July 28, 2014

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Buhari: Nigeria would ’ve been in turmoil, says Jonathan

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan was all gratitude to Allah yesterday for sparing the lives of former Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and top Islamic preacher Sheik Dahiru Bauchi.

The duo escaped assassination on Wednesday when the fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, deto-

•APC seeks international probe From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

nated two bombs in Kaduna.

Jonathan, receiving Muslim leaders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on the Eid-el-Fitri Sallah homage at the Presidential Villa, said that the country

would have been in turmoil if the terrorists had succeeded.

The President who fasted during Ramadan, described the period as a time to reflect and be our neighbours’ keepers.

He said: “Not too long ago, we had these dastardly at-

tacks in Kano and Kaduna.

We stand to condemn these acts of terror on our people.

And we extend our condolences and sympathy to the bereaved and those who might have been injured.

The recent attacks in Kaduna, especially where Sheik Dahiru Bauchi was a target and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was also a target.”

Continued on page 4

Bloody weekend: Boko Haram on the rampage 30 killed in Adamawa Man, wife, dad, maid die in Kano bombing Cameroon deputy PM’s wife abducted

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OKO Haram insurgents were on the rampage at the weekend.

They abducted yesterday the wife of Cameroon’s Vice Prime Minister.

The sect’s fighters also kidnapped an influential traditional and Muslim spiritual leader in northern Cameroon, along with his family.

In Kano, a man, his father, wife and maid died when a bomb was hurled at a church congregation after a mass.

Adamawa State was also hit by the insurgents, who attacked three villages, killing 30 residents. A village head was abducted.

The insurgents raided Kolofata - Cameroon’s border town with Nigeria’s Borno State. Three people were killed in the attack.

It was the third attack by the sect on Cameroon’s northern towns since FriWHERE ARE day.

THE CHIBOK The Cameroonian government and the military conGIRLS KIDNAPPED firmed the abductions.

ON APRIL 15?

Continued on page 4

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•A TRA GED Y AVER TED: Kano Police Commissioner Adenrele Shinaba showing a vehicle wired for bombing by insurgents in Kano...yesterday TRAGED GEDY VERTED:

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NEWS

‘Soldiers hid T

• All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (second left) discussing with former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi (second right), CEO, Chisco Group of Companies, Chief Chidi Anyaegbu (left) and frontline businessman Chief Pius Akinyelure at the wedding of Anyaegbu's son Obinna to former Miss Onyinye Oile in Lagos... at the weekend.

PHOTO: NNEKA NWANERI

•Finance Director, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Mr Olatunde Olanipekun (second right) presenting the Grand Prize of a FIFA World Cup Replica to the winner of the MyAstymin World Cup Predict and Win Contest, Mr Opeyemi Adediran (second left) in Lagos.

With them are Operations Director, Mr Abiola Adebayo (left) and General Manager,Marketing, Mr Ola Ijimakin.

PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

•From left: Deaconess Adedoyin Beyioku (National President, Deaf Women Association of Nigeria), DSP Celestina Kalu (Police, Public Relation Officer of Delta State Command), Mrs Temitope Okala (Convener, Women Conference), Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin (Guest Speaker, President, Women Arise) and Mr Saidi Balogun (President, Golden Movie Ambassador) at a public lecture in Lagos.

•Co-ordinator, Oyo State Concerned Mothers on the Release of Chibok Girls,Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu speaking at a news conference on the girls' 100 days in captivity in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. With her are (from left) Mr Abimbola Oladipo, Mrs Julie Ogbogu, and Dr Omolola Atalabi.

HE bodies were displayed on the floor, in wooden caskets. They were surrounded by men who two days earlier had no inkling that they could be dead.

Tears and sorrow enveloped the area. Nineteen of them were ready to be buried. About sixteen others are believed to still be in the custody of the soldiers who allegedly shot them on Friday during an Islamic procession.

After the Eid prayer at the Hussainiyyah Baqiyyatullah, Zaria, their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem ElZakzaky, spoke on what he called the “indiscriminate shooting of peaceful protesters” during the Quds Day procession in Zaria.

The Shi’te leader said the military targeted his sons.

He said: “There is nothing like Boko Haram killing people; we cannot be fooled. Those in authority are the sole authors of the atrocities.”

He argued that there was nothing like a religious group taking up arms against Nigeria “as they are trying to make us believe”.

The Shiite leader said: “On our own part, they came in broad day light in their military uniforms, fully armed with military inscriptions on their vehicles and committed arson and murder. From this you will understand those killing innocent citizens either in Birnin Gwari forest or Zamfara and other places.

“It is unbelievable that sporadic killings were going with a democratically elected government assuming ignorance of the issue and lacks control. There is nothing like Boko Haram killing people, we cannot be fooled. Those in authority are the sole authors of the atrocities.”

As at yesterday, 16 of the shot members of the ‘Shiite’ Islamic sect had been buried. The rest is to be buried today.

El-Zakzaky said the soldiers hid inside sugarcane farm to kill members of his sect, including three of his children.

He said his members were harmless. He faulted the military’s claim on the incident.

El-Zakzaky said: “The celebration of the Quds Day is a celebration that is observed all over the world. In the last 35 years in Nigeria, yesterday’s (Friday’s) event was the 32nd. It means that for the past 32 years we have been observing the day in solidarity with the Palestinian people, which comes up on the last Friday in every month of Ramadan.

“This day is even observed in Washington, New York and Beijing. In Nigeria, we have been observing it, at least, in 22 cities, including Zaria, Kaduna, Kano, Maiduguri, Bauchi, Lagos, Port Harcourt, among others.

“All of a sudden, soldiers appeared from nowhere and started shooting people. Some of them coming to or going out of the procession. They continued shooting until the fall of the night. They hid inside the sugarcane farm close to the Kubanni area. They were sporadically shooting anyone passing.

It could be simply anyone.

“During the shooting, they killed many people including women and children. It was during the shooting that one of my sons, Mahmood, a student of Al-Mustapha University, Beirut, who came home at the beginning of this Ramadan for holiday, was killed. He was shot at the abdomen and was brought here and we attempted to take him to the hospital but along the road he bled to death.

“Also, they arrested some people and three of my children were among, Ahmad, Hameed and Ali.

•Sheik El-Zakzaky From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

They were taken alive and well. But after liaison with some people, especially police, they told us that they were taken to military hospital in Basawa.

“When we demanded that they should give them back to us, they said they would take them to Shika, ABUTH. Later on we came to realise that they had already killed Ahmad and Hameed, and that Ali was wounded on the leg.

“When I demanded for the release of my sons through the GOC 1 Mechanised Division, Okuh said he would release them but not alive. By Allah’s infinite mercy, Ali is alive; he saw how his brothers were brutally murdered before his eyes. He is presently receiving medical attention, as a result of compound fracture on his leg, from the several shooting on his leg.

“Ahmad and Hameed were both students. Ahmad was reading Chemical Engineering in Shenyang University and Hameed was studying Neurological Engineering in Xian University, all in China. Ahmad is about to graduate in April and Hameed has just started.

“Ahmad only came last Saturday. These two, I believe, were murdered in cold blood because they were taken alive. And we also seem to believe that they killed them because some confirmed seeing Ahmad alive in their hospital with wound in his leg.

“Yesterday, we had a total of 16 bodies and learnt that they have taken nine to the ABUTH, with my two children, it makes 11.

“This morning, as they were passing-by the Husainiyya, the soldiers also decided to shoot. They

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28 , 2014

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in sugarcane farm to kill my men’

•Shi’te members allegedly killed by soldiers being prepared for burial in Zaria... yesterday

killed three more people and injured many. We also learnt they have taken two more bodies this morning. So far, 35 people were killed”.

He also lamented that the army refused to release the bodies of his members.

“Of the 35, we have 19 bodies and they have the rest. We wanted to have the funeral of all of them today, but because they have mounted a roadblock, it is not possible to collect the remaining corpses from the ABUTH. “The police that have been helping us, yesterday called to say that it was advisable for us we leave the bodies until the soldiers are not there.

“Even today, having some patients with wounds, we went to the police to escort us to the hospital, but the Area Commander said he had been warned to take off his hands from this matter. We made some observations. This demonstration took place in different cities, but they decided to attack only Zaria. Even in Kaduna, soldiers and police escorted the procession.

Therefore, these soldiers were brought from Abuja, to kill people,” he said.

The Shiite leader stressed that the incident was not a clash between his members and soldiers, saying: “Let me disabuse your mind that, it is not the question of Shiite; it is people. Solidarity with Palestinian is not a question of belief. You don’t have to be Shiite or even Muslim to show the solidarity. It cannot be a better time than now when for 19 consecutive days Gaza has been under siege. If this solidarity is taking place all over the world, why

PHOTO: ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE

I’m a wartime Army Chief, says Minimah

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HE Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Kenneth Minimah, has said he is a war time chief whose major focus is to put an end to the menace of Boko Haram.

Minimah, who spoke in Lagos at the weekend while addressing troops at Ojo, Topo and Ibereko Barracks, said the welfare of troops deployed in various operations have remained top priority.

He said aside paying operational allowances of troops upfront, the army has ensured that soldiers wounded in battle get the best medical treatment either at army hospitals or abroad as the case may be.

“As an infantry General, all I know is to plan for and fight war. And in doing this, we have made sure that our troops are taken care of.

“As I talk to you, troops operational allowance for the month of August are being paid and that is how it has always been.

“It is only the Nigerian Army that pays operational allowances upfront. We paid that of July in June, and we have also made efforts to upgrade medical facilities at the 7 Division to carter for soldiers woundedin-action.

“For those whose cases cannot be handled at the 7 Division, we took them to 45 Reference Hospital, Kaduna.

“Seven casualties, whose situation could not be handled back home are currently being treated in InNigeria and Zaria, particularly, that people would be attacked?”

Sheik El-Zakzaky also alleged that the mastermind of the killings planted plain clothes soldiers in his members’ procession.

He said: “We had noticed that they had assigned their men to join the processing in civilian cloth.

These people, whenever they saw soldiers, they started shouting, and that’s what they have been doing to us during our previous demon-

By Precious Igbonwelundu

dia and Germany. And we will continue to do our best within our resources to take care of troops,” he said.

Minimah went on: “When I became the Chief of Army Staff, there was a proposal on my table about the increase in school fees for all army schools across the country. But I looked at it and considered that soldiers would be stressed with this increment and so I dropped the idea.”

Lt-Gen. Minimah cautioned officers and men of the army against the use of the social media to spread falsehood, particularly as regards the prosecution of the war against terrorists, as well as exposing the strength and perceived weaknesses of the service.

He said: “One trend that is also dangerous to the service we all cherish is the misuse of the social media. I urge you to be careful of social media. Those of you that like to use facebook, twitter, and other social media to report the army as if you are not in the army. What you do not know is that you have been undoing the systems that you are part of.

“You can tweet on social issues. Do not tweet about our locations, equipment, weapons and ammunition.

What has that got to do with you. I hope you have not come to undo the system before you enlist. I urge you to desist from reporting the army.”

strations. People who are among us obey instructions. But these soldiers in civilian uniform chased the ones in uniform to their barracks.

“They came with the gimmicks that they were our people. They used that as pretext to attack us.

This morning, in the Husainiyya, when they were passing and people were shouting, and it was their people, they killed innocent people.

“Perhaps, if there is any clash, it is among them. But, as far as we

know, it was the soldiers who opened fire on people passing-by in a peaceful demonstration, and that was what happened.”

However, when asked about the sect’s next line of action, El-Zakzaky said: “We can’t say that everything is okay, because they have blocked the road to Shika. So, we cannot bring back our bodies and the injured. I have not seen the bodies of my two sons. Mahmood is with us, but the rest we have not

•Gen. Minimah

seen them. Similarly, Ali who has fracture on his leg, we have not seen him.”

Also reacting to the allegation that his members prevented a senior army officer from passing, the Sheik said: “Even if it is true that an Army officer was denied access to pass, is that enough justification to kill innocent people? We have record of good organisation but they used to infiltrate our procession to have justification of attacking us.”

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

Sultan to insurgents: end your killings

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•President Goodluck Jonathan (right) inspecting a giant Sallah card being presented to him by Vice President Namadi Sambo to mark Eid-El Fitri. With them are Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Bala Muhammed and Minister of State (FCT) Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide at the Presidential Villa in Abuja...yesterday.

PHOTO:AKIN OLADOKUN

Buhari: Nigeria would ’ve been in turmoil, says Jonathan Continued from page 1

“You can imagine if these two people had died in those attacks. Shiekh Bauchi is one of our top Islamic preachers; he has millions of followers. Buhari, former Head of State, a leading political figure, has massive supporters.”

“On the same day people wanted to kill them; those who planned the attacks are clearly sons of the devil. If they had killed these two people, we wouldn’t have been here today. This country would have been in turmoil; we couldn’t have gathered here to celebrate.”

The President went on: “We thank Allah for saving their lives and preventing a major calamity that would have befallen our country. I use this opportunity to call on all Nigerians to work with

APC seeks international probe of attempted assassination

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NLY an international inquiry will unmask the perpetrators of the suicide attack over former Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday.

Buhari’s convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber on Wednesday in Kaduna.

The APC does not have confidence that Nigerian security agencies will do an impartial job, APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said in a statement yesterday.

He said the call had become more urgent because the agents of the Federal Government have started muddling the waters with their sickening statements and actions on the attack. ‘’How does one explain a situation in which a man who is nothing but a pervert is now being paraded as the suspected ‘mastermind’ of government to see that collectively we bring to an end the excesses of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups. We are doing everything humanly possible to end it.”

Jonathan urged clerics to

the attack on Gen. Buhari? At what point was this man, who perhaps is nothing but a transvestite plying his trade, arrested? Is it not clear, from the statement released by Gen. Buhari himself after the attack, that it was clearly the handiwork of a suicide bomber? ‘’Could the person who drove the vehicle that was rammed into the General’s convoy have survived the explosion that was triggered by that action? Could the innocent passers-by who died in the blast not have been arrested and paraded as the ‘suspected masterminds’ if they had survived the blast? Clearly, the arrest of the pervert and his sickening description as a ‘suspected mastermind’ have kick-started the pro-

always preach peace and unity and not hate.

Nigeria, he said, cannot develop without peace and unity.

“In a conflict situation people move away from such

Continued on page 55

zones and we cannot develop our communities, our local governments, states and our country in a conflict situation,” he said.

Continued on page 55

SECTION of the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria yesterday marked Eid el Fitir the end of Islamic month of Ramadan – with prayers after the 30-day fasting period.

The celebration continues today in other parts of the country.

In his Sallah message, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, urged perpetrators of terrorism in the country, especially in the north, to fear God and stop such heinous acts.

Speaking in Sokoto, he said insecurity in the country had led to loss of many lives and property.

According to him, the massive losses of innocent lives and property were highly regrettable and “un-Islamic”.

He noted that Nigerians were facing various forms of difficulties as a result of the recurring insurgency and other criminal acts.

He charged Nigerians to sustain prayers “for God to either touch the hearts of the terrorists or expose them.”

The Sultan commended security agencies for efforts being made to contain the inse-

By Adamu Sulaiman, Sokoto

curity, and urged them to remain unrelenting.

He appealed to the people to complement the efforts of the security agencies of maintaining peace and unity with their support, adding that the task of doing so should be regarded as a collective responsibility by all Nigerians.

He appealed to political leaders in Nigeria to ensure that social justice prevailed, saying that it was the “condition for sustainable peace and unity”.

“We should all fear God and regard leadership as a trust and we will be accountable to Him,” he said.

“We are also commending Governor Aliyu Wamakko for initiating and successfully implementing various welfare programmes for the people of the state,” he added.

The Sallah celebration in Sokoto was attended by former President Shehu Shagari, Governor Wamakko and the National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo urged Nigerians to Continued on page 55

Insurance firms’ CEOs face sanctions

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HE fate of 13 chief executives of insurance companies and broking firms is hanging in the balance following their failure to submit their audited accounts to the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

For this breach, NAICOM has given the affected institutions a seven-day ultimatum to explain why they should not be sanctioned.

The affected CEOs are the Managing Directors of African Alliance Insurance, International Energy Insurance Plc, Industrial & General Insurance Plc, Capital Express

By Omobola Tolu-Kusimo

Assurance Limited, Great Nigeria Insurance, NICON Insurance Limited, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, Staco Insurance Plc, Standard Alliance Insurance Plc, UNIC Insurance Plc, Union Assurance Company Limited and Goldlink Insurance Plc. Others are: Alliance & General Insurance, Allinace & General Life Assurance which has been under suspension since 2012, Investment & Allied Insurance Plc Continued on page 55

Man, wife, dad, maid die in Kano bombing as 30 killed in Adamawa

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IVE persons died yesterday in Kano when suspected insurgents hurled explosives from the window of a school at a church building as worshippers were leaving after a mass.

Eight others were injured in the attack on St. Charles Catholic Church on Zungeru Road in the ancient city.

The dead, according to sources, include Mr. Ugochukwu Okoli (32), his wife, father and his maid. They were said to have gone for the mass for thanksgikving and were leaving after the service when they were hit by the explosives.

Kano State Commissioner of Police Aderenle Shinaba, said the suspects had gone to a church on Zungeru Road, where they hid themselves at a primary school, close to the church and threw explosives at the unsuspecting worshippers.

He said no fewer than five people died and eight were injured.

Three suspects were arrested.

The police said in Abuja that five suspects were arrested in total.

An sms message from police spokesman Frank Mba said two of the suspects were arrested in connection with the failed attack on the Isyaku Rabiu Mosque. Three were held in connection with the attack at St. Charles Church.

Bloody weekend: Boko Haram on the rampage Continued from page 1

The wife of Deputy Prime Minister Amadou Ali and her maid were taken in “a savage attack” on his home by Boko Haram militants, Information Minister Issa Tchiroma said.

A local politician and his family were also abducted in a separate attack.

The local religious leader, or the Lamido, named Seini Boukar Lamine, who is also the town’s mayor, was kidnapped in a separate attack on his home.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Boko Haram, the Islamist militant group, has stepped up cross-border attacks into Cameroon in recent weeks.

Cameroon has deployed troops in the region, joining international efforts to combat the militants, who are holding From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano, Gbade Ogunwale and Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

The statement said: “All the suspects are currently undergoing interrogation at different police facilities in the state.

“The police have stepped up patrols and surveillance in the city and other major cities across the nation. Police operatives are carrying out overt and covert operations nationwide, while special teams are carrying out sweeping raids in suspected terrorist hideouts.

“Citizens are enjoined to re-

more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped on April 15 in Chibok, Borno State.

“I can confirm that the home of Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali in Kolofata came under a savage attack from Boko Haram militants,” Issa Tchiroma told Reuters by telephone.

“They unfortunately took away his wife. They also attacked the Lamido’s residence and he was also kidnapped,” he said, adding that at least three people were killed in the attack.

A Cameroon military commander in the region told Reuters that the vice prime minister, who was at home to celebrate the Muslim feast of Ramadan with his family, was taken to a neighbouring town by security officials.

“The situation is very critical here now, and as I am talking to you, the Boko

main vigilant and continue to support the security agencies during the operations.”

The Catholic Bishop of Kano, Bishop John Namanza, said the community protected itself beyond imagination.

Rev. Namanza described the attack as uncalled for, saying those who threw the bomb were unholy.

Although the Bishop praised the security operatives for their response, he lamented that it was belated despite the early information passed to them that the church was a target.

Haram elements are still in Kolofata town in a clash with our soldiers,” said Colonel Felix Nji Formekong, the second commander of Cameroon’s third interarmy military region, based in the regional headquarters Maroua.

Cameroon’s long and porous border with Nigeria means Boko Haram fighters can come and go at will, attacking police stations and villages, and spreading terror throughout the region, says BBC Africa editor Mary Harper.

The group has attacked Cameroon three times in as many days in the past week, killing at least four soldiers, Reuters reports.

On Friday, more than 20 members of the militant group were jailed in Cameroon on charges of possessing illegal firearms and plotting an insurrection.

He called on security agents and the state government to strengthen security around the vicinity.

Also yesterday, suspected terrorists attempted a suicide attack at Kofar Nasarawa in Kano. A woman bomber tried to lure some security men, who were stationed by the North West gate with Sallah food but she blew up herself.

The bomber, who arrived at the scene under the newly built flyover at about 12:30 pm, reportedly made an attempt to deceive the security operatives

that she brought sallah food for them, but the security men suspected foul play.

The security men, it was learnt, took to their heels when they noticed that the woman was advancing towards them.

They threatened to gun her down.

However, luck ran out for the bomber, who secretly concealed the explosives under her hijab, when the bomb suddenly exploded and killed her.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemned the blast.

•Pastor Oritsejafor

The religious body also expressed sadness at the “unfortunate” incident in Zaria, which led to the killing of some people, including the sons of a renowned Islamic scholar ElZakzaky.

CAN said it was saddened by the implication of the incident as it is capable of throwing the community into more crises.

In a statement signed by CAN National President Pastor Ayo Continued on page 55

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THE NATION MONDAY JULY 28, 2014

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NEWS Mid-day fire razes twin flats in Ado-Ekiti From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

•From left: Vicar, Christ Church (Anglican) Elere, Agege, Venerable Christopher Ayejoto; his wife, Mercy; Bishop Diocese of Lagos West, Bishop James Odedeji, his wife Lydia; Dr. Leke Pitan former Health Commisser, and Director-General, Federal institute of Industrial Research, Osodi (FIIRO) and Dr. Gloria Elemu during the Euchristic Service of Commemoration of the 80th founder’s day Anniversary of Christ Church (Anglican) Elere, Agege.

PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHAEL

Osun condemns clampdown on firm From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

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HE Osun State government has decried the invasion of the corpo-

rate head office of its client, the TNS-RMS by men of the Department of State Security (DSS).

A statement yesterday by the Commissioner for Information, Sunday Akere, said the outfit was duly registered as a research agency to engage in empirical surveys across the country for government agencies and private individuals.

Akere said TNS-RMS was conducting Needs Assessment Performance Evaluation Study (NAPES) for the Rauf Aregbesola administration.

The commissioner said: “No reason was given for the clampdown on TNS-RMS which witnessed prevention of inward and outward movement of both staff and visitors of the poll research organization other than that the SSS operatives, who were said to be taking any document (including computer systems) that has anything to do with the government of state of Osun.

“So, we wonder why the SSS is clamping down on the company that conduct social survey for the government barely two week before the gubernatorial election in the state.

The action of the security operatives in the company’s Lagos office for about three days is an unwarranted aggression and violation of the 1999 Constitution that allows all lawful pursuits and endeavours in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

‘Lagos memorandum scuttled at National Conference’ T

HERE was deliberate discrimination against Lagos State delegates by the leadership of the National Conference, Chief Olorunfunmi Basorun, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has said.

He accused the conference chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi (rtd), of preventing Lagos delegates from presenting a memorandum for debate.

Basorun, a former Secretary to the Lagos State government, is a delegate to the conference.

He said: “Why was there discrimination against Lagos State? Why did they not

T

allow our delegates at the conference to present a memorandum, which they all signed, irrespective of political affiliation? They were prevented from making their contributions. I am at pain that the two eminent Nigerians at the leadership of the conference allowed the conference to be botched just the way the 2005 Conference was botched.”

The delegates have, however, published the memorandum in newspapers.

Basorun added: “For in-

stance, 80 per cent of Value Added Tax (VAT) collected by the Federal Government comes Lagos State, but the state gets only 20 per cent of the total revenue. This is a lopsided arrangement, which is making the government at the centre to rob states of the lawful share of revenue generated within states.

“Where a body in Abuja would be disciplining a judge in Lagos or have a report on a judge in a state is bad. They have agreed that it should be changed. The Federal Government,

through the National Judicial Council, should no longer interfere with judges’ appointment procedure.

Where they don’t appoint, they cannot discipline.

“Those at the conference should have some other way of bringing sanity to the aspect of revenue sharing than to talk of creating more states. Some states are not viable; they depend on monthly allocation from Abuja. If they create new states, would they bring money from abroad to run the states?”

I resigned because of Daniel’s threat, says LP chair T

HE Chairman of the Ogun State chapter of the Labour Party(LP), Bode Simeon, has resigned, alleging “harassment, intimidation and threat” to his life by former Governor Gbenga Daniel.

Daniel’s media aide, Mr Ayo Giwa, did not comment on the allegation when The Nation called him yesterday.

In the resignation letter dated July 26, and addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, someone also accused a federal lawmaker from Ondo State of threatening his life.

The letter reads: “You will also recall that since the coming of Otunba Gbenga Daniel in to the party, we have not known any peace. He colluded with the National Secretar-

Ondo CJ withdraws tax circular HE Ondo State Chief Judge, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)have agreed on the need to stop the implementation of the tax circular.

This is coming two months after lawyers started boycotting courts over the circular.

The circular insisted on production of tax clearance as a compulsory pre-condition

By Wale Ajetunmobi

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

for bail of accused persons standing trial.

The decision was reached at the end of the meeting called by the CJ at Judges’ Recreation Centre, Alagbaka, Akure with leaders of the NBA in the state.

Members of the Bar also agreed to suspend the two months old boycott of Courts.

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

iat using financial inducements to destroy Ogun LP. My life has been a subject of harassment, threats and intimidation.

“Regarding the on-going suits in Lagos; I did it to affirm my belief in the rule of law, and even after the order

was made, you disobeyed it and continue to promote illegality in Ogun state. But because of the persistent threat

by Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD), Hon. Akinlaja to my life to drop the suit.

“You threatened to deal with me on many occasions, I have got threats from Otunba Gbenga Daniel to withdraw from the case or risk bad

things happening to my life.

I do not want to waste my life in the course of running the party and I put the blame at you, my National Chairman for your inconsistency.

“In view of this confusion to my life by Gbenga Daniel through Otunba Olumide Osunsina, I accept responsibilities and events that led to the current crisis in Ogun Labour Party.”

Bradley University salutes Dare@70

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RADLEY University, Peoria, Illinois, has commended Prof Olatunji Dare for “serving as a source of inspiration both in the classroom and in the international journalism and political communities.”

In a letter dated July 21 congratulating Dare on his 70th birthday, Bradley’s President, Joanne K. Glasser, described him as a dedicated, respected member of the faculty, representing the university exceedingly well” in all he does.

“I hope you had a wonderful time at your 70th birthday celebration in Lagos recently,” Glasser said. “From the coverage I have seen, it appears that many of the best-known fig-

ures from the Nigerian political, media and academic worlds attended to wish you well.

“Please know that your friends and colleagues from Bradley University also wish you the best as you celebrate this milestone year in your life.

You have long served as a dedicated, respected member of the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts, representing the University exceedingly well in all that you do.

“Thank you for serving as a source of inspiration both in the classroom and in international journalism and political communities.”

Prof Dare has been teaching at Bradley since 1996, when he was forced to flee from the

•Prof Dare

murderous regime of General Sani Abacha. His weekly column for The Nation, of which he is also Editorial Adviser, enjoys wide, appreciative national and international readership.

His numerous prizes include Bradley awards for teaching excellence and excellence in research.

TWO flats were rased at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

They are located at No. 50 Oke Oniyo Street.

The fire suspected to have been caused by a power surge from a public source reportedly defied attempts by fire fighters to put it out.

An occupant, Mr. Agbesusi Gbenga, who works at the Federal Ministry of Information, said it was late before residents noticed a thick smoke oozing from the rooftops of a flag.

Agbesusi’s said: “The twobedroom flat apartment, which I obtained on rent, went up in flames when we were away in the office. The other flat beside my own was also gutted. But, unlike me, they could save just a bit of their belonging.

“What I gathered from people was that a high voltage current came around 1 pm, which caused some bulbs in apartments round here to explode. We were not around to know.

This incident will live with us as eternal reminder that a surge once occurred, destroying all I have laboured for in life.”

Charred debris of burnt objects, including papers, clothes, furniture items, plastic materials, plasma TV, standing and ceiling fans littered the compound.

Caleb varsity VC loses wife

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

THE wife of the Vice-Chancellor of Caleb University, Imota, Prof Ayodeji Olukoji, Omowumi is dead.

She died of ovarian cancer.

A statement by her husband said she died last Tuesday after six months of battling the disease.

The late lawyer was born on February 12, 1961 at IleIfe, Osun State to the late Pa Samuel Olorunda, a forestry officer, and Mrs Dorcas Olorunda, a businesswoman, both of Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State.

She studied Law at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and followed it with two LLM degrees from the Lagos State University and the University of Lagos.

She was an active member of the Centenary Set of the Nigerian Law School - the Class of ’86.

Prof Olukoju described his wife as a loving, loyal and devoted wife, and a passionate Christian, who sacrificed for his career development and their children’s education.

“Omowumi was the veritable centre of our lives. We are in deep mourning but immensely grateful for her life,” he said of her.

She is survived by her husband, four children, two siblings and a septuagenarian mother.

The funeral rites are as follow: August 13 - Service of Songs, University of Lagos (57pm); August 14 - Lying in State, University of Lagos (910 am); Wake in Akure (5pm); August 15 - Funeral Service and Interment at Oka-Akoko, Ondo State (11am).

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THE NATION MONDAY JULY 28, 2014

NEWS OSUN 2014 SDP candidate attacks parties THE Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) candidate, Mr. Olusegun Akinwusi, has called on the electorate to reject the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the August 9 poll.

Akinwusi, who is the state’s former Head of Service (HOS),spoke while addressing members of SDP in Ibokun at the weekend after the party’s campaign tour of some communities in the areas.

He decried the killing of Tola Adeosun in Ilesa last Friday during a bloody fracas between APC and PDP supporters.

He accused the two parties for allegedly “rearing thugs” ahead of the August election.

LP candidate campaigns From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

LABOUR Party (LP) governorship candidate Alhaji Fatai Akinbade has condemned promoters of “stomach infrastructure”, accusing them of introducing a dangerous trend into the polity.

Akinbade, who spoke at his campaign rally in Osogbo, the state capital, noted that good governance and programmes were antidotes against “stomach infrastructure.”

My priority, by Aregbesola GOVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola has said the transformation of Osun State remains his priority.

He spoke when rendering accounts of his stewardship at a programme organised by the All Christian Leaders and Ministers Forum (ACLMF) at the auditorium of the Olorunda Local Government Secretariat, Osogbo.

The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, said his administration was determined to transform the state into a mega city.

He said since assumption of office, he had brought transformation to governance and gave democracy a meaning.

The ACLMF National President, Dr. Sam Ogedengbe, said it was the practice of the group to give candidates the opportunity to tell the electorate about their manifestos and to allow them render their accounts of stewardship.

He urged the electorate to vote for a credible candidate on August 9.

The State Chairman of the ACLMF, Apostle Samson Opadotun, praised Aregbesola for rendering his stewardship to the Christian group despite being a Muslim.

The event was attended by the ACLMF chairmen in the 30 local governments and Christian leaders.

APC, PDP in row over ‘plot’ to rig, W incite residents HO is plotting to rig the August 9 election?

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it has uncovered another plot by the Peoples Democratic Congress (PDP) to rig the poll.

APC’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, made the claim yesterday in a statement.

But the PDP insisted that it had no such plans.

The APC alleged that the PDP had penetrated the ranks of the youth corps members to be used as electoral officers by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It claimed that 70 of the corps members had been compromised to look the other way when the PDP agents use other people’s voter cards.

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

“It should not be forgotten that our party, the APC, had brought to public knowledge, the criminal intention of the PDP to buy up voter cards for rigging purposes during the election on August 9.

“According to credible information reaching the APC, 96 of the youth corps members were invited to a closeddoor meeting with the PDP officials last week, but only 74 attended. During the meeting, the corps members were told to disregard the difference in facial appearance between the voter and the picture on the computer record and allow the mercenary voter to cast his or her vote.

“Sensing that this could be dangerously problematic, one of the corps members allegedly asked: ‘Suppose party agents discovered and raised alarm?’ The PDP officials were reported to have replied; ‘don’t worry about that. The security people will deal decisively with any troublesome agent,’” the APC said.

It added that after the meeting, the PDP distributed N20,000 each to the corps members and promised N30,000 more when the next meeting holds. “We learnt that the next meeting will hold in few days in Ile Ife,” the statement claimed.

The reason why the PDP decided to embark on the method, according to the APC, was because the INEC in Abuja

told the opposition party that snatching ballot boxes and stuffing them with already thumb-printed ballot-papers would not be permitted.

The APC said the INEC had insisted that the PDP should look for the voters and make them vote.

“With this secret let out of the bag, youth corps members acting as electoral officers will now come under closer scrutiny during the election and party agents and observers will be further armed with this information to prevent the PDP’s fraud at the polls,” the party said.

The state government has also alerted the residents to plans by “some unscrupulous people” to mark some buildings for demolition in major cities.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr.

Omisore’s excuse for absence at debate lacks wisdom, says APC •Group flays candidates’ nonappearance

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) has decried the reasons adduced by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Otunba Iyiola Omisore, for not participating in the pre-governorship election debate in Osogbo last Saturday.

It described the PDP candidate’s arguments as “the wisdom of a fool.”

Omisore had reportedly claimed that he was supposedly superior to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, which made it a match “between two unequal parties.”

He also inferred that the “weaker of the two parties may resort to physical assault and harassment.”

But the APC observed that it was disheartening that Omisore’s remark came after the event, which it said “Aregbesola was majestic and at home with facts and figures on how

his administration had prudently managed the state’s economy.”

It added: “Omisore sounded mean and shallow when he tried to denigrate Aregbesola’s academic qualification that the governor ‘presented O’Level (certificate) to INEC’. Again, that’s the wisdom of a fool; but for the foolishness embedded in that piece of information is that Omisore’s current certificate presented to INEC was a court affidavit in place of his primary and secondary school certificates.

“In particular, we challenge Omisore to produce his certificates from St John’s Grammar School, Ile Ife and Owo Polythecnic, Ondo State.

“What moral authority then has a man who till today presented court affidavit to show that he went to primary and secondary schools to denigrate another person who he said

presented his O’Level certificate to INEC?” Omisore, the APC said, has missed his chance to convince the world that he was mentally and intellectually mature enough to handle difficult situation under pressure in a robust and critical debate.

“The truth of the matter is that, like all inadequate personalities, Omisore was and continues to be afraid of confronting Aregbesola who can expose his lies with incontrovertible facts. That was why he ran away from the debate - simplicita!” it stated.

An association, Oranmiyan Support Group, has condemned the actions of Omisore and others who refused to attend the debate organised by a United States (U.S.)-based organisation, the International Republican Institute (IRI).

The group also decried candidates who rely on material

•Omisore

inducements to woo the electorate rather than intellectual engagements.

The group’s leader, Mr. Ayo Akinola, who spoke in Osogbo, said: “Debates are used all over the world to sell political programmes and manifestoes to the electorates.

“It also provides opportunities for candidates to argue and correct erroneous impressions about themselves and even foster bond of friendship among contending political figures, as this is about the only opportunity that enables candidates to meet one-on-one.”

Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi (right) in a handshake with the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, at the presentation of four books written by the Nobel Laureate at Bodija, Ibadan ... at the weekend.

Sunday Akere, in a statement yesterday, said their intention was to incite the populace against the government.

He advised residents to question anyone that inscribes any mark of demolition on their buildings and report such person to the police for proper action.

Akere also denied claims by members of the opposition party, particularly the PDP, that the state government has concluded plans to introduce a new tax regime if re-elected into office.

He said the government is not in any way thinking of introducing any tax regime or intend to increase its tax levy as claimed by the PDP. The spokesperson for the PDP and the Omisore Campaign Organisation, Prince Diran Odeyemi, said: “We are tired of their unfounded allegations. It is one allegation for each day. Their plan was to use the allegations to distract us from doing serious and issue-based campaign.”

Odeyemi advised the APC to report any criminal finding to the security agents, rather than taking serious issues meant to be investigated and prosecuted in the court of law to the media.

“It is the constitutional role of the police to investigate and prosecute accordingly any criminal issues that the APC might have. Reporting it on the pages of the newspapers amounts to propaganda,” he said.

Muyiwa Ige: resist fraud From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

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SUN State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development Muyiwa Ige has raised the alarm over attempts by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the August 9 election through the bulk purchase of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

The son of the late Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, who spoke in Ibadan at the weekend, said the plot also includes using the police and military to harass the people.

He urged the people to resist the PDP and the plan to use force to capture and enslave the state on August 9.

Ige remarked that the PDP has nothing to offer the people other than violence, corruption and mismanagement.

“That’s why the only thing they are harping on is that they are coming with Federal might and brazenly, they believed they will harass our people . The best we can do is to embolden our people.

Let them know that the police and the military are also our own. If they are coming to protect us, yes they should protect us. So, we should all come out bright and early.

“Before we even come out on the day, we should all get our Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). Right now, it’s operation show your PVC. We must encourage all our people to go out and obtain their PVCs . Once they obtain their PVCs, they must not sell them…”

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

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NEWS EID-EL-FITRI CELEBRATION

Amaechi congratulates Muslims IVERS State Governor Chibuike Amaechi has said for the nation to become stabile, the people should face and conquer its challenges.

In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. David Iyofor, the governor congratulated Muslims on the completion of the Ramadan fast.

He wished Muslims a happy Eid-el-Fitri celebration.

Amaechi urged them to continually pray for the nation’s stability.

“Since the civil war, this has been a very trying period in the life of the country. But we must continue to pray for peace, oneness and stability of our nation, because that is one way we can overcome our problems,” he said.

The governor prayed for wisdom in tackling the current security challenges.

He urged Muslims in Rivers State to remain peaceful as they join their counterparts around the world in celebrating Eid-el-Fitri.

Amaechi assured that the state would continue to protect the rights of every resident.

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Yobe, Borno celebrate Sallah amid tight security D

ESPITE the apprehension of a possible attack by Boko Haram in Borno and Yobe states, the Edel-Fitri celebration was successfully held yesterday in both states.

But there was a restriction of vehicles and commercial tricycles to the praying grounds to ensure that insurgents did not use them to perpetrate evils.

Worshippers trekked to the praying grounds from far and near.

In Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Governor Kashim Shettima was among thousands of worshippers who converged on the popular Ramat Square for the two raka’at prayers to mark the end of the Ramadan fast.

From Duku Joel, Damaturu

The governor was accompanied by members of the State Executive Council (Exco) and other dignitaries.

After the prayers, Shettima felicitated with the Muslim ummah for marking a hitchfree Sallah.

But the governor regretted that insurgency had paralysed most activities in the state, leading to the restriction of movement during the festive period.

He prayed for God’s intervention.

Shettima sympathised with the internally displaced

people (IDPs), noting that they had “become slaves in their country”.

The governor hailed security agencies for working to end senseless killings in the land.

He praised the residents for their loyalty, commitment, assistance to security agencies and constituted authority since the Boko Haram insurgency broke out.

In Yobe State, Deputy Governor Abubakar Aliyu and top government functionaries prayed at the town’s mosque and Islamic centre.

Chief Imam Hudu Mohammed led the prayers.

The cleric urged Muslims to

use the lessons of Ramadan to live peacefully with one another.

He also advised them not to relent in prayers for peace to be restored in the state and the country.

Mohammed urged Muslims to always show love and forgiveness, among other attributes, which would ensure peaceful coexistence among the diverse people of the world.

Our reporter, who monitored the celebration in the two states, said there was heavy surveillance among security operatives to avoid any security breach.

Obi: we can’t build our country by destroying it

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ORMER Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has urged Nigerians to use the Eid-el-Fitri celebration to reflect on the state of the nation and themselves.

In his Sallah message, Obi noted that happenings around the country did not give room for celebration.

He said the nation cannot be built by first destroying it.

The former governor said such occasions should be used to think “about ourselves, our country and the future we plan to bequeath to posterity”.

He decried the spate of violence in the world, adding that Nigerian should see religious celebrations as a call for love, sharing and promoting peace in the world in line with the teachings of the founders of the various religions.

Obi said: “We need to ask ourselves what we can do for the country, for our own present good and for the sake of coming generations. Greatness will come to nations that consciously plan and work hard to achieve consensus and confidence-building. “Discipline and patriotic spirit of service are, therefore, essential to safeguarding the future.

We cannot build our country by first destroying it.”

•Obi

FAAN advises travellers

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) yesterday urged air travellers to make early preparations for their travel during the Eid-el-Fitri (Sallah) celebration.

The agency said this was to avoid the rush that usually takes place at major airports across the country.

Airports across the country usually witness a huge volume of passenger traffic during holidays due to increased movements of passengers to and from different countries.

In a statement yesterday by its General Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr Yakubu Dati, FAAN urged travellers to leave home early during the period to confirm their tickets and complete other pre-boarding formalities in good time.

This, Dati said, had become imperative because of the heavy vehicular movements on the roads to the airport terminals.

It said such movements may make some passengers to miss their flights.

FAAN said: “We also wish to advise vehicle owners to use our designated car parks when visiting the airports – for business or pleasure.”

Mu’azu seeks unity From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

•Imam, Pure Heart Islamic Centre, Alhaji AbdulFatah Yunus (second right) delivering sermon after Eid-el-Fitri prayer at Surulere Girls’ High School’s playing ground, Mushin...yesterday With him are: Consultant Nephrologist, Gbagada General Hospital, Dr. Abdul Wasi Busari (right); Imam, Aranse Oluwa Mosque, Railwayline, Mushin, Lagos, AbdulLateef Alamutu and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Senior Radiographer, Lukman Olalekan...yesterday PHOTO:ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

Saraki, Kwara Speaker call for prayers

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ORMER Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki urged Nigerians yesterday to pray for the peace and stability of the country ahead of next year’s general elections.

Dr Saraki made the call in his Eid-el-Fitri message to Nigerians.

Also, Kwara State House of Assembly Speaker Razak Atunwa urged Muslims to live in peace.

Such virtues, he said, are the hallmarks of Ramadan and the ingredients needed to make the nation great.

Saraki, the senator representing Kwara Central, said: “Ahead of 2015, I want to use this annual occasion to implore Nigerians not to give up in the quest for a better

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

nation. Let’s not give in for a leadership based on sympathy and the monetary value we stand to gain but on the ground of competence and a strong will to take Nigeria to a greater height.

“Let’s ensure we stay very united and indivisible by religious, ethnic, moral or political lines, because unity is a strong weapon for a better nation.

“Even as I urge Islamic leaders - from the Emirs to Sheiks and Imams - to further emphasise the core themes of Islam to their followers after Ramadan. I also urge us to let our fervent prayers for Nigeria exceed

Ramadan season. Let’s continue to pray for peace, restoration and stability in Nigeria, particularly as 2015 is approaching.

“The holy month of Ramadan affords us the golden opportunity of renewal in thoughts and deeds towards our creator and humanity by prioritising core themes of Islam, which include peace, boundless love for one another, sincerity, holiness and respect for humanity.

“Importantly, the aforementioned themes should not end with the month of Ramadan. They should be effortlessly demonstrated after Ramadan to ameliorate Nigeria’s plight and make her into a better society

Atiku to Muslims: pray for unity ORMER Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has urged Muslims to pray for the end of insecurity.

In an Eid-el-Fitri message marking the end of the Ramadan fast, the former vicepresident regretted that terrorists had shed so much blood in the name of religion.

The Turaki Adamawa urged Muslims to pray God to defeat and destroy evil doers masquerading as champions of religion.

According to him, the dark agenda of terrorists defies any

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clearly defensible goals and their activities contradict the tenets of Islam, including the sanctity of life.

Atiku advised Muslims to join hands with other Nigerians to defeat the terrorists’ agenda of trying to provoke sectarian crisis by attacking places of worship.

The former vice-president said the terrorists spared neither Muslims nor Christians, adding that Nigerians should unite against them “so that we don’t play into their hands by helping them to achieve their

agenda of seeking to divide and dismember our dear country by causing deliberate provocations”.

He said the nation’s security agencies should be ahead of the terrorists by nipping in the bud the plots of the evil group.

Atiku advised Nigerians to assist security agencies through vigilance and providing useful information that can enhance their efficiency to deal with insurgency and other criminal activities in the land.

where her current challenges of insecurity, disrespect for rule of law, corruption among others will become things of the past.”

The Speaker, in a statement by his media aide, Abdulrahman Sanni, urged Muslims to “use the occasion for sober reflection on issues aggravating ethno-religious and political skirmishes, insurgence, intolerant, nepotism and other factors threatening the stability and cooperate existence of a united Nigeria”.

Atunwa counselled that as the nation prepares for another round of general elections, politicians must avoid a do-or-die politics to further strengthen the nation’s hardwon democracy.

PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman Adamu Mu’azu has urged Nigerians to use this year’s Eid-el Fitri to unite the nation and rededicate themselves to the love, brotherliness and peaceful co-existence among the various ethnic nationalities in the land.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, the chairman also urged Nigerians to apply the divine lessons they learnt during the fasting period and allow their thoughts and actions to be guided by them.

“In truth, Ramadan offered inestimable lessons in love, humility and forgiveness.

We, therefore, urge Nigerians, irrespective of religious persuasions, to ensure that these lessons are not lost but purposefully applied to usher in a new and beautiful era where bitterness, hatred and warring shall be things of the past,” the statement said.

Market women’s leader calls for tolerance

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HE President of the Association of Commodity Market Women and Men of Nigeria and Iyaloja General, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, has urged Nigerians to ensure peaceful co-existence and make religious tolerance part of their lives.

In a statement yesterday by her media consultant, Gboyega Akosile, the Iyaloja General advised Muslims to apply the good lessons of Ramadan and other things they learned during the holy month to enhance their spiritual well-being.

Mrs. Tinubu-Ojo enjoined Muslims to always imbibe the ideals of piety, patience, tolerance, perseverance, humility and self-denial, which they observed during Ramadan.

She advised Muslims to remain steadfast in worshipping Almighty Allah.

The Iyaloja General said Muslims, Christians and other faiths should build a virile and sustainable economy for the country, adding that the task could only be achieved when there is peace.

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

NEWS EID-EL-FITRI CELEBRATION Osun APC congratulates Muslims

Oyo APC urges prayers for peace THE Oyo State branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged Muslims to pray for lasting peace ahead of next year’s general elections.

The party, in a message yesterday in Ibadan, the state capital, by its Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, felicitated with Muslims for successfully fulfilling one of their religious obligations, as stipulated in the Holy Qur’an and the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

APC said: “It is very important for a party like ours, which respects the rights of individuals to religious practice, to identify with our Muslim brothers and sisters on this year’s occasion of Eid-el Fitri.”

It urged Muslims to always exhibit the virtues of sacrifice, humility, love and service to God and humanity beyond the holy month.

Imoke greets Muslims CROSS River State Governor Liyel Imoke has urged Muslims to strengthen peaceful coexistence and good neighbourliness for the nation to become better.

In a goodwill message marking the Eid-el-Fitri by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Christian Ita, the governor said: “Nigerians must imbibe the lessons of the Eid-elFitri, which include love and kindness, piety, sacrifice, peaceful coexistence and commitment to duty.”

He urged Nigerians to reflect on the various challenges confronting the nation and unite to overcome them.

“The challenges confronting us as a people require the cooperation of everyone, if we are to make any meaningful progress. This is why we must not lose sight of the virtues of tolerance and respect for one another,” Imoke said.

Ashafa seeks end to vices THE senator representing Lagos East, ‘Gbenga Bareehu Ashafa, yesterday urged Muslims pray for Nigeria to overcome its sundry socio-economic vices.

“As the celebration continues, we should all reflect on the ideals of good living, which all religions preach; avoid any form of violence and promote peace, harmony and religious tolerance among all men, regardless of ethnic, colour and religious affinity,” he said.

The lawmaker noted that “having undergone the rigours of the holy month of Ramadan with its concomitant diverse ibadah (acts of worship), we should thank Almighty God and live according to His dictates among family members, friends and associates as well as the larger society to enable us have a country that is free from the shackles of social vices as a result of injustice, inequality and hate”.

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

•From left: Abdulazeez, Shuaibu and Adamu Yahaya, during Eidel-Fitri prayers at the Abuja praying ground on the Airport Road, Abuja... yesterday.

PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN

Fashola calls for peace, vigilance

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AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) yesterday called for the cooperation of Nigerians to resolve the challenges confronting the country.

The governor said only Nigerians can take the country out of the doldrums.

In a Sallah message to the residents, Fashola said it is only by embracing peace, unity and fairness that Nigerians can put the country back on its leadership pedestal.

The governor urged the people to embrace love, tolerance, forgiveness and brotherhood which Islam and other religions preach.

He noted that Nigeria, with all its potential, has no business with poverty, if its citizens could give it the right focus.

Fashola advised Nigerians to rid the country of intolerance, discrimination, cheating, violence and disobedience to the law and other ills.

According to him, Nigeria will only assume its leader-

ship position in Africa and among the black race when its diverse people embrace law and order, unity of purpose, equity and patriotism.

Fashola urged Nigerians to celebrate the Eid-el-Fitri with moderation and in the same spirit they exhibited throughout Ramadan.

The governor noted that such spirit encourages peace, sharing, brotherhood, kindness and fairness between Muslims and the followers of other religions.

He urged Nigerians to be

open and receptive to positive changes to enable the nation achieve real development.

Fashola said human beings should always seek better ways of doing things.

According to him, development can only take place when the people show understanding that constant innovation, expansion and general redevelopment often take place in developed societies where the right sacrifices have been made.

Oshiomhole seeks prayers for Nigeria

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DO State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has congratulated the Muslim ummah (community) on the successful completion on the Ramadan fast.

In the Eid-el-Fitri message by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Peter Okhiria, the governor urged Muslims to sustain godliness, charity, perseverance and spiritual intercession for the nation.

He said: “The Ramadan offered Muslims another op-

portunity to shun evil for good; another opportunity for the faithful to remould and reshape their lives physically and spiritually to meet with the aspirations of Almighty Allah as laid down in the Holy Qur’an.

“Having observed strictly the injunctions of Almighty Allah by self-denial through fasting and prayers and by offering Zakat (the poor due) to the less privileged, the lessons learnt during the holy

month should not be lost.”

Oshiomhole said the spiritual intercession of the Muslim ummah would remain indispensable to the nation.

The governor urged “the faithful to continually pray for the peace, progress and stability of the nation, especially at this critical time; pray for wisdom for those in leadership positions and for continued peace, growth and tranquility in Edo State”.

He added: “The Muslim

ummah should remember that there is abundant reward in fidelity to Allah’s injunctions.

I urge the faithful to sustain the acts of worship and shun all forms of evil which negate the lessons learnt during the Holy month.

“I beseech the faithful to continue to live in peace and harmony with men of other faith in our state so that the blessings of Almighty Allah will continue to shower on us all in the state.”

Minister urges Muslims to uphold Ramadan lessons

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INISTER of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, has urged Muslims to always uphold the lessons of Ramadan by intensifying the reading of the Holy Qur’an and imbibing its teachings, even after the holy month.

In a statement yesterday, he said: “Since it was during the month of Ramadan that Al-

mighty Allah (SWT) sent down the Qur’an as a kind of mercy to humanity, our Muslim faithful should continue to honour the holy month by making the Holy Quran their number one companion.”

The minister said Nigerians should continue to preach peace and speak with one voice against the security

challenge in the land, irrespective of their ethnic, religion and political differences.

He said: “As Ramadan ends with today’s Eid-el-Fitri, I urge all Mumineen and Muminat to note that since the great Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (PBUH), described Ramadan fasting as a shield against vices, they should remain guided by that one month of

total abstinence and keep away from those vices they abstained from during the fasting period.

“Having observed the fast, read the Quran, listen to Hadith, our Muslim brothers and sisters must continue to imbibe the lessons of the Holy Month of Ramadan by being their brother’s keeper.”

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SUN State branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday congratulated Muslims for the successful Ramadan fast as a devotion to the will of Allah.

In a Sallah message by its spokesperson, Kunle Oyatomi, the party said the period, which elevated the spiritual consciousness of Muslims, would lead them to take the right decisions on matters which affect their faith and their lives “in an environment that is constantly threatened by thugs, rapists, assassins and mischievous politicians”.

APC added: “At least, those who have been faithful in their devotion during this Ramadan will come with clear conscience to sort out the evil from the good when they take a critical decision on August 9, whether or not criminals should capture power in Osun, or Allah’s grace that rained on the state since November 2010 should continue.

“The Ramadan came just in good time to assist not only Muslims but every adherent of faith in Osun to consciously resist evil which desperate politicians that have gone mad for power pose to the progress already made since 2010.”

NURTW chair urges members to shun vices AGOS State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, has urged the union’s members to ensure that peace and unity reign wherever they operate.

He said no development can take place where there is no peace and harmony.

In his end of Ramadan goodwill message to commercial drivers in Lagos, the union leader urged Muslims to always embrace peace, as contained in the holy books.

He advised NURTW members to shun thuggery and other vices that can tarnish the union’s image.

According to him, members should continue to follow the sermons and teachings they heard or learnt during the fasting period.

Agbede urged Lagos drivers, especially those plying inter-state routes, to obey the traffic rules and regulations to reduce carnage.

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Ajimobi urges Nigerians to be tolerant, forgiving YO State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has urged Muslims to reflect on the essence of Ramadan and its message of tolerance for the other person as well as forgiveness of sins.

In a Sallah message yesterday in Ibadan, the state capital, by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, the governor noted that Ramadan is meant to affirm

O

By Adebisi Onanuga

that even as mortals, man can move towards perfection through the denial of the desires of the flesh.

He said this would in turn lead to the purification of the soul.

Ajimobi urged Nigerians, especially Muslims, not to abandon the lessons of Ramadan by remaining

within the virtues of the holy months and by tolerating one another.

According to him, the moment Nigerians are tolerant of the human limitations of their fellow beings and seeing everyone as God’s creation, all the vices that threaten to tear the country apart would be eliminated.

The governor urged Oyo State residents to continue to

shun violence and brigandage, as they have done in the last three years of his administration.

He said the people have sent a message to the world that the profiling of the state as a hotbed of violence was misplaced.

He said: “Peace is what has opened doors of prosperity to our state. We all know what this state was when it

was ruled by fear and bloodshed. I enjoin all of us to pray for continued peace in Oyo State. When we all live in peace, development and prosperity will come our way, even more than they have done in the last three years or thereabout.”

Also, the governor’s wife, Mrs Florence Ajimobi, yesterday urged the residents to pray for continued peace.

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

NEWS EID-EL-FITRI CELEBRATION

•Vice President Namadi Sambo (second left); Federal Capital Territory Minister Bala Mohammed (left); Minister of Special Duties Alhaji Taminu Turaki, Former Minister of Defence Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed and Minister of State for Finance Dr. Yerima Lawal Ngama at the Eid-El Fitri prayers in Abuja... yesterday.

PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN

•Former President Shehu Shagari praying in Sokoto...yesterday.

•From left: National Security Adviser, Alhaji Sambo Dasuki; Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakko and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III in Sokoto...yesterday

•Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido (left) with the Emir of Dutse, Alhaji Nuhu Sunusi in Dutse...yesterday

•Muslim faithful praying at the Eid ground in Bauchi...yesterday

•Muslim faithful at the Eid Ground in Sokoto...yesterday

PHOTO: NAN

•Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima (second right); Shehu of Borno Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El-Kanemi (right) , Shettima’s deputy, Zannah Umar Mustapha (third left); Head of Service Yakubu Bukar (second left) and Police Commissioner Lawan Tanko at the Ramat Square Eid Ground in Maiduguri...yesterday

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

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CITYBEATS

CITYBEATS LINE: 08023247888

Scholarship scam: FUTA graduates, students held

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OUR graduates and two under-graduates of the Federal University of Technology (FUTA), Akure, the Ondo State capital, are being detained by the police for alleged fraud.

The suspects: Falade Oluwapelumi Ayotunde (25); Asaolu Victor (25); Awote Temitope Emax (27); Fajobi Olalekan (27); Bolatiri Emmanuel Onaopemipo (25) and Adebomi Oluwatosin (26), were arrested by operatives of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU).

They are said to be specialists in designing firm’s websites, using same to defraud unsuspecting victims of over N5 million.

The suspects were arrested following a petition received by SFU last August 22, 2013, from OPEC FUND for International Development.

Police said the petitioner alleged that a website designed as “OFID Scholarship Website” with OFID name and logo had been used to

•The suspects ... yesterday

By Jude Isiguzo

defraud innocent Nigerian applicants.

They said applicants were required to pay N2,500 as application fee, adding that over 2,000 applicants responded and paid the fees through two first-generation banks under the name OFID WSAS NG. The petitioner victim contacted OFID via facebook, accusing OFID of being complicit in the fraud.

SFU spokesperson, Ngozi

Isintume-Agu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), told The Nation that immediately the petition was received, operatives of the Cybercrime Section swung into action and arrested “the mastermind of the fraud,” Falade Oluwapelumi Ayotunde.

She said: “His arrest led to the arrest of five other members of the syndicate. Police investigation so far revealed that over 2,000 applicants paid N2,500 each into the

two banks provided by the suspects and the principal suspect is the only signatory to both accounts”.

Police said Ayotunde, a native of Akure and a 500Level Estate Management undergraduate of FUTA confessed that he designed the website of OFID WSAS (OPEC Fund for International Development for World Student Aid Scholarship) in June, 2012.

Asaolu, an indigene of Ilesha in Osun State and

Relief as council opens new hospital

job-seeking a graduate of Mining Engineering from FUTA, said he assisted in pasting the posters on line for which he was paid N120,000.

Onaopemipo, a 500-Level Estate Management undergraduate at FUTA, said he assisted the principal suspect to sign guarantor for the bank accounts he opened and got N70,000.

He said participated in pasting and publicising the fake OFID Scholarship Program, adding that he knew

from the outset that the OFID Scholarship Program was a scam aimed at defrauding innocent applicants.

Fajobi, a Lagosian and graduate of Mechanical Engineering from FUTA with a first-class honours degree, was the best graduating student in his department for the year 2012. He is currently working with Dee Xecutor Concept.

He told the police that he once fell victim to scholarship scam, saying that it was why the suspect approached him to get information regarding how he was defrauded.

Isintume-Agu said investigation was ongoing, adding that the suspects would be charged to court soon.

Commissioner of Police, SFU, Umar F. Idris, advised the public to verify the genuineness of any online advert before parting with their money.

He also invited the victims to the Unit’s 13, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos office in furtherance of the investigation.

Police kill five robbery suspects •Three electrocuted

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FULLY equipped multi-million-naira hospital has been opened to care for the health needs of residents of Odi-Olowo-Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos State.

The Ayantuga Primary Healthcare Centre, which was refurbished and upgraded to a mini general hospital, was commissioned by the LCDA’s chief executive Aremo Adeyemi Alli amid fanfare.

By Basirat Braimah

Alli told a crowd of elated residents that graced the occasion: “Although Mushin area has a general hospital on Oliyide Street, the people’s population and the size of the area necessitated the provision of this 40-bed mini-general hospital to complement the efforts of the state government.”

The hospital, with two imposing structures, parades up-to-date medical facilities

including drugs and welltrained personnel that would give patients fast and qualitative attention.

The council chief added: “In the facility, we have provided medical apparatuses including incubator, the x-ray machine and the scanning equipment among others. Our utmost target is to reduce the pressure of often experienced by patients who have had to travel to Oliyide, especially during emergency cases.”

“Services at the hospital will be offered free, except in severe cases, where our administration will readily subsidise in line with the people-friendly disposition of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A resident, Mrs Iretiola Johnson, praised the project, saying: “This is a genuine life-saving project that will help us a lot. We thank the council for remembering us again.”

HE Police in Ogun State have shot dead

five robbery suspects in two separate gun duels with a 12man robbery gang at Agbado in Ifo Local government area.

In a statement by the Ogun Command’s P o l i c e Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, three of the robbers were killed early on Saturday when the Police Anti Crime Patrol team in Agbado Division acted on a distress call from the area.

Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP), said a dozen robbery suspects attacked Oluke, Okugbolu and Onireke in the area , and in a bid to escape, engaged the police in a gun battle.

According to him, five of the suspects fell to the police bullets while one of them, Oladeinde Rasheed, was arrested when the police were combing the area with the assistance of men of the Vigi-

By Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

lance Service of Ogun State (VSO).

The police spokesman said items recovered from the suspects are: five locally made guns, 30 live cartridges, 12 expended cartridges, three laptops, jewelry, N85, 000, unregistered motorcycles, cutlasses and assorted charms.

Also, three persons were electrocuted at the Ifo township market yesterday when the high-tension electricity wire fell on them.

The victims were said to have gone to the market to buy food items for the muslim festival when the incident occured.

Three persons were said to have died on the spot; several others were injured.

But Adejobi who confirmed the electrocution, said only two persons died. He said two others who sustained injuries had been admitted at the Ifo General Hospital.

Foundation empowers the needy

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OME of Change Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation, will tomorrow empower 38 people with N10,000 each as part of efforts to curb poverty in the country.

The beneficiaries drawn

•Mrs Anyaogu

from Oriade Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos State benefited from the skill acquisition workshop organised by the organisation earlier this year.

The Director of the Foundation, Mrs. Celine Anyaogu, said the fund given to the beneficiaries, would be used as a start-up capital, adding that it is non-refundable.

The formal presentation of cheques to the 38 participants will hold at the Oriade Local Community Development hall, Satellite Town.

Mrs Anyaogu explained that with the soaring level of unemployment and the resultant socio-economic vices in the country, all hands must be on deck to tackle the problem to save it from likely collapse.

•From left: Treasurer, Community Sponsorship ActionAid Nigeria, Mr Johnson Ikube; its Ambassador, Mrs Hilda Dokubo; Mrs Dakore Egbuson-Akande; Country Director, Nigeria, Dr Hussaini Abdu and ActionAid Board Chair, Professor Patricia PHOTO: NIYI ADENIRAN Danli during its launch at the City Hall, Lagos Island ... yesterday.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

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CITYBEATS Police trail suspected killer of mistress •Suspect ‘absconds’ with victim’s money, valuables D ETECTIVES are on the trail of a 33year-old man, simply identified as Kelechi, who allegedly strangled his mistress, Mrs Lizzy Nzewi, and absconded with her money, car and other valuables.

The suspect was said to have relocated to Cote d’Ivoire from Ghana, his home base, after the crime.

The 39-year-old victim, a mother of four and sole representative of Edmark International, a networking company in Nigeria, was an indigene of Nnewi in Anambra State. She lived in the popular Green Estate in Amuwo-Odofin, a Lagos suburb.

A family source said she fell in love with Kelechi after her separation from her spouse.

“After a period of probation during which she was

‘After a period of probation during which she was able to understand a little of who Kelechi was, she introduced him to her family. Her 13-year-old first daughter and her siblings began to like him. So, it was easy for him to come and hang around without any harassment from any quarters because we thought we knew him’

By Jude Isiguzo

able to understand a little of who Kelechi was, she introduced him to her family.

Her 13-year-old first daughter and her siblings began to like him. So, it was easy for him to come and hang around without any harassment from any quarters because we thought we knew him”, the source said.

Neck-deep in the newfound love, the victim was said to have opened a thriving business for Kelechi in

Ghana, his base. Hence, the suspect started shuttling between Ghana and Nigeria, where the late Lizzy was based.

Soon after, Kelechi was said to have asked for her mistress’ hand in marriage, a proposal she rejected after consulting with her family and friends. They were said to have advised her to be cautious because of the pending divorce case.

The late Lizzy, it was learnt, was supposed to travel with her children on

a vacation to the United States of America last Thursday, which the suspect “was very much aware of.”

The trip had been sealed as about $100,000 were set aside for Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) and other sundry expenses, including over N5million for the running of her business while away.

Kelechi, who arrived in the country last Tuesday, was said to have stayed with the family.

In the wee hours of the next day, Kelechi allegedly

Ebola : Arik suspends flights to Monrovia, Freetown

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O curtail the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus in Nigeria, Arik Air has suspended flights to Monrovia, Liberia and Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Spokesman Mr Banji Ola, said the suspension is a precautionary measure aimed at safe-guarding the lives of Nigerians takes effect from today.

The airline advised the Federal Government to immediately suspend all inbound flights from any of the Ebola-affected countries.

In a statement yesterday, Arik Air said: “As a result of the first Ebola virus death officially confirmed in Lagos, involving a Liberian national who flew on a foreign regional based airline from Monrovia via Lome (Togo) into the city last week, Arik Air will suspend operations into Monrovia (Liberia) and Freetown (Sierra Leone) effective July 28, 2014.

“The suspension will be in force until further notice … Arik Air is taking this

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

important step as a concerned corporate citizen bearing the interest of Nigerians at heart. We acknowledge the steps that the Federal Government of Nigeria is currently undertaking to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. However, we feel especially compelled to take the business decision to immediately suspend flight services into the two Ebolaaffected countries due to our interest in the well-being of Nigerians.

“At the early stages of the contagion’s development across West Africa, the Gambian Government took the proactive decision to stop airlines (including Arik Air) from bringing inbound passengers from Monrovia, Conakry (Guinea) and Freetown into Banjul. Hence, in line with the actions taken by the Gambian Government, we are confident that the Federal Government of Nigeria shall take all steps necessary to control and cur-

Group advises youths

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HE coordinator of New Renewal Group (NRG), a Lagos-based non-governmental organisation, Mr Abiodun Musa (a.k.a Maccah), yesterday urged youths to join ongoing efforts to revamp the nation.

Musa, whose non-political group’s membership cuts across most wards in the state, said the time had come for youths to be involved in the way their affairs are being run.

“We are lucky to be living witnesses to the progressive decline of our fortunes as a nation over the years. We cannot continue to look on and allow our situations to worsen to our detriment. We have to rise up and be part of the efforts aimed at reversing the ugly trend,” he told The Nation.

Musa, who said his association also has adults as members, added: “Ours is not a political association, nor is it affiliated to a political party; our over-riding concern is good governance.

We have participated in several elections in the past by

mobilising to vote for parties or candidates that proved to have genuine interest of the people in their agenda.

“The 2015 elections won’t be an exception. We are still watching to make our decisions as to where to pitch our tent.

“The fact, however, remains that our minds are prepared as to the kind of leadership we seek to reposition the nation. At the appropriate time, we shall decide where to put our votes.”

•Musa

tail the spread of the virus.”

“At Arik Air, our core vision is to provide worldclass experiences and services which are safe, reliable and continually contribute towards both improved user quality of life as well as the elevation of Nigeria’s global standing.

Motivated by this guiding principle, we would, therefore like to assure our guests (and indeed all Nigerians) that their continued safety shall always be at the forefront of all business decisions taken by Arik Air,” the company added.

CITYBEATS LINE: 08023247888

went with the deceased into her bedroom and strangled her with a twine. Nobody, including her children, some family members and security guards, hearing her scream.

Family sources said that after the act, he made away with money, all the deceased’s mobile phones, laptops and Ipads.

He also allegedly took all her property’s documents, company documents, minutes of board meeting and list of business contacts and locked her corpse inside the room and left.

The suspect allegedly loaded the items in the late Lizzy’s Range Rover Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and called out the guard to open the gate for him, saying he needed to use the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) around the area.

Immediately the gate was opened, Kelechi drove out of the house and headed straight for Ghana.

“The security man complied because that has always been his practice whenever he was in Nigeria. Sometimes, he even asked the security man to accompany him to the ATM late at night; so, I believe that was why he never suspected any foul

•The late Mrs Nzewi

play,” a family source explained.

It was, however, gathered that the guard has been arrested and is being detained for interrogation by the police.

Kelechi, who is said to be an indigene of Umuoji, Anambra State, was said to be monitoring the actions and mood of family members through the deceased phones and other social media contacts.

The bereaved family has pleaded with the Area ‘E’ Commander, Mr Dan Okoro, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), to step up efforts to arrest the suspect.

Police spokesperson Ngozi Braide said investigations had begun into the case.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

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NEWS Kaduna blast: NEMA donates 100 beds

105,000 applied to UNILORIN in last UTME, says VC

From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

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BOUT 105,000 candidates applied to the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) this year although the university can admit only 9,000, the Vice Chancellor, Prof AbdulGaniyu Ambali, has said.

He told reporters at the weekend in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, that the institution’s stable academic calendar and quality make it the most-sought after in Nigeria.

Prof Ambali said “this year, we had 105,000 applicants. UNILORIN is the most sought-after university. University of Benin, which is second to us, had over 60,000 applicants.

“Unfortunately, we have capacity for 9,000.

We just concluded the last batch of post-UTME screening. In the next few days, we will sit down and analyse the results.”

The vice chancellor said his administration is renovating classrooms and lecture theatres to make them conducive for teaching and learning.

“The classrooms are being renovated. We are building four lecture theatres. Through the NEEDS assessment we hope to build more lecture theatres of about 600-seating capacity.

This will enhance teaching and learning.

“We want to improve the quality of staff. We are training more staff.

In fact through TEFUNDS, we are sending about 14 abroad for their doctoral degrees in various disciplines.

“The disciplines include library and information, engineering, pharmacy, biosciences, industrial microbiology, law, mathematics, health service management, nursing etc. ‘’The more doctoral staff the better the quality of teaching and research. We encourage our staff to attend international conferences and seminars.

Forty will soon embark on international conferences.”

•Chairman, Agege Local Government Alhaji AbdulKarim Jubril (left) explaining the drainage problems to the Special Adviser to the Governor on the Environment, Dr Taofeek Folami (right); Special Adviser to the Governor, Works and Infrastructure Ganiyu Johnson (second left) and Permanent Secretary, Drainage Services Muyideen Akinsanya (second PHOTO OMOSEHIN MOSES right) at the environmental sanition exercise at the council in Lagos...on Saturday

•Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Mrs Reginald Obasa; Commissioner, Ministry of Housing Mr Bosun Jeje (second left); Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing Mr Odunlami Olatunji (third left) and Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Group Mr Lennard Olufemi Ifayemi, at the inspection of the LPG reticulated system for PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS Gbagada Housing Estate, in Lagos

Seven dead in Kogi road crash

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HE Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) confirmed yesterday the death of seven persons in a multiple accident on the Ankpa-Anyingba road in Kogi State.

State FRSC Sector Commander Mr Godwin Omiko, who spoke in Lokoja, said three persons were critically injured.

Five victims escaped un-

From James Azania, Lokoja

hurt, said Omiko.

He said the accident, which occurred late Saturday evening, involved three private cars and a motorcycle.

The vehicles, he added, included two Honda Accord cars, with registration numbers: FCT ABJ 775 GB and

Lagos GGE 715 CQ and a Sienna LE car, with registration number: KNA 52 LG. Omiko said 15 people were involved, but five men and two women died.

The Sector commander said the injured were taken to the General Hospital, Ayangba.

Omiko added that the rela-

tions of the dead have recovered their bodies.

He said the road, which connects states in the Southsouth and Southeast, had been cleared of obstruction.

The commander blamed the accident on wrong overtaking and dangerous driving.

He appealed to motorists to drive with caution and observe the speed limit.

Another PDP aspirant emerges for Niger East by-election

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Prof. Ambali

•Three injured

WO weeks to the byelection for the Niger East Senatorial seat, another aspirant, Abdullahi Musa, has emerged in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

But the party had endorsed the former Niger State Deputy Governor Dr Shem Nuhu Zagbayi.

The aspirant, who represented Chanchaga in the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003, stated his intention in a July 24 letter to the state chairman of the party.

The letter reads: After consulting with indigenes

From Jide Orintunsin Minna

and stakeholders of the zone, I wish to inform you of my intention to contest for the Niger East Senatorial seat.”

Musa, who claimed to be the right person to replace the late Senator Dahiru Aweisu Kuta, recounted his experience as a foremost member of the House of Representatives, where he was committee chairman on Commerce.

He sought the party’s support and promised to bring his experience in

carrying out the mandate of the people.

On being reminded that the party had endorsed Zagbayi, Musa said: “I don’t believe there was an ‘endorsement.’ A party, such as ours, should be seen to be democratic. The PDP is a democratic party, I can remember when the national chairman came, he said there is no automatic ticket” The national chairman had stated that due process must be followed before candidates would emerge at any level.

Musa, however, added

that he was not consulted before the ‘endorsement’ as a caucus member.

“I was not consulted, or invited to any meeting, but I can see some people want to be smart. I have written my letter to them, and I intend to pursue it through democratic processes” The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at the weekend, announced August 16 as the byelection, following Senator Kuta’s death in Lagos on his way to London for treatment.

ATIONAL Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), at the weekend, donated 100 pieces of eight-spring beds, mattresses and blankets each to 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna, as part of its response to last Wednesday’s twin bombing in Kaduna.

Many injured victims are being treated at the hospital.

The Nation had reported that many victims were receiving treatment on stretchers and mattresses placed on bare floor.

Receiving the items, the hospital’s Deputy Director, Brigadier General Muritala Abdullaziz Abdullahi, said NEMA’s response and other stakeholders helped to save the lives of many victims.

According to him, by Thursday the hospital had 37 victims but four had been discharged.

He said the 33 still in their care are doing well, adding that many of those in critical condition were responding to treatment after being operated on.

Abdullahi hailed NEMA’s donation of money and beds, saying “many victims were lying on mattresses without beds.”

NEMA’s Northwest Zonal Director Musa Ilallah said the agency was touched when they saw some victims sleeping on the floor.

He said they were happy with the professionalism with which the doctors handled the victims and urged them to continue to do more.

Ilallah added that the donation did not foreclose any future assistance, as the agency was committed to doing more to uplift the welfare of Nigerians and bring succour to those affected by disaster.

Ahmed: don’t discard lessons of Ramadan

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WARA State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has urged Muslims to ensure that the lessons of kindness, fear of God, spirit of helping the needy imbibed during Ramadan continue.

Speaking to Muslims in his Eid-el-Fitri message, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, Governor Ahmed said beyond festivity, they should pray for the restoration of peace in the country.

The governor noted that if Muslims do not imbibe the lessons as a life-long experience, the exercise would have be a futile one.

“As Muslims,we must sustain our devotion to Allah, uphold the teachings of the Quran and Prophet Muhammed. ‘’It is also important that those in authority translate the culture of piety, devotion and submission to the will of Allah into ensuring a society free of want, poverty and hunger”, he said.

Governor Ahmed also advised Muslims to shun vices, especially violence, which could hinder harmonious existence with people of other faith.

“It is not a mistake that God made people of diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds to co-exist in the country; it is for a purpose.

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LAGOS ST ATE UNIVERSIT Y, OJO STA UNIVERSITY LAGOS BADAGRY EXPRESSWAY P.M.B. 0001, LASU POST OFFICE, OJO, LAGOS, NIGERIA

Website: www.lasu.edu.ng

email: vc@lasu.edu.ng

19TH CONVOCATION CEREMONIES PROGRAMME OF EVENTS AND NOTICE TO GRADUANDS On behalf of the Management and Staff, Lagos State University Ojo, the Vice- Chancellor, Professor John Oladapo Obafunwa, hereby invites Graduands of the 2012/2013 Academic Session, University Community and the General Public to the 19th Convocation Ceremonies of the University scheduled to hold as follows:

Invitation cards, Notice AND Convocation Package will thereafter be issued on the presentation of receipt of payment.

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

Day 1 Wednesday, 30th July, 2014-Convocation Press Conference Venue: University Senate Chamber Time: 10.00am

2.

Academic Gown should be returned immediately, after the Ceremony OR latest by Monday, August 11, 2014, after which the refundable fee of Two Thousand Naira [N2,000] only will be made to graduands at the Bursary on the presentation of clearance, obtained at the Faculties;

Day 2. Friday, 1st August, 2014 Venue: University Mosque Time: 1.00p.m.

-

Jumat Service

Day 3. Sunday, 3rd August, 2014 Church Service Venue: University Chapel (Chapel of Light) Time: 10.00am

Day 4. Monday, 4th August, 2014 - Coconut Breaking Festival Venue: Badagry Gate Entrance Time: 9:30am

¾

Command Performance by the Department of Theatre Arts and Music

CONVOCATION PLAY TITLE: ‘HARD CHOICE’ Written by: Sunnie Ododo Directed by: Shina Ayodele Assisted by: James Jibunma Venue: University New Auditorium Complex, Ojo Time: 10:00am

BOOK LAUNCH – Day 5. Tuesday, 5th August, 2014- * ‘Foreign Policy and National Security’ by Ambassador Olanrewaju Falola Venue: MRC HALL, LASUCOM Time: 10:00am * CONVOCATION LECTURE Topic: The Future of Traditional/Contemporary Universities and the Emerging Universities of the Future: The Implications for the Nigerian University System [NUS] Guest Lecturer: Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, FAS, FA Eng., OFR. Venue: M.B.A Auditorium, Ojo Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm

Day 6. Wednesday, 6th August, 2014-Award of First Degrees and Diplomas in all Faculties Venue: University New Auditorium Complex, Ojo Time: 10:00am

Day 7. Thursday, 7th August, 2014i) Commissioning of the School of Transport ii) Inspection of some on-going projects in the University by His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola, (SAN) – 9:00am iii) Graduands’ Procession – 9:45 am iv) Academic Procession – 10:00am v) Award of Higher Degrees Venue: University New Auditorium Complex,Ojo N.B: Please be informed that at the inception of the Academic Procession, there shall be no movement in and out of the Auditorium.

NOTICE TO GRADUANDS 1.

Graduands are required to pay the sum of Six Thousand, Five Hundred Naira [N6,500:00] only into designated bank below : BANK UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA [UBA]

ACCOUNT NUMBER 1010295541

NOTE: A refundable fee of Two Thousand Naira (N2,000:00) only will be made to graduands on return of the Academic Gown.

ACCOUNT NAME LASU REVENUE

3.

Any graduand who holds on to the academic attire beyond Monday, August 11, 2014 will be liable to a fine of Five Hundred Naira [N500:00] only for each day of default. Also, any graduand who loses OR damages the academic attire would pay a sum of [N10, 300:00] Ten Thousand, Three Hundred Naira Only as replacement fee.

Postgraduate Graduands [P.HD Only] who are interested in procuring the University Academic Gown are required to pay a sum of Thirty Thousand (N30,000:00) Naira only into the above account number.

4.

Parents/guardians and invited guests are advised to be seated NOT later than 9.35 a.m. on each day. The assistance of Faculty Officers should be sought to ensure that the hood and cap are properly worn, with the tassels (cords) of the cap positioned to the right.

5.

First Degree Graduands are to move the tassels of their caps from right to left at a point during the ceremony, when the Vice Chancellor declares: “I admit you all”. This signifies their admission into the body of Graduates of Lagos State University (LASU).

Higher Degree recipients should put on their caps, with the tassels placed at the left hand side, since they already have their first degrees.

6.

Female graduands are expected to show courtesy when they shake hands with the Vice-Chancellor, while male graduands bow, but should NOT remove their caps.

(GRADUANDS SHOULD PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY) i.

Graduands are to join the Convocation Procession by 9.45a.m. ii.

Graduands in each Faculty are expected to be seated in the sections provided for them in the New University Auditorium Complex. The convocation package comprising:

Order of proceedings;

Convocation brochure and souvenir magazine (I copy each) AND

Academic Gown; Will be given to Graduands by their respective Faculty Officers OR Secretary to the Postgraduate School for Higher Degrees as the case may be: iii. UNAUTHORIZED MOVEMENTS AND TAKING OF PHOTOGRAPHS WILL NOT be allowed during the Convocation Ceremony. Graduands are therefore advised in their own interest to complete such activity before coming in to the University Auditorium OR wait till after the ceremony.

Any graduand who leaves his/her seat while the ceremony is on will NOT be allowed to return to the Auditorium. This is to ensure ORDERLINESS during the Convocation Ceremonies. iv.

Graduands and guests under the canopy outside the auditorium are requested to be orderly and rise to their feet as the Academic Procession enters AND leaves the convocation venue. v.

Graduands should be properly robed; and are also advised to conform to the colour prescribed for their Faculties. vi.

All graduands are required to immediately commence and complete the process of their clearance in their respective College/Schools/ Faculties before the ceremony, in order to facilitate the collection of their degree certificates on the day of Convocation.

Please accept the Vice Chancellor’s warm regards.

Congratulations

SIGNED: Mr. Lewis Akinwunmi Oladapo REGISTRAR

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2013

19

COMMENTARY FROM OTHER LANDS

EDITORIALS

Ramadan Kareem •Muslims must not return to their past ways after the fasting

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USLIMS all over the world mark the end of Ramadan fasting with the Eid-el-Fitri celebration. The festivity comes on the first day of the 10th month of Islamic lunar calendar, and has become one of two festivals of Islamic significance, the other being Eid-el-Kabir.

After a month-long ascetic life and spiritual supplications to the Almighty, Eid is expected to usher in illimitable bliss for devotees. Today is an occasion of jollity and thanksgiving. All good Muslims should take advantage of the day to vow never to go back to what Allah frowns at, and to show gratitude to Him for sparing their lives.

Despite today’s air of spirit of indulgence, we call for modesty in celebration.

We expect Muslims to avoid engaging in depraved or obnoxious conducts. Good

‘These fake Islamists hiding under the guise of the ‘religion of peace’ to perpetuate evil, have shown gross contempt for the holy month. These terrorists destroy the usual environmental tranquillity of unity and spiritual rebirth of the holy month through senseless bombing of innocent souls and outright destruction of properties’

Muslims should take advantage of the day to be sensitive to and share the feelings of those around them. That is why the lessons of the holy month must reflect in the way we relate with friends, non-Muslims inclusive.

Muslims whose fast is based on imaan, sincerity, should expect true reward, Ihtisaab, from Allah. Their past sins will surely be forgiven. Allah multiplies the rewards of fasting beyond human comprehension. However, all these are not forgone issues. Their fruition depends on how satisfactory they can truly answer these questions: Did we perform our fast with the true belief and full surrender to Allah? Did we fast because Allah imposed it on us or for other selfish reasons?

What have we gained from the month of Ramadan? Are we positively inclined towards fellow beings? Have we overcome all our prior weaknesses and cruelty?

We have no doubt that obedient Muslims, not killers and terrorists despoiling the name of Allah, are assured of reward from Almighty Allah. Surprisingly, these fake Islamists hiding under the guise of the ‘religion of peace’ to perpetuate evil, have shown gross contempt for the holy month. These terrorists destroy the usual environmental tranquillity of unity and spiritual rebirth of the holy month through senseless bombing of innocent souls and outright destruction of properties.

We wonder what has happened to the pious habit of Qur’an recitation, especially during Ramadan, and imbibing the

lessons therein. The Boko Haram insurgents should realise the futility of their actions quickly. Every human being is expected to be his brother’s keeper and should cultivate and indulge in things that would make the community and the entire world one peaceful place for all to live in. We doubt whether the terrorists could, in all conscience, proclaim this.

The suicide bombing of fellow human being before, during and after the month of Ramadan is barbaric. Their act negates the projection of Islam as a ‘religion of peace’.

In the spirit of Ramadan, we call on the governments, institutions and the people to have an attitudinal change that would not negate the commandments of Allah.

What should be done now is to continue to practice and sustain the virtuous preaching learnt during Ramadan for the sake of all. The talk of restoring security to normalcy in the country must start with adhering to the tenets of Allah by both Muslims and non-Muslims. These are realisable only if stakeholders in the nation’s project are honest with themselves as we all professed to be during the Ramadan period.

We know that moving our country forward entails being our brother’s keeper; and not taking more than our fair share of what belongs to all. We should pray to Allah to give us the grace not to be good Muslims only during the Ramadan period. That is the greatest lesson to be learnt from the just ended fasting as the future race continues.

Thumbs up •Olam is to be lauded for its bold step towards self-sufficiency in rice production

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N the last two decades, rice has grown to become the dominant staple food among Nigerians. As part of the unsavoury results of the oil boom era, the country became awash with petro-dollars and Nigerians did not only abandon their farms, they acquired foreign tastes and became import-dependent for even staple food stuff. Thus, not only that local farmers could not produce enough, Nigerians shunned the products from her farmsteads, preferring for instance, polished, parboiled rice from Thailand, India and Indonesia. Ironically, this brand of rice is often silo-stale and deficient in nutrition.

Over these years, Nigeria has become a major importer of such daily need foodstuffs like wheat (for bread), beans, fish, poultry products as well as canned foods.

But rice, Nigerians’ most cherished staple is in such demand that a sudden ban of importation could threaten the country’s political stability. It is estimated that Nigeria spends about N356 billion annually on rice imports. Various governments have paid lip service to this rather unsustainable situation but none has been able to take a bold decisive step towards effecting a change. Even the current government with its much vaunted rice revolution has been unable to fashion a policy that would catalyse commercial rice production in Nigeria.

This is why we hail the efforts of Olam International Limited, a private firm, for its initiatives in Nigeria’s agro-industry in general, and rice production in particular. A fortnight ago, Olam inaugurated its state-of-the-art rice mill in Doma council area of Nasarawa State. The integrated milling facility is sited in the heart

of a 6,000-hectare green field irrigated and mechanised paddy farm. The mill is expected to yield 36,000 metric tonnes of ready-to-eat rice for the domestic market yearly.

We dare suggest to the federal and state governments; individuals and corporate bodies that wish to participate in the enormous rice value chain that Olam’s is the template to adopt. This singular mammoth commercial project said to be the largest in Africa, will not only impact vastly on rice production in Nigeria, it will impact significantly on the economy of Nasarawa State. Currently, about 3,000 farmers are directly engaged while it is envisaged that about 20,000 small holder farmers will supply 30 to 40 per cent of the mill’s paddy requirements.

Apart from providing ready market and cash for local farmers, there will be the benefit of wide-ranging trainings in good agricultural practices for the rural farmers as well as the availability of high-yield varieties, fertilisers, and implements.

The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has been long on talks about ending rice import into Nigeria but has been short on taking concrete action.

In January 2013, it had introduced a wrong-headed tariff and levy regime on imported rice. The knee-jerk policy which imposed a 100 per cent levy on rice imports to Nigeria only redirected shiploads of the commodity to neighbouring ports of Benin Republic, Togo and even Ghana. That move engendered a wild profit and supply gap and spurred massive smuggling of rice.

The result was that government lost huge

imports revenues, left genuine importers in the lurch and made port hands idle. The attendant chaos in the rice value chain was too ruinous to the economy that the policy had to be reversed last June.

There is so much merit to the economy in reducing Nigeria’s massive rice import dependence but so far, government has only been full of hollow words. For instance, government must begin to account for and deploy the huge rice development fund that has accrued since 1999. There is no record that anyone has benefited from it so far. There are serious and credible stakeholders in Nigeria’s rice sector; there is no record that government supports them.

We commend the Olam model to all and urge the government to drive the establishment of many more integrated commercial rice farms across the country’s rice belts.

‘We dare suggest to the federal and state governments; individuals and corporate bodies that wish to participate in the enormous rice value chain that Olam’s is the template to adopt. This singular mammoth commercial project said to be the largest in Africa, will not only impact vastly on rice production in Nigeria, it will impact significantly on the economy of Nasarawa State’

A U.S.-Russia proxy war in Ukraine would be an unwelcome echo of the Cold War

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NTERNATIONAL outrage over the downing of a Malaysian passenger plane over Ukraine on July 17 does not appear to have affected either the actions of proRussia forces in that country or the material support Russia is offering the rebels. On Wednesday, the separatists apparently shot down two Ukrainian warplanes flying near the border with Russia. On Thursday, the U.S. accused Russia of firing artillery from its territory into Ukraine.

If Russia continues to abet the Ukrainian armed resistance, it must pay a price, as even European nations previously reluctant to impose significant sanctions are beginning to realize. This week the Europeans moved toward expanding sanctions directed at Russian officials and organizations linked to the rebellion in eastern Ukraine, and they are considering following the lead of the U.S. and imposing sanctions against sectors of the Russian economy, including defense and energy.

But some American politicians and policymakers would go beyond economic and diplomatic efforts and provide the Ukrainian government with military support. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has implored the Obama administration “to give the Ukrainians weapons with which to defend themselves.” That would be a mistake.

It’s not clear that the Obama administration is seriously considering McCain’s advice. The U.S. has provided food, body armor and uniforms to Ukraine and has promised to deliver medical supplies and night-vision goggles as well. This week the Washington Times quoted a Pentagon spokesman as saying that the U.S. also planned “to support the Ukrainian military through subject-matter expert teams and long-term advisors.”

If by “advisors” the administration means computer experts and payroll managers, that’s one thing. But deploying “advisors” who are military strategists or uniformed soldiers would be reckless and provocative.

So would providing Ukraine with lethal weapons.

A proxy war between the United States and Russia would be dangerous even if it didn’t lead to a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear powers. It also would undermine President Obama’s insistence that the U.S., while it supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, doesn’t regard it as part of a Cold War chess game with Russia.

Finally, although it obviously continues to encounter resistance, Ukraine is gradually gaining military control of rebel-held areas on its own. Russia could help end the fighting if it stopped its interference and incitement. As long as it refuses to do so, the U.S. and its allies should keep up the pressure — but stay off the battlefield.

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

• Executive Director (Finance & Administration) Ade Odunewu

•Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon

•Advert Manager Robinson Osirike

•Deputy Editor (News) Adeniyi Adesina

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

•IT Manager Bolarinwa Meekness

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

20

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: Anarchy may take over Nigerian roads any moment soon if the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) makes good its threat to go ahead with the dubious enforcement of the new number plates policy effective August 1, in total disregard to the two subsisting Federal High Courts’ judgements that had already declared the proposed policy unconstitutional, null and void.

The move is coming on the heels of a recent conflicting judgement delivered by the High Court of Anambra State, per Justice Peter Umeadi, who curiously declared that FRSC, indeed, has power to issue new number plates and drivers licenses contrary to the earlier decisions of the Federal High Courts in Lagos and Abuja, respectively. In the words of the Lagos State sector Commander, Chidi Nkwonta, “Nigerians should discountence the first misleading judgement and take this one because we are going to continue enforcement as from August 1, 2014”.

This kind of impunity is only possible in country where might,

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Number plates: Averting unnecessary crisis rather than rule of law, is the order of the day. Disobedience to court orders by government and her agencies happen so frequently in this clime so much that they chose which decisions to abide by and the ones not to obey, and, indeed, they want Nigerians to accept this brazen affront on our constitutional democracy hook, line and sinker!

For avoidance of doubt, the contentious issue had been extensively dealt with by their Lordships, Justices James Tsoho and Adeniyi Ademola both of the Federal High Courts, Lagos and Abuja. An appeal on the matter already laid before the Court of Appeal, Lagos division, which appeal was filed

by none other than the FRSC itself.

It is, therefore, inconceivable that the same commission now wants to contemptuously abandon the case at the Court of Appeal under the disguise of the present judicial logjam. May the commission be reminded that do that is an express invitation to chaos in the country and nothing more pretentious.

Conflicting rulings and judgements, particularly by courts of concurrent jurisdiction, is not totally new in our legal milieu. No thanks to the heterogeneous structure of the country. However, the question to be asked under the circumstance is; how do we wriggle out from this type of legal lacuna?

It needs be stated that litigants are

forbade from choosing which court’s decisions to obey and the one not to abide by. Litigants cannot play smart by capitalising on judicial technicalities to render decisions of courts nugatory. And this is where professional ethics come to play. Lawyers as priests in the temple of justice are expected to guide their clients at all material time towards maintaining the sanctity of court and cause of justice.

Nigerians expect nothing less in the circumstance. Lawyers must constantly remind their clients that the decisions of the court, however wrongly decided, must be obeyed until set aside by a higher court.

Another disturbing question is how the parties could have con-

The additional state Nigeria needs

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IR: The agitation of the just concluded National Conference for the creation of 18 new states didn’t come to me as a shocker. Looking at their agitation from different perspective, I think they are right to the extent that some states in Nigeria are bigger in times of land occupied and population than some countries in Africa. In addition to this, creation of new states will enhance the development of the country and also create jobs for some many people.

Lagos State with the population of 9,019,534 is bigger than Togo, Benin Republic, Libya, Liberia, Gabon, Gambia, Swaziland and Cape Verde among others. In the same vein, Oyo State covers approximately an area of 28,454 square kilometres. This cannot be compared with Cape Verde, Comoros, Gambia, Swaziland and Djibouti among others.

The big question is that what should be the yardstick for state creation? This is a billion dollar question that even the confab could not answer. Should land size or population be the criteria for state creation? If land size is the criteria, certainly, Oyo State deserves two slots. Meanwhile, if it is the population that will determine it, Lagos

and Kano both deserve one slot each.

The biggest question is: do we really need 18 states? We only need one state!

We need one state where Nigerians can see themselves has one, where corruption will be nowhere to be found and where tribalism, ethnicity, gender differences or religion will not be the basis for relationship.

We need one state where there is stable electricity supply, where there is free and fair election and where there is truly equality before

the law. We need one state where there is no discrimination between the Polytechnic and the University education. We need one state where strike will not be the best means for workers to channel their grievances to the government.

We need one state where there is protection of lives and properties.

We need one state where there are conducive job opportunities for job seekers. We need one state where there are basic infrastructures and where the government encourages entrepreneurs.

We need one state where pension-

ers and females will not be treated as slaves, where physically challenged people’s opinions can be heard and respected. We need one state where we can sleep with both eyes closed. We need one state where Boko Haram insurgency will be the thing of the past. We need one state where Nigerians can cajole or rob mind with their leaders.

The one state we need is Nigeria.

Let us join hands together to make Nigeria great.

• Oluwagbenga Bankole Sango, Ogun State

ducted the matter before the Anambra High Court without adverting the mind of the court to the earlier judgements? Or did the judge outrightly refuse the invitation to take judicial notice of the judgements of his learned brothers at the Federal High Court?

Agreed that courts of coordinate jurisdiction are not bound by their decisions (in terms of judicial precedence), nonetheless, they are always encouraged to mind the pronouncements of their learned brothers especially if the facts (s) before them is(are) similar. The reason for this is to avoid apparent absurdities that such departure might lead to. This was exactly what the Federal High Court, Abuja, per Justice Ademola, did when he stated in the earlier decision that “the court is also mindful of a Lagos Federal High Court on same subject matter which I completely align with”.

In view of the foregoing, FRSC should not hide under the conflicting judgement of the High Court of Anambra State to create unnecessary mischief and crisis in our already-troubled society. The commission should allow the appeal, which it has already filed, to run its full course. It should not try to “arrest” the judgement of the appellate court through this backdoor move. This should equally serve as a litmus test for the newly appointed FRSC Corp Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi. He certainly will not want to start on this infamous path. He should therefore, with immediate alacrity, ask his men to stay action on the controversial policy pending the determination of the appeal. To do otherwise is to put the commission in disrepute.

• Barrister Okoro Gabriel, Ebonyi

When will Nigerians get it right?

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IR: I have always been of the opinion that being good or bad is not a function of tribe, education or religion. Being faithful in a marriage or relationship also is not a function of sex; neither is being a good parent reliant on gender. Often times, people say: “men are wicked, women are greedy, women are troublesome, and men are naturally promiscuous”. How true are these claims?

Because one man beats his wife does not mean that another woman does not beat the hell out of her

husband. Because women are often associated with love to children does not mean that all women are good parents and there are no better male parents. We have heard and seen stories of women, who throw away their babies, haven’t we? Where did the love go? On the same vein, if men are stronger vessels, we have heard and seen men cry their eyes out while a lady pats them to silence. Where was the strength?

My main point: come 2015, should Nigerians vote tribe or char-

acter? Should they vote religion or reliability? Should Nigerians vote party or personality? Gender or genuineness? All those politicians that try to incite us against particular political parties make those parties look so bad and make themselves the saviours. Just like the man who calls women greedy and leave his gender out, or the woman who calls every man a goat and doesn’t mention the breed her father belongs, politicians may try to paint opposing political parties black, but they themselves also

have their rots. And then you see us, fighting their fights, you see us mounting road blocks and burning tyres in the middle of main roads, causing traffic jams. You see us misbehaving, killing ourselves for these guys who will only enrich themselves and family when they get to power. You see us fighting for sentiment rather than common sense and true leadership. When will Nigerians get it right?

• Joseph Joshua Abuja

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

COMMENTS

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T is laughable, not to say nonsensical, that the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, in an apparently desperate pursuit of image laundering, has reportedly contracted an American communications firm to cosmeticise its performance. The news is that Levick Strategic Communications has been hired, with effect from June 16, to employ its public relations expertise to make the government smell like roses. According to the contract, Levick will be paid $100,000 (almost N16 million) monthly as professional fees, totalling N275 million for the initial one-year deal.

Other costs to be billed to the government include a subcontract to Perseus Strategies; travel-related expenses and meals; fees for other services such as paid media, video production and web development; and long distance or conference calling charges incurred on behalf of the client.

In addition, the government is expected to bear the cost of private newswire, outsourced printing, copy jobs, and significant expenses for postage and handling.

The report said: “Under the scope of services, Levick is to provide government affairs and communications counsel with the primary objective of changing the international and local media narrative related to: the Government of Nigeria’s efforts to find and safely return the more than 200 girls abducted by the terrorist organisation, Boko Haram, in Chibok; assisting the government’s efforts to mobilise international support in fighting Boko Haram as part of the greater global war on terror; and communicating the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration’s past, present and future priority to foster transparency, democracy and the rule of law throughout Nigeria.”

Irrespective of the puzzling goals, it is pertinent to wonder why this particular job was given to a foreign firm, despite the government’s mantra about its commitment to the promotion of local content and local value across the country’s various sectors. Would it have been unreasonably

‘Let the truth be told: The history of the administration is a concatenation of minuses, including unconscionable official corruption, bare-faced antidemocratic tendencies and abysmal disrespect for the law. Certainly, these can offer no helpful promotional material; and it remains to be seen how well PR can work as a redemption tool for a change-resistant government’

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IONEL Messi is the best football ever! This was the declaration of a 12 year old boy to his grandfather during the recently concluded 2014 football World Cup won by Germany. The grandfather took time to educate him about a former Brazilian player called Pele who made four world cup appearances, won three world cups, scored 12 World Cup goals and more than 1000 goals in his professional career. He then told him about the exploits of a former French player Fontaine in 1958 World Cup in Sweden where he scored 13 goals and about another legendary former Argentina Player called Diego Maradona, etc. The boy immediately recanted.

Just like the great Obafemi Awolowo who was vilified by political opponents in the First Republic and eventually sent to prison on trumped up charges of treasonable felony, there appears to be a calculated and orchestrated attempt to distort history especially to post 1999 youngsters in Nigeria about Bola Tinubu, hence the need to set the records straight. Recall that while Awolowo was providing advanced and exemplary leadership for the unprecedented educational and economic development of the Western Region, his less endowed and less focused enemies were painting him black in the eyes of the people to score cheap political points.

A brief research into the political career of Tinubu would therefore suffice. He was elected Senator to represent Lagos West Senatorial District in 1992. Thereafter when the military truncated Nigeria’s democracy after the June 12, 1993 elections which led to the death of M.K.O Abiola and his wife Kudirat, he fought doggedly with other democrats and suffered grave deprivations while taking sides with the oppressed people of this country. Together with other patriots, he fought gallantly to chase away the military despots.

In 1999, he was elected Governor of Lagos State where he served till 2007. For those may have forgotten, traffic gridlock all round Lagos was partly caused by mountains of refuse which usually blocked half of all the existing roads. It was during Tinubu’s administration that the modernization and re-equipping of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) that brought this eye sore to an end was carried out. He also introduced the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system to ease transportation difficulties of commuters.

In the area of infrastructure, he embarked on massive road construction and dualization. They include Kudirat Abiola Road, Oregun, Ikeja, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Akin Adesola Road, Victoria Island, Ikotun – Igando Road, Yaba – Itire – Lawanson – Ojuelegba Road, LASU – Iba Road, Ojo. Others include Ajah-Badore Road Eti Osa; Oba Sekunmade Road, Ikorodu; Adetokunbo Ademola Road, Victoria Island. He undertook the modernization of six roads in the Central Business District and the historic

PR for Pure Ridiculousness costlier to use a local communications company for these objectives? Or did the externalisation of the campaign mean that it couldn’t be handled locally with the desired competency? It would be interesting to know the details of the process that produced Levick. Could the US firm be fronting for local interests?

Perhaps what makes this image-management project especially intriguing is the inclusion of the continuing tragedy of the still-missing Chibok schoolgirls who have spent over 100 days in captivity since they were kidnapped on April 15. It is difficult to comprehend how PR can change the reality of their disappearance and the government’s unimpressive demonstration of incapacity to change the picture. Maybe there is a need for a reminder: This traumatising issue will not just vanish; and then everyone will live happily ever after. There is no doubt that the hashtag #Bring Back Our Girls is unlikely to become impotent and irrelevant without a desirable closure; specifically, the safe return of the captives.

It is remarkable, and relevant to the Levick contract, that a report released last week by a UK-based risk consultancy, Maplecroft, ranked Nigeria as a global leader in “terrorism fatalities.” The report on the country’s terrorism and security situation, based on 146 terror attacks recorded between January and June, indicated that there was an average of 24 deaths per incident, while the global average is two deaths per attack. More disturbing is the information that the latest figures represent a doubling of the 1,735 deaths recorded within the same period in 2013. In other words, according to the report, “Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, recorded 3,477 deaths in those attacks as violence by the Boko Haram Islamist militants grew in scale and sophistication.” The consultancy concluded: “The increased capacity of Boko

Haram is likely to lead to a further loss of investor confidence.”

Although it could be said that the Levick contract mirrors the government’s anxiety, the truth is that PR cannot be the solution. For the avoidance of doubt, truth-based PR cannot deny the actualities, or erase them. For instance, can any creativity disprove the fact that shocking twin explosions in Kaduna on July 23 reportedly killed 82 people and nearly claimed the life of Gen. (retd) Muhammadu Buhari, a former military Head of State? Or what inventiveness can contradict the fact that, the following day, another explosion at a popular motor park in Sabon Gari, Kano, took five lives?

These tragedies and others are intensified by the selfacknowledged cluelessness of the country’s military. By a significant coincidence, on the very day of the double bombings in Kaduna, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Kenneth Minimah, expressed the force’s helplessness while addressing some soldiers at the 9 Brigade, Ikeja Cantonment, Lagos, during a familiarisation tour. He rationalised the army’s failure, saying, “Boko Haram terrorists come to die not fight. It is a new warfare which military personnel are not trained in. They carry explosives to blow up anyone around. They load Hilux with bombs and run into troops with them. It is not a conventional war. You do not see nor know the enemy you are fighting.”

Minimah’s sob-story is inexcusable, considering the fact that this guerilla force has been terrorising the country since 2009 with escalating hardheartedness. It rings hollow, this repetitive definition of the battle as unconventional. It is worth reflecting on the training the soldiers get, whether it lacks content relating to guerilla warfare; and if so, whether it should. What wonders can PR achieve in the context? It must be the height of wishful thinking to imagine that foreign soldiers would be willing to die for the country when its own soldiers are busy making excuses.

On the scale of absurdity, the public relations goal of earning public respect for the Jonathan administration based on perceived transparency, democratic practice and adherence to the rule of law must be the most ridiculous.

There is an elementary lesson provided by bestselling authors and PR strategists Al and Laura Ries in their insightful 2002 book, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, which is instructive in appreciating the fundamental flaw in the campaign. Central to successful PR, the experts argue, is the idea that “publicity possibilities” should be fully exploited. The question is: where are the “publicity possibilities” that the administration can effectively take advantage of?

Let the truth be told: The history of the administration is a concatenation of minuses, including unconscionable official corruption, bare-faced anti-democratic tendencies and abysmal disrespect for the law. Certainly, these can offer no helpful promotional material; and it remains to be seen how well PR can work as a redemption tool for a change-resistant government.

Tinubu: Lest we forget

By Aham Njoku Tinubu Square of Lagos Island to mention but a few.

In the health sector, he upgraded the buildings and facilities at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to international standards; expanded and rehabilitated old General Hospitals in Lagos, Gbagada, Epe, Isolo, Ikorodu, Badagry, Agege and the Island Maternity. He also built new General Hospitals in Mushin, Shomolu, Ibeju Lekki and Isheri – Iba as well as upgrading of existing health centers to full fledged hospitals at Ijede, Ketu, Agbowa, Agege, etc.

In the housing sector, he constructed 6,000 housing units such as Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah, Ibeshe Low Income Housing Scheme, Amuwo Odofin Housing Scheme, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan Estate, Lekki. Others are Anyagburen Phase II, Ojokoro Millennium Housing Scheme, Alagba Low Income Housing Scheme, Oke Eletu and Oko Oba Low Income Housing schemes amongst others. He constructed Micro Water Works at Onikan, Ikeja, Iwaya, Igando, Oworonsoki, Atan, Bariga, Isolo, Shomolu, Iponrin, etc.

I am sure that most young people below the age of 25 years might not be aware of these giant strides by Tinubu and certainly many above 25 years might have started to forget. He constructed new High Courts, computerized them, enhanced the welfare of judicial officers and established the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) to provide free legal services to indigent persons and established the Citizen Mediation Centre as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. Honestly, one would not have gone to the extent of highlighting these concrete achievements, but it is very disgusting when political failures try to confuse the people about genuine heroes like Tinubu who have been working tirelessly in the last 22 years to improve their lot.

In the field of education, he introduced nursery education, built 14 new schools, 77 information technology centres in public primary and secondary schools in the state. He did not stop at that. He introduced introductory technology in secondary schools. There was massive construction of school furniture and equipping of the laboratories. The icing on the cake was the provision of free education in all public primary and secondary schools including payment of WAEC/NECO fees as well as all internal examination fees to ensure that indigent children did not drop out of school.

I am sure that at this point many people looking back objectively at the facts would now begin to understand

that all the propaganda directed against Tinubu are merely concocted to deceive the masses to their own waterloo. However there is an Igbo adage that says that in a village where there are no elders, children may mistake vultures for chickens. This writer’s intervention is only to set the records straight.

There is no doubt that Tinubu has his own flip side, just like any other human being. He has been accused of dishing out political favours to anyone he likes to the chagrin of others who may feel left out. But on the whole, he is a committed democrat who is passionate about making the lives of people better. He displayed a keen seen of political sagacity when he groomed several leaders including Rauf Aregbesola and even a successor in the person of Babatunde Fashola. Fashola’s sterling achievement today is there for anybody to see as Lagos remains a pacesetter and a reference point in people oriented development.

In conclusion, according to the sage Awolowo at the end of the 1958 Constitutional Conference, “In the years that lie ahead, those of us who have the good fortune to lead our people will need statesmanship of a high order and God’s guidance in managing the affairs of our country for the benefits of every Nigerian citizen”. Further according to Harry Truman, “Men make history and not the other way round. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. Certainly, Tinubu is one of those leaders Truman is talking about. History shall be fair to him because available records have shown that he is an exceptional leader.

• Njoku is a lawyer

‘One would not have gone to the extent of highlighting these concrete achievements, but it is very disgusting when political failures try to confuse the people about genuine heroes like Tinubu who have been working tirelessly in the last 22 years to improve their lot’

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

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COMMENTS

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HE gale of impeachments hanging over the nation’s political space has attracted divergent reactions from a broad spectrum of the political class especially, the opposition. These reactions have brought to the fore, the dialectical relationship between theory and practice or precepts and their actual implementation.

In contention is the proper application of the impeachment clause as a check against the excesses of elected public officers. Framers of modern constitutions, guided by the realisation that governance is a social contract between the rulers and the ruled, provided for such clauses as the recall process and impeachment as safeguards against abuse of power.

The processes of impeachment and actions considered impeachable offences are also clearly itemized. Apart from securing a twothirds majority of the legislature, impeachment is directed at such weighty offences as gross misconduct, mismanagement of public funds and similar serious financial infractions.

With the impeachment of the governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako and the serving of same processes on Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nassarawa State, the opposition has cried out against what it called the abuse of the impeachment provision by the ruling party. It alleged political motive, getting even with opponents and financial inducement as the driving force for the impeachments even as it claimed three other governors have been marked for the same exercise.

They contend that impeachments solely propelled by the expedience of settling political scores or procured through financial

‘It is the disproportionate powers at the disposal of the centre that accentuates impeachments at its whims and caprices...Ironically, when there are discussions on devolution of powers to dilute the overbearing influence of the central authority, some sections relapse into equivocation’

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Emeka OMEIHE 08112662675 email: EmekaOmeihe@yahoo.com

Of impeachments and dialectics inducements detract essentially from the spirit guiding the impeachment clause as an integral part of modern governance.

They warned, should this abuse continue unchecked, the ruling party should take responsibility for its negative outcome on the current democratic experiment.

The federal government in reaction denied it has its fingers in the exercise. It says the powers of impeachment of a state governor rest squarely with the people of the affected state through their assembly-men. By this, it seems to be contending that it is the inalienable right of a state through extant legal procedures to determine what is good for them including when or not to apply the impeachment axe. Once this constitutional procedure has been adhered to, the PDP argues, it is meaningless for anybody to question or impute motives into the exercise.

It went further to allege that the opposition also tried to financially induce some legislators to frustrate their pro-impeachment counterparts in the Adamawa case from securing the required majority. All these are allegations. No concrete evidence has so far been provided to prove their veracity.

There are potent issues on both sides of the divide. We shall return to them shortly.

The raging recrimination highlights the uncanny dialectics between legality and morality in the deployment of the impeachment clause. It brings to the fore the conflict between constitutional principles and their actual application.

WAS trying to write a piece on “President Jonathan and the Search for Empathy” on the Chibok abduction when I stumbled on a lecture delivered by former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, and now Emir of Kano Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on youTube. It was a TEDx talk with youths on ideas that can change the world. He spoke for 18 minutes. I took the pains to transcribe the talk for the readers and then added my conclusion.

“I am going to speak to you on the Topic overcoming the fear of vested Interest. It’s a topic that I have come to be engaged in mentally because I have learnt in four years or so that I have been in Abuja that if we understand that we may begin to unlock the key of how to change our country.

What is this country? It is a country of about 167million; it specializes in exporting what it does not produce and import what it produces. One of the largest world producers of oil that does not refine its own petroleum products, the world’s largest producer of cassava that does not produce starch or ethanol, large tomato belt yet large importer of tomato paste.

In my four years in Abuja, I have come to the conclusion that we need to overcome the fear of vested interests to make our potentials a reality.

I became the CBN governor in 2009 and this was in the middle of global financial crisis. I came in knowing that banks had problems thinking that the problems believing that they were caused by the collapse in price of oil, capital markets and they will be addressed by using the normal risk management issues in banks. However, I discovered that the Nigerian banking system was infested with the corruption; that a number of bank chief executives had taken their banks and literally taken depositors money to buy properties all over the world. The banks were sites for rent seeking. We recovered from one of the chief executive officers of a Bank through our banking reforms 200 pieces of real estates in DUBAI, Johannesburg, and shares in over 100 companies purchased with depositors fund. We went to the court against another CEO in UK and got a judgment of N142billion stolen from the Bank and taken to buy manipulated shares and transferred outside the country to buy properties. For the first CEO, we got a six month sentence in one case. In the second CEO we established case against him, but two weeks before the closing statements were made, the judge was miraculously promoted to the federal Appeal court after three years of trial.

We took a decision that would pitch us against powerful political and economic forces. We were dealing with chief executives that in 2009 had become invincible. They were in the seat of power. They had economic power and they had bought political protection. They were into political parties, they had financed elections of officers and they believed that nobody could touch them. And every time I said it was time for us to take action, people said to me you can’t touch this

The opposition’s main contention is not that due process was not followed. Neither is it exculpating those charged of the allegations. It is more concerned with issues of financial inducement and the alleged use of impeachment to settle political scores. These cannot be ruled out even as they do not suffice to invalidate the process. Morality being essentially judgmental and value-laden cannot find serious accommodation in this matrix especially if extant legal rules have been complied. All depends on the political weight assigned to the matter by those who seek regime change through the impeachment process.

Even then, it is no less worrisome why legislators easily give in to financial inducements to prosecute such a process if they do not believe in it. This raises questions as to whether principles play any role in the conduct of these lawmakers. So, in our assessment of the moral issues involved in these impeachments, the role of the legislators must be seriously re-examined.

The federal government has been accused of vendetta against Nyako because he dumped the party under which he was elected. The acerbic memo he wrote to northern governors alleging sundry misdeeds against President Jonathan in the fight against terrorism is said to be another issue.

They could as well be.

As in the case of impeachments, it is hard to ignore the serious moral issues raised by the way some governors dumped the party

that brought them into office. This could as well fit into the genesis of all we are now about to reap.

This point may find further illustration from the case of Al-Makura who has been working well with a PDP majority that can impeach him if they so decide. Of a sudden, they have realized that the governor has committed impeachable offences and have moved to remove him. It is alleged that the prime motivation is to install more PDP governors and gain advantage as elections draw closer. This viewpoint cannot be ruled out.

With the formation of the APC and the decamping of five PDP governors to it, the majority status which the PDP hitherto enjoyed was jolted. Matters were not helped by the high premium which the APC placed on attracting governors unto its fold. Then, the APC had even nursed the ambition of upstaging the house leadership. Things changed fast as the PDP moved to maintain its majority in the House of Representatives.

It is not unlikely that the PDP may have resorted to self-help in the matter of impeachment to regain its control of more states. So if political motive is perceived in the current impeachments, the reason can be understood.

Whether it is right or wrong in the circumstance will remain largely controversial.

In this dialectical matrix, we are faced with the dissonance between our extant political culture and the culture of democracy which we purport to practice. Max Weber identified three variants - the parochial, subject and participant political cultures. For him, the political culture of democracy is the participant variant. But for a country as our, it vacillates between the parochial and the subject. What this means is that we are still lacking in the socialization processes that make for the sustenance of democracy. That is why impeachments can be deployed to settle scores. That is also why governors can easily dump their parties without hoot. It is a contradiction all parties must share responsibility.

They highlight the incongruity in the awesome powers at the disposal of the central government such that it controls life and death.

It is the disproportionate powers at the disposal of the centre that accentuates impeachments at its whims and caprices. It is for the same reason all parties seek control of it by all means. Ironically, when there are discussions on devolution of powers to dilute the overbearing influence of the central authority, some sections relapse into equivocation.

These are the issues to ponder.

Nigerian youths and vested interests

By Oludayo Tade people, you will be sacked. Oh you can’t touch this people!

They will kill you. I said to them, we are going to take them on. And we took the decision we were going to remove them and we removed them and nothing happened. We said we were going to prosecute them and we are going to put them in jail and we put one of them in jail. We also said we were going to recover these assets because the way CBN operated in the past was these guys take all these monies and the Central Bank says the bank has failed! The Banks that we saved had N4.4trillion in deposit, they had eight to 10 million customers but the government and the system as always been on the side of the rich people.

The old woman in Gboko or in Yenagoa who has been told to save their money and who have saved money for 15 years and wakes up one to hear that all her savings are gone or the civil servant who has put in 35years in service and kept his pension money in the bank, the school fees of his children, and his medical bills. He wakes up and found that his bank is barricaded because banks have failed! Banks do not fail. It’s like seeing a man whose foot has been slipped and you say he is dead. He did not die, he was killed. And those that murdered the banks destroyed these deposits have always walked away: they become senators, governors, captains of industry; they set up new banks and they continue at the expense of the millions of poor people who do not have a voice.

But the banking industry is just one part of Nigeria. What is happening in other areas (sectors)? Take the oil industry, we are talking about fuel subsidy, in 2009 this country paid N291billion as subsidy for petroleum product. By 2011 it jumped to N2.7trillion. Did the population of Nigerians multiply ten times? Did we start consuming ten times as much petrol? Did the population of Nigeria multiply ten times?

There have been investigations and what did we discover?

That a lot of that money never went into fuel subsidy that was consumed by Nigerians. These are people in this country that produce pieces of paper and brought it to PPRA and somebody stamped it and paid them subsidy. We discovered that some ships claimed to have brought 30,000 metric tonnes was nowhere near the coast of Nigeria on that date. We have seen vessels that did not even exist on Bills of Laden and money has been paid. And you know what? None of them as I speak to you has gone to jail.

This is the only country in the world where you have something called oil-theft where vessels can simply come and take crude oil and literally drive out of the country. Yet,

we have got the Navy, NIMASA, security services and the oil company themselves. And every day we complain about lack of development. We don’t have development because vested interests continue to rape this country and continue to take the money out. And the only way you are going to move from potentials to reality is to stop preaching and start asking yourself how can we overcome the fear of vested interests and how can we confront them?

We have 65million youths in Nigeria. What does it take for one of you to get your vote and be the president of this country? What does it take to say you are tired of my generation? Why does it have to take fuel subsidy removal for us to come out and challenge the rot in our country? What are we afraid of? We are afraid of losing the security that we have today. We may not lose it today. We will lose it tomorrow. So there is one message I have for Nigerians is to remember is that the problems of Nigeria are enormous, the solution is simple and that solution is that we must overcome and recognize that at the heart of Nigeria problems (Boko Haram, religious crisis, ethnic crisis, unemployment, lack of education, lack of health care) are people who profit from the poverty and underdevelopment of this country and these people are called vested interests. So long as they remain entrenched and so long as we have not overcome our fears of them and dislodge them, we are not going to reach our true potentials…”

This is a task for 2015 elections and isolated governorship elections. Let the youths determine their future with their votes. Marrianne Williamson wrote in A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles that: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Nelson Mandela said “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

• Dr Tade, a sociologist writes from Ibadan

Kalu

Kalu

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

ISSUES

CEO

‘The best way to save is to invest’ - P. 27

News Briefing ‘Economy still vulnerable’ DESPITE claims that Nigeria’s economic prospect is bright, the World Bank has warned that Nigeria’s economy is still in a somewhat vulnerable macroeconomic position.

–Page 26

Data security vital to knowledge economy THE President, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Prof David Adewumi has said Nigeria’s pursuit of a knowledge-based economy will not stand the test of time if steps are not taken to protect the data of people. He warned that cyber warfare could be more devastating than the physical war fare going on across the globe.

–Page 26

‘Aviation debt down by N21b’

‘Europe is a good market for gas. Incidentally, Belgium has important terminals such as the Port of Antwerp through which Nigeria hopes to get its gas to the rest of Europe. We’ll start marketing our abundant gas resources to Europe,’ •Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu

Forces against sale of refineries - P. 32

Fed Govt explores models for TCN’s privatisation T HE Federal Govern ment is looking at various privatisation models to adopt in selling the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to private investors. Its being managed by Manitoba Hydro International Limited of Canada, Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo, said the Federal Government will not falter on its resolution to privatise the value chain of the power sector.

He spoke on the sideline of a ceremony in Lagos to mark receipt of 248 containers of power equipment abandoned at dry ports in some parts of the country.

Although Prof Nebo did not give specific timeline for the privatisation of the transmission, he said the government is looking at various models, including full privatisation, regional privatisation and concessioning models.

He, however, explained

• Eyes transmission of 20,000Mw by 2020

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

that it would not be done in one fell swoop as was the case of generation and distribution companies to avoid undue post-privatisation challenges, stressing that if there are enough generation and distribution capacities without adequate transmission capacity, Nigerians will still not get power, so government wants to get it right from the beginning.

He said: “The power sector timetable is on course but there are teething problems we are encountering. Nigeria took on a huge privatisation exercise. No country in the world has done the volume of privatisation of utilities that Nigeria has done, and which was done in very transparent process. So coming out of that

is not easy. For instance, without privatisation, these 248 containers probably will still be there. No private industry will allow that to happen, they will take delivery on the spot and get to work.

“But with privatisation, at least we are sure that with regard to generation and distribution, we have private companies and TCN is being managed by an international organisation, Manitoba Hydro International. With this you can see we are stationed for eventual handing over all of these to those who know how to do business and it is private companies that know how to do business. Government should be an enabler.

“I cannot tell you privatisation period but now we are looking at various models.

There are models of full pri-

vatisation, models of regional privatisation and there are models of concessioning. We are looking at all these. What is amazing and encouraging is the massive inflow of those who want to come and invest in TCN. If people didn’t believe in Nigeria or its buoyant economic stance, nobody will be coming to this country.

“People are coming in droves to invest, which is not an indication of a country that is failing or does not take care of its people. So government is doing everything possible to attracting these businesses and if they come they don’t go back. But when it comes to transmission, government needs to think through it and maybe not do it in one fell swoop as we did generation and distribution.”

THE Ministry of Aviation has said it has reduced its debt profile from N174 billion to N153billion.

–Page 26

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil Cocoa

-$117.4/barrel -$2,686.35/metric ton

Coffee

- ¢132.70/pound

Cotton

- ¢95.17pound

Gold

-$1,396.9/troy

Sugar

-$163/lb RATES

Inflation

-8.2%

Treasury Bills -10.58%(91d) Maximum lending -30% Prime lending

-15.87%

Savings rate

-3%

91-day NTB

-15%

Time Deposit

-5.49%

MPR

-12%

Foreign Reserve

$38.4b

FOREX CFA

-0.2958

EUR

-206.9

£

-242.1

$

-156

¥

-1.9179

SDR

-238

RIYAL

-40.472

•Managing Director/CEO, Keystone Bank, Mr. Philip Ikeazor flanked by Executive Director, North, Dr. Shehu Muhammad (left) and Executive Director, Corporate Bank and Treasury, Mr. Hafiz Bakare during a media parley in Lagos.

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BPE urges banks to invest in power infrastructure

By Akinola Ajibade

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HE Director-General, Bureau of Public Enter prise (BPE), Benjamin Dikki has urged banks to invest in the provision of infrastructure in the power sector, lamenting that in spite of the agency’s efforts to attract investors into the sector, the level of investment remains very low.

He urged the lenders to enter into agreement with the distribution companies (DISCOs) by funding transformers’ purchase.

He said infrastructure remains the major problems besetting the sector, noting that BPE has on several occasions appealed to investors to set up companies that would manufacture transformers, cables, meters and other components needed to distribute power effectively in the country.

He said one or two companies produce meters in the country, adding that they have not been able to meet the demands.

He said: “We have appealed to investors invest in Nigeria. We have shown them that there is an opportunity in the country. We have provided an opportunity for investors meet us (BPE) on the issue of producing transformers, cables, smartcards, meters, but to no avail. These components are important in the industry, if we are to achieve meaningful progress. The DISCOs need them to distribute electricity they get from the gas-powered plants.’’

He said huge capital is required to set up companies that would manufacture power equipment, giving the state of the country’s economy.

“Nigeria requires millions of metres to provide power to people. To produce these meters and other equipment in Nigeria, billions of dollars are needed to achieve results,” he added.

High import duty crippling business, says MAN

HE Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) has cried out over increase in Customs duty at ports.

The manufacturers kicked against the current single window environment and pre-arrival assessment technique used by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), arguing that this leads to delay in data generation and verification of document.

They accused officials of the NCS of contributing to congestion at the port through arbitrary increase

By Oluwakemi Dauda

of import duties.

Its President, Ogun State Chapter, Dr Kola Jamodu, said the arbitrary increase in duties and imposition of unnecessary taxation by government agencies at ports have led to the accumulation of demurrage to be paid by manufacturers and other importers doing businesses at ports.

Jamodu urged government agencies to desist from turning themselves into milking institutions at the detriment

of importers using the ports to transact their legitimate business.

He said: “the government should ensure that cargo fares are relatively stable over time while multiple taxation on imports should be looked into as a matter of urgency to avoid further congestion at the ports.

“Problem of efficient cargo identification, fast clearing process, arbitrary increase in cargo duties and continuous deduction keep reoccurring even at the ports, and I believe the Nigeria Customs

Service will overturn this deficit in the nearest future.”

The MAN president also lamented the erratic power supply witnessed in the country, saying that it also contributes to congestion at the ports as most appliances are electronically powered and require electricity to perform optimally.

Also, the Association of Nigeria Tyre Marketers has decried the high import duty levied on them as a result the new tyre policy.

The spokesman of the group, Mr John Samuel said

the new tyre policy allows local manufacturers to benefit from the concession rate of five per cent import duty on tyres, while other stakeholders are levied 20 per cent duty and five per cent value added tax (VAT).

He expressed dissatisfaction with the impact of the new tyre policy on their businesses, saying they pay higher levies at ports.

“The effect of the policy is that people like us will now be clearing tyres at 25 per cent duty, excluding other levies,” he lamented.

26

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

BUSINESS NEWS

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Economy still vulnerable, says World Bank

ESPITE claims that Nigeria’s economic prospect is bright, the World Bank has warned that the economy is still in a vulnerable macroeconomic position.

The World Bank in its report on Nigeria states: “With much depending on the performance of the oil sector and commodity prices, a negative shock to oil revenues would also adversely affect the expectations of portfolio investors, with further short term balance of payments implications.”

On the positive side however, the World Bank believes that in addition to the perceived resolve of the Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to maintain a prudent macroeconomic policy stance, the strong reserve and debt positions of the Nigerian Government still imply significant space.

Although the balance of the Excess Crude Account (ECA) is still

From Nduka Chiejina, Abuja

quite low, the World Bank report noted. “Nigerian sovereign debt stands at only 10.6 per cent of (rebased) GDP, and external debt at 1.7 per cent. As a result, “changes in monetary policies in the US and other developed countries could also trigger changes in net portfolio investment flows to Nigeria,” the report said.

The report maintained: “Over the medium and longer term, Nigeria’s future prosperity will depend critically on improvements in non-oil growth and non-oil government revenues.”

This argument by the World Bank is hinged on what it believes that “while Nigeria still possesses substantial oil and gas reserves, oil revenues will likely continue to shrink relative to

the size of the Nigerian economy over the medium term this should occur even in the event of an optimistic scenario with respect to oil output and prices.”

The report added that maintaining or increasing the finance of public services in Nigeria will entail rapid growth of non-oil sources of revenues. The Nigerian economy it said “has experienced substantial economic growth in recent years. The quality and quantity of this growth has nevertheless proved so far insufficient to generate the productive jobs needed by a young and rapidly growing population.”

Commenting on the performance of the 2013 budget, the World Bank said: “The implementation of government budgets faced challenges in 2013 due to significantly lower revenues than programmed and, in the case of the Federal Government, late passage into law of the annual budget.”

RMRDC urges synergy in raw materials value chain

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HE Director-General, Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Mr. Ibrahim Hussain Doko has stressed the need to promote efficient synergy among stakeholders for the purpose of ensuring sustainable sourcing of raw material value chain.

He also said one of the core objectives of the RMRDC is to facilitate direct business interactions between producers and users of raw materials to achieve economies of scale.

He spoke on the sideline of a stakeholders meeting announcing its forthcoming second Nigerian Raw Materials Exposition (NIRAM Expo 2014) scheduled for October.

He frowned at the import dependent raw materials economy even

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By Lucas Ajanaku

ment to put in place a knowledgebased economy driven by ICT. Other experts that spoke on the subject matter all stressed the need for data protection arguing that data has become the currency of a knowledge-based economy, driving innovation and boosting businesses at various levels, and must be protected at all cost, the conference insisted.

Manager, Cyber Risk Services Unit, Deloitte Nigeria, Funmilola Odumuboni, in her presentation in one of the sessions, said although data drives knowledge-economies, but there are security issues around data that must be addressed.

She said:”Nigeria is fast moving to knowledge based economy and there is need to address the security issues around activities on the knowledgebased economy.”

She identified security issues threatening knowledge driven economy to include software piracy, identity theft,

industrial espionage, platform interoperability, among others. To fix these issues, Odumuboni suggested effective intellectual management system, development of a robust security strategy, formulating piracy laws and cyber security laws, as well as creating awareness that must be led by government through seminars and workshops.

She expressed worries that data hacking is daily becoming an issue global scene, adding that experts must come up with innovative ways to protect data in order to drive knowledgebased economy.

Country Managing Director, Accenture Nigeria, Mr. Biyi Yusuf said there is need for Nigeria to leverage knowledge-based economy through ICT that would drive the country’s education sector. To achieve this, she said Nigeria should be able to deploy cost based technology.

Represented by Mr. Adebayo Ibrahim from the firm, he lamented a situation where there are still outdated facilities in the universities, and called for update of university facilities and curriculum.

‘Aviation debt down by N21b’

HE Ministry of Aviation has said it has reduced its debt profile from N174 billion to N153billion.

Former Supervising Minister of the Ministry, Samuel Ortom, who spoke in Abuja during the hand over to the new Minister, Osita Chidoka, said an interim report has shown that the debt profile has gone down.

Ortom had set up a committee to look into the debt profile of the ministry. He explained that with the aid of the committee report, which is still ongoing, the ministry’s indebtedness has been re-

From Faith Yahaya, Abuja

duced by about N21 billion.

He said: “We received an interim report that gave us a figure of N174 billion commitment. The committee’s work is still going on; we have not concluded the work yet, but as at today, because of further verifications and other payments that had been made, we have been able to bring down the figure to N153 billion commitment.”

He added that the commitments are for projects.

Ortom also used the occasion to set agenda for the new minister, espe-

cially in relation to the establishment of a national carrier, even as he expressed optimism that the coming of the new minister will bring the floating of national carrier to fruition.

Responding, Chidoka said the safety of the country’s airspace and security of aviation infrastructure remains two cardinal objectives for him to move the ministry forward. He then promised to continue getting briefing from the heads of department, permanent secretary and the parastatals, after which he will be in a position to tell Nigerians, clearly, where the industry is and where he hopes to pilot it to.

appointment by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) last year.

Speaking on the event, which coincides with the grand finale of the 1914 amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates by British colonial masters, the group’s chair, Mr. Aaron Ukodie said the conference and the Night of Excellence during which awards would be given to distinguished Nigerians, is intended to celebrate the beautiful journey so far in the ICT ecosphere.

He said the industry has been growing both in networth and size.

Specifically, he stressed that telecoms has continued to be a major contributor to the nation’s GDP in a manner never before witnessed.

Excessive taxation, cost, others take toll on businesses

• From left: Senior Analyst, Digital Financial Services, Microsave, Kenya, Jacqueline Jumah; AITEC Chairman, Mr. Sean Moroney and Senior Analyst, Digital Financial Services, Microsave, Kenya, Joyce Murithis during the AITEC banking conference and exhibition in Lagos.

HE President, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Prof David Adewumi has said Nigeria’s pursuit of a knowledgebased economy will not stand the test of time if steps are not taken to protect the data of people. He warned that cyber warfare could be more devastating than the physical war fare going on across the globe.

Adewumi who spoke on the sideline at the computer professionals umbrella body’s 25th annual conference in Enugu, Enugu State over the weekend, said the trend globally is a paradigm shift to knowledgebased economy, adding that Nigeria can no longer wait while other countries take proactive steps to improve the living standards of their people. He urged private and public organisation to prioritise data protection.

According to him, the current contribution of the information communication technology (ICT) sector to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) could be doubled if steps are taken by the govern-

when there is abundant supply of relevant raw materials to feed the local industries.

He said: “For us at RMRDC we are committed to address the lingering issue of capital flight experienced in the country through importation of raw materials by many manufacturers as against the patronage of local materials due to insufficient awareness or quality of the product.”

Doko, who was represented by Director, Agro Allied Department, Dr. Moyo Jolayoso, frowned at the exportation of raw materials which is imported back as finished products with the addition of certain additives at great cost.

Jonathan, others get ICT Centenary Awards

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has been listed among other eminent persons to be honoured during the Nigeria Broadband Business Forum and ICT Centenary awards to be held later in the year.

The award, which is being put together by a group, Information Technology Media Alliance in commemoration of the ICT development in the country in the last 100 years, will be preceded by a conference with the theme: Broadband Business as Catalyst for Development and a Connected Nigeria.

The wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan is also on the honours list in recognition of her role as the Ambassador of the Child Online Protection following her

Data security vital to knowledge economy, says NCS

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie

M

OST middle market lead ers from all revenue seg ments have continued to express low level of confidence in the nation’s economy.

Chief Executive, Bright Future Nigeria, Prince Saviour Iche said the economy has seen increasing tax burden, rising labour costs and the availability of key skills as key threats to this growth.

He said he planned to increase or maintain investment but access to finance remains a critical factor.

According to him, the long-term picture is not much better.

Generally,he doesn’t even expect economic recovery to be a slow and drawn-out process lasting years,blaming government for not doing enough to help the economy.

In terms of long-term growth, he was not even more upbeat; and fully confident of long-term growth in revenue.

By Daniel Essiet

Iche expects paucity of funds to continue to have a broad impact on business, affecting companies across all geographic regions and sectors.

According to him,companies were anticipating growth would fund it primarily through internal cash flow.

Chief Executive,Benchems Nigeria Enterprise, Udenwa Benjamin said lack of finance support is weighing heavily on their confidence with the negative impact that uncertainty of access is encouraging more private spending.

He said small businesses are being hit by the credit crunch. He said companies are hurt, and face higher financing costs.

Benjamin said entrepreneurs are not able to plan investments as a result.

Ogun to launch CORS station network

T

HE Ogun State government has acquired the Continu ously Operation Reference System (CORS) station network to ensure easy land administration, access to land as well as meet the global standards for land processing.

It is believed that the acquisition of this technology will help in monitoring lands in the state, thereby preventing fraud in land matters.

Also acquired is a very high resolution satellite imagery, which has been installed in high development areas of the state.

The Special Adviser/Director General of the Bureau of Lands, Mr. Adewale Oshinowo, explained that equipment, such as 3D Stereo and 50 Cm Imagery have also been installed in Lagos-Ogun border areas, just as towns, such as Abeokuta, Ifo, Ijebu-

By Muyiwa Lucas

Ode, Ilaro-Ofada areas and Sagamu have benefited from the scheme.

He said the equipment would allow surveyors, government agencies and the general public to have access to data through radio satellites and Direct Global Positioning System (DGPS).

“This would produce high accuracy maps of the state and Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation projects.

The development of the CORS Station network would be commissioned

by November this year,” Oshinowo said.

The Bureau’s Information Officer, Mr. Ademola Orunbon said the CORS stations were already built in Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode and Agbara, while other CORS stations would be completed during the second phase of the project so as to ensure 100 per cent coverage of the entire state.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

27

THE CEO

‘The best way to save is to invest’ The idea of establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund met with resistance when it was first muted, and even now, it is unsavoury to some in political leadership.

Nevertheless, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Agency, Uche Orji, sees it as the safeguard Nigeria has when its oil wells eventually dry up. He speaks with the Group Business Editor, SIMEON EBULU.

W

AS Nigeria on target when it started the Sovereign Wealth Fund?

In my place, they always say, whenever you wake up, you say good morning. We have woken up to this and our morning for this has started. Obviously if we had started the SWF in 1976, at the same time that Abu Dhabi started theirs, which at the time, I was told, they started with less than $30 million, Abu Dhabi has built a complete business now of $675 billion. Abu Dhabi produces less oil than Nigeria.

In 1996 when Norway started, and Norway produces about the same amount of oil as Nigeria, it with $300 million, and I remember this clearly, because when I was at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, we co-managed a portion of their funds for them. Today, the Norwegian government puts into their SWF, the equivalent of $1 billion every week. When I met with them last October, they said every week since last year and the year before, they’ve been putting $1 billion.

As we are sitting down here, they are doing that every week. And now they have built their SWF to be the World’s biggest to about $840 billion.

The point is, we can sit back and say, if we apply the same principles that Norway, or UAE applied in 1976, or 1996, we could have been much bigger. But all of that is water under the bridge. We have woken up, the most difficult challenge is to make sure that the contribution is consistent. The biggest danger is that you start and you stop. It becomes difficult to achieve what you want to achieve with this business.

What is the underlying priciple guiding SWF management?

Sovereign Wealth Funds are managed conservatively. They don’t borrow money the way banks do, so you can’t compare this business to banking business. For every dollar of banking equity, you know sometimes, they leverage it, may be 100 times. This business does not expose itself to that kind of risk. It is not the same thing as private equity.

They invest in equity as a diversified pool of asset, so you don’t take the same extreme level of risk as other people take. The valueadded of Sovereign Wwealth Fund is the consistency of contribution by the governments that started it. That is the only way you distinguish SWFs from other forms of investments.

How soon are we going to be able to measure the success of this venture?

Well it is helpful in answering that question to accept that various governments in the past, particularly that of President Olusegun Obasanjo, through the Excess Crude Account, attempted to do this. But with

• Orji

PHOTO: SIMEON EBULU

Profile Institutions attended

University of PortHarcourt

Qualifications

B.Sc (Chemical Engineering), MBA Harvard Business School

Previous positions

MD, JP Morgans Assets, UBS

Present position

Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Sovereign Inv Agency (NSIA)

Experience

Over 22 years.

the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, a law was actually enacted to make this happen. It is now a question of: Can we consistently keep to that law? If we can, then we will most likely, succeed.

You measure the success of SWFs, not in weeks, or quarters, you measure it actually in most cases, in decades. I can tell you this because when Norway started, I was there.

At Goldman Sachs, they gave us a small slice of $50 million to manage for them. Here we are almost 20 years, and it is one of the biggest SWFs in the world.

We’ve stated today, which is great, but we must contribute consistently to this, because really, this is not about me, or any individual. It is the foundation that you put in place today- the consistency of the contribu-

tion that will determine the success of the Nigerian SWF in 20, 30 years time.

Let’s not forget why we set up this Fund.

Our oil resources, who knows when it will run out, but one thing is guaranteed-it will run out. We don’t know when, but it will, so we have to be prepared.

If SWFs have that much success quotient, as you said, why was there resistance to its creation?

Number one, it is not unusual that there was resistance to the creation of the SWF. Firstly, there are competing needs for the resources, and it’s a question of, do you save, or do you invest. Even in other places, there are issues, even in Norway, you will hear about people saying, oh, we have saved enough, let’s start spending. The younger

‘Sovereign Wealth Funds are managed conservatively.

They don’t borrow money the way banks do, so you can’t compare this business to banking business. For every dollar of banking equity, you know sometimes, they leverage it, may be 100 times. This business does not expose itself to that kind of risk’

generation now want to spend the money.

Whenever there’s a pot of resources, the debate has always been, do we invest, or do we save?

I also need people to understand that the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

So there is perception issue as to what a SWF does. I personally believe that the bridge in the conversation is to accept that the best way to save is to invest.

Let me explain. If you keep N10million in your bank account, and it’s cash, every time somebody comes to say, this one, you give, that one, you give, that money will never be of any use to you. But if you take that money and buy a flat and you rent the flat out and start collecting rent, you can spend that return and keep your capital, and may be your capital will appreciate.

So it is a matter of how you decide to approach what people have perceived as a conflict in definition. So when I hear people say, why are we saving when the roof is leaking, my answer is, it’s not so much about saving, it’s about savings through investing.

Because we asked the same question 20 or 30 years ago. In the first Gulf War, we had a lot of money, in the oil crisis in the 70s, we had a lot of money. Could you imagine, if we consistently saved a bit of that since the 70s, where we will be today? We would have enough pool of capital to take on major projects. So the resistance is the age-old perception of the difference between savings through investing and spending.

The number two reason, is obviously the matter in court between the Federal Government and the states, on which I cannot comment, but the reality of the issue is, we are investing this money.

But I want you to take away one impres•Continued on page 28

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

28

THE CEO

‘The best way to save is to invest’

•Continued from page 27

sion, which is that, it is not unusual to have a debate around the issue of, do we save, or do we invest. People should understand that we are investing this money, we are not taking it, and the best way to save, is to invest, that’s my personal view.

Don’t you think there’s need for enlightenment?

It does call for a lot of enlightenment, which on the one hand we can do, but it’s not just us. It’s enlightenment across, by the government and the media, who have the benefit of seeing and hearing about other countries where this has worked. It is a stakeholder enlightenment by everybody who understands what this, is.

So for everybody to expect that I would be the one to go about and explain to all these people, there’s already a conflict of interest issue here. You need to understand this, that this is not so much about my career. I was a managing director of an investment bank for almost 15 years before I took this job. So I’ve had a successful career, but this is about all of us. So, I will do my best to enlighten people, by making sure that people like you who shape opinion, understand it better so that you will be able to help shape peoples opinion.

What’s the assurance that this will be a win-win adventure?

Make no mistake about it, the markets are volatile. It’s not every investment we make that is going to work, but so far so good. We score ourselves highly on the little investments that we have made so far because we’ve been very, very careful.

But there’ll be moments when things would be a little difficult when you have significant macroeconomic issues.

The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund in 2011, or sometimes within the last five years, lost over a $100 billion, and two years later, they made $120 billion. Sometimes it can be that volatile, but people need to understand that is how the markets are.

But in the long-run, one thing is clear. It has been proven that the markets always end up expanding, because demography is growing, innovation is happening, businesses are becoming more efficient.

All of these are the reasons we need to be more patient about the long-term effect of this business.

How will you define the NSIA mandate?

The law requires us to manage three funds. The first is the Stabilisation Fund, which has to provide daily liquidity for us to give to the government whenever the government needs stabilisation.

That fund is not designed to earn a lot of money. It’s not long-term.

We’ve invested in a way that it yields daily liquidity. That fund in my opinion will earn, somewhere roughly two per cent, or less.

Returns and duration are correlated. The longer the duration, the higher the returns. Essentially that‘s how the fund is structured. We’ve tried to push the returns higher while maintaining the requirement for daily liquidity as defined by the law. We have put 20 per cent of the fund there.

The main returns will come from the Future Generations Fund and the Infrastructure Fund. The Future Generations’ Fund, in many ways is where we expect to see significant returns. There, as at the end of March, we have committed 50 per cent of the Generations Funds to various assets.

And the Future Generations Fund is 40 per cent of the SWF. It is a wealth with five pool of assets in the following categories.

Essentially, how have you deployed the fund?

First of all, we invested in Hedge Funds. Hedge Funds are businesses that are designed to try and pro-

• Orji

• Orji

• Orji

PHOTOS: SIMEON EBULU

‘Make no mistake about it, the markets are volatile. It’s not every investment we make that is going to work, but so far so good. We score ourselves highly on the little investments that we have made so far because we’ve been very, very careful. But there’ll be moments when things would be a little difficult when you have significant macro-economic issues’ tect you in a market downturn, as well as maximise returns in the market upscale.

Those Hedge Funds have done very well. The best performing Hedge Fund we have in the firstthree months of the year, returned 12 per cent, which is remarkable.

The worst one was down 2.8 per cent, but all-in-all, our Hedge Fund strategy is up, quite significantly. On a blended basis, we are up somewhere around seven per cent.

The markets have been in our favour. So we expect the Hedge Funds to continue to do well. We have invested in four of them. 25 per cent of the Futures Genera-

tion Funds is with Hedge Funds.

Given the volatility in the financial markets, what safety nets have you put in place? What is the profit margin you are targeting?

The steps we have taken at the top level, is to structure the Futures Generation Funds in a way that will allow us to cover US inflation rates, plus another four per cent, that will give us, roughly another five-six per cent expected returns, and don’t forget, we are programmed to earn this annually. So over a period of five-10 years, the Fund will actually grow significantly.

And the way we have done this, is to invest 25 per cent of the Fu-

tures with Hedge Funds, 25 per cent with private equities, which is long duration. But most private equities will return the money anywhere between three, four times the value of the money over a period of 10 years.

We have also invested in public markets, public equities. We are yet to make investments in commodities, which we will, we are yet to make investments in hard assets such as real estate, which we will. These are the steps taken to find the asset classes to put the money in that will give us this fort of returns.

All escrow?

Some escrow some local, but mostly escrow, mostly external.

So, 20 per cent in stabilisation, 40 per cent is generation.

Into which sector have you invested the balance?

The remaining 40 per cent is infrastructure, which we have started to invest locally. This is Nigeria infrastructure.

The Infrastructure Fund will be long duration. The first investment we’ve made is the Second Niger Bridge, which is on-going, work has continued. It is a fouryear construction period. Two years of initial operations and then we start earning returns after six years. But over 25 years, the expectation is that we will earn somewhere about 15 per cent a year return from our investment.

Something we have also signed up to is Eagle Hills. One of the projects we are evaluating is the Centenary City, which is a whole Economic City. We are also evaluating other related projects in Lagos, and other parts of Nigeria as well. Again we anticipate earning about 10-15 per cent a year from those kind of investments.

We have also made commitments to invest in agriculture and we anticipate to earn over 20 per cent a year.

What informs your investment decision?

There are four things that guide our investment strategies.

Number one, is it a national priority, and that has been very important in making us focused and we have put this constraint on ourselves as an early stage-guide.

We have small capital and we will want to use it wisely. Somebody came and wanted us to invest in his water park. I said Water Park is a good idea, but not a national priority.

Number two; is the regulatory and legal environment conducive for private investment, number three, can we attract private co-investors and four, can we earn a reasonable return?

The minimum specified return for us in infrastructure is, US inflation rate plus five per cent, so we are looking to earn seven eight per cent, in dollars. These are the four immediate guiding factors.

What are your areas of core interest?

For now, we are focusing on five areas, which are power, agriculture, healthcare, real estate, which is in commercial and affordable housing, highways and motorways.

More recently, we have been given money by government to invest in gas infrastructure. Gas was what we wanted to do later on, but the government said gas is priority right now, and they have given us $200million to work outt opportunities to invest in gas.

In motorways, there are three projects we have evaluated. The second Niger Bridge, we have already announced. We are working with Julius Berger on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and we have been in discussion for a long time on that. The government will be in a position to make a pronouncement on that very soon.

There is one more project in the Northern side of the country. We are still in the early stage of discussion on that. We have set up a subsidiary vehicle, the NSIA Motorways Investment Company and some of our staff are midwifing it.

Once the national tolling policy is a place, we will become more active in this sector.

There are many things to do and I hope that when the primary client, the federal and state governments make these projects for PPP participation we will be there.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

29

MONEYLINK AfDB approves African devt strategy

CBN gives banks’ customers six-year windows to lodge complaints T

C

USTOMERS with complaints against their banks are expected to report such cases to the Consumer Protection Unit of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) within six years from the date of transaction. At the expiration of the six months, such complaints will not be entertained.

Its Director, U.A Dutse said in a circular to banks and other financial institutions that a draft of the guidelines to effect the policy has already been sent to stakeholders for input.

“Based on inputs received from stakeholders, study of what obtains from other jurisdictions, some regulatory agencies in Nigeria and

the provision of relevant legislations in respect of document retention and commencement of legal action, a time bar of six years from date of transaction was recommended, after which complaints against Financial Service Producers (FSPs) would not be entertained,” he said.

He said the proposed time limit does not preclude the right of a complaint to seek redress in court of law.

Dutse said the regulator is exposing the draft regulation to stakeholders’ comment.

He explained that the CBN, in implementing its consumer protection initiatives observed that timely reso-

lution of complaints from consumers against FSPs within regulated timeline has been a major challenge for bank, FSPs and consumers.

Amongst other issues, availability and access to supporting documents were identified by stakeholders as major setback for timely resolution of complaints.

The director said the apex bank identified the need to have in place, adequate measures to ensure that consumers are diligent in their financial transactions by making prompt claims on financial transactions as they occur, to ensure that the FSPs are able to resolve same with the required resources.

the app.

“What we did today was that we launched airtime promo for our customers. Customers are entitled to win phones and airtime. Now we have list of the most active users who did the highest number of transactions on the platform, and it was done in different regions,” Eromosele said.

She said the winners are the first set of winners for the region, and are from May and June. Eromosele said every month we select the highest transacting customers.

She said: “We have a new Mobile Banking Application called Access Mobile Premium which is a higher version of the previous App. We want more people to try the app.

Our aim is to ensure that every qualified customers sign on the App,” she said.

She said the app enables subscribers to send and receive money, pay bills, buy airtime, and make sundry purchases. She said transaction on the platform has no time barriers and can be carried out at any time of the day.

“In total, 18 winners were expected, aside some staff of the bank that won as well. About 12 winners came. The draw will happen monthly, and we will send the list to respective branches, after they are contacted after the Internal Control vet the list,” she said.

Eromosele said the lender’s mobile banking Apps have dif-

Stories by Collins Nweze

•CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele

Access Bank rewards mobile banking app users

A

CCESS Bank Plc has rewarded over 12 of its customers that came top on the list of its mobile banking application (app) users, its Head Mobile Financial Services, Rita Eromosele has said.

Speaking at the weekend during the presentation of the mobile phones and airtime to the winners, she said the exercise is ongoing and will be conducted monthly. The winners include Olufohunsi Tolulope, Victor Asibo, Ujebe Joy among others. Tolulope said the app is easy to use and efficient adding that it has enabled him to make utility bills payment with ease. He said the bank has done well by rewarding its customers as such would encourage more people to use

ferent security levels of authentification to ensure they are safe adding that second factor authentication like use of token during transactions, and setting transaction limit are ways of protecting customers’ accounts.

She said customers can do N2 million daily, but each transaction will not exceed N200,000.

“So, these limits help us curtail fraud in the system. If you do transfer through other banks, we still go through the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), system which calls up the username for verification. Where there are errors, we have robust dispute resolution system that ratifies the anomaly,” she said.

DATA BANK

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

Offer Price

AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH BGL NUBIAN FUND BGL SAPPHIRE FUND CANARY GROWTH FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CORAL INCOME FUND FBN FIXED INCOME FUND FBN HERITAGET FUND FBN MONEY MARKET FUND • UBA BALANCED FUND • UBA BOND FUND • UBA EQUITY FUND • UBA MONEY MARKET FUND

Bid Price

168.45 9.17 1.12 1.19 0.69 1.39 1,663.89 1,663.89 1,05.92 1,087.30

167.01 9.08 1.12 1.19 0.69 1.33 1,663.89 1,663.89 119.71 1,087.00

1.3568 1.3692 1.0300 1.1792

1.3476 1.3692 1.0115 1.1792

GAINERS AS AT 24-07-14

SYMBOL CCNN

O/PRICE

C/PRICE

RETAIL DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM (RDAS) Transaction Dates 7/16/2014 7/9/2014 7/7/2014 ECONOMIC INDICATORS

8.2%

Monetary Policy Rate

12.0%

Buying (N)

Selling (N)

154.73

155.73

CHANGE

Foreign Reserves

$38.1bn

US Dollar

$110.44

Pounds Sterling

263.5207

265.2238

208.4523

209.7995

171.484

172.5923

Yen

1.5259

1.5358

CFA

0.299

0.319

237.348

238.8819

24.958

25.1202

Riyal

41.2569

41.5236

SDR

238.0521

239.5906

0.63

Oil Price (Bonny Light/b)

AIRSERVICED

2.12

2.22

0.10

REDSTAREX

4.94

5.17

0.23

Money Supply (M2)

N15.9 trillion.

Euro

PHARMDEKO

1.57

1.64

0.07

Credit to private Sector (CPS)

N16.76 trillion

Swiss Franc

MCNICHOLS

1.35

1.41

0.06

Primary Lending Rate (PLR)

MANSARD

2.55

2.66

0.11

FIDELITYBK

1.96

2.04

0.08

CAVERTON

6.69

6.85

0.16

4.89

5.00

0.11

40.10

41.00

0.90

LOSERS AS AT 24-07-14

CHANGE

16.5%

NIGERIAN INTER-BANK OFFERED RATES (NIBOR)

Tenor

Rate (%)

Rate (%)

Overnight (O/N)

10.500

10.500

1M

12.175

12.101

3M

13.328

13.225

6M

14.296

14.-85

SYMBOL

O/PRICE

MOBIL

178.84

169.90

-8.94

PORTPAINT

5.00

4.75

-0.25

SKYESHELT

100.00

95.00

-5.00

TOTAL

195.50

185.73

-9.77

CHAMPION

10.17

9.67

-0.50

AGLEVENT

1.45

1.38

-0.07

R-DAS ($/N)

157.29

157.29

RTBRISCOE

1.05

1.00

-0.05

Interbank ($/N)

162.75

162.75

31.46

30.00

-1.46

VITAFOAM

4.35

4.15

-0.20

Parallel ($/N)

167.50

167.50

ABCTRANS

0.89

0.85

ASHAKACEM

C/PRICE

Amount Sold in ($) 290.9m 279.08m 342.8m

Currency

13.27

CAP

Amount Offered in ($) 300m 300m 350m

CBN EXCHANGE RATES July 23, 2014

Inflation: June

12.64

NAHCO

HE Board of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a new strategy for addressing fragility and building resilience in Africa between this year and 2019.

In a statement, the lender said the strategy aims to place the institution at the center of Africa’s efforts to address fragility and pave the way for a more resilient and inclusive economic development trajectory.

It explained that over the past decade, Africa has seen enormous growth and transformation that has expanded opportunities and improved living conditions for millions of people. However, it explained that there are significant risks that this growth could be undermined by important pressures –including continuing patterns of exclusion and poverty, unemployment, climate change and poor management of natural resources.

Policy makers at AfDB emphasised the critical role of leadership, the multiple sources of fragility, the political dimension of conflicts, and the limited capacity of institutions to put in place mechanisms for dialogue and reconciliation.

It said the bank has been called to enhance its leadership role in this context and mobilise regional and international efforts to address the development challenges posed by fragility.

“The African Development Bank will stay engaged across the spectrum of fragile situations, making use of all available instruments and focusing its resources on the areas where it can have the biggest impact,” said its President Donald Kaberuka.

He said the lender will also strengthen its engagement in four regions that are particularly at risk: Horn of Africa, Sahel, Mano River Union and Great Lakes and Central Africa region.

-0.04

FOREX RATES

WAUA Yuan/Renminbi

GOVT. SECURITIES YIELD – SECONDARY MARKET

Tenor

Rates

T-bills - 91

10.00

T-bills - 182

10.07

T-bills - 364

10.22

Bond - 3yrs

11.37

Bond - 5yrs

11.41

Bond - 7yrs

11.86

30

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 25-07-14

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 25-07-14

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

31

EQUITIES

U

UBA grows gross earnings to N138b in first half

NITED Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc at the weekend released its earnings for the first half of this year showing modest growths in key headlines.

Key extracts of the interim report and accounts of UBA for the six-month period ended June 30, 2014 indicated that gross earnings rose to N138 billion in first half of 2014, representing an increase of 8.7 per cent on N127 billion recorded in the comparable period of 2013.

The top-line performance was boosted by strong growth in the bank’s core banking operations as interest income rose by 11 per cent to N98.5 billion in 2014 as against N88.6 billion in the comparative period of 2013.

The report showed that net interest income rose slightly to

Stories by Taofik Salako Capital Market Editor

N55.2 billion, non-interest income rose 3.1 per cent to N39.8 billion; operating income was up 2.7 per cent to N92.2 billion and profits stood at N29 billion for the period.

Group managing director, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Mr. Phillips Oduoza, said the bank would remain focused on its medium and long term strategies to grow market share in all its businesses across Africa while reducing its costs.

“We are confident that business returns will be much better in the remaining period of the year as we continue to deploy new and innovative ways of delivering value adding products and services,” Oduoza said.

He assured that the bank would

deliver better returns to shareholders.

The bank had last year initiated a new business development plan aimed at consolidating the bank’s position as a leading pan-African global financial services group.

The three-year business development plan codenamed Project Alpha was designed as the group’s next focus of strategic transformation and it contained key transformation initiatives.

Oduoza said the new business plan was designed to consolidate the group’s strategic positioning and fully capture the opportunities from Africa’s economic renaissance.

According to him, Project Alpha is focused on leveraging all aspects of the group’s footprint, product offerings and operational capability, allowing a commit-

ment to customer service transformation, market share growth, the implementation of key e-banking initiatives across all segments, the growth of corporate and trade finance capabilities.

He outlined that a critical aspect of the Project Alpha initiative is the focus on UBA Africa, which currently contributes 20 per cent to group performance and is projected to contribute about 50 per cent by 2016.

UBA had grown its top-line by 20.2 per cent to about N265 billion in 2013 as it sustained positive trends in several key performance indices. Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of UBA for the year ended December 31, 2013 showed appreciable improvements in the top-line, operational efficiency and customer’s confidence. The bank paid

a dividend of 50 kobo per share.

The report indicated that gross earnings rose from N220.1 billion in 2012 to N264.7 billion in 2013.

The top-line performance was largely driven by a growth of 40.4 per cent in loans and advances as well as a 25 per cent growth in the bank’s total deposits.

Consequently, the bank’s loan-todeposit ratio improved from 38.7 per cent to 44.3 per cent. It also enhanced its operational efficiency and productivity with the cost-toincome ratio improving by four percentage points from 64.8 per cent to 60.9 per cent. Profit before tax grew by 7.8 per cent to N56.06 billion in 2013 as against N52.01 billion in 2012. This indicated a return on equity of 21.8 per cent. The bank’s balance sheet expanded to N2.64 trillion while total deposit base closed the year at N2.22 trillion.

SEC to sponsor foreign training for award winners

T

HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is concluding arrangements to sponsor five Nigerian journalists on an intensive training on capital markets at the International Law Institute, Washington DC, USA. The journalists are being sponsored by SEC in redemption of their prize winnings in the 2012 and 2013 editions of the SEC Capital Market Essay Competition for Journalists which was instituted by the Commission in 2012.

Of the five journalists, two were prize winners in the 2012 edition of the competition. They are Iheanyi Nwachukwu of Businessday newspaper and Taofik Salako of The Nation newspaper.

They are to undergo two weeks and one week of intensive training on The Foundations and Development of Capital markets at ILI respectively. Winners in the 2013 edition included Teslim Shitta-Bey of Business Hallmark newspaper, Patrick Atuanya of Businessday newspaper and Sule Teliat Abiodun of Businessday newspaper. Shitta – Bey and Atuanya will undergo two weeks of training at ILI while Abiodun will spend a week in the institution.

The third place winners Abiodun Eromosele of Thisday newspaper (2012) and Chris Ugwu, then of Leadership Newspapers (2013) who were entitled to a week – long training in a leading local institution have since redeemed their prizes by undergoing training on Business Writing and Communication Skills at the Financial Institutions Training Centre, FITC in Lagos.

In a statement, SEC stated that the SEC Capital Market Essay Competition for Journalists, a signature annual event of the SEC, is a specific capacity building mechanism for the media industry.

“It also fosters investor education through interest in reading and writing about the markets among journalists as well as the wider society. Plans are afoot to activate the 2014 edition of the competition through which fresh winners will emerge,” the Commission stated.

It noted that in line with the objective of widening knowledge of the capital markets among journalists and wider audiences, the competition offers only training and non pecuniary rewards to winners. These include two weeks and one week of intensive training on finance, business and capital markets for first and second prize winners respectively in a major learning centre abroad while the third prize winner is entitled to a weeklong training in the subjects in a reputable local institution.

Sterling Bank gains on core banking focus as earnings rise

S

TERLING Bank Plc rode on the back of increasing efficiency and growing market share in its core commercial banking business to deliver impressive growths in the topline and profitability in the first half of 2014.

Interim report and accounts of the bank for the six-month period ended June 30, 2014 released at the weekend indicated double-digit growth of 16.3 per cent in the gross earnings, driven by larger growth of 20.5 per cent in interest income. Net interest income rose by about 40 per cent, underlying significant improvement in the cost-to-income ratio

•Grosses N49b in six months

in the core banking operations. This also impacted on the operating income, which rose by 25.4 per cent.

Gross earnings rose to N48.7 billion in first half 2014 as against N41.86 billion in comparable period of 2013. The top-line was driven by interest income, which rose from N31.08 billion in first half 2013 to N37.44 billion in first half 2014. Net interest income leapt to N21.28 billion in 2014 as against N15.17 billion in 2013. Non-interest income also increased to N11.3 billion in first half 2014 compared with N10.8 billion

recorded in comparable period of 2013.

Operating income thus rose from N25.95 billion to N32.54 billion.

However, the bank’s operating expenses increased by 28.5 per cent to N23.8 billion in first half 2014 as against N18.5 billion in first half 2013, driven by on-going investments in branch refits and expansion, and rollout of alternative channels. This moderated the net bottom-line. Profit before tax rose slightly from N6.27 billion in 2013 to N6.34 billion in 2014. With 131 per cent increase in income tax from N350.15

RT Briscoe gets shareholders’ nod to raise N10b

S

HAREHOLDERS of RT Briscoe (Nigeria) Plc yesterday authorised the board of the company to raise N10 billion to deleverage its operations as the automobile and real estate company struggled with losses induced by huge interest expenses.

At the annual general meeting in Lagos, shareholders mandated the board to raise new funds through any option or a combination of debt instruments, preference shares and ordinary shares by way of rights issue, private placement or offer for subscription.

To create room for the impending fresh capital, shareholders also increased the authorized share capital of the company from N2 billion divided into 4.0 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to N3.25 billion divided 6.5 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

Addressing the shareholders,

chairman, RT Briscoe (Nigeria), Mr. Clement Olowokande said the directors on the company have been strategizing on how to optimize the use of available resources and opportunities for maximum returns.

According to him, in order to raise the much needed capital for business expansion and working capital, the board is exploring the possibilities of recapitalizing through debt instruments, additional equity or a combination of both.

He assured shareholders that the board will on behalf of the shareholders, carefully select auspice time and modality for implementing these options.

He enjoined the shareholders to support the company in its efforts to recapitalize its business and stem the tide of losses in recent years.

“The automobile industry in Nigeria, particularly for motor dealers

and distributors like us, is currently in a development phase that requires significant capital outlay for stock, after sales infrastructure and implementation of development phase for the future,” Olowokande said.

He said the competition in the market place has become more severe as all major brands in the world are now present in the country.

On the future prospect of the company, the chairman the recent rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP confirmed enormous business opportunities in the country for a company like RT Briscoe.

Olowokande observed that contrary to prior economic data before the rebasing, that the oil and gas sector represented 32 per cent of the economy, under the new set of data, that sector only contributed 14 per cent while much of the balance came from previously unreported, consumer-driven sectors.

million to N809.73 million, net profit after tax stood at N5.5 billion.

Commenting on the results, managing director, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Yemi Adeola, said the performance in the first half of the year further demonstrated the underlying strength of the bank’s core business.

He noted that in spite of the challenging operating environment, the bank achieved a 130 basis points improvement in net interest margins to 7.7 per cent resulting from a 60 basis points reduction in cost of funds and a 70 basis points increase in asset yield.

He explained that the increase in costto-income ratio increased by 20 basis points to 73 per cent due to ongoing investments in the upgrade of the bank’s physical infrastructure and the rollout of alternative channels.

“During the period, we completed eight new branches while 13 others are at various stages of completion. We also remodeled several of our existing branches, deployed 120 additional Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and signed-on over 200 merchants to drive our Agent Banking model for financial inclusion,” Adeola said.

He said the bank would remain focus on further improvement in its efficiency and cost reduction to ensure that it delivers on its full-year targets and provides increased returns to shareholders.

“We are confident that the second half of the year would reinforce the trend we have seen in the first six months. We remain focused on efficiency - keeping the cost-income ratio within an acceptable range. By and large, we are optimistic that Sterling Bank’s full year returns will be in line with our forecasts and expectations,” Adeola assured.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

32

ISSUES

Sale of refineries: The gathering storm

Opposition by labour unions in the oil & gas industry, powerful vested interests, as well as political exigency may have forced down the hand of the Federal Government to put the proposed sale of the nation’s ailing refineries on hold. But there are indications that when the exercise goes full stream, it would be a hard nut to crack, reports Assist. Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA.

• Refineries plant

A

GROUNDSWELL of opposition has continued to trail Federal Government’s plan to privatize or sale the nation’s ailing refineries to private investors. The opposition, led by two most powerful labour unions in the oil & gas industry, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), contributed largely in forcing down the hand of government to put the planned sale of the refineries on hold ostensibly to get the buy in of all the stakeholders.

Apart from the hard-line posture of the labour unions, The Nation learnt that there are other forces at play, one of which is the political exigency of the moment, which does not favour dabbling into a transaction as delicate as auctioning critical assets in an industry considered as the nation’s cash cow. The belief is that government soft-pedalled on the plan to auction the refineries apparently to avoid playing into the hands of the opposition ahead of the coming 2015 elections.

“Its a knotty issue so, the Federal Government thought it wise to soft-pedal until after the 2015 elections,” says Obiora Akabogu, Lagos-based lawyer and public affairs analyst. He said because of the strategic nature of the oil & gas industry, government was mindful of the fact that the opposition may cash-in on the sale of the refineries to win unprecedented sympathy in the coming elections. Government is also said to be mindful of the activities of several over-night billionaires created through

the importation of fuel, as well as the powerful oil ‘bunkerers’ whose illegal activities have continued to hold the country to ransom.

Perhaps, more importantly, the non-passage of the hotly-debated Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly is said to have also contributed to government’s decision to put the privatisation exercise on hold. The PIB was designed to reform the entire hydrocarbon sector to increase the government’s share of revenue; increase natural gas production; streamline the decision making process by dividing up the different roles of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into a profit-driven company; privatize its downstream activities; and promote local content.

The Bill would also provide for a greater share of oil revenues to the producing communities and expand the use of natural gas

for domestic electricity generation. But non of these has happened, as the Bill has since become a subject of intense politicking in the National Assembly. Differing versions of the PIB are currently being debated, especially around more contentious points such as the renegotiation of contracts with international oil companies (IOCs), the changes in tax and royalty structures and clauses to ensure that companies use or lose their assets.

Experts argue that if the PIB, which is like the roadmap for opening up the industry for increased investments had been passed, it would have comprehensively addressed the persistent fear of investors in building refineries, settled the issue of deregulation, as well as uncertainty concerning regular supply of crude oil at reasonable prices. Because of the non-passage of the PIB, investors who got licenses to build private refineries adopted ‘a wait-and see-attitude’ and are holding back

‘The PIB is critical because presently, the regulatory powers are dispersed; Ministry of Petroleum Resources has regulatory powers, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has regulatory powers, Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has regulatory powers, NNPC has regulatory powers and that is why all these years, many investors have collected licenses for refineries but none of them has set up except two’

their investment. The thinking therefore, is that selling the refineries without the PIB amounts to setting the cart before the horse.

Interestingly, the importance of the PIB in the plan to sale the refineries is not lost on the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the agency charged with preparing public enterprises approved by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) for privatisation and commercialisation. Its Director-General (DG), Mr. Benjamin Dikki, said there is need to expeditiously and aggressively handle the issue of the PIB. As he noted, “The PIB is critical because presently, the regulatory powers are dispersed; Ministry of Petroleum Resources has regulatory powers, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has regulatory powers, Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has regulatory powers, NNPC has regulatory powers and that is why all these years, many investors have collected licenses for refineries but none of them has set up except two.”

The BPE boss, who said this in an earlier interview with The Nation, pointed out that investors, all this while, have not made investments in the refineries because the regulatory environment is not clear. Hear him: “I believe if we have the PIB passed and create a regulator that has all the power of regulating the industry concentrated in one place, that regulatory agency will now conduct an industry study and set cost reflective prices for gas and for other oil related products, which will now provide clarity for investors to invest,” he said, appealing • Continued on page 33

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

33

ISSUES • Continued from page 32

to the National Assembly and all the stakeholders to come together and quickly pass the PIB. “Let us remove those controversial clauses that have stalled the passage of the bill. Nigerians stand to gain more from the passage of that bill than we stand to lose.”

However, if and when the PIB is passed and the 2015 elections are over to allow government commence the sale of the refineries, it is unlikely that the privatisation of the refineries would be a smooth sail.

For one, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, according to Dikki, appear not to be on the same page on the sale of the refineries yet. The DG of BPE explained that both unions were originally not averse to government looking at options and business model for handling the privatisation. He said shortly after that, the agency started receiving conflicting statements by branches of the same NUPENG and PENGASSAN to the effect that they are opposed to privatization.

“Government is now conscious that if we don’t have a unified voice between NUPENG and PENGASSAN about the privatization then there is a risk. This is because they can shut down the economy and no responsible President will want to create pains for his people by a policy that can be avoided, delayed, or you look at other options,” Diki said, noting however, that the labour unions have realized also that privatisation is eminent. “What they are craving for is that we should have the LNG model, which is to say that government should still have a stake; labour should still have a stake in the refineries. And we are not opposed to it. We have told them that it has been a longstanding policy of the NCP that labour unions should have shares in the companies they privatised. So refineries will only be privatised when government and labour are 100 per cent on the same page,” he clarified.

Indeed, both unions have been literarily up in arms; warning that any attempt to sale the refineries without the involvement of organized labour would be resisted. The immediate past President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Babatunde Ogun, articulated the Union’s position thus: “We condemn vehemently attempts by government to sell the four state-owned refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt 1 and 11 and Warri after several failures to do Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) on them. The union has noted government’s insincerity in implementing the agreement reached with NUPENG and PENGASSAN during the January 7, 2014 meeting on the sale of refineries. We are watching closely all the subterranean attempts by the BPE to go ahead with the sale of the refineries in spite of our engagement and agreement with the government.”

The agreement, which Comrade Ogun made reference to was to the effect that the nation’s refineries must not be privatised. The President of NUPENG, Comrade Achese Igwe, noted that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at the end of the January 7 meeting in Abuja, agreed with the Federal Government to engage in social dialogue to develop viable and workable business models for the nation’s refineries. “We state that the refineries must be rehabilitated to work optimally, which will account for at least 70 per cent of domestic production instead of selling the nation’s strategic assets,” Achese said.

The unions believe that adopting the NLNG model, rather than outright sale, is a better business model for the refineries. Under the NLNG model being canvassed by organised labour, the National Oil Company (NOC) as owners of the four refineries, will hold a substantial minority share, while core investors/local participation hold the working majority, leaving the staff,

Sale of refineries: The gathering storm

• Barrister Obiora Akabogu

• DG-of-the-BPE-Benjamin-Dikki

• Mr. Andrew Yakubu

• Oliver Mordi

trade unions, and the host communities also holding minority shares.

Ogun argued that rather than outright sale to private owners who may come in to exploit Nigerians, government should divest a percentage of its holdings to willing state governments to improve and increase local refining and supply of petroleum products to Nigerians at affordable cost.

“What we are saying is, if government must sell the refineries let them sell 40 per cent to states and 30 per cent to Nigerians. Government must have a stake, and the refineries must be working. Government should not give refineries subvention again. Let them go to the Stock Exchange and raise money to run the establishments,” Ogun stated, insisting that, “Government’s money in the entities should be converted to shares and let private investors buy stakes and run them. They will refine and sell to government and the public at government subsidized rates. At the end of the year they will declare profits and government will get its share of the profit.”

The position of organised labour enjoys the sympathy of Oliver Mordi, an oil & gas expert, who insisted that as critical national assets, Nigerians must have a stake in the refineries. “Nigerians should be shareholders. Outright sale of the refineries is not the solution. What is needed is the political will and honesty of purpose on the part of government to make the refineries work optimally and profitably,” he told The Nation, pointing out that Petrobras of Brazil, for instance, is a state-run business that is working. “It is only in Nigeria that we see government business as nobody’s business,” he said, adding, “this is one area where the nation’s technocrats should feel challenged.”

Mordi however, said that selling the refineries, government is faced with the dilemma of making sure that prices of petroleum products are competitive to attract the muchneeded investments and at the same time meeting its social contract to ensure that ordinary Nigerians afford the price of petroleum products. He faulted attempts by those in favour of the sale of the refineries to draw their conclusions from the success of the deregulation of the telecoms sector. He pointed out that unlike the telecoms sector, there is an existing template in the oil & gas industry on how business should be done. Besides, petroleum products, he said, are specialised products.

For labour, the opposition to the sale of the refineries is largely fuelled by self-preservation. For them, the fear of job losses is the beginning of wisdom. The BPE recognises this much. “Every policy you introduce brings changes. The labour leaders have a duty to their unions to get the best deal for their unions and staff. So, it is not unexpected that labour agitates and show resistance until you show them what they are going to take from it. Labour resisted the power sector reforms because they thought it will short-change their members who are staff of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN),” Dikki said.

The DG said government realized the fears of labour, which was why it took necessary steps to work on the fears by setting up a negotiation committee. “Government went into an agreement with labour in the power sector and government has fulfilled all those terms. I want to assure all those in the oil and gas sector also that if they come to table with government, table all their issues, government will discuss with them and come up with an agreement with the Unions and government has shown a track record of keeping to the terms of its agreement and will do so not just for the oil and gas sector, but other sectors that reforms are going to be mid-wifed,” he explained.

But as far as Akabogu is concerned, “The organised labour is a bit unpatriotic. They are afraid of shading off excess baggage, as most of them are redundant and feeding fat on the nation’s lean resources. The over bloated laour in the oil & gas industry get so much from the nation’s resources but give little in return.” He insisted that the best option for the refineries is to auction them off to private individuals, who would, at the end of the day, retain only hands that are adding value. He argued that handing over the refineries to private investors would make them perform optimally. Besides, the exercise, he said, is in line with global trend since the 80s, which favour a free market economy where government has no business being in business.

He has ally in the umbrella body for employers in the country, the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA). Its DirectorGeneral, Mr. Segun Oshinowo, has thrown his weight behind the privatization exercise, insisting that it is the only way the refineries would perform optimally in the long run.

“If we had gone that way, the whole issue of our dependency on foreign source for fuel supply would have, to a large extent, been addressed effectively. So the same courage and determination, which government has demonstrated in privatizing the electricity sector can be extended to the refineries so that we can save national resources that are going to TAM every now and then for which we have not actually got appropriate benefits,” he argued: The NECA DG hit the bull’s eye particularly on the nation’s agelong dependence on importation of petroleum products. Despite being ranked as world’s sixth largest crude oil producer and number one in Africa with proven reserve in excess of 38.5 billion barrels, Nigeria still imports almost 85 per cent of domestic fuel needs largely due to corruption and mismanagement of its four state-owned refineries.

The four refineries have a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day (bpd), but none of them has ever been fully operational owing to low capacity utilization resulting from poor funding, obsolete equipment, inadequate maintenance, attacks on oil facilities by militants in the Niger Delta region, which interrupts the flow of crude into the refineries, as well as weak management. The sub-optimal performance of the refineries is blamed for the continuous importation of petroleum products at huge cost to Nigerians and the economy. For instance, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimate that product imports combined with subsidized consumption cost the Nigerian government between $3–$4 billion annually.

How does the huge cost come about? Experts say that when other oil-producing countries that have refineries come to buy crude from Nigeria they pay sundry charges such as freight, port charges and insurance, among others, before they ship the product. The same charges are replicated in their home countries before the crude goes into a refinery. After refining, the product goes through the same process when they are bringing the refined products into the country. All of these costs are ultimately transferred to Nigerian consumers at the end of the day, which is why the pump price of petroleum products is very high in Nigeria compared to other countries that have refineries.

The Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Mr. Andrew

Yakubu, sought to raise the hopes of Nigerians on the refining capacity of the refineries when he disclosed that the refineries now have 60 per cent refining capacity utilization. Yakubu who spoke at a recent capacity building workshop for media practitioners in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, said that the refineries have capacity to refine more crude but there is currently limited supply due to pipeline vandalism. “The capacity utilization of the refineries as we speak today is 60 per cent of their nameplate. The 60 per cent nameplate capacity is not because the plants cannot take more but because we have this challenge with crude oil supply,” he said.

However, to those conversant with the workings of the oil industry, the NNPC boss may have been economical with the truth on the capacity of the refineries. Some of them who spoke with The Nation on condition of anonymity, noted that if it is true that the refineries has achieved 60 per cent capacity utilisation as claimed by Mr. Yakubu, Nigeria would not be depending almost entirely on imported petroleum products. In fact, the existing four refineries, they argued, could not have been performing at above 30 per cent capacity at present.

This must be why the BPE boss noted that privatisation would not only make the refineries work, but also ensure that more than 10 spinoff industries spring up using the by-products of the refineries.

“Once we get the refineries working, there will be other spinoff industries that will come up from there. It will create jobs, create products that Nigeria will sell locally and internationally and grow the Nigerian economy,” he pointed out.

Dikki must have drawn his conclusion from the success of the privatisation programme of the Federal Government so far. At a recent forum organised by the Just Friends Club of Nigeria in Abuja, where he delivered a lecture on ‘Federal Government’s Privatisation and Economic Reform Programme’, he disclosed that between 1999 and 2012, 122 enterprises had been privatised, raking in a total of N669 billion in revenue to the Federal Government.

The N669 billion, he said, included revenue generated from the privatisation of the power sector. The DG said $2.5 billion (about N417.5 billion) was from payments made by preferred bidders of 15 out of the 18 successor companies of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). He said that N251.5 billion was realised as gross proceeds from the privatisation of the 122 enterprises, adding that N147 billion was remitted to the Privatisation Proceeds Account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as net profit.

Would the groundswell of opposition allow the BPE rake in more revenue for government from the sale of the refineries? It would take the next two years to determine that, as the BPE has said that it would take two years to conclude the exercise given its intricacies.

‘What we are saying is, if government must sell the refineries let them sell 40 per cent to states and 30 per cent to Nigerians.

Government must have a stake, and the refineries must be working. Government should not give refineries subvention again. Let them go to the Stock Exchange and raise money to run the establishments’

THE NATION JULY 28, 2014

34

THE NATION

BUSINESS INSURANCE

Niger Insurance shareholders get N3.50 dividend S

HAREHOLDERS of Niger Insurance Plc will receive a dividend of N3.5 per 50k ordinary share for the financial year ended December 31, 2013, its Managing Director, KolapoAdedeji has said.

Adedeji, who made this known during the company’s 44th pre- Annual General Meeting (AGM) press conference said the dividend will be paid to the shareholders once the AGM to be held in Ilorin, Kwara, approves its financial report.

He said the company’s gross premium income in 2013 rose N10.44 billion as against N10.33 billion recorded in 2012.

The Profit before Tax (PBT) he said, increased by 163 per cent in 2013 from

Stories by OmobolaTolu-Kusimo

N256.56 million recorded in 2012 to N674.30 million in 2013 while investment reduced by 33 per cent in 2013 from N975.37 million in 2012 to N649.50 million.

Similarly, shareholders fund increased to N7.88 billion in 2013 from N7.08 billion in 2012, while the total assets increased to N24.18 billion in 2013 from N21.73 billion in 2012, he added.

The Niger boss however said the results were still subject to the approval of the shareholders at their AGM.

Speaking on the achievement, he said: “Five years ago, the company embarked on transformation programme, with emphasis on enhanced speed and efficient service delivery. We are pleased to inform you that this hub of transformation agenda has started yielding positive results.

“We have been able to review most of our business operations, and in turn there are clear indices of improved operating performance.

This is evident in our financials under review. We are ready to key into the various programmes of the Federal Government and its Agencies to

maximise our income and add more value to our shareholders and other stakeholders”.

On the future plans of the company, Adedji said they would launch new products, repackage the existing ones to suit their various clientele and upgrade information technology tointegrate our regional and branch offices.

“We have established an e-commerce department and now use it to drive our operations. We have adopted e-payment systems for premium collection. We will continue to build business alliances and embark on more aggressive marketing.

“We will not relent on our drive towards human capital development

‘Leadway Group thrives on good corporate governance’

P

ROMOTING high standards of corporate governance for appropriate balance of power, increased accountability and greater capacity of the Board of Leadway Group for independent decision making has continued to drive its growth, the company’s Chairman, Mallam Umar Yahaya has said.

He made this statement at the company’s 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos.

Yahaya also said there was an impressive growth in the Group’s assets to the tune of N101.2 billion in its 2013 audited financial year results.

He said apart from the parent company, Leadway Assurance Company

Limited, other companies within the Group include Leadway Capital and Trusts Ltd., Leadway Hotels Ltd. and Leadway Properties and Investments.

He noted that the N101.2 billion represents 47 per cent growth from the Group’s N68.8 billion figures recorded in the 2012 financial year.

He reaffirmed the company’s commitment to clients by paying claims in excess of N10.9billion, a 51 per cent increase from the N7.2 billion record of 2012.

He said: “Leadway Group has come a long way since the establishment in 1970 to carry on the business of composite insurance.

“It has an effective Board of Direc-

tors comprising men and women of integrity with several decades of experience in the financial services and other diverse fields. The Board is collectively responsible for the success of the company and works with management to achieve this with the management remaining accountable to the Board.

The Board meets at least four times yearly and objectively take decisions in the interests of the company. The Chairman and Chief Executive officer are separate persons and this is to ensure an appropriate balance of power, increased accountability and greater capacity of the Board for independent decision making”.

The Chairman further said that

though the management has an obligation to supply the Board with complete, adequate information in a timely manner, relying purely on what is volunteered by management is unlikely to be enough in all circumstances and further enquiries may be required if the particular Director is to fulfill his or her duties properly. Hence, the Board has separate and independent access to the Company’s senior management.

The Company regularly publishes its statement of accounts in two national dailies to inform the public of its financial standing and notices are regularly sent to shareholders in compliance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act,” he said.

•Adedeji

which is key to achieving the overall objectives. Also as a major player in the industry, we will continue to support the regulatory framework and implementation of its measures and guidelines.”

Airline war risk insurance expected to rise due to global conflicts

I

NSURERS are expected to hike war risk premiums for airlines following losses due to global conflicts, including the downing of a Malaysia airplane over Ukraine, insurance rating agency A.M. Best Company said on Wednesday.

The insurance settlement of the Malaysian airliner, which was shot down by a ground-to-air missile, is expected to be complex and lengthy.

The claims would be both for the loss of the aircraft and passenger liability.

The ratings agency said that Lloyd’s Syndicate 609, which is managed by Atrium Underwriters Ltd, has confirmed that it is the leader of the hull war policy for Malaysia Airlines.

War risk hull is used in shipping and aviation industries to cover damages and is calculated based on the value of the craft.

Best said that the syndicate and its co-insurers have agreed to settle the hull war aspect of the loss, and have instigated collection of funds.

Barclays bank in a research note last week said that if reports that the plane was shot down are verified, the aircraft loss will be borne by the niche aviation war market, which has recently been pummel by a series of losses.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Alexander Khodakovsky, Ukrainian rebel and commander of the Vostok Battalion, confirmed that pro-Russian separatists had an anti-aircraft missile of the type Washington says was used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17 and it could have originated in Russia.

Six words never to say to your insurance company •Deputy President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr Kayode Okunoren; President, Mr Ayodapo Shoderu and Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association, Mr Godswill Wiggle, when a delegation of the NCRIB visited the NIA in Lagos.

B

NCRIB, NIA unite to enforce ethics

ROKERS and underwriters have resolved to reverse the trend of unethical practices that has plummeted the fortunes and image of the industry.

The resolution was made during a meeting between delegation of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) and the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) in Lagos The two bodies were of the view that the jettisoning of basic insurance

principles had robbed the industry of its expected place in the scheme of the nation’s economy.

Taking a retrospective look at the industry in the 70s towards mid-80s, the operators noted that the players were united and cohesive on issues relating to market ethics and practices, making operational environment inclement for unethical players.

NCRIB President, Ayodapo Shoderu said insurance brokers and underwriters were like Siamese

twins that must always work together for the progress of the industry.

He said that operators must eschew unethical practices that are inimical to professionalism in order for the industry to gain its lost grounds.

NIA Chairman, Mr Godswill Wiggle said the two bodies needed to revive their technical joint committees where issues bordering on the operation of the two parties could be resolved before they smear

the image of the industry before the public.

Meanwhile, the two bodies hailed the administration of Governor BabatundeFashola for its strong belief in insurance.

They applauded the Lagos State government for its effective risk management and patronage of insurance services, noting that the industry would soon put in place a programme to appreciate and celebrate the government.

W

HEN you file a claim with your insurance company for a car accident or home damage, think before you speak. Saying the wrong words during that first phone call can turn what should be a quick, painless settlement into a prolonged nightmare.

Here’s your strategy: Don’t say any more than necessary. Talking too much only gives you more chance to say something counterproductive.

“Just tell your agent exactly what happened,” suggests President Bob Hartwig of the Insurance Information Institute (III), which represents the property-casualty industry.

Avoid these 12 words, which are often used by “over-talkers” and can hinder even the most legitimate claim.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

35

THE NATION

BUSINESS JOBS

Insurance industry reforms trigger salesmen job The corporate strategic plan of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) which defined its transformation agenda for the industry is creating job opportunities. Initiatives and projects like the Market Development Restructuring Initiative (MDRI) project, micro insurance and takaful business and life insurance, among others are areas generating employment in the industry. OMOBOLA TOLU-KUSIMO writes.

T

HE ongoing transformation agenda initiated by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has continued to create jobs in the country.

The agenda has birthed different initiatives and projects ranging from licensing of Micro Insurance and Takaful companies to increase insurance penetration and opportunities provided by the Market Development Restructuring Initiative (MDRI) project among others.

The MDRI project is a medium-term plan between the transformation period of installing the first phase of the necessary reforms in the area of capacity building, market efficiency and consumer protection in the Nigerian insurance market.

A key development in the sector that has brought about employment opportunities is the focus on salesmen, insurance agents and marketers by the regulator and insurance operators to achieve penetration.

Part of NAICOM’s,‘Corporate Strategic Plan, 2011-2015,’is to sensitise the National Youth Service Corp members to-

wards choosing a career as insurance agents, encourage operators to open more insurance outlets, as well as utilise trade association.

The Commission intends to achieve N1 trillion premium income, lower insurance gap from 94 per cent to 70 per cent, increase insurance contribution to GDP from 0.72 per cent to over 4 per cent and most especially, create jobs for 250,000 Nigerians.

The industry as at 2013, has generated premium income of about N300 billion and total assets of N600 billion.Although insurance premium to GDP is still below one per cent, premium income has been growing at about 18 per cent a year and could quadruple over the next two to three years with the ongoing market development initiatives, according to NAICOM. This growth in the industry has been generated from 59 insurance companies, two reinsurance firms, 550 brokers and about 1500 insurance agents.As at 2010, the industry recorded one million policy holders, 20,000 employees, total insurance

premium income of N57 billion and premium ratio to GDP of less than 0.5 per cent.

But by the end of 2013, the industry had being able to achieve 2.5 million policy holders, 40,000 employees, total insurance premium of N260 billion and premium ratio to GDP 0.7 per cent, a far cry from the Commission’s target.

NAICOM Deputy Commissioner, Finance and Administration, George Onekhena told The Nation that MDRI, Micro Insurance, Takafulare growth areas that is creating job opportunities for job seekers.

He said when Takaful license is granted, people will be employed by the companies, adding that the Micro-insurance companies will also create major jobs as it entails selling insurance at the grassroots.

He said: “A lot of jobs will be available in the industry when the Takaful and micro insurance firms granted licences begin operation. The MDRI initiative which is enhancing •Continued on page 36

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

36

JJOBS OBS

Insurance industry reforms trigger salesmen job •Continued from page 35

the growth of insurance companies will also create more jobs.

“Insurance companies are getting more businesses and they will need to engage more hands. Similarly, the ‘No premium, no cover’ policy is going to increase the stability of the companies and if it does, they will be more liquid, make more return on investment and engage more people.

Onekhena said job seekers should be on the watch out for various opportunities in the industry.

He advised job seekers to draw a list of insurance companies and monitor their websites for advertisement as some of them will advertise on their website.

He added that actuaries are very scarce in the industry.

We have very few Nigerian actuaries and what we are trying to do is to commence a process and try to see how we can encourage people to take interest in the profession for the future so that the future will have the kind of actuaries we want in the industry.

Director-General, Nigerian Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Kolawole Ahmed on his part, said the insurance companies are presently consolidating to expand their business model.

He said foreign companies are also showing interest and are acquiring some local companies, while others are embracing micro insur-

•Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel

•Onekhena

•Ahmed

ance, takaful and life insurance business.

He urged people who may want to build a career in the industry to look into becoming sales agents because, according to him, there are potentials by way of sensitising people.

He said insurance companies are now recruiting field marketers.

He said: “The industry in Nigeria is still evolving with renewed interest from investors, especially foreign investors in the industry. This is as a result of the enormous potential they see in the Nigerian insurance industry and the fact that more than 90 per cent of the population has yet to embrace any form of insurance. This renewed interest can only translate to one thing for the professionals –

increased job opportunities in the sector.

In addition to job opportunities in the core sector of the industry, underwriting, broking and loss adjusting, there are also openings for insurance professionals in other spheres of the economy, like manufacturing, construction, telecoms, oil and gas and in the MDAs. Job opportunities also abound in secondary schools as insurance teachers and lecturers in various insurance departments of many tertiary institutions that offer insurance as a course of study.”

Managing Director, FBN Life, Val Ojumah on his part, said insurance companies are doing very well in providing employment in the country.

He said: “For us at FBN Life, we have engaged 177, 000 sales men, 93 full time employees and another 250 contract employees. We are still engaging and employing people.

“This is just in our over three and half years of operation as a company. I believe insurance companies are doing extremely well in providing employment and I don’tthink any company if it’s not in agric, manufacturing or the bank can provide this number of employment in three years?”

He also said there are job opportunities in the sales area adding that it is an area that employs most people in the world.

Managing Director, MayowaAdedurosaid insurance agents have contributed to deepening insurance penetration and has contributed over 10per cents to the company’s income in 2013.

Speaking on the role of agents in distribution of insurance, he said that the contribution of agents to the income of the company makes its very significant, adding that when an agent is doing over N200million to the income of a company it become an important agent.

‘The industry in Nigeria is still evolving with renewed interest from investors, especially foreign investors in the industry. This is as a result of the enormous potential they see in the Nigerian insurance industry and the fact that more than 90 per cent of the population has yet to embrace any form of insurance. This renewed interest can only translate to one thing for the professionals – increased job opportunities in the sector.

CAREER MANAGEMENT

Effective networking strategies for job hunting (I & II)

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OB search requires a grand strategy, some semi-strategies and operational tactics. Whatever your strategies, are the key lesson for success in today’s job market is that you have to be proactive. Most job seekers utilise the passive approach; they submit application/Curriculum Vitae when the opportunity comes their way, and wait.

When they don’t hear anything, they repeat the process. It is not wrong for you to apply the conventional means. But you will be out of the job queue faster if you employ creative and unconventional strategies. Afterall, you have nothing to lose, except may be your joblessness!

“The major difference between successful and unsuccessful job hunter is not some factors out there …..But the way they go about their job hunt”.

That was quoting Dick Boles, author of “What colour is upon parachute”.

You are seriously looking for a job. I know. But are you looking for it in the right places? Are you asking/talking to the right people?

Are you putting in the right amount of time and other resources? Are you deploying these resources in the right direction?

These are important questions.

Knowing whether you are doing the right thing can be the key to your unending job search.

Jobs, jobs, jobs everywhere! This I admit will be extremely difficult for an individual who has been looking for a job for over 3 years to believe. But in most instances there are more job openings than the job seeker knows about. That is easy to believe. And that the more you get to know about job opportunities, the better your

By Olu Oyeniran

chance of actualising the dream of a better job. Thus every effort must be made to create many opportunities of knowing about openings.

This sounds elementary. But how have you been doing it?

The principle above is that you need to generate job leads. (It is only then that you can pursue it).

And that the higher the quantity of job leads, the better. We, however, need to balance this with the quality of job leads. A higher quality job lead is the one that has a higher chance of your been employed.

Looking in the newspaper can give you five, 10 leads on a single day.

But a huge number of people looking for job will also have read the ads. You will therefore be operating in a crowded market. Imagine being given an introduction to a certain manager in a certain company, with a job opening. And the job may not be advertised. It may take days to see the person, but that is a high quality job lead. So you have to keep in mind the two variables (quality and quantity) and do some balancing.

Most employers as said earlier do not advertise. In fact, it is estimated that 80 per cent job are not advertised. Or when was the last time First Bank, MTN, Shell Glaxowelcom advertised? They would rather consider someone referred to them by a friend, trusted employees, colleagues, etc.

It is like looking for a doctor or mechanic: we all prefer those ones introduced to us.

We will pursue this further next week It bears repetition that nobody owes you a job. You have to go after it.

EkiniConsult is organising three

free and open workshops, “Knocking on the Right Doors- Strategies for Uncovering the Hidden Job Market” for The Nation readers in Lagos. A free eBook of the same title will be given to those who may not be able to. If you are interested, send-in your name, location, email address and GSM no to 080-8384-3230. Precede with the word ‘ATTEND’ for those who want to come and ‘FREE EBOOK’ for those who want the free eBook only.

Y

OU are seriously looking for a job. I know. But are you look ing for it in the right places?

Are you asking/talking to the right people? Are you putting in the right amount of time and other resources?

Are you deploying these resources in the right direction? These are important questions. Knowing whether you are doing the right thing can be the key to your unending job search.

Networking as an option in job hunting is a targeted effort to talk to people about your job search. It should be a calculated campaign to contact people for ideas, suggestions and information. You should systematically pursue new contacts and information.

As essential as networking is to job search, many people have problems with formal networking as job searcher strategy- some are embarrassed to admit they are looking for work.

Some feel it is like begging for work. For others, it is “I don’t want people to feel I am taking advantage of them” these are excuses on their kneels – lame excuses, they call it.

Looking for work does not carry any stigma, most people change job on the average every 4-6 years. Peo-

ple are more understanding than you think. A basic principle of networking is that you are looking for information-you shouldn’t ask for a job. Asking for information shouldn’t be too much. In job search network, as in all networking situations endeavour to make it mutually beneficial.

There are four basic categories of networking contacts, each with its own unique value. And you should draw from each category: • People you know well-friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, etc • People you see occasionally – acquaintances and business contacts.

• Referrals from your other networking contacts.

Following are some general networking guides: • Initial contact for the sole purpose of networking. Do not wait to bump on people.

• Develop a networking list. Endeavour to make contact with everyone on your list. Add new people you meet or use referred to by your contacts.

• Set networking goals. What do you want to achieve with each contacts. How many contacts would you make per week? How many would you want to see/phone per week?

Check progress.

• Come to meetings prepared.

Know what questions you want to ask. Take notes. Always have your Curriculum Vitae handy. Contacts may turn to become potential employer in seconds or may what to refer your C. V to someone else.

• Always ask if the person knows of anyone else you should meet.

Kind out if you can use his/her name when contacting much people.

• Maintain networking filling system including a record of outcomes

of each contact and obtained information.

• Face – to – face meeting is always better.

• Show appreciation for opinion, assistance, time and information.

• Plan your follow up, implement follow-up plans.

• Say thank you often. Better in writing (or e-mail) Stretch your network by meeting new people who are friends, associates and acquaintances of your networking contacts. Of course by now you are most probably out of your comfort zone, Go on. This is where real action is, and the good news is that you are closing in on a job. When approaching a referral contact, introduce yourself with a lead statement that attracts attention. Use the name of the person who referred you (except he forbids it or it is not tactical to do so). State your proposal. If it is a face-to face meeting, respect his time, be prepared and be professional.

EkiniConsult is organising three free and open workshops, “Knocking on the Right Doors- Strategies for Uncovering the Hidden Job Market” for The Nation readers in Lagos. A free eBook of the same title will be given to those who may not be able to. If you are interested, send-in your name, location, email address and GSM no to 080-83843230. Precede with the word ‘ATTEND’ for those who want to come and ‘FREE EBOOK’ for those who want the free e-Book only.

•Oyeniran is Lead Consultant, EkiniConsult & Associates. He can be reached on Jobsearchhow.com.ng Tel 08083843230 (SMS Only).

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

37

BUSINESS MOTORING

The Infiniti QX70 may sound like a new offering from Infiniti, but it is really just the familiar FX by another name. As ever, this distinctive sport-luxury crossover is an appealing choice for drivers who value style, performance and technology over cargo capacity, rear seat space or a cushy ride, writes TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO with agency addition.

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ALLING the QX70 a sport sedan on stilts would not be far from the truth.

Underneath, the QX70 shares its platform with the athletic-handling Infiniti Q50 sedan (the formerly named G37), yielding a nimble character that few crossovers can match. Inside, the well-appointed cabin is presented in rich, modern materials and showcases an easy-to-use electronics interface. For a price, one can also add worthwhile upgrades like adaptive cruise control, a very useful 360-degree parking camera system and a rear entertainment system with twin displays.

The catch is that the QX70 gives up some utility in its quest for performance. Modest luggage space and tight rear seat dimensions conspire to make this Infiniti more of a muscle-bound hatchback than a true utility vehicle. Plus, the sport-biased suspension can feel stiff on rugged urban streets, and it limits the QX70’s appeal as a light-duty offroader for outdoorsy types.

With those limitations in mind, shoppers who do not require the QX70’s sporty edge would do well to consider the plush, capacious 2014 Lexus RX 350 or 2014 MercedesBenz M-Class, while the Volkswagen Touareg strikes a compelling balance between on-road performance and off-road capability. If it is the performance theme that gets you going, the similarly conceived BMW X6 and Porsche Cayenne are worth a look.

But the Infiniti is cheaper than the BMW and Porsche, and it is more entertaining than the others. For crossover shoppers with a nontraditional bent, the 2014 QX70 has a lot to offer.

Body styles The five-passenger Infiniti QX70 sportluxury crossover SUV is offered in two main trim levels: V6-powered QX70 3.7 and V8powered QX70 5.0. All-wheel drive is optional on the 3.7 and standard on the 5.0.

The QX70 3.7 comes standard with 18-inch alloy wheels, automatic xenon headlights, foglights, a sunroof, power-folding heated outside mirrors, a power liftgate, keyless ignition and entry, leather upholstery, dualzone automatic climate control, heated eightway power front seats with driver lumbar adjustments, an auto-dimming rearview mirror and a manual tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel. Standard electronics includes a back-up camera, Bluetooth phone connectivity, a seven-inch colour information display and an 11-speaker Bose surround-sound audio system with satellite radio, a CD player, an iPod/USB input, an auxiliary audio jack and satellite radio.

Options for the QX70 3.7 start with the Premium package, which offers aluminum roof rails, front-seat memory settings with a driverside easy-exit

•Infiniti Qx70

Unveiling Infiniti QX70 function, a power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, a 360-degree parking camera system, front and rear parking sensors, auto-tilt parking mirrors, a navigation system with real-time traffic, an 8-inch touchscreen, voice controls and Bluetooth streaming audio.

The 3.7’s Deluxe Touring package (Premium package required) adds 20-inch wheels, quilted leather seating, ventilated front seats, aluminum pedals, maple wood trim and a cargo cover. The Technology package (Premium and Deluxe Touring packages required) throws in automatic wipers, adaptive cruise control, adaptive headlamps, a forward-collision mitigation system and a lane-departure warning and prevention system.

The QX70 5.0 generally includes all of the above except the technology package, and it also boasts 21-inch wheels, bigger brakes and more advanced climate control with an air purification system. Available exclusively on the 5.0 is the Sport Technology package, which starts with the 3.7’s technology package and adds dark-tinted exterior trim, active rear steering, adaptive two-mode suspension dampers, paddle shifters and sport front seats with power bolsters and adjustable thigh support.

A twin-screen rear-seat entertainment system is a stand-alone option for all QX70 models. A tow package is offered on AWD models only.

19 mpg (17 city/24 highway). All-wheel-drive models are rated slightly less at 18 mpg combined (16 city/22 highway). The QX70 5.0 trails at 16 mpg combined (14 city/20 highway).

With the Tow package, the QX70 3.7 AWD has a 2,000-pound towing capacity, while the QX70 5.0 tops out at 3,500 pounds. Many competing crossovers have notably higher tow ratings.

Safety Standard safety features for the Infiniti QX70 3.7 and QX70 5.0 include antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, front seat side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags. Lane-departure warning and lanekeeping systems are optional, as is a forward collision mitigation system with automatic braking.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded the 2014 Infiniti QX70 its highest score of “Good” in the moderate-overlap frontal-offset test. The QX70’s seat/head restraint design was also rated “Good” for whiplash protection in rear impacts. In Edmunds brake testing, a 5.0 model stopped from 60 mph in 124 feet, while the 3.7 model did a little better at 120 feet – that is about

Performance The QX70 3.7 models are powered by a 3.7liter V6 that produces 325 horsepower and 267 pound-feet of torque. A 5.0-litre V8 producing 390 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque powers the QX70 5.0. A seven-speed automatic with manual shift control is the only transmission available. Rear-wheel drive is standard for the QX70 3.7, while all-wheel drive is optional. The QX70 5.0 is only offered with AWD. In Edmunds testing, a QX70 3.7 sprinted from zero to 60 mph in just 6.2 seconds, while the 5.0 model hit 60 in an impressive 5.5 seconds.

EPA-estimated combined fuel economy for the rearwheel-drive QX70 3.7 is

•Infiniti Qx70 Interior

average for a luxury crossover.

Interior design and special features With supple leathers, rich wood trim, brushed metal accents, cool ambient lighting and soft-touch materials covering nearly every surface, the QX70’s interior is about as luxurious as it gets in the segment. The audio and navigation systems use the same impressively simple and intuitive interface found in a variety of Infiniti products. We also like the optional 360-degree camera that provides a top-down view of the QX70 in relation to its surroundings – it is a boon when negotiating tight spaces.

The standard front seats are quite comfortable and offer ample head- and legroom. Upgrading to the 5.0 model’s optional sport front seats brings power-adjustable side bolsters, a rare treat in a crossover SUV. The rear seats can be a tight fit for taller passengers, however, on account of the FX’s sloping roof line. That sleek profile also compromises cargo space - while the 25 cubic feet behind the rear seats isn’t bad, folding the rear seatbacks down reveals just 62 cubes of total volume, well short of what most two-row luxury crossovers provide.

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

MOTORING

Coscharis begins free service registration

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• From left: Niger State Governor Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu; Managing Director PAN Nigeria Ltd. Alhaji Ibrahim Boyi and Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar after inspecting Peugeot products when the Executive Management of PAN paid the governor a visit at the Government, House, Minna.

New Ranger makes debut F ORD Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) has introduced a rugged new version of its popular Ranger to the Sub Saharan Africa region.

The new variant – the Ranger XLPlus – will go on general sale early next year. It brings a new dimension of toughness to the line-up, making it of particular interest to mining companies, farmers and other business owners with very specific requirements.

“The Ranger XL-Plus was born out of particular requirements from the mining industry, as well as other business owners whose main concerns were rugged capability and impeccable safety standards,” Ford Sub Saharan Africa Marketing, Sales and Service Vice President, Mark Kaufman said.

“The vehicle is already extremely capable, and big mining companies have committed to using only vehicles that have fivestar ENCAP and ANCAP ratings, which Ranger XL-Plus derivative boasts,” Kaufman noted.

Built at the Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria, following a $1.8 million investment, Ranger XLPlus will be sold in South Africa and other markets with similar requirements. It will be available in

Stories by Tajudeen Adebanjo

hand drive.

With airbags for both the driver and passenger, as well as side impact, curtain, and a driver-side knee airbag, Ranger XL-Plus complies with the safety requirements determined by international mine operators. In addition to that, it has a steel bulbar as standard that is designed to work in conjunction with the veh’s existing safety systems, thus not compromising airbag deployment.

An extensive list of modifications have also been tested to ensure the Ranger XL-Plus will stand up to the harsh environments seen in mining operations such as those in Australia, New Zealand and Africa.

External modifications and enhancements include a frame tested for an increased towing load of 3 500kg, extruded aluminium side steps, front mud flaps, and a lockable fuel filler cap.

Inside and under the skin, the Ranger XL-Plus gains a crew chief mounting bracket paired to an expanded wiring harness for accommodating more switches and circuits, a heavy duty second battery, vinyl floor covering, and heavy

duty seat covers.

“Modifications developed for the Ranger XL-Plus came from extensive testing in real-world scenarios. We took feedback from our customers on what more they need from the Ranger in applications such as mining, and built a version of Ranger that will take a lot more punishment, as well as offer integration with technical equipment used on sites,” Kaufman said.

By January next year, Ranger XLPlus will be available to customers in Sub Saharan Africa in three body styles with two chassis cab models in single and double-cab variations, and a double cab model with a loadbox. Drive comes from the Duratorq 2.2-litre TDCi engine mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. All models have four-wheel drive and are fitted with an Electronic Locking Rear Differential.

“We are building the Ranger XLPlus in South Africa, meaning we can give our customers on the continent a factory-ready version of a vehicle that meets their demands.

Modifications for this version of the Ranger can be rolled out during production, so customers do not have to wait for aftermarket customisations,” he said.

European Car of The Year nominees announced

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HE title of European Car of the Year is one all manufacturers selling in Europe want to win, and there is sure to be hot debate over 2015’s victor now the nominations list has been revealed in full.

To be eligible, a vehicle has to be a new vehicle in the year of voting or available before the end of that year, in at least five or more European markets. That explains some of the more unusual choices on the list, like the next-gen Audi TT and the new Smart ForTwo, which are

not actually on sale now but will be in 2015. It is an eclectic list, covering everything from city cars to luxury vehicles, and traditionally it is been humbler, more practical choices that have taken the title.

Last year’s victor, for instance, was the Peugeot 308—a Ford Focus-sized compact car that drew praise for its handsome design and focus on light weight. VW’s seventh-generation Golf won in 2013,

and the previous two years’ winners were the Opel Ampera/ Chevrolet Volt, and the Nissan Leaf. BMW will be hoping to overcome its disappointment from 2014 where its i3 electric vehicle lost out to the Peugeot—its i8 sports car is eligible this year.

A short-list of seven nominees will be announced on December 15, while the winner will be revealed on March 2, 2015—the day before the 2015 Geneva Motor Show opens its doors.

OSCHARIS Motors is making it easier for noncustomer who drives any of the company’s brand vehicles to enjoy free registration by dropping the registration fee to zero.

This means anyone can bring his or her BMW, MINI, Jaguar, Land Rover, MG, Ford or Rolls - Royce vehicle for service without any registration fee.

According to the Group Managing Director, Josiah Samuel, “this is to give the opportunity to users of the various automobile brands we represent in Nigeria that did not purchase their vehicle from our dealership to experience our world class after sales offerings.

As we had over the years invested in both our technicians and facilities to meet the manufacturer’s specifications, our after sales charges for this category of users that ordinarily would have attracted the registration fees is now waived to accommodate everyone till end of the year.”

Renault introduces service checks

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ENAULT Motors Nigeria is offering customers who drive Renault engineered cars to take advantage of its ongoing free service camp to diagnose and fix their vehicles within 90 minutes of visiting the Victoria Island service centre.The initiative, which is the first since the new dealership was inaugurated, is in line with the tradition of Renault to always provide mutual care for its vehicles and customers worldwide, Renault Motors Nigeria Marketing Manager, Mr Anthony Aeyop said.

Aeyop is convinced that the incentive would reunite the dealership with past and existing customers as well as prospective Renault customers especially those that want to discover the power of Renault tagline, ‘Drive the change.’

A

However, these vehicles will have to be checked and evaluated prior to accepting them for repairs.

The essence of waiving the registration fee, Samuel said, is to equally help control the negative experiences of owners of the brands in the hands of quack technicians lacking the requisite skill and programming equipments needed for quality repairs which ultimately give negative perception about the brand image.

He reiterated Coscharis’ commitment to help ease customers and prospects vehicle ownership and maintenance over a reasonable period of time.

The free registration is complemented with free routine vehicle checks to diagnose the total state of the vehicle.

For new vehicle buyers, there is also consideration for free insurance and free registration across all our brands.

“Already customers are coming in with their Renault cars to get them diagnosed and fixed whatever faults, so they can continue to enjoy their cars,” he said.

The Renault marketing manager outlined some of the checks that would in 90 minutes be carried out at zero cost soon as a customer drives into the workshop as: diagnosis, oil top-up, comprehensive check and rainy season defects.

He said the atmosphere has been relaxed to make every visitor feel at home when the checks are been done, adding that this incentive could oblige customers who successfully refer a prospective buyer to the showroom to instantly get 10 per cent discount on any repair when next he/she visits the service centre.

Americans owe record $902.2b car loans

CCORDING to consumer credit reporting agency Equifax, Americans now owe a staggering $902.2 billion in auto loans — a 10 percent increase from this time last year and an all-time high.

That might seem like terrifying news to folks wary of debt or those who fear another lending bubble like the one that helped launch the Great Recession. But Equifax says that there is no need to worry — at least not yet.

Equifax’s confidence stems largely from the fact that the number of delinquencies on auto

loans is also hovering in record territory — record low, that is.

For the third straight month, borrowers have proven diligent, with seriously delinquent accounts making up less than 1 percent of America’s total outstanding loan balance.

According to Dennis Carlson, Equifax’s Deputy Chief Economist, “Lenders are responding to record low delinquencies by offering great rates and terms, while consumers are responding to the improving economic conditions by making the decision to purchase newer vehicles.”

SAFE DRIVING

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Mobile phone and driving

HE rate at which men and women, young and old use mobile phones while driving is alarmingly high and this portends great danger on the roads.

The use of mobile phones while driving is a high level of distraction which takes the driver’s attention away from the path of travel for more than one second.

Professionally speaking, whatever takes the attention of a driver away from the path of travel for more than one second can cause a crash and fatalities.

Hence the global campaign against the use of mobile phone while driving.

I always remember the accident caused few years ago by a woman using mobile phone while driving along Lagos Road in Ikorodu area of Lagos State. While using the mobile phone, the woman suddenly lost control of her car and crossed the low road median to the other side unconscious of an oncoming fully loaded 911 (Molue bus) on the other side of the road.

In a bid to avoid crushing the woman’s car, the molue bus driver

ended up in the swamp and about 30 people died with several injured.

It was the woman herself that was crying and asking God to forgive her for causing that accident through the use of her mobile phone.

Despite all the reported cases of the road traffic crashes and fatalities caused by the use of mobile phones and the previous public enlightenment programmes, the use of mobile phone while driving is still on the increase in Nigeria.

The use of mobile phones while driving has a lot of devastating and

costly consequences which include the following: • It takes the attention of the driver away from the path of travel.

• It takes the mind of the driver away from driving.

• It distorts the eye – mind connection in driving and fuels neglect of traffic signs and road markings.

• It reduces the coordination of the organs of the body involved in driving. That is, it promotes uncoordinated driving.

•To be continued

Jide Owatunmise Registrar / Chief Executive, Professional Driving and Safety Academy

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

39

BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL

IMF: Slow global recovery needs strong policy T

HE International Monetary Fund (IMF’) latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update says that global recovery continues but at an uneven pace, and that downside risks remain. Continued policy efforts are needed to secure a more robust recovery.

Global growth decelerated more than expected in the first quarter of the year, largely because of temporary setbacks, including a sharp correction to an earlier inventory buildup and the effects of a harsh winter on domestic demand in the United States.

Growth also disappointed in China as policies were tightened to dampen credit growth and housing market activity. Growth moderated in other emerging markets due to softer external demand and also because of slower-than-expected investment growth.

The WEO Update projects that global growth will rebound as the temporary constraints recede and recent policy actions to support expansion gain ground. For example, in China, limited stimulus measures have been

deployed to support demand.

Global growth is projected to rise from 3.2 percent in 2013 to 3.4 percent in 2014 and 4.0 percent in 2015. The forecast is 0.3 percent weaker for 2014 relative to the April 2014 WEO (see table), reflecting actual first-quarter outcomes and a slower domestic demand path in emerging markets.

For 2015, the forecast is unchanged from the April WEO, as stronger growth in some advanced economies is expected to offset weaker growth in emerging markets.

Growth in advanced economies is projected to pick up from 1.3 percent in 2013 to 1.8 percent in 2014 and further to 2.4 percent in 2015.

• In the United States, a rebound in activity is already under way, but the recovery will provide only a partial offset to the firstquarter outcome. Growth is projected to average 1.7 percent in 2014, rising to 3 percent in 2015.

• The outlook for the euro area is broadly unchanged compared

China growth likely to slip to 24-year low

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HINA’S economy probably will grow at its slowest pace in 24 years this year, expanding by 7.4 per scent, as government stimulus measures fail to fully offset the drag from a sluggish housing market, a Reuters poll showed.

Growth in the world’s second-biggest economy is forecast to dip slightly in the third and fourth quarters to 7.4 per cent, from 7.5 per cent in AprilJune, according to a median estimate of 19 analysts.

The $9.4 trillion economy is expected to lose momentum despite a slew of government support measures in recent months and expectations that the central bank will further relax monetary policy by cutting banks’ reserve requirement ratio once between October and March next year.

Half of 14 economists polled said they expected the ratio to be cut by 50 basis points to 19.5 per cent, the first such a reduction to be applied to all Chinese banks since May 2012.

The ratio is a measure of the amount of deposits banks must hold as reserves at the central bank, so a reduction would in theory release more funds for lending.

The expected timing of the cut in the fourth quarter at the earliest is a push back of earlier bets for a reduction in the third quarter.

The central bank already has eased reserve requirements for some banks to free up more funds for lending to the farming sector and small- and medium firms.

“The worst of China’s property downturn is not yet behind us,” Tao Wang, an economist at UBS, said in a note on Wednesday.

“As industrial sectors start to feel an increasingly negative drag from China’s unfolding property downshift, growth will likely dip to seven per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter.”

The 7.4 per cent forecast for 2014, the median estimate of 44 economists, would be a low unseen since 1990.

And the slowdown may extend into next year, when annual growth is seen dipping to 7.2 per cent.

The housing market, which accounts for roughly 15 percent of China’s gross domestic product (GDP), is undergoing its worst downturn in about two years.

A cooling economy, a drop in sales after an unusually buoyant 2013 and nearly five years worth of government efforts to tame redhot property prices have all played a part in tempering the sector.

To limit any fall-out, at least 10 regional Chinese governments have scaled back their housing controls. Limits on the number of houses that residents can buy have been scrapped, for instance, and mortgage rates have been slashed in some cases.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said last week economic growth of slightly more or less than the targeted 7.5 percent this year would be acceptable as long it still led to new jobs and higher wages, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

In line with moderating economic activity, consumer price pressures are forecast to remain subdued. Annual inflation is seen running at 2.5 percent in 2014, a good way under the government’s 3.5 percent target.

China’s current account surplus is also expected to hover at 2.2 percent of GDP this year and next, comfortably below the 4 percent mark proposed by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as a level that indicates a balanced economy.

The vast majority of economists polled thought the central bank would keep interest rates unchanged, with the benchmark one-year lending rate seen steady at 6 percent until the end of 2015.

Benchmark one-year deposit rates were also seen unchanged at 3 percent.

Expectations that rates will not be cut contrast with comments from a central bank official earlier this month.

LCCI business clinic holds Thursday

T

HE Petroleum Downstream Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) would hold a Business Clinic on Thursday.

The theme is: Removing subsidy: The implications on banks, downstream and upstream sectors, government and the populace.

According to the group’s Chairman, Mr. Emma Osagie, the

guest speaker of the event is the Chairman and founder Starteam Consult, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa.

He said the Petroleum Downstream is one of the active groups in the LCCI, whose activities are focused on addressing critical issues affecting investment and investors in the oil industry which requires the intervention of the Chamber.

to the April WEO, but performance will remain uneven across the region. Continued financial and balance sheet difficulties coupled with high unemployment will result in weaker growth in some economies.

• In Japan, growth is projected to decelerate slightly in 2015, mostly due to the planned reversal of the fiscal stimulus that was deployed earlier this year.

Growth in emerging market and developing economies is expected to decline from 4.7 percent in 2013 to 4.6 percent in 2014 and then accelerate to 5.2 percent in 2015 on stronger exports.

• Growth in China is forecast to average 7.4 percent in 2014 as recent measures boost domestic demand. Growth will moderate to 7.1 percent in 2015 as the economy transitions to a more balanced growth path.

• In India, investment is expected to pick up gradually in the rest of the year, which will offset the weak first-quarter agricultural performance.

• Growth in Brazil is expected to

slow in 2014 before recovering in 2015, as investment and consumption continue to be affected by weak confidence and tight financial conditions.

• Growth will pick up in 2014–15 in Mexico, but the forecast for 2014 is weaker than that in the April WEO, reflecting the delayed U.S. recovery and softer construction activity.

• Ongoing geopolitical tensions took a sharp toll on domestic demand in the first quarter of 2014 in Russia. Growth has been revised down and is expected to remain subdued over 2014-15.

• In South Africa, growth is likely to remain weak because of electricity constraints and labor strikes.

Downside risks continue to fester, the IMF says. Risks from geopolitical tensions have risen as those related to Ukraine are still alive and new risks have emerged in the Middle East.

Financial market volatility could rise with capital flow reversals and the widening of risk spreads, set off by falling investor appetite or a

sharper-than-expected rise in U.S. long-term rates.

Risks also include a prolonged period of subpar growth arising from insufficient demand in advanced economies, or from the effects of adverse financial market conditions on emerging markets.

Some economies could also suffer from persistent weaknesses in investment.

Policy support is needed to achieve a more robust recovery with stronger actual and potential growth in many economies.

For major advanced economies, the IMF suggests that the supportive monetary policy stance should continue, with normalization proceeding gradually—at different speeds in different economies—as economic slack diminishes. Fiscal adjustment should maintain a balance between supporting shortterm and medium-term growth.

Financial regulatory reforms should be completed, and macroprudential tools should be developed and used to limit financial instability risks.

•Senate President, Chief David Mark (right) welcoming Deputy President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Nike Akande,to his office during a visit by the LCCI chief and her team. With them is the Special Assistant to the Senate President, Mr. Arthur Ndiwe.

Global economy starts second half on solid footing

C

HINA’S factory activity expanded at its fastest in 18 months in July, while the euro zone’s private sector also perked up, but the pace of United States manufacturing expansion slowed.

While China is relying on increased government stimulus to steer its economy away from reliance on exports and towards consumer spending, Europe has taken the opposite approach, combining fiscal austerity with near-zero interest rates, and the U.S. is beginning to wind down its monetary expansion.

The latest HSBC/Markit Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index on Thursday rose to 52 in July from 50.7, the highest

reading since January, last year, and well above the 50-point level that separates growth from contraction.

A comparable survey of private sector activity in the euro zone also rose more than expected, to 54.0 from 52.8, with inflation remaining lows.

“The strength of this morning’s data from China and the euro zone offers some encouragement that there is some momentum building for the global economy at the start of the third quarter,” said Mark Wall, European economist at Deutsche Bank.

However, the pace of expansion in the U.S. manufacturing sector eased in July with new orders and employment also growing more slowly, ac-

cording to private data vendor Markit on Thursday.

The preliminary U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index was 56.3 in July, down from the June reading of 57.3 and below analyst expectations for a reading of 57.5.

The output subindex dipped slightly, to 60.4 from 61 in June, a level that had been its highest since April 2010. The employment gauge fell to its weakest level since September, dropping to 51.2 from 54.

“The (U.S.) data suggest the sector is growing at an annualized rate of roughly 8.0 percent as we moved into the second half of the year,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

Euro economy shows unexpected strength after ECB action E

URO-area manufacturing and services activity strengthened in a sign of confidence that further stimulus by the European Central Bank (ECB) will consolidate a fledgling economic recovery.

A Purchasing Managers Index for both industries jumped to 54 in July from 52.8 in June, matching a threeyear high reached in April, Londonbased Markit Economics said today.

That’s the 13th month the gauge has exceeded 50, the mark that signals expansion. Economists predicted an unchanged reading of 52.8, according to the median of 22 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

The pickup comes after policy makers introduced a negative deposit rate and targeted loans to bolster lending, growth and an inflation rate running

at a quarter of the ECB’s goal. While risks to the economic outlook have increased with escalating tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine, strengthening manufacturing in China bodes well for export demand.

While “the recovery has some underlying momentum,” there is “no reason to become overly optimistic,” said Peter Vanden Houte, chief euroarea economist at ING Groep NV in Brussels. “Monetary policy will have to remain extremely accommodative for a long time to come to make sure that the economic recovery can withstand the looming headwinds.”

They may include intensifying

tensions in Israel and new sanctions proposed against Russia after a Malaysian jet was shot down over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, as well as a looming banking crisis in Portugal and a disappointing economic performance in France, the euro area’s second largest economy.

For now though, today’s data provide “some much-needed and welcome good news,” said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight in London. “Overall growth in euro-zone manufacturing and services output improved appreciably,” lifting “hopes that the euro-zone economy can gradually gain traction over the second half of the year after a disappointing and lackluster first half,” he said.

40

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

BUSINESS AFRICA

Vodafone revenue dragged lower by Spain, South Africa

V

ODAFONE reported another big quarterly drop in its main revenue measure, as weakness in South Africa and Spain offset stabilisation elsewhere in Europe, and said a broader improvement is not expected until later in the year.

The world’s second-biggest mobile operator is ramping up spending on new, faster 4G networks to satisfy customers’ growing appetite for data.

But that comes against the backdrop of cut-throat competition as operators battle weak demand in some struggling

European economies. Regulatory changes, such as cutting the charges operators can impose to connect calls across networks, have also been a drag.

Vodafone said the pace of decline in organic service revenue, which strips out items such as handset sales and currency movements, accelerated to 4.2 percent in the three months to June 30, the company’s financial first quarter.

That was in line with analysts’ forecasts and compared with a rate of 4.0 percent, in-

cluding a full contribution from Italy, in the last quarter of its previous financial year.

Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said the group was doing better in some European markets, such as Germany and Britain.

“It is encouraging that quarter-on-quarter some markets seem to be stabilizing but I think it is early to call any low point,” he told reporters on Friday. The company is hoping for a broader improvement in the second half of its financial year.

Shares in Vodafone, which

have fallen nine per cent in the last three months, underperforming the European telecoms index by 11 percent, were trading up 1.5 percent at 201 pence 1045 GMT. Analysts at Jefferies, who have a “hold” rating on Vodafone, said that given the stock’s de-rating and dividend support, the market would focus on the positives on Friday.

“As expected, Vodafone’s top-line starts to see some benefits of heavy commercial and network investment, no-

tably in Germany and (more tentatively) Italy,” they said.

Colao said the company’s 19 billion pound investment program, called Project Spring, had taken off quickly, with capital expenditure nearly doubling year-onyear, and it now had 4G coverage across more than half of its European footprint.

The revenue drop was due to regulatory changes in South Africa, resulting in no growth for its Vodacom unit against 5.1 per cent the previous quarter.

A further deterioration in

T

From left: Chief Operating Officer Berger Paints Nigeria Plc Mr. Jatin Madan; former chairman Mr Clement Olowokande and Managing Director Mr Tor Nygard at the company’s dealers’ conference in Lagos.

NYSC, Smiles Consulting partner on job creation

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HE battle against unemployment has received a boost with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) national directorate enlisting Smiles Consulting to help corps members increase their chances of securing employment after the mandatory one year national service.

With the move, the NYSC will be working with the human resources consultancy firm on in-camp sensitisation and post camp training of youth corps members on its

Job Awareness and Creation (JAC) initiative.

This strategic partnership, according to Director, Smiles Consulting, Harry Nnoli “is in line with the vision of the incumbent Director General, NYSC, Brig.

Gen. Johnson Olubumi to increase the impact of the scheme and expand its value to critical stakeholders”.

He explained that the relationship between his firm and the NYSC is at free to the scheme as it is part of his firm’s social responsibility

contribution to the capacity building.

He highlights that some of the services his firm would be rendering free of charge under this partnership will focus on how young corps members can secure jobs in the market after primary assignments; and where this becomes difficult, how they can create jobs, thus becoming self employed.

Nnoli sees this as an expression of confidence on his firm by the NYSC which results from years of working to-

gether to enhance the lots of youths that pass through the national youth service scheme.

“This is a result of many years of collaboration with the NYSC Directorate on building capacity for the youth and tackling issues of graduate unemployment, underemployment and employability,” Nnoli said.

To ensure that no one is left out, JAC activities would be at all orientation camps and the Federal Capital Territory.

‘How to make airlines successful in Africa’

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OR any African carrier to succeed, its managers must develop a multi-hub system that would create a pool of network to feed passengers from different parts of the continents into its major hub before distributing them to the global network, the Vice President of Ethiopian Airlines Mr Esayas Woldemariam said.

During an interview with The Nation in Lagos, Woldemariam said the success of any African carrier is not dictated by its mode of ownership.

The success, he said, could be achieved by putting in place a good route analysis structure that would address the lack of air connectivity in the continent through the development of multiple hubs to feed passengers traffic into a major network across the continent.

He said until African governments implement the liberalisation of its air transport policy otherwise known as the Yamoussoukro Decision, by removing restrictions

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

into its airspace among carriers in the continent, foreign carriers would continue to dominate the market with their over eighty per cent market share of passengers load factor.

The Ethiopian Airlines Vice President said many airlines failed in Africa not because they were owned or run by government hundred per cent, but because of failure by the countries to put in place a dedicated and honest management team, which should see air transport as a tool to integrate the economic development of the continent.

He said because Africa is not easily connected by rail and road, air transportation, therefore, becomes the cheapest mode to link all

parts of the continent.

He said many African carriers have failed because they have not invested enough in routes and equipment.

He said investments in smaller carriers by major national airlines, as Ethiopian Airlines has done with ASKY Airlines in Lome, Togo and Air Malawi In Lilongwe, has assisted in the development of two regional hubs in West, Central and Southern Africa, enables the airlines to feed passengers into the major hub in Addis Ababa.

With the multiple hub system, Ethiopian Airlines, he said, is able to connect passengers from other parts of Africa into its global route network as a Star Alliance member He said: “The solution to how to deliver successful air-

‘African carriers could do well if the right template is in place. One of the ways of achieving this is through the multiple hub system’

lines in Africa is not a matter of the mode of ownership.

“African carriers have failed , not because they were owned by government or privately run.

“It is because the airlines lack diligent management, who have the autonomy to run the carriers with industry discipline.”

He added: “African carriers could do well if the right template is in place. One of the ways of achieving this is through the multiple hub system.

“This system allows the carriers to put in place a passenger feeder network from its smaller hubs into a major hub for global passenger distribution.

“Africa needs successful carriers which it could use to facilitate its economic integration.”

This has become key because the continent is not connected by rail or road. Air link could strengthen business in Africa with low level investment in infrastructure .”

Spain, where competition increased and the market shifted towards cheaper SIMonly deals, resulted in service revenue falling 15.3 per cent, versus a 12.6 per cent drop last quarter and below a forecast from analysts at Berenberg of a 13.5 per cent drop.

Improvements were seen however, in Germany, where the rate of decline was 4.9 per cent, against 5.8 per cent last quarter, and a focus on 4G and combined voice and data plans boosted the number of customers on contracts.

AfDB pledges more support for Zambia

HE African Development Bank (AfDB) has praised Zambia for her macro-economic stability and the progress it continues to make in various economic sectors.

The bank has also said it is happy to continue being the country’s partner in driving the economic development agenda.

AfDB President Donald Kaberuka commended Zambia for making significant progress on the macro-economic front, diversification, and for being an inclusive economy.

Dr Kaberuka also said AfDB was happy to be Zambia’s partner in driving the country’s economic development agenda.

Speaking when he paid a courtesy call on Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda yesterday, Dr Kaberuka said he was impressed by how much progress Zambia was making every year.

“I am always impressed by how much progress Zambia is making every year,” Dr Kaberuka said. “I want to commend you and your Government because you are one of the few countries that are truly getting close to the frontiers.”

He said poverty and unemployment were a problem on the continent, adding that African countries still had a long way to go to achieve the desired growth.

Dr Kaberuka, who is in the country to attend the National Women’s Economic Empowerment Expo, visit the Kariba Dam and other projects, also praised the Government for the progress made on the issues of gender, empowerment as well as financial inclusion.

“I want to commend your Government and people of Zambia for hosting this women’s conference,” he said.

Dr Kaberuka said the bank was now financing different projects worth about US$850 million.

The bank supports the development of the Kazungula Bridge, Nacala Corridor, Nkana Water, Rural Water Sanitation, climate resilient programmes, the Global Agriculture Food Security and skills development, among other projects.

He said later this year, AfDB would be working on a new strategy for Zambia focusing on priority areas.

NSSF pension returns grow in Kenya

W

ORKERS savings through the National Social Security Fund returned Sh27.32 billion in the financial year ended June 2013 up from Sh1.74 billion a year before, audited financial statements published yesterday showed.

The windfall was boosted by a Sh25.58 billion growth in the market value of the investments that helped offset a Sh6.20 billion loss the previous year to stand at Sh18.35 billion gain at the end of financial year 2012/13.

The State-run pension fund accrued Sh6.44 billion in administrative costs, representing a jump of 21.74 per cent or Sh1.15 billion from Sh7.94 billion a year earlier.

During the review period, 38 per cent of the funds were invested in shares trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, 31 per cent in property while 24 per cent was sank in government securities.

The growth in actual earnings from investments over the same period was a modest 12.97 per cent to Sh8.97 billion from Sh7.94 billion previously.

Members will earn an interest of 12.5 per cent for the review period - the rate fixed by Labour Secretary Kazungu Kambi under section 19(2) of the NSSF Act and

to be credited to their accounts by end of this month - a climb from 7.5 per cent paid previously.

Total value of assets acquired through the statutory retirement savings by about 1.7 million members was Sh134.93 billion- a jump of 22.15 per cent or Sh24.47 billion over the Sh110.46 billion valuation a year earlier.

The figures that were approved by the Auditor General Edward Ouko on July 11 and published in the dailies yesterday however varies with those filed with the regulator the Retitement Benefits Authority by Sh1.3 billion.

While those submitted to auditor general’s office put the asset portfolio at Sh134.93 billion, the figures published by the RBA on July 1 are quoted at Sh136.2 billion.

The RBA report indicate that the NSSF continued to manage at least 67.98 per cent of the assets internally despite contracting six professional fund managers to oversee its investment portfolio.

Fund managers it contracted to invest members’ pension on its behalf included Pinebridge Investments, Genesis, ICEALION,Stanbic, Old Mutual and Co-op Trust.

43

MONDAY JULY 28, 2014

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

The relationship between Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime and his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi, has deteriorated. The deputy governor is now being threatened with impeachment by the House of Assembly. His boss gave him the option of resignation to avoid impeachment. Observers say the drama is not unconnected with 2015 general elections, writes Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI.

•Chime

• Ekweremadu

•Onyebuchi

Impeachment fever grips Enugu T

HE simmering proxy war between Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime and his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi, appears to be reaching the boiling point, with the House of Assembly opening impeachment proceedings against Onyebuchi. At a sitting that lasted less than an hour, lawmakers passed last week a motion directing the Clerk of the House, Christopher Chukwurah, to serve the deputy governor the impeachment notice. At the session, which was attended by all the lawmakers and presided over by the Speaker, Hon. Eugene Odoh, 22 of the 24 legislators endorsed the initiative.

The deputy governor is being accused of gross misconduct in the performance of his functions. In a swift reaction, Chime said he had given Onyebuchi the option of resigning from his position to avoid impeachment.

The governor, his deputy and the entire members of the House belong to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The sour relationship between Chime and his deputy reached a crescendo in January when the Enugu State Capital Territory Development Authority was ordered to evacuate about 3,500 birds from a poultry farm belonging to the number two citizen. The evacuation was preparatory to the demolition of the farm located within the premises of the deputy governor’s house. Apparently, the issue was not resolved, because the continued operation of the poultry was one of the two-point allegations leveled against Onyebuchi, who is said to have violated a resolution of the House prohibiting commercial livestock and poultry farms within residential neighbourhoods in Enugu metropolis. The allegations also include the abuse of his office and disobedience of lawful directives of the governor.

Onyebuchi may not emerge from the war unscathed this time, because it is coming at a time when impeachment is becoming a tool for settling political scores. According to a source in Enugu, Onyebuchi’s predicament may not be unconnected with the strained relationship between Chime and the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu over unresolved issues connected with the 2015 general elections. Indeed, the two lawmakers who refused to

ratify Onyebuchi’s impeachment are the Speaker of the House, who represents Aninri Local Government where Ekweremadu comes from and Hon. Mathias Ekweremadu, the younger brother of the Deputy Senate President. Chime is from Udi Local Government, which is one of the five local governments in Enugu West District. Apart from Aninri and Udi, the other local governments are Ezeagu, Oji River and Awgu.

The source said the deputy governor belongs to the camp of Ekweremadu, who is aspiring to succeed Chime as governor next year. Chime and the Deputy Senate President are at loggerheads over the governor’s decision to support Enugu North District’s bid to produce the next governor.

Ekweremadu and other stakeholders are not comfortable with the governor’s vehemence over the issue of zoning and this has been generating tension. The governor has been insisting that his position was based on the need to ensure justice, equity and fair play.

Since the advent of democracy in 1999, the two zones of Enugu-East and Enugu-West had had their turns through Senator Chimaroke Nnamani (1999 to 2007) and Chime, who would complete his second term next year.

Ekweremadu is not in support of zoning the governorship to the Nsukka Zone because it would put paid to his ambition to govern the state. Ekweremadu would lose out, if zoning is applied; he comes from the same zone with Chime. Thus, he would prefer a situation where the ticket is thrown open to the most qualified person, irrespective of his or her senatorial zone. He said: “I’ll be glad, if somebody from Enugu North becomes the governor of the state in 2015,

but, not on the basis of zoning. There is no zoning in Enugu. I am not aware and nobody is aware. I have been in politics in Enugu since the beginning of this dispensation. People from every part of the state have vied but somehow, somebody would win.

So, I am sure that our brothers from Nsukka understand that clearly.

“I stand to be challenged. I want anybody to tell me a document or a meeting where the governorship of Enugu has ever been zoned since 1999. I will be happy, if somebody from Enugu North becomes governor, but not on the basis of zoning. Probably, they are the only ones that have not produced the governor of the state. But, like I said, it has nothing to do with zoning. There is nothing like zoning in Enugu as at today.

Until zoning is done, I don’t think anybody who wants to run from other parts of the state can be stopped.”

What even makes the whole arrangement unacceptable to the Deputy Senate President, according to our source, is the fact that he is not likely to return to the Senate in 2015.

Chime and Ekweremadu are from Enugu West District, and like his predecessor, the governor is interested in going to the Upper Chamber, after he concludes his second term in office May next year. The governor was once quoted as saying that the National Assembly ticket should be regarded as part of the poverty-alleviation scheme and therefore, long serving members should not retain their seats in 2015.

His words: “Enugu being a poverty stricken state, membership of the National Assembly should be seen as a ‘Poverty Alleviation Programme.” Chime was said to have made it clear that those who had served

‘The impeachment proceedings against Onyebuchi are part of the unfolding drama to sideline supporters of the Deputy Senate President. Onyebuchi travelled to Abuja immediately after being served the notice, apparently to meet with prominent indigenes of the state and to lobby his way out of his predicament’

as federal lawmakers for two terms (eight years) or more should give way and look towards other things, so that new people would go and have a share of the pie. Based on Chime’s criteria, Senator Ekweremadu is not qualified to return to the Upper Chamber next year.

Observers believe that Chime would use his power as the governor to deny Ekweremadu both the Senate and the governorship ticket. The impeachment proceedings against Onyebuchi are part of the unfolding drama to sideline supporters of the Deputy Senate President. Onyebuchi travelled to Abuja immediately after being served the notice, apparently to meet with prominent indigenes of the state and to lobby his way out of his predicament. In the Nigerian political lexicon, the position of deputy governor has always been likened to a spare tyre; a deputy governor’s position is merely a ceremonial one. He could be seen, but not heard, unless he is representing the governor.

Another factor that may have put Onyebuchi in trouble with his principal is the deputy governor’s purported senatorial ambition. He has joined the race for the ticket of Enugu East senatorial zone. A number of persons are equally interested in the ticket, including Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo, Chime’s female Chief of Staff, former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, Senator Gilbert Nnaji, and Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr. Based on the zoning and rotational principle adopted by the party leaders, the deputy governor stands a good chance of clinching the ticket. He hails from Nkanu East, which is the only local government, out of the six in the zone that has not produced a senator since the advent of the current political dispensation in 1999. Those that have so far represented the zone include: Chief Isaiah Ani (Isi-Uzo), Chief Jim Nwobodo (Enugu South), Chief Ken Nnamani (Enugu South), Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani (Nkanu West) and the incumbent Senator Gilbert Nnaji (Enugu East).

But with the way things are now, there is no way Onyebuchi can get the ticket, with Chime said to be backing Mrs. Nwobodo.

According to observers, the woman practically runs the state; everything that pertains to the day-to-day running of the state revolves around her.

THE NATION MONDAY JULY 28, 2014

44

POLITICS OSUN POLITICS Deputy Director, Bureau of Communication, Osun State, Mr. Sola Fasure, in this interview with MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE, speaks on the Aregbesola administration and preparations for the August 9 governorship election.

‘Rigging ‘ll be resisted in Osun’ W

HAT are the issues that will shape the August 9 election in Osun State?

The election will be decided by the general condition in the country, the direction the leadership of this country is taking: whether we are making progress or we are retrogressing. Secondly, the performance of the party in power in the state and the quality of the candidates vying for the governorship will form part of the issues.

Since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won in Ekiti State, people have been saying it could engender a bandwagon effect in the entire Southwest…

The outcome of the Ekiti State election momentarily provided a fillip for the opposition, whose voice has been totally muted. It gave them hope. Those talking about a bandwagon effect are clearly misreading the event. The situation and the circumstances in the states involved are not the same. In political science, no two elections are the same.

No matter how similar the circumstances may look, the outcome will not be the same. They are two different elections; there is lot of misreading of the Ekiti scenario. If it is about the so-called stomach infrastructure, the incumbent governor in Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has put in place some empowerment programmes that could be described as stomach infrastructure, even before they coined the slang.

You will recall that he has put in place the O’meal programme, which makes provision for the feeding of primary school pupils in the state.

This is not just one of those meals, but, we are talking about balanced diet. The testimony is there. The programme is so successful that the British parliament sent a delegation to come and study it, with the intention of recommending it to other states in Nigeria. The programme has provided job, for thousands of people, who have equally contributed to its success.

The programme is actually integrated into the development of agriculture in the state. It has provided jobs for thousands of people who are involved in various ways.

The governor has also put in place before now a scheme to assist farmers. A lot of unemployed people, particularly school leavers, were taken into the programme. Many of them are now successful farmers. They produce food for the state

and also for export to other parts of the country. The government also has in place a programme called Agba Osun under which the aged, the widows and the vulnerable in the society are taken care of. They are given a monthly stipend. They are also given access to free medical care. So, if it is in terms of what goes into peoples’ stomach, then the governor has been in the game before now.

When it comes to the grassroots, the governor is also a grassroots man. Every month, he does the walk–to-live programme, where he will do a 10 kilometre walk, in selected communities, in different local government areas. It an open thing, it is open to everyone in the communities involved. He equally interacts with the people through the programme called Gbangbadekun.

Under this programme, he visits communities to interact with the people, particularly to give them opportunities to ask questions. Through the programme, he gives clarifications where needed. It is a one-on-one thing. So, there is no doubt that he is a grassroots man. I am not even talking about the performance in office now, but if they say the factors that made Ayo Fayose to win in Ekiti are his connection to the grassroots and his provision of stomach infrastructure, then Aregbesola is far ahead in this regard in Osun.

There were allegations that PDP won in Ekiti through some sort of photocromic ballot device…

The technology is available theoretically; a phototropic device in which a thumb print can disappear and then reappear. It can disappear if put in a certain place and never come back again or it may be put there and then it disappears and reappear later. Let’s say it is now being deployed in a conspiratorial way between the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). That would mean that the PDP would have thumpprinted the ballot papers before the election. And then it disappears and

• Fasure

when voters thump prints, it also disappears when it is folded. When put in the ballot box the PDP thumb print then reappears. The technology is available, but there is no empirical evidence that it was deployed in Ekiti. Nevertheless, it is one of the possibilities. It was alleged because we heard a woman saying when the ballot was given to her, she had a long phone call, but when she went to thumb her ballot paper, she found that someone had apparently thumb-printed on the ballot paper given to her in favour of the PDP. But like I said, it has not been subjected to any forensic data. And so, we take it as that. But if that is what they intend to do in Osun State, they will meet their waterloo. We already have in place measures. I will not reveal them here. Suffice it to say that we have educated our members on what to look out for; if such gimmick is being deployed, they will expose it.

Let nobody be under any illusion, if it is proved that the method is being deployed, we would challenge it, by subjecting every ballot paper to forensic analysis. If such nonsense is tried, it is going to be exposed to the whole world. Let’s just keep all the

options open; let’s believe that INEC will not compromise standards.

INEC too will be vigilant and would want to leave a legacy. They will not want Nigeria to go up in flames; they will not want the wishes of the people to be subverted. They will not want democracy to be put under strain and make other forms of government attractive.

How would you assess INEC’s preparation for the election?

There are stages in election. The first stage, of course, is the compilation of the voters’ register. The other stages include the deployment of materials, both sensitive and non sensitive. INEC had told us that they are already deploying the non sensitive materials and that the sensitive material will be deployed two days before the election. I hope that INEC would protect its sanctity.

There have been allegations that people are still having problems collecting their permanent voter’s cards. I am appealing to INEC to speed up the process. There have been allegations that an opposition party has taken over unclaimed voters’ cards and distributed them to mercenaries. INEC should know that Osun is not like any other place; most of the polling stations are embedded within the communities. The people know themselves, so if somebody is impersonating and bringing someone else’s card, such person can easily be apprehended. If INEC is going to allow such a thing, democracy would be subverted. I believe that INEC may have some logistic challenges, but I expect them to quickly sort out such challenges.

Recently, INEC redeployed its Resident Electoral Commissioner. It is not our business to question INEC’s deployment of its staff, as long as there is no sign that it will jeopardize the conduct of the election. But the redeployment was done at the instance of one of the parties to the election. The PDP candidate has been asking for the removal of the commissioner. INEC initially stood its ground, but later buckled. It is a very dangerous signal that INEC is being put under pressure. If INEC buckled at this request, what further demand

‘The people know themselves. So,if somebody is impersonating and bringing someone else’s card, such person can easily be apprehended.

If the INEC is going to allow such a thing, democracy would be subverted. I believe that the INEC may have some logistic challenges, but I expect them to quickly sort out such challenges’

are they going to make which INEC will accede to? It is puzzling and imponderable why INEC buckled. But we just hope that it will stop at that.

How do you react to the issue of Omo Ilu? It is a diabolical arrangement. We have received reports that it is surreptitiously disenfranchising people and they are taking away peoples destiny. They have diabolical components; they are using the method to initiate people into secret cults, where they would be made to pledge allegiance and loyalty to the PDP. They are promising to give people N5, 000 in exchange for the Omo Ilu form to put their voter’s card number. Some other private and personal information or bio-data are taken with a pledge of loyalty to the PDP because we heard that our people are being called into some places. The government has an alternative arrangement for empowerment, not handing out a mere N5, 000. The government has just made available N4 billion interest free loan to people in all the local governments. There will be no oath. There will be no allegiance to any party. It is purely empowerment for people who want to work, empower themselves and take their own destiny into their hands.

The PDP candidate has promised to dislodge Governor Aregbesola from office. He has gone to the grassroots seeking the support from the communities….

Let me say that he is adopting tactics that will make him look popular. One of the interesting things about this election is that there is no opposition. Omisore is not a serious candidate by anybody’s standard. If Omisore is eating corn with both hands, this is something to take serious. In Yoruba land, serious people don’t do that in order not to sound as if one is mocking those who could not afford something to eat. If Omisore is copying Ayo Fayose, then it is a tragedy that the method is uneventful. It is a huge joke. He has been in the political scene since 1999 and has not been a man of the people. He is known for violence, rough handling of opponents and threatening of opponents. Recently, the former governor of the state, Isiaka Adeleke, was rough handled by his thugs. If that is what he has been known for, then how can he suddenly change; start eating corn, pretending to be popular. The people are not stupid. They see you for who you are. You cannot take them for a ride. He is not popular; he is only

Lagos 2015: 16 for governor in APC

By Emmanuel Oladesu

N

• Former Minister of Transport Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Osun State PDP governorship candidate Senator Iyiola Omisore , Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland Oba Gabriel Aromolaran and Senator Folasade Bent when Omisore visited to the Owa-In-Council at Ilesa.

O fewer than 16 chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are vying for the governorship of Lagos in the next year’s elec tion, it was learnt at the weekend.

The nomination guidelines are expected to be released in the next quarter by the party’s executive committee led by Otunba Oladele Ajomale. Sources said that more aspirants may join the race, following the release of the guidelines.

The aspirants include Senator Ganiyu Solomon, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, House of Representatives Minority Leader Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, House of Assembly Speaker Hon. Yemi Ikuforiji, APC National Legal Adviser Dr. Muiz Banire, and former Accountant-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance Mr. Akinwumi Ambode.

Others are Commissioner for Agriculture Gbolahan Lawal, his Works Ministry counterpart, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Transport Commissioner Comrade Kayode Opeifa, businessmen Alobo Bakare and Adekunle Disu, Mr. Fowler, former Health Commissioners Dr. Leke Pitan and Dr. Tola Kasali, and former Head of Service Prince Adesegun Ogunlewe.

In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), there are six aspirants. They are Minister of State for Defence Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, former governorship candidate Dr. Ade Dosunmu, former Women Commissioner Mrs. Remi Adikwu-Bakare, former presidential assistant Bode Oyedele and former Health Commissioner Dr. Segun Ogundimu, and Afenifere chieftain Mr. Jimi Agbaje.

The PDP Publicity Secretary, Gani Taofeek, said that the candidate will emerge at the primaries.

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DISCOURSE

Perspectives & strategic responses to an emerging dictatorship in Nigeria

1.0

T

Background

HE Jonathan presidency emerged on the platform of a much touted ‘Transformation Agenda’ which was animated by his personal life story from poverty to power, from a modest background into the exalted office of President of Nigeria. He garnered massive support from Nigerians on the premise of this populist assertion.

Recent undercurrents within the Nigerian populace however indicate that the country is drifting towards a precipice of chaos as the political and economic situation in the country are facing dramatic and somewhat catastrophic disruptions.

Three years into his presidency, Goodluck Jonathan has shown numerous signs of an executive dictatorship that has threatened some provisions of the Constitution and weakened our democratic institutions. If left unchecked, his administration could erode the powers of other branches of government as he pushes through his political agenda on every front. Indeed there is a preponderance of evidence to back up the premise of a dictatorship being gradually established in Nigeria by the Jonathan administration which if left unchecked will erode the modest gains established by our nascent democratic journey.

With a frightening display of executive highhandedness and excessive use of state power now in plain view and increasing daily, one is tempted to ask: Are Nigerians too busy focusing on their own individual survival during hard times than recognizing that the nation, in the hands of a veiled dictator is heading down the slope rapidly?

2.0 Early signs of dictatorship

The President sees principled differences by the opposition and even within his party as an affront to his person or office or both. He is increasingly becoming intolerant of alternative views, arguments or debates on important national discourse. In November, 2011 during a parley with members of the National Assembly, the President likened dissenting views of Governors at a meeting with him as similar to ‘activist and anti-establishment posturing of NGOs and civil society and human rights groups.’ This could be interpreted as a perception by the President that principled disagreement is not just an evidence of differences in opinion, but an affront on established order and official government position.

In his attempt then to woo the members of the National Assembly into the oil subsidy agenda, the President failed to provide an evidence based and empirical logic to underscore his alarm that “the economy might collapse in three months if fuel subsidy is not removed.” At the meeting, the obvious negative response to his weak articulation and unconvincing presentation of his proposition seemed to drive him into frustration with an attendant tendency to take drastic decisions that were undemocratic and unpopular. It was clearly evident then that the president was gradually slipping into the deployment of power instead of persuasion to achieve his policy goals.

It was clear for all to see that the otherwise cool and innocent mien of the President was beginning to give way to a ferocious insistence on his views in national discourse.

3.0 A glance into history

Most dictators are surrounded by an inner core of ruthless people who they believe are loyal and operate in absolute dedication. Hitler had his black shirted SS (Defence Detachment), Benito Mussolini had his Black Shirts. Saddam Hussein had the Republican Guard. Kim Jong-Il of North Korea who allegedly had nearly a quarter million people arrested during his rule and who is directly responsible for the starva-

tify the commission in writing, at least 48 hours before transmitting a political programme live. This is no doubt an attempt to gag the media further and emasculate free speech.

It is also an attempt to silence dissention and opposing political and ideological views. At present, most media outfits submit their lists of programmes quarterly to the regulatory body without any prompting. The new directive no doubt points to the antics of a government that may have graduated into full blown dictatorship.

By Olubunmi Adetunmbi

tion and deaths of millions of his countrymen was supported by such people too. Vladimir Lenin instituted the “Red Terror” or the systematic elimination of millions of people, including members of his own political party. Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia had no qualms about killing anyone he considered to be in opposition to his draconian rule.

In Nigeria, our case may not have been that bad so far but you recall that we also had the IBB boys, and the OBJ ‘Kitchen Cabinet.’ Now, we have the Resource Control thinkers and the adopters of the Jonathan fashion sense of ‘Hat & Tunic’. In extreme cases, dictators have a subterranean band of enforcers that often employ force and violence to entrench unpopular views and silence opposition. When a leader surrounds himself with such a group of violent people who deploy extreme language in national discourse and are intolerant of divergent views, all coming from the same ethnic stock and wear the same costumes, there is the very real danger of tyranny and suppression of any form of opposition. Of course this type of leader explains this away by alluding to minority rights and resource control and the need to protect national interest! The telltale signs of dictatorship and fascism abound in the nation today.

4.0 Empirical evidence of emerging dictatorship

The country is gradually slipping into dictatorship and in the typical Nigerian despondency, most people seem to say it cannot happen here, but the reality is that the culture of executive impunity is becoming too obvious to be ignored. We have witnessed increasing religionalisation of presidential politics, we have also experienced growing militarisation of state elections and executive expenditure outside appropriation at national parliament is a regular experience.

The language of political discourse has become corrosive and laden with arrogance of power and contemptuous disdain for dissenting views. All views contrary to the governments in power at all levels are regarded as rebellious regardless of the merits and the facts of the issues raised.

Federal and state government relations have become that of “might is right” and master-servant relations. The sound bite, body language and content of political leadership have become arrogant, divisive, ethnic, rabidly partisan and increasingly tyrannical.

All things considered, it can be arguably said that Nigeria is gradually degenerating into a fascist dictatorship where the right of free expression, free movement is flagrantly abused by state institutions and actors that are constitutionally assigned to protect these rights. Over the years and recent times, the brazen acts of executive lawlessness, interference and dictatorship are on the increase.

A few which seems to call for great concern will suffice at this juncture:

4.1 Sacking of dissenting public officers

The hasty removal of Lieutenant General (Rtd) Abdulrahman Dambazau, former Chief of Army Staff and other service chiefs on assumption of office despite public criticism showed the dictatorial side of the President. Also the suspension and ultimate retirement of Justice Ayo Salami of the Federal Court of Appeal against the strong advice of the advice of the former Chief Justice of the Federation who called for his reinstatement showed a leader with absolute disregard for laid down procedure and due process.

• Adetumbi And of course the standoff between erstwhile governor of the CBN Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (now Emir of Kano) and the President which led to his highhanded removal in controversial circumstances.

4.2 Arbitrary arrests and human rights infractions

Malam Nasir El-Rufai was arrested and detained by the State Security Service, SSS on January 27th 2014 for criticizing the government. It is worthy of note that in the past, ethnic loyalists of the President have made highly inciting public utterances but it took massive public outcry before one of such was invited for questioning and unheeded warning by pliant security operatives. Also at a conference in Kaduna on the 23rd of June, 2014, the Speaker of the House of Representatives was harassed by soldiers though public apologies were offered later by the National Security Adviser, NSA.

4.3 Media Censorship

Between June 8th and 11th there was widespread unwarranted seizure of newspapers and harassment of distributors of prominent media outfits especially those critical of some government policies in the past. The government only soft-pedaled after the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN and the Nigerian public expressed outrage at the development. The newspaper houses are still counting the losses incurred in this 4-day siege on their legitimate operations.

4.4 Draconian stance on live broadcast

On May 30th 2014, the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC wrote letters to broadcast media organizations in the country on new modalities for operation. Part of new regulations according to the NBC was that broadcast stations must no-

‘The country is gradually slipping into dictatorship and in the typical Nigerian despondency, most people seem to say it cannot happen here, but the reality is that the culture of executive impunity is becoming too obvious to be ignored. We have witnessed increasing religionalisation of presidential politics, we have also experienced growing militarisation of state elections and executive expenditure outside appropriation at national parliament is a regular experience’

4.5 Politically motivated deployment of troops

On November 27th, 2011, President Jonathan deployed troops to his state, Bayelsa without consulting the National Assembly. This led to the undue militarization of the state. The President was severely criticized for the deployment of federal troops to secure Bayelsa after tension allegedly erupted when the PDP banned former governor Timipre Sylva from seeking re-election under the party’s platform. A day earlier, governor Sylva had allegedly been harassed by security operatives. Hundreds of policemen and soldiers deployed to the state barred him from coming out of Creek Haven, the seat of the Bayelsa State government.

Consequently, Sylva could not participate in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ward congresses ahead of the governorship primaries from which he had been barred by PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC). During the entire period of the siege, the economic life of the people was affected as fierce looking soldiers patrolled the streets.

In January 2012, during the protests that greeted the fuel subsidy removal, the soldiers that President Goodluck Jonathan deployed to quell the protests in Lagos remained on the streets of the state despite pleas by eminent Nigerians including Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka asking the President to rescind the deployment. In the last Ekiti polls, over 37,000 security personnel comprising soldiers, policemen, civil defence operatives and SSS were deployed by the Federal Government to intimidate members of the opposition and voters. Over the years, there have been other instances of needless deployment of troops at the pleasure of the President.

4.6 The Adamawa siege

On July 5th, 2014, armed operatives of the state including the police and soldiers reportedly invaded the residence of the Acting Chief Judge of the state, Ambrose Mammadi located at Masakare in Jimeta and at gun point coerced him into ratifying the formation of the 7-man investigation panel set up by the state assembly which was in the process of impeaching the governor, a known critic of the president. The Presidency did not deny the media reportage of the siege on the Judge’s residence. Few days after, the dailies were also awash with reports that the president had urged the governor to apologize for his ‘misdemeanor’ so that the impeachment process could be aborted. The governor reportedly refused this overture. The police and soldiers also gave full security coverage to the panel all through their meetings at the behest of the Federal Government. It is no longer news that the state governor has been impeached which clearly shows that we have a President who would not relent until his wishes become reality.

4.7 Impeachment train moves to Nassarawa Twenty out of the 24 legislators in Nassarawa State House of Assembly (dominated by the PDP) also recently initiated impeachment moves against the state gov-

ernor, Umar Tanko Al-Makura, an APC governor. The lawmakers are leveling a 16 count charge against the incumbent with extra focus on ‘misappropriation of N13bn, extra budgetary expenditure and gross misconduct and abuse of public office.’ The speaker, Hon Musa Ahmed had to call the members hurriedly from their recess to attend a plenary session where the impeachment process was initiated on Monday 14th July 2014. Perhaps to lend credence to the widely held beliefs that the current impeachment process is only part of a script being acted by the PDP-led government to cause political quagmire in selected opposition states, newspaper reports have it that the helicopter of Mr President which conveyed him to the state landed barely a few minutes after the 13 minute legislative session. The President was in the state to commission a project that could have been handled by one of his subordinates or aides. The state attorney general, Lagi Innocent in a media interaction also criticized the impeachment process adding that the legislators ‘have a predetermined motive less than noble.’

4.8 The comedy of errors in Rivers State

On May 12th 2013, 5 anti-Amaechi lawmakers with alleged presidential support went into hiding to impeach the governor. Strangely, on April 29th the other 27 lawmakers loyal to the state governor including Speaker Otelemaba Dan Amachree were ‘suspended’ by the Felix Obuah- led PDP state executive. A year after, anti-Amaechi forces with invincible support are still waxing strong. On June 19th, 2014, another plot to impeach Amaechi hatched by 6 PDP legislators who met at Krisdera Hotel, Port Harcourt was also unearthed.

4.9 The drama of parallel assemblies in Edo State

Nine rebellious PDP members of the Edo state assembly backed by the police broke into the hallowed chamber (which is undergoing repairs) on July 7th 2014 and recruited two sacked staff of the Edo House of Assembly Service Commission as Sergeant-at-arms and Clerk-attable respectively. Both had been sacked by the commission in December, 2010 and February 2011 respectively for certificate forgery.

The media statement by Chairman, EDHASC, had stated that the rebel lawmakers were led by the minority leader and minority whip. The House had been in disarray since June 9th due to the suspension of 4 PDP lawmakers for alleged misconduct as provided for under Orders 38 of the Rules and Procedure of the House. The rebel legislators backed by security operatives in the payroll of the federal government have continued to make moves to scuttle parliamentary activities in the state. It still remains to be seen what the covert script of the FG will be in its unrelenting efforts at destabilizing the state and preparing it for the forceful takeover by the ruling party via an impeachment of the governor.

4.10 Federal legislators not immune too

On January 12 th, 2014, Senator Magnus Abe, (APC, Rivers) was shot by the police when he attended a rally of the Save Rivers Movement, a political group in support of the state governor, Rt Hon Chibuke Amaechi, a critic of the Federal Government. A day earlier, Senator Ali Ndume’s convoy was attacked on a Saturday night by a fighter jet of Nigeria’s military.

Ndume, an opposition lawmaker had been on his way to the scene of an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants when his convoy was allegedly bombed by the government jet.

•Continue on page 49

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DISCOURSE

Perspectives & strategic responses to an emerging dictatorship • Continued from page 48

4.11 Grounding of aircraft and movement restriction of opposition state governors The jet of governor Amaechi was grounded by National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) in Kano on June 8th 2014 at Kano International Airport due to ‘orders from above.’ His ‘sins’ appear to have been his private visit to congratulate the former CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido (another critic of the president) for his appointment as Emir of Kano. The Bombardier plane was not given takeoff clearance by the airport authorities. The governor had to travel by road out of Kano late at night.

On April 26th 2013 his plane was equally impounded for 2 hours while he was on his way from the burial of late Ekiti Deputy Governor, Mrs Funmi Olayinka.

During the recently organised Ekiti polls, two opposition governors were restricted from entering the state to attend a rally organized by the APC. On June 19th, Governor Amaechi was stopped by a detachment of soldiers led by an army Captain at Odudu, on the outskirts of Akure. His plane was equally stopped from flying out of Akure airport which was closed to traffic from 12pm, Thursday. Other flights were impeded that night.

In the case of the Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on the same day, his chartered flight was grounded at Benin airport. The Governor was informed by the commander of the 81 Air Maritime Group, Benin City, Air Commodore Soji Awomodu that he received orders from above that no aircraft be allowed to fly out of Benin. The helicopter with registration 5N BQ8 later flew out of the city without its intended passengers.

4.12 The takeover of Emir of Kano’s residence by security operatives

Between June 11th and 12th, 2014, the calm city of Kano erupted in chaos as a result of the assumption of throne of the new emir, Sanusi Lamido, a staunch critic of the federal government. Allegations that the Federal Government fuelled the crisis have not been laid to rest. The state Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso stunned the nation when he said he had ‘credible information’ that the President had instructed his supporters to cause mayhem in the ancient city. Security operatives were deployed to seal off the palace of the Emir while he was forced to operate from the state government house while police details attached for his safety were unceremoniously withdrawn.

There is no report that the president has publicly congratulated the new traditional leader nor denied the alleged covert intrusion of the Federal Government in the matter.

4.13 The ‘politicisation’ of Maiduguri airport On the 11 th of July, 2014, the Maiduguri airport which had been closed since June 27th due to security considerations by the Military was opened for the former governor of the state, Ali Modu Sheriff ostensibly as a result of ‘orders from above.’ At about the same time, due to the closure of the air-

O

By Olubunmi Adetunmbi

port, the incumbent state governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, (an APC leader) with his entourage had to travel to Kano by road. It would be interesting to note that these events occurred just as the former governor, Sheriff declared his intention to join the PDP. The airport which had been off-limits for civilians for weeks was besieged by supporters of the ruling party while soldiers provided cover. The ex-governor who arrived in a private jet registered 5NBMH at about 1.32pm was welcomed by a military troop led by a garrison commander. The airport which was closed on June 27th could not be utilised by 276 pilgrims who had to travel to Kano by road to make alternative arrangement for their spiritual trip. On the same day, a chartered flight that brought the wife of the state governor, Hajiya Nana Shettima was forced to take off to Abuja empty even though Senator Ali Ndume, another government critic, was waiting to board it.

5.0 Consequences of use of Federal might to oppress dissent

The avalanche of cataclysmic events that characterize revolutions and mass uprisings are usually triggered by seemingly innocuous events like the 26-year old Mohammed Bouazizi, a street vendor setting himself on fire in the Tunisian city of Bouzid on December 17, 2010 over his frustration due to the worsening economic conditions under the failed leadership and dictatorship of former President Azedine Ben-Ali. What started as an isolated case of individual frustration became a regional revolution that spread like a wild fire to Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, Syria and swept away the regime of former President Hussein Mubarak as well as led to the fatal end of otherwise invincible Ghadaffi of Libya.

The pervasive abundance of such events that could spark off a revolution of gargantuan proportion abounds in Nigeria on every street corner of our city slums and urban neighborhoods. Daily we stare at police brutality, extra judicial killings, the menace of Boko Haram, and kidnapping in the South-east, Niger Delta insurgences etc. These incidences could be real triggers of mass uprising that will blow the wind of revolution to Nigeria if care is not taken.

Much more disturbing is the silence of the man at the helm of affairs in Africa’s most populous nation. In saner climes when issues that border on the welfare of the people are threatened by state actors, leaders in such places do all it takes to clear their names of culpability in such acts. Apart from un-

• Adetumbi

convincing responses from the president’s media handlers that aggravate issues more, the president is better known for his disturbing silence at such critical moments.

The silence of the president in the face of all these infractions only points to one thing: acquiescence.

The culpable silence which is a tacit approval has the potentials of further driving Nigeria to a precipice of destruction which can only lead to a total breakdown of law and order.

6.0 The debate

failing

state

According to Wikipedia, common characteristics of a failing state include a central government so weak or ineffective that it has little practical control over much of its territory; non-provision of public services; widespread corruption and criminality; refugees and involuntary movement of people; and sharp economic decline. It is clear that Nigeria has most (if not all) of these traits under the present leadership.

The Failed States Index of Fund for Peace of 2013 placed Nigeria in the ‘Alert’ category with countries like Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Haiti, Zimbabwe and Iraq amongst others. The Index categorizes states in four categories of Alert, Warning, Stable and Sustainable with variations in each category. The categorization of ‘alert’ represents those countries that are most critical and imminent to fail.

7.0 Perspectives scenarios

&

Before we write it off in the characteristically Nigeria manner of “it cannot happen here”; let us be reminded of the unpalatable outcome of similar events in other climes. It is in this context that we must never underrate the sad experiences that are visited on ordinary Nigerians due largely to the failure of government and leadership to deliver on promises and guarantee accept-

able minimum living standards among the people.

As 2014 builds momentum, it is perhaps timely to assess the state of affairs in the nation and build worst case scenarios of possible situations that may arise in the country with a view to knowing what proactive steps to be taken to cushion the impact of such negative development on Nigerians.

7.1 Economic collapse of the Federal Government: President Jonathan in 2011 painted a picture of possible economic collapse of the FG if the oil subsidy was not removed within months. Though unsubstantiated with facts and figures, this position is consistently being touted by all the key officials of the FG including the Minister of Finance. Saddled with ballooning domestic and foreign debt obligations, there is a growing concern of whether the FG will have enough resources to meet the growing infrastructural deficit as well as the need for increased social spending to meet improved service delivery in the country. The situation is further exacerbated by falling demands for Nigeria’s Brent crude by USA and China. If the FG becomes unable to fund JAAC what will be the fate of states and what will be their coping mechanisms?

7.2 Full blown dictatorship and silencing of opposition: This scenario now manifests in the total clamp down and iron fisted control of all arms of governance by the ruling party. The dispensation will further be characterized by the erosion of all democratic processes and the imposition of a unilateral agenda by the Federal government. The legislature and the judiciary, which hitherto formed checks and balances for the executive will become mere rubberstamp for the dictatorship.

There will be the deployment of federal law enforcement agencies as tools of total suppression for opposition and an attempt at gagging the media. Recently, it would be recalled that an attempt was made to gag the media when soldiers, backed by the administration were deployed to the streets to forcibly seize copies of newspapers from vendors and newspaper distributors on a flimsy security excuse.

7.3 Mass protest and civil unrest: The suppression of dissenting voices, violation of fundamental human rights coupled with inability of the citizenry to seek justice and redress in the court of law are danger signs in any democracy. A crucible is reached when this is coupled with poor governance and the complete dearth of the most basic social amenities. This could lead to mass revolt and the breakdown of law and order. The abduction of the Chibok girls, subsequent mass protests at government ineptitude and

‘The pervasive abundance of such events that could spark off a revolution of gargantuan proportion abounds in Nigeria on every street corner of our city slums and urban neighborhoods.

Daily we stare at police brutality, extra judicial killings, the menace of Boko Haram, and kidnapping in the South-east, Niger Delta insurgences etc. These incidences could be real triggers of mass uprising that will blow the wind of revolution to Nigeria if care is not taken’

crackdown on some protesting groups by security forces is a pointer to this.

8.0 The way forward

It is pertinent to note that while the immediate reasons for the scenarios painted above are largely traceable to the Federal Government and the Presidency, the location of impact is in the states and local governments. This fact underscores the need for discerning states and geo-political zones to take preemptive rather than reactive action to forestall the impending danger of a dictatorship. Nigerians must prepare for another round of integrated and systemic rights activism.

This should be the basis of intelligence-based governance and strategic response by all zones. The following are action areas for consideration:

8.1 Advocacy & public enlightenment The Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, the media and non-partisan opinion builders have a role to play in energizing Nigerians to resist these aggressive attempts to subvert the will of the people through brute force and coercive means. There should be increased public education on the symptoms and risks of an emerging dictatorship through partnerships with the civil society. Also the facilitation of re-engagement of aggressive civil society activism against dictatorship is crucial including the awakening of the public on the reencroachment of social injustice through manipulation of the judiciary.

8.2 Repositioning and rebranding of the opposition Increased dialogue among opposition parties to form a strong coalition and become a bastion and frontier of resistance to dictatorship has taken place. The All Progressive Congress, APC should reform and prepare itself to be the new home for the growing ranks of disenchanted Nigerian political elite who are seeking more principled, more ideological and more people - oriented political platform. The elected members of National Assembly from minority parties constitute the single largest pool of this category of Nigerians. The conscious, strategic steering of the opposition to embrace more nationalistic participation and the accommodation of a broader base of political ideologies that cut across socio-cultural & ethnic boundaries should be underscored and enhanced.

8.3 Cooperation amongst the public, CSOs and relevant stakeholders

There should be an increased synergy between Civil Society Organizations, the public and relevant stakeholders with the view of forming an en bloc resistance to the present oppressive establishment. Also, the stepping up of research and collective action amongst the populace by putting in place legal, legislative, social & economic structures to test run collectively conceived ideas is crucial at this stage.

• Adetunmbi is the Senator representing Ekiti North District.

Tips on how to develop our economy, by CMD chair

NLY a purposeful and knowledge-based leadership will transform the nation’s economy, Chairman, Governing Council of the Centre for Management Development and former Minister of education Prof. Tunde Adeniran has said.

Adeniran said the country is one of the most blessed with enough human and material resources, but added that

a review of the recruitment pattern should be undertaken to allow the best and right persons take charge of management decisions.

The one-time Nigeria Ambassador to Germany, who spoke at the closing ceremony of the training on “International Workshop and Study Tour on Best Practice in Documentation and Records Management” at the CMD centre in Lagos said Nigeria has the

human resources to manage all its affairs.

He said: “We have enormous human resources. The only problem is that we have not been utilizing the resources that we have, particularly the human capital. There is hardly any sphere of human endeavor that we are not endowed.

But one thing we need to do is to take a look at our recruitment pattern,

in terms of leadership, resource and management recruitment. If we are able to put the right peg in the right hole, this country will go places. There is no area where we will say we need expatriates because all the resources are right here with us at home.

Adeniran explained that “we have not invested enough in human resource, getting the right people in the right places. We seem to think of our-

selves first, by thinking of ourselves first, when there is job to be done, we look for friends, relations, and that we never help this country. We have to look for the right people to do the right job. If we continue to apply the wrong method and hope to get the right result, we are deceiving ourselves. We have to develop the culture of looking for the right people to do the right thing for the country.”

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THE NATION MONDAY JULY 28, 2014 USEFUL PHONE NUMBERS ON ANY EMERGENCY Council endorsed the useful phone numbers submitted by the security agents in case of any emergency on the metropolitan Roads. Accordingly, the public may easily contact KAROTA for: Breakdown of Vehicle(s), Traffic Congestion, Accidents, and Illegal/Wrong Parking on – 08091626747. Similarly, the State Police Command could be contacted on – 08032419754, 08123821575. In addition, the State Fire Service can also be contacted on – 07051246833, 08191778888.

159TH KANO STATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING

PREPARED BY COUNCIL AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, KANO.

I

n steady progress towards the completion of initiated laudable projects/programmes/policies by the present administration in Kano State under the leadership of the second (2nd) incumbency of Governor Engr. Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE, the Kano State Executive Council held its one hundred and fifty ninth (159th) sitting under his Chairmanship today Wednesday 23rd July, 2014 (26th Ramadan, 1435 AH).

Council received and tabled fifty four (54) memoranda from fourteen (14) MDAs for deliberation of which twenty three (23) were approved for execution with an expenditure of Nine hundred and thirty nine million, two hundred and sixty five thousand, two hundred and seventeen naira six kobo (N939,265,217.06) covering eighteen (18) projects while the remaining five (5) were on policy issues.

Thus; 1. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT The Secretary to the State Government submitted twenty two (22) memoranda on behalf of the Chairman and some MDAs for deliberation by Council of which eight (8) were approved for execution as follows; a) Request for Funds to Replenish the Quarterly Released Operational Funds to the Taskforce Committee on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking:The Multi - Agency Taskforce Committee on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is headed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The cited request was originally submitted from the Committee but was endorsed by the Secretary to the State Government and presented to Council for consideration.

Details on the eleven (11) items required were presented to Council for consideration along with the request for the release of the recommended trimmed down sum of N12,861,000.00 to cover the months of July to September, 2014 as the third (3rd) quarter of the year.

Council considered the routine nature of the requirements and approved as requested. b) Request for Funds for the Registration and Conduct of 2014 National Community Examination in Respect of Community Health Extension Workers (CHEW):The Secretary to the State Government endorsed and submitted the cited request for consideration by Council on behalf of the State Ministry of Health.

The cited request was presented in respect of Community Health Extension Workers (CHEW) and Junior Community Health Extension Workers (JCHEW) students of the School of Health Technology, Kano. One hundred and forty one (141) students are involved. Thus; o CHEW = 56 students. o JCHEW = 85 students.

Total = 141.

Details on the three (3) items required were presented to Council for consideration along with the request for the release of the aggregate sum of N3,617,500.00 for the stated purpose.

Council noted, considered and approved as requested. c) Request for Funds from the State Government for the Control of Tuberculosis and Leprosy in Kano:The Ministry of Health submitted the cited request for consideration by Council as endorsed by the Secretary to the State Government.

Specifically, Council was requested to approve for the release of the aggregate sum of N9,829,880.00 as the State Government Counterpart Fund to support the effort from the Federal Ministry of Health; the Netherlands Leprosy Relief; TB CARE 1; Family Health International; etc. These Development Partners support Kano State with free anti - TB drugs, Laboratory reagents, training of personnel, printing of record and reporting material worth N70,000,000.00.

The details presented on the six (6) items to be covered with the requested counterpart fund of N9,829,880.00 from the State were considered as approval was granted as requested. d) Request for Release of 2014 Counterpart Funds for the Control Activities on Onchocerciasis and Other NTDs:Onchocerciasis or River Blindness was presented to Council as one of the commonest causes of preventable blindness in Kano and is endemic in eighteen (18) LGCAs of the State. Further, other "Neglected Tropical Diseases" (NTDs) such as Schistosomiasis; Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis); Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (Abdominal Worms) and Trichoma are prevalent in nine (9); forty four (44); twenty two (22) and five (5) LGCAs respectively.

Reportedly, Council was informed that the Ministry of Health has been working with the World Health Organization (WHO); Africa Programme on Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) and Christopel Blinden Mission M (CBM) towards the establishment of a sustainable River Blindness Control Programme in all the eighteen (18) endemic LGCAs of Kano State.

Collaboration with the Development Partners yielded a work plan for the year 2014 budgeted to the tune of N28,373,660.00 for the control activities on onchocerciasis and other (NTDs). The Programme is to be jointly funded by contributions from the Development Partners and the Kano State Government as follows; o Development Partners = N18,449,160.00. o Kano State Government = N9,924,500.00.

As such, Council was requested to approve the release of the sum of N9,924,500.00 as the State Government Counterpart Fund for the stated purpose.

Council noted, considered and approved as requested. e) Presentation on the Donation of One (1) Unit of Toyota Hilux Vehicle to RUWASA by the Management of EU/UNICEF:RUWASA undertakes the monitoring of Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Programme II (WSSSRP) in the State.

The Managements of EU/UNICEF donated one (1) Unit of Toyota Hilux Vehicle in support of the commendable execution of the monitoring activity of WSSSRP undertaken by RUWASA. Council acknowledged the presentation with appreciation. f) Request for Additional Operational Funds to Enable Effective Discharge of the Activities of PHIRU:The Private Health Institution Registration Unit (PHIRU) operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Health which submitted the request as endorsed by the Secretary to the State Government and presented to Council for consideration.

The main activities of PHIRU include registration, inspection, regulation, supervision of operations of Tradition Medical Practitioners, etc. which instigated submission of the cited request to cater for PHIRU activities for the period of July - September, 2014.

Details on the sixteen (16) items required were presented to Council for consideration along with the request for the release of the recommended sum of N1,543,421.31.

Council considered the request as appropriate and approved the release of the sum of N1,543,421.31 to the Ministry of Health to enable provision of operational funds to PHIRU for the period of July September, 2014. g) Request for Funds to Undertake Collaborative Drainage Works at Dorayi Layin Sunusi Maifata,

Gwale LGCA:The request was submitted from the Sustainable Kano Project (SKP) which was endorsed by the Secretary to the State Government and presented to Council for consideration.

Council was notified that, the Alkhairi Self Help Association expressed their readiness to partner with the State Government to construct a Ring Type Drainage in their area so as to alleviate the problem of persistent flooding.

In this respect, the SKP submitted to Council that the Community in the area was ready to provide the sum of N1,040,000.00 to cater for the required labour.

Eleven (11) items required as working materials estimated to cost the sum of N6,377,122.51 which was Rabi’u Musa Kwankawaso requested for release by Council for the stated purpose.

Accordingly, Council considered and approval the request as appropriate. h) Request for Funds to Enable Payment for Residence Permit (Igama) in respect of Ninety Nine (99) Kano State Indigenous Students Sponsored for MBBS and Pharmacy Studies at Various Institutions in Sudan:The renewable residence permit costs $200.00 annually to each of the ninety nine (99) students in the request which totals up to $19,800.00.

Statutory Provisions prompted Council to approve for the release of the sum of $19,800.00 (N3,366,000.00) to the Scholarship Board for the payment of the Igama (residence permit) to enable the ninety nine (99) Kano State Indigenous MBBS and Pharmacy Students sponsored for studies in Sudan continue to reside in the Country.

2. MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES Request for Refund of Erroneously Deducted Taxes to Messrs. SALFAT Nigeria Ltd.:SALFAT Nigeria Ltd. reportedly supplied two (2) CAT model electricity generators to the Watari Water Treatment Plant at the cost of N73,168,800.00 on which 13% taxes were deducted (i.e.

N9,511,944.00) erroneously.

Details were presented for consideration by Council along with the request for the refund of the erroneously deducted sum of N9,511,944.00 to Messrs. SALFAT Nigeria Ltd. Council considered, appraised the details presented and approved refund of eleven (11%) percent to the Contractor or the sum of N8,048,568.00.

3. MINISTRY OF HEALTH Presentation on the Need and Request for Funds to Renovate the Burnt - Down Dialysis and Pharmacy Blocks at Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital, Kano:The Ministry of Health notified Council, through contents of this memorandum that, an unfortunate fire outbreak occurred on Friday 13th June, 2014 at about 9:00PM at the Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital, Kano.

Reportedly, portion of the Dialysis and Pharmacy blocks of the Hospital were seriously affected by the fire outbreak which was caused by faulty/aged electricity reticulation.

Details on the extent of damage were presented to Council for consideration along with the fifteen (15) requirements (including 2.5% preliminaries, 5% VAT and Contingency) for the complete renovation of the affected portions of the Hospital. Total financial implications were summarized and estimated to the sum of N12,364,792.57 which was requested for release by Council to enable execution of the renovation project so as to enable restoration of normal services at the affected portions of the Hospital.

Congruence of the project with the resolve by the present administration to provide quality services for the Health Sector prompted Council to approve as requested.

4. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION a) Presentation on the Need and Request for the Release of WRECA Staff Houses at Tiga to the Ministry of Education for Accommodating the Staff of Government Technical College, Tiga:The Ministry of Education reminded Council, through contents of this memorandum that, Government Technical College Wudil was relocated to the WRECA Workshop at Tiga. The exercise was executed remaining only the release of the Staff Quarters for use by the Staff of the College.

Council was requested to approve the release of the Staff Quarters to the Ministry of Education for use by the Staff of the relocated Technical College.

Council acknowledged the presentation and approved as requested. b) Request for Funds to Enable Procurement of English Language, Mathematics and Basic Science Textbooks for Distribution to the State Junior and Senior Secondary Schools:Inadequacy of the availability of students' set - textbooks and Teacher reference materials in our Secondary Schools was presented to Council as a serious limiting factor to the teaching and learning processes in our Secondary Schools.

The Ministry of Education submitted the request for consideration by Council in respect of three (3) core subjects which include English Language, Mathematic and Basic The financial implications for the procurement of English Language Textbooks, Mathematics Textbooks and Basic Science Textbooks for 272,516 JSS 1 - 3 students in Kano was presented to Council as the sum of N344,732,869.56 while that for the procurement of English Language Textbooks and Mathematic Textbooks for 209,859 SSS 1 - 3 students in the State was presented as N171,818,760.32.

These totaled up to the sum of N516,551,627.88 which was requested for release by Council for the stated purpose.

Council noted, considered and approved as follows; i. The release of 50% of the requested sum ( i.e. N258,275,813.94) ii. 50% of the requirements for the English Language, Mathematics and Basic Science Textbooks for the 272,516 JSS 1 - 3 students in the State be provided by the 44 LGCAs N172,366,433.78. iii. 50% of the requirements for the English Language and Mathematics for the 209,859 SSS 1 - 3 students in the State be provided by the Kano State Government N85,909,380.16. c) Presentation on the Need and Request for Funds to Enable Conversion of the Post and Telecommunication Office at Kwankwaso Town into a Viable Information Communication Technology (ICT) Learning Center:Cognizant of the commendable policy of the present administration to convert all unused or under utilized Government owned buildings and/or facilities into Viable Secondary Schools or required Learning Center(s), the Kano State Ministry of Education submitted the request for consideration by Council.

The facilities at the site were inspected and found suitable for the stated purpose under the programme

THE NATION MONDAY JULY 28, 2014

51

on the establishment of E-Learning Centers in all the 44 LGCAs in Kano State in collaboration between the State Government and an Organization called Nudenia of Canada.

For the immediate conversion of the facility into a full pledged ICT Center the following requirements were presented to Council for consideration; o Conversion works = N5,862,912.78. o Construction of Perimeter Wall Fence Measuring 323.10M x 3.00M length and Gate = N10,048,284.53.

Total = N15,911,227.31.

Council was requested to approve release of the sum of N15,911,227.31 for the stated purpose.

Council noted, considered and approved as requested.

5. MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT Request for Funds to Enable Cleaning of Major and Minor Drainage in Kano Metropolis:The Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Environment submitted the cited request for consideration by Council in response to the directive issued by Council to his Ministry to embark on the general cleaning of major and minor drainage in Kano Metropolis.

The directive was issued on 9th July, 2014 with the intention to prevent the incidence of flooding which usually result in loss of lives and properties.

So, the Ministry of Environment divided the project into two (2) to cover the length of 7,580.80M or 7.580KM of major and minor drainage in Kano Metropolis.

Council noted, appraised the request and approved for the release of the sum of N1,500,000.00 to the Ministry of Rural and Community Development to enable cleaning of minor drainage in Kano Metropolis.

6. MINISTRY OF WORKS, HOUSING AND TRANSPORT a) Request for Funds to Enable Construction of 100 Housing Units of Prototype Model Village Houses at Kafin Agur Town, Madobi LGCA:Cognizant of the resolve by the present administration to provide access to affordable housing for the citizenry across the State, the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport submitted the cited request for consideration by Council.

Kafin Agur Town was identified as requiring the prototype modern sandcrete block constructed housing units of size 50 x 75 plots at the cost of N883,253.70 each totaling the sum of N88,325,370.00 for the one hundred (100) prototype houses.

Congruence of the project with the commendable housing policy of the present administration in the State prompted Council to approve as requested. b) Presentation of the Proposal and Request for Funds to Enable Construction of New Fagge Abbale I, II and Kofar Dawanau Gates; Kano City:Resolve of the present administration to beautify Kano and promote Tourism instigated presentation of the request for consideration by Council.

The monuments were inspected and assessed for construction at the following estimated costs; i. New Fagge Abbale Gate I = N16,207,328.81. ii. New Fagge Abbale Gate II = N15,612,888.38.

Kofar Dawanau Gate = N14,842,720.46.

Total = N46,662,937.65.

Council noted, considered and approved the release of the sum of N46,662,937.65. c) Request for Funds for the Construction of City Ceremonial Tower at Mahaha Sports Complex (Former NAMA Site, Kofar Nassarawa):This request was presented earlier for consideration by Council which directed the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport to negotiate and prune down the earlier figure requested for the project.

The directive was complied with and the requested project sum was reviewe down to the sum of N282,743,248.76.

Council approved the release of the sum of N282,743,248.76 for the project to be executed on Contractual Arrangement supervised by the State Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport. d) Request for Funds to Enable Extension of Steel Pedestrian Overhead Bridges at Five (5) Locations in Metropolitan Kano:Contents of this memorandum substantiated to Council the need for the cited projects.

Essentially, the present administration introduced the expansion of major arteries/gateways into Kano and provision of service lanes with a view to reduce traffic congestion, prolong the life - span of the roads, improve road user safety and safeguard economic activities, etc. These instigated submission of the request for consideration by Council in respect of the following five (5) locations. Thus; SN Bridge Location

Length of Extension

Cost of Extension (N) Remarks

i.

20.00

8,461,701.61

ii.

Kurna Makaranta

Kurna Babban Layi

20.00

8,461,701.61

For extension on both ends, dismantling and reassembling the stairways. "

iii.

Sa'adatu Rimi College of 20.00 8,461,701.61 " Education Council considered and approve the release of the sum of N38,134,419.75 to enable execution of the stated project on Contractual Arrangement supervised by the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport. e) Re - Presentation on Oversized Development Plots for the Construction of 100 Units of 2 Bedrooms and Zaure Houses at Kwankwaso Town under the Model Village Programme:The Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport submitted the presentation for consideration by Council.

Council was reminded, through contents of this memorandum that, the cited project was initially awarded via Council Extract NO. SSCA/CA/EX/4/I/1410 dated 25th July, 2014 at the unit price of N753,341,.40 per 50 x 50 FT prototype model village plot totaling the sum of N75,334,140.00 for the 100.

Nevertheless, the approved 50 x 50 FT prototype plots were unavailable which compelled the Contractor to execute the project on 75 x 50 FT plots at the aggregate sum of N88,325,370.00 for the 100 housing units.

Details were presented to Council for consideration consequent to which the Contractor requested for the release of the sum of N20,090,595.00 incurred additional expenses due to the relocation of sixty two (62) houses.

Council considered the details presented as appropriate and approved the release of the sum of N20,090,595.00 to the Contractor as incurred variation for the project executed. f) Presentation of the Revised Total Estimate Cost (RETC) for the Phase I Conversion Works of WRECA Workshop, Tiga for Relocation and Upgrading of Technical College, Wudil:Contract for the project was initially approved for execution via Council Extract NO. SSCA/CA/EX/ 10/I/322 at the sum of N294,594,102.05.

In this respect, variations were encountered that made the Contract Sum to escalate upwards from the initial approved sum of N294,594,102.05 to the new revised sum of N414,282,922.31 for the Phase 1 conversion work with a variation of N119,688,820.26 which was requested for release to augment the initially approved sum for the project to the new revised Contract sum.

Council acknowledged the presentation and approved as follows; i. The phase I conversion work for the cited project be executed at the new Revised Total Estimate Cost (RETC) of N414,282,922.31 instead of the initial Contract Sum of N294,594,102.05. ii. The release of the sum of N119,688,820.26 to the Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport to

augment the initial approved sum of N294,594,102.05 to the new RETC of N414,282,922.31 for the cited project.

7. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES Presentation on the Need to Employ Additional Number of Field Extension Staff by KNARDA:Provision of Agricultural Extension Service is the main function of KNARDA. The extension personnel are links between agricultural services provided and the farmers. Therefore, all Agricultural Interventions by Government and its collaborators are transmitted to the farmers by the extension personnel whose population dwindled from 903 in 1999 to the present 451. This is grossly inadequate according to the ideals of the ratio of 1:800 extension personnel to farm families. Currently, the ratio in Kano State is as poor as 1:1,804 extension personnel to farm families.

As such, Council was requested to approve for the employment of 450 National Diploma (ND)/AFCO certificate holders on salary grade level 06/01 on gross monthly salary of N27,282.27 per personnel.

Council acknowledged the presentation as in agreement with the resolve of the present administration to provide for the Agricultural Sector in all ramifications and approved for the employment of 50% or 225 ND/ACFO Certificate holders as field extension staff by KNARDA according to the details presented.

8. MINISTRY OF JUSTICE Presentation on the Kano State Rape (Prohibition) Law 2014:The Ministry of Justice reminded Council, through contents of this memorandum that, the Kano State Rape (Prohibition) Bill - a Private Members Bill was presented to Governor Engr. Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE on the 25th June, 2014 for his assent.

However, the Ministry of Justice studied the Bill carefully/professionally and suggested that rather than enact a completely new Law, relevant portions of the Penal Code be considered for amendment.

Two (2) reasons were forwarded for this; o As prosecutors, the Ministry of Justice know the type and caliber of suspects involved in the commission of Rape and unnatural/indecent offences against the person and these suspects cannot afford to pay a fine of N250,000.00 as canvassed in the proposed Kano State Rape (Prohibition) Bill 2014. o There is no need to enact a separate Law prohibiting Rape and unnatural and indecent offences against the person because we have an existing Codified Law (Penal Code) which addresses that issue.

Government's noble aim could best be achieved via Legislation intervention. Against this background, an amendment to sections 283, 284 and 285 of the Penal Code Law 1987 is conceived and presented for consideration and transmission to the Honourable House of Assembly for passage into Law. The recommendations were as follows; i. Section 283 of the Penal Code be amended to read thus; "whoever commits rape shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for less term not below fourteen (14) years" ii. Section 284 of the Penal Code be amended to read thus; "whoever has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of fourteen (14) years" iii. Section 285 of the Penal Code be amended to read thus; "whoever commits an act of gross indecency upon the person of another without the consent of that person or by the use of force or threats compels a person to join with him in commission of such act, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of seven (7) years and shall also be liable to fine: provided that a consent given by a person below the age of sixteen (16) to such an act when done by his teacher, guardian or any person entrusted with his care or education shall not be deemed to be consent within the meaning of this section" Council acknowledged the presentation and approved for the transmission to the State House of Assembly for consideration and amendment of Sections 283, 284 and 285 of the Penal Code 1987.

9. MINISTRY FOR SPECIAL DUTIES Presentation of Report on the Payment of Course Fees and Allowances to the Twelve (12) Kano State Indigenous Students Sponsored for 2013/2014 NAPTIN Training Programme:The Ministry for Special Duties was assigned to chair the 3 - Member Committee constituted committee to supervise the cited exercise.

The Committee executed its assignment diligently in the following order; i. Payment of Course Fees.

- The Committee through the Accounts Section of the Office of the Secretary to the State Government to remit the Course Fees for the twelve (12) students in the sum of N9,000,000.00 directly into the NAPTIN Account. ii. Payment of students' allowances and allocation of Laptop Computers.

- The sum of N960,000.00 was disbursed directly to the twelve (12) students at the rate of N80,000.00 each.

- The sum of N1,200,000.00 was utilized to procure twelve (12) HP Laptop Computers at the cost of N100,000.00 each which were allocated to the twelve (12) students respectively.

Council acknowledged the presentation of the report with appreciation.

UPDATE ON ACTIVITIES OF THE 159TH EXCO SITTING 1. GRADUATION CEREMONY OF 1,407 YOUTH TRAINED ON POULTRY, FISHERIES, LIVESTOCK, FARM MECHANIZATION AND HORTICULTURE IN THE STATE Council acknowledged the successful graduation ceremony of 1,407 youth on the acquisition of skills in Agriculture at the Government House on Tuesday22ndJuly, 2014. Five hundred (500) Women were trained on Poultry Skills at Tukwui, four (400) Women were trained on Fisheries Skills; one hundred thirty two (132) Youths were trained on Livestock farming, two hundred and seventy five (275) Youths were trained on Horticulture business and one hundred (100) Youths were trained on Farm Mechanization.

2. GRADUATION CEREMONY OF 500 LESS PRIVILEDGED WOMEN TRAINED ON VARIOUS SKILLS Council delightfully acknowledged the successful conduct of the graduation ceremony of 500 less privileged women (widows, divorcees, disabled women, VVF Patients and women living with HIV/ AIDS). The women were trained on various skills such as the production of bags and shoes, body care and perfume production and the production of cleansing materials which is an income generating activities initiated by the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

Further, this batch included women from non-indigenous communities resident in Kano State (Igbo, Yoruba, South-South & Northern Minorities) as well as the displaced women of Central African Republic that are living in Kano State as refugees due to ethno-religious crisis in their own country.

3. OFFICIAL WORKING VISIT TO THE STATE BY THE BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER Council acknowledged the recent visit by the British High Commissioner to the State where he attended the Government empowerment programme of 1,907 Youths and Women on Agriculture/ Home based Trades and commended the Governor and Government of Kano State for vigorously empowering both women and youths. Accordingly, he informed the gathering that Kano State receives the highest allocation from British Government funding projects/programmes through the DFID group in Nigeria towards the present administration's tireless effort to develop its citizen's standard of living.

4. COURTESY VISIT BY A DELEGATION OF NON - INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES RESIDING IN KANO STATE Council acknowledged the courtesy visit to Governor Engr. Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE by the delegation of Non - indigenous residing in the State under the leadership of Dr.Jumfat Aiyelegbe who commended the Governor for his mindedness and equal treatment of indigenes/non-indigenes alike without any discrimination, where he also commended the Governor for the peace and security they have being enjoying in the State, despite the current security challenges facing the Country and the Northern part in particular. Similarly, he further commended the Government unique development which it brought across the State, within a short period of time.

Signed: Hon. Commissioner, Ministry of Information, Internal Affairs, Youth, Sports andCulture www.kn.gov.ng/new

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

NEWS (SHOWBIZ)

‘Boko Haram’ movie wins at Durban film festival T IMBUKTU, a celebrated Malian film about an Islamic extremist group, has won the best feature film laurel at the just-concluded Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), South Africa. The award had a cash prize of R50 000, equivalent of N770, 496.

Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, the movie was listed for competition alongside several others, which the international jury described as having dealt with “individuals coping with ideological, social and political pressures whilst trying to find their own identity and humanity in a world increasingly under distress.”

Also from the movie, Director of Photography (DOP), Sofian el Fani, won the Best Cinematography, while the Best Actor diadem was shared between Timbuktu’s Ibrahim Ahmed and Cold Harbour’s Tony Kgoroge.

It would be recalled that for his effort on Timbuktu, Sissako was celebrated at the Cannes International Film Festival, France recently, where he shed tears, while discussing the subject of insurgency in his home country, Mali.

The filmmaker’s portrait of the unrest in Mali, captures Islamist zealots, as they ban innocent pleasures such as music and football, and throwing themselves with cold relish into lashings and stoning for adultery. The situation is not too different from the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, where innocent people are killed indiscriminately.

The story revolves around the death of a cow, affectionately named ‘GPS’, a satire for a country that has lost direction.

With visual creativity, Sissako portrays the harrowing real-life takeover of Northern Mali by Islamic fundamentalists.

By Victor Akande

The extremist group, which likens itself to puritans, appalls the local Imam, who has long upheld the existing tradition of a benevolent and tolerant Islam. The local Imam, in this movie, can’t understand why the new sect would march into the mosque, carrying arms. Even then, he thinks this defies logic. This is because besides being addicted to cruelty and bullying, these men are enslaved to their modern devices mobile phones, cars, video-cameras (for uploading jihadi videos to the Internet) and, of course, weapons. And as the filmmaker puts it, Timbuktu is no longer ‘tombouctou la mysterieuse’, the magical place of legend, but a harsh, grim, unforgiving place of bigotry and fear.

Announcing the results during the closing ceremony of DIFF last Friday, cast and crew of the movie got accolades from movie buffs, with many struggling for photo opportunities at the Suncoast CineCentre Supernova, prior to the screening of its closing film, Million Dollar Arm. Nigeria was also represented at the festival with films such as Half of a Yellow Sun by Biyi Bandele, B For Boy by Chika Anadu and Gone Too Far by Bola Agbaje.

The festival rounded off on a successful note, with significant increase in attendance, as many films screening were sold-out to audiences.

Festival Manager Peter Machen expressed satisfaction with the event when he said: “I was extremely happy with the success of DIFF 2014, and it was very gratifying to witness both the large amount of soldout screenings and also the huge enthusiasm for the festival, both from local audiences and from the hundreds of guests attending the festival from around the world.”

At the ceremony, the festival unveiled its new statuette, the Golden Giraffe, designed by Durban artist, Caryn Tilbury.

Machen said of the new statuette: “We are extremely that the festival finally has an iconic award.

Venice has the Golden Lion, Berlin has the Golden Bear and now Durban has the Golden Giraffe.

Caryn Tilbury’s beautifully idiosyncratic design is perfectly representative of the slick but edgy nature of the festival,” he said.

The jury commended Sissako’s film for being “an impressively wellmade film that makes us aware, in an extraordinarily human and gentle way, of the fight for dignity and freedom of individuals against oppression and violence. Beautifully crafted and showing mature accomplishment on all levels the film illustrates the absurdity of war and ideological dogmatism and offers humour, gentility and humaneness as a possible solution to the madness that seems to engulf so many regions in the world and on our continent. It embraces cinema as a weapon of love against violence and intolerance.”

The award for Best South African Feature Film, which carries a prize of R25 000 went to Jenna Bass’ exciting first feature Love the One You Love. The local jury stated that they chose the film “for its stylistic and narrative freshness”, calling it “a playful, quirky and idiosyncratic debut made with curiosity, warmth, heart and sensitivity.”

Bass was also honoured with the prize for Best Direction in a South African Feature Film, with the jury describing the young director as “inquisitive, innovative and with a unique voice and luminous cinematic sensibility, who shows us a contemporary universe which is as imaginative as it is true”.

The accolade for Best Documentary went to Mahdi Fleifel’s A World Not Ours. According to the jury, “This intimate, affecting and often humorous debut feature is a portrait of three generations of exile in a refugee camp

Group honours Tunde Kelani

By Babatunde Sulaiman

•Tunde Kelani

F

OR ace filmmaker, Tunde Kelani, last Friday will go down as most memorable, as he was honoured with the ‘The Custodian of Yoruba Culture’ award, amidst fanfare, in Ile-Ife, Osun State.

The colourful ceremony was organised by the National Commission for Mu-

seums and Monuments, in conjunction with the Yoruba Redemption Foundation, at the palace of Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade.

Since the event held, there have been a deluge of congratulatory messages from his far-flung fans, a development that has further confirmed that it was a well-deserved honour for the respected culture activist famously called TK. In a Facebook post, actor and TV presenter, Yemi Sodimu said: “Congrats, TK. Well deserved.”

In an interview with The Nation, TK, who was full of joy over the honour, said: “I’m excited about the award. It also suggests that people have taken note of my works and interest in the Yoruba culture and tradition. So, I see it as an extension of what I have always

done. It is, no doubt, encouraging.”

When asked to state his responsibilities as the “Custodian of Yoruba culture”, the 66-year-old filmmaker further said: “Like the mission statement of Mainframe Productions, we will not only produce meaningful films, but we will continue to document the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba language and culture.”

Meanwhile, the acclaimed cinematographer is putting finishing touches to his forthcoming work, Dazzling Mirage, an adaptation of Olayinka Abimbola Egbohare’s novel. The movie centres on a talented young sickle cell sufferer who overcomes social stigma and prejudice to achieve her dreams.

It stars Kemi (Lala) Akindoju, Kunle Afolayan, Yomi Fash-Lanso, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett and Bimbo Manuel, among others.

in southern Lebanon, a Palestinian pocket of hemmed-in buildings and stifled hopes. Fleifel may have set out to tell a small domestic story about the loved ones he has left behind but the result is a powerful tale of the human cost of a political nightmare, the end of which seems very far away.”

Best South African Documentary was awarded to Rehad Desai’s Miners Shot Down. The film was also awarded the Amnesty

International (Durban) Human Rights Award, which carries an award of R10 000 sponsored by the Artists for Human Rights Trust. The film was chosen “for its profoundly moving portrayal of the Marikana miners’ massacre. The human rights abuses so vividly portrayed include the right to life, the right to justice, the right to protection by the police, the right to know, the right to peaceful protest and the right to human dignity.”

Osun campaign: Lagbaja rejects Omisore’s offer

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UST when a number of his fans were lamenting the seeming eclipse of his singing career, mask-styled musician, Lagbaja, like a bolt from the blue, caused a stir at the weekend when he reportedly shunned an offer by the Iyiola Omisore Campaign Organisation to perform at the grand finale rally and reception for President Goodluck Jonathan scheduled to hold in Osogbo, Osun State, next week.

The Koko Below crooner had reportedly been approached to thrill supporters of Senator Iyiola Omisore, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the August 9 governorship election in Osun State.

However, the award-winning act, who would not want to sell his conscience for a pot of porridge, stoutly declined the offer.

For a man who is seen as a social commentator of sorts, especially considering the oeuvre of his music, he was said to have rejected the offer purely on moral grounds.

In a very biting and soul-searching piece, he said: “Though the court of the land discharged and acquitted you (Omisore) in the murder case against the former Minister of Justice in Nigeria, the late Cicero of Esa-Oke and foremost nationalist, Chief Bola Ige, I have deep-rooted innermost conviction that you are culpable

in the death of my mentor and benefactor. If you offer me all the allocation of Osun State during your fouryear-tenu r e peradventure you win (which I serio u s l y doubt), I will not perform f o r Iyiola •Lagbaja Omisore g ov er n o r ship election.”

Since the news went viral, there have been strong reactions from his fans saluting what some described as his daring stance, unlike some other artistes who would prioritise pecuniary mot i v e over any other consideration.

Again, Davido wins African artiste of the year

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OR wave-making artiste Davido, 2014 is certainly the year of awards. The latest of his laurels came again last Saturday in faraway Dallas, United

States, where he emerged African Artiste of the Year at the maiden edition of African Muzic Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA).

This feat makes the third

time the talented singer will be the awarded this year, having won the ‘Best West African Artiste’ diadems at the MTV Africa Music Awards and BET Awards.

The Aye crooner defeated Wizkid, Flavour, Ghana’s Sarkodie, SA’s Mafikizolo and Tanzania’s Diamond to clinch the award.

•Davido

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

NEWS 2015: Youths support Okorocha, Madumere

Generator fumes: Abia promises to pay victims’ bills

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

From Sunny Nwankwo, Aba

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CONOMIC and social activities were paralysed at the weekend in Owerri, the Imo State capital, as youths across the 27 local governments took to the streets, supporting Governor Rochas Okorocha’s second term bid.

The youths, under the aegis of Prince Eze Madumere Youths for Rochas, who carried placards with the inscriptions, such as “One good term deserves another”, “Okorocha, Madumere 2015 no shaking”, “Youths back the apostles of Rescue Mission”, among others, marched on the streets of Owerri before escorting the governor to the International Conference Centre where he inaugurated the executive council (exco) of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The youths danced, listing the achievements of the Okorocha administration.

Their leader, Comrade Oguamalam Lasbrey Chinatu, said they embarked on the rally to appreciate the achievements of the governor and his deputy.

He said the Rescue Mission Agenda is unprecedented in the history of the state.

Chinatu said: “We are here to support the working teamOwelle Rochas Okorocha and our own Prince Eze Madumere. This administration has impacted on youths. We need to appreciate them. For instance, the Youth Must Work Programme has rescued youths from unemployment and poverty.”

The group urged the governor to run for a second term to consolidate on his achievements.

I’m still in Abia governorship race, says senator From Sunny Nwankwo, Aba

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LAWMAKER, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, representing Abia Central, has reassured her supporters across the 17 local governments that she would contest for the governorship next year on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

She spoke at a political meeting at the weekend.

Senator Nwaogu described the decision to zone the governorship to Abia South as unconstitutional, saying it was contrary to the 1999 Constitution and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The legislator, who is the only woman contesting for the governorship in the PDP, from Ukwa Ngwa, said the statement credited to members of the Abia State PDP caucus was an attempt to divide the Ukwa Ngwa people.

•Senator Nwaogu

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•Senator Chris Ngige representing Anambra Central and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State (right), Chief Ralph Okeke, his running mate in the 2013 governorship election and Emma Eneukwu, National Vice-Chairman of the party, who represented the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, at the APC inauguration in Anambra..

•Anambra APC Chairman, Ibe (middle) with Secretary, Chukwuma and Publicity Secretary, Okelo, being sworn in ...yesterday in Awka.

Efforts to save Enugu deputy governor fail

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FFORTS to save embattled Enugu state Deputy Governor Sunday Onyebuchi from impeachment hit the rocks at the weekend. The state PDP caucus failed to get him a soft landing.

The caucus which met on Saturday at the Governor's Lodge reportedly advised the embattled Onyebuchi to resign or await the House of the Assembly is action after its investigations.

The House in the penultimate week, moved a motion for the deputy governor to be served with an impeachment notice. He was accused of gross misconduct.

The members of the PDP caucus were bitter that Onyebuchi allowed his relationship with the governor to degenerate to the level that the House had to intervene.

A source at the meeting said prominent members of the

From Chris Oji, Enugu

caucus, particularly Senator Ken Nnamani, Amb. Fidel Ayogu and Mr. Dubem Onyia, were not happy after listening to Governor Sullivan Chime narrate his experience with his deputy in the last seven years.

Senator Nnamani told the caucus members that the deputy governor ran to him to Abuja where he told him to return home to resign or wait for the House to complete its investigation the source said.

Onyia and Ayogu also were said to have took the line of Nnanami for the deputy governor to bow out since Chime told the caucus meeting that he was not prepared to work with Onyebuchi for any day longer.

However, the source said Senator Gil Nnaji and Peace Nnaji representing Nkanu

East and West in the House of Representatives, pleaded with Chime to pardon his deputy.

The source said Senator Nnaji praised Chime for the good work he was doing in the state and urged him to give his deputy a second chance.

But Chime was said to have told Senator Nnaji that his plea was belated since his deputy came to him in Abuja and he did not deem it fit to call him until he was invited to the caucus meeting.

The source said majority of the caucus members were of the opinion that it would be futile to try to save the deputy governor since his boss said he could no longer work with him.

Besides the source said the caucus said asking the House to jettison the impeachment

Workers alert govt to ‘ghost names’

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EMBERS of the Abia State Disengaged Non-Natives (ASDN) have alerted government to what they said were irregularities on the list of those reinstated in the civil service.

They alleged that some people on the list were not among those disengaged.

Members of the group said they discovered the ghost workers after going through the list released by the government and comparing it with the original nominal roll of the disengaged workers.

Spokesperson for the body,

From Sunny Nwankwo, Aba

Mrs. Ihejirika Fidelia, speaking to reporters at the end of their meeting in Aba, alleged that there were ghost workers among those reinstated.

The body, thanking Governor Theodore Orji for his magnanimity by reinstating some of the workers, urged him to direct the relevant departments to look into the list of those reinstated, which it alleged contained ‘ghost names’.

It said: “While we thank the governor for his magnanimity in directing that some of

us be reinstated, we appeal to him to set up a body that will go through the list of those reinstated and find out why there are many names on the list that were not among those retrenched.

“This will help to find out if government officials were involved in sharp practices, thereby sabotaging the Orji administration’s efforts.”

ASDN members enjoined the governor to consider re-instating other workers, whose names were not on the list, to save them from hardship, which they alleged had caused the death of over 25 people.

process would amount to "ridiculing democratic practice in the state".

Chime was also said to have insisted at the meeting that members of the National Assembly from the state who had served for two or more terms should return home to serve in other capacities.

The majority of the caucus members who were not in the National Assembly had asked the members of the National Assembly who were all at the meeting except Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, to speak their mind but none opposed the governor.

The caucus advised the lawmakers to abide by the gentleman agreement reached in 2011 and consider running for other positions other than the ones they have occupied for more than two terms.

The House of Assembly had last Thursday advised its clerk to paste the impeachment notice on the known addresses of the deputy governor since he could not be physically served and it adjourned till Thursday.

Baptists meet THE monthly Executive Committee meeting of the Itesiwaju Baptist Association holds today at 6:30pm at Araba Baptist Church, Ilasamaja, Lagos. It will be presided over by the moderator, Rev. Gbenga Ojo of Araba Baptist Church and consultant, Rev. Femi Ajayi of Victoryland Baptist Church, Isolo, Lagos.

Issues affecting the association and member-churches will be discussed.

BIA State government has promised to pay the hospital bills of the 15 persons, who survived Saturday’s generator fumes incident in Aba. The survivors are members of the Young Peoples Christian Fellowship, an inter-denominational fellowship of believers from Ututu Arochukwu. They inhaled carbon mono-oxide from the generator placed at the corridor of the church.

Deputy Governor Emeka Ananaba visited Austine Grace and Goodness and Mercies hospitals at Okigwe and Faulks Road at the weekend to sympathise with the victims.

It was learnt that the deputy governor, who was touched by the victims’ health condition, through the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Okechukwu Ogah, sent an undisclosed amount of money to the doctors to start treatment.

Of the 15 survivors (nine women and six men), 11 are hospitalised at Austine Grace Hospital and four are at Goodness and Mercies Hospital.

The doctors said the victims were responding to treatment, adding that they would survive the suffocation. At press time, a five- year old boy, whose parents were said to be unconscious, was confirmed dead.

Aba residents have hailed the police and the management of the hospitals for their prompt action.

'Igbo 'll vie for APC presidential ticket' From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

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HE battle for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of next year's general election has begun, with top Igbo politicians aspiring for the position.

The ex-National Secretary of the defunct All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), Chief George Muoghalu, who is now the National Auditor of the APC, spoke yesterday in Awka.

He said any attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to manipulate the Osun State governorship election would be resisted.

Muoghalu, addressing reporters, said the Igbo were interested in the presidency on the platform of the APC, adding that that was why they did not vie for some positions during the national convention.

He said the presidency had not been zoned to any area, noting that Ndigbo had capable hands to vie for the position.

The APC national auditor said the country had derailed under the PDP. According to him, it was only the APC that had good programmes, which could take the country to the promised land.

His words: "APC is the party that holds the future of the Igbo.

It is the only party that can protect them.

"We are interested in the presidency. That was why we rejected some positions at the national convention.

"Ndigbo have capable hands to vie for the presidency. It has not been zoned to any area. What APC will do is to create an enabling environment to enable people express themselves, and after the election, we will work as a family.

"This is the only party that can give Nigerians what they desire.

The polity is overheated in the face of insecurity. I foresee danger in 2015 if we are not careful.”

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

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NEWS Bayelsa to expedite work on Siasia Stadium From Mike Odiegwu Yenagoa

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AYELSA State government has promised to release funds to the firms involved in the renovation of the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa.

The contractors were hired to lay a new organic fibre turf on the football pitch of the stadium and create tartan tracks.

The Commissioner for Sports, Mr. Ebikitin Diongoli, said the problems facing the stadium, including the poor drainage at the exterior part of the complex, would be addressed.

He said it was regrettable that the development had compelled the state’s football teams to play their league matches in neighbouring states.

Diongoli assured that the clubs would soon return to play their home matches at the stadium.

He spoke in Yenagoa when the contractor and the Managing Director of MoniMichelle Sports Facilities Construction Company, Mr. Ebi Egbe and the representative of the FIFA-rated organic fibre turf company, Limonta Sports, visited him.

The commissioner said the Governor Seriake Dickson administration was focused on completing the project to encourage sports tourism through the organisation of local and international matches.

Egbe said the Italianbased company, Limonta Sports, was handling the laying of the organic turf.

He said the company had been given a pass mark on the stone base and internal drainage required to lay the turf.

Egbe said the football pitch would be ready within 11 weeks, adding that the “MoniMichelle as a company works within FIFA-approved specification.”

MOSOP warns politicians, supporters on bitterness, intolerance T HE Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has warned Ogoni politicians and their supporters against politics of hatred, bitterness, intolerance and acrimony.

It urged them to unite and work for the people’s interest.

The group described as needless and insensitive, the current debacle on resource control and derivation.

MOSOP yesterday issued a 13-point communique at the end of a congress of Ogoni people, held at the Peace and Freedom Centre, Bori, the traditional headquarters of the Ogoni and the seat of Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

It was signed by its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara.

The congress was attended by over 3,000 participants, including MOSOP leaders and representatives of its constituent organisations, chiefs, farmers, traders, professionals, politicians, youths, women and other constitutionally-eligible participants.

Reports were received at the congress from the MOSOP president. The recent developments affecting Ogoniland were reviewed.

The communiqué reads: “The congress reiterated that it stands by MOSOP’s posi-

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

tion that communities should be given 100 per cent control over their resources and pay the necessary taxes to the Federal Government “Congress hailed MOSOP and its supporters for the steps taken so far in the actualisation of the desires of the Ogoni people to produce the next governor, to enhance adequate political representation and fairness in the country.

“Congress decried in the strongest terms, the purported radio jingle emanating from a fake ‘Ogoni Ethnic Nationality’ and stressed that it is the handiwork of desperate Ogoni politicians, whose stock has already fallen on the Ogoni Market, working in alliance with their outside collaborators to confuse and derail the Ogoni dream.”

MOSOP lauded Ogoni people and their friends for their support for the movement, resulting in the near total agreement recorded on most issues being championed by the organisation, on behalf of Ogoni people.

It enjoined them to sustain the zeal and commitment, stressing that the tasks ahead

would be enormous and challenging, requiring concerted efforts, anchored on unity of purpose.

The communiqué said: “The congress urged the Federal Government and delegates attending the National Conference to review the current list of states being proposed and ensure that Bori State is included in the list of recommended states to be created. Anything short of Bori State inclusion will force the Ogoni people to seek other ways of expressing their right to self determination and political autonomy.

“Congress condemned the stunning and continuing failure of the Federal Government to set up a proper process for the implementation of the recommendations of the environmental study of Ogoniland and called on Ogoni people to join the nonviolent protest being organised by MOSOP to demonstrate the anger of the Ogoni people against the Federal Government’s stance.

“Congress mandated MOSOP to intensify its internationalisation of the campaign for the clean-up and restoration of the Ogoni environment, including in-

voking the provisions of international environmental and human rights laws, to hold Nigeria accountable to her misdeeds against the Ogoni people.”

The people also expressed regret at the recent cult crisis in some communities in Ogoni, while admonishing the people, especially the youths, not to mortgage their future by submitting to cult violence and manipulations by external mastermind to create conflicts in the area.

The congress urged the people to be committed to ensuring that such disturbance did not reoccur anywhere in Ogoni land, describing the area as globally recognised for non-violent and peaceful advocacy, noting that they could not afford at this time to renege on the position.

Ogoni people called on monarchs in the area to redouble their efforts in ensuring and promoting peaceful engagements in their domains.

The congress lauded MOSOP for the steps being taken to promote the development of the Ogoni languages and enjoined members of the Ogoni language committee to be committed to the task that had been given to them.

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DO State government has redeemed its pledge to provide a bus for the use of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

Presenting the keys of a 33seater Coaster bus to the CAN Chairman at the weekend, Governor Adams Oshiomhole said although the government might not be able to sponsor individuals on a holy pilgrimage, its commitment to recognised faith-based associations, which helped to instil morals in the people, remained unshaken.

He said: “In the past, you requested for a vehicle for CAN and I promised that we would provide you with a bus to assist you to move around and mobilise your members in your activities.

“This bus has been procured for some time now and I realised that we have not formally presented it to you. So I decided to invite you to formally present the bus since the request was made formally by your leadership.

“Also, I offered to help you build your secretariat. Time is going and I have about two and a half years to spend. I don’t want to make a promise that I will not fulfil. So I thought I should keep my promise.

“From the end of this month, we will make some money available.

“Every month, we will be committed to putting the money in your account so that in the next 10 months we will be able to raise N250 million to ensure that the project is completed while I am in office.”

Oshiomhole thanked the CAN leadership and Christians for their prayers and support.

The leader of the delegation and CAN Chairman, Rt. Rev. Peter Imasuen, thanked the governor and prayed that God would bless him.

‘We are stranded in Malaysia’

Asaba residents pay N10 to read newspapers

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EWSPAPER vendors in Asaba, the Delta State capital, now collect N10 from readers who prefer to read papers at the newsstands.

Mr. Azuibuike Emmanuel, who sells newspapers at the Ibusa junction, said most readers preferred paying N10 and reading the newspapers to buying them.

He said he introduced the levy since the readers, most of who were unemployed, wanted information but could not buy newspapers.

Azubuike said he could no longer tolerate their reading the papers free because he was no longer making huge sales.

Another vendor, Miss Abigail Onwuzulike, said she also charged each reader N10 to read the headlines, since they did not want to buy.

Miss Onwuzulike said some of them even preferred pairing with others to pay the amount.

She added that she realised money from the levy to augment her income.

Edo redeems pledge to Christian community

•Senator Abe (middle), Chairman, Port Harcourt Club 1928 Caretaker Committee, Sofiri Bobo-Brown (first left), former Club Vice-President, Vincent Furo (first right) and other club members during the inauguration of the modern table tennis section of the club... recently.

VER 70 Bayelsa State indigenes, who were sent to study in Malaysia under the scholarship programme, have cried out that they are stranded in the country.

There was indication yesterday that the beneficiaries of the programme were stranded and battling deportation threat from the Malaysian government.

The son of a former deputy governor (name withheld), is said to be among them.

Abe empowers 60 men, women, youths in Opobo/Nkoro

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HE lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe, has empowered no fewer than 60 men, women and youths drawn from the 11 wards in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government.

One thousand one hundred women from the area, particularly widows, also benefitted from the free wrappers scheme of the wife of the senator, Mrs. Bariyaah Abe, bringing the number of beneficiaries to 9,000.

Abe arrived at Opobo, headquarters of the council, to a heroic reception by a crowd consisting of men, women and

•Wife donates wrappers to 1,100 women youths.

The senator said the empowerment initiated outside his constituency projects was a direct response to the overwhelming support from the people of the district and followed the resolve of elected representatives in Rivers State to ensure personal contact with the electorate.

Abe said: “What is happening in the politics of Nigeria is that there are middlemen, between you and the government. They collect what is meant for you and give you peanuts. I came to tell you that

Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has eliminated political middleman in the politics of Rivers State. He has brought dividends of democracy directly to you and your children.

“The middlemen are in Abuja trying to sell your future. They are promising people that if they bring money, they will deliver Rivers State to them. They are not asking you; they are not talking to you; they are not asking you what you think; they are not asking you what you like; they are not coming to

look for you, but they are in Abuja collecting money on your behalf.

“We will together, redefine the politics of Rivers State, and you will be the determinant factor. We will banish middlemen from our politics. By the time we finish with them, they will remain in Abuja.”

A cleric, Ven. Christian John-Jaja, predicted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would win the governorship election in Opobo/Nkoro and Rivers State next year.

Describing Abe as a leader ordained by God, he hailed the

lawmaker for raising his voice against the agents of impunity in the state, even at the risk of his life.

According to him, God would continue to lift him higher for choosing to stand with the people, against oppressors.

The APC Women Leader in Opobo/Nkoro, Felicia Pepple; Chairman, APC, Ward 3, Ibim Ogolo; and a Youth Leader in the state, Bethel Oko-Jaja, said it was the first time in the history of the district that a serving senator would sit with the people.

They pledged their continued support for Governor Amaechi.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

55

NEWS Insurance firms’ CEOs face sanctions Continued from page 4

and Spring Life Assurance Plc. In a July 21 letter to the chief executive officers, NAICOM requested the 13 CEOs “to give acceptable explanations within seven days on why regulatory actions should not be taken against them for failing to submit their 2013 annual report as required by law”.

The seven-day ultimatum is with effect from July 21.

According to the memo, NAICOM stressed that it will be decisive on any of the CEO who fails within the stipulated seven-day period to explain why the sanction should not apply.

The Insurance Act 2003

mandates insurance companies to file their annual accounts, six months after the financial year.

The law for filing of annual returns and accounts states that “all insurance and re-insurance companies shall submit to the Commission three copies each of duly audited financial statements and annual returns in prescribed forms.

“In respect of operation of the company for 2010, returns shall be filed on, or before 30th June, 2011. Failure to file annual returns as prescribed by Section 26 of the Insurance Act, 2003 constitutes a ground for cancellation of operating licence.”

It states that “an insurer

shall be deemed to have failed to file its annual returns if the provisions of Section 26 of the Insurance Act 2003, are not met 12 months after the end of the financial year. For purposes of compliance, accounting period shall run from 1st January to 31st December, 2010,” it added.

Last week, The Nation reported that NAICOM has stepped up its regulatory duties by releasing information on insurance companies’ financials to the public.

However, the Commission has not been able to provide data for 2012 and 2013 owing to late, or non-submission of some companies accounts since 2012.

APC seeks international probe of attempted assassination Continued from page 4

cess of muddling the waters, as is usually the case with such high-profile cases. ‘’This is why an urgent international inquiry into the attack is desirable and imperative, and anyone who is committed to an impartial probe of the attack on the opposition leader should embrace our call,’’ APC said, adding that the insurgency and its spin-offs are now clearly beyond the capability of this Federal Government.

The party also said the call had been further justified by the statements and insinuations emanating

from the ruling PDP and the Presidency, both of which now seem to be pointing accusing fingers at the same party (APC) that is clearly the target of the failed assassination attempt on one of its top leaders. ‘’The questions to ask the purveyors of such repugnant theories are: Did the late Emir of Kano also stage the attack on his convoy?

Did the other Emirs who were attacked, with at least one of them killed recently, also stage the attack against themselves? Did Gen. Muhammed Shuwa, who was killed by gunmen in Maiduguri in 2012, also stage the attack on himself? ‘’We are indeed in very in-

teresting times, times that remind one of the failed attempt by the Administration of the late military dictator, Gen. Abacha, to blame pro-democracy group NADECO for the series of deadly attacks on pro-democracy activists during the tenure of the Administration. ‘’But we are confident that just as the truth about those who perpetrated those attacks was eventually revealed, the masterminds of the failed assassination attempt on our leader will definitely be exposed sooner than later, whether or not the government agrees to our call for an international inquiry,’’ it said.

Buhari: Nigeria would ’ve been in turmoil, says Jonathan Continued from page 4

He said the government was looking at ways to raise funds to cater for widows and orphans as well as those whose business premises were vandalized. Worship places that were destroyed.

Stressing that the government cannot do it alone, the President said that the fund would be launched on Thursday.

He said: “Government cannot do it alone because we will need huge sums of money. The Nigerian private sector are vibrant and willing if they see sincerity in government. We have demonstrated that very clearly and we

are hopeful that that day reasonable amount of money will be raised.”

“And we will continue to raise money until we are able to cushion the effect of these excesses and at the same time we are strengthening our security services so that they will be able to confront this menace,” he added.

Speaking earlier, Vice President, Namadi Sambo thanked the President for accepting to receive them as they celebrate the end of the Ramadan.

Praying God to continue to give the President wisdom and guidance to rule, for peace and for all the evil including Boko Haram, to end,

he praised him for fasting alongside Muslims during the Ramadan.

He also urged Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers, as he prayed for tranquility in the country and for total reconciliation and stability.

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Bala Mohammed said: “We have always enjoyed humane and civil disposition; that is why you see Muslims and Christians coming to pay homage - in line with your exemplary leadership.”

He prayed for courage and wisdom for the President to continue to steer the ship of leadership despite the security challenges.

Man, wife, dad, maid die in Kano bombing as 30 killed in Adamawa Continued from page 4

Oritsejafor, the clergy urged the people to exercise restrain and live peacefully as the security is up the task of bringing perpetrators to book.

“CAN commiserates with Islamic scholar El-Zakzaky over the loss of his sons, appealing to him to take solace in God. CAN says the demise of the scholar’s sons is most unfortunate and regrettable, particularly at a time when the energy and wise counsel of all in the society is needed to tame insecurity.

“CAN appealed to Nigerians to live peacefully irrespective of religious, ethnic and political difference in the quest for new national re birth.

CAN reiterates its earlier call for Nigerians to give useful information to security agents as they try their best to tackle the insurgency.”

Pastor Oritsejafor described the blast as barbaric and inhu-

man. While commiserating with families of the deceased, he called on Nigerians to be security conscious.

Thirty people were killed in attacks at the weekend on communities in Hong local government area of Adamawa State.

Gunmen believed to be Boko Haram fighters attacked Zar Mubeng and Lubeng villages.

The village head of Zar community, Wing Commander, Dauda Daniel (rtd), is still missing in the aftermath of the attacks.

The attacks led to the death of nine people in Zar, the source said.

Some relatives of the community leader said he is yet to be found. There are concerns that he might have been abducted by the gunmen.

The worst-affected community is Mubeng where it was gathered that 20 people were killed.

The number of those killed in Lube could not be ascertained

yet, said one of the villagers who fled the community as a result of the attacks.

The eye witness, who identified himself as Lazarus, said most of the people in his community scampered to safety before the rampaging gunmen got there.

The Adamawa State police could not speak on the development. Haa Micheal, the spokesman, has just been appointed.

Micheal said he is only privy to a rumoured attack in the Hong area but didn’t have details of the attack.

Last night, Garkida town in Gombi Local Government Area of the state was under attack by gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members.

Sources speaking from the town on telephone said they heard heavy gunfire and cries of helpless residents.

They also noticed that many houses were on fire.

Sultan to insurgents: end your killings

•Sultan Abubakar...yesterday Continued from page 4

sustain their prayers for peace and stability in the country.

Sambo spoke to reporters in Abuja after the Eid-el-Fitr prayer.

“We extend our sincere happiness to Almighty Allah that has made it possible for us to see this important day and to pray that he continues to grant favour to our country, Nigeria, for peace and progress.

“We thank Almighty Allah for what he has granted us and we pray that we continue to be given good health and the wisdom for the development and progress of Nigeria,” he said.

He called on Muslim faithful to strengthen the bond of friendship and unity across the country and to always exhibit the good virtues of Ramadan for the progress of the society.

The vice president urged

Nigerians to be security conscious always and report suspicious individuals or groups to security agents.

He also advised Nigerians to be thankful to God for His mercy, and avoid acts capable of causing social unrest.

The Eid-el-Fitr prayer, which held at the Karamajiji ground on Airport Road, was led by the Chief Imam of Abuja, Ustaz Musa Mohammed.

In his sermon, Muhammed charged organisations and wealthy Nigerians to always assist the less-privileged in the society “in order to reduce the level of poverty in the country.”

Dignitaries at the prayer included the Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Aji, serving and former ministers and members of the Diplomatic Corps.

The Emir of Kano Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, urged Muslims in the state to imbibe the spirit of tolerance and sacrifice.

The emir made the call yesterday while addressing Muslims after the Eid-El-Fitr prayer at the Kofar Mata ground in Kano.

He appealed to them to emulate Prophet Muhammed’s life, stressing that the one month fasting should be seen as a period of cleansing and atonement.

“After the Ramadan, we should be more determined to live in the path of Allah as true believers. ‘’We should also continue to emulate the exemplary at-

tributes of Islam which are love, tolerance and peaceful co-existence”, he said.

The monarch also called on the people to continue to pray for peace, unity and progress of the state and the country.

In his sermon, the emir, who led the prayer, stressed the need for Muslims to fear God and continue to use all the lessons of the Ramadan to foster unity in the state and country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the prayer which started at about 9 a.m. was attended by the state’s Deputy Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, members of the State Executive Council, members of the Emirate Council and some members of the Diplomatic Corps.

The Emir at the weekend paid N3 million at the Central Prisons, Kano, to secure freedom for 11 inmates of the prison.

According to a statement from the Media Officer at the Emir’s palace, Alhaji Sha’aban Ibrahim, the amount was fine options given the inmates by the courts at the time of their convictions.

It explained that the monarch secured the release of the inmates on humanitarian ground, “”due to either ill health or old age.””

The statement quoted the emir as urging the beneficiaries of the gesture to be of good conduct when they resumed public life and avoid issues that would take them back to prison.

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

FOREIGN NEWS Egypt army destroys 13 more Gaza tunnels

North Korea marks war anniversary

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HE 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, meaning the two Koreas remain technically at war. But in North Korea, the anniversary of the agreement ending the hostilities is commemorated as “Victory in the Fatherland Liberation War,” a major national holiday.

Sunday’s 61st anniversary was low-key. There were no large-scale military parades or public appearances by leader Kim Jong Un, who privately paid his respects just after midnight at the mausoleum where his father and grandfather lie in state.

Veterans, now in their 70s and 80s, many wearing uniforms laden with medals and clutching bouquets of flowers, were celebrated in patriotic events around the country.

In Pyongyang’s central plaza, Kim Il Sung Square, the aged veterans, some crying, told war stories. A mass chorus of schoolchildren sang odes to Kim Jong Un and a crowd of college students was exhorted to be “the new generation” in building North Korea under Kim’s leadership.

To lighten the mood, they were also treated to a show of square dancing and taekwondo. After watching the official events, many people in Pyongyang took advantage of a sunny day off to enjoy family outings along the capital’s riverside promenades.

Philippines welcomes its 100 millionth citizen

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HILIPPINE officials welcomed the birth Sunday of their country’s 100 millionth citizen with a cake, hope and concerns about how their poor Southeast Asian nation can help ensure a decent life for its swelling population.

A baby girl named Chonalyn was born shortly after midnight at the government-run Jose Fabella hospital in Manila, pushing the country’s estimated population to the milestone figure, said Juan Antonio Perez III, executive director of the Commission on Population.

Wrapped in a blanket and pink bonnet and cradled by her beaming mother, Chonalyn was showered with a cake, infant clothes and other gifts by health and population commission officials at a hospital ceremony.

“We are faced with the challenge of providing for all 100 million Filipinos,” Perez said.

The United Nations Population Fund said the milestone offers both challenges and opportunities to the Philippines, which is the world’s 12th most populous country and has one of Asia’s fastest-growing populations.

“It is important to emphasize that population is not merely a matter of numbers, but of human rights and opportunities,” said Klaus Beck, the UNPF’s Philippines representative.

With 54 percent of its population under the age of 25, the Philippines needs to provide the young with education, job opportunities and skills, Beck said.

Nearly half of the country’s people live in cities as more Filipinos migrate from rural areas to look for better opportunities elsewhere, fostering problems such as trafficking in girls and women that have to be addressed, he said.

In the poorest areas, women bear more children than they desire because of a lack of access to reproductive health information and services, Beck said.

E

•A Palestinian carries mattresses he found in the rubble of destroyed buildings on July 27, 2014 in the Shejaiya residential district of Gaza City as families returned to find their homes ground into rubble by relentless Israeli tank fire and air strikes.

The Islamist Hamas movement fired more rockets at Israel, despite claims it had accepted a UN request for a 24-hour extension of a humanitarian truce in war-torn Gaza.

AFP PHOTO/MARCO LONGARI

Ebola kills senior doctor in Liberia

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NE of Liberia's most high-profile doctors has died of Ebola, a government official said yesterday, highlighting the risks facing health workers trying to combat the deadly disease.

Dr. Samuel Brisbane is the first Liberian doctor to die in an outbreak the World Health Organization says has killed 129 people in the West African nation. A Ugandan doctor working in the country died earlier this month.

The WHO says the outbreak, the largest ever recorded, has also killed 319 people in Guinea and 224 in Sierra Leone.

Brisbane, who once served as a medical adviser to former Liberian President Charles Taylor, was working as a consultant with the internal medicine unit at the country's largest hospital, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center in Monrovia.

After falling ill with Ebola, he was taken to a treatment center on the outskirts of the capital, where he died, said Tolbert Nyenswah, an assistant health minister.

Under the supervision of health workers, family members escorted the doctor's body to a burial location west of the city, Nyenswah said.

He added that another doctor who had been working in Liberia's central Bong County was also being treated for Ebola at the same center where Brisbane died.

The situation "is getting more and more scary," Nyenswah said.

News of Brisbane's death first

•Sierra Leone escaped patient dies •Nigeria's ports on red alert began circulating on Saturday, a national holiday marking Liberia's independence in 1847.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf used her Independence Day address to discuss a new taskforce to combat Ebola. Information Minister Lewis Brown said the taskforce would go "from community to community, from village to village, from town to town" in order to increase awareness.

Health workers are at serious risk of contracting the disease, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids.

There is no known cure for Ebola, which begins with symptoms including fever and sore throat but then escalates to vomiting, diarrhea and internal and external bleeding.

Experts believe the ongoing West Africa outbreak could have begun as far back as January in southeast Guinea, though the first cases weren't confirmed until March.

Since then, officials have tried to contain the disease by isolating victims and educating populations on how to avoid transmission, though porous borders, satellite outbreaks and widespread distrust of health workers have made the outbreak difficult to bring under control.

Nigerian officials announced on Friday that a Liberian official died of Ebola after flying from Monrovia to Lagos. The official's

plane also stopped in Lome, Togo.

The fact that the traveler from Liberia could board an international flight also raised new fears that other passengers could take the disease beyond Africa.

A Sierra Leone woman who fled hospital after testing positive for the Ebola virus has died after turning herself in, health officials have told the BBC. Her family had forcibly removed her from a public hospital on Thursday.

Saudatu Koroma's is the first case of Ebola to be confirmed in the country's capital Freetown, where there are no facilities to treat the virus.

Since February, more than 660 people have died of Ebola in West Africa - the world's deadliest outbreak to date.

Nigeria has put all its entry points on red alert after confirming the death there of a Liberian man who was carrying the highly contagious virus.

The man died after arriving at Lagos airport on Tuesday, in the first Ebola case in Africa's most populous country.

The outbreak began in southern Guinea and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Reports on Saturday said that a prominent Liberian doctor, Samuel Brisbane, had died after a three-week battle with the virus.

And later it emerged that a US

doctor working with Ebola patients, Kent Brantly, was being treated for the virus in a hospital in the capital Monrovia.

The virus, which kills up to 90% of those infected, spreads through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids.

Patients have a better chance of survival if they receive treatment early.

Ms Koroma was the first registered Ebola case in the capital Freetown.

Both she and her parents - who are suspected of having the virus - had been taken to Ebola treatment centres in the east of the country, health ministry spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis told the BBC. •Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage •Fatality rate can reach 90% •Incubation period is two to 21 days •There is no vaccine or cure •Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery •Fruit bats are considered to be the natural host of the virus The woman had been one of dozens of people who tested positive but were unaccounted for, the BBC's Umaru Fofana reports from the capital, Freetown.

Her case highlights Sierra Leone's lack of preparedness in responding to the outbreak, our correspondent says, with no laboratory or treatment centre in Freetown.

Gaza: Hamas announces new ceasefire

I

SRAEL launched new raids on Gaza after Hamas initially rejected a humanitarian truce Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced a 24hour ceasefire after Israel ended an earlier truce amid continuing rocket fire from Gaza.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the ceasefire would start from 14:00 local time (11:00 GMT).

Some 1,060 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 43 Israeli soldiers and two civilians have died since 8 July.

A Thai national in Israel has also been killed.

Israel launched its military offensive with the declared objective of stopping Hamas firing rockets from Gaza into Israel.

On 18 July, it extended operations with a ground offensive, saying it was necessary to destroy tunnels dug by militants to infiltrate Israel.

•Netanyahu says Hamas has violated it already On Saturday, Israel accepted a UN request for a 24-hour ceasefire until the end of Sunday, although it said ground forces would continue to destroy tunnels used by Hamas during the pause.

However, the Israeli military announced on Sunday morning it had decided to resume its air, ground and naval raids on Gaza in response to “incessant rocket fire” from Hamas.

Hamas had initially rejected the Israeli offer, saying it would only halt rocket attacks once Israeli troops left Gaza and the displaced were allowed to return home.

But shortly after Israeli raids resumed, Hamas said it had decided to agree to a humanitarian truce.

“As a preparation for the end

of Ramadan and in response to the UN mediation and also regarding our people’s living circumstances, we have agreed with all Palestinian factions to give a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire starting from 14:00 on Sunday,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.

Eight Palestinians have died in Sunday’s attacks, according to Gazan health officials.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said 28 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel on Sunday. Two more rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missiles defence system, the IDF said. It did not say if any of the firing was after the Hamas-announced ceasefire.

It added that a soldier was killed by mortar shell fired from Gaza early yesterday morning

•Netanyahu

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had violated its own offer of a 24-hour humanitarian truce in Gaza.

Asked whether Israel would accept the truce offer, Netanyahu told CNN’s “State of the Union” program: “Hamas doesn’t even accept its own cease-fire, it’s continuing to fire at us as we speak.”

GYPT’S army said yesterday it has destroyed 13 more tunnels connecting the Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip, taking to 1,639 the overall number it has laid waste to.

CAIRO has poured troops into the peninsula to counter a rising insurgency since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year, and its security operation involves the destruction of these tunnels.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is the main power in Gaza, reportedly uses the tunnels to smuggle arms, food and money into the blockaded coastal enclave.

Israel has been waging a military offensive on Gaza since July 8 to halt rocket fire, and it launched a ground assault on July 17 aimed at destroying the network of tunnels.

It accuses Hamas of using the tunnels to attacks on Israel.

Ties between Hamas and Cairo have deteriorated since the Egyptian army deposed Morsi on July 3, 2013. Hamas is an affiliate of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Cairo also accuses of Hamas of being involved in militant attacks inside Egypt, which have multiplied since Morsi was toppled.

Militant groups say their attacks are in retaliation for a police crackdown on Morsi’s supporters. The crackdown has seen more than 1,400 people killed in street clashes.

Philippines welcomes its 100 millionth citizen

P

HILIPPINE officials welcomed the birth yesterday of their country’s 100 millionth citizen with a cake, hope and concerns about how their poor Southeast Asian nation can help ensure a decent life for its swelling population.

A baby girl named Chonalyn was born shortly after midnight at the government-run Jose Fabella hospital in Manila, pushing the country’s estimated population to the milestone figure, said Juan Antonio Perez III, executive director of the Commission on Population.

Wrapped in a blanket and pink bonnet and cradled by her beaming mother, Chonalyn was showered with a cake, infant clothes and other gifts by health and population commission officials at a hospital ceremony.

“We are faced with the challenge of providing for all 100 million Filipinos,” Perez said.

The United Nations Population Fund said the milestone offers both challenges and opportunities to the Philippines, which is the world’s 12th most populous country and has one of Asia’s fastest-growing populations.

“It is important to emphasize that population is not merely a matter of numbers, but of human rights and opportunities,” said Klaus Beck, the UNPF’s Philippines representative.

With 54 percent of its population under the age of 25, the Philippines needs to provide the young with education, job opportunities and skills, Beck said.

Nearly half of the country’s people live in cities as more Filipinos migrate from rural areas to look for better opportunities elsewhere, fostering problems such as trafficking in girls and women that have to be addressed, he said.

In the poorest areas, women bear more children than they desire because of a lack of access to reproductive health information and services, Beck said.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

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FOREIGN

Russia: Resurging the Cold War in Ukraine Global Focus

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N the global scene in the past couple of months our world had been embroiled in yet catastrophes of such bloody proportions which continue to boggle the minds of the international community.

First is the situation in Ukraine where from the on start of this so-called nationalist realignment in Eastern Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin probably and unwittingly dug his hand into this Pandora's box, a nostalgia of some sort from the cold war era and thought a resurgence of yet a glorious United Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR) is not a distinct possibility. The cannon fodder, according to his calculation will be the Pro-Russian Separatist rebels and the ultimate goal will be revisiting what Russia did in Georgia, one of her former republics in the post-Gorbachev era of Perestroika and Glasnot in 1991.

Egged on by Russia, the rebel separatists, mostly ethnic Russians, started with secession referendum on March 16, 2014 from Ukraine to be semiautonomous and join with Russian Federation following the removal of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

It all started with the decision of the erstwhile president to align his country with Russia for economic aid rather than the popular will of Ukrainians to rather align with the European Union. With Yanukovych's ouster Chocolate billionaire business man Petro Poroshenko was elected to lead the nation with support from the West and assurance that he will of course move the country to the EU. All hell broke loose and the war is still raging.

Sanctions have been imposed on some Russian individuals and companies. Counter moves in terms of oil and gas sales stoppages were slapped on Ukraine and some 12 EU nations by Russia.

But the turning point was the shooting down of a Malaysian Jetliner Flight MH17 on July 17 by a surface-to-air missile over a rebel held area in Eastern Ukraine killing all 298 on board.

This has led to accusations and counter accusations as to who was responsible for the dastardly act but the West is laying the blame squarely on Putin's Russian-aided rebels both on account of location and technology.

Sanctions against Russia have been widened on more individuals and companies while the the United Nations Security Council has ordered international investigation.

The question is what price is Russia willing to pay in her quest to return to the cold war mode. In the meantime more lives are being lost daily as the crisuis escalates.

Another burning part of our globe is the killings in Gaza. As we thought some ceasefire is on the way, we hear of breaches from both sides with casualties now over a thousand Gazans and Israeli Defence Forces and civilians in dozens.

While world leaders and the international community are calling for restraints from both sides the killings continue unabated with no sign of sincerity from either side.

Libya is another hotspot with many militia groups fighting for supremacy and control in a country with no stable government nor unified national military.

A renegade general Khalfa Hiftar who is linked to the US and late dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is leading a faction of the insurgency while the Tripoli International Airport and Benghazi are under heavy fire from militant rebels who are actually under the guidance and control of a fragile government.

Dozens of American diplomatic and military forces were evacuated over the weekend following the deteriorating and worsening security situation in the vicinity of the US embassy and apparently to avert a repeat of the bloody attack in Benghazi which killed among others, US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens in a terrorist attack in 2012.

Meanwhile, the US has been accused of her not

so well thought-out policy in Libya following the killing of President Moammar Gaddafi in October 2011 from the hands of the fighters of National Transitional Council.

The result was a breakdown of law and order with no coordinated attempt at restoring democracy.

DAYO FAKUADE, Foreign Editor sms 08134230367

daborgu@gmail.com

‘The question is what price is Russia willing to pay in her quest to return to the cold war mode. In the meantime more lives are being lost daily as the crisis escalates’ Moving on to Africa, another air tragedy struck last week at the wake of the downing of the Malaysian jetliner, with last week's crash of Air Algerie Flight AH507 from Burkina Faso to Algiers killing all 116 on board.

The Nusra Front terror group fighting in Syria has released a video showing the first American citizen Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, 22, to carry out suicide bomb attack in that country's war.

Abu-Salha was shown in the video speaking in broken Arabic.

"I want to rest in the afterlife, in heaven. There is nothing here and the heart is not resting," AbuSalha says. "Heaven is better. When people die they either go to heaven or hell. There is happiness beyond explanation." What a mindset.

The Syrian crisis is not letting up and as a matter of fact saw two of its most bloody days last week claiming almost 700 casualties between government and rebel forces.

With a disparage rebels of ragtag army and dwindling resources, the killing machine of President Bashar al-Assad has no reason to back down having been sworn in recently for a seven-year third term in an election he conducted for himself largely.

Our final port of call is the human misery in Iraq, where The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), alternately translated as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Iraq military forces whose favourites weapons of choice are barrel bombs, as well as waging a sectarian and internecine war with such heated ferocity. Cultural landmarks are being destroyed; Christians hunted down and persecuted while adult women and children are subjected raginal mutilations. In what will seem a blow to the intervention by the Americanled international efforts over the years and its attendant loss of lives from both sides as well as a destruction of a nation all in search of democracy, the country remains unstable and fragile..

Remember, our globe is our heritage. Let's continue to keep her clean in our everyday living. Go green, plant a tree in your neighbourhood and put a smile on a tight face, by doing an act of random kindness."Life is better with Trees". See you next week

FOREIGN Pope: WW I should teach us: No more war

Ukraine launches offensive to retake Donetsk

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P

OPE Francis is marking the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I with an impassioned plea for people to “not repeat the mistakes of the past,” urging them to embrace dialogue to overcome conflicts.

Francis cited current warfare between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as in Iraq and in Ukraine. He told pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square Sunday that he was thinking of children — killed, maimed or orphaned by war — who “for toys, have the debris of war.”

“I beg you, stop. I ask you with all my heart,” Francis said.

Pope Francis

He cited World War I-era Pope Benedict XV’s denunciation of the Great War as a “useless massacre.”

Francis said: “Everything is lost with war, nothing is lost with peace. Never more war.”

Russians take top posts in east Ukraine

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S UKRAINIAN troops gained ground in eastern Ukraine in early July, separatist leader Aleksander Borodai, a Russian national, left for Moscow for political consultations.

After what he described as successful talks with unnamed people there, he returned to the rebel stronghold of Donetsk to introduce a new senior figure in his self-proclaimed republic, a compatriot seasoned in the proRussian separatist movement in Moldova and a war between Russia and Georgia.

Vladimir Antyufeyev was named “deputy prime minister”

by Borodai on July 10, one of several native Russians to have taken charge of the separatist rebellion in Ukraine’s eastern regions.

Joining Borodai and rebel commander Igor Strelkov, Antyufeyev’s arrival underlines a change at the top of the separatist movement, highlighting Moscow’s involvement in the conflict, Western officials say. The Kremlin denies any involvement.

“There has been a dramatic change in the leadership of the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past weeks, which certainly gives the impression of a much more hands-on Russian directive role,” said Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. Ambassador to Kiev.

“These individuals are in regular touch with authorities in Russia.”

Ukrainian-born rebel leaders have been eased out, causing rifts among increasingly nervous separatists since a Malaysian airliner was downed over rebel-held territory just over a week ago.

Antyufeyev replaced Donetsk native, Alexander Khodakovsky, as the top security person in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Denis Pushilin, another local once titled the republic’s president, was dismissed.

Khodakovsky remains a top commander but has taken an increasingly independent line, telling Reuters that separatists had the type of anti-aircraft missile system that Washington says brought the plane down, killing all 298 people on board. Borodai denied this assertion.

A Ukrainian official in the southern Azov Sea city port of Mariupol, which Kiev reclaimed from rebels last month, said Russians were taking over the entire rebel operation, sidelining or removing locals.

Antyufeyev, also known as Vadim Shevtsov, has a history of supporting pro-Russian separatist movements in the former Soviet Union, and brings a tough discipline and doggedness to the campaign in eastern Ukraine.

HE move comes as Ukrainian forces appear to have gained some momentum recently by retaking control of territory from the rebels. But Russia also appears to becoming more involved in the fighting, with the U.S. and Ukraine accusing Moscow of moving heavily artillery across the border to the rebels.

Ukrainian national security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Ukrainian forces were outside Horlikva, just north of the regional center of Donetsk.

Once they can take Horlivka, “the direct route is open for the forces of the anti-terrorist operation to the capital of the Donbass region — the city of Donetsk,” Lysenko said. “The approaches to Donetsk are being blocked so that the terrorists do not get the chance to receive ammunition, reinforcements or equipment.”

Donetsk, a city of about 1 million people, is a major center of the separatist uprising that has battled Ukrainian government forces for five months.

•Russia decries new rounds of sanctions An Associated Press reporter found the highway north of Donetsk blocked by rebels and heard the sound of artillery to the north. Explosions were heard in the direction of the town’s airport, on the northwest edge of the city, an area frequently contested by Ukrainian forces and rebels. Black smoke rose from the direction of Yakovlikva, a northern suburb of Donetsk.

About 35 miles (60 kilometers) to the east, the site where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down was still eerily empty except for the parents of one of the 298 people killed in the July 17 disaster. A full-fledged investigation still hasn’t started because of the security risks posed by the nearby fighting.

But Jerzy Dyczynski and Angela Rudhart-Dyczynski, parents of 25-year-old Fatima, travelled from their home in Perth, Australia to honor their daughter. They crossed territory held by pro-Russian rebels to reach the wreckage-strewn fields outside the village of Hrabove,

where they sat together on part of the debris, his arm around her shoulder. Fatima “was for peace.

She will be forever for peace,” her father said.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials say the plane was shot down by a missile from rebel territory, most likely by mistake.

Two military cargo planes, one Dutch and the other Australian, also flew 38 more coffins carrying victims to the Netherlands for identification and investigation.

Officials said the flights took the last of the 227 coffins containing victims that had been brought to Kharkiv by refrigerated train. Officials say the exact number of people held in the coffins is still to be determined by forensic experts in the Netherlands, where Ukraine agreed to send the bodies. International observers have said there are still remains at the wreckage site.

Access has been limited due to rebel interference and security concerns.

The disaster sparked hopes in the West that Russia would scale

Libya: Benghazi clashes kill more than 50

A

T least 36 people have been killed in clashes between Libyan government troops and Islamist militants in the city of Benghazi, reports say.

The attack came as the militants attacked troops in the city centre.

Intense fighting near Tripoli airport killed another 23 people, reports say.

Militias controlling large parts of the country are responsible for Libya’s worst violence since the 2011 uprising that toppled Col Muammar Gaddafi, correspondents say.

The US and the UK have advised their nationals not to travel to Libya.

On Saturday, the US evacuated its embassy in the capital, Tripoli, citing a “real risk” because of the fighting.

Secretary of State John Kerry says violence in Libya presents a “very real risk” to US embassy staff. Turkey has also withdrawn some 700 members of staff from Libya.

Earlier this week, the UN also announced it was withdrawing all its staff from Libya.

With no army, Libya’s central government has increasingly lost control over the country to rogue and powerful militias in the last two years, says the BBC’s Rana Jawad in Tripoli.

The distribution of armed groups across the country means the weapons are evenly spread out - and most battles achieve little beyond a trail of destruction.

It is tricky territory for Western players, and recent efforts by the UN mission in Libya to bring political and militarised sides to

back its involvement in the uprising in Ukraine’s east, but nine days later the opposite seems to be the case.

Russia launched artillery attacks from its soil into Ukraine on Friday, while the United States said it has seen powerful rocket systems moving closer to the Ukraine border Smoke from an oil refinery rises over a field of sunflowers near the city of Lisichansk, Luhansk reg …

Those accusations sparked a strong denial from Moscow, which accuses the U.S. of a smear campaign.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the United States on Saturday of conducting “an unrelenting campaign of slander against Russia, ever more relying on open lies.”

The ministry took particular issue with comments Friday by White House spokesman Josh Earnest, who said Washington regards Moscow as involved in the shooting down of the airliner because it allegedly has supplied missile systems to the rebels and trained them on how to use them.

•A shelled building at Tripoli Airport PHOTO: Reuters

a negotiating table failed.

It is common for rival groups to accuse each other of being tied to Col Gaddafi’s regime.

US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in September 2012.

Libyan government officials warned of the possibility of a break-up of the country if clashes over Tripoli airport continue.

Several people have been in-

jured in the shelling near Tripoli airport Rival Libyan militias have been locked in battle at Libya’s main airport in the south of Tripoli since last week, forcing the airport to shut.

Members of the Islamist Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (LROR) are trying to seize control of the airport, which has been in the hands of the Zintan militia since the overthrow of Col Gaddafi.

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THE NATION MONDAY JULY 28, 2014

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

PREMIERSHIP

NATION SPORT

Man City to withdraw Isco interest MANCHESTER CITY will not be pursuing Real Madrid midfielder Isco despite Alvaro Negredo's injury, it has been reported.

The 28-year-old Spanish international is rumoured to be out for at least two months following a metatarsal injury he picked up in pre-season.

With Isco reportedly surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu, there were suggestions in Spain that the Etihad outfit were looking to launch a new bid for the 22-yearold, despite the rumoured signing of Porto player Eliaquim Mangala.

However, The Mirror quotes a Manchester City source as saying: "Unless there is another injury to another key player, then Mangala will be the final addition to our squad in this transfer window."

Isco came through Valencia's ranks before signing for Malaga and eventually moving to Real Madrid.

•Wilshere

van Gaal unperturbed with Zaha LOUIS VAN GAAL has hinted that Wilfried Zaha does have a future at Manchester United and has been impressed by the winger's attitude in training.

United defeated Roma 3-2 in Denver on Saturday in their opening fixture of the International Champions Cup. Zaha is the only member of United's 26-man party to not have featured in wins over LA Galaxy and Rudi Garcia's men on their preseason tour of the United States.

That has led to rumours Zaha could depart Old Trafford on a permanent basis after he spent time on loan at Cardiff City last season.

However, United manager Van Gaal stated that the 21-year-old's lack of playing time is due to an imbalance in his squad and that Zaha could feature against Inter on Tuesday.

"I have a lot of players who can play in the strikers' positions. I have already said that our selection is not in balance. I can put six strikers in," he said.

"So maybe next time I will put Zaha in because he is working hard. He is doing all the things I require or demand, so there is no problem."

Another youngster in United's squad, centre-back Chris Smalling, is enjoying life under Van Gaal and says the whole squad is desperate to make their mark under the Dutchman.

Wilshere vows to reply critics

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RSENAL midfielder Jack Wilshere has vowed to silence his doubters and impress on the pitch this season.

The England international has faced criticism over his attitude during pre-season after he was photographed smoking on holiday.

That misdemeanour followed a season in which Wilshere was limited to just 19 Premier League starts, largely due to a broken foot sustained in March, while he also failed to make an impact at the World Cup with England.

Wilshere admits he made a mistake in smoking, but has promised to silence those who

have questioned his professionalism by starring for Arsene Wenger's men this term.

"The smoking? Of course I regret it," he said. "I've been seen before doing it. I said then I made a mistake and I have made a mistake again. People make mistakes.

"I'm young and I'll learn from it.

I realise the consequences it has and the effect on kids growing up.

I have kids myself and I don't want them growing up to think their dad smokes and it's okay for a footballer to smoke because it's not.

"It's unacceptable and I will accept the consequences and I will move on."

On silencing his critics, he added:

"It does motivate me to try harder in training and not just in training; it motivates me to improve because a lot of people have started to talk [about me] - people who don't know me but want to have an opinion.

"This is a big season for me. I came back early to pre-season to show people my commitment. I am fully committed to the club and to my job and I want to show everyone that.

"Over the past few seasons I've had a few injuries. This season I'm looking to have a really great preseason and get a really good base of fitness and take that into the season."

Rodgers: we won´t rush Lallana recovery

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IDFIELDER Adam Lallana will not be rushed back from a knee injury ahead of schedule, according to Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

Liverpool were dealt a major blow when it was confirmed Lallana - a £23million signing from Southampton - sustained lateral collateral ligament damage during a training session in the United States.

Lallana is expected to miss up to six weeks, putting him in doubt for Liverpool's first three games of the Premier League season against his former club, champions Manchester City and Tottenham.

But speaking ahead of Sunday's International Champions Cup fixture against Olympiacos in Chicago, Rodgers told reporters the England international would be given time to recover.

"Of course it was very disappointing - it's probably going to be four to six weeks," Rodgers said at a media conference from Soldier Field in Chicago.

"He has looked fantastic in training; it was just a very simple exercise with no pressure. The

•Rodgers

medical team are looking closely at that at the moment.

"We're hopeful that he'll come back fairly quickly but there's no rush. He's a fantastic player, we just need to get him back fit and well because it's a long season."

Lallana is not the only new player to arrive at Anfield ahead of Liverpool's return to the UEFA Champions League in 2014-15.

Lazar Markovic, Emre Can and Rickie Lambert now call the red part of Merseyside home, and Liverpool are expected to add further signings before the transfer window closes.

Loic Remy, Dejan Lovren and Divock Origi are reportedly close to sealing moves to the club but Rodgers refused to shed any light on impending arrivals.

"There has been an awful lot of work that has gone on into finding players that are suitable and are going to come in and help the club progress," said Rodgers.

"But like I've always said, I'll never comment on players until they're signed and sealed - I can talk all day about them then."

'Southampton not a selling club' •van Gaal

N

EW Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has issued a defiant statement claiming that the Saints "are not a selling club".

The South Coast club are reeling from the losses of Adam Lallana,

Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw, and could see yet more outgoings this window, as Arsenal are reportedly about to sign Calum Chambers and holding talks with Morgan Schneiderlin.

However, Koeman insisted that no more players will be leaving St Mary's, telling The Mirror: "We are not a selling club. We have sold three players and got enough money, so we will keep the rest."

•Isco

Allardyce backtracks on Ravel RAVEL MORRISON of Queens Park Rangers shoots at goal against Wigan Athletic during the Sky Bet Championship match at Loftus Road on March 25, 2014 Sam Allardyce has revealed that he wants midfielder Ravel Morrison to stay at Upton Park this summer.

The Hammers manager said earlier this week that the former Manchester United player, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Queens Park Rangers, was not part of his plans.

However, after club owner David Sullivan hit back at these comments, Allardyce has taken a different stance on the matter.

"He's contracted to West Ham," the 59-year-old is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "I think he's had a hernia operation. Once that's healed up I hope he becomes a better player because he has been playing with it for a while. The groins have been causing him a problem for a while.

"If you've got pain, I don't think you perform to your best.

Hopefully that pain will have ended and he'll be a much freer, more active player for us. If he could do what he did last season, that would be great because, when he broke in to the side early last year, he had a great spell.

Unfortunately he couldn't sustain it.

"If he continues to do what he did last season then yes [we want to keep him] but that does depend on how much players want, how much they demand. If that demand is far too great then that becomes a difficulty for us."

Morrison joined West Ham in 2012.

60

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

NATION SPORT Mazzarri refuses to set Inter targets WALTER MAZZARRI is happy with how Inter's pre-season is shaping up but refused to set his side specific targets for the coming campaign.

The Serie A side defeated Real Madrid on penalties in their opening International Champions Cup fixture in California on Tuesday, after a 1-1 draw.

Since winning a treble of the league title, Coppa Italia and UEFA Champions League in 2010, Inter have struggled to replicate those feats and finished fifth, 42 points adrift of winners Juventus, in Serie A last season.

Mazzarri is determined to restore Inter to past glories but stopped short of predicting what the club can achieve this term.

"At this moment of the year we can't decide on our target for next season," he said. "But it's clear that when you coach a team like Inter you want, as soon as you can, to bring the team back to where it belongs because of its history.

"We have had a good beginning during this pre-season and we have some interesting young players.

"We have started a new era at Inter and our mentality, our attitude, must be that of a team who are never satisfied and who always play to win, regardless of who our opponents are.

"If we act like this, then during the season we will discover what we can achieve."

EUROPEAN Deila demands Celtic cutting edge

•Balotelli

'Balotelli can be Milan's new Ibra'

A

C MILAN goalkeeper Christian Abbiati has faith that Mario Balotelli can inherit Zlatan Ibrahimovic's crown as the club's striker.

The former Manchester City striker played in all three of the Italy's World Cup games in Group D but, while he scored in the opening victory against England, he was impotent in defeats against Costa Rica and Uruguay.

Abbiati claims that the Rossoneri forward is eager to prove himself after humiliation in Brazil and even tipped the striker to match former

forward Ibrahimovic, who left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2012.

"He will be back in the squad bursting with enthusiasm after the World Cup," Abbiati told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "He wants to prove that things are different from how it went in Brazil.

"Can he become Milan's new Ibrahimovic? If he understands that he has to give his best in every training session, then yes.

"I am sure that with new coach Filippo Inzaghi he will succeed."

Abbiati’s commendation comes

amidst rumours that Milan cheif Adriano Galliani is keen to offload Balotelli, with Arsenal linked with the 23-year-old.

Abbiati, who has been at the Lombardy club since 1998 and was team-mates with Inzaghi for 11 years, has praised the boss’ impact since replacing Clarence Seedorf this summer.

"Inzaghi has brought a crazy enthusiasm, the team follows him as one," he added. "Inzaghi is a concrete example and credible because he is the first one that people respect."

RONNY DEILA is looking for his Celtic side to add a cutting edge as they build towards their UEFA Champions League clash with Legia Warsaw.

The Scottish champions fielded a youthful line up in their preseason clash with St Pauli on Saturday, going down to a 1-0 defeat in Germany thanks to a goal from Christopher Nothe.

With the bulk of their first-team squad rested ahead of the European third qualifying round first-leg clash against Polish side Legia on Wednesday, Celtic boss Deila insisted the friendly was an important learning curve.

However, the Norwegian knows that his side will need to be far more clinical if they are to challenge both at home and abroad this season.

"First of all we want to have the ball more and create more," he told Celtic TV. "We could have got a result but I think the performance was good and we need more games like this for our young players.

"Ambition is high but it was a very good experience for the young boys to play internationally and at this level."

I'm happy at Atletico, insists Mario

T •Mazzarri

Simeone keen on Griezmann

DIEGO SIMEONE believes Real Sociedad forward Antoine Griezmann has the quality to bolster Atletico Madrid's attacking options.

Griezmann was part of the France squad that reached the quarter-finals of this year's World Cup, earning a place in Didier Deschamps' party after scoring 16 goals in 35 La Liga matches for Sociedad last term.

His performances last season, and at the World Cup, have reportedly attracted attention from a number of clubs around Europe, and Atletico coach Simeone believes the 23-year-old would prove a useful addition as the Madrid club aim to defend their Liga crown.

"He's a very good player and is fast," said the Argentinian.

•Simeone

HE Spain international is reportedly a target for Napoli but he maintains he is fully committed to starting the new season with the Liga champions Mario Suarez has stressed he is "very happy" at Atletico Madrid despite rumours that Rafael Benitez is keen to bring him to Napoli.

The defensive midfielder, who currently has two caps for Spain, made 24 La Liga appearances for Diego Simeone's title-winning side last season but has reportedly become a target for last season's Serie A runners-up.

Suarez, however, has indicated he is fully committed to starting the new campaign with the Vicente Calderon side.

"I am now here in San Francisco and am working for Atletico," the

27-year-old, currently on preseason duties in the USA, told reporters. "I have a contract with

•Mario

Atletico.

"I am very happy here, very happy, I'm on tour and there's not much more I can say.

"The team's goal this year is to fight for all titles, we're starting the season fighting for a major title, the Spanish Supercopa."

Atletico are due to face their city rivals Real in the first match of the two-legged final at Santiago Bernabeu on August 19, before the return leg three days later.

The last time the two clubs met was in the Champions League final in Lisbon, where Madrid triumphed 4-1 after extra-time.

"It is a special game, but there is no spirit of revenge, Lisbon is already forgotten," Suarez added.

Atletico are due to play against San Jose Earthquakes in a preseason friendly on Sunday.

Ancelotti expects ‘fresh Bale’ to be even better

C

ARLO Ancelotti is expecting a fresh Gareth Bale to have an even greater impact for Real Madrid in his second season in Spain.

Bale moved to the Santiago Bernabeu from Tottenham last September, for what is widely thought to be a world-record fee.

The Wales international enjoyed an impressive debut campaign, scoring in both the finals of the Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League finals as Real lifted the trophies.

Overall, Bale scored 22 goals in 44 appearances in his maiden season in the Spanish capital - but coach Ancelotti feels there could be even more to come from the 25year-old in 2014-15.

"Yes he [Bale] had a really good holiday, 40 days," Ancelotti said.

"He's fresh. He's working well.

"He's doing what he wasn't able to do last year. So, he's training well.

"He's preparing well for next season. Everyone is sure it will be

better for him this year."

James Rodriguez, arguably the star of the World Cup with Colombia, was added to Real's ranks from Monaco on Tuesdayand Ancelotti believes the playmaker could prove a huge hit with the Bernabeu faithful.

"James is going to start with the

• C a r l o s Ancelotti with Gareth Bale

group from August 1," the Italian added.

"As we have said he is a very important player because he has quality to play in our team.

Moreover, he is a very young player and he might represent a good investment for the future of this club."

•Deila

Man United more efficient—Garcia

ROMA coach Rudi Garcia said his team were not composed enough in the final third after losing 3-2 to Manchester United on Saturday.

After conceding three goals during the opening 45 minutes in Denver, Roma rallied in the second half with a stunning long-range strike from Miralem Pjanic and Francesco Totti's penalty.

But the Serie A outfit could not avoid defeat in their International Champions Cup fixture, after overcoming Liverpool 1-0 on Wednesday in a non-related friendly.

Speaking to reporters post-game at the Sports Authority Field, Garcia lamented his team's efficiency up front.

"It was a shame to go into the break 3-0 down. We need to be sharper, because if 2-0 down at half-time we could well have won," he said.

"The result was excessive but at the end of the day they won and deserved it.

"The difference was in their efficiency, as Manchester United had 50 per cent more shots on target."

Roma's starting XI featured eight players aged 23 or younger, with Arturo Calabresi (18), Alessio Romagnoli (19), Leandro Parades (20), Salih Ucan (20), Juan Iturbe (21), Mattia Destro (23), Alessandro Florenzi (23) and Lukasz Skorupski (23).

"There were many youngsters today who had never even played in Serie A, so it was natural to feel a little nervousness against United," Garcia added.

Garcia reserved praise for BosniaHerzegovina international Pjanic, who sensationally scored from inside his own half.

"Pjanic's goal was fantastic and will go all round the world. I can say the training session with the [NFL's Denver] Broncos did him good," the Frenchman said.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

61

SPORT EXTRA COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Okagbare excited with "chilled" 100m heat N

IGERIA’S fastest female sprinter Blessing Okagbare has described yesterday's 100m heat at the Commonwealth Games as "really easy".

The 25-year-old cruised to victory in her heat ahead of England's Asha Philip exactly a year after setting a new African

record of 10.79 seconds at the London Anniversary Games.

Yesterday's time of 11.20 seconds was the fastest of qualification ahead of the Jamaican trio of Schillonie Calvert, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart.

Speaking with reporters after the race, Okagbare said: "It was

good, it was kind of easy. I just wanted to secure the first part of my race. After 50m, I just chilled. It was really easy for me."

Okagbare has also entered the 200m, 4x100m and long jump an event in which she won Olympic bronze six years ago - in Glasgow.

Nigeria shows class in boxing

P

•Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare wins her heat of the women’s 100m athletics event at Hampden Park during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland on July 27, 2014.

My silver is ‘gold’, says Okoli

W

EIGHTLIFTING silver medallist in the 63kg class at the ongoing Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Obioma Okoli has described her medal as good as gold.

She had tied at 207kgs with her Nigerian teammate, Oluwatoyin Adesanya, in a keenly contested competition but had to be awarded the silver behind Adesanya because of her higher body weight but she welcomed the glory moment with tears of joy saying it is an acceptable crown for her efforts. " At the end, it was so satisfying to see that the two of us from Nigeria became the ones standing in contest for

the gold medal I am proud of this. I broke my leg twice while in camp preparing for this event and at a point I was almost discouraged for what is a weightlifter without strong legs but I had to pick up my spirit to fight for place at the top, no matter the odds.

"I am very grateful to God and to my coaches. They did a great job for us and by the grace of God we shall keep this spjrit for the Olympics. At a point it came to a game of wits as the Indians began to play hide and seek, changing their calls.

"We had also to follow up because we know the tricks.

When they increase we will pretend and later increase

•Okoli

also. We beat them all to the game and what can be more pleasant than having the two Nigerians who entered for this class winning the gold and silver and leaving the rest countries to fight for just the bronze?"

ALPABLE fear has seized the air in the heavyweight boxing class at the ongoing Commonwealth Games with the first round knockout of his opponent by Efetoborie Apochi.

Taking no chances to go the rounds, the captain of the Nigerian boxing team promptly sent Borucki Krystian of the Isle of Man to the canvass in less than half of the duration of the first round and leaving no room for spectators in Glasgow to see the fight.

The development has left many boxing camps confused as there has been no such decisive performance in the boxing event and also wondering if there is any heavyweight on ground to stop the Nigerian bulldozer.

Speaking shortly after the feat, Efetoborie revealed that he had to go for the killer in order not to risk the unpredictable scoring by the judges.

"We have seen.a number of fights in which we thought our men had the upper hand but the judges decided differently. I had to adopt this approach not to leave anything to chance. Nigeria deserves at least a gold in boxing here. Its been long that boxers won gold for Nigeria and I needed to send the warning and instill fear into the other camps.

I have a lot more fights to get to the gold medal and I have to be calculative, even at that,

Judo saved me, says marine who blew £8,500 on drink

G

OLD medallist Chris Sherrington says judo helped him conquer stress and alcohol problems after spending £8,500 on drink in just three months.

The Royal Marine from Ormskirk told BBC Scotland he had gone "off the rails" after serving in Iraq nine years ago.

After winning the +100kg final at the Commonwealth Games, the Scot, 30, thanked those who helped him recover.

"They fixed me six times.

How many times can you break yourself? I broke myself rather crazily," he said.

"None of this would have been possible without the backing and help of the Royal Marines, Judo Scotland and Sport Scotland."

Soon after his gold medal success, Sherrington continued: "Nine years ago, I started a campaign, without knowing.

"I came back from Iraq and I had a bit of stress and I tried

to vent it through sport. At first, it didn't work. Then I remembered that I did judo as a kid. I didn't particularly like it and wasn't very good at it, but I remembered how tough it was. So I threw myself into it and put all my frustration into it. Within 12 months, I was third in Britain and 12 months after that I was number one."

Asked whether he had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, he said: "I don't know. I did go a little bit off the rails. My mum and dad were very worried about me.

•Sherrington

I have seen all the other heavyweights and I do not think they can take what I have. There are already talking about me as that Nigerian guy being a bully and that is exactly what I intend to dish out. I am the captain of the team and as we are

looking forward to the Olympics and to reverse the low fortunes of Nigerian boxing in recent times, I have to lead by example. If nothing else, our coaches, Adura and Konyegwachie deserve to get a gold for their efforts."

Nigeria suffers defeat against Singapore •Battles for bronze medal in table tennis

•Toriola

T

HE superb form of the Nigeria table tennis squad was thwarted on Sunday after the Segun Toriolainspired side fell 3-1 to Singapore in the semi-final tie of the men's team event at the ongoing 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Scotland.

In spite, spirited efforts against defending champion, the team honourably bowed to the Asian giant 3-1 to be aim for the bronze medal.

Before setting up the last four clash against the highly-rated Singapore, the Nigerian side led by veteran Segun Toriola had conquered youthful Northern Ireland and Australia in their race to the semifinal stage of the competition.

Despite qualifying easily from Group D made up Bangladesh, Kiribati and Mauritius, the Nigerian side had to contend with Northern Ireland in the knockout stage to be certain of playing in the quarterfinal stage.

Without any doubt that Northern Ireland side were in superb form but the superb display by current African champion, Aruna Quadri ensured that Nigeria defied the odds against the Irish side to win the encounter at 3-2.

And when it was obvious that Nigeria was going to tackle Australia in the quarter-final, Quadri admitted that it was not going to be an easy task for Nigeria.

I was a little bit nervous when

it came to the fifth match against Northern Ireland but I went ahead. Thanks to God I won the next three points to go one-nil ahead. The winner of the first game for sure would win the match and that settled me down.

We have some difficult challenges ahead of us against the Australians. They (Australia) is very good with William Henzell in the team. We must be at 100 per cent. You never know what can happen in the knock-out stage,” Portugalbased Quadri admitted.

Just like Quadri predicted the tie against Australia turned out to be a difficult battle for Nigeria but the African king once again came to the rescue to salvage a 3-2 win for Nigeria.

Before Sunday’s semifinal clash against Singapore, nobody ever expected Nigeria to battle the Asian side the way the game turned out to be. But without any doubt the Nigerians fought hard with Quadri again remained unbeaten winning his match, while Toriola and Bode Abiodun losing their matches to give Singapore a 3-1 win.

Since the competition started no team have won a game against Singapore, but Quadri defeated J. Zhan 3-1 to dent the 100 per cent record of the Asian side. However, on Monday, Nigeria will have to compete for the bronze medal as the team is expected to battle either England or India for the third prize.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014

62

SPORT EXTRA

N

IGERIA U-20 Women team the Falconets arrived Canada 12.15 for their training tour ahead of the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup billed for Canada.

The second batch of 14 players and 6 officials landed at Moncton airport at 12.15am that is 7.15am Nigerian time.

The two batches left Abuja on 24th and 25th of August and made a stop over at Frankfurt and Toronto before moving to their training base

Falconets touch down in Canada

in Moncton Canada.

The flight took about 16 hours, 6hours from Abuja to Frankfurt, 7 hours from Frankfurt to Toronto and 2.30 minutes from Toronto to Moncton.

The team is camping at Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts Down Town Moncton and will be there till August

1st.

The players are doing fine.

Addressing the team, NFF chief technical officer, Siji Lagunju said the team needs to be more focus in their training for positive results. " You have to put behind you all that is happening in the NFF and concerntrate on how to win that cup. Yes your

training tour was cut short, but that does not mean you should relax, no! it is an opportunity for you to justify your stay in camp. I urge you to aim towards lifting the trophy" said Lagunju.

Nigeria he stated has never dropped out in the group stage and thus this year must not be different.

Lobi praises Heartland after 2-1 home win From Tunde Liadi,Owerri

L

NNL Chair set to resign

T

HE Chairman of the Nigeria Nationwide League Ahmed Kawu may have resigned his position from the Board of the Nigeria Football Federation.

Kawu who had threatened to take the action last week Wednesday after the former President of the Football Federation Aminu Maigari was impeached by his executive committee members said his signature that was appended on the list of eight members that pushed for the impeachment of Aminu Maigari as NFF President was forged. Kawu said he would resigned from his position in the Board to institute legal charges against the Board members "I am not party to the impeachment moves. No impeachment issue was discussed with me, neither was such part of our agenda at the Board meeting. I did not sign

From Patrick Ngwaogu,Abuja any letter to that effect, my signature was forged, and I would no longer be part of the Board, I am resigning my position to press legal charges against these Board members" Kawu told journalists immediately after the Board members impeached Maigari last thursday.

However, this threat was watered down by another Board member Shehu Adamu, who said that the Nationawide League Chairman was playing to gallery "Ahmed Kawu cannot claim he did not sign the letter. Everyone whose signature was on the letter signed personally. Kawu signed the letter in front of Effiong Johnson, it is laughable for him to say he did not sign. We are

too big for that" the former Kaduna State Commissioner for Sports said.

Nationsport findings in Abuja further revealed that the Kano State born football administrator actually signed the letter, but never knew that the letter would be tendered openly at the Board meeting. Quoting our source who was privy to the meeting, "Kawu actually signed the letter. What happened was that he never knew that the letter would be tendered openly. He had thought that the impeachment stuff would be done secretly. He never wanted to show the Maigari group that he was not with them. He was with the group since the crisis started, and was part of the meetings the group held in Jos before the court vacated the order that had sacked the Board earlier.

OBI STARS have described Heartland as a worthy opponent that pushed them all the way before they could earn a home win after the Makurdi side managed a 2-1 win victory at the Chief Emmanuel Akume Atongo Stadium, Katsina Ala in a Glo Premier League Week 20 clash.

The top premier league side have thus moved to 28 points from 20 matches after the crucial home win.

Bunde Moses shot Lobi ahead in the 15th minute from the penalty spot but Clement Bobby levelled for the Naze Millionaires before Bright Essien netted the scorcher in the third minute of the added on time to send Katsina Ala people into ecstasy.

Lobi's Team Manager, Barnabas Imenger told NationSport that their home win was hard earned based on the quality of effort put in by Heartland to ensure that they leave for Owerri with at least a point.

He praised the new players added to the team during the mid season transfer stating that their addition to the Makurdi Bombers would help stabilise them for a go at the premier league title at the end of the season.

"We won but have to sweat very hard before we achieved our aim.

It was a tough encounter because Heartland gave us a good fight.

We thank we won. Most of our new players featured against Heartland and they didn't disappoint us at all," Imenger told Nationsports.

Burnley wants Efe Ambrose

T •Ambrose

HE Clarets, Burnley FC are looking to bring 25-year-old Celtic defender, Efe Ambrose to Turf Moor if media reports in the Mail on Sunday are true.

He was part of the Nigeria team that reached the last 16 of the World Cup after which it seems clubs began to take note.

Leicester and Crystal Palace were both linked with Ambrose earlier in the summer but their interest in the

6"3 defender now appears to have cooled according to the Mail, leaving the door open for the Clarets to step in and make an enquiry.

Ambrose joined Scottish Premier League club, Celtic from Israeli Premier League club FC Ashdod on transfer deadline day in the summer of 2012, signing a three-year contract. He started his professional career at his hometown club of Kaduna United in Nigeria in 2006.

Two years later, he was on loan at Bayelsa United for the 2008-09 season but remained with Kaduna United after helping them win promotion before joining FC Ashdod in June 2010. Full name, Efetobore Ambrose Emuobo and thankfully affectionately known as 'Efe` he is quite versatile in the back four able to play both at right back and centre back so if the rumours are true he would give Sean Dyche options in defence.

Obi impresses against Real Madrid

N

IGERIAN International Joel Chukwuma Obi started for Inter Milan as they beat Real Madrid 3-2 on penalties after extra-time couldn't separate the teams at 1-1.

Joel Obi was Inter Milan’s top battler in a physical contest that saw four yellow cards and feisty confrontations from players of both teams.

It was the Nigerian midfielder third consecutive preseason game for Inter-Milan since re-joining the team after a loan spell at Parma last season.

In the encounter Gareth Bale scored for Real Madrid in the 10th minute, unleashing a strike into the top left corner of the net from about 25 yards out.

Mauro Icardi converted a penalty kick in the 68th

minute to equalise after Referee Ricardo Salazar awarded the penalty kick for a foul by Sobrino on Inter newcomer Nemanja Vidic. The game remained locked at 1-1 forcing both teams to go into penalty kicks.

Mauro Icardi drove the winner past diving goalkeeper Jesus Fdez in the fifth round of penalty kicks to lift Inter Milan past Real Madrid. The preseason game is one among the series

of games to be played at the International Champions Cup match.

Obi will be hoping to be in the team on Tuesday when InterMilan battle Manchester United.

PUBLIC NOTICE ECHEJIUBA I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. JANE NKIRUKA ECHEJIUBA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. JANE NKIRUKA ONYEOZIRI. All former documents remain valid. Alvan Ikoku College of Education Owerri, UNN Nsukka, Rivers state ministry of Education, guaranty trust bank and general public should please take note.

"We are here to win and that we must do" In the meantime, the only professional player invited to camp, Courtney Dike has joined the team from her base in USA. The player came in on saturday and is determined to

fully intergrate with her team mates.

Currently there are 22 players in camp with the inclusion of Eyebhoria Winifred of Pelican Stars.

The team had its first training at the Rocky stone Turf Centennial park, Moncton.

THE NATION MONDAY JULY 28, 2014

63

TODAY IN THE NATION

MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL 9 NO 2,921

‘It is the disproportionate powers at the disposal of the centre that accentuates impeachments at its whims and caprices...Ironically, when there are discussions on devolution of powers to dilute the overbearing influence of the central authority,...’

EMEKA OMEIHE

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

L

ET us not kid ourselves, our country is in danger. We live under a storm cloud, even if we carry on with the routine optimism of the unwary. This is not a time for the mere blossom of rhetoric or the grandstanding of a political virtuoso. It is time for home truths, and we seem to suffer parsimony in that regard.

What are at stake? The survival of Nigeria and the security of the lives of our citizens.

We seem to be living in denial. Both major political parties are at each other’s throats.

The tribes do not trust each other and the religions see themselves as God’s and the others as the devil’s. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in power and it is accused of using the military and the impeachment weapon to cow the opposition. The PDP, in its recriminatory wisdom, is also accusing the opposition as the mastermind of the Boko Haram insurgency, employing public relations firms to launder its ineptitude in the world. The opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC), fresh from what some have characterised as a contentious convention, has, however, had its national executive, and has accused the PDP of failure.

Yet three things haunt us today. One, the remorseless raids and rapine of Boko Haram; the deployment of soldiers as an arm of the ruling party; the fury and flurry of the impeachment saga and the fear that the whole country is in the throes of an imperial presidency. All of this is happening amidst poverty, a collapsing infrastructure and absence of it, educational crisis and youth unemployment.

Everything is directed clearly at victory in 2015. But how are we sure that violence will not torpedo the trek to that date? How are we sure that we are not on the edge of a civil war?

Politicians on both sides are not speaking to each other. Rather they are lobbing words at each other. With Adamawa down, the agony lingers. With Nassarawa in the crosswind, the polity aches with fear. In Rivers State, Edo State, and even a hint in Oyo State, we have seen the primitive dust of distrust and mayhem. Meanwhile, we see a leadership at odds with an answer to the violent impunity of an insurgent militia, the latest victim being the convoy of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

We don’t have a history to fall back on in this instance. Our past never had the convoluted skein of today’s narrative. We have had religious angst in the past, but not this sanguinary. We cannot think of Maitatsine riots in the same bloody register as Boko Haram.

Religion was always a factor in our politics, but there was no time we saw clerics line up publicly in defence of their faithful as candidate and spewed hate words about the other faith like we have today. People did not insist on a Muslim or Christian candidate. We had the Abiola-Kingibe ticket on this land

RIPPLES

Fashola to Army: EXPOSE BAD EGGS

Yes, especially the ‘UNKNOWN SOLDIERS that BURNT those BRT BUSES

SAM OMATSEYE

IN TOUCH

intouchnation@gmail.com 08054501081(sms only) Twitter: @samomatseye

Time for statesmen

‘

•Shagari

•Babangida

•Soyinka

once, and religious murmur purred into silence.

We have had impeachments in the past, not even the Balarabe Musa story carried the omen of a national catastrophe as we feel today. Obasanjo’s impeachments were projects of revenge and humiliation. But they did not threaten the fabric of the nation on the present scale. The impeachments flattered Obasanjo’s pride and we spoke of a heated polity. We did not express fears about the fragile temper of the whole country in this apocalyptic mood.

So, this is the time to put away party differences and realise that whoever wins may resemble that of the Roman General Pyrrus who conquered and conquered and conquered and lamented, “ one more victory and we are finished.” That is the origin of the phrase, Pyrrhic victory.

But this is the time for statesmen. The tragedy is that I cannot see anyone in the country who can serve as an arbiter in this battle

But this is the time for statesmen. The tragedy is that I cannot see anyone in the country who can serve as an arbiter in this battle to the death between the parties. Maybe I have not searched well. I see no one. The closest is Wole Soyinka...

’

to the death between the parties. Maybe I have not searched well. I see no one. The closest is Wole Soyinka, but he has spoken himself hoarse over the malady that his melody is heard without its prosody.

Soyinka is a critic as a statesman. We want a soul who is a political figure. But they are either compromised into partisanship or bought with filthy lucre. “In our times,” wrote poet Alexander Pushkin, “man, whatever his element, was a murderer, a traitor or thief.” That is the pass today.

All institutions have been abused. The word is tainted, the money is adulterated, the pulpit bastardised, the gun does not protect but the criminal. Fear belongs to the strong and confidence to the harlot. Truth is only perceived because no one can pluck it like a fruit because it does not hang low. We have the council of state, but what we want is a council of statesmen. That council has not spoken truth to

HARDBALL

W

E were really out of that league anyway, but illusions of grandeur have almost become our national ethos. First we brand ourselves the ‘giant of Africa’. We boast of a large landmass and an impressively large and ravenously growing population, but we are shy to probe the quality of that population. Is it a mass of hopeless hoi polloi? We have huge hydrocarbon wealth that providence graciously heaped under our soil, but as the joke goes, providence also bequeathed us with very dull scoundrels as princes of the land. Thus for 50 years of crude exploration, we still export crude to import premium fuel, which is the equivalence of exporting gold and buying lead in return.

And at premium price too!

Oh, how illusive can a people be! The other day we woke up from a bad hangover and we simply started singing ‘Vision 20 – 2020’. They said they saw a vision that Nigeria would rank among the top 20 nations in the world by 2020; that is six years from today. Someone actually said that whoever had that dream was suffering from acute malaria infection. But Hardball wagers that it was a case of drunken stupor. But whatever the ailment

And BRICS shun that niggling ‘N’ may have been, the incubus has dissipated and V-20-2020 has been quietly abandoned or conveniently forgotten.

We also love ranking and feel good grandiosities. Every now and then we inveigle the West’s chief sovereign rating agencies like Fitch to find some way to put in a nice sidebar for us in their ratings of civilised economies. Recently, when it seemed we had emptied our bag of tricks, we reached down and made our National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to gerrymander some hoary figures in what it called rebasing of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). And voila, Nigeria has suddenly and magically become the largest economy on the continent; ahead of South Africa and Egypt. It’s a hoax, isn’t it?

But today, Hardball is taking in by the action of the group of countries known as BRICS, which stands for: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Straightaway, these are serious countries with well tracked economies, with strong production

power because no one has risen to a moral stature that would lend him an unimpeachable voice.

In the past when the leaders erred we had men who spoke and they shook the moral moorings of the land. One of them was Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Because he did not rise up to the substance of his rhetoric when he became president, he has not retreated into the high cheer of a statesman. He is seen as a contributor to the crisis rather than a voice out of the void.

Shehu Shagari is insistently quiet because he was never a moral force, either as president or ex-president. Ibrahim Babangida left office in murky ways and his doings show he belongs to one side of the divide. Buhari is an APC chieftain and the weight of his recent warning is lightened by his partisan cloud.

In other countries, we have seen men show moral gravitas in times of crisis. U.S. presidents perennially comment on crisis and their voices are taken seriously. This began with the grandeur of their first president George Washington, who thankfully would not turn the position into a regal one as life president. He had the opportunity. That made him a statesman and he intervened in feuds after he left office, including when Thomas Jefferson was president.

Nelson Mandela played a key father-figure role after he vacated office. His voice kept the system in calm waters. We want the sort of leader Max Weber designated as the charismatic figure. Such are rare these days because technology and easy access to information take away the myth of leaders. That raises the stakes of leadership. Or are we victims of technology that subdues the greatness of men?

If we don’t have men on top, the other alternative is the mass. But the crowd has been compromised in today’s world. Crowds can be conjured by politicians for any cause these days. A scoundrel can buy a crowd and claim to be the people’s hero. The crowd has lost its innocence.

In his Crowds And Power, Nobel Prize winner Elias Canetti shows how the crowd can emerge for just any purpose, for feast, for god, for the devil, for reversals. We cannot count on the crowd to save us because the Nigerian masses do not trust them anymore. Each crowd suffers from solitude in the logic of David Reisman, who wrote a book titled “The Lonely Crowd”.

If the crowd that should represent the masses cannot help us, and the charismatic leader is lost in the Nigerian sea, to whom shall we turn? That is the question that can stand between peace and disaster for Nigeria in the coming months. This is not an APC or PDP matter. It is a Nigerian matter, and the political class cannot be saved from blame if Nigeria lapses into collapse with division and bloodshed.

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above and export bases and, most important, with patriotic leaders who will die for their motherland. They are countries with visionary leaders who have primed their economies on a 30 to 50-year trajectory and it is only a matter of time before they catch up with the highly developed countries of the West.

Sometime ago, our Nigerian jesters tried to smuggle in our niggardly ‘N’ into BRICS to make it into a better-sounding BRINCS. What a laugh, they must have thought: Nigeria that cannot even light up her presidential villa; a country that cannot even protect her most important asset – crude oil. A big-for-nothing country that cannot run her seaport; we will pick ‘N’ for Niger Republic first, at least she can run a refinery or Benin Republic which runs a better port than Nigeria, the BRICS would have scoffed.

Last week, the BRICS countries launched a new multi-national development bank which will serve as a veritable counterpoise to the World Bank and other huge finance institutions of the West. And say, who wants a Nigger in his woodpile? Besides, BRINCS sounds ominously like BRINKS, doesn’t it?

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