The Nation July 28 2013

Boko Haram: Special forces regain control of 25 Borno LGs

How $1bn Malabu Oil deal was struck •Abacha, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan connections revealed –Page 68

• Abuja lawyer, son quizzed over links to sect –Page 4

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Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.07, No. 2560

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

N200.00

JULY 28, 2013

Rivers crisis: Jonathan, Amaechi in secret talks President meets five northern govs in Aso Villa Gov: 2015 root of my troubles

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BLOODBATH IN EGYPT Military kill 120 pro-Morsi protesters The body of a Muslim Brotherhood protester, shot dead in the Egyptian capital after violence erupted the night before, is evacuated as mourners watch in Cairo yesterday. Reports say as many as 120 pro-Morsi supporters were killed in clashes with security forces.

SEE STORY ON PAGE 10.

PHOTO: AFP

MILITANTS THREATEN SOYINKA, FALANA, OVER P/HARCOURT PROTEST

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FTER several months of mutual suspicion, distrust and sometimes snubbing and resentment, President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, sat together on Friday night to talk peace.

The setting was the Presidential Villa, Abuja, which less than 24 hours later, hosted another peace meeting, this time between President Jonathan and five northern governors.

Only a week ago the governors - Sule Lamido (Jigawa State), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), and Rabiu Kwankwaso ( Kano ) - were locked in a hide and seek game with the President in Abeokuta where they had gone to seek the intervention of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in the crisis rocking the PDP. Jonathan was in the town to commiserate with his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, on the death of his mother, and seized the opportunity to pay a courtesy call on Obasanjo.

The governors, who had arrived Abeokuta at about the same time as Jonathan, decided to avoid him and diverted somewhere else to allow the President depart Obasanjo’s before going there.

A few days later, the governors took their case to former military rulers, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

Friday’s meeting between the President and Governor Amaechi was brief after the Rivers Governor said he would prefer a lengthy discussion only if his colleagues from the north were in attendance having facilitated his meeting with the president, in the first instance.

NEWS THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Rivers crisis: Jonathan, Amaechi in secret talks

L - R Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo and Chairman House Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Abike Dabiri-Erewa; during the dinner in honour of Nigerians in the Diaspora at The State House, Abuja.

Photo Akin Oladokun.

FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation/ Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

The President obliged him and an appointment was fixed for yesterday.

The five northern governors who were on their way to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah (Lesser Hajj) consequently postponed their journey to enable them be at yesterday’s meeting with the President.

The Jonathan/Amaechi meeting, according to a reliable

source, reviewed the crisis in Rivers State and explored how to resolve it.

The source said the talks took place in a ‘large-hearted manner’.

Said the source: “Following the advice of the five northern governors, Amaechi accepted to meet with the President on the security and political situation in Rivers State “I think there is peace in sight because the President hosted Amaechi on Friday night in an atmosphere devoid of security

intimidation when the Rivers Governor attended a dinner a few weeks ago at the Villa.

“The mood between the President and Amaechi was reconciliatory. But Amaechi asked the President to allow the five Northern governors, who are brokering the peace talks, to be part of a meaningful discussion or reconciliation plan to resolve the crisis in Rivers State.

“The President obliged the governor’s request to pave the way for another round of peace

session on Saturday.”

Investigation revealed that before Amaechi went for the audience with the President, he had met with the five northern governors on Friday night in Sokoto State Governor’s Lodge for debriefing on their intervention.

There were speculations that Amaechi also confided in the five governors on his terms for peace.

A governor said: “It is true that Amaechi had a preliminary

session with the five governors at the Sokoto Lodge before going to the Villa. As a matter of fact, some of the governors postponed their trip to Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj).”

But a governor said: “Some statesmen and the five northern governors have set the agenda for peace. They wanted the differences between the President and Amaechi handled beyond trading blames.

“They believe that an outright solution to the crisis would be better than addressing sentiments that had dominated the political space in the last two months. Once they are able to secure the commitment of President to peace, other stakeholders would be brought into the deal.”

Yesterday’s meeting with the five northern governors was also attended by Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State and his Borno State counterpart, Kashim Shettima.

Nine governors from across the country, on a solidarity visit to Amaechi on July 18, had advised him to seek audience with the President for the purpose of briefing him on the political crisis in the state especially the role of the Police Command.

On the trip were Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), and deputy governors of Imo, Nasarawa and Zamfara.

They were preceded two days earlier by Governors Kwankwaso, Wamakko, Nyako and Lamido.

They were pelted with stones by thugs on their arrival at the Port Harcourt Airport.

Militants warn Soyinka, Falana to keep off Rivers A

MILITANT group, Ijaw Freedom Fighters (IFF), and a nongovernmental organisation, Ijaw People’s Development Initiatives (IPDI), yesterday, warned Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), to steer clear of Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

Several civil rights groups have scheduled a rally for that day in the city to protest against what they see as repeated assaults on democracy in the state by some people.

IFF and IPDI said they cannot guarantee the safety of Soyinka, Falana and other non Niger Deltans if they decide to participate in the protest.

The two groups described the position of the civil rights groups on the Rivers crisis as vexatious.

IFF leader, Sese Gideon, said his group “will not allow non-Niger Deltans to add insult in a matter that can be settled without bloodshed.”

Gideon, in a statement, entitled ‘We will not take your coming to Rivers kindly’ said: “We are a group of youths along the creeks, waterways and uplands of the states in the Niger Delta region. We are committed to the protection of

•Say their safety can’t be guaranteed •Ahead of pro-democracy protest From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

rights, privileges and freedom of the Niger Delta people.

“We met and observed with interest the continued frivolous and vexatious statements credited to perceived egg heads and civil activists like Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana and many others

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AS genuine reconciliation now started in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? Will peace return to Rivers State, following the meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi?

Also, is the President’s meeting with the aggrieved five northern governors -Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto State), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Muazu (Niger), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) -the baseline for truce?

The meetings were not the President’s initiative. It came after the progressive governors urged Amaechi to seek audience with the number one citizen.

Sources also said that prominent PDP elders, especially the Board

on the current crisis rocking the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“While we blame the political class in Rivers and Abuja for allowing such comments due to their indiscretion and show of shame, we will not allow nonNiger Deltans to add insult in a matter that can be settled

without bloodshed. We have listened to the name-calling and tongue-lashing of the President and his wife by the civil society but what we will not take kindly to is the invasion being planned by the non-Niger Deltans in Rivers State.

“If the people of Rivers want to protest, they should protest and demand for what is right. But when it is shown, as clearly displayed, that it is targeted to ridicule and further

discredit the South-South and its quest for Presidency in 2015, we cannot guarantee anyone’s safety again. We are not interested in who impeached whom but we will not fold our hands and allow the sponsored onslaught in the Niger Delta under the guise of civil society gathering.

“We cannot guarantee the safety of anyone interested and plotting to throw Rivers

News Analysis

PDP: Truce at last?

By Emmanuel Oladesu (Group Political Editor)

of Trustees (BoT) members and retired Generals who fear that the opposition may sweep the party out of power, brokered the meeting between the President and the five Arewa governors.

Reconciliation among feuding politicians is always an uphill task in Nigeria. It will be more challenging in the PDP because of the multiple intraparty crises. The bigger the party, the bigger the headache, or so it seems. The crisis is multidimensional. Curiously, crisis resolution mechanism is defective in the acclaimed largest party in Africa. Apart

from the crises in the state chapters and zonal branches, there are other reconciliation assignments on the waiting list.

They are necessitated by the Jonathan /Obasanjo cold war, the suspicion between Tukur and Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, Tukur/northern governors rift, Tukur/Jerry Gana conflict, Amaechi/Jang crisis, and Amaechi/Wike quarrel.

Since Alhaji Bamanga Tukur assumed the reins as the national chairman, the seat has been very hot. The billionaire businessman, the former governor and minister has found it increasingly difficult to

forge unity and cohesion in the fold. The success that attended his career as boardroom politician has eluded him on the slippery political field. Analysts attribute this to the way and manner he emerged as the chairman. He was clearly the choice of the President and not the preference of the majority.

That culture of imposition, which often undermines internal democracy in political parties, is not peculiar to the PDP alone.

Barely few months after resuming office, a crisis of confidence broke out between him and the National Secretary,

•Continued on Page 64

or any other Niger Delta States into turmoil”.

The IPDI leader, Austin Ozobo, called the planned protest “ill timed” and “ridiculous”.

He said his group has met with over 50 civil society groups in Warri, Delta State and appealed to the people Rivers State to shun the protest to avert further bloodshed.

“We urge the police and other security agencies in the state to endeavour to put off the protest to avoid rival group clash and stop planned further cause of disaffection in the state.

“The crisis in Rivers State is a minor issue that does not need external solution as warring leaders could resolve their differences if they mean well for Rivers.”

They warn external forces interference as such will add fire to the situation at hand. We are a body of civil activists in the six states of the Niger Delta and were never part of any planned protest in Rivers State.”

Professor Soyinka and Mr. Falana had condemned the Presidency, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, the state Police Command and the five anti-Amaechi members of the State Assembly for their roles in fuelling the crisis in the state.

Column

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

A long farewell from Allah De T HIS column this morning mourns the passing of a

great mentor, senior friend, ardent fan and journalistic icon, Alhaji Alade Idowu Odunewu.

Allah De, as he was famously known, was easily one of the greatest columnists anywhere in the world in the last century. An illustrious scion of an illustrious family, the great journalist was a master of elegant prose and a man of outstanding personal polish.

To have known Allah De was to know a man of culture, civility, restraint and gentlemanly sensitivity to others. There was about him the urbane selfmastery that go with superior breeding. True eminence does not push its pre-eminence. Selfassured and assured of his place in the ranking order, Allah De was an old Lagosian in the classic sense of that word: a combination of the fabled English gentleman who wears his hat and distinction lightly and the Yoruba Omoluabi who knows that what is left unsaid is also the most profoundly eloquent.

Anybody who has come across the likes of Chief Folarin Coker who recently turned ninety, Mr Akintola Williams who is in his nineties, Chief Chris Ogunbanjo, the departed Chief Justice Fatai AtandaWilliams, the late I.S Adewale a.k.a “the boy is good”, the legendary Mobolaji Bank-Anthony and many others still living will know what we mean. These inscrutable, wise, unflappable, unfailingly polite and courteous gentlemen represent the seamless meshing of the very best of two global civilizations with a hint of Islamic chivalry.

But they are a vanishing breed in a vanishing world. Allah De represents the last of the titans and the very last of the Mohicans.

With his passing, Nigeria is a poorer place indeed. It is the last snapshot of Edwardian Lagos.

For a long time, the old man had been hinting that he felt like an alien in an alien and alienating society.

He could no longer make sense of the terrible fate that has overtaken his beloved profession and even more so his country.

Despite his quiet visionary rallying of the remaining faithful, the old ethos had come irreversibly unstuck in a brave new Nigeria.

Journalists have become business men and business men have become journalists. Consequently, the Fourth Estate of the Realm has become the Fourth Realm of the Estate.

The whole world has gone out of joints. This was not the country they fought for with their pen and moral authority. Pirates, predators and other social piranhas have taken over the country. Like a bewildered but wise statesman, Allah De took solace in stoic, studied silence and solitary meditation, quietly waiting for the green light of terminal exit.

It came at 2pm on Thursday afternoon.

Snooper had been trapped in an impossible traffic snafu on the Gbagada loop when the news came. The tangled web of belching trailers, smoking and hissing petrol tankers and assorted automotive psychotics reminded one of the Abagana Civil War inferno. But this was a most uncivil war. Darkness had suddenly descended. Chief Adeniyi, retired FRCN director and loyal junior friend of Allah De, had

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu

•Allah De

been trying to get in touch with the dismal network not availing.

He finally sent a text. The great masquerade had departed.

It took quite a while for the news to sink in. Alhaji Odunewu was by no stretch of the imagination a young man. He had lived to ripe old age and had fulfilled his mission in life. Rather than mourning, it should be a celebration of a great life of glittering achievements and personal fulfillment. But death is death and the horror of terminal exit often leads to a temporary disorientation and the loss of customary rotes and routines.

As yours sincerely was trying to come to terms with death in the tormenting tortoise of traffic, the phone rang and it was Lanre Idowu, one of the remaining stars and exemplars of the old school of journalism. “Lanre, don’t try to break any bad news to me”, snooper admonished him. Ignoring snooper’s disquiet, the notable journalist had gone ahead to confirm the news of Allah De’s

passing.

It was after this that Chief Adeniyi finally came through. He informed that the old man left in his usual quiet, peaceful and dignified manner, without any self-important fuss or fancy. He had tidied his earthly affairs and had scrupulously made arrangements for his own burial. It would take place the following day in keeping with the simple rites of Islam somewhere off Gambari Street in the very bowels of old Lagos. And that was that.

Our paths had first crossed in disarming circumstances in late 1982. It was a most fortuitous encounter. A man of amazing grace and courtesy, the old man had journeyed all the way from Lagos to the great citadel of learning and culture to show his gratitude to a friend and colleague of snooper who had been of great help to his daughter in his tutorial classes. But the old Lagosian had lost his way in the jungle of pristine beauty and had showed up at snooper’s door. Snooper

instantly recognised the great journalist and volunteered to take him to his destination. It was the beginning of a long relationship marked by strategic distance, discretion and mutual admiration.

Famously dubbed the Dean of satirical journalism in Nigeria by the great Zik in the course of their epic duel over diarchy in 1973, Allah De was as sharp as he was witty. His limpid, free flowing, uncluttered prose was an orgiastic delight and vintage Fleet Street. On top of his form, Allah De recalls Baron William Rees-Mogg, the aristocratic British journalist, politician, editor and statesman, who plied his trade as a reporter-columnist into his eighties until he succumbed to cancer last December.

Forty years on, snooper recalls the historic journalistic affray between Zik and Allah De, particularly with the wily Fabian lion and magnificent former prize fighter baiting the journalistic tiger out of his corner with the offer of some preliminary skirmishes before the main tournament. It was Fabius Cuntactor, the great Roman general and owner of the brand, who had famously noted that preliminary skirmishes must not be fought with major artillery. Allah De rallied heroically and the result was a memorable intellectual slugfest that reverberates till date.

Great statesman versus great journalist, they do not make them like that any more in Nigeria. Forty years after, as Nigeria lurches between violent and autocratic military rule and equally violent and despotic civilian rule the debate about diarchy continues to resonate. About a fortnight ago, the whole concept was dredged up once again by a forthright columnist on The Nation.

It would appear that Nigeria’s origins and inauguration in colonial conquest and armed subjugation have continued to haunt it. A century after forcible amalgamation and almost half a century after the conclusion of the Civil War, arms and their bearers continue to assume a tragic centrality in the

framing and possible unfurling of the nation. At the last count, the military are involved in internal security operations in twenty eight out of thirty six states. It doesn’t get more dire.

While the northernmost fringes of the country have become a no-go area due to a combination of political and spiritual insurgency, significant swaths of the south are under the siege of economic and social insurgency occasioned by armed robbery, violent kidnapping, ritual killing, sea piracy and other deviancies.

Meanwhile to complete the armed entrapment of the entire country, the federal government, under the strategically misguided notion that it is important to secure the presidential backyard, is seriously and furiously looking for trouble by adding the explosive Rivers state to its shopping list of self-inflicted political disasters. Even the original owners of the game of programmed anarchy are shouting that this is going to be a bridge too far, but the government is saying not to worry, that it is a little local difficulty.

What would Allah De, a staunch opponent of diarchy, say about this unfolding political nonsense? In 1983 while the NPN rigging machine was in furious progress in Oyo state, a much puzzled and bewildered Allah De noted in his column that the NPN scoundrels were not just content with ousting Bola Ige, they were also bent on loading the Oyo State Assembly with a “Balarabe-type” majority.

A few weeks later, the bubble burst and the landslide turned into a gun slide as General Danjuma would famously put it.

Thirty years down the line Allah De would even have been more puzzled by recent developments in the country. When shall we learn? It is just as well that Allah De has chosen this time to make his grand exit. Let the dead bury the dead. It has been a long farewell from one of Nigeria’s greatest sons ever. May the noble soul of Alade Odunewu rest in peace.. .

And a short farewell from snooper

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HILE we are still on the subject of death and departure, and of coming and going, it is meet to announce that this column is proceeding on leave. It is time for the masquerade behind the mask to take a well-deserved rest and to take stock of the future. For six and a half years beginning from January, 2007, dear readers, this column has appeared every Sunday. It has been a rich and rewarding experience. The

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T is not all over for All Over.

While the distinguished senator from Idanre, Dr Ayo Akinyelure, a.k.a All Over, was weeping and crying like a baby as irate female members of his constituency pilloried him for rubbing them the wrong away over the child Marriage palaver, it was not only Senator Yerimah, the Oniyeri of Zamfara, that was having the last laugh.

Okon had barged into snooper’s room with a strong message of support for the embattled senator

more you know, the more aware you are of your ignorance. In the age of the dispersal of knowledge, the columnist as an omnipotent oracle is no longer feasible. A web of epistemic vulnerabilities binds all of us together.

To our young readers who often marvel at its unstinting punctuality, let us say that the column is a triumph of the can do spirit which is typically Nigerian. This column is a testimony to the ca-

pacity of the human mind to push the body to the outer limits of punitive exertion and exhaustion. Before this column, the writer has never done a weekly column, preferring the fortnightly and monthly column which is more suitable to leisurely meditation and languid reflection. But certain political developments in the west in particular and in Nigeria in general changed all that.. Conceived as a light-hearted social

diary, the column took on a life of its own and broke free of its handler.

Snooper will miss our numerous readers and devotees of the column from far and wide, the parliament of pen-pushers , the web of warriors and the intensive care and caress of all those internees of the internet. Till we meet again, you can afford to sleepwalk with your eyes wide opened. Okon will be on long lease and a short leash.

Okon votes for child marriage from the rugged hills.

“Oga, why dem Yoruba women dey shout about dem child marriage? Sebi dem dey do am too?

“Okon demanded.

“What do you mean?” snooper snapped.

“Ah you see oga no vex.” The crazy boy began with a leer. “ When Okon first come Lagos as small pikin, he get one fat Yoruba woman

for Mafoluku who dey greet me every morning and him dey say, oko mi o, oko mi o. I come ask dem wetin oko mi dey mean sef and they come tell me say na my husband. Naim I come pick race. I never even sabi piss proper not to talk of dem wire wire business, .so as dem mala dey do dem yanrinyan dem Yoruba women dey do dem yaro. Child marriage na child marriage. Equa-

tion don balance be dat, abi no be so:?”.

“Okon, you are just a big fool.

Get lost” snooper hissed at the rogue.

“Oga I no be big fool. I be small fool for dem time. If to say na now now, dem fat Yoruba woman go smell pepper.” On that note, snooper kicked out the rogue cook.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28 , 2013

News

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WENTY-FIVE of the 27 local government areas of Borno State controlled by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, have been reclaimed by the Special Forces deployed to restore order in the state as well as Adamawa and Yobe under the state of emergency in parts of the Northeast.

Operations are intensifying in the remaining two local government areas Magumeri and Gwoza- to flush out the insurgents, it was gathered yesterday in Abuja.

The sect members are said to have bases in Gwoza hills.

A reliable source said the Special Operation against the insurgents has recorded a huge success.

However, the claim could not be independently confirmed.

The source said: “The Special Forces have chased away the Boko Haram insurgents from 25 out of 27 Local Government Areas in Borno State. So, the troops have secured a substantial part of the state. We have also restored people’s confidence in the system.

“The final battle is focused on Magumeri and Gwoza LGAs in the state, especially within the hilly terrain in Gwoza. It is a question of weeks before we rout out the insurgents in these hilly areas.

“The challenge in Gwoza is informed by the fact that some locals are cooperating with the Boko Haram sect but this will be a thing of the past soon. They have brainwashed some of the locals that they

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N Abuja-based lawyer and his son have been quizzed by security agents in Maiduguri in connection with alleged link with the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.

The popular lawyer was originally based in the Borno State capital until the insurgency launched by the sect and the subsequent military operations to restore order forced him to relocate to the Federal Capital.

Boko Haram: Special Forces regain control of 25 LGAs in Borno

From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

are fighting a cause to Islamise Nigeria. These locals in Gwoza have bought into this idea of Islamising the country but the situation is changing in the past two weeks.”

But a military source said: “I don’t think it is appropriate to say that we have regained the control of some LGAs from Boko Haram because they were never in control. Do not glorify the insurgents as if they had ever taken control of a part of Nigeria. We have addressed the insurgency; we have substantially chased away Boko Haram members from Borno State.

“The mandate of the Special Forces involves asserting the territorial integrity of Nigeria and they have done very well in the three states under emergency rule.

We have some remnants still lurking around some hilly places but we will deal with them. Everywhere is just being combed now to finally chase them out.”

On GSM services in Borno State, the military source added: “Time is not ripe.”

When contacted, the Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said the Special Operation in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states had

•Military: No GSM restoration yet in Borno achieved its target of tackling insurgency.

He said: “To the best of our understanding, the operation has achieved its objective. A major testimony to the success of the operation is the improved socio-eco-

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He, however, explained that the security situation in Borno State has not given room for the restoration of GSM services.

“When the security analysis of the environment confirms that the GSM service

•L-R: Bride's father, Ray Ekpu, groom's mother, Mrs. Eniola Osho, the couple; Alex Osho and Edikan, groom's father, Fidelis Osho and bride's mother, Mrs Uyai Ekpu during the wedding of Edikan Ray Ekpu and Alex Oshiniyi Osho at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Victory Parish, Magodo, Lagos.

PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL.

Abuja -based lawyer, son quizzed over alleged link with Boko Haram

By Isma’il Alfa Abdulrahim, Maiduguri

The lawyer and his son were said to have been arrested after a suspected Boko Haram member in security custody mentioned the son’s

name as an accomplice.

The Boko Haram suspect, sources said, had confessed to the killing of people in the name of the sect.

The suspect claimed to have given money, clothes and a gun

Ohaneze Ndigbo is drifting, says Nwabueze ONSTITUTIONAL lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN), says the apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo, has lost focus and is now adrift in the nation’s political affairs.

He blames the development on the leadership crisis rocking the once vibrant group.

Speaking at the presentation of his autobiography Ben Nwabueze: His Life, Works and Times, in Awka, Anambra State at the weekend, Nwabueze called for the immediate revival of the group to enable it resume its role in championing the cause of the Igbo in the polity.

“Where is Ohanaeze today?” he asked “What is happening to the one and only panIgbo organisation that can speak for us in relation to the Federal Government and other ethnic nationalities?”

nomic life of the people of the states covered by the emergency and the increased confidence in the military and security agencies which we now see in terms of cooperation from the populace.”

should be restored, we will do so immediately,” he said.

Olukolade said in spite of the success achieved by the Special Forces, they are not relaxing.

He said: “The tempo of the Special Operation is still maintained everywhere, it is not as if we have relaxed.

Anywhere there are insurgents, we will chase them out accordingly.”

The state of emergency was declared in May by President Goodluck Jonathan in response to the then growing threat to national security by terrorists.

•Calls for people’s constitution From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

“Ohaneze today is in disarray, split into factions and we are all sitting doing nothing. We can’t allow this to continue,” Nwabueze who was the founding secretary general of the organisation said.

He challenged Igbo traditional rulers to join hands with the governors of the South East states to resolve the problem that has rendered Ohaneze Ndigbo moribund.

He stated that the Igbo need Nigeria more than any other ethnic group pointing out that the Southeast governors should take the lead in fashioning out an agenda for the Igbo in the Nigerian polity by setting up a committee to draft the Igbo agenda.

He also recommended the conduct of

fresh elections of the officials of the organisation to make it acceptable to everyone.

He said: “The stories about what happened in the other election make it imperative for a fresh election.”

Professor Nwabueze similarly called for a people’s’ constitution to replace the 1999 constitution, because as he argued, the existing constitution did not emanate from the generality of Nigerians.

Said he, “What we have as the 1999 Constitution is not the Supreme Law. What is its source of supremacy? The military... this cannot be, the source of supremacy everywhere in the world is the people.”

“The constitution so framed will then be out through a referendum, that is the challenge before this country.”

after operations to the lawyer’s son for safe keeping.

Members of the Borno Vigilance group, otherwise known as ‘Civilian JTF,’ effected the arrest of the first suspect and after interrogating him stormed the lawyer’s residence to pick up his son.

The boy who was the sole occupant of the house, on sighting the vigilance group members, escaped and went to Abuja to inform his father about the situation.

It was gathered that the

lawyer’s friends and neighbours who got wind of the development advised him to turn in his son to the authorities.

He accepted the suggestion and went to Maiduguri with his son.

Unknown to father and son, the vigilance members were on their trail from the airport and shortly before arriving in their residence, were intercepted by the vigilance members who beat them before handing them over to the Joint

Task Force (JTF).

The JTF spokesman, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, could not be reached for comments on the matter but a top security official who does not want his name in print confirmed the arrest.

He said: “If, after our investigations, anyone of them is found to be truly involved in Boko Haram activities, rest assured that the full wrath of the law shall be visited on him.”

Odunewu: moral icon, shining star of journalism - ACN

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has expressed deep sadness at the death of Alhaji Alade Odunewu, saying he will forever be a shining star of the journalism profession, his chosen career in which he excelled in his life time.

In a statement in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also described the late Odunewu as a strong moral icon not only for members of his profession but for all. ‘’While we are deeply saddened by the exit of this journalism great, we take consolation in the fact that he left behind an everlasting legacy, thanks to his strength of character and patriotism, which many have attested to, his decency and commitment to higher values, his uncommon

•Oshiomhole, Fashola pay tribute professionalism in his chosen career and, above all, his humanity.

According to the party, it was particularly delighted that Alhaji Odunewu bequeathed to generations yet unborn a great moral compass in his book Winners Take All, a collection of his timeless writings in his popular ‘’Allah De’’ newspaper column.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola described the deceased as one of the earliest Nigerians to receive formal training in Journalism and variously described as dean of satirical Journalism.

In a condolence statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, Fashola said the one time Editor of former West Africa’s largest circulating newspaper, the Daily Times, has,

by his passage, left a very big pair of shoes which would be difficult to fill in the Journalism profession in the country.

In his tribute, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State described him as a consummate journalist who stood for excellence.

He said: “Allah De, as he was fondly called, was a true journalist in the true sense of the word having helped shape the nation’s modern journalism.

“His journalism history which saw him rise from a reporter, to sub-editor, to columnist, to Editor before eventually becoming Editor-in-Chief and CEO, a journey which saw him pass through several newspapers is a story hewed in hard work, perseverance and excellence,” he said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

NLNG increases supply of domestic gas

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IGERIA LNG Limited has announced an increase in the supply of cooking gas to the market. According to it, 250,000 metric tonnes have been pushed to the market, up from 150,000 metric tonnes.

It said the 67% increase will enable ample stock of the alternate fuel and promote the use of cooking gas - necessary for its salutary effects on the environment, including its role in controlling deforestation.

The NLNG Limited currently provides over 70% of cooking gas used in Nigeria, and the current increase arose from its recent survey of the domestic market which showed that domestic LPG consumption had exceeded the initial supply.

Mr Babs Omotowa, Managing Director, NLNG, said that he was extremely delighted that the company, true to its vision to help build a better Nigeria, is able to increase its supply of domestic gas. He added that the assurance of steady supply should increase investors' confidence in the cooking gas industry, an industry which currently needs investments in storage, transportation, and cylinders.

News

2015: Why I'm not sticking out my neck for Jonathan yet, by Amaechi •Says: 'It's early to say I'll contest' G OVERNOR Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State said yesterday that it will be futile for him to start supporting President Goodluck Jonathan now for reelection in 2015. This he said was because the President has not told him yet of his plan to contest.

He said it is also too early for him (Amaechi) or any one for that matter to start talking now about contesting the 2015 Presidential elections.

The governor is currently locked in a bitter battle with President Jonathan over what Presidency officials see as his (Amaechi's) threat to the ambition of the President to return to office in 2015.

Amaechi, who is from the Southsouth as President Jonathan, is allegedly being tipped as running mate to Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State.

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

The suspicion is seen as the major cause of the crisis in Rivers State where the State Assembly is sharply divided between 27-pro-Amaechi members and five proPresidency/Wike members.

Amaechi himself admitted on the Hausa Service of the BBC yesterday that the crisis in his state is all about 2015.

The interview came 24 hours after he met with the President in Abuja and on a day the five northern governors backing him (Amaechi) also met with the President over the crisis rocking the PDP. But Amaechi said those accusing him of constituting a threat to Jonathan's re-election

are missing the point because as he put it: "Has Goodluck Jonathan told you that he wants to run? If he wants to contest, he will call me and inform me. And then we will look at it."

Asked by his interviewer whether there was any reason why he might not want to support the president having come from the same geopolitical zone, Amaechi retorted: "I don't understand what you mean by I come from the same zone as the president and if there is any reason why I cannot support him. I've told you that the President is yet to say whether he wants to run or not."

The interviewer persisted and told the governor whether he did not think his refusal to answer the question was responsible for his problem with

the Presidency.

Amaechi snapped back, saying: "What makes the question simple? You want me to become a prophet and determine that the president will contest? Assuming I say today that I will support the President and tomorrow the President says he is not contesting. Let the President inform me that he wants to contest. Don't accuse the president of doing something that he is not responsible for.

If he decides to contest, he will call those that he wants to support him. That would be the time that we will discuss the issue."

On whether he wants to be a presidential running mate in 2015, he retorted, "Why won't you wait till 2015? My focus for now is how to govern Rivers State and ensure that the people benefit from my administration."

On whether he may defect

APC youth sets agenda for governorship aspirants From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

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HE youth wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South East yesterday appealed to the leadership of the party to ensure a free and fair primary to select its governorship candidate for the November 17 governorship election in Anambra State.

The Anambra State acting Leader of All Progressives Youth Forum, Comrade Unegbu Ozoemena, warned that imposition of candidate in the governorship election will affect the fortune of the party at the polls.

Unegbu who spoke after a meeting of the zone in Awka said the youths will resist any plan to impose a candidate on the party.

He explained that the reason for the formation of the youth forum is to have a large spread of youth mobilisation in wards, communities, local governments and states in the South East region.

He appealed to APC stakeholders to create an enabling environment for the emergence of the right candidate that can win the forthcoming election for the party.

•From Left: Gov. Babatunde Fashola Of Lagos, Special Adviser to Lagos Governor on Lagos-Eko Project, Ms Ronke Azeez, Principal, Lagos Baptist Senior Secondary School I, Agege, Mrs Rebecca Afikpo, former Minister of Justice,Prince Bola Ajibola, Mr. Adesegun Ogunlewe and Asoju Oba of Lagos, Chief Mokolade Okoya Thomas at the 3rd Lagos Governor's Education Award in Lagos on Thursday.

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from PDP especially now that he has been suspended, he said, "I am not; I am in court with the PDP because I don't think they followed the process in taking that decision against me.

I want the court to determine whether what they did was right."

On the allegation that he is fraternising with the opposition "How did they know that?

Have they seen me in any opposition meeting? Because I hold different views from the leaders of the party, then they will say I am in the opposition?"

On alleged moves by him and some northern governors to float a party "I don't know. I have no idea about any group. All I know is that there are some of us who don't like the way things are being done. There is the need to address these issues."

On the specifics of their disagreement with the leadership of the PDP "It is all muddled up. You won't talk about governance without talking about the party. The party needs to look at the direction the government is going...If we want victory at the polls, we have to correct these things.

The party is not consulting enough; it seems as if the party wants to undermine the governors. What you see in the NGF is a deliberate attempt to cause confusion and division among the governors."

On whether he was suggesting that the PDP is weak "No, I didn't say that. Just that there are some disagreements in the party and they are affecting the internal cohesion of the party. It is the responsibility of the leaders of the party to address the problems."

On how the leadership should handle the planned national convention "That will not solve the problem. First and foremost they shouldn't continue with a mini convention without arresting the situation. They have to arrest the current situation of things in the party because if that is not done, the problems will continue within the different camps."

Crisis brews in NLNG over $100m severance package

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NIGERIA LNG Limited, the nation's foremost liquefied natural gas producer, just fresh from a battle with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) is locked in another disagreement with some staff over the payment of $100million severance package, The Nation can authoritatively report.

At issue is that the board met in London on July 19 and ratified the payment of $100million as severance package to retiring staff with the planned implementation of the exercise in phases up till September. But the management overruled the board by reneging on the agreed payments as well as issued a 7day ejection notice requesting affected staff to leave the company by Wednesday, July 31st.

Confirming this development, a source in NLNG who would not be named because he is not authorised to speak with the press confided in The Nation that the staff and management of the company have squared up as result of the refusal of the former to honour the agreement.

Giving insight on how the

•Retiring staff get 7 days' ejection notice •Management: Concerned staff paid all entitlements

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

agreement was struck, the source recalled that "Two years ago before the NLNG moved its headquarters to Port Harcourt, the management had expressed its willingness to implement a voluntary severance scheme for staff willing to go on retirement.

However, following the release of the guideline for the scheme in February this year, 60 persons met the condition and their names were sent to the board for consideration.

The board met in London and approved $100million as budget expense for the severance package and also gave September 30th for the full implementation of the exercise in phases.

"But contrary to the board's approval, the management issued a circular last week that concerned staff have up till July 31st to leave the company without regard for procedure.

"Nobody has been paid.

What they did was to compute

what is due to the staff based on the guidelines after deducting some money from staff who got the company to guarantee loans and other stuff. What I know is that by Monday the affected staff are expected to have tendered their application and possibly get paid on Tuesday and await final ejection on Wednesday."

Shedding light on what the company policy states prior to any disengagement exercise, the source said: "When a staff is being disengaged he or she is expected to go through an exit interview and possible succession plan. But in this case there was nothing of the sort. Rather what we have seen is that the company is in a hurry to discard the affected staff because of the money it has paid NIMASA. It is trying to cut cost at the expense of procedures."

NLNG reportedly lost about $525 million as a result of the dispute with NIMASA. It subsequently agreed to pay $140 million in disputed levies to NIMASA, to end the three-week blockade of shipments from its export terminal.

According to sources, the

average age of affected staff is 45 years, most of who have put in between 15 and 17 years in service work at the Plant and Shipping Department and are resident in Bonny Island. "The affected staff built the plant from the scratch when it was just a mangrove swamp and is it an irony of fate that the same staff who have left a legacy of meritorious service over the years are being antagonised by a recalcitrant management who are not ready to pay them their dues and emoluments."

The source said the affected staff are prepared to take the management to court in order to exercise their legal rights.

But Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, General Manager, External Relations, NLNG, debunked claims that there was crisis over severance package.

"It's a non issue. The issue is that staff wanted to go. I can tell you that every staff who volunteered to go have all their entitlements worked out for which many of them were grateful. I spoke to many of them over the weekend and

they said they were very grateful. It is not even fair on the affected staff to say that they got millions because doing that has serious security risk.

They even commended the company for honouring the agreement with fidelity despite spending so much on the NIMASA case."

He added, "What the company said is that you can go as early as 31st July 27, 2013.

July 31st date is not sacrosanct.

Those on exigencies of duty can stay longer. Most staff by the way do not have houses provided by the company.

What is certain is that for staff who have any outstanding issue to resolve or has work schedules to complete can liaise with their supervisors who can make case for extension up to a few weeks or even months."

NLNG is owned by four shareholders, namely, the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC (49%), Shell Gas BV (25.6%), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15%), and Eni International (N.A,) N. V. S. a. r. l (10.4%).

News Anglicans get tuition concession at churchowned varsity

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

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From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

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HE Church of Nigeria ( A n g l i c a n Communion) says its members with wards at the proposed Anglican University, Abuja will enjoy a discount of 50% on fees at the institution.

Speaking at the 2nd Session of the Second Synod of the Kubwa Diocese at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Nyanya, Abuja, the Diocesan Bishop,the Right Reverend Duke Akamisoko, said this is a reward for Church members who toiled and contributed towards the establishment of the university.

Besides,candidates from the Anglican family who meet the minimum entry requirement of five credit including English Language and Mathematics will be offered admission into the university without writing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) or Post UTME. Akamisoko expressed worry over the growing number of Anglican Church members who find it difficult gaining admission into existing universities regardless of their qualifications. .The church requires N5billion for the establishment of the university.

Akamisoko also said that five professors of the Anglican faith have indicated interest in teaching at the proposed university.

His words: "Every Anglican in this country once you have five credits in WASC you will gain admission .

"There is a special fee for Anglicans. Your children must benefit from it . Anglicans to pay half school fees. No Anglican will not gain admission except they are not qualified."

President Goodluck Jonathan, he said, has already approved the allocation of 100 hectares of land for the university's permanent site in Abuja.

He said: "NUC said before now they were giving approval to universities for less than 100 hectares.

"Up till now they have refused to go to their permanent sites. But we have been gracefully given 100 hectares by the president.

"We are going to pay the President a thank you visit with a team. Before 2015, the church should be on ground.

The committee is to raise N5billion for university."

The church ,on the occasion, honoured President Jonathan with its National Education Merit Award.

Also honoured were former Head of the Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonenkan; Second Republic Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, former Anglican Primate, Dr. Peter Akinola; and Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof. Bishop Okogie.

Infrastructure: FG rolls out 30-year Master Plan

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HE Federal Government has rolled out the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) aimed at attracting foreign investors for the next 30 years.

The Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman, disclosed this yesterday in Kano.

He urged government functionaries to embrace the document to sustain economic growth in the country.

Usman, who spoke during the Zonal Validation Work-

From: Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

shop on the draft for Northwest, said the Federal Government has concluded plans to develop the infrastructure necessary to enhance economic development and attract foreign investors.

He said that the purpose of the NIIMP is to give first-hand information to foreign investors on the level of socio-economic and infrastructural development to guide them on profit-

able businesses they can establish.

According to him: "If the concept of NIIMP is properly galvanised and enhanced, the nagging problem of unemployment will become history and the Nigerian youths will benefit tremendously from the whole idea."

The Minister admitted that the current infrastructure stock in Nigeria is inadequate, explaining "that is why the National Planning Commission has been

mandated to coordinate the development of NIIMP, which master plan is to run for 30 years and designed to address the challenges in the infrastructure sector holistically."

He noted that the 30-year master plan will require $2.9 trillion to close Nigeria's infrastructural gap, which includes, energy, Information Communication Technology, Housing-Regional Development, Vital registration and security.

Others, according to him, include finance mechanism, transport, Water, Agriculture and Mining, Plan Delivery, Monitoring & Evaluation, Social Infrastructure and legal and regulatory Kano State Governor, Engr.

Rabi'u Kwankwaso, said Kano state Government was in total support of the NIIMP project, adding that the state government has evolved a strategy that would boost Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to provide alternative fund for socio-economic development.

'Nigeria has abundant opportunities for Singapore'

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L-R: Vice Chancellor, Covenant University, Ogun State, Prof. Charles Ayo; Chancellor, Bishop David Oyedepo; his wife, Pastor Faith and Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, at the institution's convocation ceremony in Ota, Ogun State ...yesterday.

PHOTO: Niyi Adeniran

Mark proposes insurance policy for journalists

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ENATE President, David Mark, yesterday said the National Assembly is ready to look into the possibility of giving journalists in the country insurance policy to cushion the hazards of the profession.

Mark, who was in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital for the opening of a 2-day 2013 Senate Press Corps Retreat, said the nature of job carried out by journalists require insurance coverage due to the risks involved in their job, especially in volatile states of the Northern Nigeria.

He commended journalists for always performing their duties effectively despite risks involved.

According to him: "I advocate that there is need for you to have proper insurance and life coverage. As part of our legislative oversight function and in furtherance of good governance, it is also our concern and I believe we will be able to address that issue."

The senate president charged the Senate Press Corps to be factual in their reportage, educate and enlighten the masses on the activities at the Hallowed Chambers.

He said: "I want to use this medium to talk to the media on reporting facts. I urge you to report facts as you see them, educate the people.

"There is no way you can educate people on falsehood.

Education must be based on verifiable facts and figures.

"I must say the Senate Press Corps has done well

From Kazeem Ibrahym and Sanni Onogu, Uyo

but there is still room for improvement.

The opportunity you have as Senate reporters is not available to all.

"If you are to criticise, criticise constructively and when it is time to praise, do so. Balance your report so that people can make informed decisions."

The Senate President lauded the infrastructural development in Akwa Ibom

State.

He said: "It is impossible to come to Akwa Ibom without making a statement that God's will is done in the state.

What we lack most in this country is not the vision, but the political will and courage to execute projects without distraction like what Governor Akpabio is doing".

Governor Godswill Akpabio described Senator Mark as epitome of simplicity, adding "You are making history as the longest- serving Senate President in Ni-

geria."

He admonished Senate Press Corps to project the Senate in good light by focusing on reports that would mould the image and reputation of the Red Chambers.

Akpabio said: "We should feed the public with good news because it has a lot to do with the image of the Senate and the image of Nigeria.

"Let's not focus only on the bad news, bring out the good news. The good news will help to mould strength and build the image of the Senate. The entire world looks at democracy through the National Assembly."

'Water bill will eliminate conflict in water management'

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HERE is need for a water bill for the effective management of water sector in the country, The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Baba Umar Faruk, has stated.

He said the Water Bill when passed by the National Assembly would provide the legal framework for the entire sector.

It will also eliminate all areas of conflict in the management of water resources at all levels of government, he added.

This was contained in a statement in Abuja by the office of the Deputy Director, Press Mrs. Oyeboade Akinola.

Faruk further explained that the bill is expected to address the issue of proper coordination in the use of water as well as the problems of in-

From: Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

discriminate sinking of boreholes by unqualified/ uncertified drillers.

Faruk noted that the ministry has made the issue of water legislation a priority.

He said: "On passage of the bill by the National Assembly, the water sector would attain greater heights through the realisation of its vision and mission."

He commended the patriotism and commitment

demonstrated by the SubCommittee in the production of the document for the development and management of water resources in Nigeria.

Chairman of the Legal/ Technical Sub-Committee, Professor Joe GoldfaceIrokalibe, explained that the water bill would enable stakeholders' participation at the hydrological catchment areas, key political highlights in proper administration of water.

HE Singaporean Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Masagos Zulkifli, has said that Nigeria holds the ace in his country's quest for investment.

Zulkifli said Nigeria has abundant resources that his country could tap from.

He said rather than concentrate on China and Asia for business, Singapore was already looking in the direction of Nigeria.

Zulkifli, who spoke when Nigerian's Ambassador to Singapore, Nonye Rajis-Okpara, paid him a courtesy call, said several companies from Singapore were already in Africa.

Zulkifli, who equally advised other countries to do same, listed some of the companies to include Olam, Tolaram and Sea Truck.

He said the upcoming Nigeria-Singapore Business and Investment Forum, scheduled to take place between October 28 and 30, 2013 in Singapore, would provide further grounds for the consolidation of business trade between his country and Nigeria.

The Minister said there is the need for countries to shift their focus from China and South East Asia to Africa and look at Nigeria beyond oil and gas.

He emphasised the importance of involving medium enterprises that are eager to enter the Nigerian market.

On the Bilateral Air Services Agreement and the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement, Zulkifli informed Rajis-Okpara and her entourage that Singapore is also keen on signing the agreements and the new development from Nigeria was a welcome advancement in the negotiation process.

Rajis-Okpara told Zulkifli that the purpose of the visit was to discuss preparations for the upcoming Nigeria-Singapore Business and Investment Forum.

The Forum is being hosted by the Nigeria High Commission in collaboration with the Singapore Business Federation and International Enterprise, Singapore.

She described Nigeria as the gateway to Africa.

Varsity students create flooding solution

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INAL year students of the Niger Delta University have created the "Floating Complex", a prototype designed as a solution to the severe flooding situation in the Niger Delta.

It is a housing complex

erected on materials that can withstand floods and stay afloat.

The complex is solar powered to deal with power outages that occur during floods and has facilities that can store food and manage waste.

The Floating Complex won first place during a session on Innovation and Creativity at the recently completed Internship Centre Clinic for graduates at the University, supported by Afrigrants Resources Ltd.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013 Ibibio Youths bemoan marginalisation From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

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HE Ibibio Youth Council have expressed worry over the continuous marginalisation of the people of Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency in the appointments and nomination of Board members to the board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Akwa Ibom State.

The President-General of the group, Imoh Ikoko, yesterday said it will be unfair for President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint the new NDDC Managing Director outside the core oil producing communities of Akwa Ibom State.

According to him, based on the zoning arrangement, Akwa Ibom State is expected to produce the next Managing Director of the commission, as the tenure of the current board expires next month.

“We have been totally sidelined in the scheme of NDDC projects, so we feel that it is our turn now. The MD of NDDC must come from Ikot Abasi Federal constituency. It will be injustice for President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint a candidate outside this Federal Constituency.”

President Jonathan is expected to officially announce the dissolution of the board on or before August 6, this year as provided for in the constitution.

Ikoko lamented that for the past 12 years, the appointment of the NDDC board had centred on Eket Federal Constituency at the expense of Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency, which is the core oil producing communities.

He noted that both the State Representative and the Executive Director come from Eket Federal Constituency, leaving Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency, which produces the most crude oil that is boosting the revenue drive of Akwa Ibom state with nothing.

Three Local Government Areas of Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin and Eastern Obolo make up the Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom state.

IPMAN vows to fight oil thieves in Edo Osagie Otabor, Benin

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HE Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), Benin branch, has vowed to join the federal government and security agencies to help fight against pipeline vandals.

It said any of its members involved in oil theft would be handed over to security agencies.

Chairman of Benin branch of IPMAN, Comrade David Ikhuoria, stated this in an interview with newsmen shortly after the election of new executives of IPMAN Benin branch.

Comrade Ikhuoria said all members of the body would be mobilised to help in the fight against pipeline vandals.

He promised to collaborate with other union bodies at the Benin Depot to bring sanity to the operation of the depot and check diversion of petroleum products.

According to him, “Our existing collaboration with government and all security agencies is certain.

“And this is our commitment to make sure oil theft and pipeline vandals are stopped through collaborative surveillance and monitoring of these installations.”

News

Rivers Crisis: NANS President G sues for peace LADIATORS in the Rivers State crisis have been urged to sheath their swords and work towards the attainment of a united and peaceful Nigeria.

President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANS) Yinka Gbadebo, made this known in a statement issued in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, yesterday. He observed that the events in Rivers-State, if not curtailed, may derail our fragile democracy.

Contrary to a statement credited to one John Shima who parades himself as acting Senate President that NANS was going to mobilise against the presidency, Gbadebo said NANS has not taken any official position and that Shima lacks the authority to talk on

•Urges ASUU to call off strike From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

behalf of the association.

He said that the statement was master-minded by some disgruntled elements who reap in time like this, adding that he was surprised that things like that could emanate from Shima, the Deputy Senate President at a time they are still mourning the passage of the late NANS senate president, Donald Onukaogu.

Donald Onukaogu and four others recently died in an auto crash while on an intervention to the University of Uyo.

Urging government at all levels to find lasting solution to the insurgency in the north, Gbadebo said that the huge government spending on defence and the unabated terror of Boko Haram has shown that only economic justice can permanently resolve the Boko Haram and related menace.

He advised President Goodluck Jonathan to act as the father of the nation, by calling on actors in the Rivers State crisis to come together and find lasting peace to the problem.

On the ongoing strike by

the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Gbadebo observed that the position of NANS remains the same.

He advised ASUU to return to class in the interest of Nigerian students while continuing their negotiations with the Federal Government.

According to Gbadebo, “The myriad of problems in the education sector requires all stakeholders to come together and articulate a common demand. A situation where one union shuts the entire education system is not only counter-productive but unhealthy in the face of global competitiveness. He therefore warned the lecturers against attempts at keeping students at home longer than necessary, as it portends a great danger to their future.

•Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke(2nd left) flanked by Chairman Planning Committee of the Institute of Technology and Management, Prof Ivara Esu(L), Commissioner, Special Projects, Mr. Bassey Ika Oqua and Deputy Governor Mr. Efiok Cobham(R)examining the building plan of the proposed Institute in Ugep, Yakurr Local government Area yesterday

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ROSS River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, yesterday performed the ground-breaking for the construction of the new Institute of Technology and Management in Ugep, Yakurr Local Government.

The Institute, which is to be run by the Highbury College, Portsmouth, United Kingdom, will commence academic programmes in October, the governor disclosed.

The ground-breaking ceremony flagged off construction of physical works

C’River establishes special polytechnic at the site of the institute.

Imoke revealed that the institute will run a demanddriven curriculum that will ensure that at least 90 percent of its graduates get employment the moment they leave school.

According to him, government went to United Kingdom to solicit the assistance of those who have the experience to come down and start the institution, stating that the foreign-

ers need their support and cooperation to ensure that it works.

He urged the people not to interfere with the administrative and employment policies of the school in its effort to be a first class institution.

“It is designed to meet the demands and needs of the market as well as generate unprecedented employment skills in Cross River,” he said.

The governor promised to undertake a weekly supervision of ongoing construction work to ensure it is completed and commissioned in October.

According to Professor Ivara Esu, one-time Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Highbury College will manage and maintain the institute because of its reputation as the highest classified college in the United Kingdom.

CBN takes cashless policy awareness to villages

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HE Central Bank of Nigeria yesterday said they have begun arrangements to take the cashless policy campaign to all villages in Rivers State.

The apex bank of Nigeria made this declaration when its regional office in Rivers State organised a one-day awareness campaign in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. Addressing the crowd at the awareness campaign, the CBN Deputy Project for Leads and Share Services Office, Mr. Chimeno Eleonu Emenu, said as part of fulfilling Nigeria’s ambition to be one of the best economies before the year 2020, the CBN has decided to change to cashless economy.

He said the objective is to reduce physical usage of cash by members of the public, which if accepted will reduce armed robbery, election

Precious Dikewoha, Port Harcourt

rigging, political looting, and general fraud in the banking system.

He said, “For us to succeed in this policy, we need the cooperation of the public. That is why we have designed a programme to educate the villagers on how to move away from cash, to an

easier way of transacting money that will reduce risks associated with carrying cash from one place to another.

“We have started the sensitisation programme, which is part of this one-day awareness campaign on cash-less policy of the CBN. The policy will help us to reduce the huge cost of provid-

ing banking services and the money saved will be used to lend credit to Nigerians.

“It will also help the CBN and commercial banks to better manage our economy and ensure that our monetary policy works.

So there is no going back in taking the campaign to villages in Rivers State and Nigeria as whole.”

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Akpabio sets off N24.9 billion Eket-Ibeno road From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

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KWA Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio yesterday set off the dualisation of the long abandoned Eket-Ibeno road.

The governor approved the dualisation of the road at a contract sum of N24.9billion.

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) is to construct the road for a duration of 18 months and work is to begin immediately. The Eket-Ibeno Road is strategic to the revenue base of the country as it leads to the Qua Ibom Terminal (QIT) operated by Mobil Nigeria Plc. Speaking during the ground-breaking ceremony, Akpabio urged the communities in Ibeno to protect the construction company in their domain in order to help them deliver in record time before the end of his administration.

Akpabio said: “All I require from the communities, the youth leaders from the local government areas, their paramount rulers is to protect the company, so that they can do their work in record time.

“They are likely to work day and night because I insist that I want to be the governor to inaugurate this road before I leave the office.”

Akpabio also called on the chairmen of Ibeno, Eket and Esit Eket to mobilise the youths to support the company, saying that there should not be any incident of kidnapping and militancy in the area.

He urged the security agencies to give the necessary assistance to the company while dualising the road.

The governor pledged to rehabilitate the Eket-Ibeno road ahead of the child dedication of Tuface and Annie.

His words: “For the people of Eket-Ibeno, I need to apologise because I am not happy with the state of the road. The road was given to NDDC, if not the state would have intervened in its construction.

“I want to assure that during the child dedication of Tuface and Annie, we would have dualised the Eket-Ibeno road.”

In his remark, the paramount ruler of Ibeno, Effiong Archinga, commended Governor Akpabio for his transformation stride in the state, saying that the road is a gold city for Nigeria.

Archinga stressed the socio-economic importance of Eket-Ibeno road to Nigeria and the entire world.

The monarch appealed to the youths to lay down their arms and join hands with the company to protect the project, noting that at the completion of the project, the community would be the end users.

Man sleeps with daughter, case adjourned till August 13

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HREE prosecution witnesses on Thursday testified before Magistrate Ikwuemosi Osayande on the criminal case preferred against one Festus Joseph, who allegedly had carnal knowledge of his daughter and also gave false information to the Police in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.

In the criminal case with charge No MAU/1C/2013A,

Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

the accused person (Festus Joseph) is standing trial for an offence punishable under Section 125 A (A) (b) and 357 of the Criminal Code.

Testifying in the case, the 6th prosecution witness, Mr. Daniel Taiye Erbohboi, a social welfare officer in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Auchi, after be-

ing led in evidence by Police Corporal Joshua Ogbaneme told the court how PW4 (Destiny Joseph) lodged complaint of sexual harassment against the accused, who was her father.

The PW6 told the court that at the welfare office in Benin City, PW4, who was in a stable state of mind, narrated how she was sexual harassed by the accused over time and that it was

when she could no longer bear the unlawful sexual acts that she now reported the matter to the welfare office.

Under cross examination

by P.T Braimah Esq., counsel to the accused, Mr. Erbohboi told the court that he referred the complains of Destiny Joseph (PW4) from the Auchi Welfare Office to Benin City for onward assistance, since he was on vacation.

8

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

News

Obi, Jonathan’s aide reconcile Church, community T HE traditional ruler of Awka, Obi Gibson Nwosu, had more than he bargained for yesterday when he was booed by members of Umudioka Community of the town at a meeting attended by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and Sen. Ben Ndi Obi. The meeting held at Umudioka town hall in Awka, the Anambra State capital,

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

which was called by the governor, was aimed at resolving the problem between the community and the Catholic Church on the issue of dust to dust by women during burial of their husbands.

The fracas that ensued on Wednesday in Awka between the Catholic Church and the community claimed many casualties, while over 30 of

Governorship aspirant proposes second IPP for South East

T

HE prospect of repositioning the economy of Anambra State and indeed the South East has brightened as a second Independent Power Generation Plant has been proposed for Anambra State.

The first Independent Power Plant cited in Aba in Abia State, according to the Chairman of Geometric Power Plant, Prof. Barth Nnaji, would start the distribution of power to both domestic and industrial users in the business community and its environs in August 2013.

Nnaji said the Geometric power project, which has the capacity to generate about 141 megawatts of electricity “is a huge statement for the Nigerian business community,” as much of the over $460 million that the project has gulped was locally

them were hospitalised, with several buildings and other properties destroyed.

During the meeting, Hon. Ejike Onuorah, the traditional prime minister of the Kingdom, Ozo Austine Ndigwe and the youth, blamed the traditional ruler of Awka for his failure to address the issue before it got out of hand.

When the monarch tried to defend himself, he was shouted down by his subjects.

But the Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs, Sen. Ben Obi, pleaded with the crowd to give him a

chance.

When the dust settled, Obi Gibson Nwosu said he was unable to do anything on the crisis, because according to him, the police allegedly claimed it would charge the first matter to court.

He, however, assured the community that he would abide by any decision taken at the meeting.

On his part, Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, frowned at the petition written by the Catholic Church, where it alleged that a retired Lt. General of the Nigerian Army, Isaac Obiakor, and Deputy

Commissioner of Police (DCP), Celestine Okoye, who both hail from the community are kidnappers.

While suing for peace, Obi said, “What I don’t want is for anybody or group to drag the names of these distinguished sons of Awka to the mud. There is no problem that does not have a solution; what we want in this area and indeed Anambra State is peace.

“What we have on our hands is a problem that prompted this meeting. It is not only in Awka, I have solved this kind of problem in over 30 communities in this State. The

only thing that does not have solution is death and that is why I have come to plead with you.”

The governor said that he would also meet with the Catholic Bishop and Priests in order to ensure that the issue was resolved amicably.

Meanwhile, members of the community had pleaded with Obi to appeal to the appropriate authorities in the Catholic Church to transfer two priests in the area, Rev, Fr. Patrick Chukwuma and Rev. Fr. Obiorah, who they alleged are the brains behind the problem in the community.

From Sunny Nwankwo, Aba

sourced entirely from the private sector.

An industrialist and a governorship aspirant in Anambra State, Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, after inspecting the Geometric Power Plant in Aba, the commercial city of Abia State, said he was on a fact finding visit to the project, which he promised to replicate in Anambra State.

Though, Ezeemo could not disclose the proposed site for the project, he expressed optimism that the project when completed, would touch every facets of the state economy by creating job opportunities for the unemployed, provide alternative source of power for industrialists in the business communities of Nnewi, Onitsha and other parts of the State.

RAMADAN GUIDE WITH FEMI ABBAS e-mail: femabbas@yahoo.com Tel: 08122697498

Functions of Mosque

M

OSQUE in Islam has both temporal and spiritual functions none of which should be taken for granted.

The word Mosque is the corrupt English pronunciation of 'MASJID' (pronounced 'Masgid' in Egyptian dialect) which means a place of worship.

In Islam, Mosque is not meant for SALAT alone. It serves many other purposes each of which has a fundamental significance. For instance the very first Mosque established by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in Medina was a multipurpose one. That Mosque named the 'Mosque of Qubah' did not serve as a place of worship alone, it also served as a school, a library, a clinic, a court of law and even a parliament for the Muslim community. And, ever since, the Mosque has continued to serve all those purposes throughout the Islamic world.

That was why the very first University ever established in the world, the University of Cordoba in Spain, started as a Mosque. And, it will be recalled that even the three oldest Universities in the world today: Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt; Qarawiyyin University in Fez, Morocco and Zaytuniyyah University in Tunis, Tunisia as well as other Islamic Institutes of Higher Learning all started as Mosques.

Using the above yardstick to judge what the Mosque is in our society today as against what it ought to be therefore, one may tend to conclude that our Mosques are grossly underutilized.

Hardly can we find in our society today, a Mosque that is used as a court, a library, a parliament and a hospital. Whereas Islam is a dynamic religion and the Mosque is supposed to be a symbol of that dynamism, this is rarely considered when it comes to establishing Mosques in our society.

Today, we need Mosques in our societies more than ever before. We need Mosques for training and good orientation for our children. In fact, we need Mosques as a backup for homes in reforming our society. That is why we must provide in every Mosque those amenities mentioned above plus playing facilities if only to give our children the best education they deserve, as our own little way of making our society a worthy place to live in.

In our Mosques, we need Computer training Centres; tutorial classes for our Imams and Muadh-dhins as well as for coaching our secondary school boys and girls; good libraries for reading and research; modest clinics as well as arbitration courts where civil conflicts can be resolved without any recourse to the Western Courts where Qur'an and Sunnah play no role in adjudication.

For Islam to continue to play its dynamic role as originally designed, creating enabling environments for our Mosques is a sine qua non so that Muslims can occupy dignifying positions in the society.

•R-L: Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, shaking hands with MD-CEO of NERFUND, Baba Maina Gimba, at the Government House Lokoja after the signing of a Memoradum of Understanding(MoU)... at the weekend

Elechi warns against impeachment of council boss

E

BONYI State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi, yesterday threatened to punish any individual or group that tries to impeach the Chairman of Onicha Local Government Area of the state, Nicholas Eze. This follows a move by the legislative council to impeach the local government boss, which was aborted by some youths in the area who took away the mace.

From Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki

At a meeting with political stakeholders of the area in Abakaliki, the state capital, the governor threatened to dissolve the entire council leadership and set up a caretaker committee if any further attempt to impeach the chairman is made.

In a stern warning, the governor said, “I don’t even want to hear the mention of

impeachment, not to talk of its implementation, as the whole intention is to attack the chairman for not granting the selfish requests of some stakeholders.”

He ordered for the weekly audit of the income and expenditure of the council to check the incessant pressure on the chairman to tamper with the council’s funds.

“We would sanction any irregularity discovered in the

expenditure of the funds, because it seems some people do not want to abide with the attitudinal change message we preach daily,”the governor added.

Former Deputy Governor of the state, Prof.

Chigozie Ogbu, who is also an indigene of the area, regretted the spate of conflicts in the area and traced it to greed on the part of certain individuals.

MDG boss commends Anambra for achieving targets

T

HE Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millenniun Development Goals, Dr. Precious Gbemeniol, has praised the Anambra State government for meeting its targets on the Milliennum Development Goals (MDGs).

Represented by Alhaji Abdullahi Zubairu, the presidential aide commended the personal commitment of the state governor, Mr. Peter Obi towards MDG’s programmes and his efforts to see that the State achieved the MDG by the year 2015.

Gbemeniol spoke at the Women Development Centre, Awka during the launching of the MDG Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.

She disclosed that since 2011 when the programme was first launched in Anambra State, it has remained number one in the payment of counterpart funding.

The MDG boss explained that the Conditional Cash

Transfer is a programme designed to assist the poorest among the people of the State by giving each selected household a sum of N5,000 every month and N100,000 at the end of the year to start a business that will afford them a decent living.

Speaking further, she said that the MDG, which provided 70 million naira for the project in 2011, has provided additional N360 million this year due to the excellent management of the programme by Anambra State.

Launching the project, Gov. Peter Obi said that Anambra State had already matched the fund with N460million naira. He disclosed that to ensure the continuation of the exercise, the money had been lodged at Ecobank.

PDP chieftain commends Orji on healthcare delivery

T

HE National Vice Chairman (South East) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Col Austin Akobundu (rtd.) has commended the Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, over his achievements in the health sector.

Akobundu, who said this in a statement issued in Umuahia and noted that Orji has since his assumption of office transformed the health sector of the state to world class standard by building and equipping 250 health centres.

He said that apart from the health centres scattered in

From Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia

each of the political wards in the state, the governor had also built diagnostic centres in Umuahia and Aba, an internationally rated dialysis clinic in Umuahia which was commissioned on Monday by the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu.

The South East PDP boss listed other health projects to be commissioned by the governor soon, which include a 100-bed modern general hospitals in nine local government areas of the state, an ophthalmology centre and

the reconstructed health institutions in Arochukwu, Okeikpe and Aba. Akobundu further expressed delight that the state government embarked on the total refurbishing of Amachara general hospital and Abia Specialist hospital, both of which he said has been turned into world-class specialist hospital and teaching hospital respectively.

The South East PDP chair maintained that the recent commissioning of the dialysis centre in Umuahia will not only save lives, but check capital flight.

NEWS REVIEW

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

•Ayoola addressing Fulani leaders at the parley

T

HE Plateau State government under the leadership of Governor Jonah David Jang, the Special Task Force (STF) code named 'Operation safe haven' led by its Commander Major General Henry Ayiola and the state Police Command led by its Commissioner, Chris Olakpe, are currently facing a battle of their lives at the Plateau South Senatorial Zone where ethnic violence is raging.

After they had succeeded in the long battle to restore peace in the volatile Northern Senatorial Zone, similar crisis broke out in the Southern Senatorial district at a time these custodians of peace and security in the state were thinking of celebrating their victory in the battle at Plateau North.

This time around, the government and security agencies seemed to be acting with experience and as well as learning from past mistakes in the handling of the past crisis in the Northern Senatorial Zone.

Their response to the prevailing crisis in Plateau South has been prompt and effective from all indications.

There have been lingering ethnic conflicts within the Southern Senatorial Zone of the state since January this year. But what appeared like a mere misunderstanding among the various ethnic groups in the zone began to degenerate into violent confrontations. Early in the month of July, hired mercenaries

The battle to restore peace on the Plateau Ethnic groups of Plateau South Senatorial Zone - Tarok, Jukun, Fulani, Bogom, Goemai, etc- are at daggers drawn as the love that binds the people together has gone with the wind. YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU examines efforts to restore the lost love and peace in the zone. were allegedly used by one of the ethnic groups to attack perceived enemies. The attack by suspected Fulani militia in one night led to the death of over 30 residents of three communities of Langtang South Local Government.

Following the violent attack, the STF responded effectively by relocating their armoury to Plateau South to restore confidence in the people of the zone. The troops of the task force moved into the zone in their thousands to reclaim the areas from armed insurgents found to be lurking around the borders.

Healing the wounds When the task force was convinced it had secured the areas, the commander organised a peace parley in the zone to dialogue with various stakeholders in the localities. The peace parley which was held at the Shendam Township Stadium attracted youths from seven local governments that made up the zone including, Wase, Mikang, Quan Pan, Kanam, Langtang North, Shendam and Langtang South.

While addressing participants at the peace parley,

commander of the STF, Major General Henry Ayiola, said, "This peace parley was meant to address the major source of conflicts in the zone with the aim of restoring total peace.

"As a task force, we have all the weapon to enforce peace wherever there is trouble, but going by the civil-military relations the Chief of Army Staff has been preaching about, we have to drop our weapons and dialogue with the people. It is our hope that providing opportunity for people to air their grievances and forgiveness will go a long

way in healing injuries sustained from the crisis."

Gen Ayiola told the youths of the zone to resolve to end the bloodshed and work to promote peace. In his words: "It is sacrilegious to our culture and religion to take someone's life.

Human being is God's creature; you will be offending God by killing His creature when you know you cannot replace it. God did not create anyone by mistake, he has a purpose for creating somebody, and nobody came to this world by accident."

He added, "God is too busy and purposeful to create somebody for nothing. Besides, the holy books made us to understand that you will reap whatever you sow. So if we shed blood, we will continue to shed more blood, so I plead with you to shelve your swords today and begin to sow lobe so that we can reap peace" After hours of sermon by the STF commander, the participants in the peace parley expressed their resolve to stop the violence and become peace ambassadors of the zone. They also agreed to forgive themselves and co-exist peacefully hence forth.

Gen Ayiola, who also addressed various Fulani community leaders in the zone, warned them not to allow enemies of peace to use ethnic and religious barriers to separate them from other ethnic groups in the zone. He assured them that the

•Contd. on page 10

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

News Review

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The battle for peace on the Plateau •Contd. from page 9

task force will do more to protect their cattle from rustlers. He further intimated the Fulani that the genesis of the violence is cow rustling being carried out by criminals with the connivance of some other Fulani.

While the special task force was preaching tolerance and peace in the zone, the governor, Jonah David Jang, set up a peace and reconciliation committee comprising mainly of political leaders from the zone to ensure peace is restored within the shortest time possible. The government peace committee which is chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, John Bull Shekarau, has since sprung into action.

Reconciliatory efforts Earlier, the Deputy Governor, Ignatius Longjan, who also hails from the zone, led a meeting of political stakeholders to develop the best strategies with which to end the bloodshed in the area. The outcome of that meeting was the constitution of the peace and reconciliation committee chaired by the state deputy speaker. The committee is currently on tour of the seven local governments involved in the conflict where they preach peace and established dialogue among the ethnic groups.

Members of the government peace and reconciliation committee set by Gov Jang includes the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Yiljab Abraham, House of Assembly member, Joy Ramnam, Special Adviser on Labour, Samuel Kwamkur, Special Adviser on Conflict Resolution, Timothy Parlong, Commissioner for Water Resources, Idih Waziri, member of the state House of Assembly, Zainab Dogo, Joe Lamu and head of special task force in the zone, Col Harry Daniel, including all council chairmen from the zone.

While inaugurating the committee, Gov Jang mandated them to move into the zone as fast as possible to ensure that peace is restored. Jang said, "Go and stop the

•Youths at the parley

‘

This peace parley was meant to address the major source of conflicts in the zone with the aim of restoring total peace

’

•Olakpe, Police Commissioner

WORLD NEWS

Egypt: 120 reported killed at Cairo rallies

V

IOLENCE has broken out in Cairo where defiant supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi are protesting against his removal from power, with up to 120 people reported dead.

Doctors at an Islamist-run field hospital said another 1,000 had been injured in the clashes, which broke out shortly before pre-dawn prayers at a Cairo vigil staged by backers of Mr Morsi.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the killings. "I call on the Egyptian authorities to respect the right of peaceful protest, to cease the use of violence against protesters, including live fire, and to hold to account those responsible," he said.

Gehad El-Haddad, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, said the army had opened fire on protesters who had spilled out of the vigil on to a main thoroughfare. The health ministry contested the figure of 120 killed - provided by the Muslim Brotherhood - issuing a lower death toll of 38. The state news agency MENA quoted an unnamed security source as saying only teargas was used to disperse demonstrators.

But Mr Haddad said the victims had suffered bullet wounds to their heads and chests.

"They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," Mr Haddad said.

Reuters and AFP correspondents reported seeing dozens of bodies laid out on the floor of the field hospital.

The new wave of bloodshed came as hundreds of thousands of Egyptians heeded a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to give him a popular mandate to confront violence unleashed by his July 3 overthrow of Egypt's first freely elected president.

The Brotherhood mounted counterdemonstrations, swelling a month-long vigil in northern Cairo before violence erupted. A Reuters reporter saw heavy exchanges of gunfire in the early hours of yesterday between security forces and Morsi supporters, who tore up pavement concrete to lob at police.

Earlier in the day the MENA state news agency reported nine people killed in violence nationwide and at least 200 wounded.

bloodshed; the state cannot afford to lose its human resources as a result of violence.

The state human resources is dwindling with all these crises, enough is enough, you have a task to go right and sit down with the people and find out what went wrong and what is to be done to return to status quo where we used to enjoy mutual co-existence irrespective of ethnic, political and religious affiliation."

The paramount ruler of the zone and chairman, Langtang North and South Traditional Council, Gen. Domkat Balli (rtd), has also set in motion a committee comprising Tarok elders to brainstorm on possible solution to the lingering conflict in the zone. The Tarok committee comprising 18 Tarok elders is chaired by Dr. Nandul Durfa.

A Tarok youth leader, Istifanus Ayuba from Langtang North, remarked that the approach of government, traditional rulers and the task force towards solving the security problems in the zone is highly commendable. He said youths of the local government are confident that the crises will not last considering the combined efforts of the stakeholders.

Alhaji Mumini Shuaibu, a Fulani from Wase, said the concern of government and all stakeholders on the crisis is exemplary and has given them confidence that government cares for them. He said, "If only government and security agencies can protect our cattle from being rustled, there would be no conflict in the zone."

Gen Ayiola confirmed that all the ethnic groups in the zone rear cattle and own herds of cow. He also said, "All the tribes in the zone are also guilty of cow rustling, it is not a crime of one tribe, all of them are involved. All we are saying now is that there will be a strategy to be adopted

by STF to stop cow rustling and that will go a long way in reducing the source of conflict."

The people are waiting.

Most of those deaths were in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, where hundreds of people fought pitched battles, with birdshot fired and men on rooftops throwing stones at crowds below.

Several of those killed were stabbed, hospital officials said, and at least one was shot in the head.

News of the investigation against Mr Morsi over his 2011 escape from jail signalled a clear escalation in the military's confrontation with the deposed leader and his Islamist movement.

MENA said Mr Morsi, who has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed military facility since his overthrow, had been ordered to be detained for 15 days pending the inquiry.

Egypt's army-installed interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said month-old Cairo vigils by Mr Morsi supporters would be "brought to an end, soon and in a legal manner," state-run al Ahram news website reported.

On Facebook, the Brotherhood said the army had stormed its vigil overnight, triggering the violence. An army official, who declined to be named, denied this. He said the clashes were "near the Brotherhood's sit-in area, but not at it. There is and will not be any attempt to attack the sit-in or evacuate it tonight."

The Brotherhood is bracing for a broad crackdown by the army to wipe out a movement that emerged from decades in the shadows to take power after Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak, only to be deposed after a year in government.

There is deepening alarm in the West over the army's move against Mr Morsi, which has triggered weeks of violence in the influential Arab state bordering US ally Israel. Close to 200 people have died.

The country of 84 million people forms a bridge between the Middle East and North Africa and receives $1.5 billion a year in mainly military aid from Washington.

T

HE injured driver of the Spanish train that derailed at high speed, killing 78 and injuring dozens more, was released from the hospital yesterday, but he was still being held in a police station as authorities increasingly focused on his culpability.

Francisco Jose Garzon Amo has been under the microscope, with the country’s railway agency saying it was his responsibility to brake before going into the high-risk curve where the train careered off the rails and smashed into a wall. It’s still not clear whether the brakes failed or were never used, and Garzon has remained mum so far.

“There is rational evidence to lead us to think that the driver could have eventual responsibility,” Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz told reporters at the crash site near the Catholic pilgrimage town of Santiago De Compostela.

He said Garzon was now being held on suspicion of negligent homicide. Authorities had previously said he was detained on suspicion of recklessness.

Spanish train driver released from hospital, held by police Speaking later at the police station, the minister also said that if Garzon were to choose to give a statement to the police before testifying in front of a judge, his lawyer would be called.

So far the driver has opted to use his constitutional right to remain silent, “although he may change his mind on that,” Fernandez Diaz said.

The wreckage still remained near the site yesterday, as passenger trains passed by. Black ribbons of mourning dotted the Santiago de Compostela and flags flew at half-staff.

Makeshift shrines drew mourners to the city’s cathedral.

Someone placed flowers on a bridge above the railroad tracks, with a note reading, “We are all in solidarity with the city of Santiago.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

11

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

COMMENT and ANALYSIS

13

SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Talakawa Liberation Herald (23)

Freedom of Information Act and Dictatorship of Corruption and Mediocrity (3)

BY BIODUN JEYIFO

I

T is time in this lecture to address the equation between corruption and mediocrity that is a central aspect of the undeclared ‘dictatorship’ that I am engaging in the lecture. Corruption and mediocrity in our country at the present time are symbiotic, they feed off each other. Extremely poor performance or even no performance at all is no barrier to becoming very wealthy and holding very high public office in our country – including the highest office in the land.

According to the House of Representative AdHoc Committee Report on the oil subsidy mega-scam we see “a gross lack of record keeping”, “decadence” “rot” and “entrenched inefficiency” in the work of the public officials that supervised the payment of those vast sums to the oil marketers.

These epithets of abysmally low standards of performance and probity were addressed to the specific case of the oil subsidy scam but they might as well have been addressed to the generation and distribution of electricity; construction of physical infrastructures like roads, bridges, hospitals and schools; public sanitation and waste disposal; social services for children, youths, the elderly and the disabled. Federal and state governments don’t have to perform well or perform at all to generate the budgets on which they depend; it comes to them like manna from heaven even though we know that the source is the rents from the oilfields of the Niger Delta.

At the centre of things in the government of the federation and the ruling party, the standards of performance in virtually all areas of governance are so low that almost any other party or phalanx of politicians can credibly claim that they can do better than the current incumbents, even though there is little to choose between all the ruling class parties in terms of their ideologies and their value orientations. Almost everywhere that you find corruption in our country, mediocrity is never too far behind.

At this point and drawing from my professional academic interest in linguistic, literary and cultural studies, I would like to offer some thoughts on the separate and yet connected relations between the cognate terms corrupt, corruptive and corrupted. My intension in doing this is both to further clarify and broaden the ramifications of this link that I am urging between corruption and mediocrity in our country. Thus, when we say that a person, an act, or a process is corrupt we are alluding adjectivally to a quality, a disposition or an effect. The term corruptive adds a dimension that implies an active transformation that turns that which is not initially corrupt to that which becomes tainted with corruption. The term “corrupted” lends an even more dynamic, more perfected or completed dimension to the term “corruptive”. At this level, the term corruption that we so often use to describe our politicians and their habitual practices takes on the quality of a specter, a malaise, a generalized social pathology that reeks of rot, decay, putrefaction.

On this basis, I would argue that in our Nigerian context, “corruption” is to politicians and political parties as “corrupted” is to virtually all our institutions, both religious and secular, both private and public, both local and nation-wide.

Pushing further on this observation, I would argue that we tend to associate corruption primarily with our electoral process and our politicians and political parties, but who among us is unaware of the cheap, superstitious and facile religiosity that underlies the nairamania, the amassing of great

Lekan Otufodunrin Otufodunrin@thenationonlineng.net 08050498530 (SMS only)

Thoughts for teens

I

•Students writing JAMB

wealth in our mega-churches and among our most prominent, jetsetter religious leaders?

Who is unaware of the scale of examination malpractices in our primary and secondary schools? Yes, the corruption has its roots, its foundations in the political order and among our rulers, but almost every institution in our country has become corrupted.

Since I am an academic, I am particularly interested in the decay, the unspeakable fall in standards that has befallen our educational institutions. Here, I will give only a few particularly shocking examples of this terribly corrupted state of things in our secondary and tertiary institutions. The failure rates in our secondary school leaving examinations are some of the worst in the world. In the last one decade, I don’t think we have recorded anything higher than 35% of passes in these exams. In one particular year, in the NECO exams, only 1.8% of those who sat for the exam passed, leaving a staggering failure rate of 98.2%. Our universities are poorly ranked in the world; not a single one of them is among the 2000 most highly rated institutions. Far more alarming is the fact that our universities are also poorly ranked among African universities. In the most recently released rankings, only eight of our universities were listed among the first 100 universities in Africa and only one Nigerian institution is among the first 20. Within the country itself in the business sector of the economy, potential employers of our university graduates are forever complaining that the instruction our university students receive are so appallingly poor that a lot of the graduates are simply “unemployable”. The list goes on and on with a depressing regularity that has a grim foreboding for the future of our country.

I do not wish to empty out the contents of the special focus of this lecture - the Freedom of Information Act of 2011 in relation to the dictatorship of corruption - into an endless jeremiad about the things that are prematurely but utterly corrupted in virtually all the institutions of our society. The Greeks have a saying that is very pertinent here that I wish to invoke to underscore this point: When a fish

“The failure rates in our secondary school leaving examinations are some of the worst in the world. In the last one decade, I don’t think we have recorded anything higher than 35% of passes in these exams. In one particular year, in the NECO exams, only 1.8% of those who sat for the exam passed, leaving a staggering failure rate of 98.2%”

begins to rot, the process starts from the head and it is from there that the decay pervades the entire body of the fish. From this, I wish to state with as much emphasis as I can muster that it is our rulers, our politicians and political parties that we must hold accountable if we wish to arrest the rot, the decay that acts like a dictatorship in our present political order.

One aspect of a comparative, transnational view of corruption that we would do well to keep in mind in this respect is the fact that corruption is not always or even necessarily linked with mediocrity as we find it with our rulers. As a matter of fact, as big as corruption is in Nigeria, it is nothing in size compared with the corruption that has been documented and much discussed with regard to some of the biggest transnational business conglomerates of Western and East Asian countries. Without in the least bit offering an apologia for the scope of corruption among our rulers, I would insist that it ought to be pointed out that Transparency International is able to regularly rank corruption higher in African and other developing regions of the world than what obtains in the West only because its figures pertain to the countries and regions of the world, leaving out the big business empires of the planet who, between them, account for by far the greatest share of corruption in the world, together with the effects that corruption has on the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable peoples of the planet. I repeat: corruption is not always and necessarily linked with mediocrity, with abysmally low or poor standards. The high incidence of corruption in the ranks of some of the smartest and most innovative corporations in the world is clear proof of this assertion. The movements and forces around the world that have taken on the corruption of these corporations have counted on rationality, legal and ideological, as weapons with which to wage their struggles.

This is where, in my opinion, we must locate the potential of the Freedom of Information Act to make a difference in the struggle against corruption and the indifference to due process and accountability that reigns supreme in the highest corridors of power in our country. Like all other national versions of the Freedom of Information Act, ours also presupposes legal and moral rationality, especially as enshrined in the presupposition that the state, the liberaldemocratic state, is founded on the rule of law, on the assumption that a country’s rulers, a country’s public officeholders and a country’s business enterprises must comply with the laws Continued on page 18

T is that time of the year when valedictory services are held for final year students of secondary and primary schools. Last Wednesday I was guest speaker at the Convocation Day of Ebenezer Comprehensive High School, Agbado, Lagos.

I spoke on Youth Empowerment and Job Prospects in Contemporary World. I found the topic very apt considering the poor state of our economy, which makes it imperative for youths to wake up to challenges that lie ahead of them.

For crying out loud, as the youths like to say, they need all the support they can get, but they must know that their destinies are in their own hands. Excerpts; Youth Empowerment Youth Empowerment simply put is empowering the youths. It’s not about physical power but knowledge acquisition which is greater than physical strength.

As youths your knowledge is limited. Because of the exposure some of you have, you think you know so much, but the truth is that there is still a lot you have to learn from your parents, teachers and the society at large.

You need to be willing to learn for you to be empowered. There are so many life lessons you need to learn so that you don’t make the same mistake many of us made. You need to know that life is a long race, hence get the necessary strength for the journey ahead.

Those who have the task of empowering the youths must not fail in this crucial task. The Bible says teach your children the way to go, when they grow, they will not depart from it.

Career Opportunities Career opportunities are the various opportunities that abound. You need to know them before making up your mind on what you want to be. As youths many usually aspire for some careers because of what they see around them. Some of you want to be like your parents or people you know. There is nothing wrong with that, but you need enough information to know not only what you want to be but what you need to do to accomplish your career dreams.

Every career has its requirements in terms of subjects you have to pass at SSCE levels and personal attributes you must have to succeed in your chosen career.

You need to know all the subject combinations and pass them excellently because of the stiff competition to get admission into higher institutions.

Let me make it clear that there is no alternative to education if you want to succeed in whatever career you want to choose. Even to be a Pastor, you need more than the Holy Spirit to succeed. Footballers and Musicians who are not educated don’t usually end well as they have nothing to fall back to when they are no longer as popular as they used to be.

One clear advantage you all have is that careers have become more diversified unlike before when it was only prestigious to be a Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, Accountant and a few other well known professions.

My appeal, especially to parents is that we should not force our children to study courses they don’t have the capacity or passion for. They don’t have to study what we only think is good for them, but what they are excited about and can cope with. Of course we must guide them, give them the necessary information and prayerfully help them to choose careers of their choice.

Contemporary world In our contemporary world, there are lots of challenges which the youths have to learn to cope with and overcome. This is why you have to be empowered not to be overwhelmed with the new world we live in.

You simply must be the best to accomplish your goals.

My advice is that at this stage of your life your academic pursuit should be your priority.

Without education you cannot go far in the long run. Now is the time to acquire academic knowledge and other relevant skills that will help you.

There is time for everything.

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Festus Eriye efestus2003@yahoo.com sms only: 08116759748

F

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Comment & Analysis

OR mischief makers religion is always a useful tool. That point was hammered home again in the Nigerian Senate last week when in the course of retouching a section of the constitution dealing with citizenship lawmakers veered off course.

Today, senators find themselves battling the backlash from outraged Nigerians who say their action opened a loophole for people to legally take child brides.

Although they insist they didn’t lower the age of consent or amend the Child Rights Act, Senate President David Mark has admitted many of his Muslim colleagues were blackmailed into voting a certain way once former Zamfara State Governor Ahmed Sani Yerima introduced religious sentiments.

That a group of people at that level could blithely ignore the serious ramifications, and endorse a clause that is open to all sorts of interpretations, underlines the power of religion.

It is not only in the Senate that badly-managed religion is playing havoc with people’s lives. This Thursday, August 1, a Sharia Court in Bida, Niger State, will rule whether one Charity Uzoechina, a 24-year old student of the Federal Polytechnic in the town, will be allowed to return home to her parents.

The case has been rumbling for months, and revolves around Uzoechina’s alleged renunciation of Christianity and embrace of Islam.

Her father, Raymond Uzoechina, a pastor with The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Abuja, denies his daughter converted to Islam, alleging she was hypnotised and kidnapped, and is being held captive in the palace of the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar.

For his part, the traditional ruler claims Charity, or ‘Aisha’ as she’s now called, was not being held against her will. He has presented legal documents where Charity claims to have converted to Islam and says her father could

The strange case of Charity Uzoechina kill her for the move. That threat ostensibly prodded her to seek protection from the Palace and the Sharia Court.

The court duly obliged, ordering “that the custody of the plaintiff be entrusted in the hand of Etsu Nupe for the time being and the Etsu Nupe should employ a qualified Islamic scholar who will be teaching her and showing her what the Islamic customs is all about and the plaintiff can even be watching and selecting a man of her choice whom she will want to marry as her partner.”

While the Sharia Court is already making marriage plans for her, Charity has dropped out of school and remains holed up in the Etsu Nupe’s palace.

Pastor Uzoechina vehemently denies the version of events as retailed by the palace and the court. On the day when that ruling was given he was not present. He rejects talk that the Emir tried to broker peace between him and his daughter – insisting that the last time he saw Charity she had an emotional breakdown.

“My daughter was crying when we saw her. They never allowed us speak with her. It is not true that the royal father invited me and the girl for talks, with the hope of reconciling us. On March 2, I came to the palace and was taken before the Etsu Nupe. The Etsu Nupe never asked the girl to go back home with me as claimed,” he said in The Nation this week.

In the four months over which this controversy has raged, virtually everyone has had their say. Charity’s father, as is to be expected, has been vocal in expressing his outrage. President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, to whom he ran for help, has been relentless in demanding

answers.

His intervention provoked a response from the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). Both the Sharia Court and the Etsu Nupe have also tried to defend themselves.

The only missing voice in the hubbub is the most critical – Charity’s.

Third parties have been regaling us with what she said or didn’t say. But this needless controversy can be cleared up in a minute if the lady at the center of the storm would be allowed by those in whose custody she presently is, to speak for herself.

Every side claims to be telling the truth and yet we know there can only be one version of the truth. The only person who can clear things up is not being allowed to speak. All those interested in the unvarnished truth ought to ask why?

Section 38 (1) of the 1999 constitution provides for freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change one’s religion or belief. It also allows us to propagate our religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

However, in canvassing one’s beliefs there’s no room for coercion. Uzoechina’s claim that his daughter was abducted is very grave.

Kidnapping is a criminal offence. The fact that neither the parents nor the Etsu Nupe can agree on the circumstances that caused Charity to wind up in the palace ought to attract more than cursory interest from the police. That is assuming they can export the same zeal with which they are ‘enforcing the rule of law’ in Rivers State to probing a matter involving a high profile traditional ruler in Niger State.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) ought also to be very interested for

The only missing voice in the hubbub is the most critical – Charity’s. Third parties have been regaling us with what she said or didn’t say. But this needless controversy can be cleared up in a minute if the lady at the center of the storm would be allowed by those in whose custody she presently is, to speak for herself

we might just have on our hands an egregious case of violation of a citizen’s rights.

There are issues about the legal process that judicial authorities need to look into. For example, what notion of justice makes it acceptable to drag a Christian before a Sharia Court?

Does any court under our constitution have the power to circumscribe a person’s liberty just to propagate a religious belief? Does any court have the power to assume custody of an adult who has not committed any crime? Under which law can a court commit an adult into the care of a traditional ruler?

We need to understand whether justice is being served in this case or whether this is another manifestation of impunity for which present day Nigeria is becoming notorious.

Uzoechina alleges that he has not received fair hearing. He claims not to have been served notice of hearing and that the same day – March 4, the complaint was presented before court, judgment was given and executed. Those who exercise oversight over the courts ought to investigate this.

We must acknowledge that the individual involved in not a minor but 24 years old.

Even then she was living with her parents and was still responsible to them. She may be old enough to take her own decisions – assuming she did indeed convert – but her father and mother were entitled to an explanation. The absence of such a discussion will make any parent suspicious. This is especially so given that reports of forced conversions are rife in the north.

Despite the Etsu Nupe’s protestations there are just too many unanswered questions and posers. As the girl’s father has pointed out, even if Charity wants to practice Islam, it doesn’t have to be under the Emir’s roof. His home is not a government remand center.

This whole business is not positive for the traditional ruler. The Etsu Nupe stool is one of the most respected in the country. He doesn’t need this messy controversy to drag on. He can control the damage being done to his image by setting Charity free.

• THIS COLUMN WILL BE ON BREAK FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

15

No cover for paedophiles P

Senate must expunge section of the constitution seemingly encouraging underage marriage

RIOR to the decision of the Senate on section 29 (4) (b) of the Constitution on July 13, there was no controversy over the marriage age under Nigerian laws. It was generally believed that anyone under 18 could not legally contract marriage in any part of the country, and hardly had anyone misconstrued the section on renunciation of citizenship in the constitution as suggesting that a minor could be legitimately married under the extant laws.

Even in the outcry over the marriage contracted by former Zamfara State Governor Ahmed Sani Yerima, no Muslim cleric came to his defence citing that section of the law. The denunciation came from all sides of the religious divide in the country.

However, when the former governor called for a revisit of an earlier decision of the upper legislative chamber to delete the ‘offending’ section, an unwary Senate danced to the tune called by the Zamfara West senator, apparently beclouded by selfish interest. Senate President David Mark and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, have attributed the decision to blackmail by Yerima and his cohorts, promising to revisit the resolution.

Yerima found support from Danjuma Goje, a former senator of Gombe State who contended that the section offered a cover for Muslims who may choose to get married to girls under the age of 18. The subsection states that, “Any woman who married shall be deemed to be of full age.”

Explaining what happened, Senator Mark said: “We wanted to remove it but it failed, we were a total of 101 Senators, 85 voted and I think about six or so abstained. There was hardly any dissenting vote but once it got mixed up with so many other issues, it didn’t get the required 73 votes anymore.

“So, first of all, I think the castigation outside is done out of misunderstanding, but because a religious connotation was brought into it, which

I

MPROVING the nation’s education sector has become one of the most contentious issues in the country.

After several years of neglect, Nigerians from all walks of life are enthusiastic about the total revival of the education sector.

Since the return to democracy, the executive and the legislative arm of government have been battling to ensure that the sector becomes the pride of the nation once again.

The factors that have subdued the development of the nation’s education sector are well known to every stakeholder. These reasons for the failure of the system are recounted at every forum and the picture clearly painted on the sorry state of the sector.

The National Education Summit organised by the House of Representative Committee on Education was no different. The stakeholders who participated at the historic summit were drawn from the universities, polytechnics, basic education institutions, research institutions, parastatals, the executive and legislative arms of government.

The interactions at the House of Representatives initiative were frank and productive. Participants agreed quite early in the day to focus on the prospects of resolving the challenges of the education sector, rather than dwell on the sorry nature of the sector, without clear-cut means of achieving the required improvement.

is a very sensitive issue and you must agree with me that in this country, we try as much as possible not to bring issues that involve faith to the floor of the Senate and indeed the chamber, we keep religion completely out of it because what is good for a Christian is also good for a Muslim.

It is unfortunate that such an important institution of state could make such a shocking confession. How mature are the men and women elected to perform the task of making laws for the entire country? Why would they be so easily blackmailed by a senator whose interest is hardly disguised? How does the rigmarole- the deletion, restoration and the promised revisit portray the “distinguished” senators?

It is cold comfort to argue that the amendment would not affect the status of existing laws on the agreed marriage age, safeguard of the girl child and protection of Nigerian children. Yerima had a game plan and got his colleagues who were aware of the plot to support him; otherwise, how did a Senate that realised that the subsection was superfluous get persuaded to overturn a popular decision?

The uproar created by that cruel action is welcome. It took a visit to the Senate President

by Minister of Women Affairs Zainab Maina, TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

head of the National Human Rights Commission Professor Chidi Odinkalu, Mrs. Maryam Uwais and Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, to extract the promise that the lid had not been put on the unacceptable resolution.

It is however interesting that the people of Ondo Central whose representative voted for the iniquitous reinstatement of the section have called Senator Ayo Akinyelure to order. As they berated the senator for acting against cherished values of the people, he reportedly wept and apologised for his action, pleading that he was misled. This is the way forward for our fledgling democracy. Representatives in the legislative houses must regularly give account of their stewardship. Akinyelure now knows that his constituents are following his actions in the Senate and will not hesitate to invoke the relevant sections of the constitution to recall him in the event that he betrays the cause and joins in doing violence to the interest of the nation. It is not enough that the weeping senator has been called to order; he should be made to give a full account of what transpired in the Senate that day. His people deserve to know what the issues were, how he got converted to what obviously is the scheme of a paedophile and what he intends to do now to undo the vile deed. Only then would he deserve a pardon and told to “go and sin no more”.

At a time when violation of minors is on the increase in our country and all over the world, we frown at the action of the Senate and call for immediate removal of the section. By the debate, action and inaction of the upper legislative house, the phrase has lost its innocence and has made the position of the law on such an important issue ambiguous and thus negates the good of the society.

The constitution must be rid of offending sections, subsections, provisos and phrases in the ongoing amendment process.

LETTERS

Dialogue for national educational development

success of programmes and policies designed specifically to lift education from its present unenviable state.

It was agreed that the platform created by the House Committee on Education for the cross fertilisation of ideas on the development of education was a right step in the right direction. The House being one of the pillars of democracy, participants agreed, provided the podium for most stakeholders to push their suggestions for improvements.

The democratisation of the education development process under the current administration is indeed progressive.

At the summit, one clear point was thrown up. Most of the stakeholders erroneously insist that almost every single challenge confronting the education sector should be placed at the doorstep of the Federal Government. Challenges such as the decay of primary and secondary school infrastructure were freely placed at the doorstep of the Federal Government.

However, a major takeaway at the summit was the resolution that the amendment of the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, Act should be fast-tracked to ensure that the

senior secondary level of education is legally accommodated. The deputy chairman of the House Committee on Education, Dr Rose Okoh, informed that the amendment has reached an advance stage; with deliberation at the plenary being the very last hurdle.

The lead paper and keynote address at the meeting was delivered by the Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike.

The principal thought placed on the table for deliberation by the minister was the fact that states, local councils

E

Anambra 2014: The candidates and electorate

LECTION period is usually very much anticipated and expectations high, this applies to both developed and developing nations.

The reason is simple; people always crave change irrespective of the conditions they currently live in. For those living in desperate situations, the desire for change is also desperate. The latter seem to apply to the present situation we live in, considering the high level of insecurity and mismanagement in the country. Until we realize this we may not do the right thing at the right time. Although the country’s democracy is still very young, it is not an excuse to

continue to allow clueless politicians run the government else we head towards an imminent end to the fragile peace we currently enjoy.

In a few months another governorship election would be held in Anambra State and up till this day we do not know all the candidates that are interested in the post. In more civilized countries, candidates would have shown interest and would have started campaigning. The electorates would have known the candidates and their manifestos. A date for an initial debate would have been fixed and

and other stakeholders should raise the bar as regards their implementation of programmes and policies aimed at improving the quality of education across the country.

To the minister, the profound investments and successes recorded by the Jonathan administration in the last two years in the education arena would only be appreciated when other tiers of government start playing their legal roles.

He declared that the massive transformation and reforms of the education sector being implemented by the Presi-

the parties would have held their primaries or at least know all those that are interested.

Anambra Lineage Forum has noticed the posters of some candidates within the state. Posters of Senator Chris Ngige, Walter Uba Okeke, Uche Ekwenefi, Afam Ogene, Mr Obi Obigbolu, Chief Mike Okoye, Chika Jerry, Dubem Obaze, who is current Secretary to the Anambra State Government and Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah are the only ones seen for now. Unlike the others, posters of Ubah were also seen in Yenagoa environs. Out of curiosity, Anambra Lineage

dent Goodluck Jonathan administration in the near future have positive multiplier effect on the nation’s development process. Barr. Wike stated that the administration’s Four Year Strategic Plan on the education sector is part of 10year year rolling plan aimed at placing education at the frontburner of national rebirth.

The minister stated that all stakeholders in the education sector must take responsibility for the general decay that the sector has witnessed over the years and join hands with the Jonathan administration for the

Forum (ALF) with the slogan ‘massive ballot protection right’ is responsible for having Ubah’s posters in Bayelsa. ALF is not interested in whom or where the candidate is from but why he/ she has your support. Thereafter questions like; are these candidates interested in contesting or are they being coaxed, is their support based on hitherto knowledge of the personality and his/her capacity to deliver on commitments. ALF is committed in ensuring that the right thing is done and that whoever emerges as the future governor is someone that can be trusted to

- Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of State for Education, Abuja.

deliver on his promises, someone that is steadfast and would not compromise. We also want to stress that interested candidates should make themselves known and a debate should be organized and coordinated by a competent body in other to assess the level of exposure and experience each have. That way the electorates would be rest assured they are voting for the right person.

Chief Ndubuisi Elodimuo Chukwudi Okaigbo Chairman Secretary

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16

Comment & Analysis

Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

T

HERE are minor and major matters arising from the Senate's recent attempt to cleanse the 1999 Constitution of gender bias or discrimination with respect to constitutional provisions on eligibility of citizens to renounce Nigerian citizenship. Some of the matters address surface issues while others make visible some aspects of the constitution that stand federalism on its head.

With respect to surface issues, one matter that has arisen is the attempt

by Ondo Central Senatorial District voters to invoke the sovereignty located in the citizenry. They had rightly called their senator to order and to find out why he voted for an issue that attempts to subvert their longstanding values. On his part, the Senator has rightlyopened up by acknowledging that he voted in error. As there is no human being that is above mistake, it is expected that the enlightened voters in Ondo Central would have no difficulty accepting their senator's open acceptance of acting in error. What is reassuring about the Akure town hall meeting with their senator is that voters and their senator came to an agreement on whose views should determine representative's voting pattern in a democracy.

Unlike the focused discussion between the senator and stakeholders in his constituency, another matter pertains to the claim by senate spokesmen that the section of the constitution at issue is an innocuous one that

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

A

T no time since the civil war was Nigeria in more perilous times than now. A new report entitled 'Nigerian Unity in the Balance', authored for the United States Army War College has, again, warned Nigerian leaders to beware of another civil war or an outright break-up following what it called ongoing divisive trends in the country. The report, released by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S War College, was written by two former American servicemen, Gerald McLaughlin and Clarence J. Bouchat.

The foreword written by the Director, Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College, Professor Douglas Lovelace, observed that secessionist tendencies are endemic in Nigeria. Under such stresses, it emphasised, Nigerian unity may fail.

Should Nigerian leaders mismanage the political economy and reinforce centrifugal forces in the country, Nigeria could break up along its previously identified fault lines, the report concluded. Unfortunately, in Nigeria where we are content with living in denial, presidential spokespersons will readily lecture you as to how 'political wrangling among competing interests has no consequences on the nation's political stability whatsoever'.

Conversely, unlike us Nigerians, Americans scholars don't just talk; rather they talk, based on observable and verifiable facts which are then subjected to serious interrogation at the end of which the most likely probabilities are drawn.

In tandem with these American views, a Nigerian Oxford scholar, Dr Antony Akinola, recently observed as follows on our current circumstances: "At the national level, we are

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Renunciation of citizenship: matters arising

has nothing to do with underage marriage, which is deemed to have been overtaken by the Child Act of 2003 which states inter alia: "No person under the age of 18 years is capable of contracting a valid marriage and accordingly, any marriage so contracted is null and void and of no effect whatsoever." Section 29 (4) may not be as innocuous as senators who argue that the matter they considered had nothing to do with child marriage imagine. Is the section at issue not inconsistent with the spirit of the Child Act of 2003 or vice versa? If the act being invoked is superior, then the provision that a married woman shall be deemed to be an adult and thus eligible to renounce her citizenship should not have arisen, on the account that if the person wishing to renounce her citizenship is an underage woman who happens to be married, such marriage should in tune with the spirit of the Child Act of 2003 be null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

If anything, the principle of constitutional supremacy well captured under the General Provisions section: "If any other law is inconsistent with the provision of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void. It is conceivable for constitutional strict constructionists to argue that the Child Act of 2003 that says any marriage by any woman under 18 is null and void and the section of the Constitution that says that a woman regardless of her age who is married shall enjoy the privileges of an adult: renunciation of Nigerian citizenship, are inconsistent. Should this happen, Section 29 (4b) might be deemed to be superior to the Child Act of 2003.It is, therefore, right for the senate to

A central constitution should reflect core values common to all the parts of the whole

opt to remove the section 28(4b), to obviate any ambiguity and to also make the provision gender-neutral.

Another matter that has arisen most recently is the acceptance by the President of the Senate that the senators were blackmailed into re-inserting the provision that women who are married regardless of their age should be deemed as adults, even when they are not up to 18 years of age. More reassuring is the Senate President's promise that the senate would look for opportunities to reverse itself on the decision to retain the provision at issue in the constitution, after having failed to do so as a result of blackmail.

One matter arising that appears to have escaped the attention of the media and media pundits is the confusion inherent in the 1999 Constitution itself, especially its unwillingness to reflect the federal character of the country. It is not surprising that this aspect is overlooked by commentators who do not want to be seen as raising issues about the country's diversity and the possibility of such interrogation's capacity to heat the polity. But the voting patterns have unearthed the issue of the failure of the current constitution to reflect the country's cultural diversity. But the fact that only two senators from the South (one from Edo and the other from Ondo) out of the 73 senators

voted to retain section 29(4b) indicates visible ideological or value differences between the North and South of the country, a natural illustration of cultural diversity.

If the provision of this section pertains to religious sensibilities, many of the senators from the South are Moslems and should have voted for retention of section 20(4b). It must be cultural: one section of the country appears to believe that women should have the same rights as their male counterparts, including the opportunity to acquire education that can enrich their citizenship and humanity. The other section appears to favour a constitution that gives men the opportunity to marry women who have not attained the age of majority while also wishing that female victims of underage marriage should keep some of the privileges that accrue only to citizens above 18 years of age. It is important for a federal constitution to allow parts of the whole to keep values that are dear to them without giving the impression that such values apply to other sections of the federation. For example, in the United States, California does not accept capital punishment while Texas does. Conflict is prevented by allowing each state to have its own constitution.

A central constitution should reflect core values common to all the

parts of the whole. Embedding culture-specific practices of a section in a national constitution shows bias. The section that allows women who are married to have the privilege of renouncing their citizenship while other women or men of their age in other cultures do not have that privilege is clearly partial to the cultures of Northern Nigeria. Given the history of the current constitution as a document that was imposed on the nation by military autocrats, it is not unexpected that such provisions exist in a constitution authored by military dictators. What should not be expected in the second decade after the exit of military dictatorship is for elected lawmakers to assign a sacred status to a constitution imposed on the nation, even if this had happened through blackmail,to cite the Senate President's assessment.

The fundamental issue calling for attention is the rightness in having a federal constitution that reflects only the values of a section of the country.

Whatever might have been the motivation for Senator Yerima's objection to removal of section 29(4b), the result of the votes to uphold Yerima's objection or blackmail suggests that Yerima must have spoken for about half of the nation, the section of the country that produced 71of the 73 votes cast to sustain Yerima's position. If anything, what happened in the senate in respect of section 29(4b) indicates that the current structure of governance cannot be made any more federal by the lawmakers elected under the 1999 Constitution. It may be better for political leaders to stop playing the Ostrich on the issue of the demand for a properly negotiated constitution, first for the country as a whole and, second, for each of its constituent parts.

The gathering storm Therefore at the Nigeria Governors' Forum, the president is backing those who stand logic and common sense on the head, claiming, tenaciously, that 16 is greater than 19 getting more and more divided on sectional, ethnic and religious bases during Jonathan's regime than at any other time in our national history.

The Nigeria Governors' Forum is fractured; further bringing out the divisive tendencies in the polity. The governing party itself is fissured, wobbling towards collapse. The president has had to assume emergency powers, the most extreme of presidential powers, to provide security, failing even the most basic ingredient of governance, that of passing national budget,'' even in the third quarter of the financial year.

Neither Papa Edwin Clark nor Asari Dokubo is helping matters with their bellicose tantrums. The north is not sitting idle. But while the north is yet at the visualising stage, the presidency has moved, deliberately stoking the fires of avoidable conflagration all over the place. And to them it matters not if that move is the most banal or the most illogical, as long as they can show us they are in power. Therefore at the Nigeria Governors' Forum, the president is backing those who stand logic and common sense on the head, claiming, tenaciously, that 16 is greater than 19 and, funny enough, a whole state governor permits himself to be so paraded. From there their agents have gone to the Rivers State House of Assembly, desecrated it under the watchful eyes of a federal agent, doubling as a police commissioner. Also, in Rivers State, in what has become the norm, the presidency is earnestly backing those who claim that 5 is greater than 27 and Mr President is believed to have since received in the Villa that great joke - one Evans Bipi - who claims he is Speaker and mouthing the profanity that Mrs Jonathan, the President's wife, is his Jesus, albeit with a small

j. And you can bet that if push comes to shove, the state police commissioner will be backing him all the way in that ludicrous claim. But that wasn't the first time either.

Before inviting Gov Jang to the Villa Mr. President had first recognised him as his own NGF chairman at the PDP Family Dinner at which Baba Anenih pretended to be the seminal author of the automatic nomination idea even when he was nothing more than a puppet. A perspicacious scholar has recently asked if there would be a President Jonathan today if Chief Clark had succeeded in his 'Gowon forever' campaign of the '60's or Anenih in both his Abacha forever campaign as well as his support for Obasanjo's ill-fated Third Term Project.

Now, while the north is restive and both the east and the south south appear to be working in tandem, mum is the word in the southwest and since nature abhors a vacuum, the presidency is assiduously working on how to use the zone as its launching pad for 2015. Today, all manner of discredited politicians attend Afenifere meetings just as some otherwise respected elders, who had, without a doubt, rendered sterling services in the cause of the Yoruba, are being had on the cheap for no other reason than to weaken the region ahead of the 2015 agenda. How, for instance, were some of the elders going to fund the spurious 'political parties' they are exhuming or claim to champion if not through some underhand means like the so-called oil security contract, since hopefully successfully shot down, and, what electoral purpose are they supposed to serve other than act as agent provocateurs and spoilers of the majority wish of our people in the region?

Today, no thanks to them, there is

not a single Yoruba leader who can successfully call a meeting of Yorubas across the political divide except in a dire emergency which we do not pray for.

But it would still have been tolerable if the presidency was content to stop at that. Rather, they have much more dangerous designs on the southwest beginning from the 2014 governorship elections in both Ekiti and Osun states during which they intend to test run their 2015 do-ordie but extremely risky electoral shenanigans, using none other than some Yoruba politicians, in the typical 'use a monkey to catch a monkey' scenario.

As at the moment, the story in town in Ekiti is that the President is rooting for his one-time benefactor, and now Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt Caleb Olubolade, which we learn is why one of their candidates, former governor Ayo Fayose, who believes he stands the best chance to square up to the sitting governor in the election, is dead set against a consensus candidate. He has just now been suspended. But also going the rounds, is the whispering information that the President is keen on supporting Olubolade so that once the minister resigns, he would be gifted the opportunity to name a 'do or die' member of the colony of Ekiti PDP gubernatorial wannabes as the new minister whose primary duty, he would be instructed, is to 'win' Ekiti for the PDP, no matter how.

This should not come as a surprise because Obasanjo had set that precedent. Determined to win Ekiti for PDP in 2007, he manufactured the inchoate impeachment of Governor Ayo Fayose so he could put his kinsman, the Emergency Administrator, in place to ensure that. The events of

the night of the election, 14 April, 2007, when results dramatically changed when Ekitis were already dancing on the streets for Dr Fayemi's victory, more than confirmed that.

And Nigerians know all that followed.

Today, things are worse for the PDP in the southwest and in Ekiti, in particular. Apart from PDP's utter confusion as a party, Ekitis have come to see and know the meaning of multisectoral development and the finer differences between PDP and AC N. Thanks to the administration of Dr John Kayode Fayemi. It is therefore in the best interests of professional riggers, and do and die politicians, no matter how seemingly powerful, not to think of any 'Fehingbepon', meaning, there would be no room here in the southwest for any act of impunity.

Two egregious errors Last Sunday, on the Law makers' salaries the following explanatory words: "figures represent proportion of persons per GPD', was mistakenly cut off.

Also, I wrote that Professor Oritshajolomi Thomas was sacked on 17 November, 1973. No, it should have read 17, November, 1975.

Both errors are duly regretted.

Arthur Medeiros, adieu We lost a wonderful friend this past week. We are here referring to the likes of Chief Bayo Famotibe, Engr Dave Oni, the Oniwinde twin brothers, Taiwo and Kehinde (Junior), and, of course, Akin Medeiros, his own brother and Mrs Bimbo Johnson, his niece. Arthur, a dashingly handsome and absolutely gregarious young man in our Apapa road days, when COOL CATS INN was our watering hole, passed on as a result of complications arising from a stroke which he suffered some years back. We will sure miss him.

We commiserate with the family he left behind: the wife, the children, Kemi and Femi, the grandchildren and his siblings.

May the good Lord rest him.

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Tunji

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

I

N one breath, it is good to commend the five northern governors who, seeing the way the country is drifting like a rudderless ship, took the matter to three of the country's former heads of state. Yet, in another breath, one could also query the wisdom behind the decision. In a country where birds are no longer singing like birds and rats are not crying like rats, that is exactly what to do: look for people with the experience to intervene and get the country back on track. It is only when there are no elders that a country goes into ruins; it is also when the family head is no more that the house becomes desolate. Nigeria, as it is today is like the proverbial child strapped into its mother's back but with its head bent.

When that happens, then the elders around have become the exact opposite of what true elders should be.

The governors in question are Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano).

Nyako was not at the meeting held last Monday, which lasted two hours at the Presidential Lodge in Minna, the Niger State capital as he was reported to have been held back in Yola by a meeting with a Camerounian envoy. He was however represented by his deputy.

They met with Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar. The good thing about the development is that the five governors are all of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The

Postscript, Unlimited!

By

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

I

STILL have a vivid picture in my mind of my growing up years in my village when we girls of roughly the same age (yes, agemates, thank you very much for that word of dubious origin), would gather together to do things: fetch water from the stream, run errands, giggle at our elders or just share girlish giggles that no sane adult could put any logic to. We were young, foolish and free. We were girls. We were friends.

I have stolen these two posters from the internet because they both illustrate today's topic; that's right, every bit of it. Now, I understand that the international day of the girl is supposed to be celebrated sometime in October (I assure you, we will mark the day here) but I could not resist the link between the poster on the girl-child and the poster on friendship, the international day of which is to be celebrated on Tuesday, July 30. If you're reading my mind as surely as I am reading it just now, I think our little cartoon girl is demonstrating to her friends not only a picture of what she is but also what she wants to be in the future: a queen pronouncing OFF WITH HER HEAD! Trust me, when we girls get together, we fill our mutual heads with all kinds of dreams, hopes and aspirations.

Funny thing is, some of our child-

17

Clinging to the serpent for help That govs had to rush to IBB and OBJ to save democracy shows the depth we have sunk governors had earlier paid a similar visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on July 20.

The visits afforded these former leaders the opportunity to play the roles they hardly could play well.

General Babangida in particular must have relished the visit because it afforded him an opportunity to come into national limelight once again.

Hear him: "I want to commend the governors and some of their colleagues. I was very impressed because they have seen the problem of the country as our problem and they have taken the right steps to consult widely in trying to find solution to some of these problems.

"These governors are real patriots and I am very happy and I told them so," Gen. Babangida said after the meeting.

Now, what are Babangida's antecedents? This is a man on whom we can write volumes without making reference to any library. This is a man who had all the opportunity in the world to write his name in gold but chose, rather, for selfish reason, to write it on the marble of infamy. If we look at his economic programme, the so-called Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP); it was a monumental failure. It was during his reign that the country's currency lost its essence and it has never recovered from the slide of that era. In

Babangida's time, his go the slumber to talk about corruption despite the fact that the issue had become a cankerworm then.

Babangida, perhaps, might have been forgiven for all of his maladministration if only he had honoured his promise to hand over to a democratically elected government. But, rather than do that, he chose to scuttle the process in spite of the billions that his government sank into a transition programme that failed, in line with the design of the evil genius. Babangida kept shifting the goal post, banning and unbanning politicians depending on his whims and caprices. As is usual with all evil geniuses, Babangida eventually shot himself in the foot when the June 12, 1993 election finally held in a peaceful atmosphere, contrary to the chaos that the Babangida government had expected. After failing to stop the election via a kangaroo court ruling on the eve of the election, and seeing that Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola was coasting to victory, Babangida summoned the courage to finally annul the result of the election, adjudged the fairest and freest in the country's history. Now how can a man with this kind of antecedent save democracy?

In the same vein, if it takes the deep to communicate with the deep, I do not know what lesson someone

“Politicians in the country have to ponder this sad development. By going to Babangida and Obasanjo in search of solution to democratic challenges is indication of how things have degenerated in the country. It shows the depth to which we have sunk as a people�

like Chief Obasanjo wants to teach when the issue is democracy. His eight-year tenure, from 1999 to 2007 was replete with various acts that were detrimental to democratic ethos.

Is it his seizure of Lagos funds for months that we want to commend?

Or the illegal manner by which some governors were removed by people backed by the Obasanjo presidency.

As a matter of fact, this is the script that his estranged political son, President Goodluck Jonathan, has been playing and which is now heating the polity unduly. He did it in his home state of Bayelsa and got away with it. Now, he is experimenting with it in Rivers State, where he wants to remove the democratically elected governor, Rotimi Amaechi, by hook or crook.

Although Jonathan's presidency has continued to deny its involvement in the Rivers fracas, the more it does that, the more opprobrium it gets from Nigerians who are seeing through the presidency's hands in all the shenanigans going on in that state.

When the president of the federal republic descends so low as to be involved in the politics of a mere governors' club and he gets rubbished in the process, whose fault is that?

And, if the presidency still has not learnt its lesson and be able to truly gauge its true worth in the eye of the average Nigerian correctly, then it should have no one but itself to blame for whatever disgrace it attracts to itself. It is this Dance Macabre by the presidency that has made the five governors rush to where there can never be salvation in search of solution to some self-inflicted crises.

That is the kind of thing that happens when one is caught up in the circle of confusion. The tendency is for such a drowning person not to mind clinging even to a serpent for

help. Going to Babangida and Obasanjo to help solve problems of democratic nature is akin to asking someone to give what he does not have. Clearly, these two generals do not have any answer to the problems we have at this point in time. The only good thing working for General Abubakar is the fact that he promised to hand over the reins of power to a democratic government and he did within what we considered a reasonable time. But the choice of the then powers-thatbe (Obasanjo) has turned out to be a disaster. But, if we can give General Abubakar the benefit of the doubt; we cannot for Generals Obasanjo and Babangida. Indeed, but for our common resolve, Babangida would have returned after he was forced to 'step aside' in August 1993.

Nigerians seem unanimous in telling Babangida that 'you step aside today, 'you step aside forever'.

In like manner, Obasanjo would have got a third term through the back door if we were not resolute in saying 'no'.

Politicians in the country have to ponder this sad development. By going to Babangida and Obasanjo in search of solution to democratic challenges is indication of how things have degenerated in the country. It shows the depth to which we have sunk as a people because, apart from General Abubakar, the other two generals are in the red in terms of goodwill and can therefore not draw anything from its bank.

We gave them enough rope to tie themselves and they did not disappoint us. How then can they be the ones to rescue democracy, the very thing on whose grave they danced naked in their eras in government and in power?

Of friends, girls and fat, old men

The idea of marrying some old man fills most girls with horror right enough that they close their eyes, throw back their heads, stand with arms akimbo, and pronounce with every little strength their puny chests will allow: NO WAY; HE-E-E-E-EAVEN FORBID! ish dreams come true. I know someone who declared when she was young that she was going to visit Europe and would even be paid to live there by that country. Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you that the said lady did visit Europe on the invitation of the host country exactly as our little queen pronounced. I know another lady who said she was going to marry a real prince when she grew up. Hold your breath, reader, while I tell you that the little mouth did grow up to marry one. She still reigns as a venerable queen of her little kingdom somewhere in the...

Oh, wouldn't you just like to know! I tell you, there is no end to the dreams that ooze out of the heads of our young ones. But you will agree they are beautiful dreams, no? Te Hee! Hee! Anyway, one thing that is common to all the girls I have ever had the honour of speaking to, however is what is certainly an anti-dream for all girls: the idea of marrying any fat, old man is hideous. The idea fills most girls with horror right enough that they close their eyes, throw back their heads, stand with arms akimbo, and pronounce with every little strength their puny chests will allow: NO WAY; HE-E-E-E-EAVEN FORBID! Oh, yes, it's just like the girl in our poster is doing right above.

So, in this what is probably Planet Earth's Last Millennium, when men of science and philosophy are busy scraping the bottom of their brains' barrels for solutions to world aches and pains such as ozone layer depletion, AIDS, how to air-condition the roads, or make my computer go as

fast as my brain (or is it the other way round now?), our esteemed but not inestimable senators here in Nigeria are busy elsewhere. They are very, very busy scraping the bottom of their brain barrels for only one thing: how to make it possible for fat, old, tottering men to legally get young girls into their fat, old, wrinkled arms in unholy wedlock! Now, who would ever think that such an important topic can be turned down?

Certainly not me.

Come now, sayeth the Holy Book, let us reason together on this thing.

Does it seem right to continue to sacrifice the purity of our nation's youths for the satiation of spent forces (terminology for old men) who have never been of any use to this country, their community or even their families except to attract infamy?

Does it seem right for us as a nation to continue to watch while these bright young girls are condemned to lives of pain, diseases, discomfort, mutilation and sadness over some men's senseless base needs in the loins?

Many years ago, I watched in horror as a documentary detailed the very traumatic physical, psychological and emotional experiences that

young girls given out in early marriage go through. I was surprised to find that the documentary had been shot in northern Nigeria. It was so bad, the documentary showed, that there is an entire hospital dedicated to the cases of VVF, the common problem that such girls have to endure as a result of early childbirth, often through their entire lives. Naturally, the indignation increases when one remembers that the problems are not only man-made, literally, but are completely avoidable. What kind of beasts lived in our men to cause such problems, I mused then?

Obviously, the kind of beasts that lived in men then still lives in them now, going by last week's announced gloss-over by the senate of the offensive section of the constitution which allows girl-marriage. Our Nigerian senators would no doubt like to be seen as wizened old foxes. That announcement, however, did nothing but show them up, particularly in those from the north where this culture of girl-marriage is prevalent, as devious, old epicureans that history can't wait to quickly spew into Freud's 'Ich vergessen' (I forget) zone.

I think it is time to call in the

exorcist. He is MR. FRIENDSHIP which we are celebrating this next Tuesday. Friendship is the kind of relationship which the heavens themselves rejoice over. It not only lets little girls dream, it lets them bare their dreams so that passing angels can work on them to bring them to pass. It is the kind of relationship that enables us all to view others as potential means of making our dreams come true. Friendship is the kind of relationship that allows everyone in the human race to meld into others in glorious connections with nothing in their minds but purity of purpose. Friendships allow the world to go on because they allow us a fodder to use, lean on, cry on, lift up, be lifted by, kick dust with, dream with, share with, give to, be given things by, laugh with, laugh at, and just generally share the sunset with. It brings out the best in us.

It is not enough in this world to simply have friends. It is more important to be the friend that your friend has. The world needs good friends. Everyone needs good friends. Little girls, who are given out in marriage to old men who are in diapers for incontinence before the poor little things can finish counting the beads on a counting board, need friends. Our little princesses need friends right now among our senators, house of representative members, elders, elites, all over Nigeria, be they old, young, fat, thin, black, yellow, or red, in you and me. Let us be the voices for their dreams right now.

18

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

2015: North has no grounds for demanding power

T

HE agitation for power shift being mounted by northern leaders has reached a deafening crescendo. This high octane demand is coming from a section of the country that has held power for nearly 40 out of the 53 years of Nigerian independence. Even more irrational is the fact that this vociferous demand is being couched in terms of the morality of power rotation. But Nigerians ought to understand that as far as central executive power politics in this country is concerned, the only moral imperative is the concession of the presidency to a Nigerian citizen of Igbo extraction.

In a recent public statement credited to “northern leaders”, aspects of which were meant to insult other sections of the country, Professor Ango Abdullahi, the putative spokesman for the “leaders”, said, among other things, that “if you look at other parts of the country that are making noise, they are small enclaves, perhaps may not be bigger than Kaduna State.”

Njiko Igbo accepts that in a democratic setting, it is the political right of every section of this country to aspire to the presidency, but insists that such an aspiration must be based on considerations of the democratic ingredients of justice, equity, fair play and genuine moral conduct. The arrogance that frequently erupts from certain sections of the country is not conducive to the realisation of equality of opportunity in a pluralistic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society such as Nigeria.

To refer to other regions of Nigeria, populated by patriotic and freeborn citizens as mere enclaves is to suggest that such regions are not qualified either to aspire to or to remain in the central executive position in this country. As far as we know, the South-East and South-South are, respectively, the major contenders for the presidency in 2015. To dismiss these regions as mere enclaves and the inhabit-

By Emmanuel Onwe

ants who are seeking the highest office in the land as mere noise makers is the height of arrogance and betrays the imperialistic instincts that have thwarted democracy in this country and retarded its progress.

The demographic superiority claimed for the north is a complete sham because if the regions dismissed as enclaves were to withdraw their support, no northerner can ever fulfil the constitutional requirement to ascend to the presidency of this republic.

This point is proved by historical evidence which shows in crystal clear terms that all northern democratic heads of government had depended on the support of these regions that are now being described as mere enclaves to win general or presidential elections, and to sustain central government.

And practical statistics tell a more powerful story: In the last presidential election, of the 13 states that delivered one million or more votes to any of the presidential aspirants, more than half of them are located in the South. Among those 7 states are Imo, Abia and Anambra.

Others are Delta, Lagos, Rivers and Akwa Ibom all of which drew heavily from the Igbo votes to reach and exceed the one million mark. Furthermore, the northern states that reached the one million landmark also drew heavily from the Igbo votes and they include Plateau, Kaduna, Kano and Bauchi.

In the light of these statistics, therefore, to dismiss the citizens that have such a rich and significant electoral impact as “noise makers” is not only a demonstration of political naïveté and ignorance but amounts also to a total misconception of the dramatically altered post-Boko Haram realpolitik of this nation.

The negotiation of the power equation in this country should not be conducted on the basis of aggression, intimidation, insults or ethno-religious arrogance. It must be done on the basis of mutual respect, understanding and sympathetic consideration of the sensibilities of other elements that make up this complex nation.

The old simple ways must yield to the sophisticated complexities of today. These are serious times ovulating serious issues that require serious people’s attention.

The justifiable anger emanating from those who feel that they were cheated in the power game because ambitious people chose to honour a gentleman’s agreement in the breach should not form the basis for elderly patriots to shut their eyes to the fundamentals of justice and equity as well as the imperatives of morality. Njiko Igbo insists that the only moral imperative in this republic is for an Igbo man or woman to be elected president in 2015.

It bears repeating for the benefit of those who are yet uninformed about Njiko Igbo and its mission: NJIKO IGBO is an organisation dedicated to the struggle for the ascent of a citizen of Igbo extraction to the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015.

We are fully committed to the security and peace of our nation, and to the comradeship of a common justice for all Nigerians. We are neither a political party nor are we affiliated to any political party.

Our primary mission is to enlighten and mobilise the Igbo population, both at home and in the diaspora, to stand firm and united in the pursuit of our collective goal. Our secondary duty is to connect with and persuade the rest of the Nigerian population about the justice of our cause. · Senator Onwe is Director of Operations, Njiko Igbo

America’s ‘stunning betrayal’

T

HE leader of Nigeria’s 80 million Christians travelled to Washington this week and called on the United States to intervene on behalf of persecuted believers in his embattled country.

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday morning before holding a midday press conference to decry the largely unchecked violence in Africa’s most populous country.

“America has a strong history of civil rights and my hope is that our brothers here can awaken the conscience of humanity to stop this genocide,” Oritsejafor said at the National Press Club.

The Islamic group Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sinful,” is primarily responsible for the violence. Its leader, Abubakar Shekau, has said the group will not stop its attacks until Shariah law is instituted across the entire country, instead of only in the northern states.

According to a conservative Associated Press estimate, last year Boko Haram killed about 800 people in hundreds of attacks. The U.S. State Department named it the second-most dangerous terrorist organisation in the world (the Taliban was first) and last month issued a $7 million bounty for the capture of Shekau. But so far, the U.S. has refused to name Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), even though it has issued five such designations since the beginning of 2012 to lesser groups.

“If [Shekau] is a terrorist, what about his organisation?” Oritsejafor asked. “You cannot separate a leader from his organisation.”

On Thursday, Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, the American Centre for Law and Justice and

By J.C. Derrick

eight other organisations submitted a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to designate Boko Haram an FTO. Earlier this year, Sen. Jim Risch, RIdaho, filed a bill that would designate Boko Haram an FTO—which Great Britain did this month. FTO designation would freeze any U.S. assets, institute a travel ban for group leaders, and allow authorities to trace financing and weapons trails. The Nigerian military seized a cache of Hezbollah weapons in May. Risch said in a statement that it is clear Boko Haram meets the criteria of an FTO and is putting U.S. citizens in danger.

The Risch bill has seven cosponsors, all Republicans, but the effort has yet to gain traction with the State Department, which seems to think the problem is an economic one, rather than theological.

Emmanuel Ogebe, a human rights attorney based in Washington, said the State Department has declined to give “any clear and compelling reasons” for refusing the designation. “[State officials] seem to indicate there are good parts of Boko Haram and bad parts of Boko Haram, so they don’t want to alienate the good parts,” he said. “It’s hard to see the good in a group going to schools and killing kids.”

Oritsejafor noted that once all the churches in some areas were destroyed, the terrorists turned their deadly attacks toward schools. He said 50 of the 175 schools in Borno State have now been destroyed.

The country’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, declared a state of emergency in late May for Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, and Oritsejafor said the declaration improved the situation in those areas. Still, he noted—pausing to brush back tears—

the attacks continue and his organisation has lost two officials in the last two months, including a personal friend of his, Faye Musa Pama, Secretary of CAN’s Borno chapter and coordinator of outreach for widows and orphans.

In March, the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN)—CAN’s American counterpart—announced a $50,000 donation to the victims of Boko Haram. Oritsejafor said financial help is critical because “CAN has no money” (he is unpaid and financed his own trip to the U.S.) and is unable to help victims and churches with medical bills and rebuilding efforts. He said the Nigerian government has promised but not delivered assistance to victims—and the U.S. has not offered any humanitarian assistance.

Oritsejafor said about 70 percent of Christian deaths in 2012 were in Northern Nigeria and the church is suffering because of it: “Church attendance in the north is down drastically, [and] it’s beginning to creep into the south.” He said some churches that once had 500 members now may have 30 on a good day, and some pastors will leave their wives and children at home to risk their lives and sit at a church site alone. Some churches have started using metal detectors at entrances, but seeing them scares some people away.

Oritsejafor criticised President Barack Obama for slighting the country by not visiting on his trip to Africa earlier this month. Nigeria is the largest U.S. trade partner in the region, but Obama instead went to Tanzania, South Africa, and Senegal, where he unsuccessfully advocated for the legalisation of homosexuality. “America’s ambivalence on Nigeria is a stunning betrayal,” Oritsejafor said.

Source: World Magazine

Freedom of Information Act and Dictatorship of Corruption and Mediocrity (3) Continued from page 13 of the land, otherwise what you have is not a true democracy but a dictatorship hiding behind the outer forms and shells of democracy.

Invoking the theoretical jargon of radical political economy here, I would argue that our Freedom of Information Act of 2011 presupposes that our country is on the verge of transforming primitive accumulation of the most vicious kind into a modern, market-driven economy in which, in conjunction with cutthroat competition, you have the supremacy of the law.

It is doubtful that our press, our media houses have thought much of these ramifications of the Freedom of Information Act. This is because as much as they fought long and hard for the passing of this Act, they have been remarkably reticent in using it to compel our rulers, our public institutions and private business companies to comply with the provisions of the Act. Let me move to the conclusion of this talk by briefly engaging one of the few instances when the provisions of the Act was invoked – and met stiff, unyielding resistance from the powers that be in our country.

This much is known about the scale of remuneration of the members of our National Assembly: Both in relative and absolute terms, they are the highest paid legislators in the world.

Each member of our National Assembly collects far more in salaries, allowances and bonuses than the President of the United States, the most powerful man in the world.

In the face of the universal outcry in the country against the whopping scale of our legislators’ remuneration package, they have been extremely secretive about the precise figures. Indeed the lengths to which they are apparently willingly to go to keep the exact figures hidden from public awareness and scrutiny seems to have no bounds. Thus, when a former member of the House, Honourable Dino Melaye, began to go public with these figures, he was swiftly and severely dealt with by the leadership of the House. Indeed, the manner in which he was silenced was so effective that no other member of the National Assembly has since then ever dared to follow his example.

Far more cynical and indifferent to its claims to democratic norms is how the National Assembly responded when a civil society organization, The Legal Assistance and Aid Project, LEPAD, invoked the Freedom of Information Act of 2011 to compel our legislators to reveal to the Nigerian people exactly how much they are paid. They refused absolutely. Consequent on this refusal, LEPAD dragged the National Assembly to the courts.

In a suit argued by the frontline activist lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, a high court ordered the National Assembly to act in accordance with a law that it had itself passed by promptly releasing full details of the salaries and emoluments paid to members of the Assembly.

They still refused and then took the matter to a federal appeal court. The case is still pending in the courts.

I should mention that without being a lone figure crying in the wilderness, Femi Falana has done much to put the usefulness, the value of the Freedom of Information Act to test again and again since 2011 when the Act was enacted.

He has invoked the Act in relation to a range of issues of public good that pertain to a whole group of governmental functionaries, parastatals, private commercial interests including but not limited to Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Federation; the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Commission; the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); and the GSM/Internet Providers. I do not think that Falana harbors any illusions at all that by itself, the Freedom of Information Act will radically and positively transform the present endlessly corrupt and mediocre Nigerian political order. But he is taking this prevailing deeply unjust, wasteful and corrupted order to the very limits of its claim to being a democracy founded on the rule of law, not a failing state perpetually on the brink of becoming a failed state. Let Falana’s example be a wakeup call to our media houses and our journalists that they must rediscover the reasons why they fought long and hard for this Act to be passed. Quite possibly, the Freedom of Information Act is the only remaining legal and moral instrument that we have for making the revolution that is coming a peaceful one. But this line of reasoning requires another lecture, another set of reflections.

Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

Concluded

POLITICS

19

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Plateau: The battle for Jang’s job Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, unveils the major aspirants scheming to occupy Plateau State Government House in 2015

•Jang

T

HE Rayfield Government House, Jos, Plateau State, is one of the most attractive governors' lodges in the country. Every four years, there is always an array of gubernatorial aspirants gunning to move into the palatial edifice. The race towards succeeding incumbent Governor Jonah Jang in 2015 is no exception.

Since the country's return to popular democracy in 1999, the state has been under the control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But with the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the nation's political scene, political observers say the race to Rayfield House in 2015 is no longer a PDP affair.

THE ZONING QUESTION: Aside the quest by the opposition to dislodge PDP from Rayfield House, one other reason analysts are predicting a serious political battle ahead of the 2015 governorship election in Plateau State is the burning issue of zoning, which is already heating up the polity.

As it is, by the time Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau would be

rounding up his second term in May 2015, the three senatorial zones in the state would have all had their turns at the Government House.

Chief Solomon Lar and Ambassador Fidelis Tapgun, from Langtang North and Shendam respectively in the Southern senatorial zone of the state had, at previous times, in the second and third republics respectively, been governors of the state.

While Lar served a full term of four years and was in the third month of the second tenure when the military seized power in 1983, Tapgun, who served as one of the governors under the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, was in office for a short period of barely over a year.

Senator Joshua Dariye, who hails from Bokkos Local Government Area, in the Central senatorial zone, was elected governor upon the country's return to civil rule in April 1999.

He ruled for two terms of four years each.

The incumbent governor, Jang, is from Jos South Local Government in the Northern Senatorial Zone of the state. He is in his second four-year term, having been first elected in 2007.

With all stakeholders agreeing

that the position had gone round the three senatorial zones, there are arguments over what format should be adopted in deciding where the next governor should come from.

While a majority of the people are in support of the retention of zoning, the question of which zone should take the first shot in the new dispensation is tearing the ruling party apart as the 2015 governorship election draws nearer by the day.

RUMPUS WITHIN PDP: Analysts are of the opinion that the looming political showdown is to be expected, given the current state of things within the ruling party.

Ahead of the next gubernatorial election, there is serious disquiet among chieftains of the PDP over the control of the party structure in the state.

Some prominent party bigwigs are angry with Jang over the way and manner the last state congress of the party was conducted. Several efforts by the national leadership of the party to resolve the crisis had proved abortive as the aggrieved politicians vowed to teach the governor a political lesson in 2015.

There are also issues left unresolved concerning appointments into

various positions, both within the state and at the federal levels. This is largely between the governor and party elders who are angry that appointments within the party tended to favour the youths and that it rendered some of the elders, including allies and associates of Jang, politically redundant.

Perhaps as a result of the impasse within the party, many aspirants, both young and elderly, have declared their interest in the governorship ticket of the ruling PDP. The crowded race, analysts argued, may lead to the emergence of a controversial governorship candidate for the party.

Leading the pack of PDP aspirants, according to party sources, is the deputy governor, Ignatius Longjan.

An elderly politician who hails from Quan Pan Local Government Area of the state, Longjan, sources claim, is in the race without the support of his boss.

Though he left the PDP to the Labour Party and later to the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) in 2011, sources said he has since returned to the PDP and is warming up to contest in 2015.

The Secretary to the State Government, Professor Shedrack Best, who hails from the Central Zone, is one other PDP chieftain who wants to occupy Rayfield House after Jang. His ambition, sources say, is already causing disaffection between him and the deputy governor.

"Though it is not clear how the governor is reacting to the SSG's governorship ambition, Prof. Best appears to have the tacit support of some party elders. This is evident in the way some party chieftains have been talking about him in recent times," a party source said.

Senator Victor Lar is one of the young politicians jostling for Jang's job within the ruling PDP. He defected to the PDP from the ANPP in the build up to the 2011 elections and won the senatorial seat for the Plateau South Senatorial Zone, by defeating heavy weights like John Shagaya

and Jeremiah Useni.

Another contender for the plum job from the fold of the ruling party is Senator Gyang Pwajok. A former Chief of Staff to Governor Jang, he won election into the senate after the death of the late Senator Gyang Dantong.

Other aspirants within the ruling PDP include the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. John Dabwan from Mangu South Constituency, Dr. Haruna Dabin from Plateau Central, who is currently the PDP state chairman, Mr. Hezekiah Dimka, a retired Commissioner of Police and Yiljap Abraham, the current commissioner for information in the state.

In the rival APC, formidable aspirants are daily emerging, owing largely to the coming together of about four political parties in the state as occasioned by the merger agreement.

Analysts say with the fusion of the like-minded political parties, the opposition in the state appears to be waxing stronger ahead of the 2015 governorship contest. Furthermore, it appears most opposition politicians are ready to set aside political differences and work together to displace the ruling PDP. Opposition aspirants already jostling to lay claims to the governorship tickets, according to reliable sources, include Hon. Lumumba Adeh, a former House of Representatives member and former aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who left the PDP when he lost the ticket in the primaries and has been a prominent member of the opposition in the state; Chris Giwa, a popular philanthropist who has been a constant figure in the politics of the state since the Dariye era, as well as Jimmy Cheto, a former director in the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCTA).

There are also indications that former Governor Joshua Dariye, currently a serving Senator on the platform of the Labour Party, is planning to join the APC in pursuit of his determination to see to the defeat of his former party, the PDP, in 2015.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Politics

Anambra 2013: Game of

c

As the electoral umpire blows the take-off whistle for the governorship race in Anambra State, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports that desperate political godfathers are poised to turn it to a delicate game of cash, guts and reckless intrigues

I

•Ngige

The thrills: It began long before the recent directives, but with the latest development, Anambra State is on fire, literarily speaking. From Onitsha to Awka and from Oyi to Iheala, the political tempo has been energised as politicians move into the grassroots to mobilise support.

The Nation’s investigation of the cause of the noted high spirits have revealed that besides such minor explanations openly advanced, like the recent leadership crisis in APGA and PDP’s sworn oath not to let go again, the old political godfathers in the state, angling to rediscover relevance are poised to engage the new lords, most of who are alleged to be extremely wealthy and equally desperate to hijack political power in Anambra State.

Although the August 18 flag off of campaigns is still over two weeks away, stakeholders have discreetly commenced campaigns. A source, describing the quality of campaigns so far, told The Nation that even the date of the governorship election has become an issue.

This is because the governorship election, scheduled for November 16, 2013, coincided with the birthday of Nigeria’s first president and the late Owelle of Onitsha, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who hailed from the state.

Ozo Udeme Uzodike in a chat with The

Nation alleged that it was an unnamed aspirant that is trying to make an issue of this date.

According to him, “This aspirant and his party, afraid of the gains APGA has continued to make by exploiting Ojukwu’s links, are trying to introduce Nnamdi Azikiwe’s factor with the desperate hope that it would counter the Ojukwu sentiment.”

As a result of this scheme, it is now being discussed at the grassroots that INEC deliberately chose Zik’s birthday for the election as a way of honouring the late statesman. Already, some of the aspirants are either reinventing Zik’s fashion sense in a bid to pass off as his political children or are reeling out their plans on how to achieve, in Anambra, most of Zik’s noble dreams for Nigeria and Africa.

Another likely reason for the high spirit in the state today is the curiosity arising from APGA’s current puzzle. Both aspirants and supporters are eager to know how the leadership of the party will resolve the puzzle before the election.

This feeling is because, although the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu has resolved the issue of the leadership of the party in favour of Chief Victor Umeh by declaring that he remains the national chairman of the party, it is not certain if Chief Maxi Okwu’s group, which was sponsored by Governor Peter Obi, has accepted not to work against the party.

While Umeh was quoted as saying shortly after the Court of Appeal judgment that “party restructuring would begin in earnest to place APGA in a proper position” before the governorship polls, it remains to be seen how that could be done within the timeframe, especially since the Okwu camp is reported as planning to proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling.

This challenge notwithstanding, many aspirants are vying for APGA’s ticket. They include the incumbent Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Oseloka Obaze, the former SSG, Chief Chidi Odenigbo, former president of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Chike Obidigbo, Prince Chinned Idigo, Mr. Nnamdi Ekweozor, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife For the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, the big names expected to make the difference include Senator Andy Uba, who was governor for 17 days in 2007 before the Su-

T is not certain if in recent times any governorship election in Nigeria has paraded the large number of desperate aspirants likely to be recorded in this year’s election in Anambra State.

Even before July 7, 2013, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) finally released the guidelines for the election, over 20 of such aspirants, had been linked to some of the leading political parties, especially the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Between Monday, July 8, 2013 and now, more aspirants, some of who were hitherto believed to be indifferent, had dusted up their structures and have joined the long queue.

Anambra State office of INEC, which released the election guidelines, had said the governorship election is scheduled to hold on November 16, 2013.

So, the stage is set for the epic political battle to succeed Governor Peter Obi, whose eight-year tenure will terminate on March 17, 2014.

Some aspirants in Anambra 2014 governorship election (1) Senator Chris Ngige (2) Senator Andy Uba (3) Senator Annie Okonkwo (4) Mr. Tony Nwoye (5) Mrs. Uche Ekwunife (6) Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju (7) Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah (8) Professor Chukwuma Soludo (9) Chief Akachukwu Nwankpo (10) Chief Paul Odenigbo (11) Dr. Obinna Uzoh (12) Dr. Alex Obiogbolu (13) Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu (14) Senator Emma Anosike.

(15) Pat Nwachi Obianwu (16) Dubem Obaze (17) Dr. Godwin Ezeemo (18) Dr. Chike Obidigbo (19) Oseloka Obaze (20) Chjioke Ndubuisi, (21) Chief Mike Udah (22) Dr. Emmanuel Okafor (23) Afam Ogene (24) Prince Chinedu Idigo (25) Mr. Chima Anene (26) Chief Udoka Charles Udoagalanya (27) Comrade Godwin Ibekwe

• Uba

• Soludo

Summary of Anambra State election timetable * Commencement of public campaigns by political parties — August 18, 2013 * Last date for conduct of party primaries and resolution of disputes arising from such primaries —— September 2, 2013 * Publication of personal particulars of candidates —— September 24, 2013 * Last day for withdrawal by candidates/replacement by political parties —— October 2, 2013. * Last day for submission of nomination forms by political parties and publication of list of nominated candidates —— October 17, 2013 * Last day for campaigns —— November 15, 2013 ** The governorship election is scheduled to hold on November 16, 2013 preme Court stopped him, Prof. Charles Soludo who was the party’s candidate in 2010, Senator Emma Anosike who was running mate to Soludo in the 2010 contest, Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu, who had vied for the position in the last three exercises, a Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on technical matters, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo, Dr. Obinna Uzor, an old face in the race, Chief Ugochukwu Okeke, Chief Tony Nwoye who, as state chairman of the party, garnered mass support and Dr. Alex Obiogbolu.

The major parties in the race: The major political parties that are likely to contest the election include, the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) which have fused into All Progressives Congress (APC).

Others include, the African Democratic Congress, Progressives Peoples Alliance, (PPA), Social Democratic Party, SDP, Kowa Party, United Progressives Party, (UPP), Peoples Progressives Party of Nigeria, Accord Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, Labour Party and Advance Congress of Democrats, among others.

People’s Democratic Party PDP has dominated the politics of the state since 1999. Its candidates, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju and Dr Chris Ngige won elections as the governors from 1999 to 2003 and from 2003 to 2006 respectively. Its candidates have also won key electoral positions at the Senate and House of Representatives. It is on record that over the years, PDP produced the majority members in Anambra State House of Assembly.

The party’s fortunes, however, started a downward journey after some godfathers in the party organised the abortive attempt to forcefully remove Chris Ngige from office.

This decline facilitated the emergence of Peter Obi and APGA in the state. Since then, the party is yet to reclaim power in the state.

All Progressives Grand Alliance The ruling party has held power in the state since 2006 when Obi took over power as governor then.

In 2010, APGA under the control and leadership of Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu and Chief Victor Umeh, the National Chairman, retained power as Obi won a reelection.

Today, with Ojukwu’s exit and the faceoff between Obi and Umeh, it remains to be seen the effect on the fortunes of the party.

All Progressives Congress With the merger and fusion of ACN, ANPP, CPC and some members of APGA into APC, this new party is obviously formidable enough to vie for Obi’s seat.

This will easily manifest if influential members of the merger in the state, like Senator Ngige, Chief Godwin Ezeemo and Senator Annie Okonkwo, work together to achieve the common goal.

Some of the aspirants: Some of the noted aspirants include Sen. Andy Uba, Dr Chris Ngige, former governor and ACN Senator who is being touted as the likely APC candidate, Chief (Mrs) Uche Ekwunife, an APGA member of the House of Representatives. She is fighting for the ticket of APGA. There is also Professor Chukwuma Soludo,he is also eyeing the PDP ticket, Dr Alex Obiogbolu is another key PDP ticket hopeful, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu also a contender for the PDP ticket and Senator Emma Anosike also of the PDP. The new entrants in the race include, Dr Ifeanyi Uba, recently linked to the Labour Party, Chief Godwin Ezeemo of ACN, Mr Oseloka Obaze,the current Secretary to Anambra State Government, Chief Chike Obidigbo, Chinedu Idigo,Chief Emma Nweke, Paul Odenigbo, Pat Obianwu and Dr Ifeanyi Hygers of the CPC. Dr. Chris Ngige: Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige, a serving senator and chieftain of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), is a former governor of Anambra State, who left office after three years as a result of a court’s ruling on the election that brought him to power in 2003.

In spite of the circumstances that led to his exit from the Awka Government House, Ngige, according to our findings, remains one of the single most popular politicians in Anambra State till date.

This, according to a source, was because of his mass appeal, punctuated more concretely by the way he opened up virtually all the areas in Anambra State through road construction. He also won mass appeal because of his historic battle with political godfathers.

While these factors will still count for Ngige, his major challenge may be funding as most of his rivals are very wealthy and

• Ubah

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

cash, guts and intrigues If these factors combine to give him the PDP ticket, there is still fear if he can win the election proper.

This fear draws from the image his family has continued to contend with since his brother, Chris Uba’s political battle with Ngige. Many still blame the family for the flawed election that gave Ngige victory before the court sacked him and for most of the political fracas of that era, including the notorious kidnapping of Ngige, who was a sitting governor then.

• Ubah

• Ekwunife

may resort to use of money to win support and votes.

Since Ngige left office as governor, he has never hidden his interest to return to the Government House. In 2010 governorship election, he came third. He therefore contested the senatorial seat in 2011 and won by defeating Prof.

Dora Akunyili, the former NAFDAC boss and former Minister of Information and Communication.

If he contests this year’s election, Ngige will be a major candidate to beat, primarily because of his soaring image.

as a result of a court’s ruling on the election that brought him to power. Unlike Ngige, who served for three years and made impact before his exit, Uba was sacked by the courts two weeks after he was sworn in. Today, he is the senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District.

Before his short stay at Awka Government House, Uba served as a powerful Personal Assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Though he contested the Anambra governorship election in 2010 on the ticket of Labour Party and lost, Uba’s strength remains what insiders call his grip of the structure of PDP in Anambra State, his deep pocket and alleged generosity.

Senator Andy Uba: Senator Andy Uba, like Dr. Chris Ngige, is a former governor of Anambra State, who left office

T

Senator Annie Okonkwo Senator Annie Okonkwo, who represented Anambra Central Senatorial District in the past on the ticket of PDP, has emerged a leader of All Progressives Congress, (APC).

Although Okonkwo may not have declared interest, there are suggestions, based on his known previous interests and attempts, that he may contest for the office again.

But the puzzle seems to be the presence of Senator Chris Ngige, from his local government area and senatorial zone, in the same APC. It remains to be seen what the game plan would be.

Prof. Chukwuma Soludo Erudite former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwuma Soludo, who hails from Aniocha Local Government Area of Anambra State, is not a new face in Anambra State’s governorship race.

He lost the same election in 2010, to Governor Obi. Insiders in PDP allege that the controversy over his emergence as

PDP candidate in the last governorship election may still pose as an obstacle for Soludo, as some powerful forces in the party are yet to forgive him. So, if he is interested in governing Anambra, his first major obstacle is to secure PDP’s ticket.

Hon. Uche Ekwunife: Another well discussed aspirant to Awka Government House is the flamboyant member of House of Representatives, Hon. Uche Ekwunife. She is not entirely new in the race as she participated in 2010 as a candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA). She lost that election.

Ifeanyi Ubah Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, believed to be very wealthy, is one of the most talked about aspirants to succeed Obi. Although it is not certain today, which political party the boss of Capital Oil will ride on to fulfill his ambition, it is obvious that his entrance into the race has raised the stakes, as he is alleged to have voted unheard of sums of money to daze any political opponent and grab the ticket of any political party of choice.

Although money has traditionally played a major role in the politics of Anambra State, it remains to be seen how far this strategy will take Ubah today.

Dr. Chike Obidigbo One of the major selling points for the candidacy of Dr. Chike Obidigbo from Umunya, in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State is the debate that it

Politics

21

is the turn of Anambra North to produce a governor for the state.

Obidigbo is also said to be a respected industrialist in Nigeria.

Prince John Emeka Former Minister of Water Transport, Prince John Emeka from Mmiata Anam, in Anambra West Local Government Area, is another aspirant alleged to be banking on the call for Anambra North to produce the next governor of the state.

Recently, he summoned a meeting of political stakeholders in the area, to intimate than of his desire to seek their mandate.

Factors that may determine the results Except other last minute issues arise to turn the table, some of the factors that are likely to determine Obi’s successor may include but not limited to: Zoning: In spite of criticisms against the outgoing governor, Peter Obi, one political masterstroke he had made, which may turn out to be a major factor in this election, is the promise to zone the governorship to Anambra North Senatorial zone.

It is alleged that the zone has not produced the state’s number one executive and must be allowed to do so now. Of course, critics of this claim has denied existence of zoning in Anambra and had emphasised the need for merit instead of zoning.

How this factor will play out remains to be seen.

The ruling party factor The recent leadership crisis in All Progressives Grand Alliance is a major factor in this election. This is so because, as the ruling party, APGA is supposed to be near unbeatable, but the division, before the resolution by the appeal court may be easily exploited by the opponents to snatch victory from APGA.

Parody of reconciliation

HE appointment of Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State to head the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 30-man member reconciliation committee has predictably opened the floodgate of protests within the party, including some of his fellow governors.

If the Bamanga Tukur-led national executive of the ruling party had consulted or thought over the implications of this latest reconciliation effort, it would probably have dropped the idea of appointing Dickson to head the committee. Many of the aggrieved elders and leaders of the party are not Dickson’s mate and, therefore, it is difficult to explain how they can relate with him comfortably.

In fact, this appointment has left many tongues wagging as to the seriousness of this latest peace initiative. Ordinarily, nobody should quarrel with the idea of reconciliation. What is, however, disturbing is the sincerity of these peace overtures by the PDP national leadership. The Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s and Gen. Ike Nwachukwu’s reconciliation committees that were previously set up had made wide-ranging practical and sensible recommendations, which would have restored the PDP to the path of sanity. Strangely, these recommendations have been discarded, thereby throwing away the baby with the bath water.

Dr. Ekwueme and Gen.

By Muhammad Abdul Ganiyu

Nwachukwu sacrificed their time and energies into what they thought was going to be sincere efforts by the ruling party to bring about reconciliation. Can you achieve reconciliation if certain people are defined as “permanent enemies” who should never be allowed to return to the party or be allowed to participate in any party activity or decision making?

Should reconciliation initiative be destroyed for the sake of appeasing the ego of anybody or pandering to their ambitions? The PDP leadership didn’t tell the nation what was wrong with the recommendations of the Ekwueme and Nwachukwu reconciliation committees.

Nobody should blame Nigerians if they smell a rat over this curious situation. Why should the party waste people’s time with reconciliation efforts when the leaders don’t appear sincere about it?

The party leadership seems to have been caught in a moral dilemma between doing the right thing and breaking the rules to gratify the ambition of the President to run at all cost in 2015. If members of the PDP national executive cannot follow their conscience or conviction to do the right thing, no reconciliation efforts would go anywhere.

It follows therefore, that the appointment of Gov. Dickson to head the latest reconciliation effort is another charade designed to fool Ni-

gerians. The committee is a political smokescreen to divert attention from the determination of the President to force everybody into line, by hook or by crook. There is nothing wrong if the President aspires to run, but that ambition should not be used to destroy the very foundation of the party or to force out anyone who resists his unfair methods of seeking political advantages.

Dickson is from Niger Delta and one of the politicians rooting for President Jonathan’s second term ambition. This, by itself, Dickson morally disqualifies him heading any reconciliation committee. For example, if in the course of seeking opinions and the committee finds that Jonathan’s ambition is the core issue dividing the PDP, would the Dickson committee have the courage to advise the President to reconsider his ambition? With a committee headed by Dickson, this kind of reconciliation

is highly unlikely.

Such is the implication of appointing Dickson to head the 30member PDP reconciliation committee. Earlier, another advocate of Jonathan’s second term ambition, Governor Godswill Akpabio, who is also from the Niger Delta, was appointed the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum without the

consent of fellow governors. All these are part of the silent problems complicating matters for the party.

How would Dickson relate with the aggrieved elders of the party such as former President Ibrahim Babangida, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other embittered leaders of the party?

It is highly unlikely if these aggrieved elders would give audience to Dickson, a man who was too young when they formed the PDP. Bad faith would destroy any reconciliation effort. Seeking to mould the PDP in the image of Jonathan will take these reconciliation efforts nowhere.

Insincerity is the core issue in all these so-called reconciliation efforts. You cannot sacrifice democratic principles on which the PDP is founded for the sake of gratifying the inordinate ambition of any leader. In party affairs, the President is primus inter pares (first among equals). And, therefore, every member of the party can legitimately aspire to compete with him. The Dickson committee lacks the credibility to lead the efforts to save the PDP from irrelevance in 2015. Governor Murtala Nyako’s threat to help bury the PDP is not idle talk.

The party leadership should get serious and save itself from ruin.

— Ganiyu, who wrote in from 89, Ibrahim Taiwo Road, Ilorin, Kwara State, is a former UNCP member and currently, a political commentator.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Politics

Kalu, Orji renew battle for 2015 The 2015 governorship election in Abia State is likely to rekindle the battle for political supremacy between the former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu and his successor, Theodore Orji, reports Remi Adelowo

F

OR over four years following his exit from the government house in 2007, former Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, practically withdrew from the political scene both in his home state and at the national level.

His short sabbatical from politics may have been as a result of his personality clash with his former ally and successor, Theodore Orji.

It was a battle that was fought with the entire arsenal at the disposal of the combatants and their supporters. While the true story to what led to the parting of ways between the two men is yet to be told, what was not in doubt is the fact that the incumbent governor secured a victory over his former boss, who, as governor from 1999 to 2007, dominated the political landscape of Abia like a colossus.

However, the body language and utterances of Kalu in the last few months seem to suggest that he is back on the scene.

Notwithstanding the fierce opposition of some major stakeholders in Abia PDP, including the governor, to Kalu’s return to PDP from the Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA), which he founded shortly after he left office as governor, Kalu, sources claim, is determined to, once again, put his assumed popularity to test.

As the 2015 general election draws nearer, The Nation gathered that the former governor has been quietly resuscitating his political structures in order to challenge the incumbent, who, according to sources, is interested in contesting for the senate after the end of his tenure in 2015.

There are speculations that Kalu is grooming an unnamed candidate to succeed Orji.

On his part, the incumbent governor has kept his plan on who succeeds him in 2015 close to his chest.

From all indications, it appears that three forces representing the Presidency, Kalu and Orji will largely determine how the governorship race is decided.

Until now, the thinking in many quarters is that people of the Ngwa extraction in the state should, for reasons of equity, be allowed to produce the next governor.

However, there is another school of thought that are of the opinion that the race should be narrowed to only Ngwa people from the South Senatorial district.

As the argument goes, no Ngwa aspirant from the the incumbent governor’s area, Abia Central Senatorial district, should throw his hat into the ring.

While the permutations on which zone should produce the next governor rages on, sources say no fewer than 12 popular politicians are quietly working behind the scene to succeed Orji. They include: Senator Nkechi Nwogu The incumbent senator appears to be the only woman currently showing interest in the race.

Nwogu, who represents Abia Central in the red chamber of the National Assembly, is, unarguably, a major force in Abia politics. Before her election into the senate where she is serving her second term, Nwogu contested and won election into the House of Representatives in 2003.

There are unconfirmed speculations

•Orji that the incumbent governor and Nwogu have allegedly reached a pact to swap their seats in 2015, even as there are fears that the gender issue, her place of origin and the new zoning formula being canvassed by some interests in the state may not work in her favour.

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe That this two-time senator has paid his dues in politics is like stating the obvious.

He came into political limelight following his election as deputy governor under Orji Uzor Kalu in 1999.

But after he fell out with Kalu, Abaribe contested the governorship election against the former on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2003 but lost.

Currently the spokesperson of the senate, Abaribe has not hidden his ambition to govern Abia State. In 2007, he wanted to contest for the PDP governorship ticket, but was asked to step down for the anointed candidate of the party leadership and the Presidency, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu.

Emeka Wogu Just like most ministers who are reportedly warming up to contest for the governorship in their respective states, Wogu, the Minister for Labour and Productivity is also allegedly gearing up for the 2015 governorship race.

One of the most influential ministers in the Presidency, Wogu has been around the political scene since 1999, having represented Abia in the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) before he was appointed as minster by the late president, Umaru Yar’Adua.

Chris Akomas From Nenu in Obingwa Local Government area of the state, Akomas served as

•Uzor-Kalu the Commissioner for Commerce and Industries under Orji Kalu.

He later became the deputy governor of the state under Theodore Oji in 2007, after which he fell out with the governor and contested the 2011 governorship election on the platform of the PPA. There are feelers that Akomas is working behind the scene to contest for the exalted position again, but it is not clear if he would be relying on the structures of his political mentor, Orji Kalu, to realise his ambition.

Prince Paul Ikonne If pedigree is the only factor that determines who becomes governor, Paul Ikonne would have won the governorship contest without much fuss.

A prince of Ngwaland, Paul Ikonne is the son of Eze Isaac Ajuonu Ikonne of Osusu, Aba. He served as a Special Assistant to exGovernor Kalu before he was appointed as a commissioner in the early years of the first tenure of the incumbent governor.

Ikonne also contested the governorship election in 2011 on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) but lost to Theodore Orji.

He has remained in the party, with sources claiming that the merger of opposition parties under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) may boost Ikonne’s chances at the polls in 2015.

Reagan Ufomba Like most big players on the political scene in Abia State today, Ufomba also served under Kalu as a Special Assistant.

Having failed to win the PDP governorship ticket in 2011, Ufomba left PDP for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) where he was offered the ticket, but still lost in the general elections.

Believed to be putting structures in

place for the 2015 contest, Ufomba’s major handicap is the leadeship crisis in APGA, as he is said to belong to Governor Peter Obi/Maxi Okwu faction of APGA, while most of the party leadership in the state is loyal to the National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh.

Another factor that may work against him is the fact that he hails from Nsulu in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government, which falls under Abia Central, the same as the incumbent governor.

Stanley Ohajuruka A former political ally of Orji Uzor Kalu, Ohajuruka is a former Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly and also a former member of the House of Representatives.

The former speaker was an aspirant in PPA before he defected to the Labour Party (LP) as its governorship candidate in the 2011 elections.

Though allegedly interested in the 2015 race, it remains unclear which political platform he intends to use to prosecute his campaign.

Ikechi Emenike He hails from Umuahia like the incumbent governor.

Emenike has contested the governorship election twice in 2003 and 2011 where he gave a good account of himself.

In 2003, he contested under the ANPP ticket but lost and in 2011, he gave Theodore Orji a scare in the PDP governorship primaries but allegedly lost due to high wire intrigues in the party.

The grassroots politician, according to sources, has not given up on his desire to rule Abia State and will stake his chances again in 2015.

With the array of heavyweight politicians in the governorship race, it remains to be seen where the pendulum of victory will swing in 2015.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Politics

ripples

Political Politics turf

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

s r e t r o p p u s s ’ o Nyak ANPP o t e v o m r of HE wa a c y m supre e e n b e t w S ta te a A d a m a wr , M u r it a la o n r e v DP Go n d th e P N y a k o , a C h a ir m a n , N a ti o n a l Tukur, may Bamanga hed a boiling have reac c e n t fe e le r s p o in t. R eth a t h a v in g h a v e it e conclusion come to thir fu tu r e is th a t th e e d in P D P , th r e a te n porters of the many supr h a v e b e e n g o v e r n o NPP in large joining A while vowing numbers, a te T u k u r ’s to fr u s tr lan to instal alleged p son, Awwal, his eldest successor in as Nyako’s 2015.

Jonathan, Tukur and the PDP house

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•Yerima

•Nyako

Still on Pate’s resignation

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•Pate

T is no longer news that the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Mohammed Pate, has resigned his appointment, voluntarily. What may be news, however, are the circumstances leading to Pate’s resignation, which sources say may not be unconnected to his alleged poor working relationship with the Minister for Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu.

Yerima dares underage marriage opponents

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HOUGH many Nigerians, especially women rights activists, today hate his face as a result of his controversial role in the planned underage marriage bill, it has been confirmed that Senator Ahmed Yerima is not bothered at all. Sources say the senator has been mobilising support from amongst conservative Muslim clerics and elders, alleging that opposition against early marriage amounts to opposition against Islam.

Yerima, whose popularity or notoriety, as the case may be, peaked when, as the governor of Zamfara State, he championed Sharia Law, snubbing every opposition.

Yerima is therefore walking a familiar ground. The question is, will he win again?

Will Senate adopt its committee’s report on Rivers?

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HE committee set up by the senate to probe the political crisis in Rivers State, headed

by Senator Kabiru Gaya, has since submitted its report. Two of its recommendations, according to sources, include the redeployment of the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mbu Joseph, and the take-over of the Rivers State House of Assembly by the National Assembly, amongst others.

Sources say a highwire lobbying has started to make the senate either adopt the report or jettison it. But findings revealed that the senate may adopt the report in line with the stance of the House of Representatives

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•Mark

O Karl Meier, the house has fallen. In his celebrated work, the German contended that Nigeria exists only

in name, but, to all intent and purpose, it had long ceased to exist as a state. In other words, it is a failed state. This is contentious. I do not subscribe to Meier’s view. I believe Nigeria does not fall in the category of Somalia. A lot is wrong; very few Nigerians see themselves first as Nigerians before being Yoruba or Igbo. Many Northerners would readily associate more with Nigeriens and Chadians that they would their countrymen and women.

But, there is hope. I believe that Nigeria will survive the current turbulence. The state will not fail, despite the activities of vampires and dealers who have seized the edifice.

In the past few weeks, the actions and inactions of leaders of the ruling national party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has given the impression that the country is at a precipice. People expected to show the direction have abandoned the way and headed for the forest. It is bemusing that, a party concerned about internal crisis chose to employ the services of a partisan to reconcile warring factions. Seriake Dickson, imposed as governor of Bayelsa State by President Goodluck Jonathan, is made chairman of a panel to resolve a crisis threatening the peace of the party.

The arrowheads of the charge in the Niger Delta are Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio and Dickson. They are men who have apparently sworn to defend whatever they perceive to be the President’s interest. When Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi is perceived an enemy, Dickson and Akpabio are instructed to provoke crisis in his territory. They are the men charged with ensuring that only loyalists of the President are in the Central Working Committee. How then could any strategist deem Dickson fit to pretending to mediate a crisis?

Another body, charged with the duty of organizing a convention meant to fill the yawning gaps in the party’s leadership is headed by Professor Jerry Gana. Gana who has been a constant factor in every regime and administration, sees nothing wrong with the powers that be. In recent times, he has led some Northerners on a tour to drum support for the President. On his committee is another Any Government in Power (AGIP), former Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu. Saddling these men with these all important tasks is like appointing Patience Jonathan to probe Amaechi. This is obvious to all and is an indication that Alhaji Bamanga Tukur lacks what it takes to play any major role in the country.

When he was ostensibly elected national chairman of the dominant political party in the country, the choice was criticized by the patriotic media on the ground that he was too old for the assignment. This was more so because, at 76, he was deemed too old to be swimming in troubled waters. His supporters dismissed the disparagement, arguing that an elder was needed at such a time. He was presented as a man of experience, one who had managed the Nigerian Ports Authority, was a governor in the Second Republic and had served as President of the Africa Roundtable for years.

However, the manner of his emergence gave cause for concern. He was rejected at the zonal level and lacks a base in his Adamawa home front. Yet, he was imposed on the party by the President who knew the use to which he could put the septuagenarian. Under Tukur’s watch, the PDP has continued to sink. It has no control of governors elected on its platform, its image has been soiled perhaps beyond redemption and every member is on its own.

If the possible consequence of this ineptitude were limited to a controlled implosion of the ruling party, there would be little cause for concern. But, as the largest party in the country today, one that controls 23 states and has support in at least two others, a conflagration of the PDP could consume the country, especially in the drive towards 2015.

On the one hand, an implosion of the PDP would serve the country well as it would weaken its vice grip on the country; on the other, an implosion when the country is in the hands of men desperate to retain power at all cost could bring to pass the Americans’ prediction that Nigeria could join the growing list of failed states very soon.

Meier contends that the house has fallen. He looked at the various sectors- social, economic, political- and concluded that the country lacks the factors needed to pull it back from the precipice. It behooves us all to prove Meier wrong by ensuring that only capable leaders run affairs of the country and the political parties.

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THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

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ET us lay this background first, in simple terms explain what is biofuel?

BIOFUEL is simply ethanol; that is one definition. It can also be biodiesel or biofuels. They are fuels that are generally derived from agricultural products. They are grown and they are not mined or drilled that’s why they call them renewable energy. For as long as you continue to grow your crops you will be producing, whereas if it is something that occurs naturally the moment you drill and you extract you cannot replace it. But for biofuels, you grow the crops you harvest you process it and then you grow again you harvest again and you process again continuously on the same piece of land. And you can continue to do that, that’s why they say its sustainable, renewable. It is an interesting area which Nigeria should embrace aggressively.

One of the arguments against biofuels all over the world is land grab, there are human right groups who say over 100,000 hectares have already been seized by companies like yours. So why should Nigerians support your project if it is going to displace the local farmers Our own initiative does not result into land grab. What it does is to enhance land utilisation.

You are able to optimally utilise the land that you have. Land grab is for certain aspects of biofuel production. You may say yes, but in the kind of initiative that we are implementing there is no such thing in the sense that the raw material that we are using will be produced by the farmers themselves, the land will still belong to them.

We have an out grower’s scheme that the farmers are part of. They produce the feedstock and sell to us. We’ve been taking a large portion of what we use in processing our biofuel from the out growers that is why we have to work directly with state governments Fossil fuel and local governments wherever we destroys our engo. The state governvironment, on ment will organise the farmers into codaily basis it operatives, then we sign what is called the throws up milout growers’ agreement with them so lions of carbon there will be no quesin the atmotion of displacing any farmer, instead it ensphere. We hances their take home pay. have about 2.5 There are other million cars in more fundamental issues that have been Lagos; you raised about biofuels.

One is that it comimagine how petes with the food chain, much carbon Yes we are coming to that. It is true they are throwwith some kind of ing in the atmofeed stocks. In every country they have sphere, which feed stocks that are sticks together well suited for their own biofuel products. Brazil uses sug- and can stay for arcane. The whole up to 120 years. country is full of sugarcane; they have an abundance of sugarcane. Also, surrounding countries like Uruguay produce and export to Brazil. Their climate is good through the year for cultivation so it’s okay for them to use it for biofuel. It’s economical for them. They are in the Amazon region where the climate is wet throughout the year. But for us in Nigeria, sugarcane itself is food and then we don’t even produce enough of that. Plus not every part of Nigeria is suitable for sugarcane cultivation. From plant to life it takes between 12 – 18months, so you cannot plant and harvest within the same cropping season. So really if you say someone who wants to plant sugarcane that they will do land grabbing I would support that idea because someone who wants to plant yam and other things you would deprive of doing that because the way sugarcane is grown it does not permit intercropping. In the United States they use corn, yes, I mean real corn.

That is actual food that can be consumed, unlike sugar which is to a large extent not considered as real food; the Americans use actual corn to produce biofuel and it is encouraged vigorously by the government.

Corn is food that is dangerous it is like making food for vehicles. In Canada, they use wheat which is also food. In Nigeria, the Obasanjo regime attempted to use cassava, there is hardly any household that don’t depend on cassava. It will be unfair for Nigerians to use food. That is

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

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• Obada

‘Biofuel is Nigeria’s best energy option’ Felix Obada, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Global Biofuels Limited, is credited with inspiring and leading the race for Nigeria’s entrance into space by facilitating the design and launch of the country’s first satellite (NigeriaSat-1). He started his professional engineering career at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 1977 and retired in 1995 as a chief engineer. He later became the pioneer Director-General and Chief Executive of the Materials Management Institute of Nigeria between 1996 and 1998 and served as a consultant to the University of Surrey Space Centre, United Kingdom, between 2000 and 2003. Dr. Obada also pioneered the creation of the National eGovernment initiative. In this interview with Olayinka Oyegbile (Deputy Editor) and Seun Akioye, he speaks on why Nigeria should embrace cleaner energy using the biofuels technology.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

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•Continued from Page 24

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ment is sympathetic. We have signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding), with the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment to develop our project in 15 states of the federation. But it has not been easy because the banks will not touch anything green. We have shown them everything and even taken them to China but they still ask can this work in Nigeria? It is not easy for an individual or a group of people to develop a project of this magnitude, we require government support and I have a firm believe that the present administration will do something. The multiplier effect is huge, the job creation, our infrastructure will develop. A state with 20 megawatts of power is okay, that means you are self sufficient.

Talking of job creation, you said the project will create 8000 direct employment and 50,000 indirect. How do we measure this?

This is very simple, we have done the calculations. A standard biofuel farm needs about 7,000 hectares of farmland, one farmer is able to manage five hectares, you divide 7,000 by five and know the number of people you need. There is the supervisor and the superintendent then the boss.

That is the farming. Then you need massive number of people to do your cattle rearing, and other things. You have the housing estate because we are going to house all our staff, the plant employs about 230 people. For direct employment we are looking at 8,000 and indirect is 50,000 When is this going to start?

Soon. I will not be able to give you the exact month but the pilot will start this year.

But when you start what will be the initial capacity The first plant will be producing like 103,000 litres per day that is like a drop in the ocean, we will blend up to E-5. That is five percent ethanol mixed with 95 percent gasoline. Ethanol is cheaper than petrol. It will help to force down a bit the price of petrol. In China, they introduced the blending city by city. Nigeria can do something similar, we can start from Ado- Ekiti, whatever we produce, and they blend in Ado- Ekiti and get designated station to sell it. The beauty of this is that we can easily replicate the model.

If I am using fossil fuel in my car, and I want to switch to bio fuels, do I need to drastically change the mechanical and electrical components of my car in order to accommodate bio fuels.

Up to the point of E-20, that is 20 percent ethanol and 80 percent gasoline, you don’t need any special switch. But above E-20, you will need to change the rubberized components of your vehicle. It is a simple operation, you change it to Vitol, ethanol will dissolve rubber in high concentration. It has happened in Lagos before, when some marketers brought in E-22 because it is cheaper and it destroyed many cars.

Will importation not affect your business?

Government ideally must not allow importation, because it will stifle the local industry.

The government will not encourage it. The NNPC tried to do that before, we fought them to a standstill and the importation never happened. So we are looking forward to starting this industry in Nigeria.

Would that not lead to monopoly by your company?

There is no monopoly, for instance our raw material is patented, we have been franchising with other people. I cannot go to Oyo State without bringing people from there who would like to be part of it. They will own the plant but we have the technology and we are happy to share, we will work together. It’s better we franchise with like minds. The rate of unemployment in Nigeria is massive; all the people that have been displaced by global warming must be re-engaged. If we start planting sorghum in those

places we have desert encroachment, it will be checked and it will prevent farmers from moving south with their cattle. The cattle will be fed sorghum leaves and they will be fine. So, it will reduce the level of tension nationwide.

You are passionate about most of the things you do. You have been credited with pioneering a number of things in Nigeria. You spearheaded Nigeria’s entry into space, you are pushing cleaner energy and a number of others. What drives you to become the first?

It is not about me trying to become the first but God that pushes me into all these things. At

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the time we went to space, we faced a lot of challenges, but we had a president that lisLake Chad tened to us. World had a volume Bank, International Monetary of 24,000 Fund (IMF) worked against it square even Britain that collaborated with kilometres of us on the project water in 1963; challenged us. But thank God space today it is less industry in Nigeria is now well de- than 10 percent veloped; we are no push-over. If of that volume.

America can hear There is no us from space we can also hear more Lake them. We are equal in that asChad in pect. Some of the Nigeria, it is spin-off industry attached to the now in space is broadband. That was Cameroon. All how E-government came to be. the 15 million In those days when you want to Nigerians who check your WAEC depend on it result it is a whole day affair. Today, are now you can check it jobless.

This is on the phone.

When we said this caused by is possible, thank God we had a excessive government that believed in us. consumption of You can move fossil fuel. money in your bank today without going to the bank, I don’t go to the bank anymore, I do my transactions online. It has made life very easy for us. I believe the biofuel project will succeed.

It may suffer like the others but it will not die.

Beyond all these how do you relax?

I play golf (laughs). Unfortunately, when you are doing a serious project like this you don’t have time for anything; every other thing is a distraction, even to listen to music. Look at me I used to love music so much but now you are disturbing me playing music. It’s work and home and my life has been really boring. My children complain, I don’t go out with friends, but I do that once in a while.

Relaxation is good; I go to church, read my Bible and exercise in my room. I try to eat well, and take a lot of rest. So I am not stressed.

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We have also learnt from the Americans, the Canadians. There has never been any record of them failing. We heard about that from the Chinese themselves.

You speak about biofuel and the need for Nigeria to move away from the current system. What is wrong with the present system with fossil fuel, after all we are not the largest contributor to climate change.

Fossil fuel destroys our environment, on daily basis it throws up millions of carbon in the at- It will be unfair mosphere. We have about 2.5 million cars for Nigerians to in Lagos; you imag- use food. That ine how much caris why we bon they are throwing in the atmo- decided to use sphere, which sticks raw materials together and can stay for up to 120 years. that do not This is the greencompete with house effect which excessively warms food chain. We the planet earth. use sweet There is excessive heat on one place and sorghum, we the other it is flooding. In Nigeria, are don’t even use suffering from the the grain or the worst effect of climate change. For al- leaf, we use the most 20 years now, stem that is but people are not useless.

We paying attention, in school in the old harvest the times did you ever grain for food, hear of sand dunes inside Nigerian territhe leaves we tory? Never, in those feed to the days when you are travelling abroad, cattle and then you would have left the stem is Nigeria before you see sand dunes. But what we crush, today it is only about extract sugar 35 nautical miles from Kano. It has and use to eaten up a large chunk of the north. make fuel. Our Desert encroachinitiative is ment has greatly affected those living in waste to wealth that area and they are cattle rearers with thousands of cattle.

One day they wake up and see their land has been taken over by sand so what do they do? They take their cattle and move on, in their thousands. Now the sand dunes move at the rate of 380 meters per annum, it is very gradual but it goes on steadily. Now the farmers who moved their cattle will move into other people’s land. You wake up one day and find thousands of cattle on your farm. Then we have clashes as far south as Anambra, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo. There is social unrest, 15 million people have been displaced, where will they find work? This is the effect of climate change. Lake Chad had a volume of 24,000 square kilometres of water in 1963; today it is less than 10 percent of that volume.

There is no more Lake Chad in Nigeria, it is now in Cameroon. All the 15 million Nigerians who depend on it are now jobless. This is caused by excessive consumption of fossil fuel. Look at soil erosion in the East, the flood of last year. Climate change is a subject that has to be addressed.

What has been government’s response to this project?

We have been on it for five years. Govern-

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why we decided to use raw materials that do not compete with food chain. We use sweet sorghum, we don’t even use the grain or the leave, we use the stem that is useless. We harvest the grain for food, the leaf we feed to the cattle and then the stem is what we crush, extract sugar and use to make fuel. Our initiative is waste to wealth; it does not compete with the food chain at all. Nigeria is one of the largest producers of sorghum in the world, we have over eight million hectares under cultivation as we speak. Those are green sorghum; all we need to do is to switch from green to sweet sorghum.

What is the difference between the two?

They are the same. But the stem in green sorghum has no juice and it is not sweet. The sweet sorghum has a juicy stem and it is sweet.

How do you source seed for the sweet sorghum?

It is available. In a huge plantation of green sorghum, you may find just one stick that will be sweet, it’s an error of creation those ones have been isolated by our scientists and developed into a large plantation of sweet sorghum. They produce grain just like the green sorghum, so rather than use grain or cassava or wheat we use sweet sorghum.

Coming back to land grab, when your project becomes profitable, is it not possible that some big capitalist would exert influence to grab land from small farmers to plant sweet sorghum?

For somebody to grab someone else’s land, the man has to agree to be bought over isn’t it?

And if someone has grabbed a land, we are in a civilian regime; the court is there to give justice.

From your experiment of switching to sweet from green sorghum, how easy has it been for the farmers to do this switch?

Very easy. It is just a question of giving them our seeds, we have developed our own seed. The farmers that we are going to be working with, we will help them to cultivate their land, fertilize and put pesticides. During harvest time, whatever they harvest will be brought to us, we will weigh it and buy from them. That is the kind of agreement we have signed with many of the farmers. Every part of sweet sorghum is useful, the leaves, the grain of course is food and even the stalk, we crush, extract the juice.

How will that work and how much will it add to Nigeria’s power generation?

It will add tremendous amount. For instance we are trying to develop our pilot scheme in Ekiti State. It is going to generate 15 megawatts of electricity and all of that we will utilise about nine megawatts for our production and the remaining six megawatts we will distribute to the surrounding locality because it is too small to go into the national grid. In the fully developed plant, we will be producing 30 megawatts, which gives you additional money. So from waste, we are making money and the leaves also you will feed to the cattle because it is very nutritious. In 90 days, the cow becomes huge. Feed them with sorghum leaves and in 90 days you will have huge cows. So if you buy the cows for N30,000, feed them with sorghum leaves, in 90 days you are ready to sell for N120,000. Every part of a sorghum plant is useable, even after the process, the waste water is also fertilizer; you mix the effluent water with animal drop and pump it back into the land.

So this is not only about producing clean energy, it is also about agriculture?

It is an agro allied industrial complex where so many things are linked together. The farmer produces the grain, leaves and stem. That’s his own job, and then moves to the man who crushes, moves the juice to the one who will ferment, the bargass moves to electricity generation and part of it is used for the national grid and produces more electricity for more Nigerians. Then your cow is dropping for you every time because you feed it with the leaves. After your refining process the water that is left is mixed with the droppings and then pumped back to the land. So what you take from the land you return to it, that ensures sustainability, it is a foolproof sustainable production process.

The Ekiti pilot project, tell us about it.

We are working with the state government because of the share quantity of what we need.

But the details are not for public consumption yet, we are developing in other states as well, it is such an important programme that Nigeria cannot afford not to develop. We have the potential to surpass Brazil in biofuel production. Presently, Brazil produces about 70 percent of the biofuel that is consumed in the world, we can surpass Brazil and this is what the Brazilians themselves told us. We have the land and the people to cultivate.

We are learning from everybody, we learnt from the Brazilians, we know that the Brazilian method will not work in Nigeria; we only have spots in Nigeria where you can grow sugarcane.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Politics

OUR second term as the governor of Katsina State is gradually winding up. Would you say the people, especially those that do not belong to your party, got some dividends of democracy from your administration?

Yes. You don’t have to be a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for your child to enjoy free education in Katsina State. You don’t have to lobby anybody for your child to be sent abroad to read Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing or Environmental Engineering, or indeed get free medicare for yourself and family in government hospitals.

This was part of my solemn declaration to the people of Katsina State at the outset of my second tenure. I made a pact with the people at the inception of my first tenure which I kept. That earned me the second tenure. Now, in my second tenure, I am building on the solid foundation that I laid during my first tenure. I am building bridges of understanding that there should not be discrimination on the basis of political affiliation. That is why I said during my second inauguration that government services shall not be dispensed on the basis of whether you belong to the ruling PDP in the state or the opposition.

Indeed, government should serve all the people without discrimination. But this is a society where government services are sometimes dispensed according to party loyalty. This sets the politician apart from the statesman. The politician continues to play politics after election has been won and the government formed by taking care of only his loyalists. The statesman does not know the difference between his loyalists and the people once government is formed. He takes care of all the people without recourse to political affiliation. I am a statesman and I have demonstrated that I am one through my services to the generality of the people because I believe they are the very reason I am in government.

The north, it is said, has not competed favourably well with other parts of the country in terms of education. What significant difference has your administration brought to this sector in Katsina State?

I have always seen education as the instrument to transform Katsina. We believe that education is the key to social mobility and the general transformation of the lives of people in any society. This is our concept of fairness and justice to all political zones, justice to all strata of the society – the poor, women, children and rural dwellers. Indeed, all strata of the society are being educated in the state. All hands are on deck by my administration to, particularly, educate the girl-child.

Societal culture inhibits the education of the girl-child.

To break this barrier, our administration gives allowance to parents who send the girl-child to school. Several girls’ schools have been built across the 34 local government areas of Katsina to make this a reality. The Almajiris – child – beggars – are also being educated and they get allowance to encourage them to stay in school. The Almajiris being sent to school is a process to make them useful to themselves and the state in future. Taking these children off the streets is a plus for social security in the state. Our massive investment in primary and secondary education has shot-up school enrollment at the primary school level from about one million in 2005 to close to 1.5million in 2011 – about 50 percent increase – and, at the secondary school level, from 142,729 in 2005 to 280,973 in 2011.

This was achieved through free education up to secondary school and payment of WAEC, NAPTEB, NECO and NCAIS (National Colleges of Arabic and Islamic Studies) fees which motivated children from humble backgrounds with an assurance that they will write their final examinations for free. The icing on the cake in our giant strides in the education sector in Katsina is the completion of the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University project started by my predecessor and mentor, the late President Yar’Adua. Not only that, we gave out more than N1b (including land, school buildings and hostels) to the newly established federal university in Dusinma as part of the state government’s contribution to its successful take off.

Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema, in this brief encounter with Adetutu Audu, called on politicians in the country to treat the people equally irrespective of their party affiliations.

Excerpts:

•Shema

‘It’s wrong to base govt services on party affiliation’

And for the youth disposed to learning trades, we built the craft village. In this village, there is virtually all the trades that you can find under the sun for anybody to learn.

From GSM and computer repairs to tie and dye, welding, carpentry, etc.This human development project has produced so many graduates that today contribute to the socioeconomic development of the state. We help them to stay in business. Katsina has large deposits of kaolin, a major raw material for the production of paint and chalk. Graduates of the craft village involved in the production of paint are the sole producers of the paint used in the painting of government buildings in the state while those making chalk supply all the schools in the state.

Mechanics produced by the village have been the ones taking care of my two official cars that I have been using since my first term.

That sounds ok, but would you say the heath and agriculture sectors have received equal attention?

I am a strong believer in the age long saying that health is wealth. All that has been done in the health sector since 2007

when I came into the office is geared towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the sector, including cutting the child and maternal mortality rates by 2015. The star projects of my administration in the health sector include a multi-million Naira, 250-bed orthopaedic hospital, the best in terms of infrastructure in the country presently, rehabilitation of general hospitals across the state and construction of six comprehensive health centres in addition to the renovation and upgrading of nine healthcare centres to comprehensive health centres. The state government procured 34 mobile ambulances – one for each local government area – while medical care is absolutely free for pregnant and nursing mothers as well as children under five years. Accident victims in Katsina are entitled to free treatment for the first 48 hours.

Agriculture is the major occupation of the Katsina State people and the sector has a pride of place under my administration.

This is one state where farming goes on allyear-round because of the attention we pay to irrigation. So, whether it rains or not, farm-

ers have no problem watering their plants.

There are several irrigation dams across the state supporting large scale agriculture, one of which is Jibia Dam, which increased yield from 100 hectares of land in 2007 to 3,500 in 2011. We support the agroallied industry to create jobs and add value to agricultural produce.

Many governors often leave heavy debt burden for their successors. How much debt have you incurred for the person that will succeed you?

My plan is to improve governance and service delivery using medium term fiscal and monetary stability approach without excessive short term tightening to achieve more sustainable and balanced approach.

We have been prudent in the management of the state resources and it may shock you to know that this administration has not borrowed any money whether internally or externally to execute its projects.

Rather, we have generated interests on funds placed in banks to execute some projects. The new government house is one of the projects being built from the bank accrual.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

I'm still the girl next door –Chidinma Pages 34 & 39

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Glamour

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Glamour

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Copy

HER LOOK T

HIS season has been a busy one on the red carpet. The R&B songstress star Tiwa Savage looks hot in these cute pieces.

Wearing a white mesh designed top, pleated pink skirt and off white pumps, the A-list diva proves that you don't need to be head-to-toe in designer to make a fashion statement and she proves that the days of pleated skirt are still much around.

She completes the red carpet-worthy look with a slick of tinted lippy and gliding wavy hair-do.

What do you think of Tiwa Savage's charming look?

Steal her look!

Basic pieces to style with a pleated skirt Tank tops and camisoles These tops serve as the perfect foundation for any look and work well with pleated skirts. Choose tops that fit closely to the body rather than loose-fitting ones.

Mix different fabrics For an individualised and stylish look, mix different fabrics that complement one another, such as a jacket/plain shirt over sequined camisole or tank top. Then, choose a pleated skirt that complements the fabrics worn up top. Consider experimenting with prints.

Scarves Scarves have been making a comeback in the fashion scene in a big way. And it is a good thing because scarves can be worn many different ways depending on the look desired. An important factor to consider, however, is the length of the scarf. If it is too long, it may be too much of a contrast.

Tie the scarf in such a style so that it looks appropriate and attractive with the pleated skirt and the rest of the outfit.

Belts Belts are popular accessories today, and their purpose is not limited to simply holding pants or skirts up. Rather, belts are used as accompaniments to an outfit. Skinny or thick, belts of all widths can be combined with an outfit to pull off a variety of looks. Choosing coloured belts can also add a splash of flair to a muted pleated skirt and top. The size of the pleats will determine the most appropriate belt design.

Shoes When sporting the pleated skirt outfit, pay close attention to the shoes worn because they really bring the entire outfit together.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Glamour

Chic and stunning rap sensation, Eva Alordiah, reveals her top favourite things to Kehinde Oluleye

Eva’s p

to

10

1 2

Favourite shoe I pretty much wear any shoe that kicks my mojo, regardless of the designer. I think the favourite in my shoes' collection now would be a pair of boots by Jeffery Campbell

Favourite bag designer I'm sincerely not a huge bags collector. I think my go-to bag is one from 'Kooba’

4

3

Favourite car No favourite. But anything that's got speed and looks sexy from behind. Mostar coupes, and they have to be black.

Favourite wrist watch designer I have not worn a wristwatch in years!

Maybe 10 years now. Not a fan. But I did buy one as a gift for a special friend sometime ago. It was from "Police”

5

Favourite perfume

6 7

Favourite sunglasses

Paco Robanne -Lady Million Persol

Favourite neck accessory Steel

8

Favourite drink

Water. Haha! Sorry I'm weird I know. I don't drink. But my grandfather gave me sips and some of 'kai kai' back in the day. As a true Delta babe of the Isoko tribe, a sit-down with ogogoro and kolanuts is always a good time.

9

Favourite colour for hair

White, orange, pink and red. I don't know really; I have had so many on, and I love them all.

10

Favourite nail polish O.P.I

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Glamour

31

r a e y 5 1 e h T h s o P f o n g i re and Becks d and Victoria Beckham It's 15 years since Davi ternative royalty. al r ou as n ig re r ei th n bega

By William Langley.

I

T isn't easy to feel sorry for a man being paid $1 million a day to wander around shopping centres looking lost, but there were moments of real poignancy in David Beckham's postretirement tour of China. Most of them involved his wife, Victoria, a singerturned-fashion designer upon whom the presence of a microphone tends to have the effect of bleeding meat on a great white shark.

David may have been the main draw, but as usual, Victoria was doing most of the talking. “Being able to reach my Chinese customers is incredible,” she yakked. “This visit is very important to me because women here understand what I do as a designer.”

It has been like this from the start.

Victoria, 39, may be the lesser name of the pair, but she remains the energy source, the ideas bank and the public voice of the whole operation. As unshut-upable as her husband is taciturn, the ex-Spice Girl is never more in her element than when there's a crowd around and the opportunity to wow it with the news that she's opening a boutique in Beijing.

Last week marked the couple's 15th year together. From lowly beginnings, David, the shy, handsome son of an east London gas-fitter, and Victoria, the gobby, ambitious daughter of an Essex electronics salesman, have become Britain's foremost celebrity couple. Their coronation as the nation's alternative royalty was achieved in July 1999 when seated on gilt-and-velvet thrones they were married at an 18th-century castle with trumpeters playing and flags bearing their own, privately commissioned coat of arms flying overhead. Since then, the glorious reign of Posh and Becks has spread across the world to Asia, Europe, Australia, with even the once football-phobic United States succumbing.

At the core of everything they do is the need to be seen and talked about; yet also to tease, to tantalise, to dazzle, and constantly to float the intriguing question of what really lies at the heart of their relationship. The crowds in China late last month appeared drawn less by any appreciation of what the Beckhams do than by the global fame that surrounds them. In this sense their ascendancy signals a new kind of celebrity, one that confounds the old assumption that we worship the qualities we aspire

to talent, glamour, accomplishment.

The Beckham phenomenon speaks to the blurring of social boundaries in a world sold on the idea that everyone can be a somebody.

How did they pull this off? Even after 15 years and four children together, it is doubtful that David could really explain it. Or want to. The mystique of royalty relies on a controlled shortage of information, and Beckham, 38, is notorious for the brevity and inconsequentiality of his public statements. For this he has sometimes been mocked, although it's hard to believe he is any worse at sprinkling a room with witticisms than Gore

Vidal would have been in the six-yard box.

It's best to let Posh explain. Back in football's poor-but-honest days, a player's wife was typically a childhood sweetheart who had been rescued from a life term in a hairdressing salon, and whose duties included buffing her husband's boots before the game and queuing for his fish and chips after it. It didn't matter if she left her teeth out on match days because no one was interested in her, and the money and glamour that later descended on the game were still a distant dream. Victoria changed everything, becoming not only the first celebrity WAG, but also the first to see the possibilities of success beyond football.

Pop and football may have given them their platforms, but the real roots of the Beckhams' appeal lies firstly in their ability to entertain on a stage so b r o a d that it crosses a l l

boundaries of class, age and gender; and secondly in their reluctance to take themselves too seriously. “There are enough people out there taking the p--out of us, for us to have a sense of humour,” Victoria has said. “There's this idea that Posh and Becks arrived on earth, fully formed, carrying armfuls of Gucci shopping bags down Bond Street, but really I'm a high-street girl who got lucky. We don't forget where we've come from, and we know who we are.”

Beyond this is a shrewd acknowledgement of what they actually represent. He isn't the greatest footballer ever, and no one would mistake Posh for Streisand, let alone Miuccia Prada.

Their strengths and cleverness lie elsewhere, and they work prodigiously to exploit what they have. “They are essentially ordinary people who have escaped their ordinariness and become a template for the have-it-all society,” says Dr Kevin Grold, a Los Angeles psychologist who has studied their appeal.

“The fact that no one really knows who they are or what they are like in their private moments is all part of the fascination.”

They fell in love, appropriately, through television. In November 1997, David was with Manchester United in Tbilisi, the dilapidated capital of Georgia, when the Spice Girls appeared on the hotel television. Posh, he noticed, was in black latex and spike heels, and he thought: “That's the one for me.” She noticed him shortly afterwards, also on the box, during a tour of South Africa. “I didn't know anything about football,” she remembered, “but I thought he was handsome and looked nice and sensitive.” The following year they met at a post-match reception. Popular culture would never be the same again.

How much further can they go?

David's retirement may slightly change the dynamic, but Posh will have new lines of work in mind for him. And while he still doesn't say much, he has learnt to say the right things: “We've got this amazing relationship. Just literally being in love. We don't do it for the commercials. We are like it at home. That's us.”

The Posh and Becks story is some way from the final whistle, and the chances are that we'll be baffled, intrigued and affronted by them as long as there are balls to be kicked, songs to be sung and goods left unsold in shops.

•Courtesy: The Telegraph

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Glamour

Social

REMI ADELOWO (E-mail: remi21stcentury@yahoo.com, Tel: 08034096563)

Nkiru Sylvanus set for higher calling

B

EAUTIFUL actress, Nkiru Sylvanus, may have been off the acting scene in the last two years, but she is not faring badly on the political turf she's found herself, following her appointment as the Special Assistant on Public Affairs to Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha. A few days ago, the governor dissolved his entire cabinet, an exercise that also affected Nkiru. But we can reveal for free that the actress will not be jobless for long, as sources say she's been pencilled down for a bigger responsibility by the governor.

Kanye West batters paparazzi at airport

K

ANYE West will not be prosecuted following his airport altercation with a photographer, it has been revealed. The 36year-old singer charged a paparazzo who was peppering him with questions upon the singer's arrival at Los Angeles International Airport last Friday.

The photographer was taken to a hospital following the assault. He claimed West attempted to steal his camera and told authorities that he wanted to press charges.

However investigators from LA Police's Robbery-Homicide Division say it was 'extremely unlikely' West would be prosecuted as there was no proof he attempted to take the camera.

If, as expected, the charge is dropped then the file will be passed to the L.A. City Attorney for a possible misdemeanor criminal battery prosecution.

Dolly Parton has secret surgery after drastic weight loss

C

OUNTRY legend Dolly Parton recently underwent a secret surgery to implant a state-of-the-art device into her esophagus in hopes the experimental treatment will prevent her from developing full-blown esophageal cancer.

The entire surgery was kept super secret because Dolly, 67, didn't want her family, friends and fans to worry. “She researched her condition and knew that, without treatment, developing cancer was a real possibility. Dolly always projects an upbeat, positive image, but underneath that she was terrified.”

A weight loss of 20 pounds triggered fear in Dolly that she had esophageal cancer, which prompted her to do the surgery. “Dolly knew something had to be done or she could die,” the source said.

“Her weight was dropping dramatically, she was chugging ant-acid medication, and she couldn't eat anything but soft, bland foods.”

Dolly went under the knife at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., the tabloid reports and her personal physician flew in from Los Angeles to consult with the surgeons.

Obi Asika, Olisa Adibua still at daggers drawn

W

ILL Obi Asika and Olisa Adibua come back as friends again? That is the big question on the lips of concerned friends of the duo who have tried to reconcile the two big boys all to no avail. Several months ago, the once business partners and co-directors of Storm Records, who are also cousins, parted ways over issues not unconnected with business. And all efforts to sit them on a round table to iron out their differences by friends and family members have been rebuffed by Obi and Olisa, who are reportedly sticking to their guns.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Glamour

33

John Fashanu and Abigail Igwe still very much in love

C

ONTRARY to unfounded claims by mischief makers that ex-footballer, John Fashanu and his wife, Abigail, mother of former MBGN, Adaeze Igwe-Yobo, are no longer together, sources say the claims are not true. The rumour peddlers allege that Fashanu, a certified ladies' man, may have got fed up with Abigail and no longer keen on the relationship. A source squealed that Fashanu's not-too-buoyant financial state, thus resulting in his total absence from the social scene, may have fuelled the rumours that his third marriage has hit the rocks.

r fo in g in ll o r l il t s s e im t Good

. . . e r a u q S ' P , o id Dav T

HERE seems to be no stopping the cravings for the good life by showbiz players. Just weeks ago, hip hop singer Dr. Sid moved into a lovely duplex at Lekki reportedly constructed by C & C Developers at a whopping cost of N110m. Step in street slang artiste, Olamide, who recently showed off his newly acquired Range Rover SUV on his Instagram page. Rich kid singer, Davido, also proved his craze for vintage cars once more with his acquisition of a Mercedes Benz G Wagon (G55). Add all of these to the ongoing construction of a multi-million naira house at Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, by the P Square brothers and the recent purchase of a Bentley Continental worth N25m by showbiz impressario, Dayo Adeneye, and you bet that Nigerian artistes are well ahead of their peers in other African countries.

Toke Makinwa and Majin Priscilla Fajemirokun Ayida for the recoils into her shell altar in 2013?

I

N times past, popular society woman, Priscilla Fajemirokun, with her close circle of friends, which includes Senator Daisy Danjuma, were the heart and soul of big parties in the country.

But not again! The beautiful woman, who carries herself with so much grace and class, has quietly retreated from the social scene, with sources revealing that she spends most of her time in Spain, where she has a home, and London.

T

HEIR well publicised romance has generated discourse within the Lagos' social circles. Perfectly suited for each other, beautiful Toke is an OAP with a Lagos-based radio station, while Majin is a silverspoon and son of Chief Allison Ayida. In the last one year, reports claiming that the lovers are headed for the altar are yet to subside, but not a few of their friends are still eagerly waiting for the wedding invite from the lovely couple.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Glamour

&

OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL (08033572821) raphseg2003@yahoo.com

Chukwuka h t 0 5 s e t a r b e l ce e l y t s n i y a d birth •The celebrant, Anthony Chukwuka and his wife

Dr Anthony Chukwuka, Executive Chairman, Greenfield Pharmaceuticals Ltd. celebrated his 50th birthday on July 20th 2013, at Eko Hotel and Towers, Lagos. The event witnessed a high turnout of captains of industry and government officials.

• Prof Laz Ekweme and his wife

•Dr Paul Orhii, DG NAFDAC and his wife, Eugenia

•L-R: Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu and Prof Pat Utomi

•Sir Nnamdi Obi, CEO, Embassy Pharmaceutical and his wife, Ify •L-R: Senator Chris Ngige (left) And Chief Uzoma Igbonwa

Faces at Fatima Charity Foundation annual lecture

The 2013 edition of Fatima Charity Foundation annual Ramadan lecture held at Golden Tulip Hotel, Amuwo-Odofin, Festac, Lagos, recently.

• L-R: Abdulrahman Ahmad, Abdullah Shuaib, Dr. Muiz Banire, and Hajia Bintu Fatima Tinubu, during Fatima Charity Foundation annual Ramadan lecture in Festac, Lagos on Thursday.

GOLDEN JUBILEE

•Former Chairman, Amuwo-Odofin Local Government, Alhaja Tanwa Olusi (left), and Managing Director, Arabel Group of Companies, Alhaja Sherifat Abiola Andu

•L-R: Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Political matter, Folami Olohuntele, and Justice Ibrahim Olohunimbe (rtd) • L-R: Hajia Sekinat Yusuf and Hajia Hamidah Ibrahim

An Abuja-based media consultant, Mr. Chas Nwam, being assisted by his wife Chinwe to cut his 50th birthday cake in Abuja recently.

& Sport THE NATION

SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Style

TAJU DISU DECLARES

I owe everything

to MKO Abiola

PAGE 35

&

Sport Style THE NATION

SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

H

IS surname in native Yoruba dialect is very instructive about the wisdom in not being in a hurry to get wealthy, but Habib Makanjuola has told the extraordinary story about how Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) turned him into an overnight sensation.

The 14-year-old revealed that it was at the instance of the highly revered General Overseer (GO) of the RCCG that he travelled to the United Kingdom in search of the proverbial golden fleece only to be scouted and picked by Premiership side, Chelsea FC, to hone his innate soccer talent.

“Going to Chelsea was by the grace of God through the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Daddy Adeboye,” said Makanjuola, who recently lost his mother to death. “It was a coincidence that after a successful trip to South Africa where I featured at the Red Bull World Final Football Juggling Tournament in South Africa, I had the opportunity of entertaining a large crowd at the Redemption Camp.

“That was how I had the opportunity of meeting the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Daddy Adeboye. He was the one that sponsored my trip as well as my education; everything to London before I was eventually spotted by Chelsea,” he further revealed.

Makanjuola is indeed a revelation and has been described by notable football personalities, including erstwhile FIFA World Player of the Year, George Weah, as a gifted child that could conquer the world in no distant future.

He reportedly started his football career with Niger United Football Academy and later moved to Water Football Academy in the FCT where he was invited to the National U-13 football team. He was part of the team that travelled to the UAE for an invitational tournament where he won the Most Valuable Player award. The attacking midfielder has already won so many laurels here in Nigeria and outside. He won the MVP Award U-10 YSFON competition in 2007, MVP Award YSFON U-11 in 2008, won MVP Award YSFON U-12 in 2009.He came first in the Red Bull Football Juggling Tournament in Lagos which qualified him to represent Nigeria in Red Bull World Final Football Juggling Tournament in South Africa in April 2010 where he emerged the champion at the age of 12.

“One thing I like doing besides playing football is praying,” he said. “I like to pray because it is God that has taken me to where I'm today.

“I also like playing table tennis, reading and at present, I'm reading some novels; I'm a student at Canbury School which is close to Chelsea in London.

“In five years' time, I wish to be the best player in the world and that is my honest target. I haven't really done anything but I know with the help of God I can be whatever I want to be,” he notes, as he speaks on sundry issues.

Between National Under-13 and Under-17 teams I actually started with the National Under-13 team and it was really a good opportunity for me. We were actually camped at the NFF/FIFA Goal Project here in Abuja and it was a great opportunity for me to learn so much from the coaches. When we left the camp, I went to Minna where I was actually spotted and taken to the Red Bull Football Juggling Tournament in Lagos before I represented Nigeria in Red Bull World Final Football Juggling Tournament in South Africa in April 2010.That was actually the tournament that exposed me to the world because I did well to emerge tops.

It is a great opportunity for me to be part of the screening for the National Under-17 team but, of course, there are so many good players here and I would need to work hard to be part of the team. I'm really ready to play for Nigeria because this is my country. I'm a Nigerian through and through; it is really a great pleasure to be here to be part of the National Under-17 team. I fancy my chances of making this team. This is my country and it would be a great pleasure for me to play for Nigeria starting at this level.

Encounter with Pastor Adeboye When I came back from South Africa in 2010, I was invited to the Redeemed Christian Church of God's camp in Lagos when they had a programme, and that was where I had the opportunity to entertain a very large crowd of people who were hugely impressed with my skill and talent. It was after the event that I had the opportunity of meeting Daddy Adeboye and I told him about my ambition of schooling and furthering my career in football and he simply said: 'no problem.' Ever since, there has not been any problem because he took over my welfare after speaking with my guardian. Growing up was not easy at all; I grew

PAGE 38

TATTOO MAN

Henry spots new tattoo for daughter

HABIB MAKANJUOLA'S TESTIMONY

•Makanjuola in action with Juan Mata and David Luiz at Chelsea

Pastor Adeboye launched my Chelsea's career

By Morakinyo Abodunrin

up here in the north though I'm from the south. In actual fact, I'm from Ifon in Osun State and I recently lost my mum. I was in the UK when she died and it was really a sad moment for me.

Focussed on the dream Of course, growing up was not easy but I'm focussed on realising my dream of becoming the best player in the world. I know it is not going to be easy but I have to keep working on my dream. I want my mum to be really proud of me wherever she is and that is why I will keep working hard. My dad is still very much around and he has been supporting me too.

I have a guardian in England because I'm still a minor and they were there with me the day I was invited to Chelsea.

Everything was like a dream when I was eventually drafted into the Chelsea's youth team after my trials at the club. The initial plan was for me to come and study in the UK but I consider myself very lucky that I was scouted quickly by Chelsea. I have every reason to be grateful to God and Daddy Adeboye because the chance of going to Chelsea might not even be there if I didn't come to the UK. I got the breakthrough eventually last year after we played and beat a Swedish club 13-0. It was a great game and I really displayed my talent; everybody was impressed and that was how Chelsea came into the picture. I was invited along with my guardian and dad; that was the greatest day of my life because Chelsea is a massive club. I was given jersey number 13 because basically at the youth level players don't have their names on the jersey. It is not a question of which jersey number I would have preferred, getting a jersey in a big club like Chelsea is already a big thing for me. I have equally worn jersey numbers 10 and 6, but I'm excited wearing any of these numbers.

Charismatic Chelsea Chelsea is a massive club with good facilities and being there is a great experience for me because I have the

opportunity of meeting some of the great players in the world. I have met a lot of them, especially John Obi Mikel who has really encouraged me and telling me what I need to do to become a great player. This serves as a motivation for me too because Chelsea is a place you can learn fast. I have been privileged to train with the senior team when they came to pick two of us to come and see what it is like in the senior team set up. In fact, on that occasion, I had the opportunity of training with John Terry, Juan Mata and David Luiz. It was a nice experience being able to show what I can do with the ball againstSamson these great players. Of course, I was nervous initially butSiasia I psyched myself up knowing well that football is just a game whereby one can compete against even older players. I really love football and it is about the only thing I enjoy doing. Until now, I loved Barcelona but now, I'm a Chelsea boy and the only club after my heart. I really like the way Barcelona play but going to England for me has changed everything.

Premiership has changed everything and being in Chelsea is the greatest. God has been there for me all the way and I think he's the one that picked Chelsea for me. Chelsea is really God's choice for me and I cherish the privilege of bein g with such a great team.

Already, I'm looking forward to the opportunity of meeting Coach Jose Mourinho because he was signed when I was already in Nigeria but I've had the opportunity of seeing other top coaches at the club. Mourinho is one of the best coaches in the world and I'm really looking forward to meeting him when I return to Chelsea after the break.

I've equally had the opportunity of meeting the great man, Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich and you can't believe he's the one if you don't really know him. He is a very humble person; he is a very simple dresser and hardly can you know he's the big man behind Chelsea.

People respect him so much because of the kind of person he is; very humble.

Target In five years time, I wish to be the best player in the world and that is my honest target. I haven't really done anything but I know with the help of God I can be whatever I want to be. It is a great opportunity for me to be part of the screening for the National Under-17 team but, of course, there are so many good players here and I would need to work hard to be part of the team. I'm really ready to play for Nigeria because this is my country. I'm a Nigerian through and through; and it would be a great honour to play for my country.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

‘Anyone involved in rape is not man enough’ W

HAT is your message to the parents and children of Anambra State?

Recently, we celebrated our children and the theme of this year's celebrations was Our children, our future and our collective responsibility. This is a powerful theme that encompasses the family, the government and the children and the entire society.

So, we thank Mr. President for a well articulated speech on the right of the children, what we will attain as a country in 2020 and steps taken to better the lives of our children.

I thank my husband too for his compassion on Anambra children and the much he has done as a person and his government, especially to the orphans and vulnerable children as well as the physically-challenged in our midst. Our governor had also championed the education of the Anambra child by grants and outright investments in scholarship, funding and provision of facilities needed for better learning and sound education.

Our governor's investment in education is unequalled and he has moved the status of the primary and secondary schools in our state as well as the institutions. These are glaring facts for us to verify. You can ask any child what the governor or the government has done in his or her school and the person would reel them out.

I am not saying we have done everything but I am saying that we have changed the face of our state from the situation it was when we met it and the person coming after us should do better than we have been able to do. That is why there is need to vote in a credible candidate that has the interest of Anambra State at heart f o r t h e development to continue.

There is a rampant issue of baby factory now especially in the South East, how do you see that of Anambra and do you have any warning for them?

In Anambra State, the Ministry of W o m e n Affairs and S o c i a l Developmen t has been working with the National Agency for Prohibition o f Trafficking in Persons and other r e l a t e d m a t t e r s (NAPTIP).

We strongly

By March next year, Governor Peter Obi will be handing over to another democratically elected governor to preside over the affairs of the state, but his wife's role as the First Lady of Anambra State remains indelible. The First Lady who hardly speaks to the press was caught off guard by Odogwu Emeka Odogwu in Nnewi at a function last weekend, where she spoke about her challenges in the last seven years and three months in office as the number one mother of the state. condemn the issue of baby factory or sale of children. This is against our own moral values. Though fostering is allowed, anybody that wants to foster a child must go through the Ministry of Women Affairs and take the correct step. We are working with NAPTIP. We are working with the courts to ensure that this kind of illegal practice is not done in our state and that is why our governor has put so much in the area of education, so that we can educate our girl children in all facets. We don't have this issue of infant mortality, maternal mortality and baby factory.

Our government instructed social workers and ministry staff as well as all those directly or indirectly involved with child fostering, development and care to be very careful and we have mounted surveillance on all motherless b a b i e s ' homes and hospitals previously linked with such inhuman practice.

Those w e caught we have d e a l t w i t h

accordingly because we are collaborating with the security operatives. That is why Anambra is calm for now; you are hearing this and that happening elsewhere.

Our government indeed took proactive measures to nip this mess in the bud by making illegal homes who deal in illicit baby factory to vacate the state. We have warned those indulging in illegal adoption of babies and outright selling of babies to desist as we would not take it lightly. When such illegal homes came up last year, the governor ordered the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to close all illegal motherless babies' homes and ensure that only those registered operate. And after that we banned all illegal homes termed 'baby factories' in the state.

Our state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is working in partnership with the National Agency for The Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters, NAPTIP, because we as a government condemn in strong terms any form of illegal baby adoption or outright baby selling.

Baby factory is an injustice against children and against moral values our society is known for. Our laws on baby fostering and adoption is sacrosanct and must be complied with by anybody setting up a motherless babies' home in the state.

Once that is not done, the home is illegal and we have ordered all illegal homes and operators to leave the state within 48 hours.

It is illegal and that is why our government has taken issues relating to children seriously, including education, mother and child mortality and health care services.

Children must be protected from all forms of abuse since the child's right is all about child survival, participation, protection and development. I urge all stakeholders to see that they prevent, protect and respond to violence, abuse and exploitation wherever it occurs against children physically, psychologically and socially.

What plans do you have for children?

We have a lot for children.

We have a very strong children's parliament. We really commend the Ministry of Education, all the educational bodies and Ministry of Local Government Affairs for t h e w o n d e r f u l performance of the children in the calisthenics and we will try to encourage these children so that they can go at the national level, even at the international level.

Our governor is education friendly

and we insist that every child must be educated in Anambra State. The schools have been handed over to the churches and we believe it's bringing back morality to our children. There is a great difference between what we have now in our schools and what we had then.

What is your take on the incessant case of rape in Anambra State?

Rape is also what we strongly condemn and we urge anybody that is faced with this kind of problem to report to the police. We are working with the police to curtail the issues of rape and bring perpetrators to book by taking them to the law court. Any man involved in rape is not man enough.

Women should be respected and their dignity upheld in all circumstances.

Do you think that the issue of first ladies in Nigeria is fashionable?

Even the Bible says that a man should leave his mother and father and join with the woman and they become one and the woman will be the help mate. The issue of the offices of the wives of governors or first ladies or whatever you might call us are not a constitutional one as you know but we are help mates to our husbands to enhance our husband's offices with programmes for the elderly, for the women, for the men and for the children and for the country at large.

We are committed to uplifting humanity and we are not leaving any stone unturned.

So we are very important, integral part of every government.

How would you talk about your seven years in office?

I thank God for being in office for the past years through thick and thin and for being able to sustain us. This is one of the experiences I wouldn't have missed and I thank God for giving me the opportunity. It was indeed a great period serving our people and having the opportunity of knowing great people in our state and beyond.

It is actually a call to serve and for which I thank all Anambrarian, because it has been a collective process. We couldn't have done it on our own. So, we thank God and we thank every other person for all the assistance and cooperation they have given us and I pray God in His infinite mercy to bring somebody that can do better than my husband and that will take the state to a greater height.

What do you think should be done to make women have a voice in Nigeria and in Anambra State?

Already, women in Anambra State and Nigeria have a voice. If you can see the changes that have come through our amiable wife of the president, you can see she talks about an initiative called Women for Change, where women are advocating for 35 percent, and we have been able to achieve this even at the federal level and on the state level through our amiable, people friendly governor.

You can see we have achieved more than 35 percent in Anambra State. Women have been able to achieve very high positions in the state like the speaker of the House of Assembly, she is a woman; the commissioners, we have 5 of them, even in the House of Representatives we have as many as seven women.

And now, with the institution called Association of Anambra State Town Union (ASATU) women wing which is the leadership of women in different communities, we have been able to create the women wing for the women where the women can interact and through that have a voice and address issues in the communities and in the state.

Every year, you empower over 10,000 women in Anambra State and we saw this during last year's visitation, what do we expect this August?

August is a very significant month for women. And because of long vacation during this period, women from everywhere in the federation return home en mass to deliberate on issues concerning women and the society at large.

Other sections of the country are now emulating the South-East known for August meetings.

40

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

New WOMAN

with

YETUNDE OLADEINDE

molaralife@yahoo.com

When sweet deceit come calling

I

Solutions to real life relationship issues

?

Princess

Thought for the week: You are a single mother of two, your son is 17 years old and your daughter is 12 years old. Your daughter wants to join a social media, e.g. Twitter, Face book, etc. Your son suggested you should not allow her join any social network, stating that he regretted joining at an early age, because he believes that he would have been better off in the way he relates with his peers if he had not joined social media so early in his life. Your daughter on the other hand does not have any social life whatsoever. What would you do? a) Because you feel sorry for her, you will allow her to join because her other friends are on the social networks. b) When you were told about this as the Father, you don't see any harm in her joining social networks. c) You as the mother will follow your son's advice, refusing her subscribing to any social medium. d) You, the mother, will allow her to join once she reaches the age of 16 because you feel then she should know right from wrong and you will still monitor her closely. e) You will seek other parent's advice to make your decision.

Question: Dear Princess, I am a 42 year old man, civil engineer and a civil servant. I have been married for close to 12 years now. Prior to my marriage, I love clubbing, so after my marriage I didn't see any need to stop it because for me it is a way of destressing myself. I don't pick up girls at the club, I did it once or twice, and honestly I didn't like it for the mere fact that after a one night stand with a girl, she will now dress up, sit at the edge of the bed, or stand over me while still asleep to pay up, that always nauseates me, so it is a habit I try to avoid. This particular night I was at the club as usual, while having a drink, a lady walked in with her two friends, and they sat on the table

beside mine, the next thing I heard is “Bayoo”! I said to myself this must be an old friend. I looked back to see who had called my name, and it was one of my ex-girlfriends that I dated in the university almost 20 years ago.

I stood up, greeted everyone at the table and I said, “Atinuke” we both almost instantly hugged each other. I brought my drink over to their table and we started socializing. A week later, our affair was rekindled. Well, 6 months into the secret affair, Tinuke told me she was pregnant.

Mind you Princess, my wife and I are still looking to the Lord to bless us with a child. My wife is 38 years old; we love each other very much.

Tinuke is about 6 months into her pregnancy. As of now, my wife is clueless about what is going on. I don't want to destroy my home, Tinuke who is 40 years old and unmarried, has 2 boys from a previous marriage and is adamant that I must take her to meet my family. Princess, I am at a crossroad, please advise me. Tijani, Kwara State.

Answer: Dear Tijani, There is a saying, if you're not going to eat it, please don't smell it. Well, you have smelt it now; you must eat it. There is also an unwritten rule for both cheating men and women, ask me what it is, you must be able to bear the consequence if the bean eventually spills. What most men fail to realize or understand about women is that there is hardly any woman that does not want someone to love her, care for her, take care of her needs both physically and financially.

A woman loves to know she has a man she can call her own. Unlike men, who do not want to communicate, or be tied down, most men see and view women as an “object” to play with at their leisure and leave her when they have had their ways with her. It is because of these reasons, men when they have not slept with a woman, will for the most part promise her heaven and earth. If the woman is as stupid as to give in before any of the promises is fulfilled and the man is able to give 20% of what was promised prior to

sleeping with that man then she should count herself very lucky.

Tijani, please don't get the wrong idea, there are about 10% of men out there according to survey of about 50 women that says the percentage of men that will keep half to all of what was promised to a woman is 10% or less. My first advice is that whatever it is that you promised this lady during your courtship should be fulfilled. If you had not promised marriage, believe me indirectly you had promised her a child, because if you'd not, you would have known full well she might get pregnant when sleeping with her without any protection, and how it can affect your marriage.

Secondly you have to be man enough to tell your wife. Of course now, you are not denying the pregnancy, do right by Atinuke and the child. I am not saying that you should marry her, but at least let your family know about her and take full responsibility for your child especially since it's the only one you have right now. Lastly, if you choose to take Atinuke as a second wife, it's your choice too, but if you know full well your marriage is something that means a lot to you, cut off the relationship, take care of your child and work on your wife “trusting” you again. I am using this medium to tell men if you are not financially able to take care of your children, stay faithful to one woman, please use protection or you should start practicing abstinence. I wish you all the best.

Thought of the week: True love is not about being inseparable, it is about two people being true to one another even when they are separated. Both of you bearing, at the back of your minds, that to love someone is “natural” not “demanding”. To love and be loved in return is something that cannot be measured or quantified. Trust and love go hand in hand. With true love, you can overcome any obstacle or difficulty that comes your ways.

Send your comments to: askprincess10@gmail.com SMS to: 08155558770

F you take a deep look into the crystal ball, you can be sure that about 90 per cent of ladies desire to hook a guy who's good looking, kind and charming all the way.

Those were the things Omowunmi saw in Solomon and ever since she set her eyes on him she just couldn't let go. He had just crossed over from the company's headquarters in Abuja and he was a senior colleague. Initially, Solomon was not quite keen about a relationship, he appeared to be adjusting to the new environment as well as trying to carve a niche for himself at work.

On her part there was a deep hole in Omowunmi's heart yearning to be filled with affectionate fingers. Her exboyfriend had just given her a red card and she was really pissed off with the fact that she did so much to win his heart.

“That guy was really ungrateful. I did everything for him and he had almost nothing when we met. I actually took a loan in the bank to refurbish his car, bought new set of clothes for him and gave him some allowance to make him feel cool.”

From feeling cool, his demands increased and I became an emotional ATM machine. “Two months later, he told me that his mother's rent had expired and he needed to pay the money immediately. Of course, I didn't have much money but I just could not turn down the request of my dear Romeo.”

It was quite obvious that he meant so much to her and she just could not imagine what life would be like without this dude. “A number of my friends tried to caution and warn me to tread softly, but somehow I was madly in love with this cassanova. Unfortunately, I just couldn't look beyond my nose, he had swept me off my feet and I just couldn't think properly again. Foolishly, I dumped the guy who truly loved me and began to chase emotional shadows. I spent all my money and fortune trying to please him and unfortunately for me I was always on the receiving end. He had so many other ladies on his itinerary and my desire intimately led to desperation and frustration.”

Like Solomon, Adeola was indeed a ladies' man with a tongue coated with sugar or honey for emotional fools like yours truly.

What a loss? But do you really blame this guy for turning the tables upside down? Most times, you do not really know who a person is if he or she is poor or penniless. This is the season of emotional humility indeed. Once their financial questions have been answered you can be sure of getting a transformation that would reveal who they really are.

At such moments, the adventurous side plays itself out and you can be sure to drink from the stream of emotional deception, arrogance and frustration. Now, it's obvious that she is in love once more but she is also afraid of stepping into a fool's paradise once more.

Well, you can't really blame her because it is very difficult discovery if the love that you are entangled with ends on the lips. Recently, a self-professed 'serial cheater' came out to talk about how his unfaithful lifestyle 'alleviates the pressure' in his relationship with his fiancée. Interestingly, the man confesses to engaging in 'respectful infidelity', which involves keeping certain things off-limits, like cheating with a married woman or someone from work, and staying the night in her bed.

He explains that not only does he crave the excitement of being with someone new, but that he and his fiancée actually 'work better' when he is cheating - even if she doesn't know about it. The man claims that one reason secretly cheating with other women helps his relationship is because staying monogamous makes him feel like he is 'bottling something up'.

Interestingly, he explains that going a long time without cheating causes him to resent his fiancée, 'because I'm not allowing myself to go and do what I [need] to do'. This cheating spree has actually been done at least 15 times since he began dating his fiancee.

Despite admitting to feeling a sense of 'looming' guilt, the serial cheater says cheating by no means indicates that he isn't in love with his significant other.To minimise his feelings of guilt, the man says he never initiates a situation with another woman, instead letting them approach him first.

He also says that not getting caught cheating is the most 'respectful' way of being unfaithful. According to him, if a cheater does not view infidelity simply as something to get out of their system, and if they can't come home and still love their significant other, they should not be cheating.

While he asserts that men are better at understanding the need to have 'detached sex' than women are, he also believes that men who don't cheat are 'wired differently' than himself.

In fact, the man confesses that he has only ever been faithful in one relationship.

Since he proposed to his girlfriend, however, he has decided to turn over a new leaf, which means remaining monogamous - if not for her sake, for the sake of the children he hopes they have together.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2012

New WOMAN 41

Travails of teenage

brides In the past few weeks, the controversial child marriage law has been in the front burner. Debates for and against the law rage on. Interestingly, while child marriage affects both sexes, girls are disproportionately affected as they are the majority of the victims. Yetunde Oladeinde takes a peep into the world of women who married in their teens and the trauma they went through.

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RTICLE XXI of the African Charter and Welfare of the Child informs that child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys shall be prohibited and effective action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be eighteen years.

Nigeria like so many other countries of the world has signed the charter but it is unfortunate that a number of our girls have been married off in error without their consent by parents and other family members.

Marriage and love should bring joy and happiness, but, unfortunately, it has some tales of sorrow, tears and blood.

Sarah Okon now in her late thirties is a victim as she was married off to a suitor at the age of 17 years. Naïve and immature, she did not really understand what to expect from the relationship. It later turned out to be a double jeopardy because the man at the centre of it all was not in love with her. “It was his mother who came to my mother for my hand in marriage. He did not come personally and he was about thirty-six years old. He was older than me and the difference in age was about twenty years.”

Sadly, she continues her story: “After his people met my mother, they took me to Kano to meet him. It was just two weeks after I finished writing my SSCE examination. When his mother came to me, I told her that her son was a graduate and the only reason I would be interested was if he was going to send me to school.”

After a month, her husband told her that the company he was working for was sending him abroad and he wanted her to join him because he had filled in her name as his wife. “His parents came for the marriage introduction on his behalf but no

dowry was paid. I went to join him in Kano and from then I started living with him.

Somehow we did not travel because he said there was a problem. We lived together from 1991 to June 2005 and during this period I had three kids for him.”

She continues tearfully: “I reminded him of the promise to send me to school but

he was not interested. I took Jamb on my own and passed. I got admission to the University of Calabar where I read Economics. Then he would not allow my sisters to visit me. He did not also want to see my parents.

“Last month my sister's daughter who had just finished her WASC examinations ran from our village to my house in Lagos.

The girl was really depressed and she told me that her parents had arranged a marriage with a man who was much older than she was. The reason her parents gave was that she was the only child and they

wanted to have grandchildren. I tried to inform a human right organisation about her case and before I could do anything, they came from the village to take the girl back. I felt so sad and helpless because I know that they are going to ruin her life.”

Even though Christy Ogunleye got married in her twenties, she tells you that she was not yet mature at that point in her life. The poor young lady was hurriedly married off to a man with a wealthy background by her parents. Shortly after the wedding, things fell apart when she discovered that her husband could not perform his conjugal duty. This discovery also triggered a chain of events, culminating in sadness and depression for the young lady. th “I got married on 8 October 2003 in Atakunmosa Local Government Area of Osun State. We had both the traditional st nd and church weddings on the 21 and 22 of November also in Osun State. We met in year 2000 at his uncle's funeral in Osun State.”

It was just a casual encounter and she did not think of anything. “There was no attraction at that point. It was after about a year that I got a letter from his mother stating her son's desire to marry me. In that letter were photos we took at the funeral and my picture was circled. His auntie who was living in Osogbo at that time brought the letter and I was living with my sister in Ilesha. She then took the letter to my parents. “ To be or not to be? “At that point, I was seeking admission to the Ondo State Polytechnic to read Business Administration. I started the programme but when I got to ND2 I had to stop because of the marriage.”

The wedding was a society event and talk of the town. “We had three governors, commissioners and other dignitaries in attendance. I come from a modest family.

My father lived in an uncompleted building: we were nobody compared to my husband's family.”

There are a number of consequences associated with child marriage and they include physical, developmental, psychological and social implications.

When a child bride is married she is likely to be forced into sexual activity with her husband, and at an age where the bride is not physically and sexually mature this has severe health consequences.

Child brides are likely to become pregnant at an early age and there is a strong correlation between the age of a mother and maternal mortality. Girls aged between l0 and 14 are five times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than women aged 20-24 and girls aged 1519 are twice as likely to die. Young mothers face higher risks during pregnancies, including complications such as heavy bleeding, fistula, infection, anaemia, and eclampsia which contribute to higher mortality rates of both mother and child.

Women advocate substance in leadership

W

OMEN across the country from various sectors of the economy converged in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital for this year's edition of the Women in Management and Leadership Conference themed: Bringing Substance to Leadership.

The yearly ceremony, which was organised by the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM),is the first of its kind in women development and part of the institute's corporate social responsibility.

Many who attended were the advanced and those starting their careers.

The two-day seminar featured speakers such as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Dr Lucy Newman; Director General of the Nigerian Employers' Association (NECA), Mr Segun Oshinowo, among other notables in

By Nneka Nwaneri

managerial fields who gave their expertise on topics like: 'qualities of impactful leadership'; 'developing and utilising networks for career progress'; 'new dimensions to push forward frontiers of corporate and national leadership', as well as 'the roles of vision, knowledge and passion in leadership success'.

Discussed were quality top-of-table management and leadership alliances opportunity for networking and professional peer alliances. The women were taught qualities to have in their leadership repertoire; how female executives can bring new dimensions to leadership and the many strategies career women employ to navigate and survive complex times.

Dr Newman, who stood in for the

President of NIM, Dr Michael OlawaleCole, while addressing the gathering, likened the conference to a yearly pilgrimage where women meet, network and learn new skills to make them marry better both their careers and the home front,urging them to use creative means to getting sanity into their various organisations, which should be blended with the garments of pride, elegance, dignity and respect.

“We have to swim upstream despite challenges faced as women, coping with family, culture and work. Let us all come to the realisation of some key aspects of work and family so that we can take charge by helping those around us.”

By the end of the session, the women attested to having found a voice and making use of the practical examples provided them.

42

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2012

New WOMAN/Bridals

Bridals

Trends Getting a good bargain with low budget

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Explore

exciting options for your

bridesmaids

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RE you getting set for your wedding? If the answer is yes, then there are a number of things to consider to make the day exciting and terrific. For many what the bride and groom would wear comes uppermost on the wedding agenda.

Once this is settled, it is important to make sure that your bridal train is also equally glamorous and unique.

One of the major wedding decisions is picking colours!

There are several “rules” that apply when it comes to choosing colours for the wedding party (bride, groom, b r i d e s m a i d s ,

By Yetunde Oladeinde

g r o o m s m e n e t c … ) Today, we explore these “rules” to the letter and we also have those who have broken them to suit their taste and overall colour scheme.

The grand rule is that brides must wear white and this actually includes off-white, ivory and soft-ivory.

While white is the traditional choice for many there is also a growing trend that settles for elegant colours including soft pink and icy blue. Some brides go even bolder with metallic's including gold and silver while some go all out with show stopping colours.

Choosing something interesting for the bridesmaid is very important. Usually it is great when they are all wearing the same colour or you could

have two pairs in contrasting colours to create a nice contrast. For others, the only exception is the maid of honour/chief bridesmaid who might wear a different shade or colour. But have you also considered making white outfits for the bridesmaids. This is not common but it helps set a unique tome if you want to achieve this.

International brides such as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Kim Kardashian have famously broken the grand rule and they had a new wave of guests and bridesmaids in white. Catherine's sister and sole bridesmaid wore a white dress by Alexander McQueen for the British Royal Wedding earlier while Kim Kardashian took things a step further by having all her sisters in white plus her guests as well!

HE average cost of getting married these days can be very expensive. It is actually the reason why a lot of potential grooms shy away from getting married even when they finally find the one that they love. Howevers getting a romantic wedding does not have to be a burden.

Everyone has a different idea of the perfect wedding, so before you even begin to get into the details, you need to sit down with your partner to determine what is important to both of you. As you begin to find out what aspects of the wedding are most important, you'll then have a list of priorities that will be used to determine how much money to spend.

Here you would be able to determine the size of the wedding, location, date, décor, photography as well as entertainment for your guests.

When it comes down to it, the number of people that attend your wedding will have the greatest impact on the total cost. More guests mean more food and drinks, a larger church or reception hall, larger wedding cake, and even more invitation cards.

Make sure that you invite the people that are important to you, but don't go overboard.

If you are a do-it-yourselfer, this is an area where you can really save money. Alternatively, you can get friends and other family members to do this for you.

Real flowers are beautiful and smell great, but do you really need to spend all that money to have fresh flowers decorating the whole banquet hall? You can save a great deal of money by simply using fresh flowers for the table centrepieces and use silk flowers for accent decorations elsewhere. If you insist on using fresh flowers, you may also consider buying the flowers in bulk and creating the arrangements yourself.

The food and drink you select will be one of the largest expenses for your wedding.

Music is obviously an important part of the wedding. You have the songs being played during the ceremony, but you also have all of the entertainment at the reception. You have many options when it comes to music. You can choose live entertainment or you can hire a DJ. There are a lot of options when it comes to music.

Finally, you have to consider photography. The photos that are taken at your wedding are some of the best reminders you'll have of that wonderful day.

Begin planning to interview photographers well before the wedding. You'll have an opportunity to sit down with photographers and view samples of their work, discuss package options, photo albums, and video coverage.

For most people, this is a once in a lifetime event that they have been anticipating for years, so it is incredibly easy to go overboard. While you want to make your wedding an event that you and your guests will remember forever, you want to keep the future in mind. By saving a few hundred or thousand naira here and there this would help you to prepare for a brighter future together.

Vera and Paul say ‘I do’

F

•The couple

ORMER Miss Vera Onyeaka of DFID/PATHS2 and Engr Paul Onyilo literally opened a new chapter in their lives on Saturday, July 13th, 2013, as they walked down the aisle as husband and wife at a wedding ceremony attended by relatives, friends and well-wishers from far and near.

The wedding shindig which held at 3Js Hotel, Utako, Abuja, was heralded by marriage solemnisation at the Holy Cross Catholic Church Gwarinpa, Abuja, led by Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan, Most Rev. Dr. Felix Alaba Job. The wedding train including the chief bridesmaids, best man, ring bearer, page boy, flower girl, friends and well-wishers ushered in the newlyweds who sauntered into the hall at 2.00pm in a blaze of glory as they were showered with a rain of confetti.

Engineer Olusegun Okeorun, Comptroller General, an Federal Fire Service, who chaired the occasion, declared it opened with prayer and admonition to the couple to stick together no matter the weather, just as National Programme Manager of DFID/PATHS2, Mr. Mike Egboh impressed on the couple the need for mutual understanding at all times.

Ubiebi Omoefe, aka Comic Czar, who doubled as the MC and stand-up comedian, spiced the occasion with hilarious jokes which sent the audience reeling in laughter even as they wined and dined.

The highpoint of the occasion was the cutting of the wedding cake and wait for this: dancing time! The newlyweds took over the central aisle of the hall where they wiggled their waist to a smooth rendition of hymns, folk songs, rock n roll, hip hop and more.

•Former Miss Vera Onyeaka of DFID/PATHS2 wedded Engr Paul Onyilo recently at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Gwarinpa, in Abuja

The couple pose with the National Program Manager of DFID/PATHS2, Mr. Mike Egboh.

•Couple cutting their wedding cake while their sponsors Sir and Lady Harold Juwah looks on during their wedding reception recently at 3Js Hotel, Utako, Abuja.

•Engr & Mrs Paul Onyilo with the Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan, Most Rev. Dr. Felix Alaba Job.

43

THEATRE

With VICTOR AKANDE

S

O what has Chidinma been up to lately?

I have been doing a lot of travelling recently. I have been trying to conclude my African tour but I am not done yet.

We just finished the MTN All Stars Tour which featured all the contestants from the MTN Project Fame and the MTN ambassadors and I am one of them. It was great, it was a good experience.

Also, I just signed my ambassadorship contract.

How come a lot of people didn't get to hear about it?

I don't like broadcasting it; I've not talked about it before. I did it last month, early June to be precise. This is actually my first time talking about it. It is a good thing. That's what I've been doing basically; and then I have been recording, trying to round up my songs for my first album.

Can you tell us about the album?

As I said, I have been recording for my album. It's going to be different. It's going to be a different side of Chidinma.

You are going to hear different things.

It's going to be what you know Chidinma for. I am just going to diverge into other genre of music. As a young person, I like to challenge myself.

I am going to be doing something that I have not been used to doing, but it's not like I'm going to be forcing anything.

I'm just going to be doing those songs as they come to me and it's going to be different from what I've been doing; I'm just going to challenge myself. My brand is growing and evolving so I wouldn't want to stand in a place. I also want to explore other things.

Talking about your ambassadorship, who among your Project Fame winners was also endorsed?

Myself, Iyanya and Praiz were the only Project Fame participants who were endorsed. Praiz was a runner-up. Wizkid and Kaycee were also endorsed and now recently Tiwa Savage.

Can you tell us how much you were paid to take on that role?

(Laughter) No oh, for me it's way beyond the money. MTN is that brand that made people know who Chidinma is. The relationship has always been there. You all know MTN is a massive brand and everyone would always love to be associated with them. For me, it's a very good thing and the activities are so much and I'm sure it's going to be fun. For me, it's way way beyond the money.

How about your performance at the MTN All Stars Tour?

•Chidinma

t

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Tel: 08051101822

Chidinma Ekile could be regarded as the luckiest emerging star artiste. In less than two years after she won the MTN Project Fame talent hunt, the petite, fair kinned singer won KORA Award for Best Female Act in West Africa. A latest addition to the list of MTN ambassadors, the young artiste lets DANIEL POPOOLA in on what she has been up to

It was great, there was a lot of travelling all around the country and it was all fun. It has since been concluded.

Your new video, Emi Ni Baller, got a lot of positive reviews. How did you put it together?

(Laughs) I was supposed to go on vacation. I worked all through 2012. The year 2012 was a very busy year for me. It was extremely busy. I didn't even have time for my family at all. It was just too busy. So I felt let me just slow down and rest. Clarence Peters was going to shoot and I said let's all go there together and when I got there, Clarence was busy shooting for other people and I felt this can be an opportunity for me too to shoot my video. It was very impromptu but we still had to pull it off somehow. It wasn't only my video we shot. We shot some other videos. They were not my videos but I featured on them. Emi Ni Baller was my own video shot at that time.

It means you understand Yoruba language very well…

Yes, I was born in Lagos.

What inspired the song?

It was the beat actually. I came across and it was not for me. If you notice it was a very hard core beat for a singer. It was for a rapper, Illbliss, and he was not in the studio then. I and Da Suspect were in the studio listening to the beat. Suspect started something on the beat and did his verse and now said Chidinma you cannot even try this, you are a singer. It got me really challenged as if he was daring

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I’m still a choir girl — Chidinma

me, why will this guy tell me I can't? I decided to try and just do something on it.

It was just me really playing. If you check, it wasn't serious. I was just playing with the beat and then Suspect said he liked it. I felt you can't keep this thing, let me do something else, this is not nice. Some other people came to listen to the song and they liked it, me I did not like it. Some people liked it and they said the song was good. I didn't want to drop it as Chidinma's single, let me just say it is freestyle so that nobody will say it's my single effort. People loved it and I just felt the next step was to shoot the video. So, it wasn't planned.

We were just playing around. It was my song, I just had Da Suspect and Illbliss come on the song.

Your first song sounded like you were an activist I am not an activist o. I think that was what was going through my mind at the time. As at that time, I had friends and family who were all very interested in leaving Nigeria. They complained about a lot of things including the fact that nothing was working. A lot of my friends also have given birth outside Nigeria so I just wanted to talk about what I was going through at the time.

You were a church girl; what has changed?

I am still in the choir first of all. I still sing in the choir. I still lead worship in my church, Foursquare Gospel Church. I never thought I was going to do music like this, I never thought I would go professional. I thought it was something I would be playing around with, like a hobby or something. After the MTN Project Fame competition and I did the first song that I was supposed to do, the reception was good so I felt let me just try harder; let me just go a little bit

further. Kekedike came and it was all over the place, I had nowhere to run to. I just had to stay with the music.

From the Project Fame competition, you had a steady rise to fame unlike the other winners of the edition; did you feel it was accidental?

Yes, it was very accidental; it was fast I didn't understand it myself. At some point, I felt it was going too fast. Then the KORA Award came and I was like, this is too sudden. I knew I was going to get there but I didn't know it was going to come really fast and quick. Everything is God. Nobody can make it happen; all we can do is to wish. It is left to God to make it happen. I just think I am favoured by God. How did you feel about winning the KORA Award?

I didn't expect to win the award because people at that category were established artistes. When I saw the nominations, I felt there was no way I could win it, let me just go there to perform and come back. I focused so much on my performance. But when my name was called in the presence of other nominees, I was really shocked.

Chidinma is now a brand that is hailed everywhere, how do you cope with stardom?

I have been coping and I have been coping very well. I don't know how. It has been for almost three years.

Chidinma is still the girl next door. I am still my normal self. I have not gotten to where I want to get to. There is still a lot of work to be done.

How was your upbringing like?

I grew up at Ketu area of Lagos.

Because of the kind of environment I lived in, my parents tried to keep their children indoors. It was really harsh. I didn't have as much fun as I would want to have as a kid because I was very reserved.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Entertainment

Slots open in Nigeria’s Integrity Film Awards

N Star Trek:

2face and Mr. Raw urge artistes to remain dedicated

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OP icon and Star Trek headliner, 2face Idibia, together with indigenous hiphop act Mr. Raw have taken time out to reflect on their journey to stardom while advising young talents seeking a breakthrough in the music industry. The artistes dropped by for a surprise shout out at Delta State Radio with radio vixen, Ify Adagbo, a few hours th before the 7 leg of the Star Music

Trek concert, which was held in Asaba, July 20.

2face, whose multiple awardwinning albums and global fame is an enormous inspiration to many Nigerians, urged young talents to remain focused, noting the need for discipline in their craft in order to succeed while Mr. Raw, whose last performance on Star Music Trek took place in Asaba before a sellout crowd, said young artistes have

OBESERE raises alarm over impostors on social media S

•Obesere

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ELF-ACCLAIMED Paramount King of Music (PK1st) is currently the target of conmen on the social media. It has been gathered that some fraudsters are claiming to be the artiste on Facebook, thereby defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians.

This alarm was raised recently by the artiste who issued a statement through his spokesperson: “Our attention has been drawn to some conmen hiding under the name Obesere to defraud people on Facebook and other social media platforms. We hereby implore Nigerians not to transact business with anyone presenting himself or herself as a representative of the brand Obesere on social media.

We are currently working with the police to fish out the culprits,” the

tremendous talent to offer in an industry that can greatly utilise it.

Raw says the only way to improve is to consistently ensure that they are always growing.

“It's a large industry and there's enough space for every talent to make a mark. But you have to constantly improve yourself, be willing to learn and be consistent, with that, there's absolutely no way you won't succeed," he assured. statement read in part.

According to information gathered, the fraudsters are hiding under the Obesere brand to defraud Nigerians who are desperate to travel abroad.

Unsuspecting victims are told to pay a certain amount to a bank account with the aim of helping them secure visa under the cloak of Obesere Empowerment Programme.

Another scenario was also pointed out in Ibadan where it was rumoured that Obesere was aiming to give out trucks to trailer drivers in installments. Interested individuals were told to obtain a form for N2000 to be eligible for the offer. This, also, Obesere has vehemently denied.

However, the artiste has warned anyone approached by these impostors to contact the police immediately. “This cheap ways of defrauding people did not emanate from us. We hereby urge the public to disregard such approach or rather inform the police immediately,” the Fuji artiste informed.

t us ug A in le ng si w ne op dr to t se 2 SK

HE duo of Temidayo and Motunrayo Saka, popularly known as SK2, are set to release their hit single titled 'Shilekun' which features st Cylos on the 1 of August. The fast-rising pair, with over six years of experience on the music scene, are siblings from a family of seven.

The classic Afro-pop song with a melodious tune will certainly appeal to music-loving fans in Nigeria and beyond, while their debut album is in the offing.

The pair who both hail from Ogun State were born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria.

Their style of music is basically Afro-

pop R&B and Highlife, they are currently nominated in the Best Up and Coming Artiste of the year category at the forthcoming Green Awards.

The duo have performed in over 15 shows in several cities around Nigeria alongside notable artistes on the scene during a road tour with the Etisalat Product Awareness Campaign in 2008.

They also notably performed under the Guinness platform at the 2013 National Sports Festival hosted by the Lagos State government.

•Sk2

IGERIA'S Integrity Film Awards (HomeVida), a media and awards platform aimed at driving creative messaging on value change, anticorruption and human elevation, presents five prizes in the 4th Edition of the annual awards.

Organisers have urged movie activists and general fans of various movies to nominate a film of their choice in any of the categories provided as the best movie stands a chance of winning a one million naira cash prize.

Categories for nominations in this year's edition of the awards are: The Human Development Value Film Prize endowed by United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC) for the film that best portrays one or two or more MDGs goals; The Family Friendly Film Prize endowed by NFVCB for the best family friendly film; The Investment Market Film Prize endowed by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the film that best shows the benefit to individuals and society when citizens and businesses develop and acquire a savings and investment culture; The Public Probity Film Prize endowed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) for the film that best shows the challenges that public office holders face when expectations of members of the public bring outcomes founded on ethical breaches as well as The Faith Film Prize for the film that best portrays the role of faith in national development.

Entries and nominations, to be sent to the award's official website, end on 30th September 2013.

The Aneke twins dazzle in new pictures

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OLLYWOOD twins Chidimma and Chidiebere Aneke are one of a kind. The very identical twins known to do things alike recently released a photo shoot on the internet. Since the picture hit the internet, comments have been nothing short of complimentary. The twins look abso lutely stunning in the shoot and it's no surprise that their fans have continued to shower them with encomiums.

Chidimma and Chidiebere have featured in a number of Nollywood flicks. On or off screen the actresses never fail to make an impression with their dress sense like they did in their photo shoot.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Entertainment

F

Victor Essiet’s feat on New York Top 30 Reggae Singles Chart

T

HE latest single release by Victor Essiet and the Mandators, titled “Freedom Train”, has climbed to the number 8 spot this week on the New York Top 30 Reggae Singles Chart in just 6 weeks after it was released on air.

Victor Essiet and the Mandators, the award-winning, platinum-selling international reggae band from Nigeria, released the single on iTUNES and it features up and coming hip-hop artiste StyLis. The track is off the upcoming Mandator's full length album to be released later in the year.

"Freedom Train" continues to make news around the world and the song's music video has almost 60,000 views on YouTube with fans showing their support for the "Godfather of African Reggae”.

Victor Essiet is currently in the studio working to complete the full length of his forthcoming album with super producer Carl McGregor who has also produced albums for Prince, Jill Scott, Aretha Franklin, and Christina Milan, among many others.

OLLOWING a wide and most keenly contested search, Marcy Dolapo Oni and Bolanle Olukanni have been unveiled as the much anticipated cohosts on the long-running programme, Moments with Mo, now showing exclusively on EbonyLife TV. Spread over an intensive 7day period of stringent but fun auditions designed to throw up the ideal talents, the search saw co-host hopefuls from many parts of Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia and Kenya, throng into the Eko Hotel & Suites venue of the auditions in April 2013.

From the announcement, Oni and Olukanni are now to share the screen with the CEO of EbonyLife TV, Mo Abudu, popularly known as 'Africa's Queen of Talk', as the trio engage discussants on topical issues and human interest stories.

Kicking off on Monday July 22, 2013, the new season of Moments with Mo is one of the many exciting, homegrown, glossy polished and sophisticated programmes,

ANTP inaugurates Lagos Island Chapter

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Abubakar Arogunmasa and Barr. Shakiru Amole Adekola, ANTP Governor, Lagos State.

The Chairman admonished renowned artists who had their professional/amateur roots in acting in Lagos Island not to forget their roots. He implored them to come to the aid of the association. He noted that efforts of all and sundry towards the development of ANTP in Lagos Island and the state will be appreciated.

The audience was treated to different cultural dances like Bata, Egun odun, ijo olorin and dance drama. The Agidigbo music was anchored by Pereira Olawale. At the height of the ceremony, Oluwaseun Adekoya was conferred as the patron of the association while his wife Chief (Mrs) Oluremi Latefat Adekoya was conferred with the title of the matron.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Adekoya expressed appreciation to the executives for the honour and promised to continue to support the association within the limit of his power. He enjoined artists to see the profession as noble and a special calling since they are privilege to make people happy and reduce stress.

Moments with Mo co-hosts unveiled

•Mo Abudu, flanked by newly unveiled co-hosts: BolanleOlukanni (L) and Marcy Dolapo Oni (R).

according to the producers.

Dolapo Oni's television career kicked off as anchor on the MNET show, 53 Extra, and soon became a force to reckon with. The Nigeria-

Headington Girls Independent School in Oxford in the UK where she became the first black head girl. She went on to attain a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Bristol. “I'm so excited to be part of history in the making with EbonyLife TV,” said Oni. On the other hand, Bolanle Olukanni is a double degree graduate of The Loyola University, Chicago, with Bachelors of Arts in both Communications and International Studies. Raised in Nigeria, Israel, Kenya and the USA, Bolanle Olukanni has seen a fair bit of the world but finds there is no place like home.

"I look forward to being part of this new and exciting season in television,” says Bolanle.

born actress and television personality received her primary education from the Lebanese Community School in Lagos. She had her secondary education at

Face of Peace Africa opens offices across Africa

A

FTER the initial announcement to stage the second edition of Face of Peace Africa (FOPA) beauty pageant, the organisers of the beauty pageant have opened offices across Africa and the UK. In a move that could be tagged as show of strength, the company opens offices in Abuja, Gambia, Cameroun, Ghana, South Africa, United States of America and United Kingdom, with a state HE Association of the Nigeria Theatre- coordinator to see to the coordination of things in these Arts Practitioners, Lagos Island countries.

Chapter was formally inaugurated on Face of Peace Africa Sunday, June 30th 2013 at the Christ Cathedral pageant is not just about Church Primary School, Broad Street, Lagos Island, Lagos State. beauty, but beauty with The colourful ceremony which included brains. It promotes peace in a awards and fund raising was jointly chaired continent torn apart by war,

by Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun, the Executive strife and famine by Chairman of Lagos Island Local Government producing ambassadors who and supported by Hon. Kamal Salaudeen will embark on various peace Bashua, the Executive Chairman, Lagos initiatives. Face of Peace Island Local Council Development Area Africa empowers the girl(LCDA). Other distinguished guests who child and also encourages graced the occasion were Princess Adetope Kosoko, former Registrar of the Lagos State gender equality.

Polytechnic and currently the The grand finale of the Executive/Administrative Secretary Yoruba maiden edition took place at Education Trust Fund (YETFUND), Alhaji the Oriental Hotel, Lagos last

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year with Zimuzo Benson, a psychology graduate from University of Nigeria, Nsukka emerging the winner, pocketing $10,000, a brand new car, a trip to Gambia, one- year movie contract as well as one-year beauty routine.

Registration for 2013 has started. Intending contestants can pay the sum of 5000 naira to any branch of Access bank nationwide, with the account name: Face of Peace Africa, account number: 0060566128 and log on to www.faceofpeaceafrica.com to fill the registration form.

An acknowledgement will be communicated to the contestant, who will be notified of the venue and time of auditions.

The organisers of the pageant disclosed that the stakes are higher this year; the winner will go home with a whopping sum of $15,000 as against the $10,000 which the winner got last year, and get a movie contract, a trip abroad and wardrobe overhaul. First runner-up will also walk away with $5,000, 42 inches Plasma TV, a movie contract, a year beauty

•Zimuzo Benson

Half of a Yellow Sun to open AFRIFF

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HE opening film for the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) taking place in Calabar in November will be Half of a Yellow Sun. This was made known at the ongoing Durban International Film Festival by Keith Shiri, who is programmer and jury coordinator for AFRIFF. The film, Half of a Yellow Sun, is an adaptation of an award-winning book of the same name, written by Chimamanda Adichie. It was directed by Biyi BandeleThomas, and it stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose. Also in the movie are Onyeka Onwenu, Zack Orji, and OC Ukeje.

Tinsel duo expecting first baby

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•Iyke with his wife, Florence

F news reaching us is anything to go by, then Tinsel actors, Iyke Okechukwu and his wife, Florence, may be expecting their first child. The paths of both thespians crossed on the set of the Mnet TV series and they both went on to tie the nuptial knots months back after courting for a while.

The couple who are also married in the TV series took the big and bold step of becoming

husband and wife after they were said to have bonded on set spending long hours with each other while interpreting their roles.

It was a double dose of celebration when the couple both walked down the aisle recently, hosting friends and well wishers to a grand occasion on a day which also turned out to be Florence's birthday.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Entertainment

Toyin Adegbola bags government appointment

OC Ukeje, Jackie Appiah in special appearance at

A

‘The Chase’ Arik strengthens eviction

partnership with

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A M AA I

N fulfillment of its role as the official airline partners of the Africa Movie Academy Awards, Arik Air has strengthened its relationship with the pan-Africa awards.

The Chief Executive Officer of AMAA, Ms. Peace Anyiam-Osigwe said that the partnership between the organization and the airline has been a mutually beneficial one to both parties. ''We appreciate and value our relationship with Arik and I must say the experience since the airline became our official partner has been a great one. The AMAA and Arik brands have complimented each other in the sense that we are both passionate about harnessing the existing potentials in Africa for the growth and development of our people. While Arik is providing air linkages by creating routes for easy movement of people and trade across Africa and beyond we at Africa Film Academy are promoting the best in our history, culture and people through encouraging professionalism in film making.'' ''Our Jury and board members are converging in South Africa next week to review the past nine years of AMAA and take some critical decisions as we move to our tenth anniversary. To get our people into South Africa from Nigeria and other parts of the world, Arik Air again is a ready and willing to ensure our people have a great flight experience in and out of South Africa. We value our relationships with Arik and we will continue to treasure it,'' she concluded.

•Cossy

N its ninth week, Big Brother eviction Africa show comes with a tinge of sensationalism given the presence of Namibian rap sensation, Sunny Boy, and AfricaMagic Viewers' Choice 2013 winners, Jackie Appiah and OC Ukeje.

Tagged The Chase, Ghana's Jackie and Nigeria's Ukeje acted as judges in the Big Brother house for this week's task on Thursday. The duo will also make a special appearance at the eviction show on Sunday. Appiah won the inaugural AfricaMagic Viewers Choice Award for Best Actress Drama award for her role in Perfect Picture, while Ukeje picked up the Best Actor Drama award for Two Brides and a Baby.

Sunny Boy grew up

•OC Ukeje

•Jackie Appiah

dreaming of making music that touched people's hearts.

Four albums later, the darling of the Namibian rap scene has been making it happen now for nearly a decade.

His fusion of sounds from genres like Kwaito and Hip Hop led to the creation of his own unique 'Hikwa Style' a mix of tight Kwaito beats with a Hip Hop flow. With hits like Balance, Serious, Summertime and Heat It Up,

Sunny Boy has established himself as a serious player on the continental rap scene.

The Namibian rising star has won a host of awards, including an NBC Music Award and Namibian Music Awards and lent his fame to greater causes like the Namibian Red Cross Society and Special Olympics Namibia.

The housemates in danger of eviction this week are Annabel, Elikem and Sulu.

FTER many years of contributing her quota to the development of entertainment in the country, Toyin Adegbola, otherwise known as Asewo to re Mecca, has been recognised by her home government as she was recently appointed as one of the board members of the Osun State Arts and Culture.

The light-complexioned actress revealed that much last week through a text message. The former Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) staff disclosed that she got a call from the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) who informed her of the development.

“I never knew I would one day be recognised by my state government, in fact this is one of the best moments of my life and my entire career,” she enthused.

Other people who were nominated into the board include, Yemi Elebuibon and Oba of Ila Orangun, among many others.

•Toyin Adegbola

Death, rejection and twins characterise Supermom's episode this week

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HIS week's episode of Supermom (third episode) will bring three different kinds of emotion to bear: the emotion of rejection, death and hope as the stories of Oyiza Home Orphanage and Gideon Orphange Home take centre stage.

After nursing a set of twins to life for over two years, Mrs. Oyiza Adenuga, the founder of Oyiza Orphanage Home, received the shock of her life when the father of the twins brought along the police to harass her for the release of his children even though he didn't

have the funds to cater for them.

Mrs. Oyiza, who has heard the rumour that the twin's father who was desperately in need of money, was planning to sell the twins to a man who was in dire need of babies, took the children to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare where they were saved from their moneymongering father.

Due to the closeness of Mrs. Oyiza to the twins, she couldn't get her thought off them. She missed them so much to the point where she fell ill; the illness,

coupled with her hypertension, reportedly led to her death.

Though dead, her dream, Oyiza Orphanage Home, continues to live on, catering for kids of the motherless and those whose parents can't take care of them.

What a rare gem and heart of gold Mrs. Oyiza was.

For Gideon Orphanage Home, the story is a little different but death still visited an innocent baby through a hole in his heart.

When Mrs. Banjo received a set of abandoned twins, it was a thing of joy as they would be the first for

Cossy Orjiakor graces Chizy Spyware magazine cover C ONTROVERSIAL actress Cossy Orjiakor has featured on the cover of the maiden edition of Chizy Spyware Magazine which was recently transformed from an 18-month old blog into a magazine.

Ex-beauty queen and rapper, Munachi Abii, was also featured exclusively in the current edition of the magazine. Chizy's Spyware magazine will be officially launched with a celebrity filled unveilling party supported by Industry Nite and Soundcity on Wednesday, 31 July, at Get Arena Lekki (Opposite Oriental Hotel) by 11pm.

According to Chizy, the publisher and editor-in-chief, the magazine is “an African inspired fashion and lifestyle guide published bi-monthly. It celebrates the modern African woman (both home and abroad) by sharing in her culture, belief and journey through fashion.

“We do not just inspire African women by focusing on easy-to-apply beauty and fashion tips, career/lifestyle advice and creative styling ideas, but by making an open discussion of matters some women are too shy to talk about in public. These include domestic violence, relationship and sex-related matters. To keep our readers entertained, we also touch on matters related to the African entertainment scene and celebrity culture.”

Chizy Kally further said: “We aim to become a brand for the open-minded African woman by creating quality editorial contents in each issue by putting our readers first, and keeping them entertained. With this and our love for everything African, we are sure to become a brand that every African woman with elegance, poise and charisma would love to reckon with.”

the home but the joy was shortlived when one of the twins was discovered to have hole in the heart. As a caring mother, Mrs. Banjo ran helter-skelter to source for money to fly Kenny to India for treatment. But by the time the money was complete, the doctor broke the news of Kenny's death to Mrs. Banjo. She was inconsolable.

However, Mrs. Banjo did not allow that moment to kill her philanthropic drive; she called her staff together and urged them to keep the memory of the twin alive by caring for other motherless babies.

Soon after, they received a call from the police to come for Moses, the baby who was found at a refuse site in a plastic bag by a Hausa man who took him to the police station. The police knew Gideon Orphanage Home was a safe haven for babies. Mrs. Banjo signed the necessary papers, took Moses home, bathed him with warm water and disinfectant because, as at then, he was covered with mucus and faeces.

Moses, like the other kids, is growing and has a bright future ahead of him with Gideon Orphanage Home proving to be the wind beneath the wings of babies without mothers.

•Shola Fajobi

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

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Six foods to boost work focus —PAGE 57

Kurunmi:

Valiant warrior

Kurunmi, a Yoruba Generalissimo and a native of Ijaiye, Oyo State, died in 1861 after the famous Ijaiye war with Ibadan. The truth about his death and burial are still shrouded in controversy. Taiwo Abiodun, who visited the town recently, reports.

I

JAIYE town is about 20 kilometres to Ibadan; it is a small town that has produced many great leaders and leading Yoruba warriors of the 19th century. It is quiet, and mostly agrarian. There is no signpost to welcome visitors or announce the town. Most of the buildings are old and dilapidated. Painfully, most residents all agreed that they have notable people who have contributed little to develop the town.

“There is no signpost here to welcome you to our town. This is Ijaiye town, the historical town of the Yoruba legendary warrior, Are Kurunmi, of which the late Professor Ola Rotimi wrote his play about,” Alhaji Shehu Tijani lamented, as he welcomed this reporter to the ancient town.

To many, the story of Kurunmi and his exploits is fiction while others believe it is true with the facts available and of course the monuments and relics of war!

Kurunmi’s house At the frontage of Kurunmi’s house are Ogun and Sango shrines while a big baobab tree is standing ‘majestically’ there as in many Yoruba palaces, showing the symbol and authority of a king and also that a Generalissimo once lived there. Today there are only few of the grandchildren of the late warrior who died in 1861. In the house is a small bungalow where Pa Layiwola Adio, who is estimated to be over 100 years old lives .The centenarian is one of the grandchildren of the great warrior Kurunmi.

He is one of the few surviving old men in the town. He still has scanty story of Kurunmi. Talking about Are Kurunmi, Adio said “The Aare was surrounded by many myths. My father told me how powerful Aare was; that he was feared and respected because he was powerful with his juju!”

Another historian in the town lamented the loss or disappearance of what could have been monuments and antiques to signpost the story of Kurunmi. He said, “There were houses without windows and these were where those who erred served their punishment in Kurunmi’s palace. There was one that served as the house of Ogun, a Yoruba god of iron. Another too served as spiritual incubation where the great warrior stayed for days communicating with his ancestors! In some of the rooms no man born of a woman dare venture to enter, some of the rooms too are forbidden for any woman while only a lion - hearted man who was sure of himself could go in there. In some of the rooms too one needed to bend down before entering. Today, these are no more.”

But Aare’s house where his family now live is a structure of a building that is as old as creation. There are mud brick buildings that have fallen and some of the walls have caved-in. The wooden frames have weakened while some of the windows are no more, these are some of the houses in the vicinity of Kurunmi’s house today.

Aare Kurunmi’s exploits The late warrior who had a harem full of wives was said to have invaded many towns from where he captured hundreds of slaves and warriors. He invaded towns, and annexed many until he tried Ibadan. According to Pa Adio “We heard that Aare Kurunmi refused to pay hom-

age and give royal gifts to the then Alafin of Oyo, Adelu who succeeded his father, Atiba. When Adele discovered that Aare did not support him he then sent a message to him to choose whichever one that suited him: either peace or war; but Kurunmi chose war. While all the neighbouring towns like Ede, Ibadan, Egba pleaded with him to choose peace but he refused until he was defeated.”

Another version said the Generalissimo waged war with the Ibadan who were led by Basorun Ogunmola and he fell in the war. “My great father said when the Ibadan met the Ijaiye, the war became bloody. Then it was recorded that a Christian Missioners Bowen who was the founder of Baptist Church in Nigeria pleaded with Kurunmi not to wage war but to embrace peace.

However, Kurunmi came with annoyance and brought out gunpowder and Bible and told Bowen he would pick gunpowder since his generation was noted to be warriors while Bowen picked the Holy Bible and said he was there to establish a church and preach the gospel. Bowen then left Ijaiye for Abeokuta to settle,” he added.

Kurunmi was very powerful and so much believed in the efficacy of Ogun, the Yoruba god of Iron, no wonder at the frontage of the house under a big tree are Ogun shrines where he used to worship the god of Iron, the shrines are there till this day.

Pa Adio continued “The war between Ijaiye and Ibadan was heavy with casualties, and according to what we were told here as thousands of Ijaiye died in this war! If you walk eight miles from this town towards East, West, North and South you will discover a lot of clay pots, mud houses and shrines buried there thus evidencing that some people had lived here over two hundred years ago. They were probably buried here.

We have excavated a lot.”

He added, “The Ibadan war was the heaviest where casualties were many. I remember that over 141 towns defended Ibadan when she waged war against Ijaiye. We were betrayed while Alafin was against us. And you know if one town faces over 141 towns it is a big problem and that was how Ibadan won the war against us. They feared and respected Aare Kurunmi. His five children later died in the war while the skull of one of them was brought to him, thus he was shocked beyond doubt. He became devastated and dispirited.”

Basorun Ogunmola ate ashes Another version, according to Tijani said “Kurunmi captured Basorun Ogunmola alive and he was brought to Ijaiye where he was chained and was fed with ashes in the palace. That is where the Ibadan natives got their panegyrics ‘Ogunmola, son of Ibadan who survived death in spite of eating the ashes ( Ogunmola omo a la eeru ma ku). The story continued that in the night one of Aare Kurunmi’s wives betrayed him as she secretly went to unfetter Basorun Ogunmola and assisted him to escape back home (Ibadan). When Basorun Ogunmola got to Ibadan he went to restrategize and later invaded with over 141 neighbouring towns who supported him to win Ijaiye in the war. Not only this it was also revealed that the River Ose, a mysterious river which must not be passed through by non indigenes was demystified and the taboo was broken. The secret of its taboo was leaked to the warring enemies (Ibadan) who passed through and demystified the

•Adio

•River Ose

spiritual aspect of the river and since then it began to dry and made Ibadan to conquer them (Ijaiye),” Tijani added Controversy over Kurunmi’s death While many said Kurunmi out of shame and frustration committed suicide by plunging into river Ose. Another said he was killed by enemies and buried by the Ose River while another said he was killed in the war and was brought home for burial, but there is no burial ground where he was buried up to date. But according to Adio, Aare died in his house after the war and was buried by the Ose river. He explained further, “when they wanted to bury him they had to bury three slaves along with him as the custom was.

They used their spiritual power to stop the flowing of the river and after the burial the water was commanded and joined together again.”

However, another version said, when he was about to be buried three slaves were selected, while two were beheaded and used as a bed in the grave but the third who could have been used as his pillow ran for his dear life and could not be caught.

The escaped slave went to inform the Ibadan people that he knew where Aare Kurunmi was buried and Basorun Ogunmola sent for the head to be decapitated which he wanted to be used as a cup for drinking water but when they got there they discovered that the body of Kurunmi had been removed.

But Alhaji Shehu Tijani disagreed with Adio and said “Kurunmi’s body was removed from the river bank to another place in the town and it

•Tijani

PHOTOS: TAIWO ABIODUN

was the only female daughter he had called Iyagbogbo, who knew where he was buried.”

Mystery of the River Ose and Onponrin At the bank of Ose river, Arawunmi Fatai, a security officer at Ijaiye High School, a native and a masquerader, said, “The river is mysterious, many strange things happened on the river, at times smoke comes up from the river, and a rainbow sign comes up while everywhere would be shaking, one’s head would get swollen thus informing us that the powerful Aare Kurunmi is still in the river.”

Tijani said, “At Onponrin there are some areas where grass failed to grow till this day, this was because it was part of the spots of war. The war raged on for years and it consumed lives!

Till date grass does not grow here again.”

Tombs of Kurunmi and Bowen To many students, the name Kurunmi is synonymous to Ijaiye. About eight students interviewed claimed to know the history of Kurunmi.

Adams Owolabi, who is an ex student of the school said the school has the tombs of the two titans, the Kurunmi monument and Bowen’s tomb. “We were taught in school that these two people fought war, one used the Bible while the other, Kurunmi used gun. This school, Ijaiye High School, was formerly named after Kurunmi until some years later when it was changed to Ijaiye High School. I think the school should be called Kurunmi High School.”

At the gate of the school are two monuments, •Continue on Page 48

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Life

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Generalissimo synonymous with Ijaiye

•Bowen’s monument

•Salami with Kurunmi’s masquerade regalia •Continue from Page 47

but sadly the two are unkempt as the wordings inscribed on them have faded, and hardly readable.

On Bowen’s monument are the following words are engraved “To the glory of God and in affectionate remembrance Reverend and Mrs Thomas J. Bowen who began Baptist Sunday School work in Ijaye Orile, Nigeria on January 22, 1854”.

Sunday School Department, Nigerian Baptist Convention, April 21, 1979 While Kurunmi’s own reads “To the glory of God and the memory of those heroic dead who here on land granted by King Kurunmi in 1852 created the first Mission House established the first church and laid the foundation of Baptist work in Nigeria.

Nigerian Baptist Centenarian, 1850-1950.

According to Fatai, “The two monuments show how these two powerful men came to unite in death for their monuments were placed side by side yet the two believed in different religions. Bowen brought Christianity and built a church which is the very first, First Baptist Church in Nigeria here in Ijaiye while Kurunmi was a warrior who believed in Ogun, the Yoruba god of Iron. It is great to come here and pre-

serve this place as a tourist centre.”

Mysterious Kurunmi’s masquerade The room where the Kurunmi’s masquerade regalia was kept is dark.

In fact, about four people brought out the basket where the regalia was stored.

Pa Tijani Salami who is the custodian of Kurunmi’s masquerade spent over 50 minutes to unwrap the regalia as pieces of clothes attached to it are up to 3,000 shreds made from local fabrics to foreign ones. Also attached with the clothes are uncommon carved wooden mask, monkey, and baboon’s skulls. Fear gripped this reporter as the material was unwrapped when he requested to have a glance.

In fact, the man in charge of the masquerade, Salami, said it was inherited by him because he is from the Kurunmi lineage. He said, “This is Kurunmi’s masquerade’s regalia and sword he used during his conquests, and I am the custodian of it. If you look at my cheeks you will see my facial marks and that is how Kurunmi had it. One becomes its custodian by inheritance.

This material is well over 120 years old, in fact, it was there before I was born.

After the death of Kurunmi it was inherited by one Odeyemi, then to Biobaku who was in charge, after his exit it was handed over to Gbileomo

and again when he died I took over from there. One of my children will also inherit it when I am gone. It does not go to anybody anyhow, never. The regalia is very heavy and we offer sacrifices like goats, chickens and other things to it all the time. We must not forget to offer sacrifices at all. If we don’t do it then calamity might befall this town.”

That is how strong their belief is in the power of Kurunmi.

He went further, “Nobody can steal it. In fact, it is on record that it was once stolen some years ago and I believe they wanted to sell it to those who needed artefacts but when the robbers got to the Ose River they could not go further again as they were hearing sound and voices of human being coming out from the regalia and they had to drop it.”

Another man who is also a masquerader, Gafari Ege, corroborated the story and said “Those who stole the regalia became blind, when they faced Ibadan they again faced Ijaiye, again when they faced Ijaiye they faced Ibadan. They became blind and confused. They said strange human cries was coming out from the regalia. No one steals the material and goes scot free. No one steals it and live. It is not meant to be stolen. Those who stole it

•Kurunmi’s monument

were later caught and they died afterwards. Other masquerades run away from it.”

Undeveloped town The indigenes are not happy because, according to Pa Tijani, “We are being used, many of these theatre artistes would come here and use these places to shoot films and would later go away smiling to the bank but will not come here to assist in its development. Not only that, some government officials came here few years ago and promised to come back and assist in putting Kurunmi’s statue here but they came here and erected only two poles and left .We heard nothing from them again. Many people come from overseas to see all these monuments like the River Ose, the spots of war, the mysterious palm tree that sounds like the booming of gun during the war to ward off enemies, Oponrinthe spot where they waged war and where grass does not grow again, the Ogun Shrines of Kurunmi and many others but nobody speaks about the development of this place. Where we have the monuments of Kurunmi and Bowen’s are not properly kept.

We are being forgotten and our heroes too are forgotten. If it is in over-

seas they will appreciate what we have here but here nobody recognizes us. We have been constructing this palace for a long time, nobody comes here to look at our effort and assist.”

However, he said “We appreciate people like Senator Femi Lanlehin, Yemi Aderibigbe, who are really trying for us. We need more assistance, we don’t want our history to die. They should cooperate and build a monument I remembrance of our hero, Kurunmi.”

Ijaiye is spread all over Yorubaland, but this is Ijaiye Orile, the hometown of Kurunmi the warrior. According to Tijani, Ijaiye means “We fought and survived the war (A ja ajaye)”. According to him, since the Ijaiye people were warriors and always conquered wherever they fought and on their return would give a public cry that they had survived the war. This is the original source where all other Ijaiyes spring from.

All the places known as Ijaiye today left from here to Abeokuta, Lagos, Egba among others, Tijani boasted.

BUSINESS THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

49

For Fidelity’s Ihejiahi, it’s time in spotlight -- Page 53

Abia, Bayelsa tackle commission over O 13% derivation funds IL producing communities are up in arms against the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) over the commission’s rejection of the proposed oil communities’ fund.

The reason for the impending face-off between the oil producing communities and the RMAFC is the rejection by the commission for the payment of the oil communities’ funds to the host communities.

The first to disagree with the RMAFC are Abia and Bayelsa states which have joined other oil producing states to demand for the direct payment of 13 per cent derivation fund to the host communities.

Both states have already sent separate memoranda to the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Engr. Elias Mbam insisting that the 13 per cent desiccation fund is a first line charge on the federation account and as such should be paid to the host oil producing communities.

Last week, the RMAFC had told the Senate at a public hearing that paying the host communities directly will result in the creation of a fourth tier of government as well as conflict with the provisions of the

•Insist it is first line charge From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor), Abuja

constitution.

The RMAFC had told the Senate that the oil-producing host communities were already provided for by the current 13 per cent derivation arrangements, the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ministry of Niger Delta.

The Abia memorandum was signed by 10 community leaders namely Chief Jones Udeogu, Barrister Chinedu Elechi, Chief Onyema Olujie, Prince Sam Nwogu, Obinna

Ememenna, Nwaloziri Ignatius, Barr Emma Ukaegbu, Hon. Ugochukwu Ekpo, Reginald Ezenta and Maduka James.

The Abia group of oil producing communities had affirmed in their memorandum to the RMAFC that the 13 per cent derivation fund had existed before any revenue formula.

The amount due to the fund the group argued is constitutionally set aside before any Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting to be shared while the balance of 87 per cent is what FAAC is supposed to share.

Both Abia and Bayelsa groups noted in their separate memoranda that the “RMAFC has no right to send the 13 percent derivation fund through any state government account who is the third beneficiary of the Federation Account. It is also clear that 13 per cent Derivation Fund is not part of the consolidated fund of any tier of government.”

According to the Abia memorandum, “the fund is not part of state/local government Joint Account, the fund as provided in the 1999 constitution is on its own and should be treated as such.”

Oil producing communities in Bayelsa state in their memorandum urged the Federal Government to revert to the provisions of the 1982 Act in the disbursement f 13 per cent derivation fund.

Ahmed proposes revival of textile industries

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WARA State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has advocated the revival of textile and cotton industries in the country as part of efforts to create jobs and boost the nation’s economy.

Governor Ahmed, who is also the chairman of Adhoc Committee of the Northern Governors Forum

By Bukola Afolabi

on the re-activation of Kaduna Textile Limited, made this appeal when representatives of the company’s workers visited him at the Government House, Ilorin, recently.

According to him, as part of the revival strategy, an enabling environment should be created for the

textile industries to have regular access to reliable energy adding that, irregular electricity supply and cost of maintaining alternative energy supply hinder industrial growth.

The change in policy, he observed, will check the influx of cheap textile materials from Asia at the detriment of the local industry.

Governor Ahmed pledged the commitment of the committee and the Northern Governors’ Forum to the resuscitation of the Kaduna Textile Limited in order to boost employment opportunities and contribute to the country’s GDP. The leader of the Kaduna Textiles Limited Workers Forum, Anthony Afolayan, in his remarks said since the company closed operations November 2002, its workers and their families have been passing through hard times.

Agency blames poor legislation on consumer crisis From Franca Ochigbo and Zillah Alelumhe, Abuja

•Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Chairman Theseabilities Foundation and Mr. Adeboye Abioye, Executive Director, at a breakfast parley to discuss employment prospects of persons with disability in Lagos recently

•From left: Managing Director, SC Johnson Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kwame Wiafe; Managing Director, Tonia Enterprise, Mrs Funmilayo Adollo; Marketing Manager, SC Johnson, Mrs. Onome Odili and Chairman, Dumnki Ventures, Mr Odi Akah, during the unveilling of the new look Mr Muscle Toilet Cleaner at the company's customer forum in Lagos.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

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HE Director General, Consumer Protection Council, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, has lamented the level of challenge posed by the inadequacy of the Council’s Act to consumer protection in the country, saying it is partly a hindrance to meeting consumers’ expectations.Mrs. Atoki disclosed this during a courtesy call on her counterpart at the National Orientation Agency, (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri, in Abuja, stating that one of the challenges of not being able to meet the expectation of the consumer is due to poor legislation.

She said the proposed amendment will reposition the council for effectiveness if passed by the National Assembly, while urging stakeholders to support the ongoing efforts at reviewing the law.

Responding, Omeri while describing the CPC boss as an outstanding icon, judging by her rich profile, said under Atoki’s charge the CPC has been able to restore the hopes of consumers across the country.

He also pledged to support the council in its quest to ensure consumers have value for their money by leading the campaign to de-emphasise the patronage of fake and substandard products and services across the country by unscrupulous businessmen.

Briefs Utomi, others for Nigerian London Business Forum

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HE Nigerian London Business Forum (NILOBF), a group of influential British and Nigerian business leaders, has concluded arrangement to hold its inaugural business networking luncheon in August 30, 2013, at the Holiday Inn Regents Park Hotel, London, from 10am to 5pm.

In a release made available to The Nation by the conveners, Dr Chris Onalo, NILOBF Country Representative Director, Nigeria and Danette Gayle, NILOBF Administrator, London, they declared that: “The business and investment networking event seeks to bring top notch business people from Nigeria and UK together to establish or renew business contacts, seek new investment opportunities, develop long term business relationships or finalise existing business deals.”

Professor Pat Utomi, the guest speaker, will speak on: “The Power of Business, The Threat of Barriers.”

Also expected at the interface and discussion session is Mazi-Sam Ohuabunwa, former Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit, John Momoh, Chairman Channels TV, Ray Ekpu, former Editor-in-Chief, Newswatch.

Others include the Nigerian High Commissioner in London, UK’s Export Credit Guarantee Department, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Aiteo Energy Resources Ltd, Union Bank, UK, and many others.

NILOBF is an elite trade, investment promotion and business networking association, whose membership is prestigious and as a matter of policy, is limited to select organisations through which the forum positively influence bilateral policies and measures between Nigeria and UK with a view to improving trade, investment and business networking. NILOBF emphasis is London, because London is UK’s economic, political, administrative, business and financial capital.

NILOBF’s quarterly, half-yearly and yearly programme of activities such as business networking luncheon, trade and investment conference, bilateral review roundtable, etc holds rotationally between London and Nigeria.

Transcorp Hilton voted best hotel in Nigeria

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ILTON Abuja has been voted the Best Hotel in Nigeria for the year 2012/2013 at the 11th edition of Travellers Awards in Abuja.

In a statement from Transcorp Hilton’s Public Relations Manager, Mr. Shola Adeyemo said, “Transcorp Hilton Abuja emerged the winner of the award through a selection process that included online poll and survey conducted by editors of ATQ magazine.”

Presenting the award, Mr. Ikechi Uko, organisers of the award, remarked that Transcorp Hilton deservedly won the award because it “has consistently demonstrated high quality of service and facility.”

Transcorp Hilton’s General Manager, Etienne Gailliez while speaking on the award said it was great to see the hard work and dedication of the team recognised by industry professionals.

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BUSINESS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Scramble for power plants

•Olorunsogo power plant at Papalanto, Ogun State, one of the power plants up for grabs (inset) high tension cables in Maryland substation, Lagos.

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O say that power generation has remained a nightmare of some sort is not in doubt. Truth is, many Nigerians rely exclusively on alternative source of power for their personal use.

Expressing concern over the parlous state of the power sector, Chairman, House Committee on Power, Steel and Metallurgy, Patrick Ikhariale, stated: “The power sector has been a major source of concern to all of us and the reason for this is that during the tenure of some administrations, particularly the military, there was neglect of basic infrastructure, especially in the power sector. What we have today is a problem that is all-encompassing.”

Damning verdict A recent poll showed that about 81 per cent or 130 million Nigerians, out of the about 160 million population, generated their own electricity through alternative sources to compensate for irregular power supply, according to the result of a series of Power Sector Polls conducted

by NOI Polls Limited for the second quarter of 2013.

According to the results, a combined average of 69 per cent of Nigerians or 110 million Nigerians, have experienced increase in their spending on alternative power supply compared to a year ago.

The result of the poll further showed that an average of 47 per cent of Nigerian adults said that electricity supply was poor or went from bad to worse in the second quarter of 2013.

Reality bite The Federal Government had in 2005 projected that it would be able to generate 10, 000megawatts (MW) of electricity into the national grid every day.

The target was set around the time that the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) was signed into law

Concerted efforts by the different tiers of government to boost power generation, transmission and distribution capacities have recorded a giant leap with the proposed sale of newly built power plants, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf in March 2005, four long years after the bill itself was first presented at the National Assembly.

The late President Umar Yar’Adua had reportedly assured at the time that he wanted to get the nation plug into 6,000MW of electricity by December 2009 and increase the wattage to 10,000MW by 2011, when his mandate was supposed to end. That dream remains a pipe dream till date.

As at the end of February 2013, Nigeria was generating 4,397MW at peak, and a minimum of 3,819MW. Crux of the matter A number of factors from the superficial to the complex have been adduced for the challenges besetting the nation’s power sub-sector.

Corroborating the foregoing, Chief Executive Officer, Eko DISCO, Mr. Oladele Amoda, at the fourth edition of the company’s Customer Parliament recently observed that at the centre of the problem of power supply in the country, are the issues of generation, transmission and distribution capacities.

Presidential promise In what was a blessed assurance, President Goodluck Jonathan in his “Roadmap For Power Sector Reform”, launched in Lagos in August 2010, fixed the medium term as December 2013, when according to him: “our expectation is that the total quantum of power delivered to electricity consumers across the country should be at least twice the current level. This ambition reflects expected outputs from the planned completion of projects which have already been budgeted

and for which the government will retain direct accountability, namely: the completion of all the overdue NIPP projects (for generation, transmission and distribution); the completion of the outstanding (and already budgeted) PHCN projects; and the completion of the outstanding (and already budgeted) NGC investments in the gas supply and transportation industry.

NIPP to the rescue Perhaps in acknowledgment of the presidential promise, there has been a renewed vigour on the part of government at all levels to increase power generation, transmission as well as distribution through the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), which is being managed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC).

Established under the Electric Power Sector Reforms Act of 2005, the NDPHC was incorporated in the same year as a limited liability company to serve as the legal vehicle to build, hold and manage the NIPP assets using private sector-based global best business practices.

Interestingly, in

fulfillment of its mandate, the NDPHC built from the scratch NIPP 10 gas-fired plants with a combined design capacity in excess of 5,453 megawatts (mw) at ISO conditions and 4,774mw (Net), all of which are now on offer to competent private operators for effective management through competitive bids as announced by the government through the NDPHC in collaboration with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

To facilitate the sale of the power plants in line with due process and laid down procedure, it was learnt that the government set up three committees namely, the Joint Evaluation Committee, whose work is to evaluate the expression of interest for the power plants; the Joint Transaction Committee of the NDPHC headed by the Managing Director, Mr. James Olotu; and the Joint Technical Committee, headed by Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, the outcome of which would be given to the board of NDPHC and National Council on Privatisation (NCP) for final approval.

Expectedly, to help actualise this phase of the power

Power plants up for grabs •750 mega watts Olorunsogo, phase II power plant in Ogun State •451MW Ogorode power plant in Delta State •225MW Gbarain power plant, near Bayelsa State •1,07MW Alaoji power plant near Aba in Abia State •451MW Ihovbor power plant in Edo state •561MW Calabar power

plant in Nsit Nyong, Cross River State •338MW Egbema power plant in Egbema Ohaji, Imo State •434MW Geregu power plant in Ajaokuta, Kogi State •500MW Omotosho power plant in Ondo State •250MW Omoku power plant in Rivers State

reforms, the NDPHC, alongside the BPE and other stakeholders in the power sector, recently launched a roadshow in Lagos, London, Hong Kong and New York respectively, to, among other things, woo prospective investors to buy into the power plants.

An upbeat CEO of NDPHC, while clearing all doubts about the state of the plants told journalists at a public forum in Lagos that: “All the plants are in top condition and have gone through pre-commissioning and reliability tests to ensure optimal performance in the hands of the operators who would be selected through a detailed and rigorous process to ensure that the full objectives of the NIPP projects are realised.”

Besides, he assured that the exercise is in tandem with the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies and is bound to introduce improvement in the auctioning of public sector assets in the country, adding that President Goodluck Jonathan would soon commission the comprehensive NIPP projects.

The Nation can authoritatively report that at the expiration of the Expression of Interest (EoI) for the purchase of the power plants last Friday, July 19th to be precise, a total of 110 private investors’ companies beat the deadline.

It was further gathered that the BPE will make public a shortlist of successful bidders for the power plants on August 8, 2013 while the tentative date of the delivery and handing over to the highest bidders is between June and July 2014.

In what appeared to be an open endorsement by Vice President Namadi Sambo, who heads the NCP, the VP commended the NDPHC management over “the manner it handled the successful

PHOTOS: MUYIWA HASSAN

completion of the 10 power plants.”

Power plants for grabs Up for grabs on the auction block are the 80 per cent shares belonging to the three tiers of government in the 10 power plants. During the roadshow, Olotu explained that the three tiers of government have agreed “to divest 80 per cent stake in each power plant as valued by our financial advisers/valuers. We will retain 20 per cent in order to assure potential investors of our confidence in the plants we are selling.”

While shedding more light on the plants up for grabs, Olotu said “the Alaoji Power Plant in Aba, Abia State has four gas and two steam turbines with current capacity of 1,131.4mw (ISO) and 961mw (net). It is designed as a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) facility with duct firing its heat recovery steam generators, (HRSGs). 831.3mw (ISO) and 706mw (net) of the Alaoji Power Plant are anticipated by its date of sale to private investors.”

There is also the Ihovbor Power Plant in Benin City, which has four GE Frame 9E gas turbines of 507.mw (ISO) and 451mw (net) capacity. It is an open cycle plant built to accommodate future conversion to combined CCGT configuration.

Prospective investors, he stressed, can also buy into the 634.5mw (ISO)/562mw (net) capacity Calabar Power Plant, which is also an open cycle plant built to accommodate future conversion to combined CCGT configuration, he said.

The Egbema Power Plant located near Owerri, Imo State has three GE Frame 9E gas turbines capable of 380.7mw (ISO) and 338mw (net) power generation output. It is designed and built to accommodate three additional gas turbines

Continued on page 51

BUSINESS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

F •Sambo

Scramble for power plants Continued from page 50 and future conversion to combined CCGT configuration.

In Yenegoa, Bayelsa State where the 253.8mw (ISO)/ 225mw (Net) Gbarain Power Plant, made up of two GE Frame 9E gas turbines, has open cycle gas turbine power plant, and also built to accommodate future conversion to CCGT configuration.

Also up for sale is the Geregu II Power Plant at Ajaokuta, Kogi State. An open cycle gas turbine power plant built to accommodate future conversion to CCGT configuration. Geregu II has three Siemens V94.2 gas turbines with 506.1mw (ISO) and 434mw (net) capacity.

The fully operational Sapele II Power Plant is the seventh facility the NDPHC has put for sale. It has four GE Frame 9E gas turbines of 507.6mw/451mw (net) capacity and is located in Sapele, Delta State.

The Olorunsogo II Power Plant in Olorunsogo, Ogun State, which has 754mw (ISO)/ 676mw (net) output capacity, provided by four GE Frame 9E gas turbines and two GE Steam Turbines as well as the Omoku II Power Plant, near Port Harcourt, Rivers State, powered by two GE Frame 9E Gas Turbines of 264.7mw (ISO) and 225mw (net) capacity are also on offer, just as the Omotosho II Power Plant in Okitipupa, Ondo State, made up of four GE Frame 9E Gas Turbines with the capacity to generate 512.8mw (ISO) and 451mw (net).

Informed sources further told The Nation that the NDPHC plants are also being sought after since they are all newly constructed and as such offer the best fuel efficiency and lowest operating costs, thereby relieving investors of pressure from construction cum commissioning costs.

Investors are also excited by the NDPHC plants because they are assets that can be further developed, as all but one of the open cycle gas turbine power plants have the potential for expansion and growth.

Return on investment At the Hong Kong roadshow, Governor Suswam disclosed that the three tiers of government have, so far, invested well over $8 billion in the building of the 10 power plants on offer for sale. However, the government expects over $6 billion (about N936 billion) in revenue from the on-going moves to divest 80 per cent of public sector interests in the 10 new power stations.

The revenue receipt, according to officials of the Ministry of Power, would be ploughed back into the sustained capacity development in the power sector, specifically to build a number of hydropower dams across Northern Nigeria in line with

•Olotu

the aspiration to drive the country’s economy up to the biggest 20 in the world by the year 2020.

Also during the roadshow, Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo, stressed that “the power sector will thrive in the hands of the private sector and drive the Nigerian economy. We will give maximum support to investors to take over the sector.

“The entire process of privatisation of the power sector is irreversible and what happened in the telecoms sector is about to repeat itself in the power sector. We expect that the achievement in the power sector will dwarf the telecoms sector. We expect this to revive our economy and revive our SMEs, which are currently moribund.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Power, Mr. Dagogo Jack, stated: “This project is consistent with government’s policy to push the plants to the private sector, which can manage it better.

Government will create incentives for investors in the power sector.”

Representative of the financial advisers to the privatisation programme, West African CPCS, Mr. Arif Mohiuddin, also assured potential investors that the bidding process would commence in August and the final handing over to the eventual winners would be in June 2014.

On his part, Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Steel and Metallurgy, Philip Taminu Aduda, said: “Privatisation is the best for our economy because a lot of investment and money is needed to be injected into the power sector and that is why successive governments have had problems in ensuring that it works and I will say so far, so good, the present administration has done its best in putting machinery in motion for the privatisation of the sector.”

On his part, Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Gbenga Obadara, assured the potential investors that the Federal Government would provide security for their investments.

Value addition Thankfully, the NDPHC boss has equally assured that the proceeds collected in the sale of the power plants would be ploughed back into the power sector to further boost the capacity of the country’s power infrastructure.

According to him, when collected from buyers of the power plants the money would be re-invested in the sector to boost power supply to all the nooks and crannies of the country.

Stakeholders also hold the view and very strongly too that the heightened interest in the power sector, especially the quantum of investments, will help in no small measure to unleash the huge potentials of Nigeria, leading to meaningful economic growth and development.

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Why GSK rescinded decision on share buyout—Osunkeye

RESH fact emerged at the weekend as to why GlaxoSmithKline United Kingdom (GSK UK) suspended plan to increase its stake in GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc (GSK Nigeria) from 46.4 per cent to 75 per cent.

Speaking at a media parley in Lagos, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye, the Chairman Board of Directors, in company of other members of the board, said the decision to back down on the proposal was to allow for more robust consultation with the parties in the deal.

According to him, apart from minority shareholders of GSK Nigeria who complained against the offer price, institution investors abroad also expressed misgivings over the deal.

Among other things, the GSK Nigeria Board chair said the foreign investors considered the terms of the deal at variance with UK laws.

“The institutional investors noted that as a rule, UK

investors in another country cannot necessarily take the advantage of the maximum of the law of other countries.”

As a way out, Osunkeye said that the general meeting of shareholders of GSK Nigeria therefore considered proper to do away with the proposed scheme of arrangement and adjourned indefinitely in order to allow for agreement among the parties concerned.

While not foreclosing the possibility of a quick resolution, the GSK board chair said: “We are back on the drawing board and hope to look at the new trading arrangement and the price. It may be by tender or some other means mutually agreed by the parties.”

It may be recalled that the UK firm had made the proposal to buy additional shares from Nigerian shareholders at N48 through a scheme of arrangement slated to be approved at a court-ordered meeting in Lagos last Tuesday.

Justifying the need for the share buyout, the company said it was aimed at facilitating more investment in GSK Nigeria.

But the terms of the agreement were faulted by the minority shareholders who complained against the offer price who said the deal could lead to eventual delisting of the company from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Following the complaints, the Securities and Exchange (SEC) stepped in by directing that the price be reviewed upwards while GSK UK should not vote at the meeting.

Subsequently, the company said following consultations with its shareholders and relevant regulatory bodies, the proposal was withdrawn at the meeting.

Earlier in a statement, the Managing Director, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, Chidi Okoro, said: “GSK as a company believes in fairness and transparency in all its processes, and we are committed

to shareholder’s interest and the growth of the Nigerian economy.”

According to him, GSK believed that the suspension of the scheme of arrangement is necessary in order to consider appropriate amendments to the proposal.

“In line with this, GSK will continue consultations with shareholders and the Securities and Exchange Commission as to whether the proposal will be implemented by way of a tender offer or otherwise,” Okoro said.

He added that GSK had commenced work on the formalisation of updated longterm arrangements that would allow GSK Nigeria to continue to distribute these brands in Nigeria and some West African countries.

“The company believes it is important that these arrangements are concluded and disclosed before any revised proposal is put to GSK Nigeria shareholders,” he said.

topmost fashion industries in the country. We have had beautiful Success Showcase events in the past in Port Harcourt, but I must tell you that one thing I have noticed about Forever is that when testimonies are repeated, they continue to sound new because you hear different ideas and points of view on each product or network marketing principles. Each person has his own story. Every person standing to talk about the same things, discussing from different perspectives; but by the way they understand the

product and the principles.

These add more meaning each day and everyday to the business. Every day, the knowledge you gain from your own source is improved upon.”

On her part, Mrs. Onyebuchi said: “This event will boost my business in Forever. People will now know and appreciate the fact that Forever products are the secret of my physical well-being and my healthy lifestyle”.

The wife of Enugu State deputy governor, Mrs. Nneka Onyebuchi had this to say about

Forever: “The products are healthy and natural. By using the products, you make good money in monthly bonus paid by the company. By using the products, people will see the result on you and appreciate you the more. By using the products, your family will be happier and fitter; your husband is happy, your children are happy, your relations are happy. Everybody loves using Forever products, because there are many gains by simply using them.”

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

Multilevel marketing excites governors’ wives

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ULTILEVEL marketing has been lauded by deputy governors’ wives from the eastern and southern regions including: Mrs. Nneka Onyebuchi (Enugu State); Dr. (Mrs.) Mina Tele Ikuru (Rivers State) and Mrs. Glory Effiok Cobham (Cross River State). They described it as a good vocation and also recommended it for its numerous socio-economic benefits.

Her Excellencies spoke in unison at the Enugu Success Showcase event of Forever Living Products, held at the serene Toscana Hotel Event Centre, Enugu, recently.

Firing the first salvo, Sapphire Manager wife of the deputy governor of Rivers State and medical practitioner, Dr. (Mrs.) Mina Tele Ikuru, said: “Incidentally, I do more of business, entrepreneurship and mentoring than just the medical practice since I became a Forever distributor. I am the founder and creative director of Efsy Moti Designs, one of the

IFAD, AfDB get U.S. Treasury awards for supporting rural communities

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HE International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) received the Development Impact Honours award from the United States Department of the Treasury for their contribution to strengthening and improving infrastructure and market access in rural communities in Uganda.

Donald Kaberuka, President of AfDB and Carlos Seré, Associate Vice-President, on behalf of IFAD President Kanayo F Nwanze, accepted the award from Jacob J. Lew, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, during an award ceremony in Washington D. C. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank and Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the International Development Bank (IDB), among others, attended the ceremony.

•From left: Former chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Mr. Tony Oyawole, presenting a cash award to Rev. Fr. Theophilus Itaman, Principal, Lumen Christi Int'l High School for Best Performing School nationwide during the 2013 Reward Nigeria Award in company of Masters Oseme Peter and Atigan Weyimi in Lagos recently.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

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ULBEAT New Concepts (CNC) Limited, organisers of the flagship award tagged: ‘Reward Nigeria Annual Awards’, recently presented the Best Performing School award on Lumen Christi International High School, Uromi, Edo State.

At the awards presentation in Lagos, the convener, Mr Adekunle Akintayo, said it was an avenue to recognise outstanding feats among Nigerians from all walks of life. ‘‘This awards ceremony was instituted to celebrate role models among Nigerians and over the last four years, we have recognised the outstanding contribu-

Firm rewards school for excellence tions of scientists, artists, students and organisations,’’ he said.

Lumen Christi outshined over 11,000 schools to clinch the award, which it has won for the fourth consecutive time from 2007 till date.

Lumen Christi produced the best result as confirmed by the West African Examination Council (WAEC). This award is given to the school in Nigeria that has the best aggregate, determined on the results of its best 50 candidates, provided that the grades for English Language, Mathematics and a

Science subject are included in determining the aggregate.

Established in 1986 by the then Archbishop of Benin City, Most Rev Dr P.E Ekpu, Lumen Christi has won awards and competitions across the country including the National Secondary Schools Quiz Competition in July 2012 after representing Edo State.

Responding, an elated Rev. Fr. Theophilus Itaman, the school’s principal, said he was overwhelmed with joy for the outstanding performance of his wards and pupils in external exams like WASSCE.

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BUSINESS

N Nigeria, awards and prizes are a dime a dozen.

For the right amount you can get some fly-by-night operation to hang some cheap medallion around your neck.

Your ego may be sated, and self-esteem boosted for a couple of hours, but the discerning are hardly ever fooled.

But sometimes the deserving do get their day in the sun.

Yesterday at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, Victoria Island, the Public Policy Research and Analysis Centre (PPRAC) held the 2013 edition of the Zik Leadership Award in Excellence – doling out a string of awards to notable Nigerians.

Among those honoured this year were Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development, Ms Ama Pepple; Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti).

Others are Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Chief Festus Odimegwu and Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Reginald Ihejiahi.

The Zik Prize in Leadership set up in 1994 by PPRAC is an annual affair in honour of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, first President of Nigeria. It is meant to encourage patriotic leadership in Nigerians, Africans and black people all over the world.

Past recipients of the prize in Political Leadership include former President J.J. Rawlings (Ghana, 1995), President Julius Nyerere (Tanzania, 1997), Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim (Tanzania, 1998), President Sam Nujoma (Namibia, 1999) and former South African President Nelson Mandela (2000).

With such a stellar cast of past awardees, this year’s honourees are certainly in privileged company. The 2013 group is packed with political office holders – save two, Odimegwu and Ihejiahi – who are better known for their exploits in the business world.

As part of the explanatory notes for his award, Ihejiahi is said to have distinguished himself in professional leadership at a time of serious crisis in the financial sector – a period which betrayed many organisations as lacking in professionalism and exhibiting performance gaps in sound corporate governance.

Anyone familiar with the recent history of the banking sector in Nigeria will not argue with that assessment. Indeed, it has been a period of intense change and upheaval – beginning with the Professor Chukwuma Soludo consolidation phase to the radical reforms introduced by the current Central Bank Governor, Lamido Sanusi.

Just as the banking landscape was being transformed, many leaders in the top echelons of some the country’s top financial institutions were toppled from their rarified perches. Worse still, some who were once celebrated as icons turned villains overnight, their reputations sullied irreparably. Some are still undergoing trials in court.

It is against this background of turmoil, that Ihejiahi drove an unlikely institution to emerge as one of the initial 25 success stories of the Soludo consolidation process. Were he to have stopped there it still would have been

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

For Fidelity’s Ihejiahi, Beyond it’s time in spotlight Talent

By Adetayo Okusanya

Email: adetayookusanya@hotmail.com

The hidden cost of procrastination

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• Ihejiahi

PROFILE

By Festus Eriye

considered a notable achievement.

However, in close to 10 years that he has led Fidelity Bank, he has transformed what was a puny 22-branch outfit in February 2004, into a brawny competitor boasting as many as 205 branches today. Recently, the bank successfully concluded a USD300million International Eurobond issue – something that will go down as one of the signal achievements of his tenure. Only three Nigerian banks have managed this thus far.

Under his leadership Fidelity was named the Most Socially Responsible Bank in Africa in 2008 during the World Bank annual meetings in Washington DC, and for the past seven years has been a consistent winner at the Social Enterprise Reports and Awards (SERA).

Banks love to brag about how much they give back out of their stupendous profits. So it is no surprise that Ihejiahi has used his position as CEO to drive his institution’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Fidelity supports causes for the environ-

ment through cooperation with the Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF) and environmental beautification, in partnership with state governments.

He is also a noted arts enthusiast. He is not only a connoisseur; he is an avid collector of works of art. His interest in literature has clearly rubbed off on the group. Fidelity has sponsored readings and training workshops for budding writers. A couple of those seminars have been led by notable writers like the award-winning Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the Kenyan, Binyavanga Wainaina.

It is often said a company cannot climb higher than its leadership: pedestrian leadership will always result in a mediocre establishment.

Ihejiahi presides over a bank that is not noted for its flashy ways. Rather he has built an institution fashioned in the more conservative traditions of British banking.

That may be down to the fact that the man himself is essentially a conservative person. Those who know him say both of his parents were teachers and they instilled a prudent trait in him. The family was often on the move from city to city because of regular transfers. He finally had a measure of schooling stabil-

“

That trust is what encouraged many high net-worth individuals to invest in the young institution – putting Fidelity in a strong enough position to gobble up the two other banks which, at that point, were much bigger than it

“

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ity when he enrolled as a boarding student at the elite Government College, Umuahia.

Aside conservative, other words that have been used to describe Ihejiahi is brilliant.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accountancy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he was a Mobil Oil Undergraduate Scholar.

He also holds a masters degree in Finance & Accounting from the famous London School of Economics (LSE), University of London and a doctorate degree in Business Administration (Honoris Causa) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA) UK, and of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

Many attribute his skillful management of the tripartite marriage between Fidelity, the defunct Manny Bank and FSB Bank, to his personal integrity and goodwill built over three decades working in banking.

That trust is what encouraged many high net-worth individuals to invest in the young institution – putting Fidelity in a strong enough position to gobble up the two other banks which, at that point, were much bigger than it.

Going by CBN regulations which cap tenure for bank managing directors at 10 years, Ihejiahi should be approaching the end of his time as CEO of Fidelity having been appointed in 2004. Aside leaving a durable institution whose place in the business landscape is assured, it is fitting that one of the more self-effacing business leaders and achievers in Nigeria is being recognised through the Zik Leadership Award, for doing something significant for his country.

AST week I narrowly escaped what could have been a catastrophe. It was late morning on Wednesday and I was working on my Tablet PC. I was connected to the internet and downloading information as part of my research for a client project. A still small voice reminded me of the dangers of the internet and I was distinctly aware that my antivirus was not working. It had stopped working in early February and I had not made out time to take it in for repairs.Besides, I had done online research many times since February and nothing had gone wrong. This time would be no different.

Suddenly, through the corner of my eye, I saw an icon popup on the Task Bar at the bottom of my screen. I ignored it and stayed focused on my task. After a few minutes, a dialogue box opened and a strange looking program started scanning my hard drive. I stopped. An antivirus software with a brand name that was unknown to me was running on my PC. I thought,”Hmm… this is weird”. I tried to stop the program, but it would not stop. Every time I attempted to stop it, it would inform me that my PC was infected and open a screen asking me to put in my credit card details to purchase this unknown antivirus software.

My system had been hijacked and soon I was unable to do anything on my PC. The virus aborted every attempt I made to download an antivirus, leaving a cheeky message that it had stopped a dangerous software from running on my system.

Imagine the nerve! I was forced to make that phone call to my IT consultant. The call I should have made five months ago.

Luckily, he could squeeze me into his late afternoon schedule, but I still had to twiddle my fingers for two hours before our appointment. “Why did this have to happen to me today?” I fumed silently. I was only a week away from getting my antivirus fixed. “What if they have to wipe my hard drive and I lose all my documents?” I had not backed up my hard drives in a while!There was no one to blame but myself. I had the chance to do the right thing for five months but did not. I procrastinated. I knew that getting the antivirus fixed was important but it was not urgent, so I let it drag until a force outside my control was forcing me to take action. I wondered how this story would end. Was this going to be a case of “too little, too late?”

Procrastination is the act of deferring, putting off or delaying an action. It is derived from the Latin word “prôcrâstinâre” which means to postpone until tomorrow. I don’t think that procrastination in itself is a bad thing. After all, we have more demands on our time than we have time in one day to do them, so some things must necessarily be deferred to a later time. It is how we procrastinate and what we procrastinate about that often gives procrastination a bad name. Procrastination has huge hidden costs. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to pay more for goods and services simply because I delayed payment. The countless opportunities lost because I said “I will get back to it later” and forgot to. The impact on my health because I postponed a doctor’s appointment or delayed taking medication.

Fortunately, my IT consultant was able to outwit and outmaneuver the crafty virus after forty five minutes of pecking at my keyboard. He fixed my defective antivirus and scanned my system just to make sure there were no other viruses lurking in the shadows. Phew! I had just had a brush with the work of an insidious mind and escaped with little to nothing lost except for six hours of my day and a little bit of my “swag”. I could not help by wonder how much more painful, frustrating and devastating the situation could have been. This time I was fortunate. But what about next time?

What has procrastination cost youthis year– an education, a degree, a promotion, a business, a relationship, a vacation, wealth creation, happiness or your health?What will your continued delay cost you? It may not seem like much today, but… what will the cost be tomorrow? You may not be as lucky as I was with my unprotected PC. The best way to overcome procrastination is to take action on important things before they become urgent and establish a system that enables you to stay one step ahead of deferred activities. I leave you with the words of Charles Kingsley, “Every duty which is bidden to wait returns with seven fresh duties at its back.”

Have An Amazing Week!

• Okusanya is CEO of ReadinessEdge

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

BUSINESS

Nigerian Breweries steps up earnings growth

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IGERIAN Breweries’ second quarter earnings figures show an accelerated growth from the records posted at the end of first quarter but a slowdown in revenue looks quite likely at full year. Revenue and profit numbers are just moderately ahead of the corresponding second quarter figures in the preceding year but the brewing company has improved the growth rates in the current year.

Based on the second quarter growth rates, the company’s full year earnings outlook has improved. The improved revenue growth rate however is still indicating that sales revenue could slow down for the second year.

Sales revenue grew by 7.4% to N133.82 billion in the second quarter compared with the corresponding figure in 2012. It is however an acceleration growth from the N64.57 billion the company reported in the first quarter.

Based on the current growth rate, we revise our initial full year sales revenue projection from N260 billion to N269.5 billion for Nigerian Breweries in 2013.

If the projected full year turnover figure is realised, that will represent an increase of just 6.7% over the full year sales revenue figure of N252.67 billion of the company in 2012. Despite an accelerated growth in the second quarter, the full year outlook still indicates a slowdown in sales revenue. The company had grown turnover by 11.7% in 2012, which itself was a slowdown from a rise of 21.8% in 2011. A further step up in revenue growth may still happen in the second half of the year.

Profit growth also accelerated in the second quarter compared with the first quarter growth rate. At N20.66 billion, the company’s after tax profit is only 6.6% up from the corresponding quarter last year but it is more than double the N9.42 billion net profit posted in the first quarter.

Based on the improved growth rate in the second quarter, we mark up our initial full year net profit projection from N38.8 billion to N42.1 billion for Nigerian Breweries in 2013. This will be an increase

of 8.5% from the company’s full year net profit figure of N38.06 billion in 2012. It will also be a better performance than last year when after tax profit slipped from the 2011 peak of N38.46 billion.

While net profit margin inched down from 15.5% in June 2012 to 15.4% this year, it is an improvement from 14.8% recorded in the first quarter.

Net profit margin is expected to improve slightly further to 15.6% at full year against 15.1% recorded in the 2012 full year.

Based on the forecast net profit for the year, the company is expected to earn N5.46 per share at the end of the current year. Earnings per share amounted to N2.73 at the end of the second quarter compared with N2.56 in the corresponding period last year. The company earned N4.94 per share in the 2012 full year.

Dividend per share was unchanged at N3.0 in the preceding two years after improving from N1.25 paid for the 2010 operations. With a new peak in earnings per share expected in 2013, it is reasonable to expect an improvement in dividend per share from the current year’s operation. Based on the pay-out ratio of over 60% in 2012, a minimum dividend per share of N3.30 is expected from Nigerian Breweries at the end of the current year.

Despite strict cost management, the company is unable to get profit to grow ahead of sales revenue. Cost of sales was effectively managed to grow slightly lower than turnover at 7.2% to N67.44 billion in the second quarter, which improved gross profit slightly ahead of sales revenue at 7.6% to N66.37 billion.

A strong growth of 61.8% in other income reinforced gross profit but two major expense items prevented the earnings from flowing down to operating profit. These are marketing and distribution expenses, which grew by 8.2% to N21.04 billion and administrative cost, which rose by 26.8% to N13.72 billion. Operating profit therefore improved only slightly by 2.3% to N33.05 billion against the 7.4% growth in sales revenue.

Net interest expenses declined by 9.1% to N3.44 billion during the review period and

this helped pre-tax profit to improve by 3.8% to N29.61 billion. Interest expenses may decline at full year based on the current growth rate. The company had paid N8.31 billion interest charges in the 2012 full year. A decline of 2.2% in taxation further improved net profit growth at 6.6% in the second quarter.

The decline in interest expenses seems to reflect a decline in long-term loans outstanding between the end of December 2012 and June 30 2013. At the end of the second quarter, the company’s longterm loan, which stood at N45 billion in December went down to N39 billion. This accounted for a decline of 7.9% in the company’s non-current liabilities over the period.

Other major developments in the company’s balance sheet over the past six months to June 2013 include a drop of 16.5% in inventories, which was led by a drop of 26.9% in finished goods. There was an increase of 25.3% in trade and other receivables to N24.97 billion and a 109.4% jump in prepayments at N1.89 billion. Cash and bank balances went down by 12.9% to N8.29 billion during the period.

Against a marginal decline of 1.7% in total current assets to N55.93 billion, cur-

rent liabilities went up by 10.8% to N95.80 billion over the six month period. The increase in current liabilities is accounted for by increases in outstanding tax and dividend obligations. At the end of the second quarter, a tax liability of N27.85 billion was outstanding and a dividend obligation of N8.48 billion was yet to be paid.

The overall cash flow position of the company improved at the end of the second quarter with net decrease in cash and cash equivalents falling from N19.73 billion to N1.23 billion. The major developments in this regard include a leap in cash generated from operating activities from N21.98 billion in June 2012 to N41.45 billion at the end of June 2013. This was reinforced by a drop in taxes paid during the period.

The company’s cash flow remains constrained by repayment of loans and borrowings, interest and dividend payments and an increase in prepayments.

Acquisition of new property, plants and equipment continues to gulp cash resources though a drop from N18.19 billion spent for same in the second quarter of 2012 to N12.53 billion in June 2013 has helped the company to make a good progress in rebalancing its cash flow position.

Wema Bank raises N40b to implement growth strategy

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EMA Bank Plc has said its capital raising exercise had led to the injection of N40bn fresh capital into the company.

As a result, the bank said it had initiated the process of implementing its strategic growth plan geared towards increasing market share and profitability over the next five years.

The bank’s Managing Director, Mr. Segun Oloketeyi, said this at a press conference in Lagos, while giving highlights of the 2012 and the half year of 2013 financials.

He said the management was awaiting the final regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission as regards the allotment of new shares created by the recapitalisation.

The fresh funds, he said, were raised through the sup-

port of shareholders and other strategic investors via a private placement involving private and institutional investors.

Oloketuyi, who outlined the bank’s growth strategy, said the transformation of the bank from a regional to a national bank would help it to consolidate on the gains of the past three years where the management had been able to strengthen the balance sheet and return to profitability.

Highlights of the 2012 results show an 11 per cent rise in total asset from N221.1bn in 2011 to N245.7bn, 18.2 per cent rise in deposits to N174.3bn up from N147.4bn.

Similarly net interest income grew by 17.5 per cent from N10bn to N11.7bn while net fees and commission income rose by 63.5 per cent from N2.9bn in 2011 to N4.7bn in 2012.

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MARKET FLASH Bukola Afolabi obrijo4u@gmail.com

Company News NSE: Negative trend lingers, indices down by 0.7%

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OSSES recorded by 31 companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday further dragged down market indicators at the close of trading.

This was compounded by huge sell-offs, which continued to depress major market indices.

For instance, Cap Plc lost the highest, falling by 10 per cent or N4.83 per share to close at N43.47 per share.

Continental Reinsurance Plc lost 9.86 per cent or 14 kobo to close at N1.28 per share.

University Press Plc and Trans-nationwide Express Plc fell by 9.69 per cent and 9.59 per cent to close at N4.38 and N1.32 per share, respectively.

NPF Microfinance Bank Plc and IPWA Plc shed 9.38 per cent and 7.41 per cent to close at 87 kobo and N1.00 per share in that order; while May & Baker Nigeria Plc and Cornerstone Insurance Company Plc lost 6.90 per cent and 5.66 per cent to close at N2.70 and 50 kobo per share, respectively.

Consequently, the market capitalisation of the listed equities, which fell to N11.893 on Wednesday, further fell by 0.7 per cent or N85bn to N11.808tn.

The NSE’s All-Share Index, which had closed lower at 37,554.73 points on Wednesday, also fell by 0.7 per cent to 37,286.50 points on Thursday.

The NSE-30 Index slipped by 0.9 per cent from 1,072.90 basis points to 1,057 points.

The NSE Banking Index, which fell by 3.87 per cent to 405.23 basis points on Wednesday after the stocks of 12 banks depreciated, dropped further on Thursday by 1.1 per cent to close at 400.73 points.

Still, the banking sub-sector maintained its lead on the activity chart, accounting for 33.8 per cent of total turnover traded.

In the sub-sector, investors exchanged 105.656 million shares worth N869.705m in 2,010 transactions.

Turnover in the sub-sector was driven by activities in the shares of Diamond Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, United Bank of Africa Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc.

Oando excites shareholders with N5.1bn dividend

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HAREHOLDERS of Oando Plc have approved the payment of the N5.1bn dividend for the year ended December 31, 2012.

The shareholders, who gave the approval at the company’s Annual General Meeting held in Lagos on Thursday, praised its board and management for guiding the company to achieve positive results.

The company had reported an increase of 526 per cent in its profit after tax, which saw its PAT rise to N10.9bn from N1.8bn in 2011.

According to the management of the firm, it made the profit from a turnover of N675.5bn in 2012, reflecting a growth of 18 per cent from the N573.2bn it made the previous year.

It was based on this performance that the directors proposed the payment of a dividend of N5.1bn, which translates into 75 kobo per share.

Commenting on the results, the Chairman,OandoPlc, Oba Michael Gbadebo, said the company was on the verge of hitting the growth target it had set, following the acquisition of ConocoPhillips Nigerian’s assets.

He said, “This year (2013) will witness the closure of this deal, thereby signalling our arrival as a major upstream player in Nigeria.”

He explained that Oando’s midstream business had expanded its pipeline network, while the downstream businesses would grow their market share and focus on new areas.

“Overall, we are confident and optimistic in what the future holds and look forward to growing shareholder value in the years ahead,” he said.

Ahead of the AGM, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Wale Tinubu, had expressed satisfaction at the performance of the firm in 2012.

He said, “We are pleased to report our 12 months performance for 2012, in which we have taken positive steps in the implementation of our strategic focus to build our diversified higher margin business segment.”

Commenting on the major decisions taken in the year under review, he said,”In the upstream division, we listed Oando Energy Resources on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada; increased our production capacity through successful drilling campaigns on OML 125, the Ebendo Field and the Qua Iboe Field.”

He added, “We also paid a 25 per cent deposit of $435m for the acquisition of ConocoPhilips Nigerian business, which will add 43kboe to our daily production and substantially increase our 2P reserves and best estimate contingent resources to 235mmboe and 237mmboe respectively.”

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY

BUSINESS

JULY 28, 2013

ncipal i r P s i o Ighodal h a artered u h t I c f r o o t s a m P .O, a fir A . les his I . g S g , ju r e o n h t r w a P hodalo, g I . s te pract a n v a i t r n p u s i o c h c g a managin n e pens up e o w , t y e t i b r a h c time ork and w l a r is intero h t t s a n i p e l y t tice, ement s g a n usuf a Y m e s d i a h k e on h ahim Ap r b I h t i w view

C

OULD you tell us what your management style as well as philosophy is? Well, first of all, I believe that there is a job for everyone. I think what has happened is that people have not been able to find their areas of employability or job fulfilment.

And what I set out to do is to try and discover the gift, skills, ability and the passion of each person.

So, my first drive as a management person is to make sure that you have the right tool, the right people and the right skills in the right place. Secondly, I allow my staff to express themselves, let them use their imagination, of course, giving broad guideline as to what the corporate vision is and how it can be achieved. I also allow people make mistakes because people learn from their mistakes. But hopefully, they will not be too expensive mistakes because I like people to bring their creativity into what they are trying to do. And then, of course, you set targets too and make sure that the targets are achieved. So, in the nutshell, my management style is to strive to be the best and to fulfil purpose. I'm a purposedriven person, as such; I believe that everybody should aspire to fulfil God's given purpose on earth and to be the best that they can be. So that's what drives my philosophy: to improve, to add value, to change, transform, to make things better all round for everyone.

How do you motivate a staff that has been above board?

You encourage people. Motivation comes in many forms. A very good working environment, easy interaction, especially with the boss, monetary motivation, benefits, holiday packages, and so on. But I think the best motivation is to allow people to aspire to what they really want to be and for them to see the benefits thereof.

So, we stick together, we work it out together, we see what you want to be and we see that you're entitled to what you want and then we try and push you in that direction.

Has there been anyone who used to be on your staff that has since made good after leaving your organisation?

It's almost inevitable that that happens. Quite a lot of people who have worked with me and we have worked together have made good in various areas of endeavours. Some of them are Director-Generals, a few of them are commissioners and some of them are pastors in their own right and quite a few of them are running their own businesses as well, publishing books and so on. A few of them have risen very high in banking and financial institutions, and it gives me a lot of joy. And when I see them even outside, I notice one or two things that they may have picked up from me such as the dressing style, speech, attitude, etal. And one thing I do is that I never lose touch, I never quarrel. I try to keep in touch with anybody who has crossed my path in life. There is always a connection no matter what they want to do. As I said, my greatest aspiration is to encourage people to become what they want to be whether with me or outside. But my joy is to see you happy.

As a management person, looking back in time, has there been any time you made some drastic, hard decisions?

You have to take tough decisions as a leader because somebody likes it doesn't mean that it is right. And sometimes what somebody likes is equally not right for the generality or for the

organisation. If somebody is not pulling his or her weight in the work place, you try to reassign them and find where they can do better or best. And if they don't fit into the present scheme of things, you really have to let them go. But I do that after we have tried every other avenue to see where they are best fitted. And if they still cannot fit in, then you have to let them go. But sometimes, letting an employee go can be a very painful and tough decision but you just have to take that decision because in the final analysis, it is best for the workplace and in fact, it is best even for that employee because then they have an opportunity to go out there and find something better to do. And most of them would find that if they are able to go out there even with my encouragement and support they find something better to do and they do even much better in that environment.

So, we take these tough decisions from time to time and you have to put your foot down. If there is indiscipline in the environment, it can be the gentleman or the lady who refuse to be disciplined; you have to take that decision to discipline that person appropriately. But what I also do thereafter is to create a second chance and second opportunity for the person to be reintegrated into something else or whatever we are doing.

But the discipline must be taken abinition in the first place. So, we do have to take tough decisions but it is based on principles and it is nothing personal. I try never to do anything personal about anything so that everybody understands the principles on which those decisions have been taken.

What about good decisions?

Oh yes, I have taken many good decisions, one of which is the merger of my old firms with three other firms. We were able to build a more robust, a more purposeful, a more directed and a more self-sustaining firm.

Can you be more specific?

Well, I used to run a firm called, Ighodalo & Co, Chartered Accountants, about seven or eight years ago. We merged together. Myself, Sule, Odiachi and Adewale teamed up to form S.I.A.O, a big and more robust firm. It was a difficult and tough decision but we were able to do it and I think it has paid off. We also had to reinvent the firm lately and let a few people go, alright. It was a very tough decision and difficult decision because we were all friends. But again, it created a new feeling and a new vive in the firm and so on. We left one or two environments and so on where we were working before and giving up on some assignments because it no longer fitted into our corporate direction, it was also a tough decision. Those are decisions we had to take which when they were being taken, it looked tough but at the end, it seems to have paid off.

As an upwardly mobile executive, one would expect that you go through some form of stress on the job, so how do you unwind?

I enjoy what I do both my accounting profession and my pastoral work and I'm very passionate about it. It is what I

want to do and it's what I'm doing, and therefore I don't really find it to be stressful as such. So, I take each day as it comes. But that is not to say that one does not get a little bit physically tired and sometimes you're under a bit of pressure because you need to do some delivery. But what I simply do is to shut down by reading the newspapers, watch the TV or take a break to go on holiday and fully rest by eating well, doing a bit of exercise, by sleeping very well and by allowing your brain to regenerate and recreate itself and it does help your thinking and your creativity as a person.

When does your typical day begin?

Well, most days I begin the day about 4.30 and 5.00am. I wake up to pray. And I pray typically from about 7.00-7.30am.

At 7.30, I then begin to meditate. My wife is also probably awake and she does her prayers and shortly we hold consultations about how the day is going to look like and so on. And between 8-9am, I bathe and try and make it to the office between 9.30-10am or 10.30 am depends on what my schedule is. And then I work flat out till about 8 or 9 O'clock sometimes till 10pm or sometime up till 12 midnight I'm still in the office depending on what I have to do. Because I have to combine it, that is pastoral and professional work. So, what I try and do is to do my professional work till about 6.30-7pm and then I begin my pastoral work from 7.30-10pm. Counselling, seeing people, giving advice, running the church and so forth and eventually I find myself at home maybe 11 and 12 midnight on the average. I have a light supper of some sort from 12, probably the first and only meal for me for the day. I do some prayer and meditation to wind down for the day. Read the newspapers, watch the TV, chat with my wife and then fall asleep.

That's my average day.

As they say, readers are leaders. Are there books you have read that have sort of influenced your world view?

I have quite a robust library. There are very many biographies and what you may call autobiographies; I have most of them like Gerald Ford, Obama, Awolowo, Azikiwe, Soyinka, history of the Nigerian civil war, etc. I like to read the stories of people and what they passed through, what they did to become what they became. Then I read quite a few management books here and there. I have read The Seven Habits of A Leader. There is a writer that I like very much, Napoleon Hill, the author of Think and Grow Rich. I have read quite a few of his books and I read the bible, which is the No. 1 teacher and management and life coach that anybody can find. And in any case, any principle at all you want to know about, you can find in that beautiful book (Bible). So, I have a very rich library of various authors that I pick up and read. Sometimes, I don't quite finish a book because I have to do something else, but most times I try and read a book a month or thereabouts. I'm not very regular at it because of the workload and very busy schedules but I enjoy it when I travel. That's when I can catch up on my reading and read about two, three books

55 With

JILL OKEKE

jillokeke@yahoo.com, 07069429757

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

YRES are made from several piles of r u b b e r a n d additional layers of steel net, polyester, nylon, fabric etcetera.

They are built to withstand thousands of pounds of weight and can endure terrible harsh environments but over time, a tyre can lose some of its strength and cease to function the way it was designed even if its tread is still deep.

It does not matter if the tyre has never been driven and has been on a tyre rack in a shop. A typical example is leaving a rubber in a cupboard maybe for like a year, then pull or try to stretch the rubber you will notice it will not stretch as before as it may have partly dried up and have some cracks on it.

Though bad roads and long mileages hasten the rate of wear and tear on tyres, they, however, have expiration dates which many users are ignorant of. When buying tyres we hardly check for that a n d o t h e r information before parting with our money.

Consumers mostly affected are those that thrive in buying second hand tyres.

Most of the second hand tyres are usually expired even before they are brought into the country.

According to the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), more Nigerians have died through the use of substandard tyres than AIDS between 2005 and now.

The DirectorGeneral of SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, disclosed this at a sensitisation meeting with tyre traders at Auto parts Market, Ladipo Lagos.

Why must I buy brand new tyres? you may query. Brand new tyres give you longer service than second hand tyres.

Explaining, the Lagos Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Akpabio, said “second hand tyres may appear cheaper at the initial time but in the long run, brand new tyres are cheaper and safer.''

A 15 rim new tyre of Maxtrek or GT Champiro brand costs from N10,500 while the second hand brand cost between N3,000 and N3,500. The new tyre can be used for up to five years while the second hand tyre may last between one and two years. This means that as the consumer who bought the new tyres is still enjoying them, the person that bought second hand tyres would have made such purchases about three more times, in the end spending more money than the first consumer.

Wondering why motorists should go for second hand tyres when they have access to new tyres, Mr. Akpabio said that statistics from the FRSC reveals a high rate of motor accidents caused by weak and worn out tyres which burst on the high ways, endangering the lives of anyone who happen to be around the venue of the

British Airways lightens passengers’ loads

T

Do tyres

have expiry

dates?

accident.

Advising motorists on the need to buy new tyres, he said “a brand new tyre can hardly peel, bend or wear out, all of which cause Tokunbotyres to burst.”

What you need to look out for when buying tyres: A lot of information is stamped on the tyre wall and rim. Before making a purchase, you need to read and understand the messages in this information and if you do not, find somebody who does to explain what they mean so you do not make the mistake of making the wrong purchase.

Some of the information stamped on tyres are: Temperature resistance. These letters indicate a tyre's resistance to heat.

From highest to lowest, a tyre's resistance to heat is graded as 'A' which is hot area, 'B' means normal weather area and 'C' is for cold area Traction: This indicates a tyre's ability to stop on wet pavement. A higher graded tyre should allow you to stop your car on wet roads in a shorter distance than a tyre with a lower grade. Traction is graded from highest to lowest.

Maximum load capacity indicates the maximum load that can be carried by the tyre.

Tyre speed symbol indicates the maximum speed at which a tyre is designed to be driven for extended periods of time.

Manufacturing date shows the date the tyre was built.

Tread wear number indicates the tyre's wear rate. The higher the tread wear number is, the longer it should take for the tyre to wear down. For example a tyre graded 400 should last twice as long as a tyre graded 200.

How to find out whether your tyre has expired

Most vehicle tyres have a four-year validity period from their Date Of Manufacture (DOM). The DOM is usually stamped on the trye wall.

Check your tyre wall for a stamp like this (*1207*). There is an asterisk at the beginning and at the end of the serial number.

But if the tyre was made before the year 2000, you will see just three numbers for example '396', however, those tyres manufactured in 2000 or later have four numbers.

The first two numbers will tell which week of the year it has been built while the last two numbers represent the year it was manufactured. Therefore, (*1207*) shows that the said tyre was manufactured in the th 12 week of the year 2007.

In the older tyres, if you see '297' the tyre was built in 1997.

Steps to maintaining your tyre.

Just looking at your tyres in the mornings before driving out will not do.

Your eyes can never be as good as a tyre gauge.

Maintain proper tyre pressure, observe tyre and vehicle load limits, inspect tyre for cuts, slashes and other irregularities so as to avoid tyre failures such as tread separation or blowout and flat tyres. Tyre rotation reduces irregular wear. For maximum mileage, rotate your tyres every 5,000 miles (8,000km) Check all your tyres for safety purposes.

Do not use expired tyres. They are likely to burst especially when running in hot weather such as ours because the rubber component may have hardened and cracked.

Ozone in the air degrades rubber, so tyres dry out, crack ad eventually fail to hold air.

Buying Tokunbo tyres amounts to being penny wise, pound foolish.

HIS month, British Airways is to try a new electronic bag tag that could do away with the need to have a new paper tag every time you fly.

Once checked in, customers just need to hold their smartphone over the electronic tag, which automatically updates with a unique barcode containing their flight details and an easy-to-see view of their bag's destination.

Not requiring a traditional paper tag to be printed and attached, customers can then save precious time by having their electronic tag quickly scanned at the bag drop, going straight through security to relax before catching their flight.

It is intended that the patent-pending hitech tag can be used time and time again.

Frank van der Post, British Airways Managing Director, Brands and Customer experience, said: “This is a fantastically simple, yet smart device that gives each customer the choice to have their own personalised electronic baggage tag that changes with the swipe of a smartphone every time they fly.

“As the saying goes, 'good things come in small packages', and this innovative device is no exception. Along with other initiatives we are investing in, we believe it has the potential to revolutionise the way our customers check in and pass through every airport around the world in the future.”

Glenn Morgan, British Airways' Head of Service Transformation, said: “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do and our drive to innovate with this new electronic bag tag is a brilliant example of how we can help transform their travelling experience.

“We've harnessed expertise from across the airline to produce a solution for speedier checking-in, which at one swipe shows British Airways can be a game changer when it comes to customer service.”

Development of the personalised electronic bag tag is part of a wider strategy

by British Airways to improve dramatically the customer experience through the airport, making it quicker, smoother and easier.

Major trials have also taken place on selfservice bag drops, automated boarding gates, porter services, auto check-in, and meet and greet hosts.

The electronic tags have been specially developed by British Airways in partnership with Densitron Displays, and Designworks Windsor, while Heathrow Airport is providing help with the trials.

Over the next five years British Airways is investing more than £5bn in new aircraft, smarter cabins, elegant lounges, and new technologies to make life more comfortable in the air and on the ground.

56

Mind & Body THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Dr. Olugbenga Owoeye is a consultant psychiatrist and head of training and research at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. In this interview with Joe Agbro Jr., he gives an overview on depression, especially its toll on Nigerians

'Depression

runs its normal course’

•Owoeye

H

OW bad is depression? When you talk of depression, it's a clinical condition that is perhaps assumed to be the most common of all mental health problems. And it is currently affects one out of every four adults. Secondly, when you leave the general population, you go to the primary health care, the general hospitals, the tertiary hospitals, about 20 to 33% of patients presenting in that place have some form of mental illness and depression is said to be commoner among those people who go to the primary health care centre. In fact, depression is said to co-exist with some medical illnesses like hypertension, diabetes mellitus, arthritis and so on.

What are the risk factors?

This includes the person's family history of depression. Number two thing is the gender. More women than men are affected by depression. Also, it is commoner in the middle aged to the elderly. And then there are some other psycho-social factors that can really be risk-factors. For example, if somebody suffers from a serious loss; loss of loved one, loss of valued object, loss of something precious, loss of job.

What are the signs and symptoms of depression?

Prominent among them is persistent feeling of being sad and it is usually associated with low moods. And when the mood is low, almost everything about that individual would be low. There would be low energy and the expression most of the time would be that 'I'm tired.' And this is a person who is just waking up in the morning who is not supposed to be tired. Also, there would be a loss of interest in pleasurable activities. There would be loss of interest in job, loss of interest in leisure, loss of interest in relationship, and it would even affect the person down to sex and the libido would decrease. Another thing that would follow is that the individual may lose concentration.

And as a result of this, the person would not be able to perform optimally at work.

Sometimes, it may be worse that the person would have some degree of memory impairment because he cannot concentrate so he cannot remember things. And the person tends to be worried a lot. And sometimes the sleep may become disturbed.

The appetite would also be low. So, when the appetite gets low and the individual is not eating well, then the weight would also drop. But, there are some depressions which the person will just be sleeping all the time.

So, in summary, what I've just said is that for

an individual to be said to be having depression, all these symptoms must be present in an individual to such an extent that it affects his social and occupational functions. And if it is so severe, there would be recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. So when the individual has these suicidal thoughts, then you know that the person is depressed.

Given some of the conditions in the country such as insecurity, high level of unemployment and others you said are responsible for depression. From your practice, do you think more Nigerians are depressed?

Though there is no study that shows that more Nigerians are being depressed but going by all these things that you have enumerated which are predisposing factors to the development of depression, more Nigerians are expected to be depressed. All the figures I've given you is in the developed world where things work well, so, how much more is this environment where you have a lot of either natural or man-made disasters. So you would say more Nigerians have cause to become more depressed than others. But thank God that also nature has put something in place to be able to help us minimise the incidence of this depression which is natural on its own. Nigeria is a religious nation. So, when you talk of religion in terms of Islamic religion or

Christian religion. You see, a lot of people go to worship places to get word of encouragement which is more or less like a counselling. And they get this about two or three times a week. In some religious organisations, they do it on a daily basis. So they get daily doses of words of encouragement to keep them going. That's why you don't see people committing suicide.

By the time they get that word, they are stimulated to carry on. But in the developed world, they don't have all these things in place. It's only elderly people who go to church and mosques. But, in these settings, we have it. If not, we would have had more depression than we have now going by what exists in our country.

What are some causes of depression?

We normally say that depression is as a result of chemical imbalance in the brain.

Actually it's as a result of chemical imbalance in the brain. And if this is the case, it's supposed to be cured by medication. But depression is not just as a result of chemical imbalance in the brain, experts believe that depression is caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors.

When you have all these three things biological, psychological, and social factors interacting together in an individual, then the person may likely develop depression.

What I am saying in essence is that your

lifestyle choices, your relationships, and coping skills matter just as much as the genetics. So, certain risk factors make you more vulnerable to depression for example, loneliness, lack of social support, recent stressful life experiences, family history of depression, marital or relationship problems, loss of job creating financial strain on the individual, and early childhood trauma or abuse as indicated. Alcohol or drugs is one thing that also causes this condition. Unemployment or underemployment; there are some people who are graduates and they are doing the job of a cleaner. You can imagine when a graduate is riding Okada (commercial motorcycle) or Keke Napep (commercial tricycle) - that's what we call underemployment. Some are out-rightly unemployed. All these things tend to be causative factors.

Can depression be cured or how is it managed? How is the treatment like?

When you talk of the treatment of depression, if you recognise the signs of depression in yourself or in a loved one, you must take some time to explore the many treatment options. In most cases, the best approach involves a combination of selfhelp strategies. Number one is there is need for early recognition. Two, the individual must also adjust his lifestyle if he is into drugs or he is lonely. So, the lifestyle must be really taken care of. Also, you cultivate supportive relationship either with your significant loved one, family member, physician, your pastor, then the genuine friends. These are the people you cultivate supportive relationship with. Then, you also get regular exercise. You observe sleep hygiene. You must have a regular time of going to bed, sleep in a quiet environment with reduced lighting in the room. Then, you must eat healthfully to boost your mood.

Most especially you take a lot of fruits. You must cultivate the habit of managing your stress. When you're not able to cope with your job, you must cultivate a very reliable way of managing this stress. You must practice relaxation technique to calm yourself down. And if there are some negative thoughts that come to you, there is need to challenge them. You must see positive aspects of your life. This would go a long way to help. But if these things do not help, then there might be need for you to seek a professional help. There are many effective treatments for depression including therapy, medication, and alternative treatment. So, learning about your options would help you decide what measures are most likely to work best for your particular situation and your needs.

Medication can help relieve the symptoms of depression in some people. But, they aren't a cure and they come with drawbacks of their own. So, you must learn the fact about anti-depressants and when you may be against the risk of taking it. Then, the psychological intervention, most especially what we call cognitive behavioural therapy would go a long way to really help those who are depressed to combat the depression.

Exploring your depression treatment options

D

ON'T be fooled into thinking that antidepressants are the best choice, just because they may be the easiest one. Studies show that therapy works just as well as antidepressants in treating depression, and it's better at preventing relapse once treatment ends. While depression medication only helps as long as you're taking it, the emotional insights and coping skills acquired during therapy can have a more lasting effect on depression.

However, if your depression is so severe that you don't have the energy to pursue treatment, a brief trial of antidepressants may boost your mood to a level where you can focus on therapy.

In addition to therapy, other effective treatments for depression include exercise, meditation, relaxation techniques, stress management, support groups, and self-help steps. While these treatments require more time and effort initially, their advantage over

depression medication is that they boost mood without any adverse effects.

Deciding if depression medication is right for you If you're considering antidepressants as a treatment option, make sure you carefully consider all of your treatment options. The following questions may help you make your decision.

Questions to ask yourself and a mental health professional Is my depression severe enough to justify drug treatment?

Is medication the best option for treating my depression?

Am I willing to tolerate unwanted side effects?

What non-drug treatments might help my depression?

Do I have the time and motivation to pursue other treatments such as therapy and exercise?

What self-help strategies might reduce my depression?

If I decide to take medication, should I pursue therapy as well?

Questions to ask your doctor How much mental health care training have you had?

Are there any medical conditions that could be causing my depression?

What are the side effects and risks of the antidepressant you are recommending?

Are there any foods or other substances I will need to avoid?

How will this drug interact with other prescriptions I'm taking?

How long will I have to take this medication?

Will withdrawing from the drug be difficult?

Will my depression return when I stop taking medication?

Mind & Body

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

57

‘Nigerians should protect right of girl-child’ •Perspective on child/adolescent marriage

A

RE you losing focus during the day? Having trouble concentrating? Before you start looking for the quick fix, it's time you realised the problem. Would you believe that the primary catalyst for losing focus during a long work day is the food you put in your body?

Here are 6 foods that will not only boost your productivity throughout the day, but are proven to help sharpen your focus. They are easy to add to your diet and the benefits will last a lifetime.

1. Steel-Cut Oatmeal Eating breakfast helps your short-term memory throughout the day, and helps you eat less throughout the day. Why oatmeal? It's low-calorie and will keep you feeling fuller longer, cutting cravings later in the day. Add fresh or frozen berries for a sweet taste, and avoid adding table sugar.

2. Blueberries The antioxidants in blueberries help boost memory by activating brainprotective enzymes. Some researchers

Six foods to boost work focus even believe they help long-term memory function and may help prevent Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Add fresh or frozen blueberries to your morning oatmeal for sweet taste without any added sugar.

3. Wild Salmon The Omega 3s in salmon boost brain function concentration. Salmon is also known to help depression and reduce the risk of heart disease.

4. Avocado The healthy fats in avocado help the brain to function and raise your ability to concentrate. It's also been shown to help with nutrient absorption and is packed with antioxidants, which can help prevent aging, cancer and heart disease.

5. Green Tea Green tea has the natural caffeine boost you're looking for to help you focus. The hot liquid it helps keep you satiated and feeling full longer than a snack. Plus green tea has absolutely 0 calories if you hold off on sweeteners.

6. Dark Chocolate A natural stimulant, dark chocolate satisfies your sugar craving while helping you focus. It has a natural stimulant similar to caffeine, which helps focus & concentration. A small piece (about 1/4 a bar) is plenty and a great treat towards the end of the work day.

Jonathan urged to check medical lab operators

...Experts link quacks to thousands of avoidable deaths

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has been urged to use his office to ensure the elimination of quacks in the medical diagnostic laboratory sector so as to safe millions of human lives facing the risk of death due to unprofessional practice In a statement issued in Lagos, the Initiative for Medical Diagnostic Awareness, (IMDA) said several cases of deaths across the country are linked to amateur operators of medical laboratories that issue wrong diagnostic results to unsuspecting patients.

The Executive Director of IMDA, Mr. Julius Abimbola Adekoya, a medical laboratory expert, said the Minister of Health through the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria should map out the strategies to eliminate all the medical laboratories managed or operated by unqualified personnel. IMDA said it supports the motion of Hon. Patrick Ikhariale on the floor of the National Assembly when he moved a motion in support of an effective diagnosis monitoring mechanism.

"Nigeria's Primary Health Care cannot succeed without an effective diagnostic mechanism,” Adekoya said in a chat with journalists on Friday.

“Thousands of people are sent to untimely deaths through wrong diagnosis. This is largely responsible for the mass movement of many Nigerians seeking medical help abroad. For an effective health policy, the Federal Government must rise up to the challenge by stemming the tide of quacks in the medical laboratory sector."

He said "regulation of education and training of medical laboratory scientist is germane these days in the country especially in the advent of many private institutions and Universities offering this noble course."

He argued that wrong diagnosis cannot be eliminated unless the importation, distribution, storage and sale of laboratory kits, reagents and equipment are regulated adding that if adulterated kits are allowed to flood the markets, laboratory results are bound to

be flawed or incorrect. He said the sale and importation of the laboratory equipment should be under the supervision of the medical laboratory experts who has the right education and acumen to determine the best condition for storage, importation and use.

He also said the Lagos State Government remains a model that other states should emulate saying that the Lagos State health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, (HEFAMAA) is achieving giant strides in this direction.

FG announces duty- free imports for medical equipment

M

EDICAL equipment imported into the country by hospitals and medical centres henceforth will be duty-free.

The Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, disclosed this last

week at the official opening of Life Bridge Medical Diagnostic Centre in Abuja.

Chukwu said the policy was an incentive and encouragement to investors in the health sector.

Speaking on the equipment, he described them as world-class, praising the chairman of the centre, Senator I.G. Abana, for the huge investments.

The minister stated that with the availability of such state- of- the- art equipment in the centre, there was no need for Nigerians to •Chukwu cutting the tape to open the Diagnostic Centre flanked by travel abroad for the chairman of the centre, Senator I.G. Abana (left), and HRH Eze medical check and Sir Kanu, Chairman, Agura Hotel, Abuja treatment again.

•Dr. Niran Okewole

O

VER the last few days, there has been a massive outcry over the wording of section 29(4)b of the Nigerian Constitution as regards marriage of women below the age of 18 years. The furore can only be perceived as justifiable. When, in matters that affect public welfare, laws are encoded which threaten public health, it is the responsibility of law abiding citizens to resist such laws. Better still if it is possible to prevent the enactment of such laws in the first place.

Perhaps it is necessary to scrutinize why professional opinion has over the years stipulated the age of 18 years as the ideal benchmark for consent in legal matters, culpability in cases of crime, the right to vote, and consent in civil unions such as marriage. This has its roots in sound psychosocial theory about human development. The most widely accepted construct of psychosocial development is attributed to Erik Erikson (1902-1994). According to Erikson, human life occurs in a series of stages, characterised at each level by opposing forces, from infancy (basic trust versus basic mistrust) to old age (generativity versus despair). From puberty to the onset of young adulthood, which falls around the age of 12 to 18 years, the developing person is at a stage of identity versus identity confusion. Here, there is a quest for integration and personal identity, for a sense of selfhood. The adolescent at this stage seeks to bring together experiences to discover his or her place in society. Failure to successfully negotiate this phase may lead to a lifelong identity crisis.

It is after this phase that the growing person enters the stage of young adulthood, which is characterised by intimacy versus isolation. At this stage, a person who has successfully negotiated earlier phases is able to rediscover himself or herself in another person, in a healthy relationship. The young adult who has achieved a sense of identity is no longer self-absorbed and can now share him or herself with another. This is very much in keeping with the Preamble to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that “the child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society.”

Contracting out a girl in marriage before she is psychologically prepared arrests her development and violates her right to healthy, fulsome personal growth. It is also noteworthy that the Child Rights Act, which is yet to be adopted in several states, explicitly prohibits marriage at less than 18 years of age.

Besides the possible deleterious effect of early marriage and childbirth on the psyche of the female, there are also physical ramifications. It is well documented that certain gynaecological conditions are likely to occur in cases where childbearing commences before the physical apparatus is prepared for this task. Notable of course are vesico vaginal fistulas (VVF) which are some of the most horrendous and yet preventable causes of impairment, disability and handicap that could be imposed on the girl child.

These physical complications, in turn, have their psychological sequelae, as many of the victims become stigmatized by the very same men who inflicted the damage.

Anthropologically, most cultures have an intuitive grasp of what has only been clarified by science. This explains why several rites of passage occur around this age, at least for boys.

The fact that this has not always held true for the female gender stems from societies which are male-dominated, in which the female is perceived as the inferior Other. As such, it becomes possible to objectify and commodify the female. It is however hoped that well meaning Nigerians at every level will rise above religious, personal or political interest to protect the well being of every Nigerian child.

Dr Niran Okewole, Consultant Psychiatrist, Child and Adolescent Unit, Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro Abeokuta.

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HIS is the 11th annual Azusa Conference. What new things do we look out for at this event?

The New Year does not change who God is, and what He has been saying is still the same. This is another opportunity for God to reach out to people.

It is about revival, something that is His heart cry.

Revival is God intervening in man's business.

I believe that this will be a key moment in the lives of some people for God to be who He has promised to be.

If revival is about God's intervention in man's affairs, why is there no revival in Nigeria?

That is why we are praying for revival to come. We need the revival more than anything else. We are still praying. It has not come but it will come.

Azusa is a reminder that we need revival. We are fanning the flames of revival and very soon, it will burst into a great ball of fire. Revival is necessary. It will affect every aspect of our livescorruption, crime, everything.

It is on record that people that have experienced revival noticed drop in crime and general wellbeing. Even in crop, there is a bumper harvest. In the years of revival, prisons were emptied as a result of God's visitation. So, we trust God for divine visitation, which I know will happen.

Are church leaders or members responsible for the absence of revival?

I will blame both the clergy and laity for the dearth of revival because at times, pastors preach what the people want to hear. When you try to preach the word, you find that people don't want to hear. So, some pastors who cannot endure hardship have causes to compromise.

They begin to see visions for people, call people's names, get some powers and begin to do things that are not really scriptural.

You see, people have itching ears, which is part of the signs of the end time. They give the world what they want to hear, which often times is not what God is saying. I believe that more than anything else, we need God now.

The Church is sick. There is corruption in the Church; there is occultism; there is magic. People are impatient; they can't wait on God. You go through a little problem and you start looking for somebody to perform one quick magic.

Jesus said in this world you will have tribulation; so, trouble is part of the promise.

It is in the Bible, so it should not be a big deal when somebody has problems. But Jesus said, "Be of good cheer! I have overcome the world."

This means that the trouble will work for your good. If you wait through it and allow it finish its course, you will find it working for your good.

How do you assess President Jonathan's second year in office?

He has done his best for Nigeria but what we want to see is for him to tackle corruption. I can't lie to you; a

WORSHIP THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

'I’ll remarry at right time' Few weeks to the Azusa Conference last year, Pastor Connie Madubuko, wife of the General Overseer of Revival Assembly Lagos, Apostle Anslem Madubuko, passed on to glory. Madubuko spoke with Sunday Oguntola on life without his late wife and other national issues. Excerpts: lot of things have changed. If you look at the airports, you see that things are changing.

The problem in the land now is security. He has done his best but he could do better.

Aside tackling corruption, what other things do you want him to look into?

Corruption is the main thing. When corruption is addressed, there will be fear.

Right now, there is no fear.

People just steal with impunity and nothing happens. Nothing will change until there is fear. I don't know how that is going to happen, but until it does, nothing will change.

Now there is no fear to divert money. There is recklessness in high places.

Nothing has happened to those indicted in times past; they are still walking the streets so freely. I believe that the mark of any serious government is to do something for everybody to know that it is serious; not just to pay lip service.

It is not enough to mouth it; government must act its commitment to tackle corruption. Until that happens, the much-desired change will not come. Also, there is need to tackle the problem in the power sector. I don't know what is going on there. At first, we thought things were getting better but now we have gone back to square one.

I pray that God will help him.

The Boko Haram sect reportedly agreed to sign a ceasefire deal. Will this be enough to tackle insurgency in

•Madubuko the north?

The question is who is Boko Haram? If it is only one faction, it would have been better. Who does not want peace? If you want to come and make peace, then it is okay. The thing is after signing this peace accord, next week you will still hear that another Boko Haram bombed schools and killed thousands of students. It is supposed to be a faceless body,

but now they want to show their faces; hence we are just watching.

What is the way out?

The use of force worked, but with force should be high surveillance. We have gone beyond the stage of using people to get information.

There are ways to find out where these insurgents are. We should really upgrade our information network to tackle

NEWS

TAC inaugurates printing press

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EMBERS and Board of Trustees of The Apostolic Church, Nigeria have dedicated The Apostolic Church, Lagos Western Northern Area (TACLAWNA) Printing Press and Office complex.

The facility installed at the headquarters of the church in Ketu, Lagos was in partnership with Hunter Penrose Supplies Limited United Kingdom.

The multi- million complex has 12 administrative rooms, speed master machines, which can produce 18,000 literature materials in one hour as well as a binding and lithographic machine.

The National President/ Chairman, Lagos Western Northern Area of The Apostolic Church, Nigeria, Pastor Gabriel Odutola, said

By Adeola Ogunlade the opening of the press is historic and a dream come true.

He said: "It has been our desire to build a new and modern printing press that will give the church a cutting edge in the industry and we are happy today that it is now a reality."

He said the desire to reach out to the world can only be more effectively carried out with the publishing of literatures, tracts and books.

The chairman of The Apostolic Church LAWNA Printing Press Limited, Dr. Ephraim Ojo, noted that the facility cost N225 million and vowed to make it profitable.

'There is hope for PLWHA'

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HE Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Hope for AIDS International, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), Bishop Adeyeye Oguntunwase, has stated there is hope for People Living With HIV and AIDS(PLWHA).

Adeyeye spoke in Lagos during a summit organised by the NGO in partnership with World Association for Christian Communication

By Olatunde Odebiyi (WACC) in Toronto and U.K. The theme of the summit was 'take action.'

He enjoined individuals to show love to PLWHA, saying "we should be after the prevention of the disease and rendering help to those who are already affected."

Dr Sarah Macharia, who represented WACC, said that the future is bright for PLWHA.

Boko Haram. How was Osama Bin Laden killed? It was through information.

They kept at it religiously and eventually found him.

That is the way to go. We are fighting a bunch of wicked people; so they have to improve on their intelligence.

Air surveillance can monitor people in the bush and forest.

Why not go for it?

Some have argued that the emergency rule should have dismantled all democratic structures in the affected states. Do you subscribe to this?

You know, we are in a country where the political parties are more powerful than the nation. So, the general belief is that anything goes.

Ideally, military rule in those states should be completely enforced but since the ruling party does not want it, it cannot be.

It is about a year that your wife, Pastor Connie, passed on. How has it been since her demise?

It is a new experience all together but God has been very faithful. He has been there for me and I am careful to give Him the glory.

How is ministry without her?

Everything has been wonderful. One thing about this incident is that she

finished her course. There was nothing she left undone. She did everything she needed to do within a very short time.

So we are able to move on after her. We did not stop after her; we just kept moving on.

Looking back, I have every reason to thank God for everything.

It appears your daughters assumed pastoral duties after her passage Yes! That of course gives me so much joy. They are holding on well. They came back from school and accepted to be with me and they have been a blessing. One of them serves as my Personal Assistant and she is with me all the time.

The other one heads the Administration Section. She took over all her mum was doing when she was alive. In addition, I have great pastors and leaders around me. So everybody just came together to promote the cause of Christ in this assembly.

Even when I am not around, nothing suffers. In fact, my travelling increased after my wife passed on. I had thought that her death would stop my travels but it is not so.

Is that to say that you will not remarry?

(Laughs) I will! When the time comes I will tell you. I am taking my time, but definitely I will remarry.

xxx

AD E R T S U 50 M N NIGERIAAN I CHRIST R S AUTHO Are you a Christian author? Are you bothered about poor exposure at bookshops and limited patronage?

The Nation is offering you an unbeatable opportunity to showcase your books and talk about your passion.

The 2-in-1 project involves an advert supplement backed with a profile story on each participant.

Kindly contact Sunday Oguntola on 08034309265 or shinystarontop@gmail.com for advert details and participation.

You will be glad you did!

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Worship

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COLUMNS

The eternal power of prayer

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ELIVERANCE is freedom from known, unknown, visible and invisible enemies. No way can overcome problems of life without God. Nothing works without prayer. Faith can't work without prayer. Freedom cannot come without prayer. Prayer is nucleus to life.

Last episode, was on the Preparation for Effective Prayer. Today we examine one of the characteristics of prayer - its timelessness.

Prayer is everlasting Prayer is everlasting therefore we must learn to pray ceaselessly; it lives before God forever. Prayer outlives generations, ages, world and those who pray thus Satan will give you any desire of this world in exchange for prayer. Everything is put at the disposal of prayerful person. Prayer can do anything that God can do! No power on earth can stand against the man or woman who knows how to pray.

Prayerlessness is sin It is a fantasy for anybody to believe that mountains will move without praying. Sadly many, today, live a prayer less life however nothing leaves heaven without first leaving the earth. According to (Genesis 3:8) Adam and Eve entered into the trap of Satan because of their inability to seek the face of God (refusal to pray).

A Defective Life Produces a Defective Prayer Life Where there is no fear of God, there will be no prayer.

(Job 15:4). Those who do not call on the Lord live in disobedience. Prayerlessness must be confessed as sin, repented of, and forgiveness received.

Before prayer can be truly birth, repentance must occur.

Therefore, give the Lord your

Pastor Amanda Ogunro

TOTAL FREEDOM heart today and let the Holy Spirit begin His blessed work of prayer in you (Romans 8:26).

Prayer produces much of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit produces much of prayer? As you receive the power of the Holy Spirit afresh, prayer will flow out of your life with great power.

Prayer is restoration When you begin to pray and your fellowship with God is restored, you will discover protection and peace that only God can give. The Bible clearly states that the place of prayer is a place of protection from the enemy (Psalm 91:3-7).

What a powerful Scripture!

Prayer is a place of safety where the presence of the Lord is found.

Prayer is an exit to escape evil The word of God also tells us that only those who pray will escape evil (Psalm 91:1011). (Psalm 103:5b) promises that only those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength and mount with wings as eagles. Only those who wait upon the Lord will run and then be able to walk in fellowship with Him. (Isaiah 40:31).

Prayer delivers from enemies

It is only through prayer that we can be delivered from our enemies. For instance, David called on the Lord and he was delivered (Psalm 3:16). Nevertheless, many will not give themselves to prayer (Isaiah 64:7).

God's call to prayer and fellowship The Lord has called you and I into prayer and into fellowship with Him. For only prayer can bring us deliverance from judgment and from the enemy (Psalm 56:9).

As we continue to fellowship with the Lord in prayer, God promises His presence (Jeremiah 31:3). Do you desire to be in God's presence?

Prayer is a must. Today, call on the Lord. You will find Him closer than the very air you breathe. Call on Him, for He said He will answer you (Jeremiah 33:3).

The truth Yes! It is God who moves mountains, but it is prayer that moves God! (2 Chronicles 7:1314). Prayer is so powerful that it moves the heart of God, and only God can move those mountains that you face today. (Luke 11:9).

Say the following prayer to give your life to Christ: Lord Jesus, I confess to you that I am a sinner. Forgive my sins and wash me with your blood. I invite you into my heart. I accept you as my Lord and personal saviour. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I thank you Jesus for saving me. I am born again in Jesus name, Amen.

Write and share your testimony with me through: Pastor Amanda Ogunro, Rivers of Living Water Ministries, 540 Ikorodu Road, Maryland, Lagos. P.M.B 2854, Surulere Lagos, Nigeria.

Call 08093167675 or email info@rlwm.org.

NEWS

Rwandans vote for Christ

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UNDREDS of Rwandans last week surrendered to Christ at the Kigali Gospel Crusade organised by the Lagos-based Abraham's Evangelistic Ministry (AEM).

The converts were part of thousands that thronged the venue of the 3-day crusade, which held at the expansive field of a polytechnic campus in the heart of Kigali, capital of Rwanda.

Renowned evangelist and president of AEM, Bishop Abraham Olaleye, told the expectant crowd that the hope of a great future lies only in Christ.

He said no government or policy can change the world as radically as Jesus, stating that only Jesus has good news for the world.

According to him: "The world has no good news for you; no one has any good news for you. Only Jesus has good news for you."

The good news, he explained, is the salvation of souls from eternal damnation and life abundant.

Promising Jesus will change their lives if they give Him a try, Olaleye urged Rwandans to decide for Christ.

On the second night, he stressed that "no political system in history has been able to give joy and good news to the world."

•Nigerian team ignites spiritual revival

By Sunday Oguntola He added: "The kingdoms of men have failed and will continue to fail but only the Kingdom of God will fix men."

Assuring the crowd of abundant life in Christ, Olaleye stated "if you allow Jesus, He'd turn your situation around."

When he invited Rwandans to make a public declaration for Christ, hundreds of them signed on.

The third night witnessed stupendous healings and miracles. Olaleye said Jesus is a specialist in miracles, saying He

is never tired of turning human situations around.

He assured that God will heal Rwanda from the fallouts of genocide for a more glorious future.

He said the genocide was an indication that God has Rwanda in His plans, saying it was orchestrated by the devil to thwart the divine agenda.

Despite the terrible incident, Olaleye stated that Rwanda will rise again and become the "light house of God to spread the gospel to East, Central and Southern Africa."

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

Highways to outstanding success

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T is your exploration that determines your discovery. There is never an accidental discovery in life. Everything ever discovered was consciously explored by someone. God is going to yet make you discover something that would result into outstanding success!

We have been considering the vital laws that bring about outstanding success. Note that God is a God of process. If you follow the process, you will access the product. Success has no favourite; it attends to anyone who cares to follow the laws. Let us further explore The Law of Love, which is the highway to outstanding success.

Every truly successful man is a lover of God. Every lover of God is a potential success.

You can predict the end of a lover of God. His end will always be successful. I have never seen one who loves God and lost out!

Love for God is exhibited by the love for God's people.

If you truly love God, it will show by the way you love people (1 John 4:21). Claiming that you love God, without loving people, is the highest form of hypocrisy. Those who truly love God love God's people.

Let us consider an example of one who demonstrated her love for God's people: Esther: We have Esther as a very clear example of the demonstration of love for God's people. She had an uncle called Mordecai, a great

Atilade bags CWO award

Mrs. Ohumagbulem presenting the award to Atilade. They are flanked by Mong.

Bernard Okodua(2nd right) and other officials of the organisation. hardwork financial support HAIRMAN of the Women Organisation and spiritual assistance to Christian Association (CWO). the Mainland Deanery of Nigeria (CAN), He was granted an Lagos."

South West region, award of excellence by the Coordinator of the Archbishop Magnus Mainland Deanery of CWO group, Mrs. Theresa Atilade, has emerged the last week in Lagos.

Ohumagbulem, described first person outside of the The award, according to the cleric as worthy of the Catholic Church to be the CWO, is "in recognition award, saying his life and honoured by the Catholic of your excellent support, ministry are exemplary.

C

•Rwandans surrendering to Christ at the crusade

lover and carer of God's people. Mordecai would not bow before men, but unto God alone. A conspiracy was set up against him by Haman.

Haman built gallows not just to destroy him, but to destroy the entire Jews.

When Mordecai heard about this, he put on sackcloth, wept and he went towards the palace. Esther being a daughter that he brought up, saw him in nakedness, and sent clothes to him to put on. But because of his love for God's people, he refused to put on the clothes. Rather, he sent a word to Esther saying, "You better be reminded that it is for a time such as this, that God put you in position."

When Esther got the message, she followed suit. She removed her royal apparel.

She preferred to no longer be a queen, and be identified with God's people. She made a declaration, "I must be identified with my people. If I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:15-16).

Esther had a choice to remain a queen and have all her people, God's people, killed.

She had a choice to choose identity with the palace or with God's people. But she said, "No! I got to this place in the first instance by the hand of God. I must protect and project this hand of God. It doesn't matter if they take me away from being a queen, but I will not lose my covenant identity…"

True lovers of God are selfless. They care less for them-

selves, but care for God's people. Also, they care for God's house, give to God's people and to God's house. They protect God's people and God's house.

When Esther said, "If I perish, I perish," there was a switch. God rose up to defend His people and to retain the throne for Esther. When you stand to defend God and His people, He retains your kingdom for you. You don't trade with God to become a loser; you don't love God to end up on the floor. By God's grace, I am a lover of God and God's people.

What will this love for God do for you?

• Love for God enthrones destinies/ people: David was, as it were, a slave for God, and He became a king among men. He was not just a momentary king, but a generational king. He had died 3,000 years ago, but his name is yet to be forgotten.

Love took him to the throne.

• Love empowers the saints for wealth: Love does not only enthrone the saints, but empowers them for wealth (1 Kings 3:3).

• The best of God is for His lovers: The best of God is reserved for His lovers (1 Corinthians 2:9).

• Access to divinity: Love for God is affinity with God, which makes you one with Him (1 John 4:8).

• God lives with you: Love for God makes Him your permanent residence (John 14:23). If God lives with you, then blessings are with you.

Friend, the power to benefit from the above, is the preserve of those redeemed. You are redeemed as you confess your sins and accept Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. If you are set for this new birth experience, please say this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You, for saving me! Now I know, I am born again!

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

‘I write when my ME AND MY BOOKS kids are in bed’

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HO are your favourite authors in the world and why?

I have many favourite writers and the list keeps changing. I love Alice Munro’s short stories.

What sort of books do you like most?

Well-written books.

When you read a book, what are the salient things you look out for?

A good story, stunning language and remarkable characters.

When and where do you like to read?

I read everywhere. On my lazy days, I love to read in the bath. I can stay hours in the bath, reading.

What is your preferred literary genre?

Literary fiction of any kind: short stories, novels, novellas. I also love essays and travel writing.

What book or books have had the greatest impact on you; why and how?

Little Women because it was the first ‘adult’ novel I remember reading.

As a child, what books tripped you most?

Things Fall Apart when I discovered it. And then Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Nwapa’s Efuru. I had to re-read all of them as an adult but I remember being very overwhelmed with something I now realise was gratitude when I read them first.

At what point in your life did you begin to nurse the idea of being a writer?

When I met Flora Nwapa in primary school.

How has writing shaped or

•Unigwe

Dr. Chika Unigwe is a Nigerian novelist based in Antwerp, Belgium. She is a novelist and short story writer. Among her books are the Phoenix and On Black Sisters’ Street which won the prestigious Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) prize for literature in 2012. Besides being our guest for this month, Unigwe reveals a lot about her writing career and habit and why she chooses to write when her kids are in bed. She says: ‘the kids have bedtimes and once they are in bed, it is my time.’ In this on line interview and some of the views she expressed in an earlier chat with Edozie Udeze, we present to you a unique writer whose works dwell mainly on women issues in Nigeria and around the world molded your life?

It has made me much more observant of the world around me If you met your favourite author(s) face-to-face, what would you ask him/her?

I have met a few of my favourite authors face to face, and they have all been very easy to talk to. We talked about everything except, perhaps, writing.

Of all the works you’ve read, which character strikes you the most?

Kemal Bey in Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence. There is something both to be admired and to be pitied in his obsession.

What book do you plan to read next?

I am reading books for research at the moment and I have quite a long list to work through. Probably the next is Wuthering Heights.

Are you a re-reader and how often?

I am reading Pride and Prejudice on kindle at the moment.

How do you arrange your books in your private library?

Hardbacks at each end to keep the paperbacks up.

What does writing mean to you?

Oh, writing is my career. It is the only profession that I know. It is my passion. It is the only thing I’ve always wanted to do. I wrote as a kid and I am very happy that I’ve managed to make a career out of my passion and hobby.

How do you get your inspiration to write?

Ha! That’s a difficult one. My inspiration to write? Ah, it comes from everywhere. If it comes while I am on the road, I jot a few things down. However, I eavesdrop a lot into conversations. Sometimes just one thing they say lodges in my head. Then a story idea will begin to form around that line. But I always carry a note book with me. With it, I can take notes. Whatever strikes me while on the way, I write it down. And when I sit down to write, I look through my note book to get the ideas right and correct.

How do you decide which of your stories will be a short story?

Oh, I think the story decides by itself. I just start writing and then I see where it leads me.

But then, for me, short story writing is very difficult.

Why? Because, you don’t have such space to experiment. But in a novel, you have plenty of space to say what you have to say. So that’s why I said short story is very difficult for me to write.

So, you write mostly when?

The kids have bedtimes and once they go to bed, it’s my time. Sometimes I write at night, sometimes early in the morning. But I always try to make out time to write. It’s a job and not my hobby. It’s my career so I treat it like a nine-tofive.

What was the most important book to you in 2012 and which one for 2013?

Behind Their Beautiful Yesterday, which is about slum dwellers in India. It is a non-fiction. For 2013, it is two collections of short stories by Igoni Barret and Chioma Okparanta.

How did your days at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) shape your writing career?

Well, we had a very vibrant creative department. It was well structured with good teachers who had time to teach us to write.

The English Department was a good place then to develop talents. Those creative writing classes really helped me a lot and I am very grateful for that opportunity to be there when I did.

I think for me what made Nsukka very inspirational was the professor I had. That was Professor Enekwe. He was there for us; he taught us how to look at issues from the creative point of view.

For him, it was proper for us to be well-educated in the field of creative writing. And when you have such a teacher, all you need do is look at those issues that would help you to become yourself in the future. That was all we needed and I promptly grabbed the opportunity it offered me.

•Unigwe

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Music, drama and dance for young artistes S

O what is the whole essence of Ink Marks and Reel kids?

Since 2009, we discovered that there had been mass failures among the kids in the area of English Language and that innate ability to develop their God-given talents. We therefore felt that we could do our best to turn the situation around for good. We thought also we would be one of those to resolve that and show the kids the way forward in terms of how to speak and learn English to help them be the best in their chosen profession.

Now, we have two projects coming up this August. It is to coincide with the long holidays. One is called REEL kids.

This has to do with teaching children English Language and Literature in English, using music, drama and dance.

We did this last year and so this is the second time. Last year’s was encouraging.

What we do after we’ve taught them the English Language is to give them the task of creating their own songs.

In this wise, we use musical or home video films to demonstrate and see if they’ve learnt what we’ve taught them. This is so because kids have to be allowed to be who they are.

What’s the age range for this…?

This is open to kids between 8 to 16years. And we have fifteen days to do this and then allow them to practice on their own. This year we are lucky we got a lot of support from Diamond Bank and others. The second part of it will also come up towards the end

Why are you involving the First Lady in this?

Emm… In the first place, we feel she loves the kids. She loves children a lot and you can always see that in her. She is very keen on children. She attends a lot of functions involving children and you could see how she relates with them. It is so amazing, you know. Now we feel the children will benefit more from her motherly love and attention. By interacting with her, they will also learn a lot about her and what she stands for.

This is one way the children will also be much more involved even at this level of creativity and all. She really shows her deep love for children and her presence will equally inspire our kids to be like her in terms of leadership; in terms of motherly care and comportment.

So, when I pushed the project to her, oh, she said she loved it and would be part of it. And it didn’t surprise me even though she didn’t know me, she agreed to be part of it.

There’s too much of the English Language in the kids.

Are you trying to do some of these experiments in our local languages?

No, I am not doing that

and I must be honest with you. And now I will tell you why. Currently, I am looking at the exams they are going for. If you look at NECO, WAEC and JAMB, they do not do well in English Language, English Literature, Biology and so on. If you look at the scores in the subjects I have mentioned, they failed all round. My focus now is to get them to be passionate about learning. If you teach them to be passionate about learning, the likely hood of their thinking well is there.

You see, the reason why kids fail is that they are no longer interested in education.

This is why the approach to education now has to be different. We have to get them interested first and then other issues will follow. This is why we use issues that they love; issues that appeal to them most to get education closer to them. What is in it for them is to go to school. It is not good enough to say to them to go to school. You have to explain to them why and this has to be through good examples of the things they are familiar with.

So, it is left for us to discover the areas they are gifted.

Some are gifted in the art while some in the sciences. So, ours is to teach them which way to go. So after this, we help them to polish this talent and then take it further in order to make them the best they can be. When they finish, they don’t need to beg for a job because they have their talents well developed to be on their own.

where he said, “The white man is very clever…he has put a knife into what holds us together and we have fallen apart.” The other is a poem I did a long time ago, though I don’t regard myself as a poet, tilted: Bats of the Savanna, which states, “The black man has since left Africa He is headed to Europe and America Alas! he hasn’t reached

Europe and no more Africa…”

If Chike succeeds in his plans to rehabilitate Clara, then the wedding bells may ring again. And that is only if. If you want to know what I think about the prospects of Chike succeeding in obtaining a complete cure for Clara, the answer I will give as a psychologist will shock you. But I thank God this is a spiritual and literary matter.

Itah Hozaife is a Theatre Arts graduate of the University of Jos and the founder of Ink Marks. This is a social enterprise established to develop children in different aspects of the art. The children range from 9 to 18years and the concept is to teach them how to write plays, prose, songs; also how to direct, how to write scripts and develop their own innate talents through exposure to the rudiments of the art. She had a chat with Edozie Udeze on these and more of August. In it, we will host the first winner of Idols dance competition. He will also come around to help the kids write their music and develop their dance patterns more.

Also part of the show is what I have tagged I have a speech. This is the first time we’ll be doing that. And it entails the inspiration of Martin Luther King.

What we do here is to allow the kids to write a speech to see how they can handle that aspect of the art. The challenge will be there too.

That’s the question they have to answer: What makes for a good leadership? The core essence of the speech is to talk about this leadership issue as it concerns us here in Nigeria mainly. So, the young ones have to write the speech answering that question of who qualifies to be a good leader and so on.

The theme here is really centred on leadership. If they have to write this speech, they have to understand leadership, true leadership that will help to make a better tomorrow.

The programme which is being supported by the Lagos State first lady will be read by her sometimes before the end of the year. However, this aspect of the show will be used as part of the October 1 Inde-

pendence anniversary of the country.

Right now, we are calling for entries from children between 8 – 18 years. After that, all we do is select top 20 kids and then we will work with the children on leadership and speech writing workshop.

This will last for 10 days. We have already got our panel of judges who will now select the number one speech out of the whole lot. The winner’s speech will then be presented to Mrs. Fashola to be read in September and aired on television come October 1.

A funny way to wed Ti tle: The Wedding Bells That Never Rang Author: Ben Ezuma No. of pages: 58 Publishers: Sun Nigeria Ltd Reviewer: Law Mefor

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T is good to start by attempting to situate the issues. Starting with the idea of a play itself. A Play, as experts say, is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended f o r t h e a t r i c a l performance rather than just reading. The term “play” can therefore refer to both the written works of playwrights and to their complete theatrical performance.

We have 5 main types of Play, namely: Comedy, Farce, Satire, Tragedy and Tragicomedy. I will offer only teasers of the two that our play – The Wedding Bells That Never Rang – fits into. One cannot exactly see the play as a satire since a satire play takes a comic look at current events and people while at the same time attempting to make a political or social statement, for example pointing out corruption.

The play is certainly a tragedy since a tragic play often involves death and is designed to cause the reader or viewer to feel sad. Tragic plays convey all emotions, and have extremely dramatic conflicts.

For containing all the trappings, The Wedding Bells That Never Rang is a typical tragic play. It comprises four acts and a total of ten scenes; 58 pages in all in terms of pagination It is therefore a short play but a play doesn’t have to be long to make a huge impact or big statement.

Let us now take a closer look at the book itself; it is about the unresolved age long conflict and clash between cultures occasioned by the advent of Christianity and other socalled foreign religions as seen in the rather tragic life of Clara, whose dream wedding to Andy Okeke, a young man she met on Internet, struck a bad patch when she ran mad in the middle of contracting the wedding, due to, as they say, punishment by a sea god, to whom she was married even before birth.

The play opens with high pitch conflict; the burning of Ikenga’s statue, the so-called god of justice, by a mob, who believes it (Ikenga) was responsible for the misfortunes befalling the town of late. The eccentric sculptor that made the statue used for the consecration of this so-called god of justice had tried in vain to save it and was beaten into a coma by the angry mob, who were determined to kill him rather than not achieving their aim of destroying the perceived source of their woes. He regained consciousness in the hospital in Scene II. In Act II Scene I, the Ikenga

sculptor meets Clara, a girl he hopes to marry, a dream that has remained only a dream in the face of his grilling poverty and unemployment. For the first time also, we learn that the name of the sculptor is Chike.

It is here Chike also learns that his heartthrob was no longer prepared to wait for him indefinitely and has gone off with another engagement to one Andy Okeke, a US-based millionaire she met on the internet.

Scene III is about Chike’s heartbreak and how a neighbour’s counsel saved and made him to brace up to turn the disappointment by Clara into a blessing.

Act III Scenes I and II are about the reminiscences of the traditional wedding of Clara to Andy the evening before and the church wedding billed to hold at St. Paul’s that morning.

And there is the turning point, and where the play took its title – The Wedding Bells That Never Rang”! Why? Clara ran mad that morning and rushed off to the river stark naked in the full view of the bewildered wedding guests.

A diviner was called in, in Scene III, and he revealed that Clara is a mamiwater, married to Agbara Anyim, the see a god and is not supposed to be married to any man without first divorcing the sea god. This wasn’t done because Clara’s parents who were well aware did not deem it necessary because of their Christian faith. Her insanity is further revealed by

the Dibia as irreversible, and a pound of flesh by the jilted sea god husband, who has now rendered her persona non grata both in the spirit and material world.

In the Final Act (IV), Clara is seen abandoned by her family and friends and roaming around and feeding as a scavenger, the condition that Chike, the one she also jilted to marry Andy Okeke, met her.

Following Clara’s advice, Chike had taken up the Arts Council offer to refurbish the Council’s Arts Gallery and had come into some money. Chike, against the declaration of the diviner, plans to seek psychiatric and medical help for Clara. Her office also promises to join in.

Whether this intervention will work is curiously not part of the play as it ends rather abruptly at this stage. I guess the author was playing safe. He too is skeptical about the prospects of the outcome and refuses to assume or conceive one as expected of an author questing to resolve such epochal conflict.

Beyond becoming more catholic than the pope, as they say, Christianity and others must replace African Traditional Religion completely or coexist in a fitting blend. Between these two options which must apply will ultimately be decided in reality and practicality. The need to further this interrogation is reechoed in two works: one is Things Fall Apart by the father of Africa Literature, Chinua Achebe,

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IMPLORE my esteemed readers to see this article as a ‘soft-touch’ on an issue that should be considered somehow important. We also like for this article to be considered invitational to a reminder to the effect that somehow, some of those little things we consider common-place, by reason of time or sophistication (or furthermore, sophistication), tend to hurt our outcome, as a consequence of their being taken for granted; some things do not change.

Recall the traditional ‘factors of production’ (remember they are about four in number- Land, labor, place and capital); I suspect that over 87% of those in secondary schools up until 1979/80, will find it difficult to relate with this very old traditional economic theory, for reasons of innovative postulations, more sophisticated theories, technological and advancement. All of the above have combined to deem our reference to the old-school, to which some of these early learning are categorized. In essence, that is exactly the objective of this piece for this week – to call us to remembrance and reconnect to some of those fundamentals, which though old and archaic, remain instructive and relevant in our modern-day business/investment decision-making process - either for instruction as a guide. Characteristically, the OLD SCHOOL seems unprogressive, irrelevant and serving as a distraction, but in the main, they remain relevant. The challenge for us in our modernity is to apply them in the modern environment of sophistication, in ways that they are relevant and profitable.

For reasons of bringing this topic to relevance with the foregoing, let us commit to remembrance, furthermore, the addendum to LAND as a factor of production, according to our old school theory. Land, as a factor of production, encompasses the need for nearness to market, nearness to raw materials and nearness to/or availability of labor (in this case, though labor stands alone as a factor of production, the importance of the location of land itself, being considerate of its nearness to source of labor, brings to focus the ingredient of real and opportunity cost). Suffice, therefore, that for the cost of land as a factor of production to be efficient, it must also enable the cost efficiency of acquiring labor, also a very important factor of production, standing alone.

It would be appropriate to reason that the present trend of multi-national businesses locating their production plant in distant place far away from their home-location, for reasons of ‘cheap labor’ gives credence to the relevance of what we would glibly refer to as old school theory. Agreed, technological advancement, development in the area of telecommunications and innovative business practices have all come together to narrow the size of distance and expand the frontiers of space, to the effect that the rigidity of land in its definite term is no longer as compulsive in today’s world.

Never-the-less, we think some business engagements are taking the basic truths for granted, with their resultant consequences in business failures.

In some cases, however, past experience could lead to mistaken anticipation and therefore, drive wrong investment, not minding careful consideration of the basic factors.

Projections, in scenarios such as the above, are erroneously based on past experience.

But it is very important to take into consideration the peculiarity of every individual market, no matter how close they are, when making investment decisions.

At the start of my advertising practice 25years ago, two things were predominantly evident (1)advertising or brands management services were in demand only at the economic center point of the country, for the reason that that is the PLACE head offices of the businesses and decision makers, for whom the services are targeted. Therefore

OUTDOOR ADVERTISING BUSINESS & PRACTICE IN NIGERIA ‘THE PLACE’ As a market influencer :

advertising agencies were located in Lagos, which was the PLACE. (2) Outdoor media services were only an appendage to the package on parade by the advertising agencies, being, in those early period, a complementary media to the core media vehicles in demand. The client at that time will immediately lap-up spaces in newspapers, take up airtime and position in TV and Radio stations, before considering the appropriateness or need for outdoor. I remember in the early 1990s, we were challenged in selling outdoor medium, among other media options, as a hard-sell. We would rationalize the need for the inclusion of outdoorin our campaign plan, on the basis of the given brand’s need to associate with the not too literate, semi urban and the not-too upwardly mobile, given the nature and characteristics of the brand, and its role as a reminder medium. In addition, which was more convincing, outdoor media was comparatively the cheapest of the media options.

Over time, however, the relevance of outdoor advertising media and therefore, the demand for it, grew. As an individual practitioner, I will commend the tenacity of those pioneers in the business and their determination to succeed. They held steadfast, in the face of obvious challenges market limitations.

However, we must acknowledge the power of innovation in the business and services offering within the sector. While Afromedia struggled to keep up, based on its heritage and pedigree, the then KLINSITE (later metamorphosed into Optimum Exposure) changed the entire sector, by her aggressive drive for innovative service offering/delivery.

In less than ten years of the entire outdoor service evolved into a profession of some sort, owing to the injected innovation and repositioning. KLINSITE’s lead became the fillip

for the traditional service providers, leading onto the improved image, target market perception and the value essence /appreciation of outdoor advertising platform as an advertising media platform. With its equity appreciation, came quick growth in business performance, in volume and value terms. Until recently, the outdoor sector enjoyed the image of a lead media option in the media mix for every campaign. More and more service providers and investors went into the business, and fortunes grew. The forms of display panels dotting landscape in Lagos and select locations outside Lagos, today, are rather exciting to see. In fact, the attraction in outdoor hoarding has slowly shifted from the messages they display to the platform on which the messages are displayed.

To the focus of this piece, Abuja has turned out a disaster market for outdoor advertising service provision, bringing us to the consideration of PLACE, as a factor of production.

The success of Lagos market, as a spinoff of the introduction of innovative service provision, sparked off aggressive investment drive among the key players. There is no doubt in my mind, the investment drivers among service providers played up proactive market forecasting and market expansion, in their quest to open up new market.

Secondly, I want to reason, the opening up of Abuja, posted new opportunities, in their calculation, based on the old assumption that since it will become the new federal capital, corporate heads/decision-makers will be at the PLACE, therefore, it is the place to be.

Perhaps it is a function of the particularly expansive landscape characteristic of Abuja city plan, the smallest size of display panels in Abuja is a spectacular board. That was how ambitious the investors were; large size hoardings for optimum opportunity to see, and the converse attraction of high rates

(good business). They rushed up locations in ‘strategic location’ in and around the city.

Some of the players prided their improved performance and high rating profile on the number of hoardings they have in Abuja.

The sad news is that, over 75% of outdoor hoardings in Abuja are either empty or abandoned.

Perhaps the story would have been different if careful attention was paid to peculiar indicators attributable to Abuja as a PLACE for outdoor service usage.

From our observation, the following could be important: 1. The media usage pattern evident in the target market 2. The environmental influence on the target audience’s outdoor engagement (lifestyle, traffic profile, etc.)

3. The market opportunities open to the offer, based on the evident economic nature ( how much of commercial activities and interests are evident in the targeted market 4. The profile of business leaders in the market 5. The population density Among other factors, we consider the above as not having been properly considered before Abuja was decided as the PLACE for outdoor business market location, before the huge investments decisions were taken. The consequence today, is poor showing in the outdoor business in Abuja market. I am sure outdoor service providers in that market are retooling, in the face of evident challenges. We need to carefully consider all and every single ‘factor of production’, no matter how much of old school it has become, in taking our business decisions. The fundamentals don’t really change in their basic truths.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

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INTERVIEW 63

‘We expect people to check our projects’

HE light rail project is one that Lagosians have been eagerly waiting for. What has been the cause of the delay?

There are two light rail projects - the Okokomaiko to Marina, that’s the one we refer to as the Blue Line. Then, the Agbado to Marina, that’s the red line. Now, there are two differences between them. One is easier for us to construct because we don’t need approval.

Remember that there is the National Railway Corporation Act that gives a sort of exclusivity to the land that rail lines in Lagos. Now, for the Red Line which is the Agbado to Marina, that would require a sort of approval from the presidency (federal ministry of transportation).

Unfortunately we’ve not been able to secure that yet. But the Blue Line doesn’t require that approval. So, now let’s talk about the Blue Line.

The Blue Line has two phases. The Phase One is what you are seeing now. There will be one that is elevated. So you can see the pillars that we are installing. Where you see it at Mile 2, it goes on grade. Grade means that it is on ground.

But, remember, we’re also building the Lagos Badagry Express Way so that rail will be in the middle. Then, you have five lanes (on each side of the road). So, the progression of this axis on Mile2, all the way to Okokomaiko is a function of the road.

On the road, there are encumbrances. As we expand the road, buildings have to go. There is the NNPC pipeline that needs to move another 25 metres. After the Festac gate, there is NNPC pipeline all the way. There is one across the road and then there is one that is parallel to the road all the way. We are moving that and working with NNPC. The most difficult thing in a built-up environment like Lagos is the relocation of services. On that road, there are pylons that need to be moved. We cannot move pylons by ourselves. We have to work with PHCN because they (the pylons) need to be deenergised. Most of the times, they would give us people that are competent to do it because that is not where we have the skills. We want to build a road but in order to build that road, we are moving all sorts of things. So, when people say delay, it is not delay. It’s the reality of building in a built-up environment. For the NNPC pipeline, we’ve gotten their bill. And the good thing in this case is that we are lucky, we’re working together. They’ve been to my office three times. We’ve all looked at it. But, the setback that they want from the road is the challenge - about 25 metres – which means that about we’re now going back to the community to say, ‘well, we know we removed some of the buildings, we need to now do this (remove more buildings)’. It’s not easy. So, we have to talk to the community. And it means also, you have to look at compensation because I can’t go and remove your house when there is no compensation. Those are the challenges that are there. But, it’s something that we are used to. And also, you’ll notice that we’re focusing on the hydraulic structures of the road. Lagos on the average is two metres below sea level.

Therefore, the most important thing when you’re building is how do you move the water away. And as such, if you look at the right hand side when coming from Orile, you’ll see that it’s all water. They’ve cleared it, so we have to sand-fill. We need about a million cubic metres of sand on that road. Now, you can imagine what a million cubic metres of sand is like. If you have one metre width and one metre height, you’ll go all the way to Sokoto and come back. So, the logistics of moving that sand alone in itself is a skill-set. So, those are the issues that we are dealing with. But, that’s expected in a project like this.

You’ve just mentioned many hindrances like the pipelines from NNPC, the pylons by PHCN, the water level and sudden developments about the challenge of some more buildings having to be removed to pave way for construction of the road and consequently the rail project. Were all these not envisaged?

They were envisaged. But, for example, the pipeline there is no as-built drawing. In Lagos for example, when we build a road, when we build any building, there is as-built drawing.

This means this is the state it is. But that pipeline is not as-built. So, I know that the pipeline is there, but what is the depth underground.

How long is it? Those are things that NNPC

Lagos, the most densely populated state in Nigeria, is grappling to provide adequate infrastructure. Charged with this duty is Engr. Femi Hamzat, who was appointed as commissioner for works and infrastructure in July 2011 after serving as commissioner for science and technology since August 2005.

In this interview with Joe Agbro Jr., he speaks on the challenges and fulfillment of closing the infrastructure deficit in the state

•Hamzat

should give us. The reality is that you know all these things but there would be surprises.

The pylons, for example, we know it’s there because we can physically see it. But in moving it, I’ll have to relate with an agency and say ‘we need to move this pylon.’ At the same time, remember we are doing that road and we are doing another 200 roads. And if we want to move an electric pole, it is PHCN that would move it because they need to de-energise it and then energise it later. We can’t do that. So, we must also look at their own ability to cope with all these roads that we are doing. It’s an agency on its own that has other responsibilities. So, those are the surprises that can be there.

We write to them. And they reply, in order to move it, this is how much it’s going to cost.

And we put it in the bill after we’ve discussed.

But when it comes to moving it, you’re the sub-contractor, and then you start to work. Your pace of work, I have to depend on it. So, instead of two weeks, you finish it in five weeks, as an example. And remember, it’s a huge project. And then, you’re doing two major projects. For example, we’re building the stations in Orile. Now, those stations require piling, which means at that time, you cannot do the road because you have to finish the piling and then go and do your road. Because if you do the road first and then you do your piling later, you’ll destroy the road. So, because those two projects are going at the same time, you have to sort of wait for each other. And that is the reality of the project. So, it’s not a delay, it’s the fact that you have a city-changing project.

It’s just the way it is anywhere you do such a project.

Also, there are the IPPs that Lagos has invested in. Now, when the whole issues came on, the average citizen of Lagos thought that they could easily switch over. Is there any plan in providing commercial electricity for Lagosians?

You have to look at the law of the country. There is the NERC (National Electric Regulation Commission). You cannot just go and sell electricity. You must have a licence.

That’s why you have the DISCOs and so on.

As a state, you will not be licensed to sell.

That is just the law. It has nothing to do with

us. Remember when you do anything above 25 megawatts, you must go on the grid. That’s why you see that IPP as not as high. It is for a project. So the Akute IPP is to make sure that the Water Corporation can provide water because about 40% of their bill is actually power. So, if you can get them the power, the 33, 000 litres of diesel that you buy on a regular basis reduces. Then, you look at the Island IPP – that powers our courts, it powers our general hospitals in the island, it powers the street lights. It is not to go and sell to you because we don’t have that licence. But the advantage is that those buildings are taken off the grid. So, even if they are using only four megawatts, what it means is that there is extra four for other people to use. Interestingly for us, our bill has gone down but we cannot sell, at least not now. By the time we take care of government facilities, then maybe we can start to say we’re looking for agreement because that is a long process. But, the essence is to provide for institutions that serve the people.

Infrastructure are usually concentrated in urban centres, but there are places like Badagry, Epe, and Ikorodu. And some people claim that nothing is really happening in those places.

I don’t know where that comes from to say that nothing is happening. On top of my head, Ajara-Erekiti Bridge is in Badagry. It is not in the metropolitan. Market Street, Joseph Dosu; those are roads that we’ve done in Badagry. In Epe, Salabiu-Olanrewaju road is ongoing, Kasali Oluwo is ongoing, and we’ve completed Oba Animashaun Road. In Ejinrin, another suburb, we’ve finished two roads there now. The truth of the matter is that there is no local government area or LCDA in Lagos where a road project is not going on - in Ikorodu, Epe, Alimosho, everywhere. In Badagry, we’ve completed; Ajara - Erekiti Phase 1, Old Cemetery, Samuel Ekundayo. It’s a myth that people keep saying.

In Ejinrin, we’re doing an access road to the landfill. You know, we have to be strategic in the way we choose because the resources are not enough to do all the roads in one year or in

fact, in two years.So what has happened is that we have to look at a relationship. We’re doing the landfill in Epe, for example, so that all those PSP trucks can access the area and dislodge their garbage immediately. Because when they take all these garbage from the cities, they take it to a landfill somewhere. So, we choose some of those landfills in Badagry, some in Epe and do the roads there. We’re doing jetties in various places and people must be able to drive to jetties in order to take the ferry. So, it’s a strategy that we use. But, there is no local government or LCDA in this state that we are not doing a road project. As a matter of fact, if you consider Alimosho for example, I think 19% of the roads that we constructed in this state are in Alimosho.

What would you consider the major challenge concerning the provision of infrastructure and just making the state work?

Well, truth is, the major challenge is resources. That’s the biggest challenge. The state has a geographic information system that allows us on a computer to see all the roads. You can measure the roads, we know the depth of water. We know all these information. So, we can sit in a room and plan everything and say ‘this is what we need’.

It is the resources to now say, ‘Let’s go and do a big bang.’ And the fact of the matter is that it is a living city and you cannot even shut down. Even if you call the resources today, you can’t do all the roads that we need to do because it means you will paralyse the state. In Alimosho for example, we’re doing the two bridges at Isheri-Osun. One is 700m and the other is 220m and we’ve awarded the road. If we want to now take the second phase of Ejigbo, it will paralyse that axis. So, you have to make sure that we finish one first and then you divert traffic to that before you take the other one.

So, we plan it in such a way that as we take this section, we say, ‘let’s leave this so that people can pass.’ When we finish this, then we jump to the next one. So, really the major challenge is resources to do everything at the same time.

In some quarters, it has been alleged that commissioners in Lagos don’t have their projects and it is the face of the governor that is seen commissioning different things in the state (Chuckles) In fact, I’m hearing that for the first time. Well, the truth of the matter is that we have a team. It would be interesting to say that the captain of Chelsea is the only one that plays. It doesn’t make sense. Or as brilliant as Messi (Lionel Messi) is, if he goes there alone, they would beat the hell out of him. That’s the bottom line. So, it’s a team. That’s why we meet on Mondays, that’s why we meet on emergency Exco, so that anything that comes, those 41 people would look at it. So, it might be in sports, it might be in health, ideas come. For example, this is a memo (points at a document) that I’m presenting for the executive council consideration. My colleagues would look at it. The governor is also a member of the team and we decide as a team. When we are doing the roads, there is a resident engineer there. It is not the governor, it is not the commissioner. It is those people that actually deliver the projects. If they don’t do the job, the road would not be done.

But, it’s a team and he (governor Fashola) is the captain of the team. So, he gives direction, he gives leadership. But that doesn’t mean that he does everything. Nobody does.

It’d be on record that Femi Hamzat was commissioner of works, Lagos State. What are some of the things you’ll like to achieve?

The projects will speak for themselves.

Even if you disagree with somebody, you cannot disagree with what you see. So, the political opponents can say all sorts of things but you cannot disagree with what you see except if you are blind. And one hopes that they are not blind. And that is why we are doing this so people can see. So, we expect people to interrogate it; to go there. That’s why we have pictures of projects and everything. The idea is to reduce the infrastructure deficit of the state and like I keep saying, like an elephant, we have to eat it bits and pieces. So it shouldn’t be about me. It’s about serving the state. People come and go but the infrastructure that we built will be there. Somebody will inherit later and they would maintain it. There are so many things that were built before I was born. They’ve gone.

And those people (responsible for the buildings) have gone. So, for me, it is just for us to keep working at it, to keep coming up with ideas to keep building more infrastructures that can sustain the state. Today in Lagos State, you see that every public building has a ramp for the physically challenged. Those are the little things that we can introduce because the truth is those are members of the society that we must take care of.

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COLUMN

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

SEGUN GBADEGESIN gbadegesin@thenationonlineng.net

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HE language of rights makes an interesting if not incongruous rendering of the relationship that has is expected to have tothe theindividual community inor typical African climes. The language of responsibility would appear to capture that relationship more appropriately. Still, we cannot pretend that the contemporary practice of rights has no bearing on the traditional expectation of responsibility. Indeed, it is now not uncommon for the most sacred of traditional institutions—the monarchy—to be embroiled in disputes that only get resolved by appeal to the language of rights—in the court of law.

With an acknowledgement of the force of rights in contemporary societies then, we may address a few issues of significance to the social relations that subsist the African world, To focus the discussion, I would like to make an arbitrary distinction between tradition and contemporary iterations of some of the conditions that afflict the African world, including the social, political, economic, and cultural situations.

Traditionally, the social condition of Africa cannot be described in paradisiacal or utopian terms. But it was also not as hellish as some may want us to believe. It was simple and rustic, orderly and peaceful before the era of greed and ego-driven ambitions set in. Individuals had a sense of place and a sense of their responsibilities within the community of interrelated persons.

Everywhere now, the ideal of community is being rediscovered; but it was Africa that gave the idea to the world and it is to Africa that the world is looking for clues concerning the meaning and requirements of community. Unfortunately, Africa has moved on to other not-soflattering ideals of life, including those that prioritize the good of individual accumulation and acquisition over the good of communal life. From “ajooje o dun benikan o ni, we moved to bamu bamu ni mo yo, emi o mo pebi n pomo enikookan. From the sweetness of cooperative living, we move to the worshipping of the self and contempt for the other.

We have not been able to deal with this disastrous move effectively because the sanctions are no longer there.

•Continued from Page 2 him and the National Secretary, Gen. Olagunsoye Oyinlola (rtd). The first casualty was his (Tukur’s) Chief of Staff, Abu Fari, who was booted out. But later, Oyinlola, Segun Oni and others were shoved aside from the National Executive Committee, the Obasanjo forces suspected a foul play. When many exco members were asked to resign, following the complaint by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that they were not properly elected, party chieftains also mounted pressure on Tukur to resign.

He was, however, saved by the Presidency.

The preparation for 2015 has also unsettled the ruling party. The fierce opposition to Dr. Jonathan’s second term ambition by the North has rattled the Presidency. Although the President is constitutionally entitled to a second term as a right, prominent Northern leaders who are left in the cold outside power have been calling for power shift, based on the real or imagined intra-party agreement on zoning. Others whose judgment is not beclouded by the fabled rotational principle have a different dilemma. They cannot beat their chest that the PDP national leader has performed to expectation as the President and Commander-In-Chief.

To zone or not to?

Apart from Niger State Governor Muazu, who has insisted that he was a party to the zoning agreement, many governors are also not pleased with the President for different reasons. The Nigeria Governors Forum has challenged the President over the Sovereign Wealth Fund.

The association led by Amaechi had threatened to go to the court to press for true federalism. As the chairman, Amaechi incurred the President’s wrath for making certain anti-federal government statements, which the duties of his office

Youth rights, elder rights, and generational integration

Contemporary political conditions ensure that traditional sanctions against egoistic acquisition are rendered illegal and illegitimate. And we keep getting better at institutionalizing corruption even when we make insincere noise about its unacceptability. Family name and community integrity used to be guided zealously. Thus parents would frown at and punish a child that brought shame to the family name through corrupt practices. And a whole community would distance itself from a member that brought it into disrepute. Today, a father would pressure a son to bring as much “dividends of democracy” to the family even if it means stealing billions and trillions of public funds. And there are traditional

rulers who not only aid and abet “sons of the soil” known to be neck deep in corruption, but who themselves are active participants in the rush for contracts that are not to be executed because deals had been made.

We now acquire political power with a distinct purpose of enriching the self as opposed to benefitting the people and the community. Yet we do it in the name of the people—my people need my service— and my service is to benefit no one but myself and my family.

On account of our political conditions, our economy is matching forward in one step and backwards in four. I do not need to bore you with what you know. Indeed, young men and women are the major

victims with unemployment as high as 40%. If four out of 10 youth members in a community are unable to get a decent job even after they do what we ask them to do—get a good education—the elders have shacked their responsibility and cannot be accorded respect. Traditionally, we know that “agba ti o lajeku yoo ru gba e doko.

What is happening to our youths is a reflection of the poverty of the elderly efforts to provide for them.

This may be why we are also not in a position to preach the gospel of culture.

What culture? Orisa boo le gbe mi, fi mi sile boo ti ba mi. If our culture has been so bankrupted by the elders that the youth see no value in their immersion into it, we are doomed as a people. For culture identifies and while the phenomenon of

PDP: Truce at last? imposed on him. Hell was let loose. The President henceforth, made up his mind that he should not be returned as the NGF chair.

Previously, crisis was brewing between Amaechi and the President’s wife, Patience, an indigene of Rivers State. When it reached the climax, the First Lady seized the microphone from him in Okrika at a public function. Both husband and wife have continued to nurse grudges.

But Amaechi had the majority on his side in the NGF. Although he won the NGF chairmanship election by beating his ‘emergency’ opponent, Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang, with 19 to 16 votes, the President acknowledged the latter as the chairman. The PDP Governors’ Forum hurriedly put together by the party and Presidency failed to unseat Amaechi. A seed of discord was sowed in the NGF. Amaechi was suspended from the party for inexplicable anti-party activities. Sources said that his perceived vice presidential ambition in 2015 infuriated the PDP leadership.

Other ‘rebellious’ governors have been insulated from such punitive measures. For example, Muazu, who has been keeping the rotational agreement paper to his chest, Lamido, who is said to be nursing presidential ambition and Nyako, who has been having a running battle at the home front with his kinsman, Tukur, have not been hacked down. When Wamakko was suspended, it was temporary. Reality dawned on the party and the Presidency that they have incurred the wrath of the most populous zone. The outcry by the zonal leader, Ambassador Ibrahim Kazaure, the PDP governors in the zone and state party chairmen made the National Working Committee (NWC) to retrace its steps.

Although the suspension was lifted, it has not changed Wamakko’s anti-Jonathan and

anti-Tukur’s views.

When the northern governors paid a solidarity visit to Amaechi two weeks ago, it was evident that they had made up their mind against the party. Nyako later predicted the imminent fall of the PDP, ahead of 2015, insisting that Tukur has failed the test of leadership. It paled into a bold warning that certain forces in the fold were committed to wrecking the ship. The bow of fate is on the national chairman’s head. On one side, he is battling with the governors. On the other side, he is battling with the mini-convention hurdles.

Neither has the Rivers PDP crisis abated. The split underscores the biased disposition of the President, despite the persistent camouflage denial of involvement and neutrality. His wife, Patience, had told the visiting clerics from the Southsouth that Amaechi hads a hot temper, adding that he was fond of disrespecting her husband.

Dr. Jonathan’s liaison officer in Port Harcourt is the Minister of State, Nyensom Wike, who commands a civilian army of anti-Amaechi protesters, which has attempted to make the state ungovernable.

Two men, Adepke and Obuah, are laying antagonistic claims to the PDP chairmanship in the state. The neutral President threw his support behind Obuah, who has challenged Amaechi to a duel.

The war gained a momentum. The activities of biased and compromised Police Commissioner, Mathew Mbu, who has taken sides in the crisis, provided a tonic for the anti-Amaechi forces to go on rampage.

As much energy was dissipated on the avoidable crisis in the oil-rich state, attention was diverted from governance. The crisis reached a climax when five out of 32 members of the House of Assembly attempted to impeach the Speaker, Amaechree, and proclaim the impostor,

Evans Bipi, as the new Speaker. The calculation was that the President who did not object to the declaration of the loser as the winner of the NGF election will definitely tacitly applaud the numerical supremacy of five over and above 27.

But now that the President appears disposed to reconciliation as a last resort, where will the PDP begin? There is no precedent to follow. When former President Obasanjo pretended that the war between him and the former Senate President Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, was over, he was impeached the same week as the Senate President. After OBJ embraced former PDP national Chairman Chief Audu Ogbeh, he was forced to resign afterwards. After visiting former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel and shared cake with him, the crisis between the duo escalated. When President Jonathan recently visited Rivers State, he shook Amaechi’s hands most heartily. That week, the state became a battle ground.

What will be the conditions for truce?

Will the President call Wike to order? Will he tame his wife? Will Tukur be asked to step aside, as being demanded by the governors? Will it end the deep-seated animosity and acrimony between Tukur and Nyako? Will Jang continue to parade himself as the NGF chairman or accept defeat? Will the northern governors who have presidential ambition put it on hold?

Will the northern elders suspend their clamour for power shift? Will the five Rivers legislators and other anti-Amaechi supporters return to their shell? Will the reconciliation last?

Will the President back the reconciliation with genuine or peculiar hypocritical commitment? Will all the parties to the multi-faceted disputes learn their lessons? Will peace return to the PDP? Many puzzles;, fewer answers.

cultural borrowing is still real, without our own identity, we are just going to become beggars in the land of other cultures. We are seeing this already. 70% of our elites don’t allow their children to speak Yoruba language in the house. This is even when both parents are Yoruba. The vogue is to have kids speak English as their mother tongue. Yet there is a large amount of good research on the benefits of the mother tongue for learning. Not only this, there is also plenty of good evidence that children are capable of learning and speaking multiple languages at very tender ages.

An effective response to the conditions that militate against the progressive development of the African world is not just one that focuses on the youth. Indeed, from my submission above, the elders need a reorientation away from practices and institutions that damage the sense and spirit of community that has always been the strength of Africa and its Diaspora. It is for instance a thing of shame that the spiritual realm of contemporary Africa cannot be guaranteed as a solution to the challenge of crass materialism because the spiritual realm itself has become a theater of the absurd with cut-throat competition for sinful souls not because they need salvation but because it is their kind that the preacher needs for a fat bank account.

There is a need to integrate spirit and matter. Surely the youth need a spiritual anchor that enables them to start firm and rooted in the face of the winds of change blowing across the African world. I submit however, that for that foundation to be strong, it has to be built on a solid material formation. We must prioritize institutions that cater to the material needs of the youth so as to give them the strength for spiritual renewal. It is not a coincidence that our people say that ebi kii wo nu ki oran mii woo. A hungry person is a potential prey or victim of spiritual swindlers. The community needs to guard its own from the vultures of religious zealotry. The poor are being promised virgins upon successful suicide mission and they easily buy it because of their condition. Assume that the nation has invested in the education of those young ones and has ensured that they had gainful employment upon completion of their studies; can anyone imagine that they would fall prey to the sugar-coated mouths of wicked mullahs?

African peoples need a break from poverty, violence, political instability, and generalized social malaise. Africa has made some substantial contributions to the world culturally and spiritually. Now Africa and its people need to focus attention on building economic institutions that serve the purpose of cultural and spiritual renewal—institutions that prioritize the good of the community which ultimately translates into the good of individuals.

If there is place for talk about rights in communities, there is a right that youths and elders have in common and which they deserve to be respected by the community. It is the right to basic needs.

Communities have an obligation to provide the training that an individual requires to be in a position to meet his or her basic needs. Unless everyone’s basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing are adequately met, there can be no moral justification for society to encourage the humongous accumulation of wealth by individuals.

If we bring together the collective efforts of the people to harness the collective resources of the people, there must be bountiful results. Cooperatives and collectives have featured in our traditions with good results. We need to revive that spirit for the sake of the young ones who are fast losing hope in our collective humanity. *Prepared for presentation at the Orisa Tradition Conference • EDITOR’S NOTE: THIS PIECE INITIALLY PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2013 IS BEING RERUN BECAUSE OF A PRODUCTION MIX-UP.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

Lagos to demolish houses on pipelines

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro

T

HE Lagos State Government yesterday said it will soon embark on the demolition of illegal buildings erected on petroleum pipelines across the state to avert possible loss of lives and properties.

Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, who disclosed this during the July edition of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise monitored in IdimuEgbe Local Council Development Area of the state, said the contruction of houses in pipeline alignment poses serious danger to lives and properties.

He said, "We will not fold our hands and watch these illegal buildings on the pipeline. A lot of demolition of houses on pipeline alignment will be done by the state government."

The commissioner also frowned at residents who are in the habit of hanging their washed clothes on houses, warning that law enforcement agencies have been mandated to seal such houses.

He said, "Our men have started; we have told LAWMA and other agencies to remove any cloth spread in front of buildings or anywhere on the highway and dispose it like refuse henceforth. We will no longer tolerate hanging of cloths on houses along the highway.

"People who flout the law will have their houses sealed.

We have to shut down some houses. If we don't take such actions, some people won't take it seriously.”

Bello, who lamented the entrenched practice, said many residents had practically turned the frontage of their houses to places where all manners of clothes are hung.

Osun, firm train 6,000 youths From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

I

N partnership with the Osun State government, an electronics company, rlg Nigeria, has trained 6,000 unemployed indigenes of the state in computer operation, phone repair and other technical works.

Speaking during the inauguration of a 30-day free bus ride by the company for residents of the state, its National Marketing Manager, Mr. Olugbenga Oyebamiji, said the programme was meant to support the government's programme on reduction of youth unemployment in the state.

He added that the training has created jobs for thousands of youths in the state who are now employers of labour.

Oyebamiji explained that the one-month free bus ride was an opportunity for the firm to give back to the society and aid movement of people during the period of Ramadan.

He disclosed that the company will complete the construction of a plant in Ilesa in the next one month, where more youth will be trained.

He described the electronics company as the first to have a plant in Nigeria.

News

‘How peace can reign in oil communities’ A GROUP in the riverine area of Ondo State, Ilaje Peoples Assembly (IPA), at the weekend said it would support any plan by the state government that is geared towards ensuring equity and peaceful engagement of all Ilaje coastal communities in the state.

This plan, according to the group, was through the recognition of all communities as equal stakeholders of its off-shore oil and gas assets.

Besides, IPA, which is made up of Mahin/Aheri and Etikan communities, said with its size, population and age long neglect, multinational oil giant, Chevron, should pay them a sum of N55million, which was similarly paid to Ugbo community under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) meant for all Ilaje coastal communities.

The group in a statement made available to reporters in Akure, the state capital, and said failure to effect the payment of the sum will compel its people to take 'le-

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

gitimate measures for redress'.

The statement, which was signed by Chiefs Olu Malumi, Ebenezer Ogungbare, Akindele Temiye, Zeblon Orisamugbahin, Messers Johnson Feyijimi, Femi Amuni and Prince Monday Okunomo, reads in part, "Politically, Constituency ll accounts for not less than threequarters of the land mass with more than two-thirds of its population. We are also strategically located as the gateway and only access to other parts of Ilaje.

"Out of a total of 271 polling units in Ilaje local government, Constituency ll (Mahin, Aheri, Etikan) has 16.5. However, the wherewithal accorded the minority Ugbo in oil-related appointments has also ensured the area eight years in the senate as they also produced

the current representative of Ilaje/Ese-Odo in the House of Representatives, a situation that has given them undue advantage in political personnel development.

The IPA reminded the Ugbo protesters that at a time when six kingdoms of the old Ilaje/Ese-Odo local government were equally divided into two, they (Mahin, Aheri, Etikan) were not only sympathetic to their agitation of Ugbo kith and kin to return to Ilaje eventhough their assets remained forfeited forever to Ese-odo people."

It added that they also inherited a two-year fratricidal Ilaje/Ijaw war and used materials from the Atlantic Ocean where oil is being produced commonly for sand filling and re- reclamation of developmental efforts in Ugbo land.

The statement added, "While Ugbo has unjustifiably dominated most appoint-

ments from Ilaje with nothing to show in terms of development of Ilaje land, some of them still embark on efforts to pull down the few non-Ugbo, but more patriotic and intellectually superior Ilaje personalities in government.

"As the issue of the merger is yet to be resolved, Chevron in the last two weeks have yielded to the propaganda of and paid N55million only to Ugbo under a fraudulent MoU meant for all Ilaje coastal communities, but being expended on phoney contracts."

It would be recalled that on December 5, 2012 there was a meeting between Chevron Nigeria Limited, top government officials and leaders of Ilaje communities where it was resolved that all Ilaje communities in Ondo State should be grouped and merged under one umbrella association.

They were also to serve as off-shore stakeholders for the purpose of engaging Chevron in its corporate social responsibilities to the

•From left: Pa Gamaliel Omonijo (widower); Mobolade, Bolaji and Soladoye Omonijo... at the Service of Songs for the late Mrs. Winifred Omonijo last week.

2015: Oyo ACN inaugurates Ibadan City Elders’ Forum A CTION Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Oyo State chapter yesterday inaugurated the, Ibadan City Elders Forum to strategise ways that will ensure the success of the party in the 2015 general elections.

The newly inaugurated executives of the forum are the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Busari Adebisi as Chairman; Alhaji Dauda Alawuje as Deputy Chairman and Mr. Abodunrin Ahmed.

Ibadan City Forum consists of Ibadan North, Ibadan North-West, Ibadan NorthEast, Ibadan South-West and Ibadan South-East.

The state chairman of the party, Chief Akin Oke, during the inauguration of the forum held at the South-West secretariat of the party in Alakia area of Ibadan, said that the forum has existed before the 2011 elections and there is an urgent need to resuscitate it now that the 2015 general election is just two years away.

According to him, the re-

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

enactment of the forum and inauguration of its leadership were part of the ongoing reengineering and restructuring of the party.

Oke urged party members to be more committed

to its progressive ideals and work towards the progress of the party.

Oke further said that the party in the state was divided into seven various zones, namely Ibadan City, Ibadan Less City, Ibarapa, Oyo, Ogbomosho, Oke-Ogun 1 and

Oke-Ogun 2 for administrative convenience.

In his acceptance speech, the forum's chairman, Dr Busari Adebisi, urged party members not to relent on their efforts at sustaining the victory of the party in future elections, adding that four years was not enough to complete the ongoing transformation being experienced in the state.

‘Teachers key to our administration's success’ KITI State deputy governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu, said that t eachers in the state have important roles to play in the success of the administration.

The deputy governor spoke through the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Kehinde Ojo, at a one-day workshop for executive members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) held in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

Adelabu stressed that "the relationship between the teachers and government must be cordial to enable all-round achievement of our goals on

E

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

education."

According to her, the current administration has continued not only to contribute to the quality of teachers but their quality of life, adding, "this administration will not stop adding to its achievements in this regard."

Adelabu urged the teachers to give the workshop "every seriousness and concentration so that the efforts and intention of this administration would not come to waste."

She said, "Without being boastful and at the risk of even

sounding immodest, this administration has surpassed every record it met in terms of teachers' welfare. Aside the housing and vehicle loans which teachers enjoy alongside other categories of state workers, teachers now have their laptops and now enjoy their peculiar allowance.”

"Further, the school environment has been much improved with the renovation of the entire secondary schools in the state. All these are aside the procurement and supply of modern furniture items to teachers and the latest duty posts allowance to deserving teachers."

65

communities in its offshore operations.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko consequently set-up a Technical Committee headed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) to submit a report on modalities for sharing benefits among all Ilaje coastal communities as stakeholders.

While the committee's report was being awaited and the Board of the State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) was yet to be re-constituted, the Commission in a letter dated April 24, reportedly introduced to Chevron, a group, Ilaje Ugbo Communities Development Committee (IOCDC) as the new merger committee purportedly ratified by the state government.

This development has sparked protests in the oil communities of the state.

Lagos Assembly applauds S' West governors over integration

By Oziegbe Okoeki

L

AGOS State House of Assembly has commended the governors of the six South West states of Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti for taking the bull by the horn to demonstrate their commitment to regional integration agenda through the inauguration of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission in Ibadan, Oyo State last week.

Speaking in his office on Friday, the spokesman of the House and Chairman, House Committee on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity, Hon. Segun Olulade, stressed that the formal inauguration of the DAWN Commission would, no doubt, fast track the implementation of the earlier launched Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) document, which is a blueprint that articulates the socioeconomic policies and programmes envisioned for the rapid growth and development of the six states in the region.

Olulade maintained that regional cooperation for commerce, agricultural, infrastructural, research, cultural, tourism, security and technological development have proved to be the most reliable and potent approach to sustainable growth, as well as the desired leap in the living standards of the people within the region.

According to Olulade, "The most laudable benefit of regional integration is that it does not only transform hitherto existing cities to global commercial hubs and tourist destinations, but also lead to job explosion, improved purchasing power, sustainable economic growth, greater security, the maximisation of human and material resource potentials and better livelihood among the citizens of the states within the region."

The lawmaker pointed out that many great cities of the world are products of regional integration efforts, adding that regional cooperation among states usually breeds the mutual understanding, greater sense of belonging and the spirit of brotherhood and patriotism among the people involved.

66

Sokoto earmarks over N1.6bn for projects From: Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

S

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

News

OKOTO State has earmarked N772 million for the construction of a concrete-cast parameter walls to ensure better security at the Government House.

The Commissioner for I n f o r m a t i o n , AlhajiDanladiBako, stated this last week shortly after the state Executive Council meeting.

He said the construction work, which will also include two befitting car parks on both sides of the entrance gate to the Government House,is expected to be completed in four months.

Bako also disclosed that N85 million has been approved by the council for the construction, renovation and expansion of parts of Nagarta College, Sokoto.

He explained: “The works include the rehabilitation of the Magajin Rafi House, seven classrooms destroyed by windstorm and expansion and conversion of workshop building to a befitting conference hall with appreciable seating capacity with a completion period of four months.”

The Commissioner for Solid Mineral, DahiruMaishanu, said the administration has awarded contract for the rehabilitation and renovation of the dilapidated GSS Wauru in Gada Local Government of the state.

According to him, the scope of work contracted at the sum of N78.9 million includes repairs and renovation of blocks of classrooms, eastern and northern sides of the school.

Also for rehabilitation and expansion are: GSS More in Kware LG and Army Day Secondary School, Sokoto at the cost of N65.8 million and N120.3 million.

The Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu, said the state government had approved the construction of modern General Hospital each at Kware and Dange/Shuni local governments at the cost of N172.2 million respectively.

According to him the contracts will be due for completion within nine months.

Aliyu also disclosed that contract for the construction of a storey building with classrooms and library facilities at the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Sokoto has been awarded at the cost of N148.57 million.

“The contract is expected to be completed in five months while work for the construction of male and female wards as well as borehole at Illela the General Hospital has been awarded by the state government at the cost of N118.17 million to be completed within a period of six months,” he stated.

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Jonathan tasks youths on nation-building

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has enjoined Nigerian youth in Kano to channel their energies toward the promotion of peace, progress and national unity.

He also pledged his administration’s resolve to always carry them along in his determination to build a great nation.

Jonathan spoke through his Special Senior Assistant on Youth and Student Matters, Comrade Jude Imagwe, during an interactive session and Ramadan Iftar with university students and leaders of youth groups in the North West Re-

From:KoladeAdeyemi, Kano gion yesterday in Kano.

While commending Muslims for the religious journey so far accomplished, Jonathan reminded them that the holy month of Ramadan represents an opportunity to reconcile with Allah.

He charged them to preserve and extend their spiritual cleansing beyond the period of Ramadan and assured them that the Christian community in Nigeria is joining them in prayers in this all-important month of Ramadan.

Also, he noted that,” I have come to you on behalf of the President to specifically thank you for the support that you have extended to him during the first half of the administration and intimate you that he needs more of your support in the second half of his administration than in the first.”

While admitting that there are a number of challenges confronting youths in the country, the President solicited for understanding and cooperation, noting that some of these challenges had been existing since the nation’s independence.

According to Jonathan:

“What we are undergoing now is the building of a foundation that would withstand the test of time: A total transformation in all sectors.

“Transformation that even without the president in office tomorrow, whosoever that would pilot the affairs of this country, would know that a foundation had been laid.”

He assured them that ASUU’s strike would soon be over, explaining that the Federal Government is working assiduously to find a lasting solution to the industrial dispute in the nation’s universities.

•L-R: Hon Aderounmu Agbomeji , Special Adviser to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed on Poltics and Media, Chief Sunny Ajose; President Asiwaju Total Loyalty, Alhaji Oluwatoyin Balogun and Chief (Mrs.) Yetunde Babatunde at a special Ramadam Prayer for Late Alhaja Abibat Mogaji by Asiwaju Total Loyalty in Lagos... at the weekend Photo:Solomon Adeola

T

HE Chief Judge of Niger State, Justice FatiAbubakar, has called on the three tiers of government to increase funding of the education sector.

She also charged students to put their footprint on the sands of time.

Speaking yesterday at the 7th Graduation, Speech, Prize and Award giving ceremony of Kowa Schools in

Former First Lady seeks more funding for education From: JideOrintunsin, Minna

Minna, the former First Lady said that education is the best legacy to future generations.

She said that students and parents should make ef-

forts to complement government in the education sector.

She also lauded the effort of the proprietor in his quest to eradicate illiteracy in the state by providing education at an affordable and qualita-

PDP elders plot against Suswam’s senatorial ambition

S

OME aggrieved elders and founding members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have allegedly ganged up against the senatorial ambition of Governor Gabriel Suswam in 2015.

They are reportedly accusing Suswam of running a one- man show as governor, worried he might not reach out to some of them believed to have worked for his victory.

The Nation gathered exclusively that the elders and founding members held a meeting in an undisclosed Hotel in Gboko where the plot to stop Suswam’s senatorial ambition in 2015 was conceived.

A reliable source, who was part of the meeting, said most of the elders who attended expressed regret for supporting Suswam’s emergence as governor.

Part of the plot, it was gathered, is to deny him the PDP ticket for Zone A senate seat.

From: Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

In the event that he gets the slot using the power of incumbency, it was agreed that all PDP members will pull out and vote for any opposition party at the poll.

Many of the disgruntled elders expressed dismay that even some political appointees who should have reached out to PDP members at the

grassroots have kept complaining of cash crunch while none of them has resigned.

Part of the plot is also to frustrate the governor from choosing his successor in 2015.

A member of the PDP working committee, who pleaded anonymity, advised the elders to channel their grievances through established, appropriate channels.

tive rate.

Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, said his administration has expended a lot of resources in ensuring quality education.

He said that the state would soon start deploying teachers to the rural areas to address shortage of adequate teachers in the affected communities.

The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Alhaji DanladiAbdulhamid, said most teachers in the urban areas would be moved to the rural areas to make this work out.

He added that any teacher not ready to move should retire.

Tambuwal commends Nyako

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PEAKER of the House of Representatives, H o n AminuTambuwal, has commended the Adamawa State Governor,MurtalaNyako for his transformation, drive.

The Speaker spoke with newsmen at the Yola International Airport during a visit to flag off the poverty alleviation project by a member of the House of Repres e n t a t i v e s ,

From: Barnabas Manyam, Yola

AishatuBinani(Girei, Yola South and Yola North Federal Constituency).

Tambuwal said: “I’m particularly very impressed with the development in Adamawa State, which is indeed very modest, laudable and lofty.”

He added:‘‘I have seen the successes recorded by the

Governor Nyako administration particularly in the area of healthcare development, works in terms of roads, agricultural transformation and women and youth development.”

He said he was predominantly impressed that the governor has used 40 percent of the revenue of Adamawa State to boost education.

Senatorial ticket: APC allocates Zone A to Kwande From: UjaEmmanuel, Makurdi

I

NDICATIONS have emerged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) might have allocated the Zone A senatorial seat to Kwande.

The party leader of the zone, Ambassador Mike Gbasha, stated this at Adikpo’s residence of the Hon Joseph Boko in Kwande Local Government yesterday.

Gbasha led other chieftains of the party like Prof Daniel Saor, Elder NingaBiam, Mr. Jonathan Ichaver, Prof LeaonaldShilgba, Barrister IorkengerJev and Barrister TerwaseBoayali to Adikpo for a sensitisation meeting of selected members of the opposition parties that merged into APC from Kwande and Ushongo axis.

He explained that the constitution of APC was designed to allow for popular participation and fairness.

According to him, since all the axes in zone A have had their turns at the senatorial slot, the party knew that 2015 would be the prerogative of Kwande.

He challenged them to fight all the systems which PDP has placed on them for 14 years to achieve most of the ideals establishing APC. In his welcome speech, Boko explained that all the opposition parties dropped their differences to redress the misgovernance of the PDP. In the key note address, Senator Saor lamented that the Tiv suffer marginalisation because they lack unity and good leaders.

He recalled fighting for many projects not captured in the budgets, which were unfortunately not implemented.

Police recover 22 cars, arrest nine snatchers From: Barnabas Manyam, Yola

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HE Adamawa State Police Command has recovered 22 stolen cars and arrested 9 car snatchers during an operation by its anti-car theft unit in collaboration with other security agencies.

Parading the nine suspects, who specialised in car snatching, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. GodfreyOkeke, said it took the command five months to crackdown the syndicate.

The police chief said: “Some of the cars were recovered in Kano, Gombe and other parts of the country but were stolen from Adamawa State.”

He warned members of the public to stop buying stolen cars and solicited reliable information for members of the command to rid the area of criminals.

One of the notorious car snatchers, Mr. ChineduOkafor, confessed he was introduced into the syndicate by a friend who is now at large.

The beer parlour operator said the dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed in the state forced him into the illicit trade.

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I formerly known and addressed as Miss Erakpotobo Patience, now wish to be known as Mrs. Abiodun Patience. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OLATUNJI

I formerly known and addressed as Olatunji Ibironke Arinola, now wish to be known as Oluwole Ibironke Arinola. All former documents remain valid. Ogun State Teaching Service Commission and general public please take note.

ALABI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Alabi, Ayodele Ruth, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ajibade, Ayodele Ruth. All former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

I, Adejumo Oyetola John my name was erroneously written as Adejumo Oyekola John by NECO June 2004 with candidate No. 42096341 DA Amota Community High School, Ororuwo 024062. Not Oyekola is OYETOLA . Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, NYSC and general public please take note.

EKWOCHI The family was formerly known and addressed as EKWOCHI now wish to be known and addressed as EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid. Assemblies of God Church and the general public please take note.

ANI I, formerly known and addressed as MISS BLESSING UZOAMAKA ANI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BLESSING UZOAMAKA NWANDU. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

AGU

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. OLIVE EZINNE AGU,now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OLIVE EZINNE NWAOGAZI. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OGHENEME

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. JESSICA URIRI OGHENEME,now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. JESSICA URIRI VARLYNGTONHARBECHE. All former documents remain valid. University of Port Harcourt and general public please take note.

OKOYE

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. OKOYE GLORIA OGOCHUKWU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OKOLO GLORIA OGOCHUKWU. All former documents remain valid. Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe and general public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to confirm that AHMED MBAGHA OBIORA and MBAGHA VINCENT OBIORA refer to one and the same person, now wish to be known and addressed as AHMED MBAGHA OBIORA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to confirm that IHEKWOABA CHINEMEREM DUNGAS and MADUABUCHI CHINEMEREM DUNGAS refer to one and the same person, now wish to be known and addressed as IHEKWOABA CHINEMEREM DUNGAS. All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri, Imo State and general public please take note.

ODIOR

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Odior Juliana Onosiagbe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ayeni Juliana Onosiagbe. All former documents remain valid. Heroes limited and the general public should please take note.

OREBOR

I formerly known and addressed as Miss OREBOR EJIEHIWASE EVELYN, now wish to be known as Mrs. OGUNJOBI EJIEHIWASE EVELYN. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

SHUAIBU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. FATIMA SHUAIBU, now wish to be known as Mrs. FATIMA ZUBAIR. All former documents remain valid, Nigeria Police Force, and the general public please take note.

KETIKU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ketiku, Adebukonla Oluwafunmilola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akinwalere, Adebukonla Oluwafunmilola. All former documents remain valid. Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and general public take note.

MOSHOOD

I formerly known and addressed as Moshood Adesola Wasiu, now wish to be known and addressed as Adebodun Moshood Adesola Wasiu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. CHARLOTTE WARI DASIMEOKUMA now wish to be known as Mrs. CHARLOTTE WARI VICTOR-WILLIAMS. All former documents remain valid NDDC, general public please take note.

ONYYEASO I formerly known and addressed as Miss. ONYEASO CHIOMA now wish to be known as Mrs. CHIOMA OMORUYI. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

OBASI

I formerly known and addressed as OBASI IJEOMA EMILIA, now wish to be known as ARUGWU IJEOMA EMILIA CHINEDU. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

NJOKU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. JACINTA CHINEMEREM NJOKU, now wish to be known as Mrs. JACINTA CHINEMEREM VICTOR NJOKU. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

OKOYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. OKOYE EDNA now wish to be known as Mrs. FAVOUR OLUCHI CLEMENT. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

OLADIRAN

I formerly known and addressed as Oladiran Fausat Joke now wish to be known as Shotayo Fausat. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

ALOFE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Alofe Busola, now wish to be known as Mrs. Olubunmi Bosola Olayisade Olatunji. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

OBAREMO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Toyin Deborah Obaremo, now wish to be known as Mrs. Toyin Deborah Kolade. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

ORIAKU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oriaku Charity Nneoma, now wish to be known as Mrs. Ibeabuchi Charity Nneoma. All former documents remain valid.

NRCRI and general public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Udoh Okon Archibong, now wish to be known and addressed as Udoh Emmanuel Archibong.

All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

RILWAN I formerly known and addressed as Ayodeji Ojubayo Rilwan, now wish to be known and addressed as Ayodele Ayodeji Rilwan. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

ODEY I formerly known and addressed as Miss Odey Onmonya Serah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ali Onmonya Serah. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Mrs Bello Tawakalitu Raimi and belong to the same and one person Ganiya Bello. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should please take note.

SOKOYA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Sokoya Oluwafunmilayo Adeola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs JulisAdeshina Oluwafunmilayo Adeola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

JIMOH

I formerly known and addressed as MISS JIMOH IDAYAT FUNMILAYO, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OJOLOWO IDAYAT FUNMILAYO. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AROLOYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Aroloye Folahanmi Esther, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oderinde Folahanmi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLAYIWOLA

I formerly known and addressed as Olayiwola Temitayo Abiodun, now wish to be known and addressed as Oladokun Temitayo Abiodun. All former documents remain valid. Sterling Bank Plc. and general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Oladapo Tunde John is the same as Oladapo Tunde, Oladapo Tunde John is my rightful name Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to confirm that Salaudeen Rilwan Olanrewaju is the same person as Salaudeen Rilwan, Salaudeen Rilwan Olanrewaju is my rightful name. All documents bearing the above remain valid.

General public please take note.

ADEBIYI

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Bolatito Esther Adebiyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bolatito Esther Oridupa. all former document remain valid. General public please take note.

EMAROBEBH I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Doreen Emarobebh Atoni, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Doreen Atoni Wilfred. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

DORATHY I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Precious Dorathy Amaefule, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Precious Ododobari Winner. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ADENIJI

IBRAHIM

ALAEBO

EKWENUGO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ekwenugo Ojinika Nkechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Igbojionu Ojinika Nkechi Emmanuella. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

ODILIBE

I formerly known and addressed as Olaigbe Olasunkanmi AbdulQuadri now wish to be known and addressed as Olaigbe Olasunkanmi Quadri. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS ALAEBO CHINWENDU AMAKA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. EKWUGHE CHINWENDU AMAKA all former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ODUNTAN I, former known and addressed as Miss ODUNTAN Latifat Olufunmilayo now wish to be addressed as Mrs DESALU Latifat Olufunmilayo. All former doctments remain valid. UNILAG and the general public please note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Odilibe Chiamaka Lynda, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Anisi Chiamaka Lynda.

All former documents remain valid. OAUTH, Ile-Ife and general public take note.

AMOGBONJAYE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ibrahim Ajibola Alirat now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odebode Ajibola Airat all former documents remain valid Kwara State College of Education Oro , WAEC and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Oyekunle Sodiq is the same person as Oyekunle Sodiq Abiodun. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

SAMUEL I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs Mercy Mfon Samuel, now wish to be known and addressed as Mercy Mfon inyang. All fomer documents remain valid. NYSC and general public take note.

ADEPETU

I formerly known and addressed as MISS ADEPETU TOLULOPE FAYOKEMI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ALAWODE TOLULOPE FAYOKEMI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Adeniji Abayomi .O, now wish to be known and addressed as Ademeso Abayomi .O. . All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Amogbonjaye Feyisayo Omowunmi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Babatunde Feyisayo Omowunmi. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

OLAIGBE

BALOGUN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adedoyin Folasade Balogun now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adedoyin Folasade Ogbunbode. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ADIGUN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adigun, Oluwakemi Deborah now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olajide, Oluwakemi Deborah. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OLOWE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olowe, Felicia Oluwaseun now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ayodele, Felicia Oluwaseyi. All former documents remain valid.

Civil Defence Authority and general public take note.

AWELEWA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Awelewa Bamidele, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sorinola Bamidele. All former documents remain valid.

Ekiti South West Local government, Ilawe Ekiti and general public take note.

ADENIYI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeniyi, Adefunke Esther, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Otesile, Adefunke Esther. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

AJAO

I,formerly known and addressed as Mr. Adigun, Azeez Ajao, now wish to be known and addressed as Zhun-Nurayn Abdul-Azeez Ajao, all former document remain valid. General public please take note.

ADVERT: Simply produce your marriage certificate or sworn affidavit for a change of name publication, with just N4,500. The payment can be made through - FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc. Account number 2017220392 Account Name - VINTAGE PRESS LIMITED Scan the details of your advert and teller to gbengaodejide@yahoo.com or thenation.advert@hotmail.com.

For enquiry please contact: Gbenga on 08052720421, 08161675390, Emailgbengaodejide@yahoo.com or our offices nationwide. Note this! Change of name is now published every Sundays, all materials should reach us two days before publication.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

68

EBERE WABARA

How $1bn Malabu Oil deal was struck

WORDSWORTH F 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Time exactness T HE GUARDIAN Front Page and inside pages of July 23 nurtured morphological crises: “Yesterday’s meeting which began at about 12.20 p.m. at the Presidential Lodge opposite the Government House, Minna, lasted for two hours.” In timing, there must be exactness (at 12.20 p.m.) or an element of uncertainty (about 12.20 p.m.). The usage of both in the same environment indicates befuddled thinking. Another way round it—a middle road for some people—is to use ‘at’ or ‘about’ 12.20 p.m.!

“Police deploy officers at (in) Sokoto mosques” Deployment: always ‘in’ Now The Guardian Editorial: “The question that immediately arises is, who the Amnesty Committee reached (sic) an agreement with.” Cloud over ceasefire agreement: who did the Amnesty Committee reach an agreement with?

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER, of July 20 disseminated a few solecisms: “Clearing disused aircrafts from airports” THISDAY Plus: ‘aircraft’ is non-count “I went through my training at Awgu in Enugu State and was deployed to (in) Nsukka.”

“After that, God saved me because the man (men) on my right and left were killed and I was in the middle of dead bodies.”

Memoirs: corpses instead of ‘dead bodies’!

“Governors’ wives make case for protection of widows (widows’) rights” “Nestle IAAF kids’ athletics flags-off (begins) July 25" I don’t understand this stubborn incorrigibility about the illiterate and wrong application of ‘flag off’ and ‘commission’ (in faulty contexts) as verbs!

THE NATION ON SUNDAY of July 21 could not defend its freedom: “Probe Kogi flood relief (flood-relief) fund” “Generator powered (Generator-powered) economy is not good for Nigeria” “…who visited Cotonou, capital of Benin Republic, en route Seme (en route to Seme) recently.”

“One of the things they are also doing is that we have a lot of them who work as auditor-generals (auditors-general) in the office, governor-generals (governors-general) and they do it very well.”

Saturday PUNCH of

July 20 circulated this headline blunder: “Places where Nigerians’ fate are (is) decided” “FG embarks on quela birds control in Northeast against the birds which wreck (wreak) havoc on rice farms” (THE NATION, July 7) “She was the only woman among the 12 distinguished legal practitioners that were sworn in to (as) SAN at (on) the premises of the Supreme Court in Abuja last week Monday.” An inspirational phrase: last Monday or Monday, last week.

‘Last week Monday’ smacks of sub-literacy.

“Shortage of materials stall (stalls) teachers’ training” “All sorts of sounds rented (rent) the whole building as the women started speaking in tongues, as the rain continued to run on the roofs.”

“NYSC fast loosing attraction” I hope this medium will not lose (not loose) readers’ attention.

“Group moves to restore peace in (to) Rivers State House of Assembly.”

“A grassroot mobilization group known as.…”

Structural crisis: grassroots always.

“Perhaps it is a coincidence that these kinds of terrorist organization (organizations).…”

“By extension, aircrafts which are patterned after birds also have that significance.”

War without borders: ‘aircraft’ is uncountable. “…the commission then requested the counsels of petitioners and the….” ‘Counsel’ is uncountable. “…considering the enormous wealth on (in) which the state is swimming.” “…the challenge of providing jobs for our youths without regards (regard) to….”

“In recent time (times), there have (has) been plethora (a plethora) of essays….”

“The boss of Rhythm 96.3FM addressed issues as it (they) affects (affect) the broadcasting industry….”

“One of my favourite opening paragraphs in literature are (is) to be found in….”

“I wept for the pains of nine months that was (were) dashed by one bullet in her little head.” “…no matter how the offsprings of Afghanistan settle their family problem….” ‘Offspring’ is non-

count.

“They go into production because probably they were opportuned (they had an opportunity) to have a camera.…” Get it right: ‘opportune’ does not admit any inflection and is usually classically applied.

“Under such a setting, the shoot at sight orders, the curfews.…” No lexical terrorism: shoot-on-sight orders….

“Nigeria is notorious as a dumping ground for all manners of substandard, fake and expired products imported into the country by dare-devil money maniacs.” The war against bad English: all manner…of products.

And this: what does ‘imported into the country’ mean? “…his mother and the president’s wife was (were) present at (on) that occasion.” “…build up to November convention” Noun: build-up; phrasal verb; build up.

“Plateau police arrest 5 persons with arms, ammunitions” ‘Ammunition’ is uncountable.

“Their invasion has led to the lost (loss) of about 300 lives and destruction of a whole community carelessly.”

“Gov. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State appears to be towing (toeing) a different line from the rest of the PDP.” “Compared to the other parties, the PDP deserves a part (pat) on the back for….”

“It is not as if the party does not have areas which one strongly object (objects) to….” “…will like to draw attention to what one of the honourables (name withheld)....” ‘Honourables’ is Nigerian English! Get it right: one of the honourable lawmakers.

“But the level of pain, agony and anguish inflicted on Nigerians by ethno-religious carnages require (requires) more than a mere setting-up (setting up) of a National Security Panel.”

“The menace deserves urgent governmental response in terms of hackening (harkening/ hearkening) to the needs of the nationalities constituting Nigeria.”

“We (a comma) the rising stars in the midst of oldies (another comma) must put in everything in ensuring that voters (sic) registration in our various areas are (is) monitored diligently.”

EDERAL Government’s inconsistency in the allocation and revocation of Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL 245) between 1998 and 2001 is largely responsible for the controversy surrounding the payment of $1.092 billion to Malabu Oil, according to fresh details of the deal obtained yesterday.

The payment to the company owned by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Dan Etete, bordered on violation of agreement.

Though the contract was first awarded by the late General Sani Abacha, it has been a recurring decimal through the subsequent administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.

The Resolution Agreements signed by the Federal Government with Malabu Oil, Shell Nigeria Ultra-Deep Limited, (SNUD) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Nigeria Limited (SNEPCO) were approved

by President Jonathan in 2011 following the amicable settlement of suits relating to OPL at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICISD Arbitration).

Signatories to the Malabu and SNUD Resolution Agreements, based on an April 29, 2011 presidential directive, were the then Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga ( now Minister of Trade and Investment); Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke; AttorneyGeneral of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke ( SAN); Vice-Chairman /Managing Director and Company Secretary of SNUD; and the then Group Managing Director of NNPC, Austin Oniwon and Company Secretary/ Legal Adviser, Director and Secretary of SNEPCO. In its Claimant’s Memorial before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, Shell Ultra Deep Limited named those who were involved or intervened at various stages in the OPL 245 dispute with Malabu Oil and Gas as Obasanjo; exMinister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Edmund Daukoru; Ex-NNPC GMD, Gaius Obaseki; former DG of SSS, Col. Kayode Are; Special Assistant to the President on Petroleum Matters, Mr. Funsho Kupolokun; NAPIMS; JP Morgan; a board member of Royal Dutch Shell, Mr. Malcom Brinded; the then Director of DPR, Mr. Macaulay Ofurhe; and Assistant Director of DPR, Mr. Andrew Obaje It was gathered last night that copies of the Malabu Oil Agreements had been forwarded by government to the British High Commissioner in Abuja and the US Ambassador.

The British Police had indicated interest in probing the deal.

Besides, principal officers of the National Assembly have been served copies of the agreements to enable them understand what a source described as reasons for the decision of government to resolve the disputes over OPL 245 instead of allowing the oil block lie fallow.

An introductory note on the controversy gave insight

•Abacha, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan connections revealed • US, UK envoys get details of the agreements FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation into how Malabu Oil and Gas became a stakeholder in the petroleum sector.

It said: “Records indicate that Malabu, an indigenous Oil and Gas company was allocated OPL 245 in April 1998 by the FGN in furtherance of its Indigenous Exploration Programme Policy introduced in the early 1990s to encourage effective development of indigenous capability in the upstream factor of the oil industry.

“Malabu and other indigenous Oil and Gas companies were accordingly allocated Oil Blocks which they were expected to develop in partnership with international oil companies as Technical Partners.

“Malabu had in accordance with the terms of the grant, appointed Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited (SNUD) as its Technical Partner.”

One of the agreements, shedding light on how the deal was struck, said: “Whereas on the 29th of April 1998, the Federal Government of granted an Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL 245) over oil block 245(Block 245 to Malabu.

“On 30th March 2001, Malabu and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited (SNUD) entered into a Farm-in Agreement, and a Deed of Assignment under which Malabu assigned 40 per cent equity interest in OPL 245 to SNUD. “On the 2nd July 2001, FGN revoked OPL 245. By a letter dated the 23rd May 2002, the then Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources, on behalf of FGN awarded Block 245 to SNUD on the basis of a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) following a competitive bid with another international oil company, on the invitation of the FGN. “On 22nd December 2003, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) executed a PSC with SNUD (hereinafter referred to as the 2003 PSC ) granting SNUD the right to exclusively operate Block 245 as contractor for a term of 30 years.

“Subsequent to the revocation referred to in paragraph C above and the execution of the 2003 PSC, various law suits involving FGN, Malabu, and SNUD, were filed to determine disputes arising from the revocation of OPL 245 by the FGN, the termination of the agreements between Malabu and SNUD and the execution of the 2003 PSC in respect thereof, with SNUD. “On 30th November 2006, the FGN executed a settlement agreement with Malabu wherein the FGN, without admission of liability for any alleged wrongful, unlawful, unjust or any like conduct agreed to re-allocate Block 245 to Malabu in consideration of Malabu discharging and releasing the FGN from all claims and suits filed by Malabu against the FGN in connection with the revocation of Malabu’s interest on

2nd July 2001.

“As a result of the execution of the settlement agreement, a number of dispute resolution proceedings were initiated by SNUD against FGN and/ or Malabu, including Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) arbitration No. ARB/07/8 pending at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes ( ICSD Arbitration) to enforce SNUD’s rights to exclusively operate Block 245 as Contractor on the basis of the2003 PSC beaten NNPC and SNUD. “The cases remaining between FGN, Malabu and SNUD are (I) CA/A/25M/ 2003- SNUD vs. The House of Representatives and Malabu ; (ii ) ICC No. 12136 MS(C12137 MS) SNUD vs. Malabu ( Arbitration with resulting award in favour of SNUD delivered on 20th December 2004 and costs of $2.735million awarded against Malabu; iii FHC/NRJ/ 01/2009-SNUD vs.

Malabu, by which the ICC Award was registered on 29 March 2010, making it enforceable in Nigeria; iv ICSD Case No. ARB/07/18-Bilateral Investment Treaty arbitration between SNUD and the FGN (Ruling pending).

“On 2nd July 2010, FGN again issued a letter to Malabu, re-allocating Block 245 to Malabu. FGN has decided to resolve its differences with Malabu amicably with respect to Block 245.

“Pursuant to paragraphs above and with the full concurrence and agreement of Malabu, FGN is willing to reallocate Block 245 to Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE) and Shell Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCO) in accordance with the terms of a reallocation agreement of even date to be entered into between FGN, SNUD, SNEPCO, NAE AND NNPC (Reallocation Agreement).

“Now therefore, FGN and Malabu have agreed as follows with respect to Block 245: “All existing, claimed, asserted or disputed rights and privileges of Malabu, contracts and arrangements arising from or pursuant to Blick 245 whether such rights and privileges existed, are claimed, asserted or disputed among themselves, or against the whole world ( including SNUD or any party claiming through SNUD) shall at the Execution Date, be substituted by the following arrangement.

“FGN agrees to pay to Malabu subject to Clause 2 and 3, the sum of US $1.092,040,000 in full and final settlement of any and all claims, interests or rights relating to or in connection with Block 245.

“Malabu, as stipulated in Clause 4 herein settles and waives any and all claims, interests, or rights relating to or in connection with Block 245 and hereby consents to the reallocation of the interests in Block by the FGN as granted in Clause 1.3 herein.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JULY 28, 2013

69

With Hannah Ojo 08062952262

GRADUATION

Hello Children, Hello, I guess this has been a period of great excitement since some of us have had reasons to put on our dancing shoes for end of the session parties here and there. As you relax to enjoy the bliss of this holiday, please always remember that moderation is key. Moderation in sleep, play and even food! Also, bear in mind that this period is a time to research and learn. Remember; the world hasn't got a space for an idle person, so be responsible. Great week ahead!

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

Meet the female pioneers renowned for her activism and nationalism. She was described in 1947 by the West African Pilot as the ‘Lioness of Lisabi’ for her campaign against arbitrary taxation.

Born on October 25th, 1900 in Abeokuta, she died in 1978 suffering injuries after being thrown from a second floor window when her son’s compound was stormed by armed military personnels.

Margaret Ekpo: Activist She was born in 1914 at Creek Town, Rivers State. She was a women’s right activist, social mobiliser and could also be described as a pioneering female politician in the first republic in Nigeria.

Flora Nwapa: Novelist Mrs. Flora Nwapa was the forerunner to a generation of women writers in Nigeria.

Her novel, Efuru, made her Africa’s first internationally published female in the English language. She was born on January 13th, 1931 and died on October 16, 1993.

Apart from being Nigeria’s first woman to drive a car, late Mrs Ransome Kuti was also

Industrial Chemistry ate new chemicals, devise and control productionprocessing methods, and ensure that the quality of products is maintained.

Personal Qualities and Skills food substance that we consume, Industrial Chemistry provides a wide range of opportunities for a curious mind determined to make a mark in an ever dynamic world.

Industrial Chemists are experts in the properties and chemical structure of materials such as oil, metal and plastics, drugs, fertilisers and food.

Some work in research and development whereas others work in production. They cre-

As an aspiring Industrial Chemist; You should enjoy solving problems, be accurate,pay great attention to detail. For some specialisms, you may also need knowledge of engineering processes, or management and business skills.

Industrial Chemistry is studied across various institutions in Nigeria including Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and the University of Ilorin.

SUDOKU To play Sudoku: Fill the box with the numbers 1 to 9 in a way that •Each column must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •Each row must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •Each block must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •No two numbers in the same column, row, or block can be the same.

She is a living icon whose media training and experience spans over three decades. She was the managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief of the defunct Concord Group of Newspapers between 1986 to 2001.

CAREER GUIDE

In this present age where emphasis is laid on entrepreneurship as a means of job creation, one of the career options in the physical science is Industrial Chemistry.

Industrial Chemists study and apply the physical and chemical properties of substances to determine their composition. They use this information to develop new substances, processes and products and to increase scientific knowledge. From the cream and soap we use daily to the beverages and other

WORD WHEEL

Dr. Doyin Abiola: First female editor

With 10 minutes only; find as many words as possible using the letters in the wheel.

Each word must use the hub letter and at least three others, and letters may be used only once.

How you rate: Eight words - average; 12 words - good, 16 words - very good, 18 or more excellent.

CHICKEN JOKES 1. Which side of a chicken has the most feathers?

2. Why do hens lay eggs?

3. How do chickens bake a cake?

4. If fruit comes from a fruit tree, where does chicken come from?

Answers: 1. The outside!

2. If they dropped them, they'd break!

3. From scratch!

4. A poul-tree!

Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome Kuti: First woman to drive a car

•Students of Greater Tomorrow International College (GTIC), Arigidi-Akoko, Ondo State, pose for a group photograph after their graduation ceremony recently

Send in your stories, poems, articles, games, puzzles, riddles and jokes to sundaynation@yahoo.com

6 7 9

9 2

1 8

6 6

4 7 2 2 4

1

8

3

9

9 1 7

9 7

3

TELL US ABOUT YOUR HOLIDAY

Write to us; let your friends know about how you have been spending the holiday and your subsequent plans for the rest of the season.

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QUOTABLE "I'm rather surprised that those who make laws should consider under-age marriage as a priority. If one cannot vote until one is 18, that means it is the right age constitutionally right for a person to become responsible. So, any age below that, to me, runs contrary to the constitutional provision. If the lawmakers know what the constitution provides and make a decision that runs contrary to the constitution, then they have violated the constitution."

SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 7, NO. 2558

T

HE past two weeks I have written on the Trayvon Martin case. I did so for two reasons. One, the matter exposed the racist underbelly of American society.

By extension, this episode warns that racism permeates all aspects of social and politicaleconomic interaction Black people have, even among themselves. Global history has been unduly colored by racism; that morose legacy remains alive. The international political economy is more a product of racial competition than one of racial harmony.

Much like Trayvon suffered on the isolated sidewalk in a small Florida town, to be Black is to be a potential victim in danger of being deemed the perpetrator of his own demise.

Our color makes us an eyesore to others and thus harmful to ourselves because of the reaction of others to us. As it is with individuals so it is with us as a people and with our nations.

The second reason was that Martin’s tragedy lifted the veil covering a human dilemma even more fundamental than racism. In almost every population, from the smallest, humblest village to large, prosperous nations, there are people who would rather lord over others than allow each to live as they should. As there are those of us who desire the dignity of freedom and independence of thought and action, there is a countervailing element. This element would rather enchain your mind, body or both. People of this ilk seek to bend your will to fit their designs. If your will refuses to bend, they resort to breaking your body.

These people will neither stop nor ever question their need for dominion. They only will question why you resist them. This struggle is age-old and endless. It shall exist as long as mankind exists. It exists between races as well as within the races.

Oppression is unfortunately versatile to a fault. It often takes the form of racism. But it can be colorblind. It can found itself on religion, ethnicity or on the amount of money in one’s pocket.

Sadly, those who seek dominion over others spend inordinate time acquiring power then maintaining it so that they may perfect their schemes over others. We pray that we are governed by angels but history warns us to be prepared for the opposite.

The man who lusts to have a gun, control an army, rule a land, or own the economy is more apt to use these instruments against your best wishes than to help you realize those wishes. Oppression of others is as much a human characteristic as breathing and eating. As long as this world exists, we are one bad turn from a loss of freedom if not of life. To be a person in this world is to be ever vigilant or a victim.

This sounds gloomy. Here I confess a recent comment from a reader struck me. The commenter remarked my columns made him feel sad, as if hope had fled. The comment touched me to the extent that it became the impetus to what you now read.

My writing tends to focus on tough issues and do so starkly. I do this not because I am forlorn or to deprive anyone of hope. My goal lies to the contrary. If I were devoid of hope and of the belief that people could have a better life, I would not expend my time in the futile exercise of writing. I would direct my energy toward other things that bring a more selfish profit. But I direct my efforts as I do because I hold the dearest hope for our people and for all of humanity. I believe the common person can face the swelling tide of power, arrogance and hatred yet withstand the awful might of these worldly, awful things. The odds say the poor and average should fold and break at encountering the great onslaught of wealth and power. Yet, I believe there is something that allows us to survive the odds and the powers arrayed against us. There is some thing that stops evil and wrong from claiming total victory. We survive the dark assault that we may join together in common, humane cause to claim a brighter day and just future.

The great thing in which I invest my belief, I know as God. My Muslim and

— Former Minister of Police Affairs, Maj. Gen. David Jemibewon, berating the Senate for voting in favour of under-age marriage.

People versus power That which hatred does, compassion can undo

•Rally in support of Trayvon Martin

BRIAN

BROWNE Arabic brothers call him Allah. He is known by other names in other languages and religions. I believe he wants as many of us to escape from perdition and destruction as is possible. Thus, we battle against those things that would drag us in the wrong direction or crush us between the pestle and mortal of hard experience.

To believe in something higher and truer than our mortal selves is to believe we can reclaim our frail mortal beings from the grasp of the powers that would trammel us from reaching better ground.

I write not to break your spirit or resign you to the graveyard. That is as far from my intention as east is from west. I write to warn and awaken you. In times of war and battle, a slumbering man is a corpse in prospect.

Ignorance is bliss only for the dead or already defeated. If you have hope and fight left in you, ignorance is as grave an adversary as the armed enemy itself. I write to warn and bestir your mind and passions so that you are sufficiently roused to fight and claim that which by virtue of being human is inherently yours. If perchance anything I have ever written has led you to take a step toward the pit of despair, forgive me for it means my pen has failed in its mission.

To any one whom any of my writings have lead to despondency, I ask that you discard the shrunken-feelings and revive your spirit. Our race, our people have great tasks ahead. There is no room for sadness or space for despair in the curative, collective endeavor we must undertake. We must go forward in the spirit that we live to live more fully despite the powers aligned against us.

In all that I have written, I have tried to sound this warning not to douse your spirit but to arouse it. Sometimes, a topic may anger you. This is good because rightful anger in correct proportion can be a tonic for a people caught so long in

stupor’s web. Sometimes a piece may bring some sadness, but that is not to induce a defeated spirit but to make you aware how far things have fallen from their proper place.

A great storm has passed but it is not for you to relax. A greater storm approaches. Those who are not ready shall be swept aside. Each generation and each epoch has its own special characteristics and struggles. Some are times of peace. Some are times of learning and enlightenment. Some are times where little takes place as if history has reached a standstill. Yet, some are times where so much occurs that it seems fate and history never sleep. Some are times not of peace but of war and strife. We live in such a time.

The harshest wars are not always sword against sword, army against idea.

At times, the most trenchant wars are those of idea against idea, vision against contrary vision. These are not battles pitting corporeal army against army but are struggles pitting the mind and spirit of enlightenment against those invested in inequity and wrong. Today, we exist in an age where affluent privilege seeks to drive all others toward penury and the socio-political subjugation penury ascribes.

We live in an age where technology and science allows man to do his best for his fellow man. Poverty, disease, hunger and many scourges that have plagued us can be decimated due to the advances in human knowledge. Unfortunately, our moral advance has not kept apace. Worst, not only has it lagged behind, the morality of the political economy has strayed far. Morally, we have entered an age as selfish and uncaring as any prior to it.

Poverty is rife though there is enough food to feed the planet. Water is being hoarded to profit some while the livelihoods

and lands of many are being desiccated.

People in whose families land has existed before recorded time are being dispossessed.

The urban poor and working class are being pushed to the limits of their endurance.

Almost everywhere on the planet the powers of elite conservatism are on the loose, swallowing everything they can then blaming the victims for allowing themselves to be consumed by the merciless processes of a global political economy resentful of most of its inhabitants.

We write not to bring to tearful resignation but to incite the maiden stirrings of renewed struggle.

As Black people and Africans you must realize war is being made upon you. Thus, you will do well to wage your own war back against it. It is not necessary that you call the war upon yourself. War does not just come to the eager and willing. It more often falls on the weak, tired and unsuspected. To claim foul and unfairness will do little good; those that wage war against you will continue with greater relish the longer you ignore the reality of our situation. In America, Black people face resurgent racism.

Trayvon’s case shows you can be killed in the middle of the street and your assailant be deemed the victim. Meanwhile, voting rights protection is being swept away. Black poverty and unemployment have escalated to Depression–era levels. That all this takes places under the first Black president only makes the caper sweeter for those effectuating it. American Blacks are being scammed of their hard won yet meager victories yet are mostly ignorant of the massive confiscation being enacted against them.

Meanwhile, Africa undergoes similar assault. The historic forces that detest Black America hold similar content for Black Africa. Thus, rural land is being gulped by international agro-business while food prices climb as do poverty rates. The global economy demands Africa open its markets to international trade but the markets of established nations remain closed to the new types of trade that will assist Africa’s necessary industrial development. If we continue in this way, we will forever remain the lowest rung of the world economy yet they will tell us to be glad with the progress we are making. It will be true that we mark progress. However, that progress will be owned by others and not ourselves. The more we work and do as they say, the richer they become and the poorer you grow.

During the coming decades, our commodity prices, especially oil, will stagnate or even lower in real terms. Our population and misery shall be the two things that are sure of rapid growth.

Despite the talk of a world waiting for Africa to development, the world invests more heavily in Africa’s underdevelopment.

As in the colonial era, the global economy will establish several outposts on the continent. These places will experience growth and dynamism. But it will not be growth based upon the growth intrinsic to Africa. These outposts will grow to the extent that they mimic how the global economy extracts Africa’s wealth from Africa. You will be told to look at these places as examples of what can be done for Africa when the reality is more akin to look at the harm being done to Africa.

Again, this is why I write. I write to warn you of the war that comes dressed as a friend and that speaks the language of development. I write that you will know the powers with which we must contend and that you understand their strategies, tactics and wiles. This generation must do its best to lighten the burden of five centuries of pain endured by Africa and her children who have been scattered to the four winds. I write that the old sun might set on our broken state and that a new sun may rise on our dreams for equality and justice. As long as I sense malign forces seeking to harm us, I shall write as I do. I hope that you continue to read as you have.

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ISSN: 115-5302 E-mail: sunday@thenationonlineng.net Editor: FESTUS ERIYE