June 01, 2013

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ES PAG 3 2& Governor Fayemi

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TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

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Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) members and residents on the streets of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, in wild jubilation after the Supreme Court judgment that threw out Oni’s appeal on Ekiti governorship... yesterday SEE MORE PICTURES ON PAGES 2 & 3

2 NEWS

EKITI GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION JUDGMENT

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Fayemi thanks judiciary, Ekiti people

•Calls for law to punish poll riggers

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KITI State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi on Thursday lauded the country’s judiciary for again demonstrating its resolve to always uphold the tenets of truth and justice, by dismissing the petition filed by ousted governor of Ekiti State, Mr Segun Oni, who had sought a review of the Court of Appeal ruling on Ekiti State governorship on October 15, 2010.

The governor also thanked all Ekiti people for their unflinching support for his administration and for believing in the sanctity of truth, saying that today’s victory has again confirmed that truth will always prevail no matter the situation, and that Ekiti State would no longer be governed through fraudulent means.

Governor Fayemi, who addressed journalists at the Ekiti State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja shortly after the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court, said there was no basis for the petition by Oni, adding that his claims were frivolous, baseless and a waste of time.

Oni, Fayemi said, had sought to use the frivolous case, which had spanned over two years, to distract him from actualising the developmental efforts going on in Ekiti State, and to give a false hope to his followers.

He however said that in spite of the long drawn legal battle, he had refused to be distracted, stressing that this is evident in the

transformation going on in the state and the value that the administration has added to the life of the average indigene.

Fayemi said it was high time electoral offenders were punished under the law to serve as a deterrent to others and to clean up the electoral process.

He said: “Oni and his jesters merely sought to use this case to distract us, but we refused to be distracted.

We have remained focused all through, concentrating on the development of the state, and this is evident in the lives of the people.

“I think we should also put in place laws that will punish electoral offenders.

I believe if Oni had been punished for rigging the 2007 governorship election in Ekiti State, he would not have had the effrontery to approach the court again seeking a backdoor to the governorship seat.

“It is sad that he rigged the 2007 election and was at the helms of affair of the state illegally for three and a half years, while I, the winner of the election, was in court until the case was eventually decided in my favour in 2010 at the Court of Appeal.

“If the court, having found Oni guilty of fraudulently occupying the governorship seat of Ekiti State, had gone ahead to punish him then, we would have been spared this unnecessary case, which to me only shows how desperate some people can be.”

Lagos Assembly hails verdict

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AGOS State House of Assembly has felicitated with the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) over the Supreme Court judgment which upheld Fayemi’s victory against Engr. Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the dispute over the winner of the 2009 gubernatorial re-run election in Ekiti State.

Speaking in his office at the Assembly complex yesterday, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity, Hon. Segun Olulade, lauded the judgement, describing it as a victory for democracy.

Olulade maintained that the judgement marked the end of the various diversionary tactics orchestrated by the PDP to distract the attention of Fayemi from his core business of governance since the case was filed in the law court, adding that the Supreme Court judgment has finally laid the issue to rest.

The lawmaker pointed out that the PDP is a hungry and embattled lion looking for whom to devour. He also described the PDP as a sinking ship that is trying to draw others down with it.

Oziegbe OKOEKI Olulade enjoined Fayemi and other progressive governors in the country, including Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, to remain focused, urging them to concentrate on those life-transforming programmes that would alleviate poverty and improve the living standards of their people, saying that nobody, no matter how highly placed, can remove them from their respective positions once they are determined to achieve results.

However, Olulade condemned alleged desperation of the PDP to capture power in its characteristic do or die manner, saying that the leaders of the PDP should address their minds to the huge failure of the party in stemming insecurity and translating the vast potentials of the nation to wealth, good jobs and social welfare.

He therefore urged the PDP to concentrate more on how to fulfil its electoral promises to Nigerians during the 2011 electioneering process rather than looking for ways to blackmail the opposition or destabilise governments in states not under their control, adding that such intrigues can no longer work in Nigeria.

•Supporters of the ACN jubilating in Ado-Ekiti... yesterday.

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ORMER Ekiti State Governor, Olusegun Oni of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday lost in his bid to unseat the incumbent, Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

The Supreme Court upheld the respondents’ objection and struck out the appeal Oni filed seeking to reverse the October 15, 2010 of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, which sacked him from office.

Justice Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta, in the lead judgment, held that the court lacked the jurisdictional competence to hear Oni’s appeal.

The judge agreed with Fayemi’s legal team’s argument that the appeal, having emanated from the decision of the Court of Appeal, in a governorship election dispute over an election held in 2007 the apex court can not hear it by virtue of Section 246(3) of the Constitution.

Section 246(3) states that “the decisions of the Court of Appeal from the National and State Houses of Assembly election shall be final.”

Oni had appealed against the decision of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, whilch nullified his election and on which basis he was sacked and Fayemi sworn into ofice as governor.

He had, among others, prayed the apex court for an order setting aside the judgment; an order directing a fresh panel of the Court of Appeal to hear

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T was jubilation in Ekiti state yesterday as the Supreme Court dismissed the petition of the ousted governor of the state, Engr. Segun Oni, seeking a reversal of the earlier Appeal Court judgment which instituted Dr. Kayode Fayemi as governor of the state.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court admitted lack of jurisdiction to hear the said case, admitting the position of the defence team led

by John Bayeshea (SAN) that by 2007, all petitions

Oni loses bid to unseat Fayemi •Supreme Court throws out appeal

the appeal against the result of the Ekiti governorhsip election of 2007.

Oni had hinged his appeal on the grounds that the October 15, 2010 judgment was delivered without jurisdiction and in breach of his right to fair hearing; that the judgment was a nullity, havin been predetermined and delivered through a panel which has close afinity with Fayemi and his party.

The respondents–Fayemi, his party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and three of its Resident Electoral Officers (sued as first to sixth respondents)–filed notices of preliminary objection.

They relied on the provision of Section 246(3) of the Constitution and challenged the jurisdiction of the apex court to hear Oni’s apeal, on the ground that the section provides that in respect of disputes over governorship, national and House of Assembly elections, the decision of the Court of Apeal is final.

They argued that by that provision, the apex court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain an appeal that emanated from a governorship election that was

held in 2007. Oni had while responding to the objection relied on the provision of Section 36 of the Constitution and urged the court to dismiss the objection and hear his appeal on merit. Justice Ngwuta held that by their argument, both sides set the provisions of sections 36(1) and 246(3) on a collision course.

He disagreed with Oni’s lawyer’s argument that the appeal didnot arise from election petition, but on issues of misdirection, likelihood of bias, and breach of the apellant’s fair hearing provided for under section 36 of the Constitution.

The judge faulted the appellants’ argument that the appeal did not arise from the 2007 election when his ultimate aim in filing the appeal was to be returned to the Ekiti Government House as governor.

“The appellants’ entire case, when stripped of its extravagant build-ups and reduced to its proper frame, is simply an invitation to rely on Section 36(1) of the 1999Constitution to strip the ruling of the Court of Appeal of the finality granted to it by Section 246(3) of the same Constitution.

“In other words, the appellants want us to rely on Section 36(1) of the 1999 Consti-

relating to elections had ended at the Appeal Court.

Ado- Ekiti, the state capital, was agog as residents, party supporters and wellwishers took to the streets in their thousands to celebrate the verdict.

Moving round major streets of the capital, they held brooms and sang various solidarity songs and slogans which included the popular “4+4= 8” and “JKF (just keep faith)”, “Eyi yato” among others.

As they moved through the streets, traffic built up

at major junctions and on both lanes from Fajuyi to Old Garage, while commuters took alternative routes through Oke Ori OmiAremu-Irona Road and Ile Abiye-GRA-Fajuyi Road to get to their destinations.

Addressing the party supporters who later converged on Fajuyi, the Deputy Governor, Prof.

Modupe Adelabu; Wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; the SSG, Alhaji Ganiyu Owolabi and the Chief of Staff, Mr yemi Adaramodu thanked the

Eric IKHILAE, Abuja

tution to invalidate or render inoperative the finality clause in Section 246(3) of the same Constitution.

“In diverse decisions on appeals relating to Section 285(7) of the Constitution (as amended), this court has constantly declined to derogate from, close its eyes to, depart from, modify or set aside expressly or by implication, a provision of the Constitution under any guise or pretext.

“Any derogation from one section thereof in preference to another section is not only extraneous to the Constitution, but a violation of the solemn oath undertaken by all judges to defend andprotect it.

“The court does not hunger after jurisdiction. It can expound, but should not under any circumstance, such as the one presented in this case, expand its jurisdiction.

“The court has no jurisdiction to hear the appeal, and consequently, I sustain the 1st-2nd and 3rd-6th respondents’ preliminary objection on want of jurisdiction. The appeal is accordingly struck out,” Justice Ngwuta held. The other six members of the seven-man panel that heard the appeal agreed with the lead judgment.

...Wild jubilation in Ekiti people for supporting the party and Governor Fayemi throughout the judicial tussle.

They assured that the Fayemi-led administration would not relent in its pursuit of people-oriented programmes and projects as spelt out in the eightpoint agenda of the administration.

Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail the apex court judgment from the membership of both the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

EKITI GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION JUDGMENT

NEWS 3

Falana hails verdict in Oni’s appeal

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Governor Fayemi (third right) and some chieftains of the Action Congress of Nigeria after the judgment in Abuja yesterday.

IGHTS activist, Femi Falana (SAN) has praised the judiciary for upholding truth and justice with the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to decline jurisdiction over an appeal by Segun Oni of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

He spoke in Abuja yesterday while reacting to the apex court’s decision.

He said the decision was a further confirmation of the finding of the Appeal Court tribunal which nullified Oni’s election in a judgment given on October 15, 2010 at the Court of Appeal, Ilorin.

Falana said but for the moral laxity in the country, lawyers engaged in the case

by Oni, who knew that before now, governorship election matters end at the

Why I went to Supreme Court –Oni

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•Wife of the Ekiiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi (holding the microphone), flanked by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu (Left); Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ganiyu Owolabi (right); and Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr Yemi Adaramodu (second left) with other Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) members during a victory rally after the Supreme Court judgement... yesterday

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Ajimobi congratulates Fayemi over Supreme Court victory

OVERNOR Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has congratulated his Ekiti State counterpart, Governor Kayode Fayemi, on the judgment of the Supreme Court which affirms his election.

He made this known in a release issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo.

According to Ajimobi,

the judgment was an affirmation that the courts are still the last hope of the common man and no individual, no matter the level of their machination, could railroad the wish of God for His people.

He lauded the judgment as reflective of the wishes of the Ekiti people, stating that the Supreme Court justices merely gave voice to the people’s desire for Fayemi to continue to serve them as a

dependable leader.

Ajimobi urged Fayemi not to be deterred by the tortuous journey to justice over the election petition instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the state, stating that he should rather be focused on continuing to give Ekiti people quality dividends of democracy

Name defecting Amaechi supporters, Rivers House of Assembly leader challenges Wike group

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HE leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Chidi Lloyd, a lawyer, has challenged the five lawmakers loyal to the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, to publish the names of eight Rivers lawmakers accused of abandoning Governor Rotimi Amaechi to join their camp.

Lloyd, who represents Emohua Constituency, yesterday in Port Harcourt declared that the Wike group wanted to blackmail the pro-Amaechi lawmakers, in order to secure the majority to impeach the authen-

Bisi OLANIYI, Port Harcourt tic chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

He stated that no amount of blackmail or intimidation would make the 27 lawmakers, including the Speaker, Otelemaba Dan Amachree, to abandon the Rivers State governor.

The House leader also urged Rivers people to remain calm and law-abiding in the face of provocation and harassment, thereby giving peace a chance.

It was insinuated on Wednesday that eight of the 27-proAmaechi legislators, in the 32member Assembly had been in-

duced by the Wike camp, making them to allegedly betray Amaechi.

The pro-Wike lawmakers include: Michael Chinda (Obio/ Akpor II constituency), Kelechi Godspower Nwogu (Omuma), Evans Bipi (Ogu/ Bolo), Martins Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor I) and Victor Ihunwo (Port Harcourt III).

Lloyd had earlier urged members of the public not to mind the rumour mongers, who said eight of them had joined the “rebels.”

Lloyd said: “We are solidly behind His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi..”

•Awe, Adebayo, Arise react

ORMER Ekiti State governor, Chief Segun Oni, has said that he took hie election petition against his successor, Governor Kayode Fayemi, to the Supreme Court in an effort to restore sanity to the judiciary.

Oni, who spoke yesterday at a thanksgiving service held at the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Tabernacle of Praise in his hometown of Ifaki Ekiti, said the the judiciary was being bastardised by unscrupulous judges, adding that he had accepted the latest judgment as an act of God. He said: “ After the Appeal Court judgment in Ilorin, I felt disenchanted and I went to the Appeal Court to seek reversal because I felt the oppressors will be given more strength if they are not challenged. I was determined to pursue the case to the end and I thank God we have been able to achieve this because some people wished us dead along the line.

“You can see that since people like us had risen to challenge some unbridled tendencies in the judiciary that judges and other judicial officers are now careful. They have seen that people can rise up and ask question if they felt aggrieved with their judgments.

“Even while pursuing the case, the devil made offers, but we refused. The suit was not filed out of desperation, but was meant to infuse sanity in the system, so that Nigerians can have hope in the judiciary, the last hope of the common man..

“At times when God wants to favour you, he will refuse to hear your prayers. We are not discouraged and not confused. We also are proud to have done what we did.

“We saw we have been wronged and we refused to keep quiet. The judgment we received was wrong and we decided to pursue it to the last.

We did not have the effort but we kept pursuing it.

“We knew there was a probablillity of pursuing and not catching up and catching up without having the power to overpower and take away that we felt belonged to us. We were not playing games. During the struggle, the devil made offers to us which we refused.

“The revolution has not

Sulaiman SALAWUDEEN, Ado-Ekiti ended. When people come out of the courts with a loss, they will be satisfied that justice has been done. Its a step in the process. We will be on the rostrum to tell the people to vote against bad government. We are grateful to the Almighty God for doing this for us. The struggle continues, victoria acerta.

In their own reactions, the former Governor of Ekiti State and Chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Otunba Niyi Adebayo and Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Jide Awe, said the Supreme Court had shown that “the temple of justice is not meant for frivolous cases.”

Adebayo urged Oni to see the latest ruling as an opportunity for him to support Governor Fayemi in the effort to build a greater Ekiti, which every resident of the state could be proud of.

Chief Awe noted that the judgment had validated what had always been the position of the defence team that by 2007, all petitions relating to elections had ended at the Appeal Court.

He said Engr. Oni should accept the judgment as the voice of God and those of the people, adding that the administration had always had faith in the judiciary as the bastion of hope.

He also urged residents and party faithful to join the current administration in its march towards building a greater Ekiti through its eightpoint agenda.

Senator Ayo Arise, in his own reaction, said the sevenmember Supreme Court justices “acted on the side of caution and constitution, rather than giving a novel judgment.

He added that the case could have offered the apex court an opportunity to adjudicate and deliver a judgment which could be regarded as a landmark.

He said: “We have accepted the outcome of the verdict . We abide by it and it is law. Today, it did not work for us based on the constitution, so we cannot fault the judgement.”

Eric IKHILAE, Abuja Court of Appeal, but chose to just belabour the court should have been sanctioned.

Falana, who faulted President Goodluck Jonathan’s reference to Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, said the country has become “a nation of anything goes.”

The rights activist, who was part of Fayemi’s legal team, contended that but for his observation that arbitrariness has become a norm in the country, Oni and his party would not have thought they could succeed with the frivolous appeal they filed.

“Once again, the position of the Court of Appeal, with respect to the finding of Justice Isa Ayo Salami, was again confirmed by the court today.

“With this, and the fact that Justice Salami has been investigated and exonerated by those who are empowered by law to do that, there is no basis for keeping him out of office,” Falana said.

Reacting to the verdict, Governor Fayemi himself had said he received yesterday’s decision with relief mixed with indifference.

“Indifference because I was not surprised and because I believe that the judiciary in Nigeria is not as desecrated in the manner it has been demonised.

“I believe the judiciary is still the last bastion for those who feel cheated and oppressed in the country.

“So, I had no problem with Mr Oni and his party going to court, in the first instance, to seek judicial reprieve. After all, I went to court and I got my mandate back via the court.

“So, there was no issue with that. But, I think there is a difference between seeking judicial reprieve to correct a wrong done and taking the judiciary on a wild goose chase, on a frivolous petition.

“And, there is no other word that one could use for what had just culminated in indecision we heard this morning than an abuse of court process.

He canvassed the establishment of an electoral offences commission to punish electoral offenders and deter people who, not only manipulate electoral process, but file frivolous application to clog judicial process.

“Part of the reason why we are in this mess is that not a single person has been convicted for electoral offence in Nigeria since the commencement of this democracy in 1999.

“Oni would not have had the temerity to do this if he had been convicted for rigging an election He noted that people now file frivolous election petition, with the hope that the person against who the petition is filed will approach them for settlement.

Fayemi said he sees no reason to do that because he did not steal his mandate.

4 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

We were paid N5, 000 to burn schools —Freed Boko Haram kids

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BOUT 58 pardoned Boko Haram suspects were yesterday released by the military and handed over to Governors Kashim Shettima and Ibrahim Geidam of Borno and Yobe states.

Those granted reprieve, as part of the first batch of freed detainees under Federal Government’s amnesty deal, included 23 women and 35 children.

But the release was emotional as one of the children admitted that they were being paid N5, 000 to set schools ablaze.

According to the factsheet obtained by our correspondent, 20 detainees, comprising six women and 14 children, were released in Borno State.

The 20 suspects, arrested between 2012 and 2013, were freed and handed over to Governor Kashim Shettima for rehabilitation and reintegration by the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Restore Order, in Maiduguri.

The document said: “The children are between the ages of 9 and 15 years. The 20 detainees were mostly arrested in Maiduguri, Bama in Borno and Damaturu in Yobe State.

“The six freed women include Hajjia Zainab Mohammed (40); Hajjia Karagama Mohammed (55); Hajjia Zari Mohammed (40); Aishatu Mohammed Aji (62); Hadiza Ahmad (40) and Yakaka Goni Habib (16).

“The 14 children include Abba Modu Aji (10); Mohammed Musa (12); Ibrahim Mohammed (15); Umar Bukar (1)5; Mustapha Umaru (14); Bashir Ali (12); Musa Grema (13); Abba

•58 women, children released to Borno, Yobe governors •Shettima: Jonathan has shown commitment to amnesty deal

their pay masters.

“The three boys also said they were in Almajiri schools. They, however, Yusuf ALLI, Managing she was arrested because of handover when three chil- with fuel in kegs to set said they were willing to be Editor, Northern Operation her son’s involvement. dren revealed that some schools ablaze in enrolled into formal education to be combined with IsAlthough she said her son sect members recruited Maiduguri . was still at large, military them mostly to gather inforHe said: “We were given lamic education, with a Mohammed (14); Baba sources said the woman mation, especially to bring a keg of petrol by our bosses pledge to be of good Alhaji (13); AbdulAziz was regularly keeping report on troop movement to set some schools ablaze, behaviour.

The Commander, 21 Umar (14); Ari Masa’a (14); guns for her son after he and behaviour of soldiers which we did within Brigade, Bayi Mustapha (14); carried out attacks. at duty posts.

Maiduguri, and we were Armoured Maiduguri, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim (14) “Another woman, Hajiya One of them said: “We paid N5, 000.” and Alhaji Goni (14).

Zainab Mohammed, were taken to Damaturu.

One of the children also Bamigboye, who did the In Yobe State, 17 women claimed she was a food ven- We watched out for the sol- revealed that he was usu- handing over, said he was and 21 children were also dor and was arrested after diers at their units and re- ally sent to steal clothes acting on behalf of the released by the JTF to Gov- a raid in Bama town, some ported back to them. We from houses for use by in- Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Saad Ibrahim, followernor Ibrahim Gaidam in 40 kilometres away from were reporting when sol- surgents.

Damaturu.

Maiduguri. diers were at ease or enjoy“They, however, said after ing President Goodluck Responding to questions A reliable source at the ing themselves and when they were arrested and in- Jonathan’s directive to the from journalists, most of the handing over ceremony in they were off guard, and we terrogated by the men of the army.

He explained that the dewomen freed in Borno State Maiduguri said: “There were paid for doing that.” JTF, they volunteered inforclaimed innocence. was drama at the council One of the teenagers also mation that led to the arrest tainees were arrested in “One of them, Aishatu chambers venue of the revealed that they were or killing in gun battle of connection with their roles in the insurgency.

Mohammed Aji (62), said paid N5, 000 and provided The Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Isa Gusau, confirmed the release of the 58 detainees last night.

Gusau said: “Governor Shettima presented fabrics to the pardoned detainees to assist them. He noted that with the President’s offer, they were like every innocent Nigerian so long as they remained of good behaviour.

He quoted the governor as saying: “We most sincerely thank Mr. President for his magnanimity for releasing our sisters and children.

This marks a milestone in our quest for peace through a dialogue and to restore normalcy.

“We will do our part by ensuring that they are integrated into the larger society after rehabilitation to become better citizens.

“The Federal Government •Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar (right)and District 9125 Governor (2012/2013) of Rotary, Mr. Felix Obadan, at the 4th has shown commitment by Rotary District Conference 2013 in Abuja on Friday. releasing these women and children under detention.

We would admit the women into our vocational training centres for rehabilitation.

•Sets lower court’s judgment against NDLEA aside “As for the children, we out to him while in custody nance with NDLEA’s sus- vasive and has no basis. are going to hand them Precious violated his constitution- picion, adding that the There was no evidence to over to the Ministry of IGBONWELUNDU Women Affairs and social ally-guaranteed rights, the agency was conscious of warrant such award.

“This appeal succeeds welfare. We will advertise the fundamental right of the NDLEA approached the

by NDLEA men at the and the judgment of the for their parents to come Murtala Muhammed Inter- appellate court on Decem- respondent, that was why lower court is wrong and and claim them after they ber 16, 2011, urging the it approached the Federal national Airport, Lagos on hereby set aside.” might have signed a writOctober 12, 2011, on his way court to set aside the judg- High Court for extension of However, Aturu, who exten undertaking to incultime to keep him in custody. ment. to Paris, France. pressed his reservation of cate good behaviour and to The judge held that the The agency had argued He was initially detained the appeal court’s judgfor for three days by the that the award of N25 mil- NDLEA acted in line of ment, said they would take enroll them in schools.” duty and has the prerogalion in favour of Baba Suwe Gusau added: “The govagency, during which pethe case to the Supreme ernor also said for each retive to detain suspects for was arbitrary and outrariod he defecated but no Court. leased child that is enrolled drug was found in his geous, adding that the trial investigation as long as it He said: “Well, the Appeal in school, their parents does not exceed reasonable court wrongly assumed jufaeces. time as enshrined in Section Court has done its work. As would get N10, 000 for 30 On October 15, the risdiction to hear the suit.

35(1) of the 1999 Constitu- lawyers, we have no other days of uninterrupted stay The NDLEA, through its NDLEA took him to the choice but to abide for now tion. head of legal unit, Mr. Femi in school Lagos State University with its decision.

Pemu said: “Contrary to Oloruntoba, contended . “He said it is a foreign Teaching Hospital “We understand the (LASUTH) where a CT scan that keeping Baba Suwe in the trial court’s position policy base of the decision, model that he is borrowing was conducted on him and custody between October that the detention of the re- which the court gave as an as a campaign to boost eduthe result showed he had 12 and 21, 2011 on the sus- spondent was unreason- idea of preventing inunda- cation. The governor also the appellant urged the women to turn a elements of hard drugs in picion of drug ingestion able, promptly approached the tion of law enforcement new leaf and not walk back did not violate his rights. his system.

Both parties adopted their Federal hHgh Court for ex- agencies with cases of this to the wrong alley. He comHe was subjected to anbriefs before the appeal tension of time in order to nature. But we disagree. other CT scan some days “We think in our view mended the security agents panel, which had Justices continue its investigation. later and the result of the that the period constitution- for keeping the detainees “The detention from Octoscan corroborated the one Chima Nweze, Pemu and ally prescribed for the arrest hale and hearty.

“He assured that the state the agency had at the air- F.O. Akinbami on April 18 ber 12 to 21 does not and detention of citizens of port as well as the one con- and judgment was re- abridge the respondent’s Nigeria cannot be extended. government wiould do evright in anyway. served for a later date. erything to rehabilitate ducted at LASUTH. “The issue of damages It appears that is what the them to be better citizens, Justice Pemu, who read On October 21, the agency Appeal Court has done in promising that the women obtained an order from the the judgment held that the does not apply. The award this case and we disagree. damges can be wiould be trained at the Federal High Court to ex- NDLEA had good reasons of “We will file notices of aptend Baba Suwe’s deten- to detain Baba Suwe, add- descretional but such peal as urgently as pos- various vocational training ing that the N25 million descretion, if necessary, tion. sible, believing that the Su- centres in the state to acmust be based on law. damage was uncalled for. quire skills, while the chilDissatisfied with Idowu’s “In this case, the award of preme Court will take a dif- dren would be sent to She said the result of the judgment, which held that ferent position,” Aturu schools.” the detention of the actor CT scans conducted on N25 million is erroneous, said. and the ill treatment meted Baba Suwe were in conso- excessive, unrealistic, per-

Appeal Court dashes Baba Suwe’s hope for N25m damages

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HE Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, yesterday described as baseless and pervasive the award of N25 million compensation to a \yoruba actor, Babatunde Omidina, a.k.a. Baba Suwe, against the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

In a judgment delivered

by Justice R.N. Pemu, the court held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to preside over the fundamental human rights (FHR) suit filed by Baba Suwe’s lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, on October 24, 2011.

Justice Pemu, who said there was no way an FHR case could be heard without going into the main issue, noted that Section 251 of the country’s constitution provides that drugs and poison related cases are exclusively for Federal High Courts.

Justice Yetunde Idowu of an Ikeja High Court had ordered the agency to pay Baba Suwe the sum of N25 million for his alleged illegal detention on suspicion of drug ingestion, as well as mandated the NDLEA to tender a public apology to the actor through two national newspapers.

Baba Suwe was arrested

NEWS 5

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Court halts PDP’s further action against Amaechi A Rivers State High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt ,yesterday restrained the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from taking further action against Governor Chibuike Amaechi, following his suspension on Monday by the party.

Amaechi was slammed with suspension by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP for alleged insubordination.

He was specifically accused of spurning the party’s directive to reverse the suspension of the chairman and councillors of Obio/Akpor Local Government.

A committee, headed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr.Joe Gadzama,was set up to probe the allegations against the governor.

Amaechi immediately approached the court to seek redress.

Justice Emmanuel Ogbuji ordered the PDP to stop further action against Amaechi and maintain the status quo ante pending the determination of the case.

The court also directed the governor to serve the PDP the court order through publications in three national dailies.

The case was adjourned to June 6 for further hearing.

In announcing Amaechi’s suspension, the National Pub-

Clarice Azuatalam, Port Harcourt

licity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh, said the action followed a petition submitted by the party’s executive committee in Rivers against the governor.

The local PDP blamed Amaechi for the suspension of the chairman and councillors of Obio-Akpor Local Government. Amaechi, responding to

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his suspension, described it as political witchhunt and ridiculous.

He said contrary to claims by the party,it was the state House of Assembly that suspended Mr. Timothy Nsirim (chairman) and 17 councillors of the local government.

He said he was not given a fair hearing before he was placed on suspension.

“No fair hearing. I was not invited. What was the reason for suspending me. They claim

I have refused to reinstate the Obio-Akpor council. Who suspended the Obio-Akpor council? Who has power to reinstate the Obio Akpor council. So you see political witchhunt. It is so ridiculous. My party must rise above political witchhunt. The governor did not suspend the Obio-Akpor council. I hope you know. I have powers. My power is to dissolve. I can get up now and dissolve the Obio Akpor council and remit it to

Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation tariat of Jang’s faction of the forum subtle threat by the party’s leadership to move against recalcitrant governors.

But the Plateau chief executive insists there is only one NGF headed by him.

“Let me make something clear. The NGF is one, and I am the chairman of the NGF,” he told reporters at the end of the meeting with the president.

On their mission to the villa, he said: “We have met with Mr. President with me leading a team of governors from the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to congratulate Mr. President

and to consult with him on very serious national issues.

“You know the security problem in the country and what we need to do in the coming two years to ensure that democracy stabilise and development continues in the country.”

The PDP is not taking the refusal of some PDP governors to go with its anointed-candidate, Jang, lightly and it is already dangling the carrot and the stick before pro-Amaechi governors to abandon the Rivers States chief executive in the party’s latest offensive against him over the NGF chairmanship tussle.

The party is asking the affected governors to queue behind Jang as chairman of the forum, or get the stick.It was not immediately known what

Feud in Governors’ Forum dangerous for democracy, says Arewa

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Government Area of Rivers State. ``The NWC, after preliminary hearing, in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 57 (3), 59 (3), 59 (5) and 29 (2.b), hereby suspends Governor Amaechi as a member of the PDP,’’ the communiqué said.

It added that the governor's action violated Articles 58 1 (b), (c), (h) and (m) of the PDP Constitution.

sanction awaits such “errant” governors who have remained adamant.The Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, is insistent on the party’s supremacy on who heads the NGF. The PDP, sources said,is irked by the snub received by Jang from his fellow governors on Thursday during the inauguration of the secretariat of his faction of the NGF in Abuja. Only 16 of the 36 governors attended the event which was programmed to show that Jang was in control of the forum.

A government source said: “The permutation was to use Thursday’s event to seal Amaechi’s fate, but it ended up in what is now termed a “second defeat.“ The PDP leadership felt bad that some of the governors elected on its platform have distanced themselves from Jang.”

The party spent much of yesterday trying to reach out to those tagged as “rebel governors” to back Jang in order not to put presidency to shame.

The source added: “Those being focused are mostly PDP governors from the North. The party leaders believe that if the governors of Niger, Sokoto, Jigawa and Kwara had been at Jang’s secretariat inauguration, the NGF machinery would have been hijacked from Amaechi.

“The party was jolted, but it has decided to employ persuasion to woo the rebel governors to Amaechi’s camp.

Some of the governors are from strategic geopolitical zones whose cases should be handled with care.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “If the governors remain adamant, the party might wield the big stick.”

A governor sympathetic to Amaechi said: “The PDP leaders are reaching out, but the challenge is: how do you leave a leader who won election for a consensus candidate.

“The PDP; says it is a democratic party, it needs to prove that to the whole world.”

Emphasising the seriousness with which the PDP takes the NGF chairman, Chief Anenih, said the supremacy of the party on the matter must be recognized and enforced.

Anenih, speaking at a family dinner for PDP leaders at the Presidential Villa on Thursday night said: “I am sure we all realize how important unity is to the development of our great party. If we want to continue to enjoy the solid support of Nigerians, we must show to them that we are deserving of their support.

“We cannot afford to continue to act unruly, create unnecessary tension in the party with the consequence of heating up the polity, and expect Nigerians to applaud us. Nigerians can only be encour-

aged to identify with us, if the promotion of harmony, cohesion and development of the party and our nation is topmost on our agenda.

“As party leaders, we must collectively commit ourselves, more than ever, to work selflessly and tirelessly, so as to reposition the party. We must seek to promote unity and enforce discipline.

“Consider the case of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum where there are now two chairmen, both members of the PDP. “This is an embarrassing situation which must be urgently addressed. The supremacy of the party must be recognized and enforced. The leadership of the party will not tolerate a situation where it will preside over a divided house.

“If we expect the PDP house to stand the test of time, to withstand and overcome the storms and crises being fuelled by the opposition parties, we must be united, focused, decisive and dedicated to a common cause.

“We need a strong party. If the party is strong; if there is discipline and if there is reward for hard work and loyalty in the party, our government will be stronger and will not be easily distracted. “ On the reconciliation within the party, Anenih said there are four states left for his team to visit.

He added: “In the last few weeks, members of the BoT have visited a number of PDPcontrolled states in pursuit of reconciliation. There are four more states to visit. During these visits, we had frank discussions with our state governors and other party leaders.

“It is true that some governors have complaints against the leadership of the party. So also have there been some complaints against the governors. In any case, the problems raised are not insurmountable, as the party leadership is already working hard to resolve them.

“At the end of our tour of the states, which will end soon, we will collate the reports of our reconciliation efforts, including appropriate recommendations, and submit to Mr. President, for all the issues identified to be holistically addressed.

“Communication between leaders and followers is a very important instrument of peace. Followers deserve to be carried along in governance and party affairs.

“It is, therefore, our duty as leaders to work out how best to do this and partake in the enterprise of charting a course that will bring maximum benefit to our party and our nation, especially now that 2015 elections are already in our national consciousness. Nigerians and the global community will judge our party and government by our performance in office at all levels.”

Governors rebuff party over Rivers helmsman

HE PDP got a fresh re buff yesterday from no fewer than eight of its governors over Governor Jonah Jang’s claim to the chair of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

Governors Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Saidu Dakingari (Kebbi), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Martin Elechi (Ebonyi), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa) were nowhere at the Presidential Villa, Abuja when Jang led his faction of the forum on a visit to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Only 15, including Jang, were on the delegation.

The same number of governors attended Thursday’s opening of the Abuja secre-

Senator Oluremi Tinubu (middle) during the NUJ Lagos Television Chapel 2013 Press Week and Award Ceremony at Combo Hall, LTV, Lateef Jakande Road, Ikeja, Lagos yesterday. With her are from left: Hon Japheth Odesanya, Hon Tajudeen Ajide, Hon Adewale Ayodele, PHOTO: TAIWO OKANLAWO Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Mrs Anike Adekanye and Hon Semiu Oluwakemi Surakat.

HE pan-northern sociopolitical organization, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), says the division in the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) portends doom for the nation’s democracy, if not properly handled.

Spokesman for the forum,Mr. Anthony Sani, said in an interview in Kaduna that the controversy trailing last week’s election of the forum’s chairman seems to lend credence to the view of some Nigerians that democracy is yet to take root in the country.

He said: “If 36 governors cannot democratically elect their leader, then imagine the problem when 73 million Nigerian voters are to produce their leaders democratically.”

He appealed to the governors to ”appreciate their place in the order of things and together with Mr. President enthrone democratic ethos in the polity.”

Speaking on the mid-term report of the Jonathan administration, Sani said: “There are

the House of Assembly. I have never done that yet,” he said.

The NWC, at its emergency meeting, considered the petition submitted by the PDP Rivers State Executive Committee against Gov. Amaechi of Rivers. ``This followed his refusal to obey the lawful directive of the Rivers State Executive Committee to rescind his decision dissolving the elected Executive Council of Obio Akpor Local

Tony AKOWE, Kaduna areas the administration has tried and improved. For example, there has been improvement in the supply of energy and power; electricity supply has improved just as uninterrupted supply of petroleum products as well as in railways, since trains are plying some routes now.

“On the whole, if we are to go by the figures given about the macroeconomics, we would say the government has tried. To that extent, one can say ‘well done’. But real performance of government policies and actions are measured by how much they affect standard of life of the people. “ On the whole, socio economic indices that include Misery Indices and Human Development Index should also be made public before realistic appreciation of the effects of

the Transformation Agenda can be ascertained.

“And so, I want to say that good as figures on the macro economics may appear, there is a need for appropriate balancing between macroeconomics and microeconomics. It may well be that the administration has tried in its campaigns against corruption. But the pension scandals and management of the reports on petroleum subsidy and reports by Ribadu Committee does not give cause for cheers.

“More distressing is the manner the judiciary delivers more of technical justice than substantive justice. There is need to reform the judiciary in favour of substantive justice.

Democracy may differ in forms, but when it comes to its elements of liberty, justice and common decency, democracy does not differ.”

He warned against the continued opposition to the state

of emergency declared in three northern states by the government, saying that such an action will be counter-productive because the government needs the state of emergency to reclaim those parts of the country that are under political control of the religious sect.

He said, however, that the government must follow it up with negotiation from position of strength in order to secure favourable terms. ”Please, note that the ACF had earlier advised against the imposition of state of emergency on the ground that force and dialogue are not likely to be effective, if applied concurrently.

“The ACF has since declared support for the emergency with proviso that dialogue and force would run concurrently, and the armed forces would keep within the rules of engagement in order to avoid undue collateral damages and civilian causalities.”

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

COMMENTARY 7

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

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Terrorism, poverty and the democracy agenda

N Addis Ababa this week the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegh and current Head of the African Union accused the International Criminal Court of Justice of racial bias in the prosecution of errant world leaders and pointedly stated that the AU is not well disposed to the prosecution of the current president of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta and the Vice President for the post election violence in the 2007 presidential elections in that nation. In Accra Ghana the president of the country noted that Islamic militancy will soon overcome the whole of West Africa if care is not taken and that he is saying this even though Ghana does not have such insurgency on its hand right now. As Nigeria celebrated the government’s Democracy day on May 29 and key former presidents shunned the invitation of incumbent Nigerian president to the occasion, it turned out that the UN Secretary – General Ban Ki Moon was celebrating the UN Peace Keepers Day on the same day and was commending fallen Nigeria’s soldiers as ten percent of the Nigerian UN Peace Keepers have died in 2012 in the UN peace keeping role and the UN published their names on that day.

At another global forum the Jim Yong Kim, the Group MD of the World Bank was audacious enough to announce that the World body was planning to eradicate global poverty by 2030 by making access to health facilities affordable globally in pursuit of the goal of global poverty alleviation .At the other end in Syria however Bashar Assad the president of that nation boasted that the balance of power is with the Syrian army in its war with those he called terrorists and he accused some nations namely Saudi Arabia and Turkey of financing the rebellion in his nation while acknowledging that Hizbollah, the Party of God in Lebanon is fighting alongside the Syrian army in the war to preserve what he called the territorial integrity of Syria.

It is my contention today that world leaders on occasions behave like the proverbial ostrich with its head buried in the sand while the body is there for all to see . Secondly while some cling to power by all or any means because they cannot contemplate life out of office, there are still some who believe that to serve humanity is still a possible task in spite of manmade challenges and obstacles both locally and abroad. Thirdly in the name of democracy, security and political stability, politicians and world leaders mostly indulge in promoting their whims and caprices and in muscling their opponents to submission if not annihilation in pursuit of their so called political agenda and objectives. Let me now hook these observations to the news items I have highlighted today.

Starting with Kenya, let me state categorically that the accusation by the AU Chairman that the ICC is racially prejudiced against African Leaders is a false alarm and is indeed a dangerous case of jaundice and prejudice. It cannot survive any moral scrutiny either in Addis Ababa or Nairobi. This is a fact the current president and Vice president of Kenya will be the first to admit as they were not on the same side during the 2007 elections or the post election violence. They later buried the hatchet and contested on the same ticket in 2013 knowing that the charges at the Hague were hanging on their neck like the proverbial sword of Damocles . That their ticket clinched the Kenyan presidency in spite of the ICC charges is a victory for democracy and the dictum that a people deserve the leaders they

have. That however does not absolve them of culpability in the murder and mayhem of the 2007 post election violence in Kenya.

The charge that 90% of those being prosecuted by ICC are Africans is sheer persecution complex and a product of colonial mentality. The world is a global village and such sentiments belong to the past. That is why the Arab Spring revolution got rid of leaders like Housni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi. If the AU wants, it can negotiate a reprieve or pardon or even a stay of prosecution for the Kenyan leaders. It should not however insult the intelligence of Africans by talking of racial bias towards African leaders by the ICC. That is an anachronism and a dubious charge indeed that cannot hold water.

On the charge by the Ghanaian President John Mahama that Islamic Militancy will destabilize West Africa if care is not taken , I cannot agree more. He gave the example of the French Military intervention in Mali and the need for the AU to form a standing intervention force to counter regional insurgency and I cannot agree more. What I think is lacking is the moral capacity and commitment on the part of both political and religious leaders in the region to tackle the problem of militancy head on, on a once and for all basis , instead of the present halfhearted approach of thinking that the problem will go away as rapidly as it has surfaced. In addition the issue of negotiating or succumbing to blackmail while keeping trained armed forces at bay is counterproductive as it gives the militants a false sense of strength and importance as such vacillations and dithering give them ample time to select their next target for terror with maximum impact.

Next, according to UN reports, Nigeria made the largest contribution to world peace in 2012 . This is according to the UN Report that 17 Nigerians were killed last year on peacekeeping duties and this was announced on Nigeria’s Democracy Day May 29 which also is the UN Peace Keeping Day. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon therefore commended the Nigerian Peace Keeping Contingent for making the greatest human

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It is my contention today that world leaders on occasions behave like the proverbial ostrich with its head buried in the sand while the body is there for all to see . Secondly while some cling to power by all or any means because they cannot contemplate life out of office, there are still some who believe that to serve humanity is still a possible task in spite of manmade challenges and obstacles both locally and abroad

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sacrifice for world peace in 2012. Which to me is a source of pride as a Nigerian and I seize this opportunity to commiserate with the families of the gallant soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of their nation. Incidentally May 29 was picked by the Obasanjo Administration as Democracy Day when it was elected into office in 1999. This year however Obasanjo shunned the Democracy Day in Abuja and was instead in Dutse, Jigawa State where he was showering praises on the state Governor Sule Lamido at the First Jigawa State Investment Forum. In Abuja President Goodluck Jonathan was busy, lamentably and apologetically pleading with Nigerians bent on judging his two years in office, to have a marking scheme before doing that –whatever that means.

At the World Health Assembly - WHA in Geneva, Switzerland the World Bank Group MD Jim Yong Kim, an American and a medical doctor spoke on the theme - Poverty, Health and the Human Future- and noted that to end poverty and boost shared prosperity, the nations of the world need to drive global growth by investing in human capital, health education and social protection for all their citizens. He made the revealing news that out of pocket health expenses force about 100m people into poverty every year. Heidentified three areas that health delivery can enhance economic growth and national planned efforts to make universal health delivery achievable through access, quality and affordability. Yong Kim seems to be saying what one has always known that a sound mind needs a sound body. Coming from a global financial institution noted for infrastructure development and finance, the pursuit of poverty alleviation by 2030 by this unique American head of the World Bank, is a most welcome welfarist approach to global growth and economic development. This is because democracy at the end of the day is about the welfare of the citizenry and a better life for those who elected those who now tyrannise them globally .Surely the World Bank’s Group MD poverty alleviation approach to economic growth and prosperity through access to quality and affordable health facilities by 2030 is highly commendable - and is a huge, innovative step in the right direction. We wish him well.

Lastly the war in Syria has shown clearly that democracy in that nation will not come on platter of gold. Rather than be frightened by the prospect of becoming a Housni Mubarak being driven to court in a cage or a Gaddafi beaten to death by a mob, Bashar Assad has dug in in Damascus and there is no sign of him giving up as the west is betting on . Better still for him, his Russian supporters have given him about 300 anti aircraft equipment in case of any creation of a no fly zone like the one that crippled Gaddafi’s well armed forces . So, it is not always the case that nations fall like dominoes in the face of insurgency as happened in N Africa two years. In fighting insurgency to a stand still and still retaining the loyalty of his army in the wake of international isolation, somehow the blood letting leader in Damascus has my grudging admiration. Perhaps the Russians have seen something opaque to the rest of us in siding with the son of an old ally Haffez Assad. Time, surely, will tell.

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vincentakanmode@yahoo.com

HE nation was served a yellow card by the Jonah Jang faction of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) penultimate Friday after the re-election of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State as the forum’s chairman. In a move considered by many political observers as an ominous sign for the 2015 general elections, the governors loyal to Jang turned the rule of democracy on its head, declaring that the election in which Amaechi polled 19 votes and Jang polled 16 was won by the latter.

Not surprisingly, the rebellion against Amaechi was led by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State who has earned himself a reputation as the chief motivator for the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan. Of course, many would wonder at the desperation with which Akpabio has been pursuing the Jonathan’s reelection bid in the face of the President’s growing unpopularity. Considering that he only last year predicted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would remain in power for another 50 years, Akpabio’s reputation is by emerging political realities.

Besides, the Akwa Ibom State governor is fighting an emotional battle. In the build-up to President Jonathan’s presidential campaign about three years ago, I had done a piece as a columnist with Punch newspaper, in which I chronicled the numerous instances where campaigns championed by the governor had ended in fiasco. In the said piece, I had prayed that the campaign train of Jonathan would not suffer derailment with

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Again, the Akpabio jinx manifests the overzealous involvement of Akpabio.

The said piece drew the ire of some Akpabio supporters who bought spaces in the media to hauled abuses at me.

Of course, they felt a sense of triumph as Jonathan eventually won the election. Lost on them was the fact that the massive goodwill Jonathan enjoyed in the build-up to the election would have dwarfed even the ill luck of Jabesh. Unfortunately, the situation is now different as evident in the loss suffered by the Akpabio camp in the just-concluded chairmanship election of the NGF. The once brimming bucket of the President’s goodwill has drained so much that he cannot even muster enough support from PDP governors to make his favoured candidate win the election.

Expectedly, many political observers believe the result of the NGF chairmanship election is a microcosm of the fate that awaits Jonathan and his supporters in 2015. There lies the plight of Governor Akpabio whose record of jinxed supports was worsened by last week’s election.

An abridged version of the piece is reproduced below for the records: Nigerians with progressive bent are upbeat about the prospects of Jonathan’s emergence as the winner of the presidential race next year; a development many believe is guaranteed to change the political equation in which the presidency is literally the birthright of the major ethnic groups while the minority groups, including those of the Niger Delta on which the nation depends for survival would only enjoy the right to vote.

With the voice against zoning getting louder by the day from the most unlikely quarters, such as the North and other parts of the country where Jonathan’s candidacy would have suffered vehement opposition, the coast is getting clearer and clearer for Jonathan to transmute from the providential president he is now to one elected by popular will. Of course, fairness demands nothing less.

But my worries stem from the prominece Governor Godswill Akpabio is already enjoying among Jonathan’s supporters. The governor seems to have been having a running battle with ill luck. So much

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The once brimming bucket of the President’s goodwill has drained so much that he cannot even muster enough support from PDP governors to make his favoured candidate win the election

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so that many people now tend to believe that enlisting his support in a mega venture like presidential campaign could amount to taking a risk.

Two years ago, the blossoming career of Nigeria’s former WBC heavyweight champion, Samuel Peter crumbled in the face of the mega support Akpabio mounted for him in far away Germany.

As Peter’s title defence date with Ukranian boxer,

Vitalis Klitchsko on October 11, 1998 drew near, the governor was at his vocal best, telling anyone who cared to listen that Peter was about to tap from his training, perseverance and determination to make the nation proud.

In the months ahead of Peter’s clash with Klitchsko, the governor threatened to lead a delegation to Germany to witness the fight. “I will be by the ring side in Berlin. When you see Don King (Peter’s promoter) by the ringside in Berlin, the next person you will see is me,” he said. Of course, Akpabio made good his vow to storm Germany.

But what happened? Peter was battered by Klitchsko so much that he could not answer the bell in the ninth round. Klitchsko dethroned him as the world heavyweight champion!

The Akpabio government had a hectic time denying a story to the effect that the governor offered one of the state’s elder statesmen, Obong Donald Etiebet, the sum of $200,000 to embark on a trip overseas for medical treatment. The gesture later turned into a nightmare for the elder statesman as bandits stormed his house and carted the money away.

The day the Nigerian team played its opening match against Argentina in the World Cup soccer competition held in South Africa in 2010,Akpabio reportedly stormed the venue with a lorry load of cash he promised to dole out to the players if they won. But ill luck connived with ill fate to rob him the chance to celebrate with the Super Eagles as the South American team defeated them and the Nigerian team eventually crashed out of the competition at the group stage.

The lesson was, however, lost on some Nigerian journalists who converged on Uyo for a conference.

According to the then chairman of the Lagos Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Mr Wahab Oba, the governor demonstrated his support for the journalists by giving them a million naira “in fulfilment of his promise to assist us for a project we are doing in Lagos.” But as the media men headed back to Lagos, they were kidnapped by gunmen who kept them for one week before they were set free by policemen.

With Akpabio now at the frontline of the Jonathan-for-President campaign, will the story be different?

Chopras: Fix immigration ‘slippery ladder’

HEN we came to U.S., we were able to grab onto a high rung. Not so for today’s newcomers.

Despite the heated differences over immigration reform, everyone can agree on one thing: Nobody comes to America to get poorer.

The two of us speak from experience.

During medical school back in India, our gaze was fixed firmly on America. The era was the early 1970s. The Vietnam War had created a serious doctor shortage. With unusual swiftness after we passed an easy exam, we entered the country, first Deepak and then Sanjiv. An overnight flight landed us in the same community hospital in Plainfield, N.J. We were off and running in the land of opportunity.

Our reception, though, was lukewarm at best. Immigrants grab on to the ladder of success at different rungs. We grabbed a high rung, no doubt. We arrived with a medical degree and had spoken fluent English our whole lives. But native-born doctors looked down on foreign-born ones. As graduates of rigorous U.S. medical schools, they had their suspicions about our training in India, which happened to be excellent.

The prejudice against us wasn’t severe, but it was there. We knew that Boston medicine was legendary, so that’s where we set our sights. But there was scarce chance back then that a South Asian physician could get affiliated with one of Harvard’s prestigious hospitals. Both of us wound up at the Veterans Administration hospital and worked with determination and ambition.

Changing opportunities Looking back, we were climbing a slippery ladder to success. For every three steps we took up, we’d slip two steps down. But at least the rungs weren’t pulled out from under us.

Today, the sad truth is that opportunities for immigrants have changed. As the gap between rich and poor has drastically

•Brothers Deepak, left, and Sanjiv Chopra in December at the annual Update in Internal Medicine in Boston last year.(Photo: Family photo)

widened, and as illegal immigration has created so much hostility, a lot of rungs have broken on the ladder or don’t exist anymore.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist David Autor has coined a phrase for it: the “polarization of job opportunities.” White-collar jobs for the college-educated exist at one extreme. Service jobs for the less educated, including the invisible immigrant workers who do the jobs no one else wants to do, exist at the opposite end.

This polarization has been exacerbated by major job losses in the middle due to

the recession and technology. This is not just a problem for immigrants, of course.

The long-term unemployed (particularly anyone older than 50), laid-off factory workers and recent college graduates are forced to seek work for which they are overqualified.

America needs to repair the ladder to success, putting everyone on more solid footing no matter what rung they grab first. To grasp how urgent this need is, a fellow Indian immigrant, Fareed Zakaria, on his CNN program, GPS, assailed the myth of upward mobility in this country.

Among his key points, Zakaria included studies over the past two decades that

showed economic mobility has decreased in America. We now lag behind many European countries and Canada. Rags-toriches stories are becoming the exception.

A Pew Research report on upward mobility shows that few poor people rise into the upper middle class. A lot of factors are responsible, including education, the neighborhood you live in, and the stability of your family structure.

Big economic impact The extended economic downturn has put a squeeze on every rung, but immigrants get pushed down especially hard.

Laws against hiring undocumented workers are tightening on employers, especially in the construction and agricultural sector.

Deportations have sharply increased under the Obama administration.

On the upper rungs, students who come to America to take advantage of our worldclass colleges and universities are forced to return to their home countries before applying to be readmitted and find work here. Thus the law forces a brain drain that helps our foreign competitors and frustrates high-tech employers where thousands of jobs go begging.

All these trends need to be reversed with a clear-eyed understanding that immigration is economically, culturally and spiritually enriching for America. Members of Congress and each of us, native born or immigrant, must actively counter any anxiety or suspicion that immigration is a threat. The answer isn’t special treatment for immigrants. It’s equal opportunity for all.

Deepak Chopra is the founder of The Chopra Foundation. Sanjiv Chopra is professor of medicine and faculty dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard. Their dual memoir, Brotherhood: Dharma, Destiny and the American Dream was released this month.

See Hard View and Ogochukwu Ikeje on Page 56

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•Sympathisers at the scene of the petrol fire

OKOGBE:

Rivers community relives fire, flood disasters

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

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•Scene of the disaster

PHOTOS: SHOLA O'NEIL & ROSEMARY

‘Our community is now

Water is usually the solution to a fire disaster, but it is not for the people of Okogbe Community of Rivers State, whose community was sacked by flood months after about 230 men, women and children died in a fire disaster. SHOLA O'NEIL, who visited the community recently, reports the after-effects of the disasters.

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HEN I visited Okogbe, Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, last Tuesday, the spectre of disaster still hung over the Ekpeye town like a perennial cloud. The paramount ruler, Chief Franklin N Igor, Eze Nwe-Ula of Okogbe, was having breakfast of pap (akamu) and bread in his living room.

H e UPT th t As I sat in there, I noticed a rs o e surviv etching of irregular, line •One of th running through the four walls.

Seeing my gaze, the retired policeman smiled and said: "They are marks of the flood that sacked our community last year (2012)."

On July 17 that year, hundreds of its young men, women and children were pulverised by an inferno from a petrol tanker. While the community was trying to come to terms with its loss, the flood came and sacked the town and its inhabitants, including the monarch, who spent one month outside his domain as a result.

The petrol tanker had loaded from a depot in Port Harcourt and was on its way to offload its content of 33,000 litres of petrol when the driver, in the process of avoiding an oncoming vehicle, lost control and veered into one of the thousands ditches that bedevil the East/West highway. The tanker bellied up and its content spilled into a gully.

Smelling easy money, but impervious to the hazards and possible horrifying death, residents of Okogbe, Ula-Okogba, Obodhi and dozens other nearby communities, swooped on the highly inflammable liquid. For several

,

There is no compound that is left out; some compounds lost about four persons. There are some parlours (living rooms) you will enter, you will see four corpses lying there.

Everybody was in mourning mood. Who do you visit? Who won't you visit?

,

hours, they feasted on the free-flowing petrol, scooping it into containers of various sizes.

Expectedly, fire erupted and consumed not only them, but scores of travellers, passersby and onlookers.

The Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, led a long line of top government officials from the state, while the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience, led the Abuja flock to the scene to sympathise with victims of the incident.

It is now 10 months since the deadly fire wiped out over 230 lives. At the scene of the disaster, close to a petrol filling station before the town, a lush-green grass covered the scene.

The carcass of the tanker - the harbinger of many deaths - stood defiantly tall over the landscape, dwarfing the remains of dozens of cars, motorcycles that were swallowed by its flame.

In the town, dozens of widows, childless couples, orphans and abject poverty are lasting relics of a calamity that cannot be forgotten.

The paramount ruler said: "We lost over 120 persons - boys men women and children, some women with their children behind them - who went to scoop fuel. Many of them were burnt beyond recognition. It was a very big loss to the community.

"There is no compound that is left out; some compounds lost about four persons. There are some parlours (living rooms) you will enter, you will see four corpses lying there.

Everybody was in mourning position. Who do you visit? Who won't you visit?

"We are predominantly farmers. Majority of the people we lost are the youths and at a stage, our community was just like a ghost town in place of youths," he stated.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

He remarked that the loss of so many young men means fewer eligible bachelors to seek the hands of the ladies in marriage. ‘’We have a lot of widows and it appears that the widows in the town now are trying to outnumber the number of married women because everywhere you go, you see widows.

There are also young girls who would have missed their chance to get married to men from the town...’’

, littered with widows, spinsters with few suitors’ In one of the homes visited, Mrs. Odichi (not her real name), a woman possibly in her late 50s merely stared into space as her colleagues narrated how she lost three children to the fire. "One of them was among the first at the scene: he was able to scoop about 20 litres, which he hurriedly brought home. After that, he took more jerry cans and his two younger brothers with him to the place to get more. It was the last time she would see her children. They all perished in the fire," one of the narrators said.

At another part of the town, Victoria, a young unmarried woman, lost the father of her son in the fire. She had hoped that with time they would tie the nuptial knot and be able to provide a better future for the child. "All that is gone now, I don’t know where to start from," she said.

Besides the loss of so many lives in one swift swoop, Chief Igor told our reporter that the disaster has created an imbalance in the social life of the community. He remarked that the loss of so many young men means fewer eligible bachelors to seek the hands of the ladies in marriage.

"We have a lot of widows and it appears that the widows in the town now are trying to outnumber the number of married women because everywhere you go, you see widows. There are also young girls who would have missed their chance to get married to men from the town," he lamented.

The anguish for 29-year-old Chairman Nathan Alake was missing the friendship of his sibling, Podojie Okpara, who would have been 28 this year. Podojie left his home in Obodhi, about three kilometres from the scene of the disaster, when he heard of the bonanza of fuel in Okogbe. It was the last time anybody saw him.

"He was burnt beyond recognition and was one of those given a mass burial at the site of the fire the next day," Alake said. He added that his cousin left a young daughter with nobody to fend for her.

The people of Obodhi are lucky; of the four persons torched by the fire, only Podojie died. Two survived, but they

•The mass graves of the victims...now overgrown with weeds

We live in fear of another flood coming in this year because we have been warned of another flood.

"We lost a number of youths who are the hands to till the land; the people we have projected to salvage the problems of this community in future. We are going to start from the beginning again. Before others are born and they grow up to take up the position and reach that height, it will take us a number of years.

"We have been battered by fire and flood. Everything submerged, all our food, farms destroyed by the water," the paramount ruler lamented.

He appealed to the government, nongovernmental organisations and publicspirited bodies to come to the assistance of the impoverished and disaster-battered kinsmen.

HIEF Igor particularly made a case for widows and other vulnerable members of the society to be given access to soft loans to enable them pick back the pieces of their lives as well as scholarships for orphans. He appealed to foreign donors to help provide the community farmers with implements, seedlings and fertilisers to increase yields.

"All our farms last year were destroyed by the flood. We had to start afresh and this year, there is no guarantee that the case will be any different. That is why as we are farming, we are looking up to the sky for rains, but not so much that our communities would be flooded again."

For Nwuche, the government and agencies like the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), should extend vocational training to him and others like him. "I want to learn a trade so that I can plan for a better future."

While waiting for a helping hand, the Nwe-Ula Okogbe, a devout Anglican synodist and communicant, urged his people to look up to God. He said: "I pray and I will continue to pray to God. Whichever way the others who are not Christians may want to take, I have no objection because we are all heading towards the same solution.

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•Chief Igor Eze Nwe-Ula have indelible scars as memorabilia, if they needed any reminder of the sad memory.

Saturday Nwuche, a motorcycle (okada) transporter, was on his way to Ahoada with two passengers when he met people swooping on the leaking petrol tanker.

He said the two passengers urged him to stop so that they could see what was happening there.

"As soon as I stopped, I saw a huge ball of flame that covered everything and everybody at the scene. I started to run with the fire behind me. I left my bike and ran for my dear life. The fire caught my legs," he recollected with clenched teeth.

Having survived the fire, the battle to save his legs started. He had to borrow money for treatment. He said he is yet to offset the loans sourced from a cooperative society.

"At a point the room where I was

•Nwuche who survived with scars staying was very smelly, only my mother and few other persons would agree to enter it. The pain was hellish."

Ten months later, Nwuche is still nursing a sore on the back of his knee but he is happy to be counted among the few that survived. He has returned to his okada business, but now he is riding for somebody because he is yet unable to raise money to buy one.

The people of Okogbe are not so lucky.

Eze Nwe-Ula told me that "only about three or four survived from those (over 30 persons) taken to the hospital."

"Shortly after the fire incident the flood came in and everywhere was overrun by the flood. The community was shattered, most people spent over one month outside before returning to the community. I spent one month in Port Harcourt and when I came back, I discovered that most of the houses where the flood touched have now collapsed.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

•Roro Ports entrance

Thorny road to promised land •Pains, gains of ‘new improved’ ports

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are yet to honour their obligations HE smell of urine assaults the under the concession agreement. nostrils. And the tale this tells is Aside the petrol dollars, the ports in Lagos, Koko, Calabar, Ask the President, Association of that toilet facilities are both Port Harcourt, Onne, Warri, Onitsha and Sapele churn out Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents inadequate and in bad state.

Prince Olayiwola Shittu.

Vehicles are parked indiscriminately, with good money for Nigeria. The Lagos Port Complex and Tin (ANLCA), The licensed agent with several years security officials seeing in the chaos experience said the Federal opportunity to make ill-gotten wealth.

Can Island Port, which are the busiest in the country and of Government through the Nigerian Evidence of overstretched facilities abound. Cases of container diversion, the largest in West and Central African sub-regions, bring Ports Authority (NPA) is expected to major port infrastructure such broaching and pilfering are common. the most cash. But, despite the progress made as a result of provide as rail lines, electricity, marine services, Some parts of the expansive premises and maintenance of the cut the picture of a shanty. Yet, it remains the concessioning of these ports, these cash-cows seem far development quay walls as well as smooth glaring that here many make millions and navigation of the water ways. sometimes billions daily from the from delivering effective service in line with global The NPA, Shittu said, also is hundreds of containers laden with all standards and practices, writes OLUWAKEMI DAUDA expected under the agreement, to manners of goods from far-flung parts of provide towage, pilotage services and the globe.

Space has become a constraint, especially in the Lagos bunkering facilities. “The poor state of supporting Motorcyclists, better known as okada riders, struggle ports. There is no enough room for the containers being infrastructure at the ports, particularly rail lines, has with trailers laden with containers for right of passage. brought into the country. Yet, opportunities for continued to pose serious challenge. Although the NPA Welcome to Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, Lagos, where expansion have not been fully explored. said it is collaborating with the Nigerian Railway heaven and hell exist side by side, where opportunities Most of the roads leading to the ports in the country Corporation (NRC) to connect the rail lines at the ports, abide but little of these have been tapped, where tapped, are in poor shape. For instance, in spite the huge amount but we are yet to see that,” he told The Nation. gaps yearn to be filled and where huge mill around of money generated by the Federal Government from Some of the concessionaires, Shittu said, are daily for good and for bad. the Lagos ports, the roads in and out of the ports have capitalising on the failure of the government to carry out It is not only the Tin Can Island that faces these become death traps because of lack of maintenance and its own roles to invest in the acquisition of cargochallenges. The ones in Koko, Calabar, Port Harcourt, indiscriminate parking by port- bound trailers, resulting handling equipment.

Onne, Warri, Onitsha and Sapele are also battling their in a gridlock that has defied solutions. Based on the bad He said the Nigerian ports have not witnessed enough own devils. The truth be told, the ports in Lagos are like situation of the roads, robbers feast on commuters daily. investment as it ought to from the terminal operators. Of jewels in the savannah of the country’s ports.

The Federal Government, which owns almost all the the 26 concessioned ports in Nigeria, Shittu said only six, Efforts have been made over the years to make the functional ports in the country, thought it had no which include APM Terminals, Port and Terminal ports the best around the West African sub-region. But business in business. So, it entered into concession pact Multipurpose Limited (PTML), Tin-Can Island like the mythical Abiku child, today they are up and with the private sector to run the ports. But years down Container Terminal (TICT) and three others, are tomorrow, they are down. Recipes that have worked the line, both the government and the concessionaires investing heavily in port infrastructure for efficient port elsewhere have produced less result here.

22 READER’S VIEW At the zenith of the PDP rule in Osun State in 2009, out of Nigeria’s 36 states, Osun was like lead at the bottom of the river of failure, coming 35th in NECO exams results. In 2010, the state managed to crawl three rungs to the 32nd position. After one year of Aregbesola’s government in 2011, guess at what position Osun was found on the NECO radar? Well, it shot up to number eight!

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ON’T you feel better and are you not thankful, even if you are not from Osun State, that someone as Rauf Aregbesola became the governor of that state, going by that school results alone? Had it been Ayo Aluko-Olokun and his confederates that were on the saddle there, they would have still been shoving their haggard list of nine books per student at the faces senior secondary students mired in educational insolvency there. They’ll probably be clubbing them on the head, demanding better performance with the taskmaster’s whip, trying to bring out of the pit of disastrous failure and educational darkness in which they had plunged the poor kids.This much is revealed in the halting article written by Ayo Aluko-Olokun in the Punch of May 16.

When I read Ayo’s estimation that an SS student will normally have nine books and his rage at a governor who provided them with 63, I was truly disappointed. But I was glad that a mystery was explained at last.

How do the minds of certain people, even leaders, process information and craft strategies such that their efforts almost always end in a fiasco and their plans always come to grief? Very simple: they rely on lean, narrow education with all the fat trimmed, without reserves or extras or any backup resources whatsoever. A tunnel outlook - that curious idea that is suspicious of too much reading and a gut fear that there is an educational danger named, “knowing too much”.There is no need for proofs – their NECO results say it all.

When I went to Ilesa Grammar School in the early eighties, we had a gentleman named Bola Ige as governor of what was Oyo State, the mother of the present Osun. He had this free education programme that supplied all schools (private schools were a novelty then) with everything educational: textbooks, notebooks, pencils, erasers, biros, crayons, rulers, quality desks,maths set, name it. The only thing our parents contributed was their taxes and our school uniforms because we paid no tuition fees too. In my own school back then, there was more. We had this lavish library with rows upon rows of shelves of books, quality books on all areas of learning. We had two sets of the 25-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica. We had the Caxton Encyclopaedia, we had the Encyclopaedia Americana and a copy of the Encyclopaedia of Science. There were volumes in arts, geography, history, warfare, biographies, politics, and science as were storybooks and countless volumes in general literature. Once we didn’t have much to do in the classroom, or we couldn’t go and play football during the break period because it was raining, we headed for the library where the amiable Mr. Bello, the librarian, was always happy to see us. We simply read for the excitement of learning something new or even just to while away the time. And just running down the clock became a marvellous blessing to our lives, blessings that are still helping some of us till this day. In that overflow of books, we educated ourselves about every major area of human learning. One of my first reading in that library was a little book titled ‘The Bear, Ship of Many Lives’. It details an arduous, courageous and resourceful polar exploration on the ship of the name. All I recollect from it now is a general lesson of success through perseverance after all hopes have nearly been abandoned. We mastered basic marine animals and we knew the difference between a Blue Whale and a Hammerhead – mammals, yet sea beasts and how they are larger than the hunter of the sea – the great white shark, all without Discovery Channel.

We read about the Wright Brothers, brilliant pioneer of aviation and about Emilia Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic and how they did it – all without Google. We went through the maps and traversed earth and sea with Marco Polo, Magellan and Vasco da

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

The encyclopedic Opon Imo and how Ayo Aluko-Olokun floundered John OGUNLELA Gama on the pages of the Atlas. We discovered the North Pole with the American, Robert Peary and trudged icy seas whipped by blizzards to the South Pole with Sir Ernest Shackleton and Roald Amundsen. We would talk about the different nations and cram their names and their capitals and this will form the objects of our boyish brags and quizzes later as we walked home, much as the knowledge of Premiership League minutiae is what young people brag about these days. I promise you that it is the whole truth that there was no formal debate of quiz competition my friends and I went for those days and did not come first!Last week, I surprised my son by drawing the map of the world for him on the spur of the moment with about 90% accuracy. I don’t have to try to recall some of those things that have been burned into my mind over the years, courtesy of a life in the library where reading had become as fun as •Ogbeni playing Nintendo.

My point is this: back then, we did not have a nine-book governor or an educational philosophy that was tailored towards barely averaging pass marks in examinations. We were being raised to be thoroughly knowledgeable so we can be seasoned, adaptable and prepared to contribute in an original way to the progress of our nation. Kids raised that way grow to adults who are hard-boiled and unflinching in their vision but flexible in their approach. I have no doubt whatsoever that what will come out of the efforts of the governor of Osun State in this Opon Imo matter is what comes out of a kid that grew up in a rich library.

Now back to Aluko-Olokun’s scribbles. We should soberly ask ourselves how has it come to this in Nigeria that a newspaper columnist, writing for a national tabloid bear to recommend one book per subject for a senior secondary school student and he is reproaching a governor who says they should have more than 63! Have the standards plummeted so abysmally around here? This is totally unthinkable! The next thing he is whining and squealing endlessly about the naira and kobo of the thing: nine books at N1,000 per book times 150,000 students coming to 4billion naira. His burden in all these is – and this is unbelievable – that what the state saved is 4billion naira, being the value of nine books per student, not eight billion as the state government claimed, having based their calculation on 63 books contained in the encyclopaedic Opon Imo tablet. You can see what an unfortunate mischief sprung by this man’s dubious write-up which is just a cheap red herring. If Ayo cannot calculate it, I bet every kid with an Opon Imo in Osun can tell him that 63 books at N1,000 apiece for 150,000 students will mean 9 billion naira.

Here are the bullet points, dear reader. In Osun State, the government was looking for the most cost-effective means of delivering top quality education to kids in their public schools. One of their main thrust was a computer tablet distributed free to the kids. Each tablet is preloaded with all the textbooks they need, 51 in all, not to mention 12 extra vol-

‘

Aregbesola umes like the Bible and Quran, personal health, sex education, fitness bits and such assortments. There is more. The tablet also comes with ten years of WAEC and JAMB past questions in 17 subjects! The state government reckons it has spent about N57,000 per child. There is nothing in this that a child cannot understand, but Ayo and the people he is working for are looking for an elephant in the room with a magnifying lens.The state government has not issued a decree that the parents should not buy physical books for their children to complement the e-device, if they so desire. So exactly what is the cause of Olokun’s angst?

Imagine a state where the public schools kids go about with a mini- library and a hard stuff examination cracker of twenty years past question papers (WAEC and JAMB, ten years each) in their backpacks. That is positively taking on the future indeed, for those students. They can stretch and feed their minds and find relationships that link various branches of knowledge at their leisure.

They can haul less baggage around for more educational value and key into a world that has gone digital in all aspects.

This Aluko-Olokun camp, however, sees nothing adorable in this but insists on spreading disinformation and splitting hairs in attempts to discredit the idea. When they run out of gas, they ’ll pick another line of attack that the students should not use electronic devices because the nation has no adequate electricity. “How are they going to read when NEPA takes light?”, they repeatedly parrot.

Well, obviously it is not Aregbesola’s fault that the PDP-led government is generating and distributing less power than the South African city of Johannesburg for 160 million people 13 years and 15 billion US dollars after is it? But look at it, even in the midst of it all, Nigerians manage to put power in their 50million mobile phones! Surely, a hundred and fifty thousand Osun students are likely to be able to find a way around charging their computer tablets too, if Nigerians can keep their cellphones pulsing despite meagre power supply.

Apparently, Ayo and his PDP crowd would have been more at peace with kids using chalk and black slates because there is no electricity for computers.

They are people who will buy handheld phones for a hundred thousand bucks and squirm at a government spending N57,000 on a computer for a twenty-first century child

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On March 13, last year, The Guardian of London reported that after 244 years and seven million copies sold, the legendary Encyclopaedia Britannica will no longer publish printed issues. It will release all future copies in e-form. Some of us who grew up with the lovely printed volumes felt a sense of loss on hearing the news, but had to agree that it made sense. Britannia is altering course to head where the march of progress and civilization was leading. This year’s JAMB examination was done on the computerized format. The signs that the digital direction is the way to the future are everywhere and plain for all to see. The PDP ran this state for seven and a half years and they couldn’t figure out a thing as simple as computerizing salary payments. Certainly computer tablets were for them a class item for the really high-up and it could never have crossed their minds to employ it in public education. Ayo and his bunch are just being motivated by envy and bitterness - like pugnacious lemmings!

I just hope this Opon Imo has a data-link for internet connections. If it is not, the state government should please go ahead and prepare for version two that will have such capabilities. India is mass-producing computer tablets for their school children, keeping them at the very edge of the march of learning while some pseudo-analysts here need explanation on why our children should use computers. Today, Americans outsouce a lot of their programming jobs to Indians. In my days of the Bola Ige education, India was in economic chaos much like today’s Nigeria.

They offloaded themselves into exile all over the world and some of them found jobs in my school as teachers. We laughed endlessly at them as people who were sold to the superstition of gurus and talisman and amused ourselves with their spongy accents. Today if you need first-line programmers and mathematicians, India is where to look. Why, because they looked up and engaged the future.

Mark this, for you can take it to the bank: in five years, kids from Osun State will be set apart because of the depth and breadth of their learning and many other states will be head-over-heels trying to copy the e-learning model this far-seeing governor of Osun State has commenced.

Apparently, Ayo and his PDP crowd would have been more at peace with kids using chalk and black slates because there is no electricity for computers. They are people who will buy handheld phones for a hundred thousand bucks and squirm at a government spending N57,000 on a computer for a twenty-first century child. Well, maybe they are sincerely stunned and can’t figure out how such a thing can be done in a state that is 34th on federal allocation receipts. But Osun manages its resources judiciously and it is not in the list of CBN’s bad-debt states.

Check up with the Debt Management Office in Abuja whose job is to ensure that no state borrows beyond what it can possibly pay back in the light of its IGR and allocations from the federation accounts. They will smile and tell you that all those talks of Aregbesola borrowing N280 billion are wild inventions of flagrant liars. You will need a consortium of banks and months of talks that will ignite serious public debate to raise that sort of cash.

Osun only raised a long-term facility of N22 billion in the form of bonds through the capital market, which is a healthy thing in public finance. If you borrow on a long-term basis for specific value-adding development projects like Osun State has done, by the time you have to start repaying, you would have grown your economy and IGR so your debts have become cheaper and mush easier to pay.

You have edged against it through development, despite the interest rates. That is what Osun State is doing and it agrees with development economics anywhere in the world.

Thank God Osun has been delivered from people Ayo fronts for and given to a man who believes in forging ahead against all odds. Like Martin Luthers exhorted with the words: “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Did you read last week that Osun State now has the lowest unemployment figure of all Nigeria’s states, courtesy of the Aregbesola Administration? The National Bureau of Statistics in Abuja said so.

Aregbesola is not crawling. Indeed, he is flying with Osun State.

•Ogunlela lives in Lagos

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INTRO Last week, we brought you a very revealing interview package of Nigerian soccer legend SEGUN ODEGBAMI. The reactions to the interview from football followers were overwhelming; especially the older fans that actually saw him play for Shooting Stars as well as the Green Eagles.

Today, we again go down memory lane with the ‘MATHEMATICAL’ as he reveals those innermost secrets you have never been privileged to read anywhere else before; they include his biggest, glorious moments as well as his most challenging times in his football career as well as life outside of football. To know far more about Segun Odegbami you can get his recently launched book: ME, FOOTBALL AND MORE, recently launched

by Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola

out of Ibadan —Odegbami

“I resigned from the team and I left and some people out of the supporters group felt so angry and organised themselves, cut off the light in my house and went to my restaurant, burnt part of it, stole what they needed to steal, stole even from my house and all that. When I saw that it was getting to that stage, the Police Commissioner at that time in Oyo State invited me to the office and he said my life was not safe that I should leave town”

Inside The

Glass House WITH AMINU MAIGARI

By

Harry Iwuala

with

Tony Akhigbe PAGE 36

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Meet the Ogunjobi of golf

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•Garcia

OU all know Taiwo Ogunjobi. As a footballer, he played his heart out for Shooting Stars of Ibadan. He played a big role in the national team. After all those years of great activities, he moved on to be something significant in the nation's football house, which they foolishly call the Glass House. In all truth, Taiwo Ogunjobi, a defence Trojan of his time, has paid his football dues and he will forever be in reckoning so far as Nigerian football is the topic..

But that is not the story. You can now hear the story. Taiwo Ogunjobi has an elder brother, Eng. Iyiola Ogunjobi. The elder Ogunjobi was an athlete and he did his bit for the nation, running on the tracks. Bad enough, he has dumped athletics.

He just picked up golf. Not such a cool golf, if you ask anyone.

He plays off some 21 Handicap, such huge figure that could make you wince at him and boldly ask him what he was looking for on the golf course in the first place. Well, let's open up the secret. Even though Iyiola Ogunjobi didn't get what he wanted in golf as per reduced Handicap, he got something more than huge play. He got the true route to 'golf rules' the most defining element of the golf game.

At this point, I must take you back some holes. The golf game is the noblest game on earth. You don't need a referee like the one that wouldn't see a Lampard goal crossing the line in a World Cup game. Golf is extra-ordinary. You mark your own card. You are your own arbiter and you dare not cheat.

But this is where the whole thing is so worrisome. The game packs so much rules you will be in thought forever and still you will be laying fouls to those rules. The rules are so complicated. A little error, and you lose strokes that could cost you the world. Worst still, you don't even know you are committing those abuses until after your game when you are being told you have infringed in certain holes. Worst still, those rules change like you change your clothes. To them all, I mean the rules, you have to act like a demon and indeed be one. You have to sacrifice all your time to move with the rule tides and get them imbibed in you. This is golf. And without the rules there will be no golf. At this point it is clear that it will take someone with a lion's heart to go learn the rules of golf and interpret them properly. It could be interesting.

Like his younger brother, Taiwo, who remains a hero in the nation’s football, Eng. Iyiola decided to take the bull by the horn. He would dare move where all other golfers run from.

He wanted to learn the golf rules, like the Senate President, David Mark, learnt it for years, with a promise to pass it on to all golfers in Nigeria. He did and he won. Till date, Eniola Ogunjobi remains the only Nigerian who passed through the Royal and Ancient of Scotland, the world body ruling golf, scrutinized rules examination held at the Windsor Golf Resort in Kenya. This automatically earns him the "Amoofin of Golf" in Nigeria. He does this very well for his local club, the Ibadan Golf Club where he is ruling as the Chairman, Rules and Etiquette Committee. He has served same club as Secretary between 2009-2011.

Hear Eniola Ogunjobi, the 'Amofin of Golf': "Golf is huge. I was an athlete and I represented this nation before coming to golf. Golf fulfills everything. Whatever you do in the game, you see instantly. You can't cheat. You dare not, even though you score yourself. But there is usually some disagreement on the course. This has to do with the rules guiding the game. I saw this and I decided to get full knowledge to curb disagreements on course over golf rules. I went through the big way, the R&A, the world body running the game, at my own cost, just to learn what the rules are all about. I am happy I sustained such course and I am happy I can apply such knowledge to courses across the country. Golfers go through deadlock over rules but once I’m called upon, such deadlock ceases to exist. The call me the 'Amofin of Golf', and as such they are bound to take to my rulings which must be just.

"But I must tell you that the rules guiding golf are so complex. Nobody can know it all. That is why those rules change from year to year and clubs are allowed to have local rules. There are still more rules I must know about but I have to be in golf inter-national conferences to know this. It costs money to move around. I won't complain. I will spare whatever resources just to get the best for Nigerian golf. I am happy to be the 'Amofin of Golf in Nigeria.”

Manassero birdies first six holes in Sweden

•Taiwo Ogunjobi

SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

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With KAYODE ALFRED

THE NATION SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

E-mail:kayflex2@yahoo.com

TEL:08035733605

THE NATION SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

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TEL:08035733605

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Issa’s designer quits label

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SSA’s designer Daniella Helayel, who catapulted to international fame when Kate Middleton wore one of her trademark jersey dresses to the royal engagement announcement in 2010, has left the label she founded. According to WWD, her parting was not entirely amicable: She reportedly wasn’t getting along with majority shareholder Camilla Al Fayed (daughter of former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed) who acquired 51 per cent of the company two years ago with the intention of expanding the label worldwide. Helayel released the following statement: The time has come for me to move on to focus on my art, travel and other interests. Creating Issa has been one of the most rewarding things in my life. I may be leaving, but the Issa girl will live forever in my heart.

Balenciaga’s new bag

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ALENCIAGA’s new bag is bold and versatile. With a soft shape, a bright blue calfskin colour and an S curve cut-closure, Balenciaga’s Tube S bag is both eyecatching and functional. It’s perfect for walking the city’s streets, equally right slung on the shoulder.

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THE NATION SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Biola

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

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RY as I could, I was unable to dissuade Jake from going after Grace. I was so mad at him that by the time I dropped him at his house, I could barely speak to him.

But he ignored my dark mood and was his usual ebullient self.

“My mum’s birthday is in two weeks. My father is organising a party for her. I will be expecting you,” he said.

Normally, I would have been more than happy to attend a party at his family home. But I was still too upset with him then to think of going.

“I’m not sure I can make it. I will be in Ibadan then on business,” I stated curtly.

“Well, try to return early so you can attend as my mum has been asking after you. Besides, “ he added as he got down from the car, “There’s somebody I want you to meet you.

A lovely flower I bet you will like to pluck,” he said, laughing as he walked away towards the house.

Thing is, I was not interested in any flower. It was Grace I wanted, that I longed for. But from all indications, Jake had beaten me to her. What could I do? No matter how mad I was with him, I just could not bring myself to start a fight with him over her. So, I decided to put her out of my mind.

But it was easier said than done.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not get her out of my thoughts. Some days later, I found myself heading for her sister’s shop. It wasn’t for any serious business with Madam Betty.

I just wanted to see Grace and maybe talk to her.

Grace was no where in sight when I got there. Her sister was absent as well.

“She didn’t come to the shop today. Madam sent her to see one of our customers at Ikeja,” a sales girl told me. I felt disappointed as I so much wanted to see her.

“Tell her to call me on this number when she returns,” I stated, dropping my office number with her. This was in the early days of the introduction of GSM in the country when not many people had mobile phones. I waited a few days and when she did not call, I felt deflated.

Meanwhile, I did not see Jake for sometime after our argument over Grace. Then a few days before his mum’s party, I ran into him at the office canteen.

He had finished his lunch and was on his way out. With him was a young lady I had not seen before.

“Conny, this is my best friend Ray,” he introduced us. He did not explain who she was but from the manner he was holding her by the waist, I suspected she was one of his numerous girlfriends.

We stood chatting for a while then parted. He reminded me again about the party, stating that everyone in the family was expecting him.

Though my anger and resentment against him had cooled down, I had still not made up my mind about going to the party. The trip to Ibadan that had been planned for that weekend had been postponed by my boss.

So, I did not have any serious commitments that could keep me away.

Besides, I thought about all the love and affection as well as the help Jake’s parents had given me over the years.

‘I will look like an ungrateful person if I don’t go,’ I thought.

So, I attended the party.

Looking back now, if I had known what would follow as a result of going to that party, I would have stayed away. But I’m getting ahead of my story so I will stay on track.

Pleasant surprise

I bought a gift for the celebrant and after I had given it to her and congratulated her on attaining the ripe age of 60, I went to seek out Jake. He was in the midst of a group of ladies, chatting and holding court like a Prince.

I stood watching for a while, smiling wryly to myself.

‘Playa. He will never change,’ I thought.

He saw me then and hurried over.

“Ray! Where were you? I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he exclaimed, clapping me on the shoul-

Crime of passion (2)

der.

“It didn’t look that way a while ago,” I retorted, my eyes going in the direction of the girls who seemed to be waiting impatiently for his return.

“Oh, that!” he stated with a grin.

“You know the ladies won’t just let me rest.”

Then taking my hand, he said: “Come. Someone wants to see you.”

I followed him to one of the tables where a couple of ladies sat.

I recognized Nelly, a cousin of Jake.

I was wondering if she was the mystery person when the other lady turned towards us.

My heart raced at the sight. It was Grace!

“What are you doing here?” I exclaimed when I got over my surprise.

She glanced up at Jake, her eyes shining.

“I invited her,” Jake said. A look passed between them then he said: “There are some very impatient ladies waiting for me over there. So, I will leave you two for a while.

Nelly, come with me,” and he grabbed his cousin’s hand and dragged her away.

I sat down, feeling confused and a bit foolish.

“What’s going on?” I finally asked Grace. If Jake invited her, he should be with her. Why was he throwing us together like this...

The mystery was solved a short while later.

Grace who had been silently watching me, a little smile playing around her lips, finally spoke.

“This place is a bit noisy. Why don’t we go somewhere quieter?”

The party was being held in the large courtyard of the house. We

went outside the compound and sat in my car.

It was there she told me the whole story. Jake, she stated had told her about my interest in her.

“It was a few days after you came to the shop with him. He came to see me and said you liked me a lot. But because of your reticent nature, you might not open up about your feelings for me. He wanted to know if I liked you too. When I told him how I felt about you, he now worked out a plan.”

The party, he said would be the ideal setting to meet. “So, he insisted I must come and he would make sure you came as well,” she added, smiling at me.

I could not believe what I was hearing. Here was I nearly going crazy with the thought that Jake had snatched her from me. Yet, he was going to all that trouble for my sake!

‘That rascal! I will deal with him today!’ I thought.

But there was no anger in me. Instead, I felt relief and gratitude towards the good friend who had brought my love to me.

I took Grace’s hand and drew her to me, holding her in my arms for the first time.

From that moment on, I began to enjoy the party more. I danced with Grace several times and a couple of other female guests but she was the one I wanted to be with all the time.

“I see you two love birds have sorted out your differences,” Jake said sometime later. I had been sitting down, enjoying a cool drink when he suddenly appeared at my side. This time, there were girls hanging onto him. Grace had gone to chat with a guest she knew from school.

I turned to him. He must have seen

‘

It was a few days after you came to the shop with him. He came to see me and said you liked me a lot. But because of your reticent nature, you might not open up about your feelings for me. He wanted to know if I liked you too. When I told him how I felt about you, he now worked out a plan

,

the look of gratitude in my eyes for he quickly said: “Don’t bother thanking me. What are friends for?”

“But you never even gave a hint of what you were planning. And I was so angry with you, thinking...” I said.

“I know. You thought I was interested in her. Actually I was initially.

But when I saw the way you were looking at her that day at the shop with love-sick eyes, I had to back out.

Besides, I have too many women in my life already. Why complicate my life more?” he stated with a grin.

“But you insisted that day that you were going to get her. Why?” He shrugged.

“I did that to fire you up, so you can make a move for her. But knowing you and how you can be about these things, I decided to take matters into my hands before someone else gets her. I’m glad things worked out for you,” he stated.

“Thanks all the same,” I said, meaning every word.

“Yeah. We are best friends and brothers for life, aren’t we? Friends should look out for each other, my old man often says. I like Grace but our friendship means more to me. I can’t allow it to be destroyed because of a woman!”

Happy times

That was how my relationship with Grace began. She went back to school after the holidays. Due to a strike by the lecturers, she had to spend an extra semester in school before graduating. But we kept in touch through phone. Once in a while, I would also visit her in school. With time, I got to meet her parents and I introduced her to mine as well. Seeing the love we had for each other, most people who knew us expected we would end up at the altar. They were not wrong for I was already thinking about marrying her when she graduated.

Such plans were however put on hold when Grace decided to go back to school for a Masters degree after the youth service programme.

I was not too keen on it as I was so anxious to make her my wife.

“It’s only for a short while sweetheart. Soon we will be together again and nothing can separate us then,” she pointed out when I raised objec-

tions about her going back to school.

I backed down then.

A few years later, we got married at the completion of the programme.

It was a happy time for us. To add to our joy, Grace gave birth to a baby boy about a year after our wedding.

I named him Robert, which was Jake’s middle name. He felt touched at my gesture.

“You could have named him after your dad or even one of your ancestors. Why me?” he queried.

It was a few days after the naming ceremony and I had gone to thank his parents for the wonderful gift they had sent the baby. We were sitting in the living room upstairs while his parents were downstairs with some visitors.

“You deserve the honour. Without you, all this would not have been possible. Grace and I might not be together today,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, you are right. You are a real Baba go-slow when it comes to women matters. You find it so difficult ‘toasting’ them. Were you a monk or something in your previous life?” he stated teasingly.

“You dey crase! Na you be monk!”

I fired back.

“Ha ha! Me, monk? You know I will make a terrible priest. I will cause so much havoc among the female folk that I would be derobed in a short time!”

We both laughed at that.

Grace and I had just marked our fourth wedding anniversary when my boss called me into his office one day. We had just returned from a trip to the East to assess the sales of our company’s products in the region.

Thinking he needed the report he had instructed me to work on, I took the file along.

“Congratulations, Ray! You are now a full sales Manager!” he announced as soon as I stepped into his office.

I stood, simply gaping at him, too stunned to speak.

“Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

You’ve worked hard for it,” the man said, smiling genially at me.

“Here’s the letter of promotion.

There’s something else, though as you will see from the letter,” he said, offering it to me.

I opened the letter eagerly, a feeling of euphoria washing over me.

Then as I continued to read, my joy at my promotion was replaced by utter disbelief, then shock...

•To be continued •What was in the letter that so shocked Ray? The mystery will be revealed next Saturday so don’t forget to book a copy of your favorite The Nation on Saturday!

•Have a great weekend, everyone!

•Names have been changed to protect the narrator’s identity.

•Send comments/suggestions to 08023201831(sms only) or psaduwa@yahoo.com

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

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In my own case, all sides kept to the agreement. I was to attend a presentation for my prize. I did and I was given the prize. There was no clause that I must make a commitment. When going for that deal or freebie that looks harmless in Dubai, one must have it at the back of one’s mind that there is no free launch in Dubai

D

UBAI, the paradise in the gulf desert, has become a kind of a second home to many Nigerians. Thanks to the liberal visa regime by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), thousands of Nigerians troop there daily for business, leisure and conferences. Like any other country that Nigerians found themselves in, the normal character trait of Nigerians: loudness in everything they do.

F

Outside the Nigerian tourist visitors, thousands of Nigerians permanently live in Dubai, most especially the Deira area. One would see them in every corner doing one form of business or the other.

Because of these, many business organizations in Dubai have come to see Nigerians as an easy source of making money and as such ambush Nigerians arriving Dubai with juicy mouthwatering proposals all in a

bid to rob the naive of their money.

Early last month, on arrival at the Dubai International Airport, I was ambushed by one of these groups. As early as about 3:00am, Dubai time, when we arrived, these groups were at their stands at the airport. One of them, Emirates Vacation Club, approached me, offering a desert safari, a dhow cruise and a city tour of Dubai, all for free.

But I was expected to do a simple thing in returncome a for a tour of their hotel facility and that then I will be entitled to any of these gifts. I had had an experience of desert safari, even though I’ve not gone on a city tour of Dubai.

I had salivated at the idea of going on a dhow cruise.

The dhows are traditional boats that ply the Dubai water that separates the Bur Dubai area from the Deira.

In my other trips to Dubai,

Tourism News

OR tourism to contribute meaningfully to the eco nomic development of the nation, there is urgent need to expand the domestic market by creating linkages within Nigeria and the neighbouring countries, including East of Africa.

The Chairman, Tourism Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Larry Segun-Lean, who made this remark, said tourism would also promote the cultural heritage by using destination, marketing plan and operation, as well as providing opportunity for investors and other stakeholders in the industry.

“We have to create linkages, destinations in the country.All the hotels and restaurants at the moment work independent of one another, but we need to bring everybody together so that when a visitor comes whether from within or out-

I had often seen them at night in their shining lights, cruising on the water and one could hear the oriental music playing as those on board dined. I wanted to experience it. So, I filled the form given to me and promised to call them after securing a mobile phone line to fix an appointment. I did that, but the story changed.

After my initial contact with the person that introduced me to the programme, I was handed over to a lady who told me she was from Mauritius, and kept on calling my her brother. It was no longer a tour of the hotel, but I was supposed to sit down for a one-and-half-hour presentation at their headquarters located at Sheik Zayed Road.

Even though that was not the initial agreement as I was only told of a tour of a hotel, I decided to play along instead of losing the chance to go on a dhow cruise.

I arrived at their office, I think, on the 21st floor of the skyscraper and my ‘lecturer’ was a Nigerian who decided to migrate from London to Dubia after his schooling. I was made very comfortable, offered good refreshment and so on.

Then, down to business.

The person making the presentation asked me some questions on my vacation habit, where I had travelled

‘Development of domestic tourism ‘ll boost economy’

From left: Segun-Lean, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye and Mrs Ladi Dakwo of NIHOTOURS thereby spending more money,” Segun-Lean Ambrose NNAJI said.

He said it was the responsibility of the govside Nigeria, the person knows what to see, where to ernment to provide the amenities, including go and spend more time and marketing orientation for cultural sites and

monuments, as well as the promotion of cultural brands.

Speaking with The Nation during the PreCentenary Celebration Lecture in Lagos, Segun-Lean challenged the government and other stakeholders to take full advantage of the use of the new technology in promoting cultural tourism by generating specific information that would give accurate description of cultural monuments, events, facilities, services and resources as obtainable in every part of the country.

This, he said, would intensify awareness of how valuable cultural tourism is to the economy, believing it would promote understanding of cultural offer of a destination and meaning to the tourist, adding that cultural association and destination management organizations would value location, hospitality, attraction and distinction of the cultural sites.

The theme of the lecture, which was “Promoting Cultural Tourism in Nigeria: The Past, Present and the Future”, is expected to critically analyse cultural tourism in Nigeria in the past one hundred years with a view

’

to for vacation and the average cost of my family vacation annually. He told me that Emirates Vacation Club had an offer me whereby I would be part owner of their hotel, Emirates Hotels, for 97 years.

Breaking it down further, he said the Emirates Vacation Club would be selling to people part ownership of their hotel.

With the payment of S35,000 dollars, one would be a part owner of the hotel and free to spend a one-week vacation annually at the hotel. The deal would be for 97 years.

To reinforce what they were selling, I was taken to the balcony and shown the tall Emirates Hotel that they were selling out. I was supposed to go and inspect the hotel. But it was not the S35,000 dollars deal that they were offering me, the club was even ready to given a discount if I could pay cash there and then. In other words, if I could cough up the cash there and then, I would be given a discount which would reduce the total amount I was to pay to about 25,000 dollars.

Around me were many other individuals and couples being sold the same idea and being urged to make a commit-

to charting a new course for the industry in the future.

Segu-Lean, who called for collaboration of leadership in the sub-sector, maintained that culture, if well harnessed, could change perception of a place and contribute meaningfully to the economic growth of the nation.

The President of the chamber, Goddie Ibru, said government must put in strong measures to bring a lasting solution to the socioeconomic and political problems in the country, including insecurity, inadequate infrastructure and harsh business environment to enhance tourism development.

He further said transportation and technology are part of challenges that directly impact on the tourism industry which the government must address with urgent attention.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013 ment.

Unfortunately for my ‘lecturer’, I was not having up to 700 dollars, and I did not intend to part with it.

So, I came up with an idea.

I told the vacation club staff that I was interested in the deal, and I was ready to invest in the hotel property.

But I told him I wanted to go back to my hotel and think through the offer. The amount involved was huge, and, as a policy, I didn’t make on the spot commitment without going to think over it. He was not satisfied.

He started re-explaining the whole concept to me, asking if there was anything he was supposed to explain or any area that I didn’t understand. I told him no, that it was my personal policy not to make on the spot commitment without having time to think it over.

When he discovered I was not bringing out a cheque book to make a commitment,he went in and called his chain-smoking immediate supervisor who said he was from Lebanon. He came and started all over again, all in a bid to get a firm commitment from me. He told me he was familiar with Lagos, and when I asked him where he stayed in

Lagos, he replied Banana Island. I stuck to my gun.

He then threw the last dice. He told me that he would want to help me and that what would happen was that even if I was not having up to the amount that they were demanding, I should just deposit whatever I had and he would talk to his management to give me a weaver. That did not move me.

That was when they knew that I was what, in the Nigerian parlance, we would call bad market. Reluctantly, they gave up on me and told me to go to the reception to wait so that my gift voucher would be prepared. That was what I was after. The Emirates Vacation Club was so disappointed with my no-show. I later collected my gift voucher and left.

Of course, I went for the dhow cruise, but that is a story for another day.

Emirates Vacation Club and others like them that many Nigerians see at the Dubai International Airport are legitimate travel organizations, operating in Dubai doing legitimate business, but Nigerian travellers should be weary of their aggressive marketing drive in their effort to sell.

Nobody would be arrested or penalised for not entering into a deal he is not comfortable with in Dubai, but breaching a validly entered agreement may attract sanctions, hence the need not to allow these marketers to force one to make commitments one is not pleasantly disposed to.

For visitors to Dubai, there are many mouth-watering offers, but one should always bear it in mind that these are shrewd business- men who want to make profits.

In my own case, all sides kept to the agreement. I was to attend a presentation for my prize. I did and I was given the prize. There was no clause that I must make a commitment. When going for that deal or freebie that looks harmless in Dubai, one must have it at the back of one’s mind that there is no free launch in Dubai.

•From left: Cliff Shirizinodya, Deputy General Manager, Southern Sun, Ikoyi; Richard Sargos, Commercial Manager, ORYX; Randy Buday, Managing Director, DHL, Nigeria; and Mark, General Manager, Southern Sun, Ikoyi at the Southern Sun Quarterly Cocktail

NCPC gears up for 2013 pilgrimage

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HE Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) and the state Christian Pilgrim Welfare Boards have begun earnest preparation for the 2013 Christian pilgrimage exercise.

The members of the NCPC board and the state chairmen and secretaries of the Christian Pilgrim Welfare Boards across the country converged for a previsit to Israel, Rome and Greece for the inspection of hotels, facilities and biblical sites as well as bid opening and evaluation for interested ground handlers who had earlier submitted their bids for 2013 pilgrimage exercise.

In his welcome address at the Marada Suites, Matanya, Israel, where the chairmen and secretaries were lodged, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican

Communion), who is also the Chairman of the NCPC Board, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh thanked God for the safe trip he granted all delegates who had come from different states.

He urged the NCPC board members, staff and delegates of the CPWBs to carefully inspect the hotels that would be visited in order to ensure that Nigerian pilgrims are given the best.

The NCPC chairman carefully spelt out the bench- mark and the prerequisitie for the hotel inspection and advised the delegates not to compromise standards because, according to him, “we want to be sure that the hotels are well checked.”

‘International tourism receipts grew by four per cent in 2012’

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ECEIPTS from international tourism in destinations around the world grew by four per cent in 2012 , reaching US$ 1075 billion. This growth is equal to the four per cent increase in international tourist arrivals which reached 1035 million in 2012.

An additional US$ 219 billion was recorded in receipts from international passenger transport, bringing total exports generated by international tourism in 2012 to US$ 1.3 trillion.

According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourism receipts hit a new record in 2012, reaching an estimated US$ 1075 billion (euro 837 billion) worldwide, up 4% in real terms, from US$ 1042 billion (euro 749 billion) in 2011.

“It is encouraging to see that the growth in international tourist ar-

Hadur announces packages

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ADUR Travel and Tour has announced its latest pack ages for the second quarter of 2013. The tour operating company has received the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission(NCPC) private tour operator licence which authorises the company to take pilgrims on holy pilgrimage. .

According to the company’s chief executive, Mrs. Olufunke Taiwo, “busy executives longing to visit Israel to fulfil a lifelong dream and enrich their spiritual lives now have a great opening to realize their dreams” She said her company has a five-day low cost Jerusalem pilgrimage. It started in March and targeted at giving all potential as well as existing clients of the firms with busy work schedules who desire to explore the holy land the opportunity to do so.

Taiwo also said Hadur was into agro tours. He said: “Our first business tour for 2013 was an agro study tour of Songhai farm in Port Novo in February. It was followed by the budget tour. Other exciting trips to delight our customers include August budget pilgrimage to important holy sites in Israel spiced with leisure and October Rome / Israel package.”

•Western Jerusalem

Suntan Beach agog as LG chair hosts the less-privileged on Children’s Day

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HE chairman of the Badagry West Local Council Development Area, Hon. Joseph Hontoyon Bamgbose, has dedicated himself and the local government to the welfare of the mentally challenged and the motherless children at this year’s Children’s Day celebration.

The chairman, who treated the children of Lady Atinuke Oyindamola Memorial Home for the mentally challenged and Hephzibah Orphanage Home, both in Araromi and Opeyemi areas of the local government area respectively, at the popular Suntan Beach to a musical and special meal ,said all children were created by the same God and must be treated same way by the government, irrespective of their challenges.

The chairman, apart from providing free transportation for the children, also organized a musical splash tagged “Suntan Beach Children’s Day Musical Splash.”

Speaking during the celebration, the director of Konitrex Limited, the organizer of the programme, Mr. Kennedy James, said since the establishment of the resort about 13 years ago, none of the council chairmen had done such in the life of the less-privileged children in the Badagry area.

He said: “For the first time in the history of Children’s Day celebration in the Badagry area of Lagos State, the less- privileged were able to meet with other children of the opposite condition which gave them a sense of belonging.”

Mr. James appealed to private organizations and philanthropists to assist the less-privileged children in the two homes, particularly in the provision of medical facilities and transportation to enable them attend national and local events.

He charged the children to see life as a challenge which must be tackled with all it deserved to make greatness out of depression.

The administrators of the two homes, Mrs. Atinuke Oyindamola of Lady Atinuke Oyindamola Memorial Home and Miss Eka Konsit of Hephzibah Orphanage Home commended the chairman for sponsoring the programme, particularly to have specially treated the children of the homes uniquely.

Both administrators and social workers appealed to the government to consider the plight of children in such situation and help the homes in the areas of infrastructure and regular medical attention.

They also called on private organizations and government agencies to come to the assistance of the less-privileged.

ABTA hosts business travel forum in Lagos

D

•Taleb Rifai rivals was equalled by a comparable increase in spending in spite of continued economic challenges” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

ELEGATES from all over the country will be visiting Lagos on June 11 for the ABTA Business Travel Executive Forum and Cocktail Reception being hosted at The Wheatbaker Hotel.

This event is aimed at companies who send staff on business travel throughout Africa and across the globe, as well as the region’s leading TMCs, travel agents, airlines, hotels, travel press and more.

The event will feature keynote sessions delivered by the country’s foremost experts on business travel, addressing the current trends, challenges and opportunities within the West African airline industry, practical solutions for day-to-day difficulties faced when moving travellers around Africa, updates on the business travel best practice in other African hubs and a roundtable open industry discussion on supplier and customer relationship management.

The event will end with a Networking Cocktail Reception hosted

by The Wheatbaker Hotel.

“We are extremely excited to be visiting Lagos again in June,” said ABTA founder, Monique Swart. “This region is always so extremely vibrant, pulsing with opportunities, and we are looking forward to providing some high-class educational contents and networking opportunities to assist local industry professionals in keeping their finger on the pulse of the Nigerian business travel industry.”

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THE NATION SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

I relax by going to church because the atmosphere calms me

-Renowned pharmacist Akin Soyoye Segun AJIBOYE

EXECUTIVE LEISURE

Soyoye

My bumpy road to stardom - Igbo

gospel singer Onumaegbu

When it comes to Igbo gospel music, the name Rosemary Chukwu Onumaegbu, readily comes to mind. In her kitty, you would find 14 albums and recognitions which make her happy. In a chat with YETUNDE OLADEINDE, she talks about the bumpy road to fame.

FORTUNE& I

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THE NATION SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

‘ ’

Soyoye

‘

Onumaegbu

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FAMIL Y HEAL TH AMILY HEALTH

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Family government

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Dear Reader, With great joy and happiness, I bring God’s Word your way today. I want you to be rest assured that God is going to visit you this month. All through this month, via the Word of God, I will be sharing with you, Family Government.

A family is a group of people affiliated by blood or marriage.

It is the nucleus of the Church and a nation. It is the fundamental social group in a society, typically consisting of a man and woman (known as husband and wife) and their offspring.

The family can be likened to an organization involving two or more people, having certain rules controlling it. Family affairs must be directed and controlled by the individuals involved, or else there will be chaos and lack of peace.

However, the individuals concerned have different roles and duties to carry out. Ignorance of this, is one of the reasons why most families lack success and fulfillment.

This month, I will be teaching on the various responsibilities and duties that are to be discharged, by the individuals involved in the family government. This week, I will like to begin by discussing the responsibilities of the man.

The man is the head and leader of the family. He can be likened to the “President” in his own family government.

Ephesians 5:23 says: For the husband is the head of the wife, eve as Christ is the head of the Church: and He is the Saviour of the body. As the head, you are leader. Just as most of the blessings of successful leadership are first poured on you, so also, the blame and consequence of an unsuccessful leadership, will first and foremost be suffered by you. God sees you as the overall head of the family, and will hold you responsible

Health Matters With DR MIKE OYAKHIRE 08170268670 email: drmikeoyakhire@yahoo.com PERHAPS as a result the tormenting whiplash of world economies, the world population of street children is on the increase. The situation is worse in some developing countries where religion and culture are structured in such a way as to celebrate early marriage, polygamy and polyandry ,and where majority of people impugn any suggestions about family planning. In fact, it is well documented that in some parts of Nigeria, certain tribes have completely shunned all aspects of medical advice, especially advice dwelling on the unpredictable dangers of any woman having children in excess of five ,and into old age. In these tribes there is strong support and encouragement for elaborate celebrations of parity , during which chieftaincy titles are bestowed on women who have had up to ten children and even more.

When children decide to leave the protection of parents and guardian to become street children, they are often unaware of the dangers they face, and may be persistently encouraged by peer groups, either from the school or neighborhood. On the other hand ignorance, confused religious background and lack of education all orchestrate to blind such children to the understanding that freedom, no matter how sweet, comes with a huge price. At times some children simply walk out from homes without any one bothering to do any thing, Parents, guardian and the children themselves are ill prepared for the medical consequences associated with life

as street children, and the realization comes too late, perhaps in adulthood that concerning infectious diseases, once contracted, the child either succumbs within a short while or spends the rest of his life as a burden, sometimes endangering the lives of others. Children of today are very different from those of the recent past, and of course we don't know what pattern of behavior to expect of children of tomorrow, but we can predict adult behavioral patterns from what is seen in today's children. Children in the rural areas in the past were less mobile and more God fearing, but with the emergence of the internet, many of them are now face booking and the difference between street children in rural settings and those in cities has narrowed. Two major issues worthy of consideration are extreme poverty and hunger, recognized in goal six of the MDGS. Long term solutions to majority of the social problems facing us today can be found by honestly and conscientiously looking at how we came to have a high proprtion of street children comparable to India. In doing so let us not forget that recently Nigeria was rated top as the worst place on earth to be born. Whatever the indices, the basic and elementary prescription of good Christianity should moderate our thinking. Given that it is difficult to monitor every born child from infancy through adolescence to adulthood, the question remains whether as parents, uncles, aunties, guardian, school heads, teachers, governments and churches, we have done what is humanly possible to keep children in good health with regards to their physical, social, mental and educational

for anything that goes wrong in your family government.

This is clear as accounted in Genesis 2:22, when God brought Eve to Adam. In fact, it was Adam that named his wife Eve, but he failed in discharging his duties as the head and leader of his family in Genesis 2:16. Consequently, he suffered dethronement in Genesis 2:23.

If your family fails, it is your fault, and you are the one that God will question. It was Adam that God called upon, not Eve, not the devil, even when God knew that it was the devil that had deceived Eve! God has committed the government of your home into your hands and therefore, He holds you responsible. You will not make the mistake which Adam made, in Jesus’ name!

One major key that guarantees successful leadership, as the head of your family, is the key of LOVE. That same scripture in Ephesians 5:25 says: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it… and verses 27-33 says: So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church … Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself…

As a woman, let me tell you one secret: no woman hates to be loved. When you demonstrate your love to your wife, you will be able to govern your house with ease. This love is demonstrated in words and actions, irrespective of the weaknesses of the other members of your family involved. Your love should provoke you to honour your wife.

God’s Word in I Peter 3:7 says: Likewise, ye husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that you prayers be not hindered. Honour, in this sense, means caring for her, providing financially and materially for her. Your role as the leader is not that of being selfish, maltreating, humiliating and beating your wife.

As a father to your children, you are responsible for their training, in conjunction with your wife. Many men push this responsibility to their wives. It is supposed to be jointly done, with you as the man playing the role of training your children to grow in the fear of the Lord, like Jonadad did in Jeremiah

35:14, 18-19. You will definitely partake of whatever your child becomes in future, whether good or bad.

Therefore, your office as the head and leader in the family government, is not that of a ‘dictator’’ or ‘oppressor’ but that of living up to the responsibilities of loving and providing for the welfare of your family as commanded by God. You are the driver of the vehicle of your family. You occupy a strategic position that can influence and determine what the lives of all the other members of your family will be like. You must live up to this expectation, so that God will not regret making you the head of your home!

God is the author of family and your efforts outside His help will be tasking, except you accept Him through His Son Jesus Christ and become born again. Being born again opens you up to God’s help. He, alone, will release unto you the knowledge and wisdom from an understanding of His Word that will guarantee your success as a leader of your family government.

If you will like to be born again now, please say this prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. I cannot help myself. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with Your blood. Deliver me from sin and satan, to serve the living God. I believe You died for me and on the third day, You rose that I might be justified. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom”.

Congratulations, you are now born again! I believe that you will begin to experience the reality of the price that Jesus paid for your sins at Calvary. All-round rest and peace are guaranteed you, in Jesus’ Name!

Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through: E-mail: faithdavid@yahoo.com Tel. No: 07026385437; 07094254102 For more insight, these books authored by Pastor Faith Oyedepo are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Making Marriage Work, Marriage Covenant, Building A Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored)

Pediatrics and child health; in focus:

Children of the street and children on the street

well being. The social aspect has to do with religion and we also need to examine how well we have obeyed the religious injunction-" love one another, do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

As a child, occasions meant much to me especially those that involved educational activities. Unlike what obtains today, children were kept very busy. there were quiz contests(schools challenge), and I recall with nostalgia, the musical voice of Mr. Allison Mesango, of the then Bendel

state quiz Board, announcing the schools and names of participating students to herald the commencement of contests.

There were literary and debating societies and we were challenged to recite off hand certain portions of such juicy novel s as "The merchant of Venice", "Macbeth" "The Lion and the Jewel", "Weep not Child", "The Concubine", Things fall apart" "No longer at ease" and very many others… What ever new book came out in any of the sciences we had to quickly read up so we could be in stronger academic balance to debate.

Children's days were celebrated with some forms of academic activities; children were placed in groups to take part in role plays, drama

"this earth my brother" to the Common prayer book and for a very long period struggled to meaning out of it.

Though I was later to win other much cherished novels including the ones written by wole Soyinka, Elechi Amadi, Vincent Ike and a very beautiful one by Onaiwu Osahon, I recall that the novel- This Earth my brother helped me, as a child to think in terms of deductions, innuendos ,and the abstract . Together with my common prayer book and the Holy Bible I had enough tangible tools for brain exercise.

That way I was in a better position to appreciate psychic conflicts, internal and external, and to decide for my self which ways of life were safer , purposeful or rewarding; which ones Street children were capable of improving my felling of self was in familiar terrain, and worth or eroding it altogether. found the whole exercise very Today children face crises of interesting. I was happy when enormous dimensions, less later I was called out in the asthan 10% can actually be held sembly after morning devotion responsible for their problems to receive a price; it was a as deviants, un teachables, denovel, an allegorical poem cum linquents and miscreants; for prose written by kofi another 60%, the blame rests Awoonor, a Ghanaian. It was on parents who brought them an experimental novel and to into the world in large numbers this day it remains the most and yet with no plans whatsoawe inspiring piece of work I ever to take adequate responhave been blessed to receive. In sibility for their care , not to class three then and with all forget the very corrupt societthe pressure of adolescence, my ies that formulate policies with best book was the wonderful no plans to honestly imple"common prayer book"; a real ment them treasure, and one that made it As the pools of street chilmore comfortable for me then dren continues to enlarge, to more effectively blend with there is no limit to the dangers Church Choir sessions under they face, the dangers they the unforgettable supervision constitute to society and the and mentorship of Emmanuel magnitude of the medical and Ohireimen Orhewere. I very social burden the society will quickly added my book price continue to carry . sketches, recitation etc according to performance .Every one was fulfilled. On one of those occasions, I was taken to the Local Government Head quarters to take part in an essay competition as part of the events to celebrate Children's day, and to be best of my knowledge the topic "juvenile delinquency, a threat to National progress" was announced at the venue, when we had all sat down. Though I did not know to a great extent what it was all about ,I

Who are street children?

Street children are boys or girls who have found and made certain places within and outside their homes, regular means of livelihood and habitation.

They do so with or without supervision and protection from known adults. Street here includes, structures like motor vehicles in motor parks or auto mechanic workshop, such places as Railway stations, uncompleted buildings, under over head bridges ,inside cartons on roadsides, school premises and even benches around wooden shops of security guards .There are several classes of street children but the two commonly used ones are; children of the street and children on the street.

Children of the street. Street children of this category spend most of their time daily and habitually on the street, often living in situations so fluid that they can be only some few yards away from the home of a known family member and yet difficult to trace because they be spending nights in one street while in the day time they are busy in another street. These children usually have no moral awareness and family support is either absent or grossly inadequate. They are entirely on their own. Children of the street can be further divided on account of age into senior and junior categories with the senior providing direction, protection and in some cases medical attention by way of bringing out money to buy drugs from medicine shops or taking the ill to herbal centers . Senior street children may own properties to attract younger ones, and may in some cases as seen in the "Area boys organizations organize themselves into some kind of hierarchical system . This may be of benefit to those involved but could encourage the formation of street gangs To be continued

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

FAMIL Y HEAL TH AMILY HEALTH

Health benefits of pears

Catholic diseases: Depression

A

LL of us need to be the best we can be in life, to have the best we can have in life, and to do the best we can do in life. This is a universal need. If one does not fulfil this need, it hurts one’s ego terribly.

For the fallen ego, the disappointed ego, the crushed ego, the misplaced ego, the undermined ego, the deprived ego, the ego gone wrong, it is difficult to rise again or to change.

It may just keep the status quo. This is a universal tendency that every human experiences. However, nobody has to stay depressed or live in depression because there are ways out of it.

For us to wriggle out of this state we need to have some understanding of what we are as humans. Life is essentially social. Nowhere in Kingdom Animalia do we find an animal that is deliberately lonely or independent. Many animals have natural ways (colour, smell, chemicals, behaviour, sounds, trails) that they use to attract their own species. In human life, the interdependency of humans on one another has many facets with reward within one’s body, mind, or spirit. This wholesome expectation is often dashed and the ego becomes broken and is overtaken by genetic, bodily, social, and environmental factors.

The makers of Cymbalta®, an antidepressant medicine, give us an idea of what we feel like when we are depressed. “Someone with depression might think or say any of the following:”I feel sad all the time and just don’t feel like myself;””Sometimes I feel like my life is not worth living anymore;””I feel like I don’t have any energy;””I’m not really interested in eating;””Even after a long day, I still feel restless;””I feel so indecisive and I can’t make any decisions;””I just feel so worthless;”and “I have trouble sleeping.””

In established depression as observed clinically,it is known that there is interplay of genetic, biological, psychological, and environmental factors. WebMD tells us of some of the factors that can play a role in depression, which are the following. Biology: Abnormal function of certain parts of the brain and abnormal levels of some brain chemicals may be involved. Genetics: It seems that people with cases of depression in their family have a higher chance of getting depression.Gender: Women appear to be twice as likely as men to become depressed, possibly due to effects of female hormonal fluxes.Age: People who are elderly are at higher risk of depression especially if lonely and unsupported.Health conditions: Chronic pain and chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and thyroid problems, increase the risk of developing depression.Trauma

I

Infertility

NFERTILITY is the inability of a woman to become pregnant. In general, infertility can be suspected if pregnancy has not occurred after a year of regular intercourse, (without the use of any form of contraception).

The cause of infertility may lie in the male or the female.

There are numerous causes of infertility in each sex; sometimes no cause is ever found.

Investigations for causes in the male are safer and simpler; consequently, they are normally performed first to save cost and to save the woman a series of tests, if a cause can be found in the male. Unfortunately, most men do not submit themselves to fertility tests. Rather, they ascribe the shortcomings to their wife’s conditions only.

The cause of infertility may be either structural or due to functions of the reproductive system. There may be no production of sperm or ova, or for some reason, the two may not meet to bring about fertilization. General ill-health, especially chronic diseases or endocrine/abnormalities can cause infertility.

Basically, two kinds of infertility are recognized in the female.

There is the primary and the secondary infertility. When a woman has had a child before and there is a long gap, not deliberately brought about by her, it will be said that her condition is that of secondary infertility i.e. no one talks of infertility if the woman had one or two children and decided to stop having more. Primary infertility, on the other hand, is a condition where the woman has not had an issue before and is well into the childbearing age.

Causes of infertility that can be diagnosed are many. These include Blocked Fallopian Tubes, Uterine Fibroids, Hormonal Problems, Incompetent Cervix, Internal Heat in the lower abdomen, Tilted Mouth of the Uterus, Displaced Uterus, and Lack of Ovulation (especially after prolonged use of some contraceptive devices).

Other cases of infertility range from infections, especially the Sexually Transmitted Diseases (in both men & women) and Watery Sperms in men.

Also, some bad lifestyles, social excesses, indiscriminate

53

and grief: Trauma, violence, physical or emotional abuse, and grief can cause depression. Past physical, sexual, or emotional abuse can cause depression later in life.Changes and stressful events: Loss of a job, divorce, marriage, loss of property, loss of friends or companions, retirement, and transitions can trigger depression.Medications and substances: Many prescription drugs, e.g., some drugs used to treat high blood pressure, such as betablockers or reserpine, can increase a person’s risk of depression. Depressed people often consume alcohol.

WebMD also outlines the major symptoms of depression: “For major depression, you may experience five or more of the following for at least a two-week period: •Persistent sadness, pessimism •Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, or hopelessness •Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities, including sex •Difficulty concentrating and complaints of poor memory •Worsening of co-existing chronic disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis or diabetes •Insomnia or oversleeping •Weight gain or loss •Fatigue, lack of energy •Anxiety, agitation, irritability •Thoughts of suicide or death •Slow speech; slow movements •Headache, stomachache, and digestive problems” Wikipedia explains: “There are cultural differences in the extent to which serious depression is considered an illness requiring personal professional treatment, or is an indicator of something else, such as the need to address social or moral problems, the result of biological imbalances, or a reflection of individual differences in the understanding of distress that may reinforce feelings of powerlessness, and emotional struggle.” Treatments for depression are psychotherapy, medication, and electroconvulsive therapy.

Dr. ’Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA. For any comments or questions on this column, please Email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 07028338910

Coping with diseases With Prof. Dayo Oyekole

sexual indulgence, criminal abortion as well as tough exercises, unsuitable postures and heavy sporting activities have been implicated in female infertility.

Nature is wonderful. The human body obeys the law of use and disuse. For example, Fibroids, which are so common today, used not to be so when women had children till they were advanced in age. When a woman has fibroids, it implies that her womb was looking for something to carry. It is rare to find a woman bearing children and yet having fibroids. This situation is like leaving a piece of land fallow after initial bush clearing, one would expect it to grow weeds if nothing is planted on that land, with proper care. Fibroids will not grow if the womb does not attract to itself waste products from the bloodstream.

Prevention /Control Women should be very observant so as to note as early as possible, any irregularities in their menstrual period. Excessive heat in the lower abdomen, waist pains or pinching sensations at the sides of the lower abdomen should attract attention. Most importantly, indiscriminate use of contraceptives and abortifacients should be avoided.

Treating gynecological problems naturally seems to be quite easy. Some physical disorders can be corrected through massage.

Tension and worries should be avoided. The food intake should be simple and natural to provide the natural nutrients that the body needs, with avoidance of denatured food, alcohol and smoking. Fatty foods that will cause fat to develop around the reproductive organs and sex glands should be avoided. Simple exercises to aid effective circulation of blood should be encouraged.

Paradoxically, natural remedies for the treatment of female problems seem to more available than for any other ailment.

Therefore, in Holistic Lifecare it is strongly advocated that in order to avoid suffering in the midst of plenty, we must turn to nature.

Some of the suggested natural remedies being suggested for infertility include the extracts of local herbs such as Acanthospermum hispidum, Desmodium velutinum, Kigelia africana, Momordica charantia and Viscum album.

Health benefits of pears that may make you want to eat them more often: •Immune system booster Having a strong immune system is essential in fighting off disease and illness. Pears help to boost the immune system because they contain antioxidants such as vitamin C and copper which fight off free radicals and disease in the body.

•Osteoporosis prevention Preventing and treating osteoporosis is a major concern for many people. Many doctors are now recommending that people who are concerned with protecting the health of their bones maintain a balanced ph and high calcium intake from dietary sources. Fruits and vegetables help to maintain a healthy pH level and pears are a good source of boron, which researchers believe may help the body to retain calcium.

•Increased energy levels When you eat a pear, your body absorbs glucose, which is converted into energy. Eating a pear can be a great pick-me-up if you feel sluggish in the afternoon.

•Digestive health Pears contain a lot of fiber, which is essential for a healthy digestive system. Fiber helps t o keep food moving efficiently through the colon. One medium sized pear contains about 2025% of the daily recommended intake of fiber.

A good percentage of the fiber in pears is insoluble, which may help to reduce the occurrence of colon polyps.

•Cancer prevention One way to prevent cancer is by eating fresh fruits and vegetables that are high in antioxidants. Pears contain vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant which is an important part of your body’s cancer fighting arsenal. The fiber content in pears is very effective at promoting colon health which will reduce your chances of developing colon cancer.

•Healthy pregnancy In order to avoid birth defects, it is important for a pregnant women to consume enough folic acid. Pears contain 10-20 mcg (about 5% of the RDA) of the natural form of folic acid, folate, and they should be included in a healthy prenatal diet.

•Less Allergenic Pears are considered by some people to be a hypoallergenic food, which is why they are often recommended to people who suffer from food allergies and weaning babies. However, they are not completely hypoallergenic, as some people do have allergic reactions to pears, particularly those people who are allergic to Alder or Birch pollen.

•Good for Weaning Many doctors recommend pears for babies when they are weaning and being introduced to baby food. This is because pears are a low acid fruit that are unlikely to cause digestion problems in little bellies and because pear allergy is relatively rare.

Removing the skin and heating the pears before pureeing them can make them even easier to digest. Pears are very high in fiber so it’s important not to overdo it or to give pear puree to babies with diarrhea. If you do include the nutrient-rich skins in your baby’s food be sure that they are pureed enough that the pieces do not pose a choking hazard.

For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chronic Debilitating Conditions as well as mental and social problems, please call on: 0803-330-3897 or visit: Mosebolatan Holistic Lifecare Centre, Adeyalo Layout, Ogbere-Tioya, Off Olorunsogo Express Bridge, Ibadan. Website: www.holisticlifecare.com. Distance is no barrier, we can send remedies by courier if need be. We also have facilities for accommodation, admission and hospitalization in a serene and homely environment.

54 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

The allure of Afe Babalola varsity W

HEN Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) came forward with his dream and vision to reform functional education in this clime by providing and leading others in quality education, service, industry and character as well as discipline, some sceptics would probably have looked at the now flourishing dream with some subdued optimism: some ‘let’s wait and see attitude’.

But today, a first-time visitor to the Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), which regally sits in the serene atmosphere and lush ambience of Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, would look up in awe and marvel at the majestic architectural masterpieces that adorn the landscape of the less than four-year old world-class citadel of learning.

As anyone, and indeed everyone, begins to navigate his way through the striking gatehouse to the university which someone has appropriately described as “Europe in Africa” on account of its sheer architectural splendour, it would be as clear as sunrise that this is a university different in colour and character from what people have been used to.

From the gate, such first-time visitor would instantly begin to savour the glamour and beauty of the well- manicured lawns and beautifully trimmed flowers as well as the sparkling clean roads lit with solar-powered lighting system, thereby yielding no place to dark alleys, black spots or dark moments on the campus.

Although the university, promoted by Aare Babalola, a frontline legal icon, an astute educationist, a valiant entrepreneur and an unsparing philanthropist, is barely four years old, the gargantuan steps it has already taken, the monumental achievements it has already recorded as well as the rich and luxuriant encomiums already showered on the university bear an eloquent testimony to the towering and intimidating profile of the Baamofin of Yorubaland.

It is no mean or common achievement that ABUAD, which was established in 2009 and commenced academic activities on January 4, 2010, is today rated No. 2 best private university and No. 16 of all the multitude of Nigerian universities by the Global Universities Webometric ranking in just three years of existence.

The second private university in Nigeria to take off on its permanent site with all human and material resources on ground ABUAD is not only applauded outside the shores of this country, it has been receiving kudos and accolades from those who matter in the country.

For example, while Professor Julius Okojie, the National Universities Commission (NUC’s) helmsman certifies the university’s law college as certainly the best in West Africa, Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who himself owns and runs the Bell University in Ota, describes ABUAD as a model to emulate.

The harvest of accolades seems unending with Nigeria’s former Head of State, the revered General Yakubu Gowon, saying: “The setting is superlative and impressive with nothing of its kind that I have seen so far in this country or anywhere”.

I

•Entrance to the university

•Aare Babalola Tunde OLOFINTILA The late Hon. Justice Kayode Eso and the ICPC boss, Hon. Justice Yinka Ayoola, added the judicial icing on the cake with their unassailable vote of confidence on the nascent institution when the one remarked that “ABUAD compares with great universities, such as Harvard, Yale and Oxford, while the other held the view that “this is an institution which can stand side by side with any educational institution in the world. It is a pacesetter that raises the benchmark for quality education in Nigeria”.

With these independent remarks and acknowledgments, it is clear and unambiguously transparent that a new dawn has broken in the annals of running tertiary institutions in

Nigeria.

My guided tour of the university on Monday, May 27, 2007 did not only confirm ABUAD’s superlative rating by the likes of Obasanjo, Okojie, Eso and Ayoola as well as a warren others of different nationalities who treasure and savour beauty, excellence and allure of nature, but it went a step further to showcase and communicate, in unmistakable terms, the sterling qualities inherent in the promoter of the university.

Indeed, it will not be out of place to say that the Aare possesses the proverbial Midas touch, with everything he touches turning or becoming a success The monumental investment in infrastructure and first-rate academic and administrative staff on ground remind one of the mercu-

rial words of Georges Sada, the Iraqi Air Force General, who said: “If you want to understand what is important to a man, look at where he spends his money”.

Whereas Saddam was busy spending the wealth of Iraq and its oil money to acquire tanks, missiles, bombs, guns and explosives as well as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in his warped and twisted ambition to control the Arab world, Aare Babalola, a selfmade man, is deploying billions of naira, his prodigious energy (even at 84), his time and enormous goodwill cultivated in his several decades of legal practice to run a university primed to produce world leaders and achievers who can stand on their own anywhere they find themselves after graduation.

Indeed, while some Nigerians are busy dipping their soiled and gangrene-infested hands into the public till to steal our common wealth to finance their inane and ludicrous tastes, the humane Aare is busy expending his all in terms of resources, time, energy and goodwill on how to put the smile on the faces of indigent Nigerians by way of scholarships and employment opportunities.

No wonder then that he recently showered the sum of N28.5 million on 256 students and 20 staff members to reward them for their diligence, honesty and hard work.

The university, which operates the collegiate system, has seven of such colleges: the College of Law, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Social and Management Sciences and College of Arts and Humanities as well as the College of Education.

The fascinating thing about the modern university is that it boasts of air-conditioned buildings for all colleges, modern and clean hostel buildings for students, luxurious cafeterias providing African and continental dishes and 280 flats for staff as well as a 6,000-seater multipurpose hall to make teaching and learning more interesting and involving.

Continued on Page 62

Is Lagos-Ibadan Expressway cursed or jinxed?

T was a Monday morning and I had to leave home much earlier to catch up with ap pointments after dropping my children in school. Alas! As I approached the beginning of Wawa long bridge, traffic was already on the bridge. Several questions ran through my mind: Break down? Accident? Fight between Fulani and indigenes? No answer.

The next thing I saw was someone directing us to face the traffic coming from Lagos. I concluded then that a tanker had fallen and blocked our stretch of the road as we could see car turning back from the long bridge. My plans to drop my children at school early and meet my appointments had hit a rock. We drove slowly on the long bridge for more than an hour before we reached Kara exit. As we negotiated to our side of the road, a truck load of banana had fallen in the night with goods scattered all over the road due to the chasm in the middle of the road.

The truck driver apparently ignorant of the terrain was cruising at regular speed, but suddenly ran into a ditch which over-turned the truck. I could not ascertain whether live(s) was lost. My brother in law who just got a new job had to quickly call his office to explain why

he would resume late for.

I happen to live on the outskirts of Lagos where is now popularly called 2nd Lagos because of the level of development going on along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway up to Sagamu intersection. However, the levels of decadence, rot, abandonment, neglect, call it any name on that stretch is converse to the rate of growth.

The economic value of this road cannot be overemphasised. The only major link to the rest of Nigeria in terms of commerce. Lives are lost on the hour, either through accidents as a result of bad portions of the road, or people

running into the hands of hoodlums and ritual killers when the vehicles break. The cost of good lost on that road every day runs into millions of naira or the cost of repairs for vehicles. In the last year, I have had to change my car shock absolver twice, including the upper and lower arms. One cannot time a journey from Berger to Sagamu as you don’t know what you will meet on the road. A journey of 30 minutes in the early 90s will now take one several hours.

Several attempts have been made in the past to resurface, patch or reconstruct the road, but none seems to come to fruition. Since the Fed-

eral Government stopped the concession granted Bi-Courtney and awarded the contract to Julius Berger and RCC, little has been done. Could it be true that these two companies were not mobilized thus their withdrawal from site after the initial effort by JB to resurface the bad portions after RCCG camp.

I call on the FG to please as a matter of urgency fix the road without delay. The Kara end of the road might soon give way if the rains continue with the intensity experienced in recent times.

Ogun State government should also support development efforts in Wawa, Arepo, Magboro, Mowe, among others, by providing good roads. If individuals have invested in building houses for themselves, a responsible government should be magnanimous to construct good roads for easy access and commerce to thrive in these settlements.

Meanwhile, the governments of Lagos and Ogun States should put in place mechanism to construct the access or by-pass roads from Lagos end to Sagamu.

•Kupoluyi Ayodele lives in Ogun State and works in Lagos

THE NATION SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

55

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 31-05-13

FBN assures on future growth

F

BN Holdings Plc, the financial services group comprising First Bank of Nigeria and its previous subsidiaries, will drive future growth through increased deposit mobilisation and internal efficiency as it consolidates on impressive start recorded in 2012.

Speaking at the company's First Annual General Meeting yesterday in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer, FBN Holdings Plc, Mr Bello Maccido, said the group would improve on its mobilisation drive for more deposit in the savings volume by the customers, which will help to replace any gap that might be created by the eventual removal of commission on transaction (COT) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to him, the bank added 70 new branches to existing ones in 2012 and another 17 in the first quarter of 2013, bringing current total branch network to 807.

He said the company has gone further to introduce mobile money noting that the bank is the only licensed institution standing alone without any partnership with any telecommunication company to service their clients.

He noted that the company's first year not only started on a positive note but on a right momentum pointing out that the

•Profit-taking shaves N77b from equities

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

commercial banking arm contributed about 90 per cent to group's total performance.

Group Managing Director of FirstBank of Nigeria, Mr Bisi Onasanya, said the holding company has made it much easier for the bank to focus on its core banking business, which has led to improvement on the quality of services and product offerings.

"The time that has also been saved, allowing me to focus a lot more, on dealing with the issues of the bank will result into multiples of revues and profits which will translate into more dividend for the shareholders," Onasanya said.

Shareholders commended the performance of the financial services group. Mr Sunny Nwosu, the National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), said the company's dividend was the best in the industry.

Nwosu, however, urged the company to increase its deposit mobilisation drive by spreading out to remote places to encourage saving culture among Nigerians.

Mr Boniface Okezie, the President, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), also

lauded the company's improved result in spite of the economic challenges.

"All the subsidiaries that make up the holding company must be up and doing for value creation and higher dividend in the years ahead," Okezie said.

They approved gross dividend of N32.63 billion, translating to N1 per share against the dividend of N26.12 billion or 80 kobo per share paid in 2011. The company recorded gross earnings of N359.8 billion in 2012 against the N273.8 billion posted in 2011, an increase of 31.4 per cent.

Profit before tax stood at N92.7 billion against the N35.8 billion declared in the corresponding period of 2011, an increase of 158.5 per cent. The profit after tax grew by 306 per cent to N75.7 billion against the N18.6 billion recorded in the preceding year. Its operating income rose by 25.8 per cent to N298.3 billion in contrast to the N237 billion in the previous year.

The customer deposits also increased to N 2.4 trillion from the N2.0 trillion posted in 2011. Its total assets grew by 11.4 per cent from N2.9 trillion in 2011 to N3.2 trillion IN 2012.

Meanwhile, aggregate market capitalisation of all equities dropped by N77 billion yesterday as investors scrambled to monetize recent capital gains. Aggregate market value of all equities dropped from N12.152 trillion to N12.075 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI) slipped by 0.58 per cent from 38,016.80 points to 37.794.75 points.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 31-05-13

56 COMMENTARY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

The conspiracy of the theory T

HE unprecedented, horrific events of the Woolwich killings of a British soldier, James Rigby, in broad daylight on a London street last week forced a massive shock, not only in Britain but the rest of the world.

The straw that broke the camel’s back (if you will) is the fact that both the suspects are of Nigerian descent and the dimension of the revelation further revealed that they are Nigerians from the southern part of the country. The fact that they are not Muslims from the northern part of Nigeria gives a more complex perspective to a phenomenon that would otherwise have been labeled by Nigerians especially as a Boko Haram terrorist activity. The overzealous and fascinatingly diverse conspiracy theories spun

by Nigerians in the media, especially of southern descent, on dissipating the forensic evidence on the scene of the crime have been gigantean in nature. This is not the first of such unfortunate activity on an international platform of which a Nigerian has been involved. But in the first of such case, the media, especially those of southern descent, never expressed or entertained the possibility that the first case, which involved a northerner, could also lend itself to a conspiracy theory.

Similarly, the recent preposterous outburst by the ridiculous Asari Dokubo, where he threatened fire and brimstone primarily targeting northerners drew anger from a wide spectrum of Northern leaders. While it goes without saying that Dokubo is nothing better than an ignorant and mad bumbling fool, who has directed his personal frustrations towards bigotry, the outrage of many northerners to the utterances of the ‘rabid dog’ has been as revealing as the complacency southerners treated his onslaught. But the truth is, even though the manner and approach adopted by Dokubo was, to say the least, crass and uncouth, several northerners have, in the not so distant past, made statements not so dissimilar to Dokubo’s.

But when they did, northerners didn’t see fault in it and didn’t articulate outrage in the same way southerners haven’t reacted to Dokubo’s statements. The theory of this behavior, in each instance is that there is a conspiracy where all regions adopt the posture of victims whose existence and well being is threatened by some tribal covert grand design. And that in itself makes a conspiracy of the theory.

The reactions to the Woolwich killings and Dokubos statements may not seem connected, but they are; in the most crucial manner. Assessing these diverse events and the reactions that have followed them, one can’t help but conclude the navigation of ethnic sensibilities. When such conspiracy theories came into the fold in Nigeria, one can bet that there is an assessment of tribe and our natural denial of anything that reflects negativity of anyone that comes from the same tribe as us. Instead of universally labeling inciting statements of both northerners and southerners wrong, instead of accepting that murdering extremists are nothing less than murdering extremists, we make excuses when our tribes are concerned; use conspiracy theories to rationalize bad behavior.

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

O

F all the atrocities of baby factories in the country, the scariest is the fact that no one is seeing the abominable crime in the trade, let alone hunting down the criminals and keeping them out of business.

In Abia State, Governor Theodore Orji’s wife Odorchi has reportedly pledged to “flush out baby factory in the state”. And to demonstrate the state government’s similar disposition, Lady Odorchi promptly adopted a baby whose father was incapacitated by a ghastly accident.

In neighbouring Imo, Governor Rochas Okorocha has reportedly donated some millions for the upkeep of expectant teenage mothers and babies rescued from a baby factory in the state. He has also gone on to say that all orphanages will henceforth report to his office or perhaps that of the “first lady”.

All that may be a good thing but neither from Abia nor Imo has come any firm assurances that the crime in this blatant baby factory assault will be punished. In one instance, we hear, two employees of one “factory”, an elderly security guard and a 23-year-old man, both fathers of the factory babies, have been arrested. The owner of

When it comes to conspiracy theories, we here in Nigeria are the sharers out of nations. So dependent we are on story telling for our survival, especially in connection with tribal issues, we have lost the codes of rational reasoning and to properly and reasonably articulate our outrage.

Don Delera, one of the most outstanding contemporary American writers, once said of conspiracy theories, “If we are on the outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme; silent nameless men with unadorned hearts. A conspiracy is everything that ordinary life is not. It’s the inside game, cold, sure, undistracted, forever closed off to us. We are the flawed ones, the innocents, trying to make some rough sense of the daily jostle.

Conspirators have logic and a daring beyond our reach.

All conspiracies are the same taut story of men who find coherence in some criminal act.”

We do this to an art form in Nigeria. So easy is it to take refuge in the shadowy world of maybe or maybe nots.

To blame all our failings on bogey men, on the ‘other’ tribes, on anyone except ourselves. It saves us the trouble of confronting reality. It saves us the trouble of having to take responsibility, of conserving our identity and our country; which we destroy so quickly and so shamelessly.

It saves us from taking accountability for our actions and decisions and in the long run, we assassinate the potential of our young Nigeria in the span of one short lifetime.

And it saves us from demanding better from our feckless rulers and depriving them of their overbearing and overwhelming power over us, especially when those rulers are the same tribe as us.

It is becoming harder and harder to escape the sense

‘

The overzealous and fascinatingly diverse conspiracy theories spun by Nigerians in the media, especially of southern descent, on dissipating the forensic evidence on the scene of the crime have been gigantean in nature. This is not the first of such unfortunate activity on an international platform of which a Nigerian has been involved

that the narrow-minded idiosyncrasy we apply to the issue of tribe is the core threat to our development and existence. Being unable to assess issues objectively without giving it a tribal and ethnic dimension is disturbing and a further reinforcement that what we have got in Nigeria is a most disunited and leery order. As a people, our way of reasoning requires a stronger focus on inconvenient truths which are much too often swept under the carpet in exchange for an optical illusion that exonerates what we consider to be ‘our own kind.’

It honestly is a woeful decree in the assessment of Nigeria that, a century since our formation; we are still unable to shed the garb of suspicion, intolerance and disparity. Still, unable to see beyond ethnicity, religion and regional origin. We; the black race, the people of Africa, Nigerians far and wide want to be accepted and seen as equals by the Europeans, the Americans, by the Caucasians all over the world. We complain when the Westerners make documentaries depicting our nations decline.

We curse and cry bias when they refuse to grant us visas to their countries and when fellow Africans label us parasites, criminals and 419ers. Who are we to accuse anybody else of prejudice against us? We have no right to claim discrimination when we fail to exhibit the equality and understanding that we yearn from outsiders to our own people and in our own home. Through actions and words, all ethnic and religious groups in Nigeria are equally as guilty as each other of promoting the disharmony that is now drowning us.

The downfall of any multi ethnic country is usually enhanced through the flaw of reasoning, social dogma or ignorance. Unless we are able to overcome our flaw in reasoning and ignorance that accentuates our ethnic distinctions, then we will remain unable to address our troubles, because even though we clearly see the truth, as Don Delera says, it will “forever be closed off to us since we can only see ourselves as the innocents trying to find coherence in some criminal act.” Let’s wake up and recognize that; “the real theory of the conspiracies lies in the conspiracy of the theory,” and it has nothing to do with a real rationale but everything to do with our prejudiced tribal sensibilities and denials.

So as we come to terms with the emergence of a converted Muslim extremist of southern descent, as we enrage about comparable inciting tribal statements from northern personalities and Niger-delta militants alike, we might just need to take a minute and look for fault from within, give the conspiracies a break, put tribal sensibilities aside and lay blame where blame is due…, even if it is on our doorstep. Then and only then will there be no conspiracy in our theories!

’ Fetish of baby factories

the “factory”, a woman known only as Madam One Thousand, has melted into the proverbial thin air. I fear that when things quiet down and we have exhausted our initial misgivings and horror, Madam One Thousand will stroll back to her beat to take off where she left off with new recruits and hirelings.

Who are the patrons of baby factories which have been discovered not just in the Southeast but also in Lagos? How long have they been in operation? How far spread is the menace? To what use are the babies put?

Some argue that baby factories thrive in Nigeria because childless couples will rather have a baby through such factories than live with the apparent societal stigma. It is also said that our adoption laws are not streamlined, leaving couples having conception challenges with little or no choice but to acquire a child by hook or crook.

Such arguments do not move me. Ours has since become a fetish society, with desperate people who are willing to, and re-

‘

ally do, anything to make money and push up their profile and society rating. People are killed and their bodies quartered for money rituals. These crimes are reported frequently. What is not often reported is the punishment of the criminals and that may because the rogues are never apprehended or prosecuted. Beneath the baby factories lie some atrocious crimes our leaders somehow gloss over.

A typical baby factory drips with crime, from its roof to the foundations. A closeup report on the recent one in Imo was instructive. Madam One Thousand’s “factory” is conceived to deceive. A sachet water facility is in front shielding visitors from what lies behind. An elderly man is the guard.

Who will suspect anything? Apparently, there is a sophisticated ring beyond its gates. According to one report, medical doctors do refer teenage girls with unwanted pregnancies to such a “factory” where they could have their babies quietly and move on with their lives. On getting to the “safe haven” they discover an entirely bizarre, new world from which they cannot

Who are the patrons of baby factories which have been discovered not just in the Southeast but also in Lagos? How long have they been in operation? How far spread is the menace? To what use are the babies put?

’

escape. They are crammed into too few rooms with only mats for beddings. They are scarcely fed. They are probably not paid. The guard walks in to sleep with them and impregnate them in turns. A 23-year-old comes in also to sleep with the girls and ensure that the mission is accomplished. Again and again, the girls are delivered of babies whose destinations their mothers know not.

One of the rescued girls said she was told that rather than have an unwanted child she could give it to someone who wanted it. But it is not clear what they will do with the child.

By virtue of their age, some of the girls are minors but that fact does not dissuade operators of illicit facilities. It makes no difference to them if some of the girls’ parents have no knowledge of their children’s whereabouts, wellbeing or safety.

Those who blame this crime on poor adoption laws and unfriendly African disposition to childlessness prefer to forget that the same African society abhors fraudulent acquisition of children. It is also implausible that minors and teenagers are so woefully dehumanised and exploited just to make childless couples happy. It is unacceptable that girls as young as 14 are beaten up when they try to escape just because operators of such inhuman facilities want to help other people.

All there in this is nothing but atrocious, fetish crime against teenagers, against their parents, against the newborns, against the Nigerian and African society, against the laws of the land, against humanity. The state and federal governments and their agencies are obliged to investigate this sordid crime and, for once, make the criminals pay.

NEWS 57

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Emergency rule: Military police dogs arrest 56 Boko Haram insurgents

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HE Defence Headquar ters (DHQ) yesterday said 56 Boko Haram insurgents had been arrested with the assistance of military police dogs.

It also claimed that some terrorists moving from village to village in search of large quantity of food were tracked and apprehended following a tip-off from civilians.

The Special Forces in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe have captured more enclaves/camps belonging to the insurgents.

The claims could not be independently confirmed The Defence Headquarters’ spokesman, Brig-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said, in a statement, that the special operation yielded the recovery of seven packs of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), two Rocket Propelled Gun chargers, a rifle magazine, two machetes and bomb detonators.

The statement said: “The intensive cordon and search operation being conducted

•Special Forces capture more camps Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation by the troops of the Special Forces received a major boost from civilian cooperation in communities close to locations being focused in the operation yesterday.

“A group of terrorists moving from village to village in search of large quantity of food were tracked and apprehended following a tip-off from civilians.

“The group, which was moving around in a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep with registration number Borno XA 428 ADM which is suspected to have been stolen, was eventually arrested at Daban Masara with weapons such as AK 47 rifle, single barrel shotgun, double hand shotgun and various calibres of ammunition.

“In other locations, a total of 56 identified insurgents were apprehended

with the help of military police dogs.

“Items recovered from the arrested insurgents include seven packs of IEDs, two Rocket Propelled Gun chargers, a rifle magazine, two machetes, bomb detonators, camouflage and other military uniforms as well as medicines equipment, charms, seven vehicles, including a spot utility vehicle (SUV) and eight tri-cycles.

“It is believed that some stranded terrorists are keen on establishing new camps.

They are being trailed accordingly. There were also a few encounters with some insurgents in forest locations apart from the identified and destroyed camps.

“The campaign to rid the nation’s territories of the insurgents continues.”

In a follow-up interaction with our correspondent, Brig-Gen. Olukolade said: “We have captured many camps belonging to the in-

Hezbollah arms cache: Security agencies probe Nigerian accomplices

A

S part of the ongoing probe of the discov ery of Hezbollah arms cache in Kano, the three arrested Lebanese suspects may lose their Nigerian identities.

The three suspects, Mustapha Fawaz, Abdallah Hassan Fadallah and Abdullahi Tigani, had naturalized some years ago as Nigerians.

Apart from losing their identities as Nigerians, security agencies are probing the Lebanese’ accomplices in Nigeria, including some former ministers with whom they have had alleged business links.

Also, the grilling of the suspects began yesterday with a focus on how the Lebanese suspects brought in Hezbollah agents to conduct surveillance on American and Israeli embassies in Nigeria.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the suspects might lose their identities to enable security agencies unfettered probe of their conduct in the country.

It was also learnt that the suspects’ businesses in the country might be shut down for a comprehensive investigation into the activities.

A reliable source, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, said: “The government might revoke the naturalization permits or certificates given to the three

Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation Lebanese for a smooth probe of their activities. If we do not withdraw their naturalization, we might not go far in our probe.

“I think the government might shut down all their businesses which are crowdrelated. For instance, one of the suspects is a co-owner of Amingo Supermarket and Wonderland Amusement Park in Abuja which are always bustling with activities.

“And since terrorist targets are crowd-related, we cannot take things for granted. There could be reprisals from members of the syndicate.”

It was gathered that in line with the ongoing investigation, the State Security Service (SSS) and other agencies yesterday began what was called the “forensic scanning of all the business premises of the Lebanese in Abuja .”

A reliable security source added: “The ongoing forensic scanning covers surveillance on the premises, combing of strategic units like warehouses, equipment and bunkers, if any.

“We are also extending the probe to the estate linked to the Lebanese suspects. So, the forensic scanning has to do with overhaul of their activities, including the screening of their telephone call logs,

importation documents and vessels used to bring in their goods and others.

“So far, we have started grilling them, but we won’t relent in our determination to get to the roots of their actual mission in Nigeria.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “One of the areas in which they are assisting security agencies is how they allegedly brought in Hezbollah agents into Nigeria to conduct surveillance on American and Israeli embassies.

“This is a grave allegation against them, but the ongoing probe will ascertain whether they are guilty of it or not. We have clues which they need to respond to. If they are innocent, we will let the public know accordingly.”

The source also claimed that a “major bend of the investigation is how to locate the Nigerian accomplices of these Lebanese.

“There is a strong clue that the suspects have business links with some former ministers. We may have to interact with these ex-public officers on the roles they played on how they came into the country and how the facts available in granting them business concessions.

“They also have other Nigerian business partners whom we are going to interact with. It is certainly an open-ended investigation.”

Terrorism: Security agencies take over business place of indicted Lebanese ECURITY operatives

S

late last night in Abuja took over the premises of one of the biggest supermarkets in Abuja, the Amigo Supermarket, after its owner was arrested for terrorism related offences.

The JTF and security operatives recovered anti air craft weapons, AK 47 assault riffles, grenades, different category of ammunition from a bunker in the building housing the cell.

Findings by our correpondent indicate that the security operatives got to

Bukola AMUSAN, Abuja the supermarket at about 9pm, even as the premises had earlier opened for business throughout the day.

The security team, comprising soldiers, the SSS and the police, prevented access to the facility.

As at the time of filing the story, the security operatives were still involved in an operation at the facility.

Some of them were out-

side, while others went in to take over the supermarket.

The combined team of soldiers, SSS and the police were busy directing motorists when our team visted the place last night.

It was not clear if the aim of the operation is to search for more weapons of mass destruction as were found in Kano.

Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade confirmed that a security operation was going on in the facility.

surgents. I won’t give you a specific figure, but the camps overrun have been significant.

“The intelligence in locating these insurgents had been accurate. This is why the operation has been highly successful so far.”

In another development,

a top source involved in the special operation said: “Although we have recovered many arms and ammunition, it is still difficult to trace whether they belong to Al-Qaeda, Al-Sabab, Hezbollah or Ansarudin.

“What is indisputable is that terrorist groups network all over the world.

That is why we are not taking things for granted.

“The fact is that the

manufacturers of these arms sell to legitimate users. And no one knows whether these insurgents procure their arms and ammunition from some legitimate users.”

On Boko Haram leaders declared wanted by the military, the source added: “We are not limiting our operation to only the leaders; every terrorist that is found would be arrested.

Korean firm to inject $30b into Nigerian power sector •Solar power to boost supply by 10,000mw

T

HE Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, yesterday said that a Korean firm - HQMC, Korea Company Limited - is ready to inject $30billion into the Nigeria’s power sector for the next 10 years.

According to him, the investment is expected to culminate in a quantum leap of power generation by 10,000mw.

He spoke during the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the firm in Abuja.

Nebo said this addition was a laudable effort, describing it as “truly visionary which is in line with the President Goodluck Jonathan-led Transformation Agenda.

He said the addition of 1,000mw of solar power

John OFIKHENUA, Abuja yearly for the next ten years would give the nation the required energy mix needed for sustainable development, adding that this scenario would also enable the spread of power across the country.

In a statement signed on behalf of the ministry by Deputy Director, Press, Grace Njoku, Nebo also said Nigerians, even in the rural areas, would benefit immensely from the proposed project.

The statement further said the project of this magnitude would provide Nigerians with job opportunities and skill acquisition that would positively impact on our youths.

“So, Nigeria, as an emerging economy, is set to pro-

vide the best market for direct foreign investment, especially in the power sector,” the minister said.

Prof. Nebo expressed optimism that his ministry would continue to create more avenues for foreign investment and participation, so as to ensure the desired turnaround in the fortunes of the power sector.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, said the MoU signing event was part of efforts geared towards the realization of the sector’s desire for more foreign investment.

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director of HQMC Korea, Mr. Moon Sang Kim, harped on the determination of the company to make a success of the project.

58 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

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HE First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, yesterday claimed that the achievements recorded in the past two years of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration came to past due mainly to the efforts of women in the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

She made the remark while speaking at a dinner in commemoration of this year's Democracy Day organized for women at the Banquet Hall, Abuja.

According to her, the present set of female public office holders have done the womenfolks proud with their outstanding performances.

She said: "Two days ago, the President read his mid-term report to Nigerians. He and his team have done very well. Women are the powerful people in that cabinet," The First Lady specifically noted the efforts of Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to reposition Nigeria's economy and the ongoing facelifting being carried out at the airports by the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Odua.

She said the success or failure of the administration lies squarely on the shoulders of the womenfolks as they are well represented in the government.

Thanking her husband for giving the women the opportunity to prove themselves, she said: "We thank

Jonathan's achievements powered by women, says First Lady Augustine EHIKIOYA, Abuja God for Mr. President for giving women a chance. Since independence, this is the first time women can walk tall and talk where men are talking.

"So we thank this administration.

We will continue to support this administration and make it succeed," she added.

She also charged women to take special interest in finding a lasting solution to the security challenges facing Nigeria since women and children are always the greatest target.

The First Lady said: "On the issue of security, women are more involved. Soldiers are our children; Boko Haram members are our children; militants are our children. It is high time we talked to our children at home to shun evil behaviour and make sure we desist from anything that can bring the country down. We should be proud of our country.

"We should preach peace and be

•The three freed Boko Haram kids...yesterday

peaceful in our homes, local governments, states and the country.

Our watchword should be peace.

We should move from door to door to preach peace.

"Without peace, there will be no development and we need development. Women are saying enough is enough. We don't want our children to die again," she stated.

A

The dinner was attended by former First Lady, Hajia Ajoke Murtala Muhammed; wife of the governor of Anambra State, Mrs. Margret Obi; Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Mrs. Mulikat Adeola-Akande; and wife of the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mrs. Fatima Tukur.

Also at the dinner were the PDP's National Women Leader, Mrs. Kema Chikwe; business tycoon, Hajia Bola Shagaya; and Mrs. Stella Okoli.

Many female members of the FEC, female presidential aides, female lawmakers, wives of service chiefs and representatives of different women groups also graced the occasion.

Ajimobi's wife fetes needy homes

S parts of the activities marking the 2013 Children's Day celebration, the wife of Oyo State Governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, has distributed foods and gift items to different needy homes in the state.

She charged the children to always put God first in all they do in order to grow into responsible citizens in future.

Ajimobi's wife spoke yesterday in her office while distributing the items to the representatives of the different homes.

Items distributed include bags of rice, detergents, disinfectants, toiletries, vegetable oil, among others.

Homes present at the ceremony include Remand home,Ijokodo,

Tayo JOHNSON, Ibadan Covenant home, Ashi, Jesus kids, Monatan, Mercy children, Bashorun, Safe harbour, Ogbomosho, Living word mission, Oke-Bola, Jesus children home and Ashi among others.

While thanking God for their lives and describing them as source of joy to their parents and the state, Mrs. Ajimobi reaffirmed the determination of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi led administration to ensure that every child in the state enjoys free and quality education that will guaranty their future.

"The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and the bedrock of a successful life, so children are expected to live Godly and respon-

sible lives that will make them bring pride to their parents and the society", she said.

Mrs. Ajimobi also charged the children to make hard work, diligence and dedication their watchword, particularly along academic lines so as to be successful future leaders, both in the state and the country at large.

She later cut the commemorative cake with the children, and also joined the children in dancing, as well as various games.

She was supported by the wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Janet Adeyemo, wife of the S.S.G., Alhaja Adijat Olajide, Commissioner for Women Affairs Mrs. Atinuke Osunkoya and the Permanent Secretary Mrs. Folusho Sali, among other dignitaries.

•From right: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola; Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties, Alhaji Wale Hammed; Hon. Nurudeen Taiwo; and Director, Dana Air, Chief Francis Ogboro, during the Special Jumat Prayer to mark first anniversary of Dana plane crash held yesterday at Alausa Central Mosque, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

The allure of Afe Babalola varsity

Continued from Page 61

Through its ventures, the university also has its own water plant which produces potable water, a bakery and a printing press as well as a laundry, among others.

Very much unlike what obtains in some other universities around, ABUAD has fully air-conditioned classrooms, 14 different laboratories for different departments in the Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Engineering, full internet connectivity for all colleges, hostels, modern sporting facilities for soccer, tennis, handball, volley ball and badminton as well as basketball, among others, that cater for both academic and extra-curriculum activities of students and staff alike.

At the university’s fish farm where the sale of fresh fish, brood stock and dried fish commenced in one of the three phases of his fish farm on Monday, May 27, Aare Babalola, a man of commendable candour, who refuses to cocoon himself in the glaze and glitter of success was on hand as early as 8 am (with his wife, Yeye Aare Babalola and the management staff of the university) to flag off the sale which drew

many customers, including those from outside the state.

He said when the three phases of the fish farm become fully operational, the university will be selling no fewer than 300, 000 fish, Monday through Friday every week.

At the end of the sales exercise, the upright, downright and forthright philanthropist once again engaged in his favourite pastime of always giving to people, institutions and even the larger society by giving out fish worth many thousands of naira to those who as much as came to witness the commencement of his fish cropping.

This apostle of humility and decency with an elegant sartorial taste is unlike the proverbial prophet that is bereft of honour in his homestead.

The enigmatic member of the Inner Bar with enviable accomplishments in many areas of human endeavour often receives accolades and applause from his staff and students for his acclaimed generosity, industry, dedication and willingness to help others.

Prof. Samuel Igbatoye, Head of Department of Economics and Management Studies, describes

the founder as an uncommon individual “with this grand vision that propels him almost to a point of obsession”.

According to Igbatoye, this grand vision embraces the desire to see ABUAD as a model institution of higher learning that is determined to reverse the plummeting standard of higher education in the country.

He commended the founder for the level of infrastructural facilities on ground and the on-going massive and extensive physical development within the very short period of the university’s existence which he said have surpassed the minimum standard set by NUC, a development which has made ABUAD such a unique institution.

In his view, these elaborate facilities bring about a transformation of both teaching and learning which improves the standard of education generally, thereby raising the profile of the university as a true centre of excellence.

On her part, Miss Elizabeth Egbe, a 100Level International Relations and Diplomacy student, recalled how it was not difficult for

her to choose ABUAD because of what she had heard and read about the school, particularly the level of infrastructure on ground, the commitment of lecturers, a peaceful and violencefree environment and the burning passion of the founder to raise the bar in the running of tertiary institutions in the country.

Igbatoye and young Egbe’s comments are a microcosm of the aggregate of feelings of most people about the university. Altogether, their comments bear an eloquent testimony to what I saw first-hand.

With the string of successes already recorded by the evolving centre of excellence within a very short time of its history, ABUAD is indeed a pacesetter. One can only wish the multiple chief the grace and the good health to nurture this dream to fruition. Like the late Premier of the Western Region, Chief S.L. Akintola, told Hon. Justice Eso in the presence of Chief Oluseye Ejiwunmi in 1965 during the trial of Prof.Wole Soyinka, “Olorun a fun yin se o” (meaning may God assist you).

•Olofintila is former Head, Corporate Communications, Wema Bank

NEWS 59

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Amosun, Aregbesola, Soyinka visit 450,000-year-old Igbale Aiye

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GUN State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, his Osun State counterpart, Rauf Aregbesola, in company of Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, yesterday visited Igbale Aiye, a village believed to be the origin of mankind.

Igbale Aiye, a community said to be 450,000 years old, is in Apotoku, Ketu (Commune de Ketou), Republic of Benin.

Speaking during the Convention of The City-Headquarters of Humanism (Igbale Aiye), organised by Africa-Cultures International Institute and the Government of Republic of Benin, the governors and Soyinka commended the vision of Olofindji Akande, the promoter of Igbale Aiye project.

According to a statement by Funmi Wakama, media aide of Governor Amosun, the governor promised to support the project in line with his administration's vision to promote the African culture. He said Ogun had been associated with many firsts and "this project is first of its kind."

Also speaking, Governor Aregbesola said further research should be carried out on the link between the Egyptian Pyramids and Igbale Aiye.

Prof. Soyinka said the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding had adopted the Igba Aiye initiative because of its historical significance.

The visitors were conducted round the relics of the 450,000year-old underground village, said to host the first inhabitants of planet earth "where the builders of the pyramids of Egypt came from."

The two governors and culture icon later planted banana trees to commemorate the 2013 Convention.

June 12 remains democracy day, says lawmaker •Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (3rd Left); Deputy Governor, Prince Segun Adesegun (2nd Left); Chief Judge of Ogun State, Hon. Justice Olatokunbo Olopade (3rd Right); and the newly-sworn-in judges: Justice Sikiru Owodunni (Left); Justice Patricia Funmilola Oduniyi (2nd Right) and Justice Sonia Akinbiyi (Right); during the swearingin ceremony in Abeokuta...yesterday

Atiku seeks Fed Govt’s dialogue with Adamawa, Borno, Yobe F

ORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday urged dialogue between the Federal Government and aggrieved groups in the country with a view to protecting innocent people from unnecessary hostilities.

He said even with the current emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States government should not shut the door against dialogue in the Northeast and other places.

“Government must do all that is necessary in a democratic society to protect lives and property. Thus, there is the need to engage aggrieved groups in dialogue while taking decisive security measures to protect innocent people,” Alhaji Atiku said at the 4th District Conference 2013 of the Rotary International in Abuja. “ I hope that the current emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states does not obviate the urgent

•Blames insecurity on unemployment, poverty n John OFIKHENUA, Abuja n

need for such dialogue in that zone and elsewhere," he added.

Atiku who was the special guest of honour at the conference with the theme "Creating a Culture of Peace through Service" attributed the insecurity in the country to unemployment, poverty and growing rate of corrupt practices.

He said : "Whatever the immediate causes of these conflicts and insecurity, there is no doubt that the high level of unemployment, poverty and accompanying alienation, especially of our young people, have provided veritable recruiting grounds for these insurgencies and other forms of criminality.

"And these are taking place

within the context of a collapsed educational system, poor investment climate, less than mediocre government and increasing corruption."

He asked public officers to make service their focus .

"Leaders of the critical sectors of our society must serve honestly, with integrity, we may still have some conflicts. They must lead by example," he stressed and said that for the nation to progress “we need robust and sustained economic growth for several years in order to significantly increase employment opportunities for our young people. We must give them hope. We must give them something to look forward to and to aim for when they are in school.

"We must give them a reason to believe in this

country and its future, their future. We must, individually and collectively, provide service to them. We must provide justice to them. That way we would be building a more peaceful Nigeria and would encourage our people to serve our country-because the country would be serving them."

He lamented that the situation has degenerated to an extent that engineers now find it difficult to work on collapsed infrastructure in remote areas where their lives are not safe.

Also speaking, the Rotary District 9125 Governor 2012/2013, Mr. Felix Obadan noted that organization has spent over $1billion on polio eradication .He expressed hope that with the new leadership the job will be easier.

Aregbesola assures rural dwellers of quality medical care

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SUN State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has assured the people in the rural areas of his administration's commitment to providing quality medical care for them.

He said there was a crucial need to consider their medical needs, most especially those who could not explore the benefits inherent in the free surgical

n Adesoji ADENIYI, Osogbo n mission due to distance and other impediments.

The governor, while speaking at the official kick off of government's free surgical mission held at the State Hospital, Iwo, Osun State, stated that "there are equally a significant number of other people, who require healthcare, especially

specialised services, but are unable, due to one reason or the other to go to the health care centres."

He said that the determination of his administration to create opportunities for rural dwellers to assess specialised health care service informed the extension of free surgical mission to rural communities in the state.

Lamido promises better days for Jigawa

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IGAWA State Governor, Dr Sule Lamido, yesterday charged the people of the state to ensure that the maiden Jigawa Economic and Investment summit ushers in development to the state.

Lamido, who spoke at the close of the three-day summit, held at the Sir Ahmadu Hall, said the summit will take the state to the next level, saying the people should not view the summit as belonging to him.

The comments by the

n Kolade ADEYEMI, Dutse n governor came against the backdrop of insinuations from some quarters that the summit may end up as the others before it without achieving the desired results.

Lamido promised potential investors that the state government has put in place arrangements to initiate a programme that will ensure that the people are friendly to both local and foreign investors.

He stressed that the task

before the government is enormous, and said the administration is doing all within its powers to ensure that the state can compete favourably with any other state in the country.

The Chairman of the drafting committee of the Economic and Investment Summit, Professor Mohammed Tabiu, while giving the highlights, noted that task ahead of Jigawa State is very challenging in terms of policy, commitment and implementation.

Aregebesola disclosed that his government has commenced the renovation of nine state hospitals and the construction of nine trauma centers at the State Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo, the state capital, to take proper care of people’s health in the state.

He said: "We have therefore employed a multifaceted approach towards achieving our goals.

The measures we have taken cover such health-related areas as provision of portable water supply to our people, especially the people in the rural areas, to promote personal hygiene.

"We have been maintaining our free health care policy through constant procurement to ensure the availability of free antmalaria drugs at our hospitals, while there are also free anti-malaria drugs for pregnant women as part of their ante-natal treatment in government-owned hospitals."

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EMBER of Lagos state House of Assembly, Hon. Olumuyiwa Jimoh, has said that June 12 remains Nigeria's democracy day and not May 29.

Jimoh stated this yesterday while answering questions from journalists on the celebration of May 29 as Democracy Day in the country.

The lawmaker, who represents Apapa 2 constituency at the Assembly, said, "the difference between May 29 and June 12 is like heaven and earth. It is June 12 that gave birth to the democracy we are enjoying today.

"It was the annulment of June 12 that led to the agitation that June 12 must be restored. And it is that June 12 that gave birth to this May 29."

He stressed that the only historical importance of May 29 is that it was the day General Abubakar Abdulsalaam handed over to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

"June 12 is very significant, it has a very fundamental role in the memory of the average Nigerian", Jimoh stressed.

Oyo has not borrowed a dime in 2 years, says Ajimobi

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HE second half of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led administration in Oyo State kicked off with prayers on Friday, with the governor declaring that his government, despite the huge number of projects being undertaken by it, had not borrowed a single naira from any quarter in the last two years.

The governor, who spoke at an inter-faith service organized to mark the second anniversary of his administration at The Remembrance Arcade, Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, said this was achieved through his administration’s financial engineering and deft management of government’s meager resources.

The service witnessed the assemblage of traditional rulers, eminent personalities, opinion leaders, members of the state executive councils, the legislators, judicial officers, market men and women, politicians as well as Islamic and Christian religious leaders who led prayers for the state and the government.

Governor Ajimobi, who assessed his administration in the last two years and gave himself a pass mark, said that the contracts awarded by his government included construction of roads and road dualization, bridges, motor parks, neighbourhood markets and other developmental projects.

The governor said: “I am happy to inform you all that in spite of all the projects that we have executed and are still executing, Oyo is one of the three out of the 36 states in Nigeria that has not taken any loan.’’

Organisation sponsors surgeries at LASUTH to mark Children Day

n Oyeyemi GBENGA-MUSTAPHA n IVE children scheduled for sundry surgeries at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, but whose parents cannot afford the cost have been sponsored for the different medical interventions.

They are Obu Nathaniel, diagnosed with left inguinoscrotal hernia and operated for left hernotomy; Balogun Abdullahi diagnosed with hirschsprings disease and operated for pull through; Raji Nosifat diagnosed for anorectal malformation with recto-vestibular fistula and operated for posterior sigital anorectoplasty; Olatunji Blessing diagnosed with colostomy post PSARP and operated for closure of colostomy while Joseph Glory was diagnosed for soft tissue mass and operated for same.

The sponsor, Yeloto African Children Foundation, a charity/non governmental organisation (NGO) said that was the best way to mark this year's Children Day- ensuring they live and matured into adulthood.

According to the Coordinator, Dr Oluyemi Olawaiye the rationale behind the doing of such is needs by the children.

"There are many needs by the African child. Part of the needs are education and good life, which is basically good healthcare. Though am based in the US but we can't leave our children to be taken care of by the outsiders, hence our donations would help give a disadvantaged child nutrition, education and a future.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

60 NEWS Newspaper distributors, vendors protest burning of newspapers in Onitsha

Oshiomhole denies receiving campaign funds from Ameachi n Osagie OTABOR, Benin n

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…by task force n Nwanosike ONU, Awka n

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HE newspapers and m a g a z i n e s distributors and vendors in Onitsha, took to the streets yesterday in Onitsha, following the burning of their newspapers and magazines at Upper Iweka.

The distributors and vendors took their protests to the office of Anambra State Traffic Agency (ASTA) and the local government headquarters of Onitsha North local Government Area.

They described the agency’s action as crude.

They threatened a showdown with the Anambra State Government, Onitsha North and South, if they did not caution their agents to stop further harassment, intimidation and destruction of their means of livelihood.

The Nation gathered that the protesters were attacked by the agency’s operatives, save for the intervention of the police from Onitsha Central Police Station led by divisional Police Officer, Tope Fasugba, otherwise, there would have been bloodbath.

The Vice-Chairman of Onitsha Newspapers Distributors directors Association, Chief Christian Ikpe, said the hoodlums working for Anambra State and local governments had been harassing and destroying their products for the past two years.

He claimed that the newspapers and magazines the hoodlums had seized in the last two years amounted to about N5m.

According to him, “the intimidation, harassment and seizure of our products reached a climax Thursday when some boys, allegedly working for the Anambra State Government, Onitsha North and South seized our members’ newspapers and magazines and set them ablaze.

That is the reason why we decided to boycott all the newspapers from the media houses in the country today to protest this uncivilised action against us in Onitsha.

The amount of the newspapers which did not circulate today should be about N10m,” he said.

When contacted, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Onitsha North Local Government Area, Chief Idu Okosi, denied that his boys were involved in the burning of the newspapers and magazines.

Anambra State Commissioner for Information Chief JoeMartins Uzodike also denied that the agents of Anambra State Government were responsible.

•Gov. Obi (middle), with Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor ( 1st right), Chinecherem Ezenwobodo, David Ezendidika( 2nd left) and Comm. for Education, Uju Okeke ( 1st left), shortly after the governor presented a cheque of 10 Million for school rehabilitation in Anambra State

Tragedy as mother, three children die after dinner in Imo A middle-aged woman and three of her children were yesterday wiped out after allegedly eating eba and okra soup for dinner.

The incident threw the sleepy community of Egbelu Nguru community in NgorOkpala Council Area of Imo State into panic as many of the villagers attributed the mysterious death to evil attack.

It would be recalled that a family of nine also died in a similar circumstance in Emekuku, Owerri North Council Area last year.

The deceased widow, Mrs Gladys Nwosu and her eldest daughter, Miss Chinelo Nwosu, a final year student of University of Nigeria Nssuka and two of her siblings were confirmed dead at Ngor-Okpala General

…two on danger list

n Okodili NDIDI, Owerri n

Hospital, where they were rushed to.

When The Nation visited the compound, it was vacated, as all the doors were locked. But a neighbor, Mr. Patrick Okere, said the death of the woman and her three children was mysterious and inexplicable.

According to him, the late Gladys woke up in the morning with members of her family and started their daily chores when suddenly the children whose ages ranged from 23 to 12 started to complain of stomach pain.

He added that, “the woman rushed the children

who were already writhing in pain to a spiritual Church on the suspicion that it was a demonic attack but after their conditions deteriorated, they were rushed to the hospital, where they were confirmed dead.

“Hours later, the mother who was running around with the children, began to shout that her stomach was on fire and was rushed to the same hospital by neighbors, and she also died immediately she was admitted in the hospital.”

Meanwhile, two of the younger children, whose names were given as Chidera 18 and Njideka 20, who also ate of the meal were still on danger list as doctors were battling to save their lives.

Man killed by lover’s children in Enugu

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local council health worker has been allegedly hacked to death by the children of his lover.

The victim, whose name was given as Kenneth Isiwu of Nkalagu Obukpa worked with the Igboeze South Local Government Area of Enugu State.

Isiwu met his untimely death when he allegedly visited his lady friend and a widow whom he had been relating with, allegedly to the disappointment of her children.

n Chris OJI, Enugu n He was allegedly attacked by the two sons of the woman, identified as Ekene and Chiebolam Eze with sticks and machetes.

The two sons were said to have been nursing hatred for the man and laid trap for him for constantly having amorous dealings with their mother.

Ekene and Chiebolam also allegedly inflicted machete cut on the head of the deceased and as a result, he sustained serious injury.

According to the Enugu State police spokesman, Ebere Amaraizu Isiwu was initially rushed to Bishop Shanaham Hospital, Nsukka, where he remained unconscious for three days and was subsequently referred to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital ( UNTH ), Enugu for further treatment.

But he was confirmed dead by the management of UNTH. Police spokesman Amaraizu said police have commenced investigations into the alleged murder.

Governor Obi grants amnesty to 23 inmates

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OVERNOR Peter Obo of Anambra State, yesterday granted amnesty to 23 prisoners drawn from Awka, Onitsha, Aguata and Enugu prisons as part of activities to mark the 2013 Democracy Day. According to a press statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Mike Udah, Obi granted the amnesty in exercise of his constitutional powers.

Udah said three of the beneficiaries were released from Awka Prison. They included Chidiebele Okolisa, Nafiu Mohammed and Kenechukwu Nwobodo, while Chibuzo Ekweizu and Chukwudi Okonkwo were released from Aguata Prison.

The beneficiaries from Onitsha Prison were Mmaduabuchi Ojimba, Dick Iboro,

n Odogwu EMEKA ODOGWU, Nnewi n and Nwanosike ONU, Awka Ikechukwu Nnamani, Amaechi Oloh, Chukwunonso Igbomalu, Sunday Udezulu and Ibrahim Oluwatosin Ahmed.

Other lucky ones from Onitsha Prison included Chinedum Ephraim, Adebayo Damilare, Christian Okeke, Julius Nweke, Sundy Ogugua, Chijioke Oforkalu, Nnamdi Nwabunwanne and Donatus Obioha.

He further added that from Enugu Prison, Kennedy Okechukwu Okolonta and Onyeka Abugu had their terms reduced to 21 years imprisonment from the dates of their sentences, while Nnenna Obi from the same (Enugu) Prison was released.

When our reporter visited the hospital whose morgue, the bodies of the deceased were also deposited, a medical staff who spoke in confidence, said that preliminary examinations revealed that the four died of food poisoning. “We will come out with a comprehensive result soon, but the initial tests revealed that the food they ate contained poisonous substance and that is the primary cause of death.”

The Imo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Joy Elemoko could not be reached as at the time of filling this report.

OVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has denied media reports (not The Nation) that he collected the sum of N500m from Governor Rotimi Ameachi to fund his 2012 re-election campaign.

Governor Oshiomhole said Ameachi did not spend two nights in the state before, during and after his campaigns.

The report published in one of the dailies alleged that Governor Rotimi’s travails within the PDP were not unconnected with alleged financial support Ameachi gave to Oshiomhole last year.

He said it was better for the PDP to look for other reasons why it has wrongly taken certain actions against one of its own, than looking for convenient ways to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

The governor who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Prince Kassim Afegbua said the reports were to give the Rivers State governor a bad name and portray the Edo State Governor in bad light with respect to campaign funds and management.

He noted that the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 [as amended] frowned on such huge donations by either an individual or corporate body for the campaign of any individual candidate running for election.

According to him, “If anyone is in the breach of such provisions, it is the PDP. The Oshiomhole Campaign Organisation was very conscious of the requirement of the law with respect to donation.

AAU ASUU protests members’ abduction by gunmen n Osemwengie Ben OGBEMUDIA, Benin n

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HE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State chapter, yesterday protested the reported abduction of over 10 of its members and their spouses in separate operations by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers; describing it as unacceptable.

The union's position according to its chairman, Professor Fred Esumeh and its Secretary, Stanley Omoisoje, the wife of Professor Raymond Aluede, Dean of Faculty of Education was abducted while returning from work.

It stated that “if drastic steps were not taken by authorities concerned to curb the ugly trend, the institution of learning may soon acquire notoriety, giving the circumstances under which Profs. O.P.G Nmorsi of the Department of zoology, C. O Isiramen of the Department of Religious and Cultural Management and the wives of Prof. J.E.A Osemekhian and Dr Ken Imarenezor of the Department of Physics and Microbiology were also abducted.”

It further said: “In fact, kidnapping of members of ASUU or their wives now occur on a daily basis. We believe that this ugly trend has become a pattern and pervasive because little or nothing has been done to apprehend the hoodlums as they seem to be having a field day in their nefarious activities.”

Andy Uba' s election affirmed

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ENATOR Andy Uba, yesterday survived a legal battle to oust him from the senate. The Court of Appeal, sitting in Owerri, ruled against his challenger, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu.

Ukachukwu had prayed the appellate court to declare him as the validly nominated Peoples Democratic Party's candidate for Anambra South in the April 9, 2011 election.

In a lead judgment yesterday, Justice Inyang Okoro ruled that Ukachukwu had lost his "right of action" against Uba, and could therefore not sue him over a pre-election matter.

A similar suit against Uba is before a Federal High Court in Abuja.

Commenting on the judgment yesterday, an associate of Uba said “the Abuja case no longer counts as a higher court has effectively settled the issues in the case. His election has been affirmed and that settles the matter," he said.

NEWS 61

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Customs impounds N220m worth of contraband n Okodili NDIDI, Owerri n

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IGHT people are to be prosecuted by the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone C, of the Nigeria Customs Service, Owerri, Imo State, for allegedly smuggling contraband into the country.

The Area Controller in charge of the zone, Deputy Comptroller Victor Dimka, who made the disclosure during a press briefing with newsmen in Owerri, said that the suspects would be arraigned in court after preliminary investigations.

The Customs boss said that the zone has made 22 seizures of various contrabands across its area of operation with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N220, 348 million within the month of April.

Dimka noted that frozen poultry topped the list of seized contrabands, with a total number of 8,317 cartons of frozen turkey and chicken valued at N84, 951milion.

He said that eight of the suspected smugglers who were arrested would soon be arraigned in court, adding that the clampdown on smugglers and their collaborators in the zone would be sustained to rid the country of hazardous and prohibited goods.

The Customs boss said that the suspects, if found guilty, would be jailed to serve as a deterrent to others. He noted that smuggling poses a serious threat to the economy and health of the nation.

He warned smugglers to desist from the illegal trade or face the wrath of the law. According to him, the zone is battle ready to tackle smuggling within its sphere of operation and across the country.

•Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State being interviewed by State House correspondents, while other governors watch, shortly after their meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House in Abuja.

PHOTO: Akin Oladokun

ACN, CPC, ANPP battle for Anambra APC chair

NUT strike: Edo makes alternative arrangement T as 76,000 pupils write exams today

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DO State Government has said that the strike action embarked upon by the Nigeria Union Teachers would not affect the conduct of the Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination scheduled to hold today across the country.

It said alternative arrangements would be made for the conduct of the examination.

The state chapter of the NUT, Patrick Ikosimi has urged its members to join in

n Osagie OTABOR, Benin n the strike and not participate in the conduct of the examination because of partial implementation of Teachers Salary Scale Allowance.

It was learnt that 75,000 pupils would be participating in the examination across 365 centres.

Commissioner for Basic Education, Patrick Agwuinede said the examination materials were already at the various centres.

Agwuinede said the alternative arrangement was to ensure that the destiny of the pupils was not jeopardised.

He wondered why the NUT would commence the strike on a weekend, adding that it was ploy to sabotage the conduct of the examination.

According to him, “I got a text message that the NUT is going on strike. They said the governor is owing them TSA allowance. I pleaded that by

Monday, I will avail myself for discussions to be opened.

The case of Edo is not the same thing but it is just that we have not finished payment.”

“The implication is that they targeted the examination. They have not brought the issues up for discussions. This exam is for both private and public institutions. It then behooves us to have alternative arrangement to conduct the examination.”

N1b shared among federal, states polytechnics –Ruqayyatu

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HE Minister of Education, Professor Ruqqayyattu Ahmed Rufa’I, yesterday, disclosed that no fewer than twelve federal and state polytechnics in the country, have so far received the sum of N1billion from the Tertiary Education Fund High Impact Fund initiated by the Federal Government.

The Minister said the fund was initiated with a view to

n Osemwengie Ben OGBEMUDIA, Benin n strengthen the running of polytechnics in the country.

She recalled that in 2012, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund granted a total of N9.3billion to polytechnics and monotechnics, adding that lecturers in the polytechnics are also benefiting from staff development programmes, which according to her is

geared towards producing more lecturers with doctoral degrees.

She disclosed this during the commissioning of the Philipa Idogho campus, Federal polytechnic Auchi, Edo State.

While commending the efforts of the management of the institution led by the rector, Dr Philipa Idogho, the

Minister said in order to strengthen technical education in the country, the Federal Government also initiated the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). “This will enable the complete rehabilitation and upgrading of their laboratories, thereby helping to sustain students’ interest and learning outcome.”

Nnamani, Ojukwu, Uwazuruike storm Anambra to honour CD President

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ROMINENT Nigerians including former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu and Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, Founder, Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) would storm Anambra on Wednesday, June 5th, to honour, Dr. Joe

n Odogwu Emeka ODOGWU, Nnewi n Okei-Odumakin, President, for her role in empowering Campaign for Democracy and restoring dignity of (CD) at Top Rank Hotel, women in Africa.

Onitsha.

The statement signed by A statement from CD said Dede Uzor A. Uzor, that the honour is to Chairman, CD South-East celebrate the awards given Region, said that the event to Dr Okei-Odumakin by would also have Governor the U.S. Secretary of State, Peter Obi of Anambra, Prof.

John Kerry and U.S. First Ukachukwu Awuzie, former Lady, Mrs. Michelle Obama President ASUU, and Mr

Ballah Nasarawa, Anambra Commissioner of Police in attendance.

Uzor said that the event would witness a colloquium on ``State of the Nation: The Way Forward’’, which would be delivered by Dr. Okei-Odumakin.

Sen. Nnamani would present a keynote address before the colloquium.

LG Electronics donates anti-mosquito A/C to mark world malaria day

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s part of its Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) drive, global leader in electronic products, LG Electronics, visited IdiAyunre community health centre in Ibadan, where it donated some units of the recently introduced LG Antimosquito ACs and treated mosquito nets.

This gesture was embarked on by LG Electronics to mark

n Gbenga KUTELU n the world malaria day, as well as to enhance health care and fight the scourge of malaria which has been recognized to be the biggest killer of pregnant women as well as children under the age of 5.

At the event, representatives of LG Electronics took time out to interact with members of the

communities. The donated items are expected to meet the health care needs of the community by combating mosquitoes which are the carrier of the malaria parasite.

Speaking at the occasion, General Manager, Air conditioning and Energy Solutions, LG Electronics, Mr. Junhwa Jeong said “Overtime, combating the menace of malaria has proven to be

extremely difficult.

LG Electronics is committed to this fight; 2012, we introduced the LG Anti-Mosquito Air Conditioner that is uniquely designed to knock down and repel mosquitoes using our unique ultra-sonic wave device which emits sound at a frequency that is harmful to mosquitoes yet totally inaudible and harmless to humans.

n Nwanosike ONU, Awka n

HE jostle among the three merged parties, the Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) for the pioneer chairman of the mega party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Anambra State chapter, is gradually gathering pace in the state.

Three of the chairmen of each of the parties is laying claim to the position, as clandestine meetings have begun in earnest.

The three political parties are Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led by Chief Amechi Obidike, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) led by Chief Pat Orjiakor and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) led by a retired military Officer, Chuba Ikeagwu.

However, one of the major problems in the ranks of (CPC) is the emergence of three persons laying claim to the chairmanship of the party with Mr. Tony Agu from Abagana challenging Ikeagwu and Kenechukwu Udechukwu for the throne.

On Wednesday, there was a closed door meeting between the two chairmen of (ACN) and (CPC) on how to beat the ANPP chairman to the throne.

But the ANPP chairman, Orjiakor is not resting on his oars, as he has taken his battle beyond Anambra State to seek support, especially from the APC eggheads.

Woman arraigned for killing own baby n Osagie OTABOR, Benin n

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middle-aged woman, Peace Agbonlahor has been arraigned before an Ekpoma Magistrates’ Court in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State for allegedly killing her baby.

She was said to have committed the crime on March 23, 2013, by using a knife to stab her baby, Abundance to death.

According to the charge, the offence is punishable under section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Cap 48, Vol. 11, Laws of defunct Bendel State of Nigeria of 1976 now applicable in Edo State.

Trial magistrate, Mrs. Margaret Iluobe refused to take the plea of the accused because the matter was a murder case that does not fall under the court’s jurisdiction.

She consequently referred the matter to Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for advice.

Chamber of Commerce donates SUV to motherless homes n Odogwu Emeka ODOGWU, Nnewi n

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NMATES of Umuoji Motherless Babies Home, Umuoji in Idemmili South Local Government Area, Anambra State yesterday received a donation of an SUV from the Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ONICCIMA).

President of ONICCIMA, Chief Tim Anosike who made the donation to the management of the motherless babies home at Sharon House, GRA, Onitsha, during the 6th Edition of “The Perspective”, an annual lecture series of ONICCIMA, said the gesture was in keeping with their mandate of empowering all segments of the society.

“With this vehicle, we believe the home would have been substantially relieved of some of its challenges associated with mobility and related matters.’’

INTERVIEW

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THE NATION SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

Taking Abia into the main stream of politics has paid off for us — Monarch HRM Eberechi N. Dick (Eze Udo 1) is the Traditional Ruler of Mgboko Mgwa Amaise Autonomous Community, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State and the Second Deputy Chairman of the State Traditional Rulers Council. He is also a member of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba. In this interview with OKORIE UGURU, he bares his mind on some salient issues. Excerpts:

HRM Eberechi

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Highness, may we know more about your background?

OUR

After attending Local Authority (LA) School in Eke Na Ekpu as was the case in those days, I was enrolled into Umuaro Group Schools, Umuaro, from there I went on to serve my master in foodstuff trading. At a point, I felt that my passion lay elsewhere. I developed interest in politics and was elected councillor for Mgboko Itu Ngwa WD 3 between 1987 and 1989, I was also made Supervisor for Agriculture in the former Obioma Ngwa LGA. Later, I enrolled into the Institute of Independent Marketing Management of Nigeria, Lagos. That led me into dealing in petroleum products and shortly I became a dealer for National Oil & Chemical Marketing Company and petroleum products for NIPEC and Aroline Nigeria Ltd. Call it passion, commitment or conviction, or what have you, I will say I have it in large measure as my passion in this trade led me to establish the Eberechi& Sons Nigeria Ltd, dealers in petroleum products & general merchandise, and Eberechi Farms which today have over 100 employees.

In 1999, I was recognised as Traditional Ruler (Eze Udo 1) of Mgboko Ngwa Amaise Autonomous Community and later became member of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers. I am currently the Chairman, Ngwa Royal Fathers Supreme Council, being the apex Traditional Rulers Council in Ngwaland, and the Second Deputy Chairman, Abia State Traditional Rulers Council.

From all indications it appears your state is passing through a critical period. What really is going on in the state?

I do not understand what you mean by “critical period”because every time in the life of an administration is very critical, especially to an administration like that of Ochendo, His Excellency, T.A. Orji who is totally committed to service delivery. He is saddled with enormous and critical demands to pay salaries with the little allocation from the Federal Government and still embark on enormous infrastructural developments. And if you go around Abia State, you will testify to some massive infrastructural developments that are spread across every

nook and cranny of the state.

In fact, just recently, His Excellency flagged off the construction of a 10km road network in every local government council of the 17 local government areas in Abia State.

So as you can bear me witness, what is going on in the state is good administration. First of all, let me say that when we judge the governor, we should plead with the people to understand the peculiarity of the circumstances under which he emerged. It would be unfair to judge him without a firm knowledge of the background in which he came on board. He almost did not have a first term of office.

We all were witnesses to what happened. Much of his first term was engaged in litigations but he was courageous to face the challenges of governance in Abia State.

There were so many distractions that could hinder any administrator however serious-minded. If that was at the back of your mind when you talk of 'critical period' in a way, I will be too naïve not to agree with you totally.

Having put you on notice over that, I would then rather want us to begin to judge him strictly from his second term in office when he became firmly in control of the state.

Having said that when he came on board, he challenged himself with two things based on his experience. First was to totally liberate Abia State from the structure that he inherited. Thank God that he successfully did this. He has successfully and systematically dislodged some of the bad things going on before he came on board which were hindering effective service delivery.

It is only him who wears the shoes that will tell you where they pinch most. So, most of the people making a noise do not know anything about leadership. It is not about doing temporary popular projects. When we say that Governor T.A. Orji is doing legacy projects, projects that will stand the test of time, we know what we are talking about. Believe me, I am a traditional ruler, I have no need to lie to you. This is the time we are practising real democracy in Abia State, quote me. It's not a government of those you know or those that are sponsoring you. It's the government of the people that has grassroots support.

Honestly, because of what happened in the past, His Excellency is now in a hurry to develop Abia State. He

seems to be in hurry to make up for the distractions of the first tenure; everything is moving very fast. Or what else do you think was his motivation in awarding a 10km road construction in every LG of the 17 local government areas? Only a leader with a burden to radically develop a state and make sure his leadership impacts directly on the people will do this. And mind you, he is doing all these within the context of limited funds available to him.

Most importantly, Ochendo has taken us back to the main stream of Nigerian politics and we have started reaping the benefits. Just recently, all the long abandoned federal roads in Abia State are either being renovated or reconstructed. Take for instance, the AbaEnugu-Port Harcourt Express that was a death trap is now wearing an entire new look. That of AbiribaOhafia-Arochukwu federal road was recently flagged off.

We are experiencing a state of insecurity in the South East today. As a traditional ruler, what do you think we should do to stabilise the polity?

You will bear me witness that a few years back when kidnappers who were dislodged from Rivers State gravitated into various SouthEast states, Abia became unbearable and investors fled. It was one of the most critical periods of this administration and it is through great leadership challenges like this that you know great leaders. An average leader, faced with what T.A was confronted with at that period, could have thrown in the towel and run out of the country, especially, at a point when it became manifest that most of the atrocities being committed were sponsored and targeted at Ochendu, either to tarnish his name or present him as incapable of leadership.

But, then again, the foresight of the governor in taking us back to the main fold of the Nigerian politics was to play another important and positive role in attracting the Federal Government, which sent federal troops and other security agencies to nip that problem in the bud.

And kidnapping finally disappeared. You see, what a lot of people do not understand is that if Abia was still in the opposition camp, the Federal Government might not have responded so promptly.

This episode happened just a short while ago, but people seem to have forgotten. Top businesses and industries folded up in Aba. Powerful individuals disappeared and went on self-exile. But today, courtesy of the inspiring leadership of Ochendu, life has returned because peace has been restored. And there could be no better legacy than somebody creating an enabling environment for the economy to thrive once again.

Despite these giant strides you have mentioned, there seems to be a lot of criticisms on the leadership quality and style of Governor Orji? Why did you keep quiet all this while?

I think, to a large extent, people like me should share in the blame for these criticisms because we kept quiet and allowed politicians who have no good intention for the state or the people, to make a noise. You know, traditional rulers are not supposed to make political statements, that is why I have taken time to observe these events. But I can vow for the governor’s sincere desire to develop the state because I got to know him (Ochendo) very well when he served as Chief of Staff.

THE NATION SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

63

SPORT EXTRA

Lille ready to sell Enyeama for N237m L

IGUE 1 side Lille have not guaranteed Nigeria international goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama a starting shirt next season, and are willing to sell him to Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv for a fee of $1.5 million (about N237m), writes one.co.il.

After limited playing opportunities in his first season in France, Vincent Enyeama joined the Yellows on loan this past campaign.

The experienced goalkeeper earlier admitted that he won’t

Abedi Pele features on Glosponsored CNN’s African Voices

•Enyeama

F

Aluko says Hull City will shock EPL

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IGERIA winger Sone Aluko said he is confident he and Hull City could be the English Premier League shock troopers next season.

Aluko was an attacking revelation as ‘The Tigers’ clinched automatic promotion, scoring eight goals in 22 starts before injury cut short his campaign in January.

Although an ill-timed lay-off meant the 24-year-old missed out on the final four months of the season, a full recovery ensures he will rejoin teammates for pre-season training on July 4.

That will begin the countdown to the Premier League kick-off on August 17 and Aluko is desperate for the chance to prove himself at the highest level.

“I’m 100 per cent confident I can go to the Premier League and play my part,” he said. “I can’t wait, I honestly can’t wait.

“They should fear me because

I watched them far more than they’ve watched me!

“Hopefully, that will give me the advantage. Not just myself but I hope the whole team can take a few people by surprise.”

Aluko is heading back to the top flight eight years after he came within a whisker of a Premier League debut.

As the rising star of Birmingham City under Tigers boss Steve Bruce, a 16-year-old Aluko was an unused substitute for the Blues visit to Arsenal in October 2005.

That ultimately proved to be a premature introduction and it has needed spells north of the border with Aberdeen and Rangers, and last summer’s move to East Yorkshire to bring him back to the brink of the Premier League.

Aluko said he is more “tortoise than hare” but is thrilled to have arrived back in the big time.

“I came close before when I got to the bench at 16,” he explained.

House committee on sports backs Elegbeleye

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HE House of Representatives Committee on Sports has promised to give its full support to ensure that the newly appointed Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Gbenga Elegbeye succeeds in his assignment.

This pledge was made by the Chairman of the House Committee on Sports Hon. Geoffrey Gaya when he and some members of the Committee, past and present paid a courtesy call on the Director-General in his office on Friday.

Hon. Gaye told the DG that the House Committee on Sports knows that the NSC is one of the least funded government agencies inspite of the importance of sports in Nigeria and the numerous successes and contributions Nigeria sports has made in the international scene.

He therefore promised that the Committee will work with its counterpart in the Senate to ensure that sports is properly funded.

Hon. Gaye advised the new DG to give special attention to sports development at the

return to France to sit on the bench next season.

Consequently, the leadership of Lille want to sell him to an interested club.

According to the report from Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv, who are desperately searching for a goalkeeper in the summer transfer market, are willing to meet Lille’s $1.5 million valuation of Vincent Enyeama.

In the just concluded season, the Super Eagles numero uno recorded 27 appearances in the Ligat ha’Al.

grassroots and find a way of completing community sports projects which are currently being handled by the Commission.

He reasoned that since most schools do not have adequate sports facilities in the rural areas, the community sports centres will provide opportunities and venues where the youths can develop their talents in sports.

Former Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Bello Suleiman who was in the team that visited the Director-General advised Hon. Elegbeleye to always consult former Ministers and Directors General who were at the NSC on issues that need further briefing and better understanding, adding that he should endeavour to work with his former colleagues in the House Committee on Sports.

Responding, the DirectorGeneral Hon. Elegbeleye thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for giving him the opportunity to serve. He also thanked his visitors and promised to deliver on his mandate at the Commission since sports is a familiar terrain to him.

OOTBALL legend, Abedi “Pele” Ayew of Ghana, will be the special guest on this week’s edition of African Voices, CNN International’s 30minute magazine programme.

Sponsors of the programme, Globacom, explained that the former Ghanaian international was chosen because of his accomplishments and his role in lifting the game on the African continent.

He joins Nigeria’s Joseph Yobo, John Utaka, the Toure brothers, ex-basketball star Dikembe Mutombo and canoeist Johny Akinyemi as African sportsmen who have so far been featured on the programme.

Globacom explained in a statement that Abedi Pele’s choice as special guest is in line with the philosophy of the programme to showcase successful personalities who are shaping the African continent in different fields of endeavour.

Abedi Pele was born on November 5, 1964. He is a former Ghana international football player and captain and was

given the nickname “Pelé” in recognition of his superior football skills that evoked comparisons to Brazilian football legend, Pelé. He found fame in France’s Ligue 1 with Lille OSC and Olympique Marseille. Abedi Pele was one of the pioneers of African football in Europe. One of the first great African players to make an impact on European club football, he played for teams in Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

Abedi Pele was one of the pioneers of African football in Europe. One of the first great African players to make an impact on European club football, he played for teams in Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

But it was in France he found fame and was instrumental to Marseille’s prominence in the European Champions League during the early 1990s. Amongst his international accolades, he was often included in FIFA “Allstar” selections and captained the African all-stars in their victory over their European counterparts in the Meridian Cup of 1997.

2020 OLYMPIC GAMES

Igali: we won’t give up until wrestling is reinstated

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RESIDENT of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Daniel Igali is optimistic of the inclusion of wrestling among sports that will be competed for at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Igali was among a sixmember delegation that pleaded wrestling’s case to the International Olympic Committee for the reinstatement of status during a meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia last Wednesday.

Following a vote, wrestling was in a group of three sports selected as candidates for the final provisional sport spot in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.

The other sports on the short list of candidates include squash and baseball/softball, while the IOC dropped karate, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.

A final vote will be held by the entire 100-member IOC General Assembly in its meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 7th to 10th September.

Only one of these sports — wrestling, squash or baseball/ softball — will be included in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics

By Akeem Lawal and Igali who expressed happiness to have scaled the first hurdle in bid to have wrestling back in the 2020 Games, said everything will culminate to success when they have the final meeting in Argentina in September.

“There were eight sports that were short-listed, wrestling passed the first ballot to be considered in Argentina on the 7th of September for inclusion into Olympic programme in 2020.

“This is the first victory for us in wrestling and we look at it as unfinished business.

We are going to restructure, reconvene and plan again in order to make sure that we get wrestling listed as one of the sports for the 2020 Olympics,” he assured.

Wrestling was dropped from the Olympic program in February, while baseball and softball were dropped from the Olympic program for the 2012 Olympic Games in London in 2005. Squash has never been included on the Olympic stage before, but has had full medal status at the Commonwealth Games since 1998.

L-R: Lise Legrand – VP French Wrestling Federation, Nenad Lalovic – FILA President, Carol Huynh – 2008 gold and 2012 bronze medalist, Daniel Igali – first Canadian to win gold, Jim Scherr – former head USA Wrestling and USOC at the IOC meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia last Wednesday.

Kenyans will see fire •Continued from back page

had been scored, watching the Ivorien lift his leg high and backwards to blast the ball home. Mikel stole in from behind and kicked the ball through the Ivorien’s legs. He was shocked. He thought he had scored. Such is the commitment of Mikel when he comes to a game ready to play. I won’t blame him, not after over 64 matches for his club, Chelsea, across the busy European league season. Take a bow, brave guy.

If Mikel plays to his capacity in Kenya, the hosts will fall. But we need to remind goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama to concentrate fully during the game. He had a few bad outings against minnows, such as Kenya and Liberia, in the past. Many explained his poor showing to his being on the bench at Lille FC in France. Now that he had decent runs with his Israeli club, one hopes that he remains alert all through the match. If he had positioned himself properly in the first leg game, the Kenyans wouldn’t have scored a goal.

Between Mikel and Enyeama, lie our hopes of beating the Kenyans. The goals will come from set plays but these two men must talk to others on how to control the game without incurring the wrath of the fans through unnecessary delays. We could kill off the game with three first half goals. If that happens, the Kenyans would be forced to applaud good possession football since they would be watching the current African champions live, for most of them, for the first time.

Going to the FIFA World Cup subsequently should be our birthright, given our players’ exploits in Europe and the Diaspora.

As much as 23 Nigerians won medals for England at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Need I mention Nigerians who play football for other countries? We must be at all World Cups, like Brazil; it is not an impossible task.

Wanted: psychologist for Super Eagles I have kept my distance on matters concerning the Super Eagles, with particular reference to the change of guards. It is true that funding the team costs so much.

I have chosen to comment on it because the NFF has recalled the media officer. It means that they want to be told the truth. No team goes to a football war without a psychologist. Such a man must be tested. Robinson Okosun was in the Eagles squad that lifted the Africa Cup of Nations. The psychologist is as important as the doctor, nurse and masseur. They are the ones who condition the players (athletes) for sporting activities after the coaches have done their jobs. It is a symbiotic chain that works.

In the first two games where the Eagles wobbled through their matches, it was said that Okosun played a significant role in psyching up the boys to better their performance.

The evening before the game against Cote d’ Ivoire, I was on the practice pitch to watch the team. Okosun and the players understood themselves. Okosun, the players said, went round each one’s room before the game to psyche them up. They spoke glowingly about Okosun’s competence. One was, therefore, shocked when he and the media officer were dropped.

Now that NFF chiefs are fortifying the squad, it won’t be out of place if the team’s psychologist returns. We don’t need any campaign before the NFF knows the importance of having a psychologist in the Eagles.

I don’t know if the chief coach made any complaints about Okosun’s competence. I doubt it. With a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PHD) in psychology, with cognate experience in the sporting aspect of it as a player and athlete, I wonder why he is still at home, while the Eagles are in Germany. It is instructive to add that Okosun’s first and second degrees are in Physical and Health Education. So what other criteria does he need to keep the job?

Okosun may not be indispensable, but why don’t we learn to sustain a working formula?

TOMORROWPUNCHLINE IN THE NATION

But Nigeria ought to have passed the stage where any elected official would breathe down the neck of another. The governor was elected just as the President —Tunji Adegboyega

SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL.7, NO. 2503

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O, with presidential alacrity, some de tained Nigerians with strong links to the Boko Haram sect have been set free and handed over to various state chief executives?

That is okay. But inasmuch as we cannot question the so-called ‘presidential magnanimity’ in the furious rush to ensure peace in troubled parts of the northern region, I guess we reserve the right to make some observations as regards the freedom granted these suspects, including women and children. We just hope that the authorities are truly convinced of the willingness of these persons to steer clear of suicidal tendencies and live the kind of normal lives which every law abiding citizens crave. Do we take it that the freed suspects now know that their freedom to exhale does not necessarily mean that they must force the rest of us to conform to whatever they believe in? In the simplest of words, do they know that we don’t need to die for them to live? That there is nothing salutary in turning the land into a killing field just because they perceive other Muslims, Christians and people of different shades of religious persuasions as mere unbelievers, worthy only of being bombed or having their throats slit.

As a matter of fact, freedom or presidential pardon is one thing, showing remorse is another. Is there any guarantee that these mothers, suspects, wives and children have shown enough remorse for the deadly sins their husbands, nephews, uncles and relatives inflicted on the state? What kind indoctrination or radicalisation did they go through at the Boko Haram camps? And is this presidential pardon well thought out? Or is it just another jerky political gimmick aimed at consolidating towards 2015? Don’t get it twisted.

This does not in any way suggest a radical position against playing politics with human face regardless of how scary some smiling faces can be. What should worry us is the hurried nature of the directive and the promptness with which it was carried out.

Question is: how much of justice is this government willing to sacrifice on the altar of peace? In Martin Luther King’s words, peace is not the absence of war but the presence of justice. It is commendable that Jonathan has seriously taken exception to the plight of these persons after the raids on their camps and has swiftly moved to ‘rehabilitate’ them through the state governors. But, while at it, can he also spare a thought for the widows whose husbands were callously slaughtered by members of the sect; children who now have to grapple with the harsh realities of precarious living as their parents had become victims of a mindless carnage by the sect. There are countless widowers whose wives were bombed into layers of shredded meat at worship places and such other persons who have

Knucklehead With Yomi Odunuga

E-mail:yomi.odunuga @thenationonlineng.net SMS only: 07028006913

On the whining plain deadly imprimatur of terror etched on their psyche for ever? These persons also need the attention of the state as the quest for lasting peace continues at the war front.

Knucklehead, still in the whining mood, read somewhere that respected Ijaw chieftain and President Goodluck Jonathan’s unrepentant apologist, Chief Edwin Clark, has posted a ‘No Vacancy’ sign on the gate of Aso Rock. Well, that is also okay too. It is jolly well that the 85-year-old has a good accomplice in another wily old fox and Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, who once made such a proclamation some two years into Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo’s first tenure as a democratically-elected president. Now that the two forces have coalesced to work for Madam Patience’ husband, we can only urge them to exercise some patience in ensuring that their ‘son’ continues in that seat after the conduct of a free, fair and credible election in 2015.

Like the Catholic Bishops put it, those beating the war drums and threatening the final breakup of this fragile nationhood if their kinsman is not foisted on the rest of us for another four years should understand that the only way to avoid a cataclysm of blood-

letting is the institution of an electoral process that is free of the shenanigans of the past.

For Pa Clark and ex-policeman Anenih, did it not occur to them that the reality of oncoming general elections is indicative of a wide range of vacancies in government houses, including the one presently occupied

by Jonathan? What we cannot quarrel with is the right of Jonathan to re-contest, subject to the people’s power. Surely, 2015 cannot be a Jonathan sole candidacy rant, neither is it that of any other candidate. One thing is clear: fragmented, callously raped and thoroughly battered as it is, Nigeria is just too big to be placed under the permutation of cavorting spin doctors. I whine!

The other day, I stumbled on a news report quoting the spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force, DSP Frank Mba, as saying that “those making inciting statements about 2015 could only be arrested when they had carried out their threats.” The statement, I assume, was meant to hit the final nail on the declaration by the Director of Navy Information, Commodore Kabiru Aliyu, who recently explained away the security forces’ impotence at shutting up those threatening war

‘

Like the Catholic Bishops put it, those beating the war drums and threatening the final breakup of this fragile nationhood if their kinsman is not foisted on the rest of us for another four years should understand that the only way to avoid a cataclysm of bloodletting is the institution of an electoral process that is free of the shenanigans of the past

’

Ade Ojeikere on Saturday talk2adeojeikere@yahoo.com 08111813079 - sms only

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OD truly loves Nigeria. News filtering in from Nairobi indicates that the Con federation of Africa Football (CAF) President Issa Hayatou will be watching the game between Kenya and Nigeria on June 5, at the behest of the Kenyan president. We are told that they are friends.

We can start to celebrate because the Kenyans would not be as viscous as they were the last time Nigeria beat them in 2009. This writer cannot but celebrate. It would be a level playing field and I dare the referees to play their usual pranks for home teams.

Yes, the smiles are back on the faces of the custodians of our football. The Kenyans, I dare say, are in trouble on June 5 at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi Super Eagles players, coaches and, indeed, eggheads of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are heading to Nairobi with one target- beat the Kenyans silly in front of their home fans, no matter their antics.

The synergy struck by the three blocs culminating in Nigeria’s surprise emergence as the best football playing nation in Africa on

Kenyans will see fire

February 10 in South Africa, is back.

One of the combatants called this writer on Monday, boasting that the Kenyans would be shattered. I asked if he had forgotten his earlier vow to scuttle our 2014 World Cup quest, he replied: “The chicken has come home to roost.” I was impressed. I was excited and moved to watch the game in Nairobi, irrespective of my earlier vow not to. I declined earlier because of the bitter experience I had when Nigeria beat Kenya 3-2 in Nairobi to snatch the 2010 FIFA World Cup ticket.

We were pelted with all manner of objects by the fans. We ran from our seats onto the tracks at some point in the game, with the fans alleging that we influenced the referee, even though the Kenyans scored first in that game.

It was a very difficult game. The Kasarani Stadium pitch was a pigsty. Undulating, almost bald, the pitch was a potential career wrecker for any player who didn’t play with caution. So, it was understandable that our players were cautious, with the Kenyans shining because they knew the turf. Obafemi Martins’ poaching instinct gave us the game.

I can still figure Segun Odegbami’s stunned face, hands akimbo, swinging his head, apparently wondering how the beautiful game was being turned into a battle. Odegbami has seen it all. He definitely hadn’t seen this madness with the way he looked. He was part of the Presidential Task Force, who saw the game.

Nigerians living in Nairobi, who came for the game, hurriedly left for their homes, especially those who came with their kids. It was a horrible experience. We escaped the mayhem because of the ingenuity of the Nigeria High Commissioner to Kenya. He led the soldiers who fought the urchins who had laid siege to the stadium, awaiting the Nigerian delegation outside.

For once, I appreciated the essence of having an ambassador in a foreign land. This one was awesome. At some point, I thought he was an ex-military man. But looking at his name, he didn’t carry any military appellation. In fact, I walked up to shake his hands when we got to the hotel. I digress.

Going to Nairobi will be full of challenges, but a united house of players, coaches and the NFF officials is the battle axe that we need

over a Jonathan presidency thus: “We are in a democracy and so it is not easy to gag members of the public. If we do so, the media and the human rights community will complain about infringing on the fundamental rights of the citizenry. We must not be seen to be gagging members of the public.”

So, Oga Mba and Aliyu, does it mean that any Nigerian, be it a knucklehead, dunderhead or even a yam head, can say anything for and against the system and walk free on our streets? You know, when these top security chiefs talk glibly about citizens’ rights, democracy and freedom of speech, I can’t help but giggle. Can Mba assure us that nothing, absolutely nothing, would be done to anybody that stands in front of Louis Edet House, shouting “I must bomb this police Headquarters someday. I must set this place ablaze!” Will the heavily armed police personnel ignore his rant and presume that since he had not carried out the threat, he should be allowed to ‘carry go?’ Or would the men of the Navy, SSS, Army, Air Force or even Civil Defence extend the same hand of fellowship to anyone making such potentially combustible comments at their gates in the name of democracy and free speech? Is it just a question of conforming to the ethos of democracy or kowtowing to the whim of those speaking in favour of the real Oga at the top for now? Yet, I whine.

The Yoruba have a saying that crying is no excuse to claim that one’s vision has been thoroughly impeded (“Bi a ba n sunkun, ko ni k’a ma riran”). Even in this private musing, I can see through their deceit. We know those who can sit atop Mt. Aso Rock and beat the war drums. We know those who have the effrontery to speak proudly about a negotiated presidential pardon as if they were doing the state a huge favour by accepting the gesture. And, like the Catholic Bishops noted, we ought to know when amnesty is being offered to repentant militants and when the state is surreptitiously appeasing criminals and their sponsors. We know when the rules are criminally trampled on to please some sacred fat cows. And we couldn’t have missed the message that there is a limit to this buzz about freedom of speech with the way and manner federal forces have been swooning on one Mr. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi for daring to speak so ‘negatively’ on how the nation is sinking into the valley of a misbegotten governance. Why didn’t they wait for him to declare his intention to run in 2015 before asking that his head be made available on Oga’s menu? Or is the gander no longer qualified to take the sauce meant for the goose?

Illuminations returns next week

to crush the Kenyans’ resistance on the pitch.

We will miss Victor Moses’ deft touches and dribbling runs, yet we have the men who will spring surprises. If you ask me, Moses’ absence is good. The Kenyans would have kicked the hell out of his feet. They would have flung their elbows at Emmanuel Emenike, if he was there too. The few who didn’t play in the first leg game in Calabar will keep their traps shut at dusk in Nairobi.

It is heartwarming to note that John Mikel Obi will be in Kenya. Mikel will be looking out for the rocky part of the descent into Nairobi. I can bet you, it is a scary but bumpy experience for first timers into Kenya. We were told that Mikel vomited inside the chartered aircraft.

In fact, he opted out of the return journey, preferring to fly British Airways out of the country to England. No joke, it is really a horrible experience if you had gone by air to the East African country, for those who don’t sleep inside the aircraft.

Each time Mikel wants to play for the Eagles, he makes the difference. If you ask me, Mikel gave Nigeria the trophy in South Africa. Recall the last minute safe he made by clearing the ball off the feet of one Ivorien in the quarter finals game. I thought the goal

•Continued on Page 63

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