic Product (GDP) inched higher to 6.21 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday. that the 6.21 per cent GDP growth was higher than the 4.55 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2013, but lower than the 6.77 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of last year.

The NBS data indicated that Nigeria’s nominal GDP for the first quarter of this year was estimated at N20.169tn, or N15.43tn in real terms, as against the corresponding quarter of 2013, where the nominal GDP was put at N18.29trillionn and N14.53trillion in real terms respectively.

It said while the oil sector recorded a negative real growth rate of 6.60 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, indicating a better performance compared to the negative growth of 11.40 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2013, the nonoil real growth was 8.21 per cent in Q1 of 2014.

The 8.21 per cent growth recorded in the non-oil sector in the first quarter represents an increase of 0.76 percentage points from the 7.44 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2013.

The Bureau however said

15% loanable MSMEs fund for upward review

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HE current arrange ment where less than 15 per cent loanable fund is set aside for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSMEs) need, is unacceptable and must be reviewed upward, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, has said.

Aganga said the step is necessary having regard to the potential of the sector in creating jobs and generating wealth.

The Minister, who spoke at the inauguration of the board of Directors of Bank of Industry, BOI, in Abuja, stated that the future of MSMEs rests squarely on how responsively the bank moves to meet the nations

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

funding needs.

He said, “The practice in China and Indonesia where significant portion of loanable in most cases without collateral is extended to MSMEs with close to 97% repayment rate should encourage you to emulate and do even more for MSMEs. “In prosecuting this mandate and by extant and institutionalized tradition, the ministry is enjoined to give policy guidance to the bank and to its other parastatals towards these objectives. The bank and its board are therefore expected as partner in the business sphere, to vshare in the common national vision towards achieving those ob-

jective for which the bank was established.

“This should and must be done with every sense of duty to ensure striking a balance between tge bank quest for higher dividend and its social obligation to tge nation. My ministry will soon organize a retreat for all fully implement the NIPR and NEDEP. “In the mean time, tge ministry will track your performance and for that reason, I expect your board to foward to me quarterly progress report showing performance in the quarter and year to date with details of analysis of loan of loan book by sector. impact on NIPR and NEDEP, jobs created and contributions to national development.”

By Simeon Ebulu

that relative to the fourth quarter of 2013, the non-oil growth was marginally lower by 0.57 percentage points in the first three months of this year.

Sector ally, the report said the services sector accounted for the largest share of real GDP in the first quarter of 2014, amounting to N8.181trillion, or 52.99 per cent, adding that the industrial sector ranked second with a contribution of N4.22trillion,or 27.36 per cent, while agriculture constituted the smallest sector in the first quarter, representing N3.03tn or 19.65 per cent of the GDP. The report also stated that activities in trade, telecommunications, real estate and crop production where the major contributors to the non-oil sector. Accordingly,

in real terms, the telecommunications sector contributed N1.27tn or 8.27 per cent to the total GDP in the first quarter of 2014, marginally lower than the contribution made to the total GDP in the first quarter of 2013 by 0.14 percentage points.

For the real estate sector, the report said, “Real estate represented 6.82 per cent of the real GDP in the opening quarter of 2014, exhibiting a notable 1.55 per cent point decline from the 8.37 per cent it represented in the preceding quarter.

The report said Trade was the largest contributor to the real GDP in the first quarter of 2014. It contributed N2.67trillion, or 17.35 per cent of the real GDP in the first quarter of 2014, showing a slight increase from the 17.34 per cent contribution it made to the GDP n the corre-

• Aganga

sponding quarter of 2013.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, reacting on the new research findings, said the analyses, done by the reputed Renaissance Capital, corroborated the fact that the manufacturing sector was being transformed under the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan. ”It is a good thing that the manufacturing sector is breathing well under this administration. Figures are there as proof. All we need do now is further improve the situation through consistency in policy as we continue to work hard towards continuously improving Nigeria’s non-oil revenue,” Aganga noted.

54

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 15-07-14

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 15-07-14

Fed Govt to sell N100b bonds today

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HE Federal Government will auction three short, medium and long-term bonds with a total value of N100 billion today.

The bonds would be issued under the monthly Federal Government of Nigeria bond auction by the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Federal agency that oversees Nigeria’s debt management.

Two of the bonds are previously issued instruments that would be reopened while a new bond would be issued to sustain the issuance curve. The government would reopen its short-term three-year bond with a value of N15 billion and coupon of 13.05 per cent.

The bond, the 13.05 per cent N15 billion FGN August 2016, would mature in 2016.

Also, the N50 billion 14.20 per cent FGN March 2024

with a tenor of 10 years and coupon of 14.20 per cent would be reopened.

The DMO would float a new bond with a tenor of 20 years to raise N35 billion.

The bond is expected to mature in July 2034 while the coupon would be determined according to the bids’ average rates.

The bonds would be sold at N1, 000 per unit with a minimum subscription of N10, 000 and in multiples of N1, 000 thereafter. This makes the bond to be suitable for retail and institutional investors. The settlement date for the bonds is Friday.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has said that Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and 14 other Sub-Saharan Afri-

can (SSA) countries under its rating services would borrow an equivalent of $61 billion from long-term domestic or global commercial sources in 2014.

This would be a 49 per cent increase in long-term commercial debt issuance compared with 2013. Standard & Poor’s (S & P) expects that $48 billion of the total commercial borrowing of $61 billion will be raised in local currencies.

In its “Sub-Saharan African Sovereign Debt Report 2014”, S & P indicated that the end of 2014, the stock of total outstanding sovereign debt from commercial sources by rated countries would have risen to $315 billion from $273 billion in 2013.

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MONEYLINK

CBN urges banks to protect staff from rights’ abuses

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HE Central Bank of Nigeria CBN) has urged banks, discount houses and development finance institutions to protect the rights of their workers in line with the Nigeria Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBPs) on human rights.

CBN Director, Banking Supervision, Mrs Tokunbo Martins, said the lenders are expected by the NSBP to respect human rights of their workers in the course of carrying out their businesses.

She said sustainable banking ap-

Stories by Collins Nweze

proach recognises and respects human and labour rights in a bank’s business operations as well as its business activities.

“It shall constitute an infraction which will attract sanctions where a bank, discount house, or DFI is found in any manner to hinder or prevent its staff from exercising

their right to free association, as required under extant regulations and laws,” she said.

The CBN director said banks’ approach to human rights should be consistent with promoting the requirements, and improving the enforcement, of the Nigerian Constitution, the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, and other international treaties to which Nigeria is a signatory.

FFS MfB picks Stanbic, Sterling as correspondent banks

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FS Microfinance Bank Limited which will be commissioned today in Lagos has selected Stanbic IBTC Bank and Sterling Bank as its correspondent banks.

This was disclosed by the Managing Director, FFS Microfinance Bank Limited, Iyabosola Basua during a briefing with journalists. She said the bank has a capital base of N100 million as required for state’s microfinance banks.

She said the bank was duly incorporated in Nigeria and licenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last month to provide banking services to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and other grassroots businesses in the country. The lender, she added, commenced operation in July 1 at its headquarters in Lagos.

Basua said the lender, owned by Foursquare Gospel Church wants to be the most reliable and trusted source of micro-credits to its customers using highly trained and motivated workforce and deploying the right technology.

She said the bank offers series of products which include savings account, current account, term deposit account, church growth account, asset acquisition account among others to ensure that customers needs are met.

“As a microfinance bank, we are committed to meeting out customers’ needs. We have leveraged on technology of our correspondent banks to provide our customers access to

electronic banking facilities nationwide,” she said.

The MfB boss said the lender’s mobile self services enable customers to conduct transactions and transfers with their mobile phones using software Apps for Android, Blackberry, Java among others. This, she said, enables customers to buy recharge cards and pay utility bills. She said pricing for the bank’s products and services is competitive and negotiable.

Economy grows by 6.21% in first quarter, says NBS

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IGERIA’S economy grew by 6.21 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, up from 4.45 per cent in the same period last year, the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

The body said the economy was lifted by its services sector, which accounted for 52.99 per cent of first quarter Gross Domestic Product

(GDP), expanded by 7.20 per cent during the first three months of 2014, compared with a growth rate of 6.70 per cent in same period of 2013.

First-quarter crude production fell to 2.26 million barrels per day, down from 2.29 million barrels per day, according to the statistics office.

She said key policies and requirements should include recognition of employees’ entitlement to safe and fair labour conditions and to exercise collective and individual rights to associate and speak freely, as allowed by national law.

Martins said that banks, discount houses and DFIs are to ensure that their staff are at liberty to freely associate in furtherance of their rights as allowed by national regulations, laws and international conventions and treaties Nigeria is signatory to.

NSIA is transparent, says Sovereign Wealth Institute

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HE Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has received improved rating as a sovereign wealth fund by the Linaburg-Maduell transparency index administered by the Sovereign Wealth Institute.

In the official statement announcing the second quarter 2014 ratings, the Institute singled out the NSIA for special mention stating that the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has been upgraded to 9 points out of a possible 10 from a score of 4 in the previous rankings.

This rating translates into a leap from a position of joint 33rd to joint 2nd; the only African sovereign wealth fund so ranked.

With the latest rankings, NSIA is in credible company alongside sovereign wealth funds from the USA, France, South Korea, Brazil and

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

Offer Price

AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH BGL NUBIAN FUND BGL SAPPHIRE FUND CANARY GROWTH FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CORAL INCOME FUND FBN FIXED INCOME FUND FBN HERITAGET FUND FBN MONEY MARKET FUND • UBA BALANCED FUND • UBA BOND FUND • UBA EQUITY FUND • UBA MONEY MARKET FUND

168.45 9.17 1.12 1.19 0.69 1.39 1,663.89 1,663.89 1,05.92 1,087.30 1.3451 1.3635 1.0178 1.1855

167.01 9.08 1.12 1.19 0.69 1.33 1,663.89 1,663.89 119.71 1,087.00

GAINERS AS AT 15-07-14

SYMBOL CAP AIRSERVICE UAC-PROP TRANSEXPR JOHNHOLT

O/PRICE

C/PRICE

CBN EXCHANGE RATES July 15, 2014

Inflation: May

8.0%

Monetary Policy Rate

12.0%

Buying (N)

Selling (N)

154.73

155.73

US Dollar

$110.44

Pounds Sterling

265.6559

267.3728

1.95

Oil Price (Bonny Light/b)

2.23

2.34

0.11

Money Supply (M2)

N15.9 trillion.

17.44

18.30

0.86

Euro

210.6958

212.0575

1.97

2.06

0.09

Credit to private Sector (CPS)

N16.76 trillion

Swiss Franc

173.4641

174.5852

Yen

1.5231

1.5329

CFA

0.3025

0.3225

WAUA

238.369

239.9095

Yuan/Renminbi

24.9214

25.0834

Riyal

41.258

41.5247

SDR

239.0733

240.6184

0.05 4.60

MOBIL

135.00

140.15

5.15

AIICO

0.80

0.83

0.03

0.56

0.58

0.02

50.24

52.00

1.76

LOSERS AS AT 15-07-14

O/PRICE

C/PRICE

CHANGE

Primary Lending Rate (PLR)

16.5%

NIGERIAN INTER-BANK OFFERED RATES (NIBOR)

Tenor

Rate (%)

Rate (%)

Overnight (O/N)

10.500

10.500

1M

12.175

12.101

3M

13.328

13.225

6M

14.296

14.-85

1.14

1.04

-0.10

34.17

32.47

-1.70

DNMEYER

1.26

1.20

-0.06

INFINITY

1.68

1.60

-0.08

COSTAIN

1.31

1.25

-0.06

AGLEVENT

1.39

1.33

-0.06

R-DAS ($/N)

157.29

157.29

NIGERINS

0.52

0.50

-0.06

Interbank ($/N)

162.75

162.75

MANSARD

2.62

2.52

-0.02

Parallel ($/N)

167.50

167.50

MBENEFIT

0.56

0.54

-0.10

11.40

11.00

-0.02

CCNN

Currency

40.95

1.20

ASHAKACEM

Amount Sold in ($) 305.4m 279.08m 342.8m

39.00

117.60

RTBRISCOE

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Amount Offered in ($) 350M 300m 350m

$38.2bn

1.15

SYMBOL

Transaction Dates 7/14/14 7/9/14 7/7/14

Foreign Reserves

113.00

UNILEVER

RETAIL DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM (RDAS)

CHANGE

WAPCO

COURTVILLE

Malaysia.

More significantly, the improved transparency ranking validates NSIA’s commitment and adherence to the highest prescriptions of the Santiago Principles with respect to corporate governance, investment strategy, disclosures and SWF best practices.

The NSIA believes that the capacity to deliver on its statutory mandate, for the benefits of all Nigerians, depends on these values hence the unwavering commitment to best practice standards in all policies, procedures and systems.

The Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index was developed at the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute by Carl Linaburg and Michael Maduell and is a method of rating transparency in respect to sovereign wealth funds.

DATA BANK

Bid Price

1.3361 1.3635 0.9999 1.1855

•CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele

GOVT. SECURITIES YIELD – SECONDARY MARKET

Tenor

July 4, 2014

July 7, 2014

T-bills - 91

9.98

10.00

T-bills - 182

10.00

10.07

T-bills - 364

10.22

10.22

Bond - 3yrs

11.26

11.37

Bond - 5yrs

11.36

11.41

Bond - 7yrs

11.77

11.86

FOREX RATES

56

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

57

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

NEWS

•Minister of Communication Technology Mrs Omobola Johnson with some girls undergoing Information Communication Technology (ICT) training at the ministry’s 1,000 Girls ICT training programme in Abuja ...yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

‘Car thieves’ kill doctor, rape fiancée From Osagie Otabor, Benin

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GANG of ‘car thieves’, led by Solomon Abuede, narrated yesterday how they killed a doctor, raped his fiancée and dumped his body in a well.

The act was committed at Ekpoma, headquarters of Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

Abuede said they strangulated the doctor before he was thrown into the well.

He said they were told to kill any victim with a flashy car.

Abuede was among 46 suspects arrested for various crimes across the state since June.

He said he had been involved in several car thefts, especially at Ekpoma.

A 61-year-old man, Sunday Oviasogie, was named as the chief sponsor of the gang.

Abuede confessed that he received over 50 stolen cars and has been in the business for 15 years.

I’ve no problem with Uduaghan, says Omo-Agege From John Ofikhenua and Abimbola Alo, Abuja

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HE former Secretary to the Delta State Government, Ovie OmoAgege, has said he enjoys a robust relationship with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan.

Omo-Agege said he once had political differences with the governor but noted that they settled at a reconciliation meeting last year.

“I have bad news for those who believe that the governor can never handover to me because I am not on good terms with him.

“It is true that we had political differences in the past but we have reconciled and since then I enjoy a very robust relationship with him to build our party and state.”

He spoke at Olomoro and Emede, Isoko South Local Government during his visits to a renowned scholar, Dr. Idodo Umeh and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Tom Egbuwoku, in furtherance of his consultation on his governorship aspiration.

Omo-Agege recalled that he conceived the idea to become governor in 2006.

NYAKO’S IMPEACHMENT

Governors, Saraki Atiku, Balarabe condemn Nyako’s removal

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HE Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Forum and eminent Nigerians condemned yesterday the impeachment of Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako.

NGF chairman Chibuike Amaechi, the Rivers State governor, described the act as “a sad day for democracy in the country.”

The APC governors speaking through its chairman Rochas Okorocha, said the action “is bad politics of intimidation aimed at stifling the opposition. “ He added that it could have a negative effect on the country’s fight against democracy.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Senator Bukola Saraki and second Republic Governor Balarabe Musa, also condemned the removal of the governor.

Amaechi urged Rivers people and members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to remain calm, saying by God’s grace, he would hand over to his successor on May 29 next year.

The Rivers governor, who spoke through Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, asked the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike; the Rivers Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah, and the six “desperate” lawmakers to give peace a chance in Rivers State and bear in mind that power belongs to God. He urged them to stop their “rascality” forthwith.

Semenitari said: “The Rivers State Government is assuring the people of the state that the enemies of progress will fail and all the persons plotting to impeach Governor Amaechi and their paymasters in Abuja will be disappointed, because God remains the Almighty.

“We wish to appeal to all well-meaning people in Nigeria and around the world to please call the PDP leaders to order, before they truncate the nation’s democracy.

They are becoming too desperate over 2015, forgetting God. “It is now very obvious that the members of the PDP, especially the leaders of the drowning party, have no in-

From Gbade Ogunwale, Sanni Onogu, Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja, Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt, Okodili Ndidi, Owerri,

terest in the peace and stability of Rivers State. Their evil plan will never come to pass.

They are afraid, because Rivers remains an APC state and the people of the state, who have not seen any Federal Government project, will chase them away in 2015.”

The Rivers information commissioner also stated that there would be no hiding place for the six pro-Wike lawmakers, in the 32-member Assembly, while insisting that emphasis must always be placed on the rule of law and due process.

Semenitari said: “Just on June 19, shortly after Governor Amaechi was held hostage in commando style by soldiers and the Federal Government’s security agents in Odudu, Ondo State, on his way to Ekiti State, where he was to join Governor Kayode Fayemi and other leaders of the APC, for the mega rally before the June 21 election, we informed Rivers people about the move to impeach Governor Amaechi earlier in the day.

The six Rivers lawmakers and their sponsors are not relenting, not minding the illegality and unconstitutionality of their proposed action.

“We wish that the PDP-led Federal Government will address the spate of insecurity in Nigeria, especially the embarrassing Boko Haram menace and suicide bombings, with as much fervor and vigour as it has deployed in plotting against and witchhunting its political opponents, at a time the over 200 innocent Chibok girls, kidnapped since April 15, are still in captivity.”

Okorocha, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, regretted that despite series of discussions and dialogue with members of the Adamawa State House of Assembly to have a rethink, they went ahead with the plot. “ The impeachment won’t encourage other nations of the world willing to help us come out of our security problem to take us serious. To say the least, the impeachment was not the best of actions

‘The issue of impeachment should not be our priority at this stage and those of us that love this country will really need to talk to ourselves and be more concerned with the insecurity before us instead of dissipating our energy on issues that will divide us by overheating the polity and creating problems for ourselves’ this time”, the statement said.

The Imo Governor added that “What the nation needs most this time should be ideas, unity of purpose and patriotism to deal decisively with the lingering security problems threatening our nationhood and not actions that would further inject bad blood among the leaders of this country and the citizenry in general.

“The impeachment of the Adamawa State Governor and similar impeachment threats against the governors of Nasarawa, Edo, Rivers and so on, could be explained as bad politics of intimidation aimed at stifling the APC as a party and threatening our nascent democracy. The impeachment has no iota of value to add to the nation’s growth and development, and even to the progress of Adamawa State”, he said.

Atiku Abubakar warned against the excessive use of power by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government, a tendency, which he said, was not good for decent democratic practice.

In a statement by his media office in Abuja, Atiku said wielding the axe of impeachment against elected public office holders to settle scores by the PDP-led Federal Government would needlessly build up tension in the country.

The former Vice President said the reckless use of impeachment to settle scores could not have been the intention of the framers of the 1999 Constitution.

He said the frequency with which elective officials were being shot down by impeachment would destroy the whole purpose of inserting the impeachment clause in the Constitution.

He regretted that the use of impeachment to harass and humiliate perceived opponents by the PDP-led Federal Government would ultimately bastardise the spirit in which the constitution provides for the impeachment clause.

The former Vice President admonished the PDP-led Federal Government to take it easy in the way they use power, adding that the constitution was not meant to provide ammo to anybody to harass and humiliate opponents or force them out of office.

He deplored the use of financial inducements to influence the removal of perceived opponents from office. According to him, triumphalism in the suppression of opponents is a bad omen for democracy.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment, Senator Saraki, described the impeachment as unfortunate.

He said: “It is very unfortunate and I think we are seven months to the end of the tenure. We all need to look at the bigger picture, look at the stability of our democracy.

“After Adamawa, I think Nasarawa State governor is being served with impeachment notice and three other states are going to be served.

“The bigger issue in this country now is the issue of security, and poverty. Some of the issues raised against the Adamawa State Governor can also apply anywhere and we need to be mature with our democracy.

“The issue of impeachment should not be our priority at this stage and those of us that love this country will really need to talk to ourselves and be more concerned with the insecurity before us instead of dissipating our energy on issues that will divide us by overheating the polity and creating problems for ourselves.

“We should talk about how to improve security and ensure better living conditions of our people. Those who are beating the drums now should know that it will come back to them.”

Balarabe Musa described the impeachment of as a desperate act by the PDP He said he was not surprised by the news of the impeachment, saying, he had observed that the PDP was desperate to reduce the All Progressive Congress (APC) to a loyal opposition party.

According to the elder statesman, who himself was impeached in the Second Republic: “I am not surprised because, the PDP is desperate to reduce the APC to a mere loyal opposition and they have found Adamawa as a soft spot, following the defection of House of Assembly members to PDP. “Secondly, the fight among the elite of Adamawa State for power had made it very easy for the PDP to succeed in its plan,” he said.

The “PDP is mindless, insensitive and practising do or die politics, which is very dangerous for the development of Nigeria’s democracy.”

I have my doubts if due processes were followed. I think the impeachment was not an act of the Adamawa State House of Assembly. It appears Governor Nyako is being punished for holding views considered subversive and against the powers that be.

“To remove a governor is not a small business. It is a serious constitutional duty that must be carried out in accordance with due processes and after affording the governor adequate time and opportunity to defend himself.

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) blamed President Goodluck Jonathan of playing ‘politics of dictatorship’ by hunting opposition governors.

It advised Dr. Jonathan to follow due process.

It said: “we wish to advise President Jonathan to always adhere to the rule of law and hard core democratic tenets; for we could notice signs of dictatorship creeping into the political landscape. For instance the Maiduguri airport which was closed to pilgrims because of Boko Haram was opened for the man who nurtured the monster, what an irony.”Yesterday, it was Governor Murtala Nyako, today Tanko Almakura, tomorrow another APC governor to be impeached, so no PDP governor is corrupt?”The statement was issued by the CNPP National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

59

FOREIGN NEWS

Hammond replaces Hague as UK foreign secretary in reshuffle

Afghanistan: Market car bomb kills 89

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T least 89 people have been killed and dozens injured in a suicide attack at a busy market in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province, local officials say.

They say the attacker drove a 4x4 vehicle into the market in Orgun district and detonated the explosives.

The market was full of people doing their shopping for the Muslim festival Ramadan at the time of the attack.

No group has claimed the attack, but Taliban insurgents said they had not carried it out.

“We clearly announce that it was not done by the Mujahedeen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Eyewitnesses and medical staff said local hospitals were overrun with casualties after one of the deadliest attacks in months in Afghanistan.

The eastern province of Paktika shares a border with Pakistan’s restive and volatile tribal areas.

Orgun is one of Paktika’s safest areas, though members of the Haqqani militant network are thought to have a presence there.

Tuesday’s attack is not a surprise for security forces in the border district with Pakistan’s

Waziristan region. The Pakistan-based Haqqani network is active in the area.

Last week, suicide attackers tried to assassinate local police commander Azizullah - who is widely credited with bringing security to the province, and what officials call breaking the backbone of the Haqqani network in the province.

Many car and truck bombs have been used by the Haqqani network in the province, where they have tried to target officials. But in recent years, most of the truck bombs were either defused, seized or could not reach their targets.

For the Afghan civilians, Tuesday’s attack once again brings to light how daily life is fraught with many dangers in Afghanistan. The Orgun district bazaar once a bustling town of shops and restaurants now lies in ruin, and covered in blood. The attack will continue to undermine people’s confidence in the Afghan government and the day-today security.

A spokesman for Afghanistan’s defence ministry told the BBC that most of the 89 bodies recovered from the rubble were women and children.

More than 40 people were injured in the attack.

The blast also destroyed dozens of vehicles and local shops.

•Hague

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ILLIAM Hague has stood down as foreign secretary, but will stay in the cabinet as Leader of the Commons, Downing Street has said.

At least 12 men will leave their posts in the significant

reshuffle, including Ken Clarke who is standing down.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson is leaving the cabinet and is expected to be replaced by education minister Liz Truss.

Philip Hammond has accepted the role of foreign secretary.

Labour described the reshuffle as "the massacre of the moderates".

Mr Hague is to leave Parliament at the 2015 general election after 26 years as MP for Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Senior ministers have told the BBC that the current defence secretary, Philip Hammond, will replace Mr Hague.

Prime Minister David

Cameron said: "William Hague has been one of the leading lights of the Conservative Party for a generation, leading the party and serving in two cabinets.

"Not only has he been a first-class foreign secretary he has also been a close confidant, a wise counsellor and a great friend.

"He will remain as first secretary of state and my de facto political deputy in the run up to the election - and it is great to know that he will be a core part of the team working to ensure an outright Conservative victory."

Ken Clarke told Radio 4's Today programme that he felt it was "time to step down".

He said: "If you do work beyond the normal retirement

age, I think actually you should prepare to decide you're going to go before people are starting to scratch their head and think of reasons to get rid of you."

Speaking on Mr Cameron's latest changes, he said: "He doesn't have many reshuffles which is a very good thing so ministers find out what their job is and then he wants a reshuffle, which looks like the sort of government he wants in the next Parliament.

"That's what he's done and guys like me who have done a few decades in government took the opportunity to retire."

He added it was "superficial" for people to become obsessed with the gender balance of the cabinet and that Mr Cameron had made "enormous efforts" to get women in.

Russia derailment: 21 dead in Moscow metro crash

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HE death toll in Tuesday’s derailment on the Moscow metro now stands at 21, the Russian health ministry says.

Scores were injured, some seriously, when a packed commuter train braked abruptly between stations in the west of the city in the morning rush hour.

Some of those hurt were carried out of the tunnel on stretchers, with the most serious cases airlifted to hospital.

The cause of the crash - one of the worst incidents ever on the metro - is reported to be a power surge.

The train derailed between Slaviansky Boulevard and Park Pobedy (Victory Park) stations in the west of the city.

Some 50 people were in a serious condition, the Itar-Tass news agency re-

ported, quoting a health official.

“The train slowed down abruptly, the lights went off, and then there was a spark of fire and smoke. We were blocked in,” one passenger told Russian TV. Another, quoted by Reuters news agency, said: “We were trapped and only got out by some miracle. I thought it was the end. Many people were hurt, mostly in the front carriage because the cars ran into each other.” More than 1,100 people were evacuated The packed commuter train was travelling from the north-west of Moscow to the city centre at the time of the crash.

The BBC’s Artyom Liss, in Moscow, says the tunnel where crash happened was built about 10 years ago.

Critics accuse the authorities of spending too much on extending the metro system, and not enough on maintenance, our correspondent says.

President Vladimir Putin, visiting Brazil, has ordered a criminal investigation into the accident.

Park Pobedy is the deepest metro station in Moscow, 84m (275ft) underground, which made the rescue operation particularly hard.

No foreigners were among the injured, the Interfax news agency said.

Militant attacks on Russia’s railways and transport networks have killed dozens of people in the past, but the emergencies ministry said there was no suspicion of such a cause in this case.

NEWS Nigeria: Boko Haram kills 2,053 civilians in six months Continued from page 4

man Rights Watch said.

“Boko Haram is effectively waging war on the people of northeastern Nigeria at a staggering human cost,” said Corinne Dufka, West Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

“Atrocities committed as part of a widespread attack on civilians are crimes against humanity, for which those responsible need to be held to account.”

The bulk of the attacks and casualties credibly reported and investigated by Human Rights Watch took place in Borno State, the birthplace of Boko Haram, where 1,446 people died. Attacks killed 151 in Adamawa state and 143 civilians in Yobe state.

Human Rights Watch compiled the figures by analyzing credible local and international media reports, and the findings of human rights groups, as well as interviewing witnesses and victims of numerous attacks.

The media reports generally quoted villagers, hospital and morgue workers, police and military officials, and local leaders who had observed, registered, counted or buried the dead. In the vast majority of cases, Boko Haram forces appeared to deliberately target civilians.

Since 2009, Jama’atu Ahlis

Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, Nigeria’s Islamist insurgency popularly known as Boko Haram, has waged a violent campaign against the government to impose its authority under Sharia (Islamic) law.

Widespread poverty, corruption, security force abuses, and longstanding impunity for a range of crimes have created a fertile ground in Nigeria for militant armed groups like Boko Haram.

The pace of attacks has dramatically intensified in remote villages since May 2013, when the federal government imposed a state of emergency in the northern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe.

In many of the attacks Boko Haram gunmen fired on civilians, such as people gathered in busy marketplaces, places of worship, and residential neighborhoods. In three villages in Gwoza Local Government Area, Borno State, in early June, Boko Haram fighters impersonated military personnel to round up hundreds of villagers, then opened fire on them, media reports said. Two local chiefs from Attagara, one of the villages, told journalists they had buried 110 people killed in the attack.

On May 6, Boko Haram fighters allegedly killed 336 villagers in the twin towns of Gamboru-

Ngala during an attack in which they used two armored personnel carriers they had stolen from the Nigerian military several months earlier. Residents reported that the villages had been burned to the ground.

Boko Haram’s kidnapping of 276 girls from a school in Chibok in April was not its only attack on schools in the northeast.

In February, Boko Haram militants locked the doors to a boys’ dormitory of the Federal Government College of Buni Yadi, a secondary school near Damaturu, Yobe State and set the building on fire, killing 59.

Boko Haram forces have abducted and otherwise abused hundreds of women and girls during the attacks. Human Rights Watch will release a report in coming weeks on abuses

by Boko Haram against girls and women, based on interviews with victims and witnesses in June. The report will also examine the deficiencies in the Nigerian government’s response to these abuses.

The killings and other abuses

by Boko Haram appear to rise to the level of crimes against humanity. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Nigeria is a party, defines crimes against humanity as various criminal offenses, including murder, tor-

ture and rape that are “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.” Such crimes can be committed by a government or a non-state group.

They must be widespread or systematic, but need not be both.

“Widespread” refers to the scale of the acts or number of victims.

A “systematic” attack indicates “a pattern or methodical plan.”

Since 2009, and increasingly since mid-2013, Boko Haram has carried out several hundred attacks against civilians and civilian structures in schools, marketplaces, and places of worship in villages, towns and even cities.

The nature and frequency of the attacks indicate the actions of an organized movement. This is evidenced by the presence of convoys of trucks, motorbikes, and occasionally armored personnel carriers with well-armed gunmen; the fashion in which gunmen were seen deploying in and around the target or setting up checkpoints; and the planning required to infiltrate the cities in which attacks took place.

Human Rights Watch and other national and international human rights groups have also documented abuses by the Nigerian Security Forces since 2009 as they responded to the attacks by Boko Haram.

Nyanya blast ‘mastermind’ repatriated from Sudan Continued from page 4

at the Balmo forest in Bauchi.

“The suspect, who hails from Kaigamari Village, Daptchari in Darazo Local Government Area, Bauchi State is the selfstyled ‘chief butcher’ of the insurgent group at the Balmo forest camp and is linked with the recent slaughter of seven

people, including women and children.

“The suspect who investigation reveals was tutored in the art of insurgency at Gombe Forest under the leadership of a fleeing insurgent, one Abba Taura and moved to Balmo Forest only three months ago, is discovered to have actively participated in

the April attack against Customs officers at Kari Town, along Maiduguri Road, Bauchi State.

“Findings as well as disclosures from the suspect will assist the law enforcement agencies in tracking down some other members of the terror cell,” the statement added.

The police have called on res-

idents in the affected areas in the state to be on the look out for any suspicious or strange character fleeing from Balmo Forest.

The police also sought for the understanding and support of members of the public in the counter terrorism campaign embarked upon by the security agencies.

Nyako vows to fight on Continued from page 4

investigate the allegation as provided in this section.

“The holder of an office whose conduct is being investigated under this section shall have the right to defend himself in person or be represented before the Panel by a legal practitioner of his own choice.

“A panel appointed under this section shall (a) have such powers and exercise its functions in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly; and (b) within three months of its appointment, reports its findings to the House of Assembly.

“Where the Panel reports to the House of Assembly that the allegation has not been proved, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter.

“Where the report of the Panel is that the allegation

against the holder of the Office has been proved, then within 14 days of the receipt of the report, the House of Assembly shall consider the report, and if by a resolution of the House of Assembly supported by not less, than twothirds majority of all its members, the report of the Panel is adopted; then the holder of the office shall stand removed from office as from the date of the adoption of the report.

“No proceedings or determination of the Panel or of the House of Assembly or any matter relating to such proceedings or determination shall be entertained or questioned in any court.

“In this section, ‘gross misconduct’ means a grave violation or breach of the provisions of this Constitution or a misconduct of such nature as amounts in the opinion in the House of Assembly to gross misconduct.”

Nyako recommended Umaru for deputy before removal Continued from page 4

ly after his impeachment.

These included the Aide-deCamp, the Chief Security Officer, State Security Service (SSS) details and policemen in pilot vehicles.

Although a new set of security agents was deployed to arrest Nyako, who was in his Asokoro, Abuja have at the time of the controversial impeachment, the team could not locate his whereabouts.

A source close to the governor said: “Some plain-clothe security agents came to look for Nyako but he had left his Asokoro

residence.

“These agents were looking so desperate to effect his arrest in connection with a letter he wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan on the security situation in the North, especially Northeast.

“The plot is to arrest him and arraign him for sedition.”

Asked of the governor’s whereabouts, the source said: “Only God and his family could tell now.

“We even learnt that if they cannot locate him, they might declare him wanted. Nyako is a military man; he would only insist on due legal process, even if he has to face trial.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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NEWS Obi felicitates with Soyinka, Irukwu, Egwu

Abia commissioner dies five days after Eze Chikamnayo. tled to save his life during the being shot tion, He said: “The government, five days he spent in the hospiwith a heavy heart, regrets to

A

NAMBRA State former Governor Peter Obi has congratulated Prof. Wole Soyinka on his 80th birthday.

He described him as a worthy Nigerian, who merited to be celebrated for the honour he brought to the country.

Obi, who said some lives, such as that of Wole Soyinka needed to be studied for their positive values, added that he was to literature, what Herodotus was to history. His words: “In writing history, Herodotus tried as much as he could to visit the areas he wrote about. Today, Soyinka moves round the globe, with heavy bias for Africa and Nigeria, and uses his literary gift to contribute to a better world with uncommon elegance, poise and ease.”

The ex-governor also lauded Prof. Joe Irukwu (SAN) and Dr. Sam Egwu, who turned 80 and 60.

While he eulogised Irukwu for his contributions to insurance and high sense of corporate governance, he said Egwu also merited to be honoured for his dignity and sense of responsibility as Ebonyi governor and Minister of Education.

Council boss reiterates commitment to infrastructural devt From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

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HE Caretaker Chairman of Ibadan North East Local Government, Mr Ladi Oluokun has reiterated his administration’s commitment to infrastructural development of the locality.

He spoke yesterday while commissioning a toilet and water facility at Community Grammar School, Ayekale, Ibadan.

Oluokun thanked the state Governor, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi and other stakeholders for their understanding and support since he assumed office.

He assured the people of the council of his administration’s determination to invest in more people oriented projects.

The council boss told his audience that the governor remained passionate about education and human capital development which is one of the goals he has been pursuing with vigour since his assumption of office?.

•The late Nwosu

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HE Abia State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Ken Nwosu, who was shot last Wednesday by gunmen on his way home, is dead.

He died after doctors bat-

tal.

Nwosu, who was sworn in as a commissioner last September, was an executive director at the National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, near Umuahia where he retired.

He was shot after work and was taken to the Abia State Specialist and Diagnostic Hospital, Umuahia where the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Augustus Mbanaso, led a team of doctors to save his life.

Mbanaso, after a marathon surgery, said what the commissioner needed was prayers, as the medical team had done what was clinically possible to save him.

Hospital sources confirmed that the commissioner died on

From Ugochukwu Ugoji-eke, Umuahia

Monday night, adding that he might have died from gunshot injuries.

At the Ministry of Agriculture, workers were seen discussing the incident in hushed tones. His family could not be reached at his home in Amizi Olokoro in Umuahia South Local Government.

Government said it was sad to lose a member of the executive council. The deceased was described as a round peg in a round hole, as he was a guru in agriculture.

The government’s statement was delivered by the Commissioner for Informa-

announce the death of Dr. Ken Nwosu.

“Last Thursday, we received the news of the shooting of Dr. Nwosu by gunmen on his way home after work and government made efforts to save his life.

“Governor Theodore Orji directed the medical team to do everything to save him and visited him twice that night and the next morning, to ensure he was stabilised before taking him abroad.”

Chikamnayo said the governor has directed the security agencies to arrest the assassins.

“The governor urges residents to go about their activities, as the state is safe.”

Govt urged to ensure availability of opium drug

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HE President of the Society for the Study of Pain (SSPN), Dr. Ikeoluwapo Ajayi, has urged the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Health, to ensure the availability of opium drug in hospitals.

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

He said it is applied on patients with severe pains.

Ajayi spoke yesterday while addressing reporters at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan to celebrate the Global Year Against

Pain. This year’s theme is: “Global Year Against Orofacial Pain”.

Dr. Ajayi said it was disheartening that the majority of the hospitals lacked opium drug, adding that hospitals having it abandoned it, making it to expire in their stores.

The SSPN president said health workers have developed a myth that the drug is too strong for their patients and may cause addiction, adding that experts believe it is the best analgesic for patients having pains.

North opposes demand for N2.6tr reparation

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ORTHERN delegates at the National Conference expressed yesterday their opposition to the demand by the Southeast, Southsouth delegates and Ohaeneze Ndigbo for the payment of about N2.6 trillion as reparation to the Igbo for the losses they suffered during the civil war.

The delegates argued that the zones suffered genocide and hardship during the civil war, saying it was incalculable to put a price on the millions of Igbo killed.

But northern delegates, under the aegis of the Northern Delegates Forum, said in a statement that paying reparation to the Igbo

From Tony Akowe, Abuja

would encourage civil war across the world.

The statement signed by their spokesman, Anthony Sani and emailed to The Nation, said the three Rs by the Gowon administration after the civil war was a desirable humanitarian gesture that should not be mistaken for justification of separatist actions.

The statement reads: “When one hears Ohanaeze demands trillions of naira for reparation due to the civil war, it baffles and bewilders. The reason is because the world does not encourage separa-

tion, let alone civil war, which leads to losses not only of lives but also property on both sides. So for anybody to pay reparation amounts to encouraging civil wars across the globe.

“It is important to note that the sympathy for Northeast is because the states, which sought and obtained the mandate to secure their lives and property, have not been able to do so.

“Therefore, the cases of Northeast and Biafra war are not the same thing. The three Rs by Gen. Gowon, which came after the civil war, was a desirable humanitarian gestures that should not be mis-

NYAKO’S IMPEACHMENT

Nyako’s impeachment unhealthy, say SANs OME Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) faulted yesterday the impeachment of Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako, warning against a return to the past when impeachment was used as a tool against political opponents.

Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN) and Mr Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) said the impeachment could have been politically motivated, while Dr Joseph Nwobike (SAN) saw nothing wrong with it, as Nyako did not respond to the allegations.

University of Lagos (UNILAG) Law lecturer Mr Wahab Shittu, said the impeachment process could be nullified by a court if it is found not to have complied with constitutional provisions.

Ali said: “We saw it coming.

I’m aware that a case was filed, and the High Court said they could go ahead with the impeachment process. How will I say impeachment is good for democracy? Impeachment itself is antithetical to democracy.

Somebody who was elected by adult suffrage in a state will be removed by a few people. So I wouldn’t say it is good for democracy. I only hope that we’re not back to 2006 when impeachment became a fashion and fad.”

Okutepa said: “I have my doubts if due processes were followed in the purported impeachment. I think the impeachment

S

Customs seizes 750 bags of rice in Oyo From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

T

By Joseph Jibueze

was not an act of the Adamawa State House of Assembly. It appears Gov Nyako is being punished for holding views considered subversive and against the power that be. To remove a governor is no a small business. It is a serious constitutional duty that must be carried out in accordance with due processes and after affording the governor adequate time and opportunity to defend himself.

“Between the time the panel starts its work till when it concluded the job and the day the governor is alleged to have been impeached is so short a period that it is difficult to conclude that he was given fair hearing. This impeachment is insulting to collective sensibility of all well meaning people of this country.

Let no body derail this democracy. I see this action as portending danger to our growing democracy. It is bad and sad that we are gradually disregarding due process for personal aggrandizement.”

Nwobike said: “The impeachment is proper and is a welcome development. There were allegations of misconduct against Gov. Nyako, but he refused to respond to those allegations. He refused to appear before the panel. So, there was no contrary evi-

taken for justification of separatist actions.”

On what should be done to address the face-off at the conference, he said: “Somehow I believe if delegates would assume real responsibility for real issues of real concern to real Nigerians by concentrating on issues instead of on who presents them or on how they are presented, then there would be less cleavages of the nation along regional, ethnic and religious lines.

“I do not see the wisdom of raising the issues of reparation due to the civil war by Ohanaeze simply because there have been talks about the Northeast.

•Nyako

dence against those allegations against him.

“Of course the law is that if allegations are made against you, and there is no defence to them, then it means that it has been proved. And if grievous misconduct has been proved against any person, then the natural cause of constitutional events – the adoption of the report and impeachment – is proper in law. I endorse because I believe that the process was duly followed.”

Shittu said: “Impeachment is both a legal and a political weapon. So long as the provisions of Section 188 are complied with, the court will not interfere with the process, but where the section is subverted, the court can interfere with the process and declare it as illegal. Given the fact that the governor was not served personally with the processes, and the provisions of the Constitution stipulate there must be personal service, legally, in the context of constitutional provision, the process is likely to be challenged in court.”

HE Oyo/Osun Area Customs Command has intercepted and seized two trailer trucks loaded with a total of 750 bags of rice concealed under veterinary chemicals and products along Igbeti border town in Oorelope Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The seizure, which was made possible following a tip-off from some informants in the axis was, however, without casualties, which characterized the last seizure during which a Customs officer was severely injured by hoodlums, who were allegedly hired by smugglers to free some of the seized items.

The Area Command Controller, Mr. Richard Oteri, in a statement in Ibadan yesterday, said the Duty Paid Value(DPV) for the 750 bags of 50kg rice is estimated at N4,170,000.

He explained that the seizure was a demonstration of the command’s resolve to make the Oyo/Osun states “a no hiding place for unpatriotic Nigerians who engage in the illicit business of smuggling.”

He restated that the importation of rice through the border remained prohibited, adding that all those who wish to do so should use the nation’s sea ports.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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NEWS Ramadan 19, 1435AH

RAMADAN KAREEM

‘Be good to your neighbours’

By Amidu Arije

D

•Chairman, Distribution Committee of Katsina State Government Ramadan Foodstuffs, Alhaji Abdulaziz Danyari (left), inaugurating the distribution at Yarmama village in Malumfashi Local Government Area in Katsina State...yesterday. With them is the Malumfashi Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Audi Reza (second right) and other dignitaries

RAMADAN GUIDE WITH FEMI ABBAS e-mail: femabbas@yahoo.com Tel: 08122697498

Indebtedness

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INDEBTEDNESS in Islam is not just about loan.

Neither is it about money or material objects only.

Indebtedness can also be spiritual, or moral. Each of these is considered a problem for which Islam proffers a solution.

In the spiritual realm, a Muslim may become a debtor when he skips certain daily prayers (Salat). And, until he observes such prayers, no matter how late, he remains a spiritual debtor. He may also become a debtor when he misses some days of fasting in Ramadan for whatever reason or when he fails to pay Zakah at the appropriate time.

Also, his refusal to perform Hajj when he has the ability to do so can amount to indebtedness. In each case, the only rectification which amounts to payment of debt is to atone for the omission. Such rectification can be made by the debtor himself or by someone else (in the case of Zakah and hajj). As for Salat the rule is different. No other person can help in pay any debt incurred by you. The payment must be done by the very person who incurred the debt.

It must be remembered that there is no excuse for missing Salat.

In the case of fasting, there is a temporary indebtedness and there is a permanent one. An example of a temporary indebtedness is that of a menstruating woman or a wayfarer or a sick person. Each of them is to rectify the omission by himself/herself when Ramadan is over. But a person who is unable to fast due to old age or permanent ailment is not expected to fast after Ramadan. What he has to do is feeding one indigent person each day of Ramadan. That is permanent indebtedness.

Other areas of indebtedness in Islam include Zakah and Hajj. Zakah can be paid on behalf of the estate owner either by his offspring or the beneficiaries of his legacy. This often happens posthumously or if the principal turns infamy.

Hajj, on the other hand, can only be performed by proxy if disability prevents the person concerned from going through its rigour or he is unable to perform that function till his death. Any good Muslim from among his children, relatives or friends can do it on his behalf. Please continue tomorrow.

L

Bad parenting, root of Boko Haram, says don

AGOS State University (LASU) Head of Religious Studies Department Dr Misbahudeen Raheemson, has attributed bad parenting as the origin of Boko Haram.

The don enjoined parents properly monitor the affairs of their children.

Failure to do so, he said, could lead to profound crisis in the family and the nation at large.

Raheemson said this during the third edition of the Ramadan lecture in memory of former Zonal Director Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Mallam Yusuf Jibo.

He urged parents to devote

By Suliat Abodunrin

quality time for parental duty, stressing that therein lies the secret to sane society.

He likened the result of bad parenting to Boko Haram.

“Bad parents are the cause of the different ills in the society today. When parents fail to teach their children good values, the results are the evils we have in the world today. The time has come for us to take active interest in understanding the rudiment of parenting.

“Boko Haram did not just begin all of a sudden; it started with parents not taking their duty seriously. It started with children following their whims

with what they see in the world. Boko Haram and everything they stand for negates the teachings and dictates of Islam,” he said A scholar and Television presenter Ustadh Haroun Thani, in his lecture titled Pure Soul, urged Muslims to purge their souls of all the evils and filths it has been bedevilled with because therein lies the key to success in this world and the Hereafter.

“It is sad that people do not take adequate care of the soul while huge amount of money can be spent to clean the body but the soul has been neglected and it is even filthier than the body itself,” Thani said.

Teachers deplores increasing insecurity

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USLIM teachers have expressed worry over the current level of insecurity in the country.

At the Ramadan lecture of the Muslim Teachers’ Association of Nigeria (MUTAN), its Lagos State chairman Raheem Aliy2u, described the activities of Boko Haram as inhuman and unIslamic.

He also prayed for the release of the female students abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

Aliyu urged security agencies and government at the different levels to co-op-

By Abisayo Awoleye

erate in quest to rescue the girls and restore order in all parts of the country.

Aliyu also prayed for the repose of the souls of about 173 teachers who have been killed by Boko Haram.

The MUTAN chairman craved appointment of more teachers of Islamic Studies and Arabic as well as appointment of Muslims as Tutor Generals/Permanent Secretaries in Lagos State.

“We are still soliciting that the authorities concerned should look into appointing Muslims among the Tutor General/Permanent Secretaries as it was before.

The current trend doesn’t make us comfortable,” he said.

In his lecture titled Jihad: a Misconstrued and Misunderstood Concept, the MUTAN Missioner, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladoyin, condemned the wrong notion of Jihad as related to violence.

“Jihad,” he said, “is a system of checks and balances.

It is a way that Allah set up to check one people by means of another. When one person or group transgresses their limits and violates the rights of others, Muslims have the right and duty to check them and bring them back into line”, he said.

OING good to neighbours irrespective of religion affiliations has been identified as the only antidote to peaceful co-existence.

An Islamic scholar, Mallam Abdul Wasiu Mikhail said this during the Iftar (Breaking of fast) of the Anwar-ul-Islam College Agege Old Students Association (ACAOSA).

An alumnus Alhaji Tajudeen Adekoya hosted ACAOSA members in his Lekki Lagos residence.

Mallam Mikhail said doing good to neighbours is an injunction of Allah on all Muslims.

“None of you can be called a true believer until you love for neighbour what you love for yourselves,” he said. He urged the gathering to worship Allah alone, saying associating partner with Allah is a grievous sin.

“I have not created you mankind and the jinns except that you worship Me,” he quoted the Quran.

He said obligations of Muslims to the society include assisting the poor and the needy and also see to how it will progress.

Mallam Mikhail stressed the need for parents to take care of their children, urging them to monitor the social life of their children.

“We must monitor the social life of our children because if they are left alone, they may go above board,” he said.

Council boss distributes food items From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

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HE caretaker chairman, Ibadan South West Local Government, Mr Taoreed Bolaji Adeleke has distributed of food items to people in the local government area.

Adeleke revealed that the initiative was to complement the Oyo State governor, Senator Isiaq Abiola Ajimobi’s effort at providing dividends of democracy to the people at the grassroot.

The council boss reiterated Ajimobi’s determination to providing quality and improved welfare for the people. The Head of Local Government Administration, Pastor Olumuyiwa Olaoye, urged the beneficiaries of the food items to continue to be good ambassadors of the state.

The beneficiaries of the kind gesture were drawn from all walks of life including traders from sixteen markets in the council area, Oyo state branches of associations of all artisans which include NURTW, ACOMORAN, Nigerian Automobile Technician Association of Nigeria (NATA), Nigerian Painters Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nigeria Beauticians and Hairdressers Association (NBHA) among others as well as religious organisations and civil servants.

RAMADAN DIET ... And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive, with sincerity and under discipline. He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion, it is the cut of your father Ibrahim. It is He who has named you Muslims, both before and in this revelation. That the Apostles may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind! So establish regular prayer, give regular charity, and hold fast to God! He is your protector – the best to protect and the best to help!

– Qur’an 22 vs 78 Sponsored by ALHAJI JUBREEL & ALHAJA SHERIFAT ABDULKAREEM, Chairman, Agege Local Govt Area, Lagos

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014

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TODAY IN THE NATION

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

‘Odukomaiya is a thoroughbred journalist of the highest professional hue who handles news publishing with a fiendish fervor that would make investors and practising journalists anywhere in the world green with envy’ VOL.9 NO.2,909

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

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OR the second time within a few weeks after I broke my rule not to publish responses to my column, which are more than 300 words, I feel obliged to break it again. I hope readers will understand and forgive me for the breach.

The reason this time is a response from Malam Ya’u Shehu Darazo, the spokesman for a former head of state and now a chieftain of the leading opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd); to my column last week, which was an orbit of Dr. Umaru Dikko, probably the most powerful minister during the short-lived Second Republic (October 1979 to December 1983) under President Shehu Shagari.

Apparently Darazo felt obliged to defend his principal over the role I said the general played as the head of state in the socalled Dikko Affair, i.e. the attempt to kidnap Dikko in broad daylight in front of his home in London where he lived in selfexile and bring him to justice in Nigeria for sundry charges. Dikko had turned himself in self-exile as the most virulent critic of the military regime that threw out the Second Republic.

Darazo is right to say I was wrong to claim that Dikko kept his vow that he would never return to Nigeria as long as the military were in power. As he pointed out, Dikko did return to Nigeria during the five-year rule of Gen. Sani Abacha between 1993 and 1998 and played an active part in Abacha’s transition politics.

He is also right to say I was wrong to claim no one denied the claim by Major M. H. Jokolo, Buhari’s ADC, that the plan to kidnap Dikko was approved by his principal. As Darazo said, my memory clearly failed me in not remembering that his principal issued a widely-publicised denial of Jokolo’s claim.

Even then, I am sure few people will believe that the denial amounted to much given the central role Jokolo played in the coup that brought Darazo’s boss to power and given the fact that ADCs of heads of state are like their clearing houses for virtually everything.

Whatever the case, Darazo’s letter is reproduced below. Before then, however, I should note that readers must have observed that we seem to be in a season of birthdays of veteran journalists and literary giants this month, with no fewer than four of them celebrating their birthdays.

First, we had Mr. Henry Odukomaiya, one of the most celebrated editors of the now rested Daily Times, one of Africa’s biggest success stories in newspaper publish-

RIPPLES

Boko Haram: PRIEST SAYS FORCE WON’T END PROBLEM

RIPPLES

Just as not using FORCE won’t end problem

People and Politics

Sir, Writing on a contemporary subject can be tasking in the sense that many who are either players or witnesses of the events may very much be around and can easily detect some obvious mistakes or misrepresentations. Mohammed Haruna’s piece, which was published on the cover of the Daily Trust of Wednesday, July 9, fell victim of three errors.

Firstly, quoting Major Mustapha Jokolo’s paid advert in the now defunct Citizen in which he (Jokolo) claimed that General TY Danjuma, who had “scores to settle with Dikko for shutting down all private jetties in the country, including Danjuma’s because of the information he had as transport minister that many of them were be-

ing used for smuggling” was the reason behind General Danjuma’s role in the abduction saga of Umaru Dikko.

According to Mohammed, one day, Jokolo said, “the former army chief rang him to book for an appointment to see Buhari. He made his proposals which sounded attractive. He said he could bring Umaru Dikko back, using his Israeli connections”. Mohammed Haruna mistakenly asserted that “none of the principal actors Jokolo mentioned EVER CONTESTED”(emphasis mine).

Mohammed’s memory clearly failed him. A few weeks after Jokolo’s advert, General Buhari, in a widely circulated interview published by the now defunct Democrat debunked Jokolo’s claim, adding that Jokolo was too junior to understand the workings of the government.

The second mistake Mohammed made was quoting a heresy to corroborate Jokolo’s claim. Quoting what he described as definitive 2012 biography of General Babangida, titled: IBRAHIM BABANGIDA: The Military, Politics and Power in Nigeria by veteran journalist Dan Agbese, Babangida, according to Mohammed, told Dan that the “initiative actually came from the Israelis, who sold it to a retired general, WHO DAN DID NOT NAME BUT WHO, OBVIOUSLY, WAS DANJUMA (emphasis mine), Danjuma, in turn sold it to Babangida, who in turn sold it to Buhari” The question is obvious to who? How can a definitive biography carry a faceless personality in an event that is very important to the subject. For as long as Babangida refuses to disclose the name of the “retired general” in his “definitive” biography, that aspect of information remains speculative and using it as referral or corroborative discourse is defective.

The third error is where Mohammed Haruna said, as a result of the trauma of being crated alive in the bungled kidnap attempt, “Dikko vowed never to return to Nigeria as long as the military remained in power. He kept his vow even after some of his partners in self-exile like Chief Joseph Wayas, the Senate president, Alhaji Uba Ahmed, NPN’s general secretary, and Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, one of Shagari’s top aides, returned at various times to participate in Babangida’s long transition politics between 1985 and 1993.” This is also an error. We all know that Alhaji Umaru Dikko returned to the country during Gen. Sani Abacha’s regime, which was for sure, a military government. Dikko fully participated in Abacha’s political programme, in which he (Dikko ) even formed his own political party.

Ya’u Shehu Darazo darazo58@yahoo.com

HARDBALL

•For comments, 08059100107 •Hardball is send not SMS the to opinion of the columnist featured above

Abuja’s dreamy city builders

boreholes and where everybody will be buying generators.” If, as he implied, the larger milieu is a sorry advertisement for dysfunctional infrastructure, is that reality not a good reason for Hardball to say “shame on him”?

The questions are: Shouldn’t infrastructural efficiency outside the boundary of the Centenary City, meaning across the country, be the main concern of these dreamers? Is this city meant to be a grand beauty in the middle of striking ugliness?

The aptness of these concerns was indirectly illustrated by Gen. (retd) Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former military Head of State and Chairman of Centenary City Plc, the company said to be the promoter of the project. He said, in addition to Jonathan’s remarks: “It is only when there is peace that the project can be successful. It is the duty of everyone of us to make sure that we maintain peace in the country.”

Against this background, the champions of the project must be living in a dreamland if they believe that their concentration on the city, to the apparent detriment of the country, is not counter-productive to the desired peace.

By MOHAMMED HARUNA ndajika@yahoo.com

A season of “celebrity” birthdays

•Soyinka

ing. The gentleman also holds the record for successfully establishing three newspapers in the country, most notably Concord, which, before it went down, once overtook Daily Times as the widest circulating newspaper in Nigeria. Odukomaiya turned an octogenarian on July 12.

Next, Chief Ajibola Ogunsola, an actuarian by profession, whose revival of a comatose PUNCH in the late 80’s must rank among God’s little miracles in Nigeria.

Ogunsola retired from the newspaper as the chairman when the ovation was still loud.

While the chairman of PUNCH, he became the chairman of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN). It spoke volumes of the man’s character that as soon as he left PUNCH and he decided not to seek another term as NPAN’s chairman, he resigned his board membership of the News

I

T is remarkable that the Goodluck Jonathan presidency is dreaming of a dream city in a shambolic setting. The administration, playing deaf to loud criticisms of its controversial Centenary City project designed to commemorate 100 years of the historic amalgamation of the country’s Northern and Southern Protectorates in 1914, has finally unveiled the scenic beauty.

The news picture of a smiling President Jonathan symbolically scooping sand with a shovel at the ground-breaking ceremony in the federal capital, Abuja, presented him as being engaged in a labour of love.

Unsurprisingly, his words on the occasion were in sync with the image. He said: “I am indeed delighted to be part of history at today’s ground-breaking and unveiling ceremony of the Centenary City, Abuja.”

Jonathan added: “I am pleased to state that the successes of such cities as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Shenzhen in the Peoples’ Republic of China and the Songdo International Business District in South Korea have shown that the development of a themed city is a strong social, political and economic tool for securing foreign investment, promoting positive international attention and heralding new national economic

DELE AGEKAMEH

Agency of Nigeria, which he had occupied by virtue of his chairing the club of newspaper publishers.

Ogunsola turned a septuagenarian on July 14.

Tomorrow, one of Nigeria’s foremost columnists and among my top five all-time satirists in the country, Dr. Olatunji Dare, will turn 70. Dare has moved from the classroom to practice and back to the classroom as a journalist and in the process has left a huge mark on the profession that is hard to surpass.

The biggest of the masquerades this month is, of course, Wole Soyinka, teacher, poet, political activist and Africa’s foremost playwright and black Africa’s first Literature Nobel laureate. Soyinka turned 80 on July 13 and, as is to be expected, the throbbing of the celebratory drums is yet to die down.

Happy Birthday to the four foremost Nigeria’s literati. Here’s many more returns to you all.

And now to Darazo.

renaissance.”

No doubt, the listing of existing models for the project was an enlightening exercise, even though by highlighting these cases, there appeared to be more focus on the end result rather than how such outcome was achieved. So, it looked like Jonathan was daydreaming, not to say that he seemed to have been enjoying an intense moment of delusion.

It is instructive that the cost of the city, which will occupy 1,200 hectares, is put at N2.976tr ($18.6bn); and 20 per cent of the plots will be for residential houses, while the remaining 80 per cent will be for mixed use and commercial purposes.

Interestingly, in what amounted to an unwitting put-down of his administration’s performance, Jonathan boasted: “We don’t want to build a city where everybody will have maiguard (security guard). We don’t want a city where everybody will dig their

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