The Nation June 02, 2013

NGF: Saraki tackles Obi

Get ready for probe, victorious Fayemi tells Oni

Says I didn’t impose Amaechi You can leave forum, Mimiko –Page 4 tells aggrieved govs

–Page 5

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.07, No. 2504

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

JUNE 2, 2013

N200.00

2015 ticket: Eight govs, senators may dump PDP –Page 2

Automatic return for Jonathan unconstitutional –Atiku APC will unseat PDP in 2015 – Buhari –Page 4

• Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (right) discussing with United States civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson (right) during a courtesy call on the governor at the State House, Marina, Lagos at the weekend.

U.S. seizes Alamieyeseisha’s mansion –Page 2

Presidency: No intention to probe Obasanjo Rejects report of civilian casualties in North-East military operation

–Page 2

NEWS

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Presidency: No intention to probe Obasanjo

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HE Presidency said yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan has no intention, whatsoever, to probe the Obasanjo Administration on the strength of the former President’s “constant” criticisms of the current administration.

Reacting to a newspaper report that the President planned to probe Obasanjo following his recent public statement in Dutse, Jigawa State where he appeared to be rooting for Governor Sule Lamido to contest the 2015 presidential election, presidential spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, said no attempt to “drive a wedge between him and other respected elders and leaders of his party” will succeed.

President Jonathan, he said, “remains fully focused on the urgent tasks of assuring peace, security and stability across the country to create the right conditions for rapid socio-economic development and will not be distracted from this objective.”

Abati spoke of Jonathan’s ‘greatest respect for Obasanjo’s very notable contributions to national growth and development over many years and far from taking offence or seeking retaliation’ and said he “will always welcome objective criticism and advice from the very highlyregarded elder statesman.”

“What is more, President Jonathan regards his administration as a continuation of the unbroken chain of PDPled governments started by Chief Obasanjo in 1999 which have worked tirelessly to entrench democratic governance and achieve rapid socio-economic growth in the country.

“Rather than order a pointless probe of his predecessors, he will continue to do his utmost best to build on the solid foundations for national progress laid under previous PDP administrations.”

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HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears headed for major turbulence, this time sparked by last Thursday’s call for automatic tickets at the 2015 elections for President Goodluck Jonathan, ‘performing’ first term governors and legislators. The idea was floated by Chief Tony Anenih, chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT).

Many in the party view the statement as the clearest indication yet of what to expect ahead of the elections, coming as the proposal did from Anenih, a close confidant of the President.

Those aspiring for the Presidency, governorship and legislative seats are worried by the statement and are already considering their future in the party, it was gathered yesterday.

Among those said to be seriously contemplating their future in the party are eight governors and some National Assembly members who may quit the ruling party.

The governors are be-

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

2015 ticket: Eight govs, senators may dump PDP

• Automatic ticket for Jonathan unconstitutional - Atiku From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

lieved to have the support of influential northern leaders and some former governors in the North-East and NorthCentral. They are said to be weighing options like outright formation of a new party, or adopting an existing one.

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the eight governors include four from the North-West, two from the North-Central, one from the North-East and one from the South-South.

It was gathered that the eight governors have started holding talks with political leaders of like mind on the way forward. They want to

retain their grip on their states and control the direction of their political future.

It was gathered that the governors are unhappy that the President is eroding internal democracy in the party by manipulating the PDP leadership to do his bidding ahead of 2015 primaries.

They are equally worried that the PDP was sliding towards regional sentiments with the President more at home with the South-East and South-South.

A reliable source, who is involved in the ongoing talks, said: “Their grouse borders on lack of internal democracy in PDP. They believe the 2015 poll is already

skewed in favour of the President. They also feel that the way Jonathan is going, he might end up determining their political fate in 2015.

“Having hijacked the party structure, the governors are of the opinion that the President controls all the delegates from the South- East, South-South, South-West; Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa and Kogi in North-Central; all the delegates in the North-East states and Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna in the North-West states.

“Based on the party structure at Jonathan’s beck and call, it is sure the PDP ticket is up for him to

•William Miles, Larry Corr and Kim van Aken salvage items from a home destroyed when a tornado hit in El Reno, Oklahoma yesterday. The tornado ripped through the area killing at least nine people, injuring many others and destroying homes and buildings. Photo:AFP

U.S. seizes Alamieyeseigha’s mansion

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HE United States of America (USA) has put further dent on the recent pardon granted former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, by seizing a house belonging to him.

A federal judge in the US approved the Justice Department’s forfeiture order against the $700,000 Rockville, Maryland, house.

The forfeiture was executed at the weekend, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It said District Judge Roger W. Titus granted the Justice Department’s motion for default judgment against the property said to belong

to Alamieyeseigha.

Prosecutors branded the former governor’s assets as the proceeds of corruption.

Alamieyeseigha has previously denied the allegations in court filings.

His lawyer was unavailable for comment, the WSJ said. The forfeiture is said to be part of an initiative launched by the Justice Department to seek out assets in the U.S. linked to highlevel foreign corruption.

Alamieyeseigha had, last year, also forfeited a $401,931 Massachusetts brokerage fund following a motion granted by a federal district judge in Massachusetts.

“Foreign officials who

think they can use the United States as a stash-house are sorely mistaken,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman said in a statement.

“Through the Kleptocracy Initiative, we stand with the victims of foreign official corruption as we seek to forfeit the proceeds of corrupt leaders’ illegal activities.”

Alamieyeseigha was jailed for two years in 2007 for failing to declare assets in Nigeria, South Africa and the U.S. Prosecutors said he bought more than $8 million in properties with bribes he received from contractors while serving as governor.

He pleaded guilty to money laundering on behalf of two companies he controlled— Solomon & Peters Ltd. and Alamieyeseigha and Santolina Investment Corp.

The former governor had last year, also forfeited a $401,931 Massachusetts brokerage fund following a motion granted by a federal district judge in Massachusetts.

President Goodluck Jonathan granted Alamieyeseigha an unconditional pardon in March, sparking outrage.

The Presidency defended its action, saying Alamieyeseigha had shown remorse.

The former governor him-

self said he deserved the pardon having helped in bringing about peace in an otherwise restive Niger Delta region.

The home in Rockville, a suburb of Washington, D.C., is owned by Solomon & Peters Ltd., a shelf company controlled by Alamieyeseigha, according to court papers. The Justice Department and Alamieyeseigha offered drastically different accounts of how the house came to be in his possession.

A Justice Department spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about whether or not the funds would be returned to Nigeria.

grab. So, it is better for governors who are not on the President’s side to look elsewhere for platform.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “These governors want to present a credible candidate against PDP. You will see that PDP is gradually taking a regional party line with recent events with the President leaning mostly on the South-East and the SouthSouth.

“They don’t want to remain in PDP because it’s very glaring the president will win PDP primaries, but the general election he can’t win with the present mood of the nation.”

The chorus of outrage heightened yesterday with the statement by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar denouncing Anenih’s position as undemocratic and unconstitutional.

The release by Atiku’s Media Office demanded an open contest for all aspirants.

It restated the former VP’s rejection of the “consensus arrangement” and “adoption” rather than transparent elections to produce candidates for all elective offices, including the presidency.

It recalled that Atiku was repeatedly in courts to “challenge this undemocratic arrangement and that the courts ruled that the policy was alien to the PDP and Nigerian constitutions.”

The statement read further; “The former Vice-President said the principle for which he opposes this unjust policy, which he described as a ‘travesty of democracy’ has not changed since then.”

The statement quoted Atiku as saying: “My position remains that as far as PDP constitution is concerned, any attempt to change the party’s rule to favour the President as a sole candidate in the event of his willingness to re-contest is unconstitutional.

“The contest should be open to all desiring to pursue an ambition on the platform of the PDP.” The statement added: “While acknowledging that President Jonathan is entitled to seek the party ticket in 2015, the former Vice President, however, insisted that Jonathan should submit himself to a transparent and fair process just like any other party member.

“By foreclosing free and fair process of selecting its presidential candidate, Atiku said the PDP might be sending the wrong message to Nigerians about its commitment to conduct free and fair elections for the entire country.”

Column

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

Democracy as travelling theatre:

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HE vastly urbanised and cosmopolitan Yoruba people of Nigeria have a subgenre embedded in their prodigious dramatic repertoire. It is known as Alarinjo or Travelling Theatre. It is mobile and instant theatre enacted to a background of music and dancing. It is an amusing and riveting spectacle, but it can also become a vehicle of savage social and political satire’ This is the Seventh Stage of politics as drama in Nigeria. The six other stages are exclusively devoted to Farce, Burlesque, Melodrama, Pantomime, Tragicomedy and of course Ritual.

Given the pantomime buffoonery of the past fortnight, it does seem as if Nigerian democracy has learnt something from Yoruba dramaturgy.

Last Wednesday, it was time once again for the annual national pilgrimage to the ritual shrine of democracy in Nigeria. Whenever democracy becomes this routinised and ritualised, you can be sure that it has been emptied of all its formal content. For in the final analysis, it is not what you say about democracy that matters but what you do about it. Democracy is a habit and not an antic. The antidemocratic panjandrums who rule Nigeria must be chuckling to themselves at this huge national swindle.

Nevertheless on May 29, Nigerians from all walks of life and across the political divides, celebrated the fourteenth anniversary of civil rule and nascent democracy. So far, it has been the longest uninterrupted stretch of civilian administration in the history of the country. It was by all accounts a mixed celebration, reflecting the dominant mood of a nation that has entered uncharted waters in a perpetual quest for democratic self-actualisation.

For many, it was a time for sober introspection and reflection about the fate of the country. For others, it was a time to roll out the drums of modest celebrations. To those who wore mournful looks of apprehension and unease, the tally of democratic dividends is in gross deficit. To this band of conscientious objectors, the stark realities on the ground, and the antidemocratic posturing of the upper echelons of the ruling party, is a cause for national anxiety.

Darkness may be visible indeed.

Yet for many others who trade in optimism like political stockbrokers, we have not done too badly given the circumstances.

There is no ideal democratic society anywhere in the world. There has never been. Every human society must negotiate with its own dark demons on the perilous road to democratic emancipation. But where and when the demons win, not even the dead or the martyrs of democratic struggle will be safe.

Democracy has its dark drama, its dismal dissimulation and dire dissembling. Sometimes it creeps in most often after momentous exertions by the populace. At other times, it steals out like an unwanted guest often after serious dereliction by the political elite. In a society fraught with explosive contradictions, nobody is sure of just when enough will be enough.

But above the din of contention, a most sober assessment holds that what we should be celebrating is not the consecration and consolidation of democratic tenets and habits but the absence of formal military rule. If the soldiers remain in the barracks despite sore temptations, we may yet fumble

S

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu

•Babatunde Omidina (Baba Suwe)

and wobble our way out of the woods.

It is perhaps in keeping with the aggregate mood of the country that the celebrations in Abuja have been modest and muted. A state of emergency in a democratic set up is an emergency for the state itself. In a low-keyed ceremony, the government of Goodluck Jonathan reeled out its achievements in the face of widespread question marks over its competence and capability.

But in a development suffused with dramatic irony, while Jonathan was defending his competence and lashing out at his implacable detractors, his benefactor and political patron, the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, was in nearby Jigawa state issuing an oblique but well judged fatwah against his former protégé. With Socratic acerbity, the former president noted that you could help a person get a job but

you cannot help them do the job.

It was a sensational vote of no confidence and a damning report card from the man who had set the exams and formulated its grading rubrics. Obasanjo had singlehandedly propelled Goodluck Jonathan from the joyous obscurity of his tidal backwater state to the dizzying heights of the Nigerian presidency. If he is now publicly flinging the confidential evaluation of his own student and political apprentice at the Nigerian populace and putative electorate, it amounts to a public declaration of hostilities and an indication that 2015 will be one hell of rowdy and riotous endgame.

But Obasanjo should be the least of Jonathan’s worries and woes. The country is unlikely to trust the judgement of the retired general again. He has been tested severally and found wanting in this department of leadership selection.

When without any touch of irony, he was magisterially pronouncing on Jonathan, he was also at the same time publicly pronouncing on the soundness of his own judgement and his capacity for rational and patriotic evaluation of the nation’s leadership needs. The system of preferment he has put in place is as ruinous of true merit as it is redolent of malice and mendacity.

The wily military strategist may be stalking some bigger game in the jungle. It may well be that General Obasanjo does not really care a hoot about who succeeds Jonathan as long as he has damaged him beyond re-election and as long as he succeeds in stripping the government he has installed of its last shred of credibility and legitimacy. This is the typical endgame and grudge match in which the general seems to excel. In that case, Sule Lamido himself must beware of a Greek gift.

For the good people of Nigeria who have been sidelined as usual and forced to become idle spectators at this unfolding play of giants, the good news is that there is time for everything. Given the current power configuration in the nation and the dispersal of political authority within the dominant, residual and emergent hegemonic blocs, one individual, however powerful and pre-eminent, can no longer singlehandedly determine who will rule Nigeria.

Long out of power, with his political stock vastly diminished, without a political base and with virtually all the IOUs called in, the

Awada Kerikeri in Abuja O H boy, oh boy, whilst we are still on the subject of political drama, has anybody watched the travelling video of the elections conducted by the Nigerian Governors Forum to elect its own leadership? This is what happens when the people infiltrate one of their own authentic leaders, Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, into a forum of feral carpetbaggers who do not care a hoot about democratic decorum.

Snooper has watched the video several times and feels very sorry for Nigeria. It is an unworthy political melodrama.

Their Excellencies behaved like cads and political bounders. They should not be proud of themselves. People should keep that video for posterity in case democracy unravels once again. The shame of it all has led Tunde Fashola, the cultured and civilised governor of Lagos State, to tender an apology on behalf of his errant colleagues. This will not prevent Snooper from wielding the heavy lash It was Raymond Williams, the famous British literary critic of proud Welsh extraction, who noted that one should not bother about what goes on in a church if you are not a member. Snooper has never hidden his distaste and contempt for the Governors’ Forum. It is an anti-democratic cartel of strange bedfellows. It has offered a platform for some of its past leaders to talk down on Nigerians with fatuous pomposity. It has supported many anti-people measures such as the

removal of the phantom fuel subsidy. It parades and has paraded many undesirable elements that should be in jail rather then preening and strutting about the gubernatorial mansions.

But fair is fair. When such an ethically challenged forum cannot obey its own rules or the basic tenets of democratic conduct all for reasons of political expediency, then democracy is on a life support.

These monkey marionettes and their master puppeteer in the background will be held responsible if anything untoward happens to democracy in Nigeria.

There can be no doubt that Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi won the election fair and square. The whole process was clean and transparent.

The federal authorities should be embarrassed that the video recording has gone viral and they ought to have done something to halt the post-election charade, if they are not behind it in the first instance.

The resort to a larcenous fabrication of a phantom majority after an election has been won and lost must rank as a new low even by the infamous standards of electoral banditry in Nigeria. No matter what happens next, it is a win win situation for Rotimi Amaechi. He has shown true grit and courage in the face of state persecution. Nigerians will surely hear from the fellow again long after his assailants have returned to penal obscurity.

If there is a clear winner in this

matter, there are also clear losers. It was sad to watch the elderly Governor Jonah Jang defending the indefensible even as his strange and convoluted logic descended into arrant blasphemy. Jang, a former Commodore of the Air Force, a presumed gentleman and a man with the mien of a pious priest suffering from ethnic persecution complex, has obviously struck a deal with the devil.

But for this column, the greatest loser is Governor Olusegun Rahman Mimiko of Ondo State. Is Iroko beginning to politically unravel? He appeared nervous, fidgety, uncomfortable and ill at ease among the hard people of the PDP. Snooper’s good friend and former comrade in arms in the students’ struggle against early military despotism in Nigeria should know that his people, the Yoruba, detest injustice in any form and manner.

They are watching and taking note.

For some time now, Snooper has been observing Mimiko flip and flap about like a huge fish that has thrown itself out of water. In the run up to the Ondo gubernatorial election, this column had argued that even if Mimiko won, he would have exhausted his historical and political possibilities by not aligning himself with the current mood and dominant political tendency of his people.

Every passing day confirms the potency of that political prophecy, and every critical misstep of Mimiko points at a political tragedy in the making.

general reminds one of a political dinosaur stranded by choice. The omens are dire and he should read the handwriting on the wall.

Unlike the northern power masters who often treat him with grace and civility in recognition of past services, the emergent hegemonic bloc does not seem to have the cultural grace for such niceties.

They are prone to a feckless impudence which does not recognise past achievements or current distinctions. They are already sending ominous warning signals of impending demystification in his direction. If he does not take the cue and if the ascendant power bloc comes under intense political pressures, as it is bound to be in the coming months, it might set the House of Lugard ablaze. Long accustomed to hunting with the hounds while running with the hares, Jonathan may yet prove Obasanjo’s ultimate political nemesis just as Abacha almost turned out to be his military nemesis.

There is a feeling of Déjà vu in the air. Something tells Snooper that we have passed this terrain before but in a military guise. The current conjuncture hauntingly reminds one of the early days of General Abacha’s reign of terror.

After the freest and fairest election in the history of the nation was annulled, the opportunist miscalculations of the Nigerian dominant power bloc paved the way for a general who had no time for their posturing and pretences. The military, the caliphate and their southern power coolies paid very dearly for this.

The goggled one strolled where angels feared to thread. He was ferociously feckless. At that point in time, two generals, Obasanjo and Yar’Adua, bestrode the political stage, huffing and puffing with hubristic self-importance. Yours sincerely in an article titled “Martyrs Arising” admonished the two military colossi, warning that in some paradoxical and inexplicable manner they may yet become martyrs of the unfolding democratic drama.

Early in Abacha’s tenure, this writer asked the perceptive and brilliant Patrick Wilmot what he thought was the critical difference between General Babangida and General Abacha, Wilmot shot back that the difference was that Abacha was not intelligent enough to know fear. A few months later, Abacha summarily impounded both generals. Yar’Adua did not live to tell the story and Obasanjo escaped by some miraculous provenance.

Once again, the Nigerian Theatre is travelling and the political road show is on. Like the Alarinjo, no one is sure when the joke and the fun will turn serious and morbid, or when the irreverent satire will metastasise into a vehicle for huge social commotion. Given the ongoing desecration of all known democratic norms and tenets, one can only conjecture that it will not be long. Like all dramas of human existence, it is impossible to distinguish between playing actors and acting players. Only time can tell.

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News

Obasanjo calls for cooperation to fight flood

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ORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday in Abeokuta urged Nigerians and civil society groups to partner with the Federal Government in tackling floods in the country.

The former president spoke at a one-day workshop on “Building a coordinated approach to flood disasters in Nigeria’’ organised by the Centre for Human Security (CHS), an arm of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL).

“The good thing about flood is that even though it’s a natural occurrence it is reasonably predictable and it’s seasonal and you also can predict places that may be affected,” he said.

“Normally, flood should not be a disaster; it is only when we are caught unawares that it becomes a disaster since it is seasonal and reasonably predictable.

Why not, therefore, adequately prepare ourselves for it; I believe that the aspect of how to prepare for it is what brought us here.”

Obasanjo said that the Federal Government and the United Nations agencies were working together on how to manage flood-related issues.

He said civil society groups, corporate organisations, local government and state should team up with the federal authorities to check flooding. “ I believe strongly that all these groups and individuals as well as corporate organisations are also important in tackling flood disasters,’’ he said.

The Director of CHS, Prof. Peter Okebukola, had said that the workshop was aimed at building more collaborative and proactive approaches for the upcoming flood season and beyond.

He said that a strategy document would be developed and distributed after the workshop.

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ORMER Governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki, yesterday, faulted Governor Peter Obi’s claim that he (Saraki) imposed Governor Rotimi Amaechi on the Nigeria Governors Forum ( NGF) as chairman in 2011.

He said that although he did not mind Obi succeeding him as NGF chairman, PDP governors rejected the Anambra State governor.

Saraki made the clarification in a statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Akintoba Fatigun, against the backdrop of Obi’s statement at the weekend that the imposition of Amaechi on NGF started in 2011 when Amaechi was allegedly imposed on the governors by Saraki.

But Saraki in his rebuttal explained how Amaechi emerged in 2011 as the NGF chairman.

He said: “Governor Peter Obi was ex-Governor Bukola Saraki’s Vice-Chairman in NGF, and Obi believed he should be the natural successor to the chairmanship position of the NGF after Saraki’s tenure.

“Although the former governor of Kwara State had no objection to that, there’s an unwritten law that the party in the majority (PDP) should continue to produce the chairman of the forum, because it has always been the tradition even before

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

NGF: Saraki tackles Obi

• Says I didn’t impose Amaechi • You can leave forum, Mimiko tells aggrieved govs FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation/ Gbade Ogunwale

Saraki came on board.

“So, it was decided that the chairmanship should remain in the South- East to compensate for Obi’s loss.

Therefore, Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State, who is a PDP governor, was asked to step in as the next chairman, but he rejected the position on the excuse that he had too much to handle.

“At this point, Saraki, who wanted a South- East Governor to take over from him, did not have an option, since Governor Elechi rejected the offer, than to concede the slot to the SouthSouth reluctantly. The SouthSouth governor in attendance were Governors Liyel Imoke, Timpre Sylva and Rotimi Amaechi. The three governors then retired into a private room to discuss who among them should pick the lot.”

Saraki’s media aide added that after the closed door meeting, Imoke announced that they had all agreed that Amaechi after

consultation with other South South governors has been picked to succeed him.

He explained further that Obi was rejected by PDP governors and not Saraki, adding that “it was because he (Obi) was not allowed to take over that it was agreed that he should continue as ViceChairman.”

However, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State added a new dimension to the NGF leadership tussle yesterday when he said aggrieved governors could opt out.

Mimiko who is the deputy chairman of the Jang faction of the forum spoke during a meeting at the newly commissioned secretariat of the faction.

According to him, “The Forum is a voluntary association. We came together as a forum of equals to be able to leverage on issues. So anybody can pull out without consequences on his position as governor of his state.”

The governor said not one of the governors is proud of the current crisis in the NGF, stating however that “we believe that we must

stand for what is right and just.”

Defending the installation of Jang as the NGF chair, Mimiko said the election that threw up Amaechi as chair of the forum did not meet acceptable standard of election, “not even a village council election.”

According to him, the result of the NGF poll did not reflect the true outcome of the election. Besides, Mimiko said the emergence of the NGF chair had always been by consensus and that Jang had already been picked as chairman through consensus.

The governor dismissed the video recording of the election, describing it as a product of manipulation, predetermined and disrespectful. He challenged anyone to show the world where he (Mimiko) was captured casting his vote in the video.

Jang, who chaired the meeting, said his faction was not aware of the video and described the recording as “morally wrong and corrupt”. According to him, the video was not an official re-

•Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State (right), Ondo State governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), left, and his wife, Betty (second left) at the Interfaith Service marking the state second anniversary at the Oyo Government House Arcade, Ibadan on Friday.

cording of the forum, and, as such, remained untameable.

“It is like the Abacha video. Who did the video? We are not aware of the video anyway. For Amaechi or any governor to hide a camera somewhere without the knowledge of the governors is morally wrong and corrupt.”

River Niger may overflow its bank, experts warn * Say West Africa should expect heavy rainfall From Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

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HERE is possibility of the River Niger, one of the longest in Africa, overflowing its banks this year on account of heavy rainfall, meteorologists and hydrologists have warned .

The experts say Seasonal Rainfall Predictions (SRP) indicate average to excess flow of the river.

The experts, in a communiqué at the end of a workshop organised by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in Abuja, said: “Average to excess flows are expected in the upper and middle part of the Niger River basin, while in the lower parts of the basin, especially the Nigerian section, there are probabilities of excess flows are expected.”

Other rivers expected to over flow their banks are: Senegal, Volta, Gambia, Comoé and Ouémé as well as Lake Chad Basin.

The major implication of the prediction, according to them, is the effect on agriculture.

They said the coming heavy rains are capable of causing flooding and loss of cultivated areas.

They also said the conditions will favour the breeding of pests, including weeds, grasshoppers and other pests for which monitoring and prevention measures should be strengthened.

APC will unseat PDP in 2015 –Buhari

NE of the leading lights of the All Progressive Congress (APC),General Muhammadu Buhari, declared yesterday that the party is now ready to sweep the ruling PDP out of power in 2015.

General Buhari spoke at a rally in Kagoro, a few kilometres from Kafanchan, the political capital of southern Kaduna.

Southern Kaduna is considered by many as the backbone of the PDP in Kaduna State, giving bloc votes to the party since the return to civil rule in 1999.

At yesterday’s rally organised by the Conference

Tony Akowe, Kaduna of Opposition Political Parties, Gen Buhari assured the people that the APC will emerge winner of the 2015 election, pointing out that the issue of merger of opposition parties to engage the PDP has been on since 2007, championed by people who are determined to save the country from doom.

The former head of state who contested the Presidency on three occasions told the gathering that the coming together of the opposition parties under the All Progressive Congress (APC) is to ensure that the PDP is

pushed out of power in 2015.

He said, “the issue of merger has been on since 2007 by people who are serious about saving the Nigerian state. We are coming together to get PDP out of site. This is absolutely necessary because the system needs to be stabilised.

“There is the need for us to come together, go back to our constituencies and save Nigeria democratically.

This means that we have to make sure that the system conducts a very credible and free and fair election. And we are going to win the 2015 election.”All that we inherited before 1999 have all

gone down the drain. We are hearing of stealing in the country of billions.

There is outright theft by the ruling PDP,” Gen. Buhari said.

Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura accused the PDP of using politics of deceit, money, religious bigotry and ethnic manipulation to divide the people for their selfish interest, pointing out that the PDP has brought more pains, hunger and poverty to the citizens of the country.

“We must salvage this country from the PDP. We must seize power from their

hands because the PDP is devilish, and we are determined to fight the devil for the betterment of our people.

We will uproot the PDP, because it is a party formed on deceit and lies,” he said.

The national leader of the ACN, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who spoke through a former Minister in the Obasanjo government, Alhaji Musa Gwadabe, asked the people to be firm and join the train of change for the rapid development of the country.

Former Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nasir elRufai and Senate Minority Leader, George Akume said

“we shall soon announce the burial of the PDP come 2015. We are determined to ensure that we chase the gang of thieves out. This, we will achieve with our ballot cards come 2015.”

Former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibrahim I. Iko, expressed worry about those he said are unfit political leaders who have been allowed to lead the country.

He said, “We have allowed unfit politicians who divide us along religious line, for their personal and selfish interests. APC is a destiny and not a mistake; it must be geared towards saving Nigerians.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

ICPC seeks partnership with religious leaders ‌as Onaiyekan preaches self-transformation

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HE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has solicited the support of all, including eminent religious leaders, in its ongoing war against all forms of corruption in the country.

Making the appeal when the Catholic Bishop of Abuja Diocese, His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, paid a courtesy visit to his office, the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta, noted that religious leaders have a vital role to play in bringing out the best of human values in their followers and by implication, transformation of the society.

He said: "Nigerians and indeed world citizens want shining stars that can lead them through the dark nights of ignorance to freedom. ICPC seeks continued partnership with our eminent religious leadership in the fight against disruptive corruption, because of its disastrous effects on the well-being of our citizens.

Today, more than ever the society needs the Church and we expect that the Church will as usual live up to its role."

The anti-graft crusader described Onaiyekan as a shining example of Godly virtues and a man of the people, "who can sit and advise the President today and the next day is at home in a small orphanage inspiring an orphan to achieve greatness and selfworth."

In his remarks, Onaiyekan, who lauded the leadership of the Commission for its ongoing efforts aimed at instilling discipline and transparency at all levels of governance in the country, said that self-transformation remained the only antidote for moral decadence in the country.

While explaining the nexus between corruption and insecurity, the Catholic cleric pointed out that the present chaotic situation being witnessed in the country was due to corruption and that only self transformation of the people could help in reversing the ugly trend and restore peace back to the country.

Onaiyekan said: "The talk about Boko Haram gave me the opportunity to link insecurity problem with the issue of corruption. We cannot expect to have a secure and peaceful nation without good behaviour, honesty, integrity, especially in high places is completely neglected.

"You can have a lot of soldiers and mobile police to keep as many people quiet as you can, but as you can see, it will reach a stage where you cannot prevent it to explode.

Unfortunately, when it explodes, there will be no logic or smartness but to end up in chaotic situation.

"The nation cannot be transformed if the citizens did not go through their own transformation; therefore, we do need a moral transformation, if the nation must settle down well and be what we claimed we are," he added.

News

Get ready for probe, victorious

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OVERNOR Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State made a triumphant return to Ado-Ekiti yesterday, 24 hours after the Supreme Court dismissed an attempt to truncate his rule.

Fayemi, who came in from Abuja, where the ruling against Segun Oni was delivered on Friday, vowed to probe Oni's tenure.

He alleged 'large-scale fraud' by the Oni government "before the PDP was sent packing."

To be probed are contracts awarded by Oni during his three and a half years in office and other financial transactions.

"Any house built with spittle shall crumble," he told the mammoth crowd that went to welcome and rejoice with him.

He added: "We are standing on the rock of truth and that is why we are not afraid when these jesters took their case to the Supreme Court."

His return was carnivallike.

He rode in an open-roof of Mercedes Benz bus, waving to the people with a broom, the symbol of his party, ACN. His convoy stretched over almost one kilometre, causing a massive traffic jam in many

Fayemi tells Oni From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti parts of the state capital.

In the crowd were party chieftains, students, artisans and market women who had gathered at the party's secretariat at Ajilosun for several hours until the Governor's arrival at 5.20pm.

Governor Fayemi noted that the latest victory though long awaited, "is a collectively shared one among the entire residents of the state," adding that the focus of his administration shall be to sustain the continuing development of the state through his administration's eight point agenda.

According to the governor, the judgment of the Supreme Court was "an affirmation of the supremacy of truth and facts over the twisted logic of a few who seek to pervert the course of justice for their narrow gains."

He thanked the people for their show of love and prayers.

"Your presence here is a proof that you appreciate the progress that this administration has made so far. We also see your support as an encouragement to do more and we shall do more. We are for

2015: I’m not desperate, Amaechi tells his critics

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foundation member of the PDP in Rivers State, Chief Elemchukwu Ogbowu, says Governor Rotimi Amaechi is being used by the North to destroy President Goodluck Jonathan.

But he is convinced the governor is no match for the President who, according to him, will be re-elected in 2015.

Amaechi's camp, through the Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, insisted that the governor is neither frustrated nor desperate for power.

Ogbowu and Semenitari were guests on Rhythm 93.7 FM, Port Harcourt's phonein programme, Viewpoint, yesterday.

Ogbowu, a two-time commissioner (Transport, Commerce and Industry) in the administration of Dr. Peter Odili accused Amaechi of talking too much.

He said: "President Jonathan does not have a hand in Amaechi's travails.

The Rivers governor should always think very well and should check well before he speaks. Amaechi should speak like a governor. That is his problem. He is not speaking like a governor.

"We will not allow anybody to mess up President Jonathan. Amaechi said he did not believe in the transformation agenda of the administration of President Jonathan. The good name in the Niger Delta is Dr. Jonathan. We will not allow anybody to

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt abuse, distract or insult him. He will be re-elected in 2015.

"Most of the projects in Rivers State were put in place by the administration of Dr. Peter Odili and Sir Celestine Omehia.

Amaechi is just improving on what they did. Amaechi has spent so much money on power, yet there is no light as he promised.

Amaechi is playing politics with the development of Rivers State."

But speaking for Amaechi's camp, Semenitari said: "Governor Amaechi is not fighting President Jonathan. He (Amaechi) keeps saying that power belongs to God and he is a beneficiary of God's grace. The Rivers governor is transforming the 23 LGAs of the state and empowering the people. Members of the opposition should not play to the gallery, but criticise constructively.

"Overheating the polity will not be in anybody's interest. People in positions of authority should handle issues with the fear of God. "A group of ex-militants were seen on the streets of Port Harcourt about two weeks ago, on a Monday morning, protesting the PDP's crisis, without police permit. Governor Amaechi did not say the PDP sponsored the protesters. The youths were outside the gate of the Government House, Port Harcourt for over three hours."

the development of Ekiti and all of you have seen with what we have used your resources for because we don't believe in sharing the money belonging to our people.

"With the conclusion of this case, they should be ready to account for how they stole our money, the contracts they used to siphon our money and all the micro-credit money they stole.

"In law they had no case and we knew they would come back to Ekiti from the court with their tails within their legs. They even said Fayemi had run away from Ekiti but here I am.

"On the day judgment was delivered, Oni had stayed in his house in Ifaki expecting to move to Government House. What a wishful thinking?

"We thank God for validating our election and this will reinvigorate us to work harder because we have more work to do and I want to assure our people that the best is yet to come."

Ekiti deserves Fayemi's brainpower, says Shettima

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HE Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima yesterday congratulated his Ekiti State counterpart, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on his electoral victory over his arch-rival, Segun Oni at the Supreme Court on Friday.

He said the people of Ekiti State deserve an intelligent man like Fayemi as their governor.

In a statement through his Special Adviser on Communication, Alhaji Isa Gusau, the governor said the victory would "toughen our abiding commitment to the recovery and progress of Nigeria."

He described Fayemi as "one of the most intelligent and eloquent leaders in Nigeria today; he

FROM: Yusuf Alli Managing Editor, Northern Operation

is a technocrat that is humble, large- hearted, friendly, gentle, patriotic, dogged and distinguished, the people of "Ekiti State surely deserves a highly competent man like him as their Governor especially with their very apt slogan as 'the fountain of knowledge' in Nigeria. Ekiti people do not deserve anything less. " Shettima also congratulated his fellow governors, stakeholders and other supporters in the APC family and indeed all democrats in Nigeria on "this victory that toughens our abiding commitment to the recovery and progress of Nigeria for the benefit of all Nigerians."

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Investment chief seeks infrastructural development

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HE Managing Director of Legacy Investment Management Company, Dr. Enitan Obasanjo-Adeleye, has stressed the need for massive investment on infrastructure to attract more foreign investments to the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on the 3rd West African Investment Forum, she said the nation's economic potentials cannot be meaningfully exploited unless its infrastructural deficit is aggressively addressed.

The investment forum is scheduled for Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos from June 6 to 8 with more than 500 foreign investors participating.

She said that the forum, which debuted in Brussels under the auspices of the European Union and ECOWAS Commission in 2009, had its second edition in 2011 at Eko Hotel, Lagos.

Stressing the huge economic benefits of the forum to West African states, Obasanjo-Adeleye said it would now be a yearly event with Cote D'ivoire being the host next year. The forum is being sponsored by The Infrastructure Bank Plc and the ECOWAS Commission through the Association of Investment Promotion Agencies of West African States (IPAWAS).

News

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

Emergency: Presidency faults Al-Jazeera's report

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HE Presidency yesterday denied a report by the Qatar- owned AlJazeera Television that innocent citizens in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states are being killed indiscriminately by troops deployed to the states under the emergency rule.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said that contrary to the AlJazeera report, the main objective of the security operations is the protection of the civilian population and the territory from terrorists.

He said that Nigeria will not allow itself to be maligned, discredited or its efforts undermined by the foreign media.

Citing the Al-Jazeera report of Thursday, May 31 entitled 'Civilians among dead in Nigeria offensive", Abati said it "sought to put the government and the people of Nigeria in bad light. This is regrettable."

Continuing, he said:"For the avoidance of doubt, the declaration of a state of emergency and the consequential security operations are meant to protect the civilian population and the territory from the macabre and dastardly assault on the Nigerian state by insurgents and terrorists. It is not an operation against innocent citizens as Al-Jazeera and others are suggesting."

President Jonathan, he stressed, has directed that the operations should be conducted in line with applicable rules of engagement and peculiar care in managing a unique situation.

Nigeria, Brazil begin technology transfer From: Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

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HE Federal Government would enter a partnership with Brazil on agricultural technology transfer to boost rice, soya bean and chicken productions yearly.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Bukar Tijani, said this in his office in Abuja.

Tijani spoke when the Secretary of Agriculture of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Mr. Luiz Fernando Mainarde, led a delegation on a trade mission to the ministry.

He said that the delegation's trade mission was on rice and poultry farming with a lot of interest in co-operatives and soya bean production in the country.

Tijani noted that Nigeria has a lot to learn from Brazil, in terms of rice production, poultry farming and exporting, adding that the country has a long standing relationship with the Brazilian government, which will help facilitate the swift transfer of ideas and technology.

Tijani said that he was aware of the contributions of Agricultural production to the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil and assured the delegation that the Federal Government would encourage rice production in the country.

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja Abati said:"In an earlier statement, he had also made it clear to the military high command and received assurances that those who violate their operational orders will be disciplined accordingly.

"In line with this regard for the rights of the civilian population, President

Jonathan had ordered the release of women and underaged persons in protective custody, and made arrangements for their immediate rehabilitation. Fifty-eight persons in this category have been released.

"There is nothing to suggest so far any violation of operational orders by the troops operating in the North East. Their interven-

tion has received popular support, among the civilian populace, and within two weeks of operation, the possibility of calm and normalcy resonates even as enclaves of terrorists are raided and their capacity to continue their reign of terror heavily compromised. This is a process and the government owes it to the people of the North-East to see it through."

xxx

•Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, addressing members of the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) who met him during an inspection tour of road projects in Abeokuta...yesterday

Renowned columnist, Pini Jason, buried amid encomiums

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T was a harvest of tributes and accolade yesterday as relatives, friends and associates of late renowned columnist, Pini Jason Onyegbadue, bade him goodbye.

The solemn ceremony, which started at the St Andrew's Anglican Church Obizi Ezinihitte, in Mbaise Council Area of Imo State, was attended by dignitaries and close friends of the late social critic, including former governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha; onetime Military Governor of old Imo State, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu and Chief Chris Asoluka among others.

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

In his sermon, the officiating Priest, Ven Chris Ukabiala, described the late Jason as a man of virtue who worked for the advancement of human freedom and justice.

He said that he lived a good life that should be emulated by his children, family and friends.

The priest advised the children to bear the loss of their father with fortitude and hope, urging them to sustain the ideals of freedom, hard work and knowledge, which their father treasured during his life time.

Ihedioha noted that the ace columnist lived an exemplary life that will continue to be remembered with fond memo-

ries.

He observed that the best way to remember the late frontline journalist is to do "our best in whatever human endeavour we find ourselves".

Ohakim insisted that Pini Jason was not dead but lives on in the mind of the people and will continuously be remembered by all men of good conscience.�

According to him: "Pini was fearless; he never feared Ibrahim Babangida or Mohammed Abacha. He spoke for the people at the risk of his personal safety and comfort."

Kanu said that the late Pini Jason will be remembered for his contributions towards the building of a truly free Nigeria.

FG marks first anniversary of DANA crash

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S part of activities to mark the one-year remembrance of the tragic crash of Dana Air McDonnell Douglas 83 aircraft which killed over 159 persons in Iju /Ishaga area of Lagos on June 3, 2012, the Federal Government will tomorrow honour victims of the crash.

A cenotaph built as mark of remembrance will be unveiled at the crash site.

The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, will lead the church service for the crash victims, while the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, will be the chief host at the unveiling of the cenotaph.

Spokesman of aviation parastatals, Yakubu Dati, said issues of safety and security have been given priority attention with the implementation of the Technical and Administrative Review Committee (TARPDA) rec-

• Unveils cenotaph in honour of victims

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

ommendations with over 80 per cent of the recommendations implemented.

On what has been done on compensation, Dati noted that the initial 30 per cent was

paid to about 90 relatives of the victims while 72 victims' families had gone to court to demand for higher compensation beyond the $100,000 contained in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations.

Amosun seeks end to HND/ B.Sc dichotomy

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GUN State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has called on the Federal Government to end the dichotomy between the graduates of polytechnics and universities with immediate effect.

The governor noted, "Polytechnic graduates are by no stretch of imagination inferior to their university counterparts."

Amosun spoke yesterday in Abeokuta while addressing the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) who met him during an inspection of road projects in the

state capital.

He described the discrimination against the polytechnic students as unwarranted, adding that "it is only in Nigeria this practice takes place."

He said the state polytechnics, monotechnics and institutes of technology should be able to award degrees in no distant future.

The Senate President of NAPS, Mr. Liberty Nwogu, said they were in the state for the annual convention of the association at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

Oyo empowers 3,300 aged women in 33 LGs From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

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HE Oyo State Government has empowered 3,300 aged women in the 33 local government areas of the state.

Elderly women numbering 100 were selected from each council in the state and were given N10,000 each, a free medical check-up and drugs.

The event was kicked off by the wife of the state governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, in Ibadan South West Local Government Hall yesterday.

According to her, it is necessary to bridge the gap between the upper and lower classes of the populace through various empowerment initiatives.

She said, “The scheme will serve as a great stride in our attainment of some objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), particularly the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger.”

MrsAjimobi said N16 million will be spent on the scheme, with the sum of N500,000 to be spent in each of the 33 local councils in the state.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Caretaker Chairman of Ibadan South West Local Government, Mr. TaoreedAdeleke, said the empowerment of the aged was in fulfillment of Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s passion towards making life meaningful for the people of the state.

Speaking on behalf of the aged women, Mrs. Adekunle Sabitu commended the government’s gesture, saying, “All we can do is to pray for the people behind this programme and God will also meet them at the point of their needs.”

Why Nigeria should honour Fajuyi in my lifetime-Widow

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HE widow of Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, Madam Eunice Fajuyi, has appealed to the Federal Government to honour her late husband in her lifetime.

Colonel Fajuyi, who was a Military Governor of Western Region, was killed on 29 July, 1966 in a bloody military (counter) coup along with the then Head of State, Major General Aguiyi Ironsi, who was with him on a visit.

Madam Eunice, who will turn 85 on July 26, noted that her being alive was an opportunity for the government and other Nigerian leaders to honour her husband “who chose to die with his guest so that Nigeria could remain one.”

Fajuyi’s widow spoke at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, capital of the state, in an exclusive

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

interview with The Nation in respect of her forthcoming birthday celebrations and the launch of Colonel Fajuyi Foundation which will hold on July 29 this year.

Explaining why she had remained silent, a stance that had fuelled rumours that she had passed on, she said, “I have remained silent since my husband died. I am not dead! The only joy I had went with him. I used to be beautiful but I became ugly with his death.”

Recalling the immediate period after her husband’s death, Madam Eunice said she never knew he had been killed in a coup until months later when they brought his corpse.

Madam Eunice recalled,

“Rather than say he had died, they kept telling me he had been kidnapped with Ironsi. So, we kept expecting that he would come back until they brought his corpse several months later. I am hoping that very soon, the government will send for me that they are ready to honour my husband as they had done for Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe in several ways.

“I will be 85 years soon; what remains for me is to await the final call. But I think government would do me a great honour if they could honour my husband while I am alive,” she pleaded.

Also speaking in respect of the forthcoming events, the late Fajuyi’s son, Donald, urged the Federal Government to be fair to the family by honouring his father “for what he did for the

country.”

He said, “I recall that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has set the pace by naming some streets after my father in Abuja, while Senator Bola Tinubu remodelled and rebuilt what used to be Fajuyi’s own personal house.

“These are commendable gestures which the family appreciates, but we hope these should be complemented by the present government led by President Goodluck Jonathan by bestowing a befitting posthumous honour on Col. Fajuyi, who chose death over living to keep Nigeria as one.”

Also speaking with The Nation, Ms. Toun Lawanson, a Director of the Adekunle Fajuyi Foundation, said the event will be graced by top government functionaries and personalities.

‘Ondo’s nonparticipation in S’West integration retrogressive’ From Damisi Ojo, Akure

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HE Ondo State Chapter of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) at the weekend condemned Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, for not keying into the South West Integration Agenda.

Besides, the group reiterated its call for the enthronement of true federalism in the governance of the country.

At its quarterly general meeting held in Akure, the state capital, the ARG contended that this could only guarantee the enthronement of genuine democracy for rapid development of the country.

In a communiqué signed by the group’s coordinator, Dr. BayoAdemodi, the group also condemned the friction that greeted the election of Chairman for the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).

ARG said the development is indicative of the malaise affecting the Nigerian system.

It said, “The outcome of the election aptly demonstrates the dysfunctional unitary system of governance that has been imposed on a country of multiple nations, which has never worked out anywhere and which cannot work in Nigeria.”

It expressed optimism that the Regional Integration Agenda, if well pursued with sincerity and commitment, would bring back the lost glory of the South West region.

•President General, Ladipo Market Mushin Lagos, Mr Ikechukwu Animalu, pointing at weste matenal) during the Environmental Sanitation exercise in the market at the weekend in Lagos PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

Ilaje communities at war over oil revenue

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IL-producing communities in Ugbo-land, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State have kicked against the composition of the recently constituted committee for oil-producing areas in the state by the state government.

The Ilaje-Ugbo Coastal Communities Development Committee was recently constituted by Mr. Sola Orisamoluwa, Director of Finance, Ondo State Oil Producing and Development Commission (OSOPADEC).

However, a group, Confederation of IlajeUgbo-land, described the committee as illegal, stressing that it was done without any consultation with the host communities and stakeholders known to the oil producing communities.

A protest letter by the group to Chevron Nigeria Limited flayed the composition of the group, particularly nominations made by Oba Obateru Akinruntan and other influential individuals, warn the oil-producing giant not to deal with members of the committee.

Signatories to the protest letter, comprising members of the seven ruling houses, Ugbo-Nla, Aiyetoro and Iluabo Zion and Ikorigho Zion

From Shola O’Neil, Warri

communities said, “HRM Obateru Akinruntan nominated his cousins and relatives.

On his part, Dr. Alli Mann, Permanent Secretary, OSOPADEC, nominated his younger brother, Mr. Kunle Alli, as the secretary of the body.

“Moreover, Mr. Sola Orisamoluwa nominated his

brother, Mr. Tope Olowofoyekun. HRH Femi Ogbaro, a traditional ruler of his kingdom, put up himself as the chairman of the body.

“All these were done without any consultation with the host communities and stakeholders who have been known from time immemorial as confederation of IlajeUgbo-land

representatives,” the document, a copy of which was made available to The Nation, stated.

While expressing its dissatisfaction with the turn of event, the group remarked that Obateru protested the composition of a similar committee that was set up by his deposed predecessor in 2002.

Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge: Lagos Assembly summons commissioner, SA over tolling

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HE Lagos State House of Assembly has summoned the state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr Obafemi Hamzat and Special Adviser to the governor on Public Private Partnership (PPP), Mr Ayo Gbeleyi, to explain the proposed concession and tolling on the new Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge.

The duo is expected to appear in the House on Thursday, June 6, 2013.

Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, at a late plenary on Friday, said the House could not take a stand on the matter without clarification from the relevant public officials.

Debate and several parliamentary sessions on the pro-

By Oziegbe Okoeki

posal began on Tuesday last week when the proposal from the Executive was first read on the floor of the House.

Meanwhile, the House has passed a resolution approving the sum of N427, 766, 633, 079k from the State Infrastructure Intervention Fund (SIIF) for the procurement of two units of Communication Infrastructure and Direction Finder Equipment.

Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Ben Akhabueze, had earlier sought approval for the sum, saying that the procurement is important to enhance security in the state.

The lawmakers had on Tuesday expressed their dis-

pleasure with the concession and tolling on the new bridge, following the state government’s proposal seeking the “Ratification of the electronic tolling system operation, maintenance, concession terms and conditions for the Lekki-Ikoyi toll bridge.”

The lawmakers are raising posers on why the state government should toll a bridge built with tax payers’ money.

Hon. Rotimi Olowo, representing Shomolu I Constituency, had suggested that the House invite the Special Adviser on PPP and Commissioner for Works to explain details of the concession, coupled with prohibition of some vehicles from plying the bridge.

News 7 N2N crises deepens as members threaten court action

By Remi Adelowo

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new twist has been introduced to the persistent crisis that has been rocking the Neighbour2Neighbour (N2N), a group that was involved in the 2011 electioneering campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The 36 state coordinators, who are also known as the Forum of N2N State coordinators, have been at war with the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe and HRH King A.J. Turner, who are the national officers of N2N for their continued delay in fulfilling the promise they made to the state coordinators that they woul be accommodated in the present government for their efforts in securing electoral victory for the president.

According to a letter dated May 23, 2013, signed by officers of Forum of State Coordinators and addressed separately to Princess Oduah, Elder Orubebe and HRH Turner, a copy of which was made available to The Nation, they threatened to take the matter to court if their demand for compensation was not met within 14 days.

Titled “Notice to Be Formally Compensated and Disengaged from Neighbour2Neighbour Project”, the letter, which was also addressed to the president, detailed how they were engaged as state coordinators through a letter dated December 9 2010 and subsequently invited to Abuja on December 15 2010 where they were inaugurated and briefed on their roles as state coordinators.

The coordinator added that through a letter from the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation dated December 21 2010, they were formally integrated into the campaign structure of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The state coordinators, who have Dr. Anthony Akabuno, Arch. Ibrahim Mohammed Bashir and Dr. Eze Anoke as chairman, general secretary and legal adviser respectively, expressed their displeasure on how they have been allegedly abandoned.

It will be recalled that the state coordinators had last month written to President Jonathan demanding an audience on the matter.

Osun 2014: PDP waits on best candidate From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

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chieftain of the Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief AbiolaOgundokun, has said that the party leadership is waiting on the lord for the best governorship candidate to win the 2014 governorship poll in Osun State for the party.

Speaking with reporters yesterday in Iwo after holding a meeting with party supporters in Osun West at the residence of late Prince Alade Lamuye, the PDP stalwart said the party is set to reclaim the state from the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria in 2014.

“We are praying to God, consulting all stakeholders and holding meetings where necessary.

We so much believe that God will not disappoint us, because we are waiting on Him to give us the best candidate,” he said.

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COMMENT and ANALYSIS

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SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

Talakawa Liberation Herald (15)

The “Arewa” North and our parasitic federalism and kwashiorkor democracy (1) [Being an open letter to Professor Itse Sagay]

BY BIODUN JEYIFO

All the big guns of Arewa North were resolutely committed to this project – Malam Adamu Ciroma, Professor Ango Abdullahi, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, Malam Tanko Yakasai, etc. In addition to these gentlemen, the Northern Governors and virtually all the political elite of the Arewa North believe that only one of themselves is entitled to be the president of Nigeria, based on where they come from, and as a group representative, regardless of merit, quality, qualification or track record. [My emphasis] Professor Itse Sagay, “The Appropriation of Nigeria by Northern Irredentists”, The Nation, Sunday, May 26, 2013

D

EAR Itse: I don’t know if you have ever heard of a wisecrack that used to be told at the expense of Professor Ango Abdullahi, one of those you identified as the core group of Northern irredentists that you subjected to a blistering critique in your article in The Nation on Sunday, May 26 2013. That devastating critique is of course what prompted this open letter to you.

The wisecrack I am alluding to here concerns a satirical nickname by which Ango Abdullahi was known by many of the radical lecturers and students of Ahmadu Bello University when he was the Vice Chancellor of that institution. The nickname was “VC-without-CV”. The nickname arose from the rather very well known fact that Abdullahi became a professor and later Vice Chancellor with a curriculum vitae (CV) that was so mediocre that, but for his connection to powerful conservative forces in the North, he could not have become a Senior Lecturer, let alone a Professor and Vice Chancellor with that kind of “CV”.

Our tertiary educational system has fallen on bad days and North and South, East and West, many academics with poor or grossly inflated CV’s have become professors and vice chancellors, at least since the early 1980’s. Indeed, the crises of quality and relevance in our tertiary educational system is so bad, so acute that it is nothing short of miraculous that we still have professors and some Vice Chancellors that are of world class stature, that are indeed a match for their counterparts in other parts of the world – the world in general and the world of academia in particular. I make this observation so as to let you and my other readers know that it is not my intention in this open letter to you to make a singular or exceptional case of Ango Abdullahi as the infamous “VC-without-CV”. Far from singling out Abdullahi, I start this letter with his case only in order to draw your attention to a very crucial fact of our national political history that was almost completely absent from your article. This is the fact that Ango Abdullahi and the other scions and kingpins of the Northern irredentist or conservative establishment that your article so scathingly and mostly justifiably pilloried, were fiercely opposed in the North itself.

This is not the only issue that I wish to take up in response to your article, but it is a central issue, one on which, in my opinion, hangs many of the other issues that I wish to raise in this two-part series. For this reason, permit me to dwell for a little while on this Ango Abdullahi case and the special circumstances that made me become aware of it. As we shall see, these circumstances as a matter of fact constituted a vital part of the activist lives that you and I and other colleagues lived when we were colleagues at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife in the early to mid1980s.

Dear Itse, you perhaps sense that I am adverting here to ASUU in which we were all

•Sagay

•Abdullahi

very active in that period, so much so that that organisation was the linchpin of the progressive and radical struggles that we waged within the universities and beyond the walls of academia in the struggles for the political and ideological soul of our country. But what you may not immediately recall but would hopefully accept as a true account is the fact that whatever we achieved, whatever valuable lessons we learned came from the fact that we managed to forge powerful, almost unbreakable links, North and South and East and West of the country. And we managed to forge those links in spite of the extremely vigorous efforts of the powers that be within and outside the universities to keep us from forging those links by playing upon and manipulating differences of region, ethnicity, religion, ideology, and culture.

I speak here with the authority and special experience of having been the National President of ASUU from 1980 to 1982; Immediate Past President and member of ASUU’s National Executive Council from 1983 to 1986; and Representative of ASUU on the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Nigerian Labour Congress from 1984 to 1987. Absolutely everything conceivable and practicable was used to divide and keep apart radicals and progressives from the North and the South. Ango Abdullahi, as Vice Chancellor of ABU (one of the major first generation universities in the country) and a core member of what you call Northern irredentists in your article was one of the resolute opponents of ASUU radicals and progressives. I must add that here that as an opponent, Abdullahi was also urbane and articulate. But his opposition to radicals and progressives of the North and the South working together in unity and common purpose was unwavering. Thus, ASUU in particular and the country in general were extremely fortunate that in ABU radical and progressive activists, Abdullahi met his match: He was vigorously opposed within ABU itself;

and his attempts on behalf of conservatives and irredentists of the North to prevent a link up with radical and progressive activist lecturers and professors from the South were soundly defeated.

Moreover, this is still true of ASUU today as it was true of ASUU 30 years ago when you and I and other colleagues at Ife were stalwarts of the organisation.

Dear Itse, with the profile of ASUU then and now that I have sketched in this discussion, you can understand why, as I read your engrossing article with many of its valid and original ideas and suggestions for justice, progress, peace, and development in our country, I kept asking myself why you almost completely left out this dimension of our political history in which irredentists and conservatives of the North have always been opposed within the North itself and more generally in the country by an alliance of progressives and radicals of the South and the North. I was in particular worried by the implicit notion in your article that the only opponents that Northern irredentists have historically had to contend with consist of only two formations: Southern irredentists and conservatives on the one hand; and on the other hand democratic fiscal federalists like yourself. In your article, Is’haq Modibo Kawu, a columnist of the Vanguard Newspaper stood for Northern irredentists and conservatives while Kingsley Kuku, President Jonathan’s Adviser on the Niger Delta stood for their Southern counterparts. [By the way, you might be interested to learn that as an undergraduate, Kawu was a dedicated insider within the countrywide movement of radical and progressive university students in our country] For those reading this piece that did not read your article that prompted this open letter, I find it necessary to emphasise the fact that even though your main quarrel is with “Arewa” or Northern conservative supremacists, you made it absolutely clear that you are no less opposed, no less wary of the malign politics of Southern irredentists in

“One does not have to be an opponent of fiscal federalism (as many Northern conservatives are) or even its lukewarm supporters (as many Southwestern and Southeastern conservatives and centrists are) to know that by itself alone, fiscal federalism will never even remotely come near a just, honorable and productive resolution of many of our most serious crises.”

general and their diehard Niger Delta fellow travelers in particular. What I particularly found uplifting in your article was the clarity with which you linked both Northern and Southern irredentism to the destructive brinksmanship of the do-or-die, all-or-nothing struggle for control of the bloated, infinitely corrupt and wasteful Nigerian Presidency that is at the heart of the parasitic federalism and kwashiorkor democracy that currently has our country and its teeming masses in their iron grip. In my opinion, every democrat and progressive in our country should take to heart what you say in the following cautionary words from your article: “The bloated, corrupt and inefficient federal government (has become) the centre of titanic and destructive struggle for control. States’ indolence and parasitic tendencies follow, resulting in an unproductive and underdeveloped country. This destructive template must be reversed”.

Needless to say, these observations show that I found much to admire and endorse in your article under review in this series. And this is consistent with much that I have read of your views and positions on the political, constitutional and social crises bedeviling our country at the present time. In my review of these views and positions of yours, I can say quite candidly that I consider you one of the most productive thinkers on democratic federalism in our country at the present time, with special emphasis on where federal jurisdiction and spheres of authority and control stop and states’ rights, obligations and responsibilities take over. I do not agree with every single one of your views and positions, but in general, I find that like many other progressive scholars and public intellectuals from every part of the country, you are driven by a passionate disdain for our political elites and their corruption, their narrowness of vision and their lack of the imagination and the will to do what is right and in the interest of the country and its masses of the disenfranchised, the looted and the marginalised. But I do have one big caveat and it is this: You seem to place all your hopes for the future of our country in one factor, one factor alone above all others and this is – fiscal federalism (that you also often call resource control). Indeed, perhaps it is useful in the present context to quote what you actually say regarding this particular article of faith of yours in your article of May 26, 2013: “Clearly, instability, tension and crisis will continue to bedevil Nigerian politics as long as the Federal Government continues to control and disburse states’ resources. Introduce fiscal federalism and allow states to retain their resources in return for payment of taxes for the operation of the Federal Government and immediate peace will descend on the country and everyone will head for his state for the generation of revenue and for the promotion of development. All will be quiet on the federal front and the desperate do-or-die battle to have the Presidency will abate”. [Page 22] One does not have to be an opponent of fiscal federalism (as many Northern conservatives are) or even its lukewarm supporters (as many Southwestern and Southeastern conservatives and centrists are) to know that by itself alone, fiscal federalism will never even remotely come near a just, honorable and productive resolution of many of our most serious crises. In other words, ours is not a crisis of nationhood and community in which we can say seek ye first fiscal federalism and all else shall ne added to you. Yes, fiscal federalism is necessary, and vitally so, but it is a beginning, not an end, a point of departure, not a port of arrival. In next week’s continuation of this series, we shall expatiate considerably on this observation, with special emphasis on the issue with which I began this piece: the links as well as the discontinuities between radicals and progressives of the North and the South in their confrontations with local and national formations of conservatives and irredentists.

Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

June 2, 2013

14

T

HUS the current spate of criticism is only a continuation of the same age long story of distrust and hatred for the amalgamation and the country it gave rise to. Such attitude was not helpful in the past. It robbed us of our ‘Nigerianness’ and almost eclipsed the spirit of nationalism and patriotism in the country. It is sixty years since we attained independence and we are still laden with old hatred and prejudices as though we are still in colonial era. When will Nigeria be loved? When will the true worth of the amalgamation be appreciated? While It was high time we gave due recognition to that creation day of 1914- the cradle of our nation-hood, we are worried because of the power of ideas and the place of history in informing and reinforcing the values of men and women which result in human decisions and actions and attitude to nationbuilding. As Brian Browne observes in The Nation 21-42013, p11, a false or ‘terrible idea widely accepted can inflict damage no weapon can achieve.

A bad idea is often more dangerous than an army.

One who plants wrong ideas on the heads of adversary need not spend a drop of sweat’. This has been the problem: too much wrong ideas had been planted in the heads of Nigerians about 1914 with disastrous consequences for nation-building efforts.

As anti-colonial innuendo by the nationalists during the struggle for independence some of the criticisms might have been relevant but certainly not after the attainment of Independence. They ignore the real problem which is the failure of the elites to make good use of the opportunity which 1914 offers for accelerated growth and development of the country..

Perhaps the most vilified and misrepresnted event ever Perhaps the 1914 amalgamation has been the most vilified, misrepresented and grossly underappreciated event ever in the history of the country.

There is no event known to me that has attracted more ingratitude and even outright condemnation than it. Generally the epitaphs and epithets of 1914 have largely been unkind and negative, while its epistemology has largely been one of hate, regrets and venom. Rather than being venerated, the creation has largely been despised. And now some even want us to black it out of our history because according to them it is an undignified aspect of our life. In short many falsehoods have been peddled about it but as Diran Apata argues in the Tribune of 5-5-2013 the ‘sad predicament of the country is not because Nigeria is made up of many nations-an unavoidable fact’ as result of 1914

RIGHT OF REPLY

1914 amalgamation not as bad as often projected (2)

amalgamation, but ‘because those who dominated Nigeria have distorted the country and resisted any kind of change for the better’. Of course the dominant group is the ruling elites and they failed to make good of the country and to give the 1914 action its due pride of place in the history of Nigeria. The result is that citizens especially the youths have continued to hold wrong impression and consequent deep hatred for their nation-state.

Nor has Nigeria enjoyed the confidence and true love of its creators and citizens. While as earlier hinted, some of the British who created the country spoke of it in disdainful term of being mere “geographical expression” – meaning not real or important, to some Historians it was only a short term measure for the achievement of British selfish interest of reducing colonial cost of administration. To some of the citizens it was a “mistake of 1914” that had allegedly compounded their problems. Many others trace their individual and national problem to the 1914 events which is said to have brought together “strange bed-fellows”.

Even the kinder Historians have not been generous as they see 1914 as a mere event which only served as a catalyst to an already on-going process, suggesting that with or without the amalgamation, Nigeria would have come into being. They cite factors of trade, military and jihad religious movement of the 18-19th century as signs of such early move to one Nigeria-the ‘ifs’ of history stuff. In other words, with or without the amalgamation, the coming together of people up and down the Rivers’ Niger and Benue would have come to pass.

The negative attitude to 1914 has been disastrous for the meaningful development of the country.

The planned centennial celebration should be able to beam brighter light on 1914 and situate it properly in our consciousness.

It should trouble the heart that till date there is still confusion and seeming inability to separate the chaff from the grains- to make a distinction between cause and effect preferring instead to lump things together about 1914 –the year of our birth.

There is a season for everything, a difference between birth and growth and life and death.

Nigeria was born after colonial conquest of some parts of Africa up and down the Rivers Niger and Benue. Let it be quickly recalled that the colonial conquest of the territories amalgamated in 1914 had been completed by about 1905 thereby making the 1914 exercise a mere but significant administrative step by the British which brought about a new country named Nigeria. In this sense 1914 becomes a unifier- an act of unification that truly marks the beginning of Nigeria as we know it today.

The amalgamation of 1914 is thus not the evil or the source of our national problems as often painted but an opportunity to embark on building a new nation-state. At least it gave rise for instance to a well-endowed country where everyone has equal status of membership The real problem of the country has been poor management of resources by the educated elites who proved unequal to the tasks of nationbuilding. They failed woefully to manage well the common heritage from the British after Independence. In itself, 1914 remains a blessing in many fronts, especially the emergence of a big country that is nobly and richly blessed by Nature.

Contrary to conventional opinion re-echoed by recent critics, it served different purpose from the Berlin Conference of 1884/85 during which the continent of Africa was butchered and shared among European Powers of the time without any regard to the feelings, culture, heritage of the African peoples and leaders. But if Berlin Conference drove knife into the heart of Africa to dismember it according to the whims and caprices of the European powers and dispossessed our forefathers of their stools, and associated empires, states or kingdoms, the 1914 amalgamation appears to me as the first step towards the reunification of some of the conquered African territories albeit unintentionally by the British.

It is true that the opinion of Africans was not sought in 1914 for the Lugard action but by then the African leaders of thought had lost their powers and their voice. It is the cold reality of history of conquest and defeat. That is unfortunate, but as

Christian, such unfortunate events are better left in the Hands of God who in his infinite wisdom does not seek the consent of parents before assigning them children. Nigeria is God’s creation using the British.

Much has been made of the fact that Nigeria was created for the selfish economic reason especially of reducing British’s burden of high cost of colonial administration north and south of River Niger. In other words, Nigeria was created merely to feather the nest of the British Government overseas and not for the good of the African indigenes in the area brought together. This is historically correct but I am not moved because it only demonstrates the wisdom and imagination of a given people in using what they have to achieve what they want- a trait that has been very lacking in the Nigerian elites since Independence. The success of the British is not only a shameful challenge today also it shows how dull and unimaginative our leaders have been over time.

There has been embarrassing lack of creative thinking and development initiatives on the part of the Nigerian elites who inherited the country from the British in 1960. Nigeria in 1914 was the seized property of Britain and they were free as it were to put her to maximum use for their own advantage. The question begging for answer is why had the Nigerian elites failed to use the same country to the collective good of society? It is needless to say that 1914 cannot be blamed for the default and ineptitude of the inheritors. At least as Tunji Adegboyega cited earlier rightly observed Nigeria ‘once worked’ (The Nation10-2-2013).

Rather than the circumstance of birth which is beyond the child’s decision, it is the relative success of the British in actualizing their dream through the Nigerian Project and the failure of the Nigerian elites in this regard since Independence that should amaze and make one most uncomfortable today.

It should challenge and awaken us from slumber to the right road. I always wonder how the British elites from a tiny island overseas many miles away from home were able to use the 1914 action effectively to achieve their end and why the Nigerian elites have failed woefully to attain same feat since Independence. This crushing inability to manage things well should be our shame and not the day of our birth as a nation.

• This is the second part of the reaction to ‘Snooping Around’. Part one ran last Sunday.

•Abhuere writes from Uromi, Edo State

•To be continued

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

15

What has changed?

O

Two years after, Jonathan’s government is still groping in the dark

N May 29, President Goodluck Jonathan released a 234-page document detailing activities of his administration in the past two years. Amid virulent criticisms by Nigerians, the President said critics and cynics were unfair to him and his administration.

When his government was inaugurated in 2011, he unfurled a Transformation Agenda aimed at fasttracking national development in all the key sectors and facets of life. Two years after, it is auspicious to assess the journey so far.

There appears to be four major challenges confronting the country and threatening its survival.

One, the economy and employment generation; two, electricity generation, transmission and distribution; three, corruption, and four, security. On a general note, too, every government is expected to deepen democracy and institute better parameters for good governance. How has President Jonathan's team fared?

The assessment is even the more imperative because the government actually assumed power before May 29, 2011. Following the ailment that held his predecessor, the late President Umaru Yar'Adua down, Jonathan assumed office as Acting President, with full constituent power in February 2010.

Eventually, when Yar'Adua passed on in May, he was sworn in as President in accordance with the constitution.

Really, in 40 months, what has changed? The economy is still comatose, with millions of our youngsters roaming the streets years after they had left school. The factories are not growing and many of the multinationals, citing challenges, are relocating to neighbouring West African countries. To be fair to the Federal Government, the problem was inherited, but the election of 2011 was not just to maintain the status quo. President Jonathan was invested with the power and responsibility to make necessary changes and ultimately make the difference.

The pervasive insecurity in the land has firmly planted Nigeria on the map of terrorism and raised fears of possible disintegration. In many parts of the North, gun-toting men strike at will. Even the well-

O

N the 24th of April, 2013, the Federal Government of Nigeria inaugurated committee to work on security menace in the northern part of the country and come out with a blueprint on how amnesty will be fashioned out for Boko Haram – an Islamic sect that is constituting a threat to our national security in spites of oppositions from well meaning Nigerians.

From all indications, amnesty can be described as a situation whereby government of any given society agrees not to punish people who committed a particular crime and who have agreed to surrender their weapons to the authority and show their readiness to embrace dialogue and to be reabsorbed into the society as law abiding citizens.

Going by the above definitions, Boko Haram group does not merit amnesty, Nigerian government is planning to negotiate with them. In the first instance, the so called amnesty is going to be sponsored by tax payers money which supposed to be spent on welfare and security of the citizens. Also, considering the aims and objectives of Boko Haram, one can authoritatively conclude that amnesty and Boko Haram are poles apart; or better still the two parallel lines that can never meet.

Despite appeals from government, traditional rulers, Muslims and Christians communities, Boko Haram remained adamant and reaffirmed that they are not interested in

heeled have been felled by the guns of insurrectionists.

Last month, 92-year-old Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno, a First Republic minister and elder statesman, was abducted from his home in Maiduguri, thus spreading the fear that no one was safe. On May 14, realising that the crisis spawned by insecurity was fast making Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of nations, the president declared a state of emergency in three states.

That could be said to be a necessary step, but it could be grossly inadequate if not complemented by other actions.

Generator business continues to thrive as power supply remains epileptic. This is taking a toll on the social and economic lives of the country. Small-scale businesses are worst hit, thus depriving the people of prosperity and frustrating any move to upgrade the country as a true giant of Africa. It is the same excuses; the thermal stations are not fired as gas supply remains a major challenge. But, what do the people want from their government- a litany of excuses or breakthrough?

Corruption has become a badge of honour under the Jonathan administration. Those who have been convicted by the courts are cleverly let off the hook by the government once they pledge their support to the national ruling party and the narrow political interest of the President. A number of others, convicted for pillaging the treasury, were allowed to slip through the dragnet of the law by merely pleading guilty. A few who were convicted and jailed have bounced back into reckoning as officials of the ruling party.

Others undergoing trial are helped to stay on course under the guise that the rule of law adjudges one

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

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

innocent until he is found guilty by a competent court of law. Graft cases that have been charged to court since 2007 are still at the stage of taking pleas.

Technicalities are explored by defence lawyers to frustrate dispensation of justice. And, in all this, it appears the office of the Attorney General of the Federation merely looks on, suggesting complicity.

The government is not known to have come up with profound solution to national problems. It is a government that continues to award contracts but gets little done, thus compounding the woes of the citizenry. The Second Niger Bridge has been touted as a flagship project of the government, yet, nothing has actually been done. At a time that the government is making the second bridge a talking point, the existing bridge is sinking.

The political scene underlines the incompetence of the government more than any. For example, the political crisis imposed on Rivers State by the powers-that-be and the May 24 election of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) exposed the huge joke that the Jonathan administration is and made nonsense of its commitment to true democratic ethos. It is a matter for regret that in the Presidency's desperation to remove the chairman of the forum, lies were told, illegalities committed while the President continues to play the ostrich, insisting that he has no hand in the NGF election crisis. It is obvious that the country has to be restructured to allow for healthy competition among component units. The current system is incongruous with the tenets of federalism and, for a multicultural and plural society like Nigeria, a unitary system can only be a source of tension.

All national institutions are deliberately undermined and free speech has been under assault as media houses and journalists have been consistently harassed in the past two years. It is not out of place to say the government is a democratic disaster. While other African countries such as Ghana are growing and engendering confidence of the people in the state and government, Nigerians are told, by the actions of their government, that they must fend for themselves in all circumstances.

Is the future bleak? As 2015 beckons, we call on Nigerians to put the government on its toes and insist on full scale electoral reforms that would put a true government of the people in power.

LETTERS

Government and Boko Haram amnesty amnesty programme our government is proposing to offer them irrespective of what it may cost the whole nation and concluded that they are fighting just battles. The following utterances underscores this position. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau stated: “We are also at war with Christians because the whole world knows what they did to us”,adding that “the group’s successes in killing innocent civilians indicate they (i.e. Boko Haram) are on the right path.”

Also one of their leaders once

A

PEACEFUL society can be said to be priceless especially when there exist steady economic growth, law and order etc. People tend to migrate to such areas and in most cases become permanent residents. This was what the government of the late President Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua was trying to achieve when the idea of amnesty was first offered to the Niger-Delta militants.

Nigerians have witnessed how effective the idea is.

Before the discovery of crude oil in 1956, agriculture was the major source of generating revenue for the government.

Amongst other crops, the different regions in the country were known to produce and export large quantities of its

said that the kidnapping of the French Family was in revenge for the French invasion of northern Mali.

From the foregoing, Nigerian government should not fail to recognise the fact that Boko Haram has foreign supports and unsevered relationship with radical group in northern Mali, Al Qa’ida, the movement for unity and Jihad in West Africa and Jama at Ansar Al – Muslimin fi Bilad Al Sudan (known as Ansaru). On this premise, Boko Haram can be described as

Multi- national Islamic terrorist group which cannot be silenced by mere negotiation and monthly salary like Niger Delta militants. It is an indisputable fact that Nigeria as a nation has what it takes – cash to pay Boko Haram and to grant them pardon, but before the deal will be done, let Nigerians have a second thought on this turning issue.

I want Nigeria government and the advocates of amnesty for Boko Haram to know that the background of militants in Niger Delta and what prompted their

Abuse of amnesty

annual agricultural products.

We had gigantic groundnut pyramids in the north and exportable quantities of oil palm and cocoa in the east and west respectively. The discovery of oil led to the somewhat total neglect of agriculture. Also neglected, were the communities where the oil exploitations have occurred in the past and present. For years, subsequent military government oppressed and suppressed the community elders and activists from the region in the midst of externally inflicted poverty as a result of destroying their primary means of livelihood; fishing, through water pollution. From history we know that humans tend to

react (mostly violently) when pushed to the wall for too long.

This led to what we now know as Niger-Delta militants and MEND. Unlike MEND, the Boko Haram insurgence has been bloody. Although the security agents have tried in their own way to see that this issue is brought to the barest minimum, the sect has been resilient. This is largely caused by the porous borders in the country.

Nevertheless, the message the sect is trying to pass to the government cannot be considered in a time where nations are coming together to build a stronger economy. The truth is the country cannot be

activities differ from Boko Haram vision and mission. At the same time, I want to assert that Nigeria has spent one hundred and fifty eight billion naira (158) to pay the so called reformed militants to secure oil pipelines, a duty that our security personnel are constitutionally meant to do. And while we are still chewing on that, government is proposing another amnesty for another killer group.

It is a well known fact that Boko Haram target is divided Islamised and Sharia law recognised. Our strength and beauty lies in our diversity, if only we can peacefully co-exist and harness this great potential.

This is why socio-cultural organizations like Ndigbo Unity Forum, Arewa Consultative Forum and Odua People’s Congress etc need to continue to preach the need for peaceful coexistence.

If the government can pay more attention to what is important, the high insecurity the nation is facing today would be efficiently nailed to the board.

By Obinka Ugochukwu Director Planning and Research Ndigbo Unity Forum (NUF).

into three: The Christians (largely Igbo) minorities in the north and central regions of the country, the Nigeria government, army and police and the Muslim political and religious elites in Northern Nigeria. To be factual, these three groups represent the whole nation.

Hence, the representatives of these groups and other stakeholders as a matter of urgentcy should put heads together and map out strategic plan on how to put an end to the menace of Boko Haram in the north and the nation at large instead of embarking on expensive and dangerous negotiation of amnesty programme with Boko Haram.

Boko Haram attacks have already tarnished Nigeria’s image internationally. Hence, the northern part of our country and the seat of power – federal capital territory, Abuja had been labelled by foreigners as environments not conducive for business transactions and this scares foreign investors away. If our image is going to be redeemed; if our security is going to be guaranteed, the shareholders need to stop politicising Boko Haram issue and bear it in mind that our nation’s security is greater than anybody’s political ambition.

Moreover, our government should know that when things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.

Proposing amnesty for Boko Haram at this point in time is like putting a square peg in a round hole. It would not work.

By Olumide Aladejana, Lagos

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16

Comment & Analysis

Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

O

NE popular lesson learned from Christian scriptures is that the truth shall set people free. In other words, the truth shall liberate people troubled or otherwise from their inhibitions and put them on the road to salvation or redemption. This has not happened in the case of truth that Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale shot and chopped Drummer Lee Rigby a British soldier in Woolwich, north-east London last week. The fact that the young men are British citizens of Nigerian descent had caused ripples in the country in which the crime was committed and where the parents of the two young men were born. This tragic and barbaric act has left so many lessons to be learnt in different parts of the world.

The truth about the parentage of the two latest members of the world's newest international terrorists has raised the adrenalin of Nigerians in diaspora in the United Kingdom and in the birthplace of the parents of the two Michaels. Those in the United Kingdom who perceive themselves as possible or potential targets of vengeful looks and deliberate profiling from people in their host community have cried foul about the characterisation of the two Michaels as Nigerian, stressing that by any stretch of imagination, Adebolajo and Adebowale are British one-hundred per cent.

The truth has been hurting Nige-

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

‘T

HOSE who get to power by false or fraudulent means curse themselves and are cursed by the people. Those who collaborate with evil systems and tyranny cursed themselves, and are cursed by the people' -Uncle Bola Ige in IS NIGERIA CURSED? 21 April, 1996.

I can no longer remember how many times I have had this feeling that Plateau State has no governor, properly so called. Governor Jang's tenure has proved so lacklustre that hardly does a week pass by without reports of ethno-religious killings; you are bound to think it is only in that state you have Hausa/Fulani living alongside indigenous peoples in the country. At first I thought he was the victim and that people like my good friend, Antony Sanni, the A C F Publicity Secretary, who thoroughly understands the terrain, were being unkind when they accused him of always complicating simple issues and turning them to the leitmotif for horrendous bloodletting. I actually pointedly accused Tony of tormenting the governor until he assured me that on the contrary, he has every reason to wish for a peaceful Plateau State to which he is related by marriage.

It was at that point that I decided to pay closer attention to the Jang persona and I have come to the conclusion that by his election as governor, it would appear he has been promoted over and above his ken. The only thing I can unreservedly credit Mr. Jang with is his unremitting stubbornness which, for instance, led him to neglect warnings from the federal authorities not to conduct the ruinous local government election which

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

Whenever the truth hurts

Nigerians at home and abroad need to accept that the truth can liberate while it can also hurt. rians in Britain noticeably. Living in a country where, apart from regular racism-institutional and inter-personal, subtle and overt--Nigeria had acquired too many stigmas: Advanced fee fraud (alias 419), drug pushing, credit card crime, identity theft, undocumented stay, etc. it is understandable if no one chooses to blame Nigerians for denying the two Michaels the opportunity to be defined in relation to their ancestry? It is perfectly within human character to invoke a popular Yoruba proverb: B'ina baa jo ni jo omo eni, taraeni laa ko gbon danu (if a person and his or her child becomes victim of fire attack, the person is obliged to first ensure his or her own safety before attending to the child). This principle is even emphasised planes where passengers are advised to first put on their oxygen mask before attending to their children.

Here in the ancestral home of the two Michaels, feelings are clearly mixed. Many opinion leaders, especially Yoruba pundits who have written extensively on the issue of the Yoruba being the most religiously plural and tolerant in the world are covering their faces with their hands, as if their own children had killed Lee Rigsby. Others are quick to conclude that of any attempt to attach the origin of the parents of the two alleged terrorists to their identities is overt racism. In other words, people in Nigeria are unhappy that the two young men are being connected to Nigeria, a land with too many dark spots that are visible to the international community. Many of such people prefer to be in denial about this barbaric act in a country that is 3,000 miles away from Nigeria.

Major politicians in the two countries linked by the shame of the moment have spoken effusively. President Jonathan has spoken in the tone of a sociologists: "Each environment presents its own unique challenges and peculiarities and actions taken by affected nations may differ, yet the resolve to confront and defeat this threat should never be in doubt."

Nigeria's President has spoken bluntly like a person who is suffering a fate similar to Cameron's at the hands of Boko Haram, but clearly as a politician dealing with the problem of insecurity, a major threat to stability of political power. On the other hand, Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron, has stressed: "This was not just an attack on Britain and on the British way of life; it was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country‌." Cameron has spoken frankly like a politician who is preoccupied with search for economic security that requires regular import of petroleum and capital from oil-rich Islamic countries.

But close to the scene of the crime that had turned the two British citizens of Nigerian parentage into new protagonists of terrorism a few years after the case of Muttalab, the failed under-pant bomber, there are many British citizens who are eager to think beyond domestic and international politics and economics by stressing factors that predispose young men to Islamic radicalisation. One of such persons is a Labour parliamentarian, David Lammy. Lammy hasexplained susceptibility to extreme Islamism thus: "If you have not got a major father-figure in your life, if your

parents are first-generation immigrants and there is a sense of detachment for you as a second generation immigrant, if you are unemployed, if you are looking for some sense of belonging and then you are potentially seduced by all forms of extremism and possibilities that are criminal or dangerous in intent." In other words, there is a need to recognize the possibility of a victim morphing into a viper.

Some lessons are being overlooked by those who are preoccupied with face saving on both sides of the Atlantic. If Adebolajo and Adebowale had won the Nobel Prize for physics or medicine, it is certain that Nigerians abroad and at home would have claimed them as their own. No one would have accused the British media of stereotyping with the intention of adding to the stigma attached to Nigerians. It is also conceivable that the British media could have been silent on the parentage of the two men if they had won a prestigious international award. Similarly, Nigerian media pundits would have accused the British of subtle racism for not mentioning the Nigerian ancestry of Adebolajo and Adebowale were the two slated to receive Nobel Prize. No denialism can fly on this matter: the two young terrorists are partly Nigerians; they in fact qualify under our constitution to obtain Nigerian passports. It is re-assuring that the two men had chosen to stick with just British passport, a choice that makes it easy for Nigeria to share the shame of the week with the United Kingdom. The two 'mujahids' have also made it easy for the Yoruba of Nigeria to share

with the English of Great Britain the shame the two friends have engendered with their murder of an innocent British soldier.

The ignoble act of the two young Nigerian-British murderers of Lee Rigsby has thrown up several questions. One of such questions is what would make persons of Yoruba descent, wherever they may be resident, to kill fellow human beings in the name of God? It is necessary to unpack the socialisation that the parents of the two friends must have given them. Isn't it curious that the parents of the two partners in crime migrated from a Yoruba world that adores religious plurality and says unequivocally that God (believed in all religions to be omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient) does not (and should not) require any human being to fight for him or her. Is the reality of postmodern multiculturalism, particularly the practice of absorptive and additive assimilation of immigrants now taking its toll on Yoruba culture? The signs are already there that intolerance of religious plurality, best prevented from damaging social relations through the principle of political secularity, is gaining ground even in the Yoruba homeland in Nigeria. Politicians, school administrators, and parents of diverse religious persuasions are engaged in media war on the subject of wearing religious costumes to public schools, an institution that results from sociality that joins individuals together, rather than from religiosity or spirituality that connects individuals to their gods. Nigerians at home and abroad need to accept that the truth can liberate while it can also hurt.

NGF Chair: Nigeria becomes the butt of jokes as presidency settles for weakest link That those who wanted governor Amaechi out by all means could settle for governor Jang must be eloquent testimony to their desperation,

subsequently resulted in the death of many.

That those who wanted Governor Amaechi out by all means could settle for governor Jang must be eloquent testimony to their desperation, especially after they were reported to have earlier-on zero-ed in on the Bauchi State governor. The Katsina State governor is alleged to have said on a BBC Hausa radio programme that the President personally told him to go and replace Governor Amaechi as chairman so all these denials will not sell as Nigerians are no fools. Increasingly, presidential spokespersons are presenting the President as being totally in the dark, all in the ridiculous attempt to present him as innocent. Yuguda, one must say, has never hidden his presidential ambition since the Yar 'Adua era on whose demise he most probably considered himself the prime northern candidate to step in to complete the late President's two terms. If Governor Akpabio is as smart as he is often regarded, he should have stood by Yuguda who would do just about anything to become the NGF Chairman, hoping that by that mere fact he could edge out the incumbent Vice President come 2015.

The ways of the PDP is truly bewildering. But what led them to Jang this time around? I can hazard only two reasons: first, Mr President apparently cannot stand a powerful northern governor as chairman of the forum. As Nigerians know only too well, both he and the coordinating minister need unfettered freedom to operate both the Excess Crude Account and the Sovereign Wealth Fund, among other things. Second, they know that being isolated, Governor Jang will need the elixir, even though as chairman, the President will consult

him the least amongst northern PDP governors.

The video recording of an election which some governors claimed did not hold has since gone viral on the internet and Nigerians are now waiting for the nay-sayers to also claim that the recording is fake. Apparently these governors are least concerned about the embarrassment to the country and I was not in the least surprised to learn that Nigeria was the butt of jokes at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the African Union. That is what happens when a resource-rich country, the size of Nigeria, demonstrates puny leadership traits and prefers to play, not in the big league, but at the peripheries of civilisation.

Why has the NGF suddenly become this important, a beautiful bride of sorts? In my opinion, that flows directly from the president's new ambition to be master of all he surveys. Every segment of society and any person, or institution against that single-minded determination must be crushed or subsumed one way or the other. But this is not new in our clime.

IBB did not stop until he had run literally every institution out of town: labour unions, the Nigerian Medical Association inclusive, and for the really tough ones like the Nigerian Bar Association, he merely plucked from their leadership by recruiting almost every succeeding president to his cabinet thereby giving the association enough problem to occupy a life time. What appears to be trending now is that for President Jonathan's 2015 ambition, just about anybody or anything is dispensable. And that is why today's cheer- leaders must beware because revolutions do

consume its own children: a misspoken word, an unintended act there etc, could spell doom. So if today, the President's 'soldiers' are coming for the Russians, the Poles and the Jews do not remonstrate, there may be nobody to talk tomorrow when it is the turn of the Jews to be herded into the 'Auchwitz concentration camp gas chambers.'

People of very short memories that we Nigerians are, I have heard and read many blaming the proAmaechi governors of edging him on in confronting his party. But nothing can be further from the truth as they have so easily forgotten that President Jonathan road was smoothened by these very persons, acting in unison with the National Assembly. Or can anybody show Nigerians the PDP membership cards of the likes of Professor Wole Soyinka, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Femi Falana, Festus Keyamo, to mention only a few of those who risked limbs and lives so Jonathan could become acting President?

It is in this regard that I feel rather uncomfortable with the views of my very good friend, Sen. Seye Ogunlewe when, on television, he alleged that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is behind the crisis. Without a doubt, I know that the Southwest PDP people see Tinubu in their dreams. Also, having been brutally maginalised in a PDP they did the most to bring about, and nurtured, albeit, through outright chicanery, they are eager to be in the good books of Abuja. For this reason, they must make 'politically correct' statements lest Abuja forgets them.

Add to that, the fact that Seye has just recently been begged to return fully to the party. He therefore has a duty to prove that he is still a loyal party man. Otherwise, what is Tinubu's

own in PDP's all-year-round hallucinations and dirty politics in which might is right; where you can suspend a whole governor without as much as allowing him a right of hearing and where, having participated fully in an election, you can, after losing miserably, turn round like school children to say elections were not held or were rigged? I must, however, not forget to congratulate the Jagaban for having the power and the influence to make PDP governors disobey, if not disregard, their party leader, Mr. President. What remains for these people who are forever afraid of Tinubu is to lift their nemesis into the pantheon of the gods.

Finally, the role of the Akwa Ibom governor, Godswill Akpabio, especially his no-holds barred exuberance in carrying out his instructions, is very analogous to that of Senator Ibrahim Mantu's in the aborted Third Term Project of former President Obasanjo. Mantu was the generalissimo and threw his entire weight (no puns intended) into it. But he was smart. Once they were routed, he calmly returned to base, and ate the humble pie. I think rather than all these sabre rattling in which Governor Jang is being paraded on television, Governor Akpabio and his pro-Jang governors should take the only decent option here. The video of that election, with gubernatorial banters here and there and which, by now, must have been watched by millions in every corner of the world, has done them in irretrievably. If they love Nigeria as they never cease to claim from the roof tops, they should stop their bellicosity, quietly apologise to Amaechi and his supporters, embrace their returned chairman and try their damn best to restore Nigeria's integrity.

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

Tunji

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

W

HAT ordinarily should have passed as an innocuous election by governors in the country to elect their officers in a forum not known to the constitution has become a reference point for President Goodluck Jonathan's popularity. And the reason is simple: the President himself has not done much to be detached from the forum that could easily pass for a social gathering where the governors unwind. So, if the President is feeling bad at the turn of events before and shortly after the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) election of May 24, it is self-inflicted. The humiliation, if the President sees the developments as such, is the kind of thing a leader suffers when he stoops so low to be involved in mundane things that should not have been his business, considering his exalted office.

But President Jonathan did not seem to understand the prestige attached to that office. If he did, he would not have been an interested party in who heads the NGF or whether the organisation even exists or not. The only time the forum attracted the attention of Nigerians probably was the time it supported the Federal Government on the withdrawal of fuel subsidy in late 2011.

And that was because it wanted more money for its members. Interestingly, both the Federal Government and the forum were on the same page; so, there was no quarrel then, even though subsidy removal was unpopular among the generality of Nigerians. That did not matter, ei-

Postscript, Unlimited!

By

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

T

HIS is no exaggeration, but living in Nigeria has become like using your fingernails to scratch away at the sides of a mountain until it becomes flat like the ground. So you go scrape, scratch, scrape at the thing: buying endless fuel cans for your generators (if you have one), putting one cement block over another to give your loved ones shelter (when you can), battling daily on the road with unruly, unrefined and uneducated taxi-drivers and motorcycle-riders and generally having to deal with Nigerians who are nice to foreigners but grumpy to their fellow countrymen (and women). In all these, you hope against hope that as you scratch away at the mountain, the mountain will somehow give way to your puny efforts, failing which some angel with wings would give a helping hand and whisk you away onto an uninhabited island where there are no Nigerians. Well, they do say hope springs eternal.

On democracy day, like all other Nigerians, I was therefore only too glad to observe a public holiday not because I wanted to greet democracy but because I love work-free days and use them to dream up get-away schemes. Left to me, I think all days should be democracy days so we can

17

Wobbling and fumbling to 2015

Anti-Amaechi crisis exposes the PDP for what it is even as the Presidency plays the ostrich ther to the Presidency or the forum, once their own needs were met. But for mass resistance, fuel subsidy removal would have been rammed down the throats of Nigerians while the presidency and the governors would have been smiling to the banks, with their ‘protruding’ treasuries.

Today, the music has changed.

Governor Rotimi Amaechi, as chairman of the NGF in support of fuel subsidy removal who was then a friend to President Jonathan, is now his sworn enemy. But that is what life is all about. There are no permanent friends or permanent foes, but permanent interests. Of course, the story is well known. President Jonathan, despite a lackluster midterm performance, is still interested in contesting the 2015 election. Apparently the man did not know how badly disappointed Nigerians are with his government because if he knew, he would not have awarded himself a pass mark in his assessment of himself on May 29. Where in the world is the student also the examiner? Or where in the world is an accused the judge in his own cause?

This, unfortunately, is what the President has done and he can do that because this is Nigeria. But that is not our concern for today.

We have been told that Amaechi has been 'blacklisted' because he is

interested in being vice president in 2015. If this is true, isn't this a legitimate aspiration? The point is that unless political calculations change, or unless the President changes his style, he will be resoundingly defeated in 2015. This has nothing to do with the fact that he was massively voted for in 2011. The handwriting is becoming clearer by the day. And that explains the desperation to clear all enemies, real or perceived, from the way to ensure there are no formidable challengers, and Amaechi happens to be the scapegoat. The calculation is, once you deal 'ruthlessly' with Amaechi, others who might be nursing similar ambition would get the message and queue behind the President, whether or not he has anything to offer.

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. But for our warped federalism, nothing should make it possible for either to breathe down the neck of the other. It is obvious the architects of this anti-Amaechi crisis either overrated their own capacity or underestimated that of their opponents. That is why they have found it impossible to beat a retreat despite the fact that they have been fumbling serially and so em-

“But this must be a different kind of Jonah because the biblical Jonah repented three days after. It is over seven days and seven nights and this Jonah of our time is still swimming in the mud of iniquities.”

barrassingly; unfortunately dragging the Presidency along with them, notwithstanding that the presidency has said it is not a party to the crisis. They should go tell that to the marines!

Those who are saying that the NGF crisis is between Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State and Governor Amaechi of Rivers State either deliberately chose to amend the truth or simply want to make President Jonathan feel good; a thing that can never be because the president himself knows that the contest is this fierce because he (President) is leading the antiAmaechi fray. And this explains the desperation on the part of the President's goons to win by foul means since it is impossible for them to win fairly. The PDP, their party, also badly handled the crisis that should have been nipped in the bud before it festered. Rather than approach the issue maturely, the party's leaders behaved like a village headmaster with a horsewhip to whip non-conformists into line.

And when this failed, they contrived all kinds of shenanigans, from the formation of a parallel forum which they called the PDP Governors Forum, to reduce Amaechi's influence as NGF chair. That failed.

They then thought it was better to pull the rug off his feet by slugging it out with him at the forum's polls.

They were sold a dummy which they sheepishly bought; forgetting that there is a difference between dreams and deeds. At the NGF polls, again, they were roundly defeated.

And, rather than graciously accept defeat, they have contrived all kinds of things to give the impression that Jonah Jang, Plateau State Governor, their defeated candidate at the NGF

poll, won the election. Not surprisingly, from the formation of the PDP Governors Forum to the NGF polls, they always found ready tools for the dirty games. Nigeria is never in short supply of such characters. One of their favourites has God as part of his name but it is doubtful if he is allowing God's will in this matter.

Then the other had a namesake in the Bible who was the problem to other passengers in a troubled ship on the sea; the ship remained troubled until he was thrown into the sea and swallowed by a fish in whose belly he was for three days and three nights before he repented. Now, this second tool in the hands of the PDP went to church to celebrate the victory he knew he never had. If anyone was in doubt that he never had that victory, that doubt must have evaporated with the number of governors (whose votes he purportedly had during the NGF election) that honoured his invitation to their so-called new NGF Secretariat on Thursday. But this must be a different kind of Jonah because the biblical Jonah repented three days after. It is over seven days and seven nights and this Jonah of our time is still swimming in the mud of iniquities.

Mark my words, the PDP rather than beat a retreat, will want to 'deal' with those governors that were absent at Jang's event, their event. That is the way of Pharaohs. They don't beat a retreat until they sink. We will start hearing the kind of things we never heard about those governors now that they have made themselves known. Their courage is however soul-lifting. However, those playing God today should know that this is the kind of crisis no one can tell the end. They should go ask those who played God yesterday.

But the fact is that this crisis has exposed the PDP for what it is and it is a foretaste of what to come in 2015.

Democracy Day Blues The people want life to be more possible so that the president will not enjoy his score card alone; they want to help enjoy it too.

have an endless number of work-free days. Know what I found? Many people think like me. On May 29, many stayed at home, not really because they wanted to nurture democracy and help it to grow in their little corners, but because they welcomed a chance to rest their feet from trudging the streets in the effort to eke out an existence from the uphill living Nigeria offers most of us.

The most absurd part about the whole democracy day business still remains the tortuous route it took to get to us. I mean, when you ponder that it came through one of the most renownedly undemocratic blusterers in history, you can only think that the poor thing arrived LOD - Lame On Delivery. I believe that is why the entire democratic enterprise in Nigeria limps to the highest heavens to this day. Just look at us. Our National Assembly has no idea what to do with either the country or itself; we the people have neither the knowledge nor the will to throw out the entire structure and build for ourselves a system that best defines our nature as Nigerians and Africans with peculiar problems; and a presidency more involved in looking in the mirror and seeing its well torsoed chests carrying very expensive name tags incidentally called '2015'. But we limp on.

So, like I said, many of us stayed home on democracy day to give ourselves a break from all the scratching at life thing so that we will not have to be grumpy at other Nigerians for a nice change. Believe me, a

life of perpetual grumpiness not only gets boring but is most tiring. Instead, I used the day to ponder on what there is to gain or lose from the kind of democracy we have, where we are getting it, what we can do to fix its wrongs and generally indulge in some good ol' standard issue blues. I started by thinking about what is right with it ... mmmm ... Ok, the next one - what exactly have we gained from this democratic venture?

By last count, not much. To begin with, as I sat down to think, I soon found myself perspiring for the sun was high in the sky, the icebergs were melting, global warming was going on against all my orders to be still and all that, and there was no electricity to make the fans move and provide some respite. In short, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will hopefully not be forever more.

For now though, there was no electricity to help me think. I turned myself to the showers. The taps were not exactly dry. No, sir, they were past dry, they went silent a long while back. Oh, have I mentioned that now, thanks to this democracy, I can hardly travel freely in the country? I cannot even now sleep with my two eyes closed, but luckily, I use four.

All these basic things are still wrong yet the country spends billions and billions of Naira each year on its democratic structures. So, exactly how would you be wanting me to reckon this democracy for me to gain the simplest thing?

Just some days ago, I read a report

in which our president was said to have given his administration a pass score for a job well done in this their first-half assessment, and well he should. The only problem is that the rest of us do not quite understand that scoring system because I really have not met a student who has been called on to assess him/herself. That would make the work of the teacher very superfluous indeed. The president then berated the rest of us for not using a known and clear 'marking guide' in our assessment of his administration. Yes, but is it not an axiom that whoever sets an examination usually provides the marking guide? But this is neither here nor there. What is important is that we all should understand the concept of democracy and here is my take.

Surely, to the known world, democracy is that means of governance by which the people get together, point out a few among them to go and govern the rest for the sake of peace and quiet. It takes for granted that whoever is elected would listen to the people, respect them and help to make life less of a grind for them.

It also takes for granted that when the people perceive that the said elected officials have ceased to respect or help or listen to them, the people know exactly what to do with and about them. Boot them out.

Alas, in all of Nigeria's democratic republics, no single set of elected officials has shown any inkling of what it has been elected or sent to do other than to frolic. And so, from the time of the institution of democracy in

Nigeria, we have been unfortunate to have one set of frolickers or the other in astonishingly ascending degrees and the people have been paying the price. So, brace up folks, for we the people obviously have a lot more paying to do.

The experience of most sane countries is that the government constitutes no more than a small percentage of human labour, large-scale industries no more than a small percentage of the national economy, while the rest is made up of smallscale life savers. For the economy to run efficiently, therefore, every organ of the economy requires a great deal of self-determination in which it can rely on the fact that white is white, black is black, and every little decision cannot be interfered with by the president.

Clearly, it is time to call out the democratic umpire. No democracy can thrive in a colony of ants that refuses to know and respect the positions, authorities and limits of its members. They will all soon go array and awry. Let the umpire tell us: have we got it (democracy) or have we lost it (our good sense)? I think we have not got it, and I think we have completely lost it. For one thing, the government needs to realise that the people want to be respected. Democracy requires mutual respect between the elector and the elected. For another, we the people want life to be a little more possible so that the president will stop enjoying his score card alone. Let us the people enjoy it too.

18

I

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

Who are the Yoruba people? (2)

N his 2000 page book titled ‘’Ile-Ife-The Source of Yoruba Civilisation’’, Prince Adelegan Adegbola wrote the following about the Yoruba people of South-western Nigeria- ’’the Yoruba are the progeny of great kingship, efficient kingdom-builders and astute rulers.

They have been enjoying for centuries a well-organized pattern of society, a pattern which persists, in spite of all the changes resulting from modern contacts with the western world. Their kings have, from very long past, worn costly beaded crowns and wielded royal scepters. No one remembers the time when the Yoruba people have not worn clothes. Their character of dignity and integrity is an ancient one. In reality, the Yoruba claim to be descendants of a great ancestor. There is no doubt at all that they have been a great race. They are, and they appear in some ways to be detrimentally over-conscious of their great ancestry and long, noble traditions.....the Yoruba are one of the most researched races in the world. According to Professor S.O. Arifalo, by 1976 the available literature on the Yoruba, despite many omissions, numbered 3,488 items. These vast amounts of works are quite substantial and unrivalled in sub-Saharan Africa. Also the artefacts showed that the Yoruba were intelligent, complex and wealthy people whose art and technological skills were unsurpassed in pre-historic Africa. Almost everything we know about the Yoruba people comes from Ile-Ife.’’ Professor Adegbola’s research is as fascinating as it is outstanding. It is a ‘’must read’’ for all those that are interested in finding out who the yoruba are, where thy come from, what they stand for and what their contribution to religion,culture, the arts and civilisation really is. Adegbola’a research into the history of the Yoruba and the various Yoruba kingdoms is second to none. His findings certainly put a lie to the controversial assertion made by Sir Hugh Trevor-Roper, one of the best-known and most respected historians that ever lived, who once said that ‘’the history of Africa is darkness, nothing but darkness’’. Nothing could be further from the truth and it is clear to me that this englishman, despite his outstanding credentials, knew next to nothing about our rich history, heritage and culture which, in my view, was far more advanced and goes back for thousands of years more than even his own. In this essay I will make my own contributions to the debate and I will concentrate primarily on the pre-historic era of the Yoruba before the coming of Oduduwa to Ile-Ife and before the establishment of the great kingdoms and princely states. I will focus on their origins as a people and their migratorary patterns.

The Yoruba are ancestors of the black Cushite migrants and settlers that did not go to Africa with the other descendants of Cush but that rather chose to settle in the areas and environs that were to later become the ancient cities of Mecca and Medina in what is presently known as Saudi Arabia.

They were not Arabs but they were there as settlers for thousands of years and they constituted an industrious, prosperous, powerful, large and respected minority within the larger Middle Eastern community. However they were eventually driven out of those Arab towns and communities and forced to leave them for refusing to give up their religious faith, their deep mysticism and paganism and their idol worship after Islam was introduced to those places by the Prophet Mohammed in 600 AD. They migrated to the banks of the great River Nile in Egypt where they intermingled and inter-married with the Egyptians, the Nubians and the Sudanese of the Nile. The Egyptian roots and connections of the yoruba are deep and irrefutable and the third and final part of this essay is dedicated solely to exploring and explaining those roots. For thousands of years many of the yoruba remained on the banks of the Nile but the bulk of them eventually migrated to what was to later become known as north-eastern Nigeria and once again they settled, mingled and interbred with the Shuwa Arabs and the Kanuris of Borno.

From there they eventually swept across the whole of the north and migrated down south to the forests and farm lands of what is now known as south-western Nigeria making their primary place and location of settlement and pagan worship Ile-Ife. Ile-Ife is to the Yoruba traditional worshippers what Mecca is to the Muslims and what Jerusalem is to the Jews and the Christians.

The establishment of Ile-Ife as the centre and source of all that is Yoruba was confirmed by Oduduwa himself when he sent his sons out from Ile-Ife to other parts of Yorubaland to establish their own independent kingdoms, including Bini Kingdom.

It was after that that we broke up into various kingdoms and communities within what later became known as the old Western Region of Nigeria. Some of those kingdoms and empires were sophisticated, powerful, large and great (like the Oyo Empire) and some were not so great and large.

Yet each was fiercely independent and

• Traditional Yoruba Drummers

By Femi Fani-Kayode

established it’s own sophisticated system of government, customs, legal codes and conventions.

Sadly these Yoruba kingdoms spent one hundred years fighting one another in totally unnecessary civil wars before the arrival of the British but it is a historical fact that they were never defeated in any war or conquered by any foreign army. Yet the only things that they had in common amongst themselves was their language (which broke into different dialects), their historical heritage, their affinity and respect for Ile-Ife and their acknowledgement of that town as being their spiritual home and finally their acceptance of the Oonirissa of Ife as ‘’the living manifestation of Oduduwa, the quintessential icon of royalty and splendour and God’s chief representative on earth’’. This collection of different kingdom states with a common ancient root were collectively known as the ‘’Yoruba’’. Yet the fact of the matter is that the word ’’Yoruba’’ has NO meaning in our language or any other language that is known to man.

No-one has been able to tell us with certainty the meaning of the word ‘’Yoruba’’ or indeed where it really came from. This really is very strange and is indeed a deep and unsettling mystery. For all we know it could even be a deep and ancient insult. That is why I have always preferred to be referred to as an ‘’ife’’ rather than a ‘’Yoruba’’. Another question that is often asked is why did our forefathers indulge in all the mass migrations from first Mecca and Medina, then to Egypt, then to Borno, across the vast plains and desert lands of northern Nigeria and then finally settled in the forests of the western region? Historians have ventured a number of reasons for this but the truth is that no-one knows with much certainty. My own personal theory is that the reason that our forefathers kept having to migrate until we found somewhere of our own was either because of war or because we refused to give up our pagan beliefs and practices. I believe that when Islam was eventually introduced into the areas that we once settled our forefathers suffered all manner of persecution for their tenacity to their ancient pagan faith and their refusal to convert and consequently they had to move on. I may be wrong and many historians have offered one or two other explanations for these mass migrations yet whatever the reasons for them may have been, whether they were due to war, famine or religious persecution, it is clear that the influence of the Arabs, the Egyptians, the Nubians, the Sudanese, the Kanuris, the Nupes and all the other nations that we once lived with, mingled with and mixed our blood with through breeding and marriage is very strong amongst the Yoruba people, their music, their language and their culture till today. We shall return to this theme in part three of this essay.

For thousands of years the yoruba were pagans and ifa was their cornerstone. Their faith was polytheic in nature and they believed, like the Ancient Egyptians, not in one Supreme Deity, but in a pantheon of gods each of which had it’s own place and served it’s own purpose. As a matter of fact most of the ancient gods that the Egyptians worshipped were introduced to them by yoruba diviners, sorcerers and pagan priests.

Such was the level of our influence on Egyptian culture, religion and history. The monotheic faiths of Islam and Christianity were both espoused by the yoruba thousands of years later and were both established primarily by the strong trade links that existed between them and the Hausa/Fulani from the north, the Turkish traders of the Ottoman empire from the southern Atlantic coast, the Portuguese and European traders who plied that same southern Atlantic coast and the Christian missionaries who vigorously evangelised the whole territory. Both christianity and islam eventually took full root in the land and in the hearts and minds of the Yoruba people whilst paganism, ‘’ifa’’ and the

practice of their more traditional faith was eventually pushed to the back seat. This was quite an achievement because for thousands of years both christianity and islam were fiercely resisted by the Yoruba and even till today many yoruba people still tenaciously hold on to their traditional faith.

That is why it is very difficult to find a Yoruba family that does not have christians, muslims and adherents of the more traditional and ancient tribal faiths in their ranks.

The slow and massive migration of the yoruba from Arabia, Egypt, Borno, through northern Nigeria and to their own homelands in the south-west are why they, together with the other numerous tribes in ‘’midwestern’’ (the Bini, the Ishan, the Urhobo, the Itsekiri, the Isoko and all the other tribes that were once part of the old Western Region of Nigeria) and ’’northern’’ Nigeria are generally known as the ‘’Sudanese Nigerians’’. This is because they all migrated from north Africa and the Sudan to their present locations. By way of contrast the various tribes from the rest of southern Nigeria who migrated from eastern and southern Africa to their present locations comprise of the Igbo and the people of the eastern Niger-Delta area (including the ijaws, the ikweres, the kalabaris, the efiks, the ibibios, the ika igbos and all other tribes that were part of the old Eastern Region of Nigeria). These people are known as the ‘’Bantu Nigerians’’ and they are very different to the Sudanese in terms of their outlook to life and their culture and history. Permit me to explain this assertion. The history of the people that are known as the ’’Sudanese Nigerians’’ is welldocuemented, well-entrenched and well-acquainted with strong and respected hierachial structures and the administration of extreemely large and powerful, culturally-diverse, cosmopolitan and sophisticated empires that once stretched across thousands of miles of different territories and civilisations. These great empires, which were headed by powerful kings and emperors, such as the Oyo, Habe, Nok, Nupe, Tiv, Borgu and Sokoto Empires, conquered many lesser peoples in centuries past and administered many territiories when compared to the Bantus.

The Bantu’s only experience and knowledge of ancient empire and kingship is limited to a few relatively small yet notable kingdoms and coastal states in what is presently known as Nigeria’s eastern Niger-Delta area. Examples of this are the Kalabaris who have their Amayanabo, the Efiks who have their Obong and a few others. The most populous tribe amongst the Bantu are the Igbo. They are originally of Jewish stock and they have absolutely no history of kingship, empire and organised hierarchical structures at all. They were essentially republican in nature and they were a collection of village and forest communities that were bound together only by their common language and their ancient heritage. That is why the igbo often take pleasure in saying ‘’igbo enwe eze’’, meaning ‘’the igbo have no king’’. Outside of the royal kings of Onitsha and Asaba to have kings and chiefs amongst the Igbo was a relatively new phenomenon which certainly does not pre-date the last 150 years. As a matter of fact the kngs of those two towns and communities were not even originally of igbo stock but were offshoots of the Royal House of Bini in what is presently known as Edo state. The Obi of Onitsha and the Asagba of Asaba and indeed most of their subjects were descendants of the Oba of Benin and the the people of edo respectively. The igbo did not even have chiefs up until 150 years ago. It was when the British colonialists arrived in the east that they appointed ‘’warrant chiefs’’ for them. This explains why the igbo particularly finds it exceptionally difficult to understand the complexities and subtleties of people that do not share their republican heritage or beliefs.

Yet the truth about the Nigerian situation is that everybody and every tribe and nationality, no matter how big or small, brings something to the table. That is what makes us so special and unique as a people and that is what makes our country so great. There is indeed unity in diversity and whether you are a yoruba, an igbo, a fulani, a hausa, a tiv, an idoma, a nupe, an urhobo, an ishan, an itsekiri, an isoko, a kalabari, a kataf, a shuwa Arab, a kanuri, a berom, an igbira, a bini, an ikwere, an efik, an ibibio, a jukun, an ijaw or any other tribe or nationality it is in the greater collective and the beautiful racial and cultural melting pot that Nigeria has become that we can find our true power and greatness. The yoruba, no matter how rich our history, are only a part of a much greater family of peoples each with their own noble heritage and proud history. In the third and final part of this essay we will explore the Egyptian roots of the yoruba and we will consider the remarkable similarities between ancient Egyptian culture, religion and language and that of the yoruba people.

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

NGF’s show of shame

T

HERE must be something about the Nigeria Governors’ Forum that other Nigerians don’t know about apart from the governors. If not, it is difficult to understand why the battle for the chairmanship of unconstitutional forum has become so fierce that the two factions of the body are literarily dancing naked, not minding the damage being done to their image and the implication for the nation’s polity.

It was bad enough that 36 governors who are supposed to showcase what it takes to conduct a free and fair and rancor -free election could not and there have been claims and counter claims about what happened during the election.

Not even when the video of the election has been released and the truth of the proceedings is now public knowledge, Governor Jonah Jang who was defeated by Governor Rotimi Amaehi with 19 votes to 16 has insisted on being the winner of the election.

While the Amaechi group is hoping that reasons will prevail considering the public outcry that has greeted the show of shame which the NGF election has become, the Jang faction has carried on as if what is in contention is the chairmanship of a motor park association.

Not only has Jang attributed his ‘victory to God’, he has gotten his supporters to place newspaper adverts congratulating him and last Thursday, he inaugurated his own secretariat in Abuja with the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP , Bamangar Tukur, and 15 other governors in attendance.

Given the present acrimony, it is unlikely that the two factions will be able to resolve their differences and have one chairman. It is indeed a shame that the governors have chosen to wash their dirty linens in public and proved that some of them are not as honourable as they are supposed to be.

From the build up to the election day, it was clear that there were many forces at play but one was hoping that the crisis would have been managed and whoever emerged as the winner would have been acceptable to all.

Considering that the NGF is a voluntary association of the governors, there should have been no need for the hullabaloo over the election result. Those not pleased could have stayed away from the activities of the group instead of the embarrassing power tussle they are now engaged in.

But for personal aggrandizement, I don’t know why it is a big deal to be the Chairman of NGF. The decisions of the forum is not binding on the members and for whatever it is worth, it could best serve as a platform for peer review and collaborative efforts on issues of joint interest.

Governors don’t need to be members of NGF to give Nigerians the good governance they are yearning for.

At a time when the President and the governors should be working together to address the myriads of problems facing Nigerians, they have allowed narrow political interests to divide them.

Instead of being distracted by the battle for the leadership of the forum, the governors should call themselves to order and face the primary task for which they were elected.

POLITICS

19

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

2015: Fresh fears in Jonathan’s camp over govs • Amaechi’s men in search for alternative party

T

HE ongoing insistence by some governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the immediate convening of a meeting of the National Executive Committee of the party and last week’s reelection of Governor R o t i m i Amaechi of Rivers State as chairman of the Nigeria Governor’s F o r u m (NGF) in spite of glaring opposition to his choice by the presidency has sparked fresh fears among the various proGoodluck Jonathan groups across the country over the 2015 presidential election.

While the presidency says it is not bothered by the developments, inside sources say the governors’ call for a NEC meeting barely a week after the victory of the Rivers State helmsman, who has been at logger-head with the President in recent months, is making the President’s men uncomfortable.

The Nation also gathered that most of the support groups, stakeholders and other politicians rooting for President Jonathan ahead of the 2015 presidential election were highly disturbed by the re-election of Amaechi as NGF chairman for another two-year term.

“Following the announcement of Amaechi’s suspension from the party by the National Working Committee (NWC) some governors have reiterated the need to convene a NEC meeting immediately.

“The fear in Jonathan’s camp is that the governors plan to use the NEC meeting to upturn the NWC’s decision on Amaechi

Some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have reiterated their calls for the convening of National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party barely a week after Governor Rotimi Amaechi defied opposition from the presidency to get reelected as the Nigeria Governor’s forum (NGF) chairman. Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports the effect of the development on President Goodluck Jonathan’s camp. and take some other far-reaching decisions that will not be in the interest of the President.

“And given the numerical strength of the governors and their supporters within the NEC, it will not be difficult for them to achieve this. What happened at the Governors’ Forum election has showned that majority of the governors are not to be relied upon totally,” a source said.

A governor from the northern part of the country, who spoke in confidence to some journalists during the week, said it would be wrong for the leadership of the party to claim ignorance of the law as stipulated in the PDP constitution concerning the party’s NEC. According to the governor, Amaechi’s problem with the party started after he presided over the PDP governors’ meetings, where the state chief executives demanded the convening of the NEC meeting.

“All of us PDP governors, including those mobilising against

Amaechi now, ON January 9 this year, at that meeting held at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge at Asokoro, Abuja called for the immediate convening of a NEC meeting in our party.

“The constitution of the party says NEC meeting must be held at least every quarter.

The last meeting held more than ten months ago. We must stop this breach of the party’s constitution,” he said.

The renewed determination of the governors to force the hands of the party’s leadership to convene a NEC meeting immediately and the seriousness with which they are going about achieving their aim is said to be making the President’s handlers jittery.

Also, a presidency source, who said aides of the President monitored the NGF election closely, told our correspondent on condition of anonymity, that the President who was away in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to attend the 21st ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), was greatly upset by the news of Amaechi’s victory.

According to him, “the President, like every other stakeholder in the matter, never hid his interest in the outcome of the NGF election. In line with this, specific instructions and assignments were given to certain people to ensure that things went according to plan.

“For us here, we monitored the election and the processes leading to it closely. We were optimistic that things were in order until after the voting proper. The President, though out of the country, is aware of the development and he is not pleased with it.”

He further explained that aides of the President are miffed by the inability of some people saddled with certain responsibility to deliver on their briefs.

“Some people who were expected to get some governors to toe the expected line failed.

This is why we are in this situation,” he added.

A senior party official of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who spoke to The Nation also •Continued on Page 21

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

Politics

•Daniel

•Mimiko

•Ladoja

Re-election bid: President dumps S/West PDP

Ahead of the 2015 presidential election, • Seeks LP, PPN, Accord alliance President Goodluck Jonathan’s politi- him for it but I think what we should all do is resolve the cal stategists are urging him to leave crisis in our party. The PDP is bigger and more popular in the than all these parties he is talking to put together,” the South West chapter of his party out southwest a chieftain of the PDP in Lagos State told The Nation.

The Nation gathered that agents of the President, led by a of his re-election plans. Assistant Edi- former deputy governor of Osun State, has met with both Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and former Govtor, Dare Odufowokan, reports.

A

HEAD of the 2015 presidential election, President Goodluck Jonathan’s camp may have decided not to rely on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest in its efforts to penetrate the zone.

The President and his men may have also opted to broker an alliance among three other political parties with presence in the region as a way of getting access to the votes of the electorate in southwestern Nigeria.

The move, sources claim, followed indications that the people of the region may be unwilling to risk their support for the President in the forthcoming presidential election.

According to reliable party sources, the protracted crisis within the PDP in the zone is one other reason why the President’s political strategists are opting for the use of alternative political machineries in the zone.

It would be recalled that, in 2011, Jonathan won five out of the six states in the region which implied that the people of the geo-political zone voted for the President and not the PDP in the area regarded as a stronghold of the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

But allegations of unfulfilled promises and alleged marginalisation of the zone by the federal government in the last two years may have robbed the President of his popularity amongst the people of the southwest.

More so, gimmicks allegedly deployed by Jonathan and his men against the success of the emerging All Progressive Congress (APC), which is viewed by the people of the zone as a party with Yoruba-based political philosophy, are also parts of the reasons the southwest may not vote Jonathan in 2015.

“There are signs that the President is thinking along the line of boycotting the PDP here in the southwest and dealing with other political groups in his effort to win the votes of the people of this zone.

“We are already aware of meetings between his men and leaders of some other parties like the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN). I think this is happening because the President thinks the PDP in the southwest is too divided and weakened to prosecute the next general election successfully.

He is entitled to his opinion and we will not begrudge

ernor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State on the possibility of the two politicians coming together to lead Joanthan’s campaign in the zone.

Mimiko is of the Labour Party while Daniel’s supporters used the PPN’s platform to prosecute the last governorship election in Ogun State. Several meetings have allegedly been held to discuss the possibility of a new political coalition, asides the PDP, emerging to prosecute the President’s re-election bid in the southwest.

“The President’s men are talking to Mimiko on the need for the LP to be the main political machinery that will champion the re-election bid in 2015. Mimiko is a staunch supporter of the President but the real job here is that they want him to convince the likes of Gbenga Daniel and Rasheed Ladoja who are currently unhappy with the PDP to buy into the project.

“The idea is a coalition of the political structures of these three leaders who are regarded as heavyweights in the region by the President. Several meetings have been held by the stakeholders in this project and I think talks are still ongoing concerning it,” a chieftain of the LP in Ogun State said.

The Nation also learnt that the recent defection of some PDP members into the LP across the zone is part of the plot.

Supporters of Gbenga Daniel in Ogun State recently joined the LP en mass with rumours rife that the former governor himself is warming up to join them.

In Oyo, former Governor Rasheed Ladoja abruptly ended a working arrangement between his Accord Party and the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (AC N). Sources claim his action followed discussion with promoters of the planned coalition.

It was also learnt that the failure of the Chief Ishola Filaniled caretaker committee of the PDP in the southwest to resolve the crises in various state chapters further convinced the President of the need to bypass the party in the zone.

But observers of the politics within the party say the reconciliation efforts of the PDP in the South-West failed because some of the factions within the zone did not regard the Tukur-led committee as an impartial arbiter.

The PDP National Working Committee had on March 15 held a truce meeting with its South-West chapter in

Ibadan, Oyo State. The battle for the soul of the party in the zone is between groups loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and others which are against the former president.

The PDP in the South-West has been crisis-ridden since the sacking of a former Osun State Governor, Prince OlagunsoyeOyinlola, as the party’s national secretary.

The various reconciliation committees constituted by Filani in the zone submitted their reports during the week amidst worsening crises across the states. While the Ondo State reconciliation committee submitted divergent reports to the party leadership, its counterpart in Ogun State could not prevent the defection of several notable PDP leaders a day before it submitted its own report.

A chieftain of the party in Lagos State, Chief Tunde Alawiye, want the national leadership of the party and the presidency to halt the ongoing reconciliation within the state chapter, saying that it would not yield fruitful results.

He accused a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, of hijacking the state executive committee. “How can they talk about reconciliation when about 18 members of the state Working Committee of the party are their members, while we have none?

All the board membership has been hijacked by them.”

The PDP in Lagos has been polarised into two broad camps, “The Establishment” led by George and “The Union” which had other aggrieved leaders of the party as the arrowheads.

In Ekiti, the party remains factionalised. At least, there are three factions within the fold. Efforts to resolve the leadership crises have failed. To make matters worse, the party has 20 governorship aspirants running on the crisis-ridden platform.

The governorship aspirants and other chieftains are carrying on as agents of the three leading chieftains locked in a battle of superiority; former Governor Ayodele Fayose, Police Affairs Minister Caleb Olubolade and the deposed governor, Segun Oni. Moves by the leaders of the party in the Southwest to resolve the logjam have proved abortive. Party members have given their loyalty, not to the party, but the warlords; Fayose, Akinbolade and Oni. Disturbed by the lack of progress, Filani said the PDP in the southwest must be made more cohesive if it is to win elections in the zone.

“We must make the party more cohesive and this will attract the majority into its fold. We must bring the PDP to every door step and homes. The forthcoming election in Osun and Ekiti States have made it imperative for our party to put its house in order so as to wrestle power from the ACN, or APC if it is registered,” he said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

Politics

‘Umeh should bow out’

21

Ralph Nwosu is the national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the party on which platform Professor Pat Utomi contested for the presidency in 2007. He was a founding member of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) where he held the position of the national treasurer before he left the party for the ADC. In this interview with INNOCENT DURU, he spoke on the APGA crises and urged Chief Victor Umeh, factional leader of the party, to respect the interest of the people and let go of the chairmanship of the party. Excerpts:

W

HAT is your take on the problem in APGA? What I want to say now is no exaggeration. I gave APGA its name, and I paid the only official fee we had to pay to INEC for registration. I am a strategic builder, and I can build from the scratch at any time. As the founding national treasurer, I spent my own money. I never touched any money from any other person and I ensured that we met all the requirements and got registered.

All that is now history; usurpers have tried severally to hijack the party. I spent a lot of my hard earned money to build APGA at the national level and to make the party a winning machine in Anambra State before the APGA conspiracy began, and I became the first victim.

As a matter of fact, I am the only real victim in the APGA imbroglio.

I invested time and hundreds of millions of naira, my life savings of many years in the party.

I poured into the party without looking back. You can see that APGA activities were limited to Anambra since 2002. That was because I took the party to my state to run the governorship election there and made it the number one party.

And unfortunately all the national executives came to Anambra to trade with the party instead of going to their respective states to make the party vibrant. Frankly, all these other people who have been crying and going from one court to the other were the architects of the problem and it is all about money and power.

These people I can tell you did not invest any of their personal money in the party; rather all of them have benefitted bountifully from the party. But I leave all of them to their conscience, no animosity towards any.

For Governor Okorocha and Martins Agboso, they are ‘easy go easy come’, they are never APGA members. I remember that they both were disruptive at the formative level. Comrade Maxi Okwu was there almost from the beginning.

He is the only one who can salvage APGA at this point. Chief Victor Umeh does not have any reason to fight Maxi at all; if he thinks back to when he got involved with the party after its registration in 2002, and if he considers the interest of the people, he should let go.

After 10years serving at the apex level of the party, not at the formative and struggle stage but after the party has had major investors and stakeholder and eventually two governors, it will be unwise of him to do anything to destabilise the party any further.

For me, it is time for Chief Umeh to show statesmanship and shake hands with Comrade Maxi Ukwu and wish APGA well. It will be a shame if they continue the fight.

And it will be bye bye to APGA. His best bet will be to support Maxi maximally and plan to contest an election to continue to play a relevant role in the political process with all the experiences he has garnered.

Come 2014, Anambra will go to the polls again. Would you contest

again?

Certainly no. I have contested the governorship twice. I failed. I repeat, I was the first and the only real victim of all the APGA brouhaha, but I feel very comfortable and free in spirit, and have forgiven everyone including Governor Peter Obi. I leave everyone to their conscience where it relates to their attitude towards me. I have moved on. However, I will continue to collaborate with wellmeaning people to build Anambra

•Okwu

State and any other state in this country with my knowledge and abilities which without being immodest is well grounded in nation building; I have a “let’s go to work” and an empowering spirit.

The Igbos have always looked forward to getting the presidency.

What are their chances of getting it in 2015?

•Continue on Page 26

2015: Fresh fears in Jonathan’s camp •Continued from Page 19 confirmed the disquiet within the President’s camp saying the re-election of Amaechi by the NGF is perceived as a bad signal by handlers of the President ahead of the 2015 general election.

The former federal lawmaker said the party is also worried that the development will further polarise the PDP, especially in Rivers State where two factions of the ruling party are already battling it out.

“The development, though strictly an NGF affair, is creating tension within the PDP. For example, supporters of the President see it as a bad omen ahead of the 2015 elections. They see PDP governors unable to speak with one voice and they are worried this will affect the fortune of the party at the next election.

We at the secretariat have also given it a thought. Though we are not bothered about the victory of Governor Amaechi or the defeat of Governor Jang, we are not pleased that our governors are still divided, in spite of the many efforts to unite them,” he said.

Asked why he thinks the PDP governors failed to agree on the same candidate at the NGF election, the party chieftain said it was as a result of the failure of some people to make them resolve certain differences before the election.

“I am aware that the leadership of the party assigned some people to see to this matter. The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party was already on the matter before the election. It is also true that the Vice President and some other leaders were to meet with northern governors on this issue.

The PDP Governors’ Forum also had some work to do. I’m aware of all these.

“If all these people and or-

•Amaechi

gans got their assignment done correctly, maybe we will not be talking about PDP governors going into the NGF election divided. The victory or defeat of one candidate or the other is not our concern. Our worry is that we failed to resolve the differences amongst our governors,” he added.

Leader of the Goodluck Support Group (GSG) in Ogun State and national publicity secretary of the group, Chief Layi Soluade, while reacting to the development yesterday, said the re-election of Amaechi by the NGF which has PDP governors in clear majority is worrisome.

The PDP chieftain wondered why the party was unable to rein in the governors to support the President’s choice. He, however expresse happiness that the incident has helped supporters of the President to know the magnitude of work ahead of them.

“It is sad. It is worrisome that PDP governors who are in a clear majority could not ensure the election of the party’s choice as chairman of the NGF. It is a bad omen as we approach 2015. Except we want to deceive ourselves, we all know Amaechi is not the party’s choice.

•Akpabio

“But be that as it may, though we are worried, it is also good that this is happening now. It has revealed the magnitude of work we have ahead of us if we must deliver on the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan,” Soluade said.

Another pro-Jonathan Group, Friends of Democracy for Goodluck (FDG), said the re-election of Amaechi by the NGF should gear up all supporters of the President rather than weigh them down.

Spokesperson of the group, Emma Okoduwa, said the development is a confirmation of the existence of some fifth columnists within the PDP. He, however, expressed optimism that nothing will stop the re-election of President Jonathan in 2015.

“We are worried that the PDP governors could not deliver on their promises to party leaders. We are bothered that we cannot trust our party men to protect party interest. The re-election of Amaechi is a pointer to the serious division within PDP. “But we are sure of securing victory for President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. All these antiparty activities by some PDP leaders cannot stop him,” he said.

Meanwhile, findings by The

Nation revealed that prior to last Friday’s re-election of their principal as NGF, chairman, allies and political associates of Governor Amaechi were frantically searching for an alternative platform to the PDP. Sources within the governor’s camp revealed that Amaechi’s associates, who have been mounting pressure on him in recent weeks to pull out of the PDP, were only waiting for the outcome of the NGF election before presenting reports of their searches for an alternative party.

“Associates of the governor made up their minds weeks back that the PDP can no longer contain both the President and Governor Amaechi and they told him so on many occasion.

“Several efforts to make him see reasons why he should avoid the mistake made by former Governor Timipre Silva of Bayelsa State failed to convince Amaechi to yield to their request.

“Finally, following the grounding of his aircraft and the removal of his men as party executives, Amaechi’s men formed a committee saddled with the responsibility of sourcing another political platform for the governor’s political family to move to.

“The committee has its reports ready but leaders of Amaechi’s camp decided to wait till after the NGF election before raising the issue with the governor again.

Somehow, they didn’t think he would win,” our source said.

Asked what h e thinks would happen now that the Rivers State Governor has won re-election to lead the NGF for another two years, our source said he cannot really say for now.

“I cannot say what will happen. In fact let me say I don’t know. But what I know is that the governor’s associates are not willing to be caught napping,” he said.

22

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

Politics

Delta 2015: It’s Okowa versus Ochei in PDP

maries and was reported to have won, beating about ten other aspirants. He was, however, asked to step down for another aspirant, Uduaghan, who later emerged victorious at the 2007 general elections.

Currently the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Okowa, from Agbor, is said to be embarking on wide consultations in the state before throwing his hat into the ring.

In the last few weeks, several persons have been touted as the most likely successor to Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, in 2015.

Out of the lot, two men stand out. Remi Adelowo reports

Ochei is no pushover In his mid-40s, Ochei, an engineer, is another governorship aspirant from Delta North with a large followership.

A wealthy and charismatic politician, Ochei is believed to be popular among youth in the state, who see him as ‘one of their own.’

A source, however, told The Nation that what may work against Ochei is the general feeling across the state, especially among PDP stakeholders, that he lacks the experience to rule the state from 2015.

Opinion are also divided on the speaker’s ambition, with many of his party members alleging that he is contesting for the governorship ticket as a strong bargaining tool in order to remain relevant in post2015 politics.

A

BOUT two months ago, some major political stakeholders had gathered at the Isoko country home of the former Chairman of Guinness Plc, Chief Abel Ubeku, in Delta State, for a social cum thanksgiving service.

Present at the occasion included the Secretary to the Delta State Government, Comrade Ovuozorue Macaulay, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, to mention but a few.

As it is common with events of such nature, it soon turned political with the endorsement by a group named Isoko Development Union (IDU) of Ochei’s alleged 2015 governorship ambition.

But less than 48hours later, another political group based in Isoko dissociated itself from Ochei’s endorsement, while accusing Macaulay, who also hails from the town, as the brain behind IDU’s action.

Weeks later, Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbare Clark, lent his voice to the ongoing debate on the 2015 governorship race.

The elder statesman, in a scathing criticism of Ochei’s purported governorship ambition, accused the speaker of allegedly diverting about N7billion, being the sum of an Integrated Power Project (IPP) contract in Oghara, the hometown of a former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori.

Known for shooting straight from the hip on issues he is passionate about, Clark also took on the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, who was also reported recently to have indicated his interest to succeed Uduaghan in 2015.

The former First Republic minister expressed disgust with Orubebe’s alleged ambition, while advising the minister to focus on his current job.

Not a few people were shocked about his outburst, as he (Clark) is widely believed to be Orubebe’s godfather, who allegedly nominated him as a Minister of State in 2007.

Ochei has only responded to this allegation through his associates. In a paid advert in a national newspaper recently, the associates urged Clark to ‘refrain from attempts to destroy the integrity and reputation of young and promising politicians who are young enough to be his children and grandchildren.’

Like Ochei, the minister, through his foot soldiers, urged Clark to face reality that Orubebe has come of age politically, adding that no individual can stop the minister from contesting the 2015 governorship race.

The above scenarios, observers have pointed out, are a clear indication that the race on who succeeds Uduaghan would be a photo finish among the leading aspirants.

Is Okowa the heir apparent?

Though he has not spoken publicly about his ambition to contest the governorship primaries of the Peoples Demo-

•Uduaghan

•Orubebe

Elumelu, an aspirant to watch From Oshimili, the three-term member of the House of Representatives is also alleged to be interested in the 2015 PDP governorship ticket.

The Nation gathered that his name is being mentioned in certain quarters as a possible consensus candidate if the PDP primaries turn out to be acrimonious and inconclusive.

Can Orubebe upset the apple cart?

Until he publicly declared his ambition some weeks ago, Orubebe, a staunch associate of President Goodluck Jonathan, has been rumoured to be plotting to succeed Uduaghan.

Sources say he is banking on his closeness to the president, who is allegedly determined to take more than a passing interest in those to succeed second term governors in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Delta states.

But those conversant with the politics of Delta State say Orubebe’s lack of grass roots structures and support may turn out to be his Achilles heels when the chips are down.

Unconfirmed reports have it that the minister may be steeping down from his current job in the next few months to enable him concentrate on the governorship project, which allegedly has received the blessing of the president.

•Ochei cratic Party (PDP) next year, The Nation gathered that the senator representing Delta North in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, is alleged to be reinvigorating his structures in preparation for the race.

Sources close to the lawmaker, who is popularly called Ekwueme by his political associates, is seen by major PDP stakeholders in Delta State as the man to beat for the PDP governorship ticket.

A medical doctor by training, Okowa has, undoubtedly, paid his dues in the

•Okowa politics of the state. His first political position was as a secretary of a local government before he was elected as chairman during the zero party dispensation in the early 90’s.

At the inception of the Fourth Republic, Okowa was appointed as a commissioner in 1999 by ex-governor Ibori. Between 1999 and 2007, he was in charge of the ministries of health, and local government and chieftaincy affairs.

At the twilight of Ibori’s tenure, Okowa contested for the PDP governorship pri-

The politics of zoning One major factor that may also determine the outcome of the election is the zoning formula, an unwritten political agreement which has ceded the 2015 governorship seat to Delta North.

Since the creation of the state, no indigene of Delta North has occupied the seat, a development which has further increased the agitation of people of the zone to have their turn in the next dispensation.

If this agreement is adhered to, observers believe that the contest may turn out to be a straight battle between Okowa and Ochei, while Orubebe’s ambition may be dead even before the race gets underway.

Can the Anioma zone reach a consensus?

There are strong fears that the Anioma zone (Delta North) may fail to reach a consensus on the best candidate to put forward for the PDP primaries, a lacuna which the other zones (Delta Central and Delta South) may exploit to their advantage.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

Politics

Political Politics

Political

turf

ripples

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

Letter to Governor Jang

2015 and the feelers from OBJ

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“Y

OU know you can help somebody to get the job, but you cannot help him to do it. If somebody cannot do the job, we have Sule Lamido who we are confident can do the job.” With the above words, former President Olusegun Obasanjo gave indications of where his support is likely to swing during the forthcoming 2015 presidential election.

Obasanjo was speaking to a gathering of would-be investors, dignitaries and ordinary folks in Dutse, capital of Jigawa State. The people who had him talk were Nigerians and foreigners alike.

Though the former President did not elaborate on his statement, political analysts say he was talking about the 2015 election. Jigawa State Governor Lamido is being rumoured to be interested in the presidential race with Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate. The Dutse incident would not be the first time Obasanjo will be dropping hints of what could happen in 2015. He has been critical of the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Ikuru, a deputy indeed

H

IS Excellency, Engineer Tele Ikuru is the deputy governor of Rivers State. He deputises embattled Governor Rotimi Amaechi who is currently battling for his political life following a face-off with President Goodluck Jonathan.

While Amaechi has been suspended by the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a very controversial manner, Ikuru is being wooed

by Amaechi’s opponents to dump the AMILIES of the five Pakistani na governor’s camp and support an alleged tionals on board an oil vessel, Mt impeachment plot that will see him (Ikuru) Matrix 1, abducted last Saturday at become governor instead.

40 nautical miles off the Bayelsa coast Ikuru, who is not a stranger to intrahave promised to take revenge on Nigeparty squabbles, was the deputy governor rians in their hundreds in Pakistan, if to ex-Governor Celestine Omehia in 2007 any of the victims was killed. before the election was nullified by the The development means Nigerians court. living in that Asian country may soon be Ikuru survived the crisis and paired up made to pay with their lives for the sins with Amaechi in 2011 for a fresh mandate. of some criminally minded Nigerians He is being asked to return to his preback home. It also means that the hith2007 political camp “to deal with” his boss. erto cordial relationship between the two Ikuru has, however, decided to stand by countries may soon give way to diplohis boss. He has refused to make any matic face-off. commitment to the anti-Amaechi forces.

Though sources claim government For his decision to stand by his boss at and the employers of the victims had bea time like this, many observers of the gun negotiation with the abductors, depolitics of the oil-rich state are hailing the tails of negotiations as regards ransom were not disclosed.

Engineer-turned politician as a deputy What is left to be seen is whether the threat from Pakistan will make the indeed. kidnappers have a rethink and release their victims soon or they will simply see it as mere cries of concerned relatives.

Threat from Pakistan

F

e z E u g o y A r o f r a e l c t s a o C

President, eputy Senateinto shreds D f o n io it b am s been torn HE alleged eremadu, ha o n b y E n u g u S ta te ew k E e Ik f ie ti ra Ch rn of Enugu c e n t d e c la w it h th e re Chime that it is the tu few months, e last ullivan Governor, S the state in 2015. In th streets within and le ed d ru o have flo te st th e North to si re to co n kweremadu posters of E g u , in d ic a ti n g h is d e is declaration, the u h o u ts id e E n polls in 2015. With at he is favourably ip th h rs rs rumou o hails governo emadu, wh d put paid to governor ha handing over to Ekwer p re d e c e ss o r, D r. disposed to W e st li k e C h im e ’s adu out of the 2015 u fr o m E n u g namani. With Ekwerem enator Ayogu Eze, N e k ro also clear for S Chima coast seems Enugu North, who is e th , n o ti a in equ of Nsukka an indigene e’s seat. eyeing Chim

T

23

Y dear governor, I had seen you as one to be respected because, on account of age, alongside Murtala Nyako of Adamawa and Martin Elechi of Ebonyi, you are the oldest in the Club of 36. You also won my sympathy when the federal government sought to clobber you to submission, especially during the Yar’Adua administration. I loved the courage you displayed in the face of barefaced persecution and the resistance you put up when the federal authorities attempted to snatch the state from you. I thought your military background was being put to positive use.

I had therefore thought that, given your own experience, when the same federal authorities decided to pick on another target, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State , you would stand with the victim. Rather, you chose to support the oppressors. I was stunned.

It is really out of character as the history of the Benue-Plateau people is that of progressive politics and resistance of evil. In the period leading to independence and in the First Republic , the late Chief Joseph Tarka put up a heroic battle resisting feudalists who wanted to subjugate the people of the Middle Belt. If it were possible for Tarka to look back today, I would not be surprised if he began another movement against people like you who have chosen to denigrate and desecrate the consistent stand of the people for justice.

Dear governor, what really do you need again?

What do you stand to lose? Twice, as a military man, you were appointed state governor. You retired as a one-start General and, since taking to politics, you have been elected governor twice. After your current tenure, you are barred from serving in that office again. All you could aspire to is a seat in the Senate or appointment as minister. Is that worth the reputation of your people, even if you no longer care about yours.

Next year, Mr. Governor, you will be marking your 70th birthday. I would have thought it is about time to start planning how to mark it with dignity and honour; as a hero of your people and the Nigerian nation. Your latest activities in not only contributing to the destruction of the NGF, but actually yelding yourself as an instrument to bring it about is about the most shameful I have seen in recent times.

How could a body of 36 so-called elders of the political system, go into their closet with a view to electing a chairman and come up with two different results? The report presented by the NGF Director General and supported by a video recording of the meeting and a survey of participants indicate that Amaechi was the preferred choice, but because the President is He-who-must-be-obeyed, the President’s men swung into action and setteled for you as their whip.

Again, I ask, what could be your motive for accepting this odious task? Could it be that the EFCC’s hold on you is so tight that you had to act against your conscience? Could it be that your desire to move to another plane in your political pursuit is so consuming that you had to appease the god of PDP to give you a chance?

Whatever may be your reason for accepting the dirty assignment, I am convinced that the last has not been heard of the episode. I had thought that elders like you would be bringing similar episodes in our past to the attention of younger ones like us. You probably think this is all about Amaechi. No, it is about Nigeria . You have set in motion a chain of events. If by your action, you set off an explosive and bring the roof down on us all, the future generation would remember you for the part you played.

At first, I was tempted to write President Goodluck Jonathan who obviously is the man behind the crisis rocking. But, because so far, he has continued to deny this self-evident fact, and is too steeped in the juice to change his way, I have chosen to address you, believing that as one who claims to be a Christian, you could still turn back. I hope your own conscience is not like Madam Ayoka’s who tried to hand a people’s victory to usurpers. Elder, it is not too late to denounce falsehood and embrace the truth. It is not too late to wash your hands off this iniquitous act. It is not too late to enroll in the rank of heroes and quit the side of villain. At the very least, you could join the likes of Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed in calling for a truce.

Sir, I wish you well.

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THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

‘Sovereign Wealth is not a pension fund’ Mr. Uche Orji is the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), he spoke with journalists recently in Abuja. Assistant Editor, Nduka Chiejina was there.

R

IGHT now there is $1billion in the fund, How much do you see coming into the fund and the timeline, has there been an agreement within government and what exactly will be the mechanism of getting money into the fund, when would more funds be injected into the fund?

There are three factors as you know that affects contributions to the fund and those three factors include price of oil, benchmark rate and production levels. The Act is very clear as to the contributions to the fund, what it says is that revenue in excess of the benchmark rates less than what is prescribed in the budget should be contributed to the NSIA account. It takes time to be operational and the idea is that the Act will be followed interms of the contribution to the fund.

We have also been very careful how we run the organisation as you know with most endowments.

Regarding the governors, the NSIA is not a party to any suit, there is a suit between the federal government and the state governments, the NSIA is not a party to any suit.

There is an enabling law that set up the NSIA. What we have done is to reach out to the governors who are part of the governing council anyway. The governing council is made up of roughly 54 people and the state governors are members as shareholders. This fund is owned by the three tiers of government, the federal government, state government and local governments with the President as the chairman of the economic council which also includes the governors. We are not party to any law suit as on-going with the federal government.

When would money be injected?

The Act is clear that it will be transferred monthly, but again we need to be fully operational and ready for the new funds to come in so there is conversation on-going already and for the funds to be transferred.

We are ready to start investing, in June stabilisation fund gets invested starting from June as well the future generation fund starts and before the end of the year we make commitments to infrastructure. These are early stages for operational investments. The early stages will take time to work themselves out before we start seeing contributions come in.

Does that mean you will be waiting to be fully operational before funds will be injected?

I just said that discussions are on-going and conversations are on as we speak.

So you are not sure and it is open-ended when funds will come into the fund?

I don’t want to say open-ended, conversations are on-going.

“

What we have done is to reach out to the governors who are part of the governing council anyway. The governing council is made up of roughly 54 people and the state governors are members as shareholders. This fund is owned by the three tiers of government the federal government, state government and local governments

•Orji

In your investment portfolio, what are your expectation in terms of returns say in the next one year?

Each of the funds have returns objectives, we don’t want to put numbers down that will affect our ability to negotiate because we have co-investors, the reality is that we are going to earn commercial returns on the infrastructure side as well as earn returns that will march the benchmark we have set for the future generation and the stabilisation funds.

Our objective is to build returns above inflation.

Here the reporting currency will be the dollar, the Nigerian infrastructure fund has geographical restrictions, the other two funds do not have geographical restrictions.

For the future generation funds most savings funds have done roughly four to five per cent over time. That’s for savings funds we are expecting to earn CPI at + above 400 basis points above the future generation

fund. For the infrastructure fund each project will be negotiated and so we cannot put a number out there but look at what people earn in terms of commercial infrastructure investments in Nigeria and that will give you an idea as to what we are targeting. We understand what is at stake here. These funds will invest in those things that straddle commercial returns and development impact and the way it is in Nigeria these two factors are not mutually exclusive; each is negotiated on a project by project basis. The law enables us to make commercial returns on these investments. So just look at some of the infrastructure we have in Nigeria and that will give you an idea of what returns we may be having on these infrastructure investment.

You said you will service staff salaries from your earnings, if you are not likely to make any earnings in •Continued on Page 25

“

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

•Continued from Page 24

you service staff salaries As an organisation we are trying to stay within a cost to asset ratio of 1% which is why we will have a lean staff, it is easy in our opinion to earn what it takes to keep our expenses running and more. Our objective is to earn consistent profitability. Our Act says we will have to repatriate dividends to all the tiers of government that own this fund after five years of consistent profitability. It is one of our objectives and we intend to achieve it. We are keeping a very lean head count and we can afford it.

With the NSIA commencing operation, does this mean that there will no longer be sharing of the Excess Crude Account?

I will not speak on Excess Crude Account that is the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority. The way and when the Excess Crude Account is shared is for the Minister of Finance and the Federal Executive Council, in terms of what commitments to the Excess Crude Account that is not in my place to comment on.

In the case of Infrastructure fund that will bring in benefits for the people, are you going to charge on the roads and other infrastructure?

In terms of our infrastructure commitment, some of the infrastructure areas will be Greenfield areas that means that we are not going to earn anything for some time. It will take two to three years to complete before you start earning something, some are late stage projects and I mentioned six (6) areas that we want to focus on and we will make commitments before the end of the year in these areas. We don’t expect that we will earn anything from infrastructure fund until next year, so most of the returns we are targeting will come from the future generation fund and from the stabilisation fund in the first year that’s where we are expecting returns to come through in the first year. The idea is to grow our cost base as we earn a return. We believe that we will earn enough from the stabilisation fund and the future generation fund to cover our overhead. We add staff, as time goes on we expect to earn from infrastructure fund starting from next year, these things take time and I don’t expect it to fund our operations for some time.

Specific areas I mentioned include agriculture, water resources, power, health care, transportation including aviation, infrastructure and housing. These are the infrastructure we have in the pipeline, there are many other areas as we build capacity we will explore these ares as well. These are the priority areas we will focus on. We cannot mention specific projects that we will go into right now. The Act demands that we tell you what projects but until we are about to sign the projects we cannot tell you now.

The Nigerian infrastructure fund will focus only on Nigeria.

We have done extensive work so far on some initial areas that form our initial focus, some of the areas we have assessed opportunity include housing, agriculture, power, water resources, transportation which includes ports and aviation and health care.

Will you be charging for the use of these infrastructure?

Of course, these are commercial infrastructure, so will charge for their use. We are investing with co investors some of them are other Sovereign Wealth funds, some are private equity investors; it’s not a charity, if you look at infrastructure funds around the world most of them earn on the average six to seven per cent. We will invest in areas where there are commercial returns.

The Act allows us to earn commercial returns. This is a self sustaining enterprise. Our three principles are

25

social infrastructure. They access up to 10 per cent of the infrastructure fund which should be devoted to social infrastructure. This fund is not a grant scheme, it will also earn returns as we invest in social infrastructure which by definition includes health care, education, inland water resources and in my opinion environmental factors.

In the build up to the establishment of this authority is the argument that it would attract other investors from outside, have you had any discussions with other Sovereign Wealth funds and what is the outlook in this regards?

In the last six months we have spent time visiting many sovereign wealth funds. Many sovereign wealth funds as you know were my clients, I have had discussions with them and we have letters of encouragement and pledges of co investment if we show them viable ideas. What we plan to do is to become a credible vehicle for those of them who want to engage in Nigeria. It is now up to us to bring ideas and investment opportunities many people are interested to come in to Nigeria, people see the potentials everybody. The policies of the past and present are beginning to bear positive fruits. As a result, Nigeria is one of the few countries that had ratings upgrade in the last two years That’s very important because when your rating is upgraded your cost of debt goes down. People see a lot of potentials in Nigeria internationally than you can imagine. As we bring ideas that are commercially viable other people will want to come and invest with us. You also need to know that the profit’s the NSIA makes is not for profit sake but it goes to every Nigerian.

This is an enterprise structured in the way of other Sovereign wealth funds; the idea here, as the Act has mandated us, invest prudently, earn commercial returns where possible as an organisation to contribute to development impact within the country.

How and when will the future generation begin to benefit from the fund?

Future generation fund is a savings fund. It is not a pension where we invest for a payout. The idea is to grow a savings base to prepare the country in the event of a depletion of our hydrocarbon resources. If you watch what is happening in other Sovereign Wealth Funds,they invest $200 million or more and years down the line the investment grows so large that it is the future generation that benefits from that investment. This is a savings funds. If this fund makes consistent profit for five years, future generation funds will also invest in real estate infrastructure as well invest in private equity, in some cases depending on the area of investment the benefit can come sooner or come later but the purpose of this fund is the savings for the future generation of Nigerians. Like other funds, the benefits tend to come much later, at the minimum if this fund makes profit consistently for five years as we are hoping we will start to partake of the dividends to the three tiers of government. The earliest you will start to see any benefits will be through the return this savings fund will make in five years of consistent profitability before we start making repatriations of dividends to the Nigerian people. But the ideal scenario here is to grow the savings so that the same way you look at other countries with big bragging rights of funds that are big which really is the basis for their future generation to spend, that I think should be the objective.

It takes quite a while before you commit to projects, in most countries project development takes at least 14 months and consequently a lot of work is going on here and as I have committed to you we will announce our first commitment before the year runs out. These things take time and we will be careful with the way we allocate resources in these sectors.

“

In the last six months we have spent time visiting many sovereign wealth funds.

Many sovereign wealth funds as you know were my clients, I have had discussions with them and we have letters of encouragement and pledges of co investment if we show them viable ideas.

What we plan to do is to become a credible vehicle for those of them who want to engage in Nigeria

“

Each of the funds have returns objectives, we don’t want to put numbers down that will affect our ability to negotiate because we have co-investors, the reality is that we are going to earn commercial returns on the infrastructure side as well as earn returns that will march the benchmark we have set for the future generation and the stabilisation funds.

“

“

financial sustainability, independence of decision making and transparency. We will invest in areas where we will make returns that is why it is called Sovereign Wealth Fund. Other intervention programmes like the budget will be done with the budget. Here we are investors, that is the difference between what we do and what other arms of government do. Don’t forget the returns are for the Nigerian people. At the end of the day this money goes back to Nigerians, it goes back to the three tiers of government that own it.

This fund will be managed in-house and the idea is to earn commercial returns as you know there is within the Act a sub set of the fund which should be devoted to

26

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

Politics

Imo guber race and Ohakim’s volte face

T

HE recent attempt by the former Governor of Imo State and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2011 elections, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, to be joined as a party in the suit brought by Senator Ifeanyi Araraume of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) challenging the supplementary elections of May 6th 2011 that brought in Owelle Rochas Okorocha as the state governor could be likened to the biblical old wine in a new wine bottle.

It would be recalled that immediately after the elections of May 6th and the declaration of Okorocha of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as the valid winner of the rescheduled governorship elections in the state, Ohakim was the first to accept the results of the elections, congratulated Okorocha and pledged not to challenge the election results at the tribunal.

However, like a leopard that never changes its spots, Ohakim ate his words and went behind to use his party, the PDP, to challenge the elections from the Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal to the Supreme Court where he lost.

Specifically, the Supreme Court on March 2, 2012, in its judgment affirmed the election of Okorocha as the Governor of Imo State and upheld the judgment of the Imo State Governorship Elections Tribunal that had held that the supplementary elections of May 6th, 2011 as conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was valid.

Both the Imo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal had upheld Okorocha’s declaration as the win-

•Ohakim

•Okorocha

By Mba Ogbonnaya

ner of the election.

However, the PDP was not satisfied with these two concurrent judgments of the two lower courts and had since appealed to the Supreme Court.

The PDP is challenging the judgment of the Appeal Court which, like the elections petition tribunal, dismissed the party’s petition challenging the election of Okorocha as lacking in merit.

PDP argued that Okorocha ought not to have been declared winner of the governorship election

based on two major reasons: One, the party argues that it won the April 26, 2011 election and that its candidate, Ikedi Ohakim, ought to have been declared winner. PDP is specifically claiming that at the end of balloting on April 26, 2011, it polled a total 310,188 votes as against 305,266 polled by Okorocha’s party.

APGA, however, strongly disputed this claim. PDP further disagreed with INEC that the election of April 26 2011 was inconclusive.

Apart from arguing that the supplementary election was illegal, the PDP argued that it was held

outside the 30 days stipulated by the Constitution for the successor of an incumbent governor to be elected. Consequently, it had urged the court to declare that the May 6, 2011 supplementary election was null and void. Instead, it urged the tribunal to declare its candidate, Ohakim, winner on the basis of the April 26, 2011 election.

INEC had in declaring the April 26 2011 election “inconclusive,” hinged its position on the non-holding of election in four local government areas namely Ohaji Egbema, Oguta, Mbaitoli and Ngor Okpala.

But PDP disputed this claim. It ar-

gued that elections took place in the local government areas and that results were given to parties’ agents.

The commission claimed that the supplementary election held on the 6th of May, 2011 in Imo State was warranted by reasons of cogent and verifiable reasons which include violence and threat of imminent violence which disrupted the election, thus warranting the cancellation and postponement of the elections in the five local government areas. But PDP disagreed.

Ohakim’s counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), while arguing his client’s case at the Supreme Court, said: “No cogent and verifiable reason, whatsoever, was given

by INEC for the postponement of the election of 26th April, 2011 to 6th May, 2011.”

According to him, INEC acted arbitrarily, whimsically and without any respect for the law. He admitted that under the present electoral regime, INEC had the powers to postpone elections but that it did not have the powers to cancel elections.

He noted that INEC announced the postponement of the election on the next day after the elections had already taken place. He said, “The purported cancellation and or postponement was done on 27th April, 2011, a day after the elections were held. The question is, can an election scheduled to be held on 26th April, 2011 be postponed on 27th April, 2011?”

Although, the case of Agbaso Vs Ohakim decided by the Supreme Court is a binding judicial precedent that cancellation or objection to declaration of an inconclusive election was cognisable as election petition, but the case was not an authority that an election held outside 60 days to the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent was constitutional.

Apart from the fact that the apex court hardly disturbs the concurrent findings of the two lower courts, it is no longer in doubt that INEC has the power to declare an election inconclusive base on material facts available to it.

• Continued on Page 70

‘Umeh should quit now’ • Continued from Page 21

Clinching the presidency is a political destination; the Igbos are inching towards that already; all these other cleavages in your question are propaganda. If Igbos under President Jonathan have occupied all the positions which hitherto were claimed to be beyond our reach then we have made tremendous political progress.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief of Army Staff, Minister of Power; still under Jonathan, Internal Affairs, and we have our people working in all the strategic departments of government.

We have made great progress in just a few years. So the presidency will come if we continue to toe the direction we have recently defined for ourselves. 2015 is an ordinary date; the date is not as important as the event. Therefore, the important thing for Igbos and Nigerians generally is to remain focused and to continue to do the needful to preserve our democracy and the resourcefulness of our people.

The best cause to work for and focus on is the course of justice; if we remain committed in working for justice, the Igbos and all Nigerians will never be short changed in this nation again.

With an umbrella group as Ohaneze Ndigbo, why does the re-

gion still find it difficult to speak with one voice as far as getting a consensus Igbo candidate is concerned?

Speaking with one voice is not a wonderfully elegant or super-intellectual proposition.

Antoine Exupery says that it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, and that what is essential is invisible to the eyes. So the fact that some Nigerians want to see a people speaking with one voice does not make it utmost; rather we should all evaluate our conscience, and allow our heart speak truth to our heads. In that circumstance Nigerians will get to understand justice, fairness, patriotism and love.

Would it be in the interest of the Ndigbo to support President Goodluck Jonathan if he will contest in 2015?

That is what I am saying; the question does not arise. President Jonathan has already been adopted by the Igbos. So he is the candidate of the Igbos; nothing has happened for us to change our mind. The Igbos must be mindful, some years ago, people had criticised us that we could not protect our own, rather we pull them down, or all of us want to be in the same position at the same time and we fight irresponsibly. They claim that is why we could not maintain one Senate President, we went

•Umeh

from Enwerem, to Chuba Okadigbo, to Pius Anyim, Nwagbara, then Ken Nnamani.

This explains why the political power of Ndigbo seems to be dwindling. Therefore, we cannot afford to make another mistake. We have adopted Jonathan, we sink or rise with him.

We have a candidate in him already; the way Nigeria is today there is every need for us to work hard to maintain this alliance that we have succeeded in rebuilding.

Some things that happened during the first republic caused the South South and the South East to doubt each other and that created

an unnecessary divide which continued to haunt us, and retarded our political progress. Now, we have mended that wound and constructed a solid bridge over the gulf; we must be mindful and must protect our gains. So just as the Niger Delta-man will say Jonathan na we own, na we put am there we go put am again.

With the various challenges bedeviling the country, there are speculations that the centenary celebration is an opportunity for Nigerians to decide if they would continue to stay together as we have it today. What is your take on this?

The decision to stay together is a concluded matter, after one hundred years it is really unfortunate that some people are still on that page. The country has had leadership challenges; and it is still here with us both in micro and macro sense. As a nation we suffer from the neglect of our communities.

While we might say that leadership at the national level, state or local council level is not well rooted, it is worse, more pathetic at the community levels. So going our ways is not the solution.

How do you handle the sharing, if you go ethnic?

I will show you Somalia, almost a completely homogenous country by any standard - religion, language, name it - but cannot run a good state.

Any way you look at it we are stronger as a nation staying together. We need to set standards for running our country, and empower our institutions to bark and bite, and be transparent and be just.

Celebrations, symbols, festivals, artifacts, and history shape a nation and a people. It will be a great disservice which we shall all regret if a whole centenary of our nationhood is not bountifully marked. The celebration itself is a time for great reflection. On this special anniversary, we must get together and tell ourselves that we can never afford to waste the next 100years, and that every single year of the next one hundred counts. We must take the opportunity to look at where we went wrong as a nation, look ourselves in the eyes and say never again shall all of us conspire against our ourselves, and our nation; never again shall a people and a nation so abundantly blessed collude to deny itself because of the greedy tendencies of a few. For our centennial celebration, it should not be business as usual, not for committee members to be falling over each other and defecating in more corruption and contracting scandal. This time, we do, not just say, but we should envision what we want each decade of the next century to be, and put in place strategies to accomplishing our vision.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL (08033572821) raphseg2003@yahoo.com

Pomp at Bravo anniversary Bravo Magazine marked its third anniversary at the Coliseum Events Centre, Opebi, Ikeja at the weekend. It was attended by the former Lagos State Commissioner for Transport, Dr Muiz Banire, Chief Francis Agedo, Mike Okri, representative of Delta State Governor, Mr Felix Ofou, Publisher, Global Excellence, Mayor Akinpelu, and others.

Photo: MUYIWA HASSAN

L-R: Executive Director, Top Celebrities magazine, Mr Ejiro Rona Adigbo, Mr Abdul Imoyo, Publisher, Global Excellence Magazine, Mr Mayor Akinpelu, Publisher, Bravo Magazine, Mr Victor Dada Eriye; Head Media, UBA Plc., Mr Nasir Ramon and Mr Victor Adoji, at the event.

L-R: Amb. Cornell Udofia and Helen Sosu

L-R: Chief Francis Agedo, presenting an award to the representative of Delta State Governor, Mr Felix Ofou Former Lagos State Commissio ner for Transport, Mr Muiz Banire, and Publisher, Bravo Magazine, Mr Victor Dada Eriye

Honour for excellence

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

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FRICAN Independent Television’s live coverage of the Mid-Term Report of Transformation Agenda was quite impressive. On parade were the President and his team members, armed with wonderful presentation and presence, focused on telling Nigerians and the world how much progress has been achieved, developing Nigeria. Good job, Ladies and Gentlemen. It was nice.

Of particular interest was the presentation of the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister, Dr. NgoziOkonjo-Iweala. Our own globally renowned economistwas in her element, as she reeled out figures to demonstrate how far we have gone as a nation. Of her entire presentation, those on job creation (through YouWIN) and penetration of telephone and internet access were particularly worrisome, unfortunately. But we shall focus on that of telephone, in which she said 93% of Nigerians now have access to telephones through the GSM service. Secondly, she presented that about 38% of Nigerians enjoy internet access.

Sadly, Madam, those figures may not be true and accurate representation of the fact, as the general public knows it. With especially the GSM-gains, perhaps we need to question the source of that information. Incidentally, we at MC&A DIGESThave had to concern ourselves with the depth of Nigerian Communication Commission’s engagement in the discharge of its roles and functions and its benefits to Nigerian public, with special focus on the quality of telephone service provision by the GSM operators, their business practice and adherence to set rules and regulations, based on the growing disaffection of subscribers. In line with this commitment, we are looking closely at the NCC, on behalf of subscribers in Nigeria.

On the whole, the Commission has exactly 24 functions as contained on the list of functions.

Of the lot, we shall concern ourselves with the 4 listed below, for now (focusing on GSM operators): “The protection and promotion of the interests of consumers against unfair practices including but not limited to matters relating to tariffs and charges for and the availability and quality of communications services, equipment and facilities”. We like to know how this is being done In the face of prevalent poorservice quality, doubtful promotional offers, questionable billing system, exorbitant call and data transfer rate and general disaffection of the average GSM subscriber.

“The promotion of fair competition in the communications industry and protection of communications services and facilities providers from misuse of market power or anti-competitive and unfair practices by other service or facilities providers or equipment suppliers”. What was the reason for the shabby execution of the commission’s function as stated above, when it went to town with its operators’ market dominance report, posting MTN (of all the operators) the dominant player in the voice data category? We need to know the criteria for such report. This unfortunate incidence has the potentials of tilting the market playing field and competitive environment in favor of MTN, when, indeed, MTN’s image in the mind of majority of respondents in our consumer rating survey on GSM operators and their service quality assessment, is not exactly what NCC’s report portrays.

We advise and trust MTN not to celebrate the NCC “mistake” because it amounts to nothing as far as the subscriber-public is concerned. Therefore, even the commission that thinks it has carried out one of its functions has only wasted its time. The subscriber-public thinks that was an avoidable mistake – by all concerned.

“The development and monitoring of performance standards and indices relating to the quality of telephone and other communications services and facilities supplied to consumers in Nigeria having regard to the best international performance indicators.”If NCC carried out this function

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Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other matters

•President (Dr.) Goodluck Jonathan

professionally and properly, it would have avoided the mistake it made with its operators’ market statuspronouncement. Is it that the NCC still do not know that in some neighboring African Countries, text messages are free, or that for same service, subscribers in Nigeria are still being charged, as though they are paying for a voice data? If the commission knows that and we are still where we are with the service providers, how does that show that the commission is monitoring the performance standards and indices, performance standard…in line with international standard, in real value terms?

Continuing, how come NCC still cannot do anything about growing call-drop rate, poor voice quality (between GSM service providers and MultiChoice/DSTV, we do not know who gets affected more when it rains), abrupt termination of calls and unfair billing, if it is monitoring standard and quality of service by service providers?

“The formulation and management of Nigeria’s inputs into the setting of international technical standards for communications services and equipment.”

While we are not in a position to rate the Commission on the extent of involvement in the development of input into Nigeria’s contribution towards the determination of the international technical standard for communications service and equipment, we do worry that, based on the quality of its service at home/locally, its competency and efficiency at carrying out its function as stated above needs

to be verified.

If NCC’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo was available when I made to see him during my stay in Abuja last month, May. Sadly, he was too busy to see me, and the attitude he did put up during the brief telephone conversation we had, when I was trying to get appointment for a meeting with him, was slightly inappropriate with the status of the office. Mr. Ojobo should know he owes it a duty to meet people and speak for and on behalf of the commission, when enquirers come-calling. Questions such as, “…yes!? What is it, what do you want? I do not know what you want to know about the Commission that do not already know…because we have put a lot of information in the public…bla, bla,bla do not leave the appropriate impression of that office and the commission.

However, we can tell our readers, GSM subscribers in Nigeria, Mr. Ojobo and the Nigerian Communication Commission this much, MC&A Digest will commit to its own monitoring, assessment and rating of the GSM operators in our local market, executing its own self-appointed function of providing the general public a report on the GSM operators that they can more likely depend on in their decisionmaking process. We shall help them in their relationship with their network providers for their own good, since the NCC does not come across as willing to properly inform us in the same direction.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the Coordinating Minister’s mid-term report on

telecommunications service and Nigeria, would have, at least been more accurate to resonate with the Nigerian public on that jolly democracy Day on Wednesday, May 29, 2013, if the Nigerian Communication Commission did some more work. Let us remind the NCC, though, that there is one Aba based telecoms Lawyer, ChibuzorOgii Esq., who has challenged the NCC to assert its authority, if it is serious about balancing the market (Business News i-Resource, May 22, 2013).

In the report, Ogii is quoted as saying “NCC should be serious when it makes pronouncement.

It is one thing to appear as to the public as if it is working and another to prove that it is genuinely protecting the interest of the market. For instance, the dominant operator in the voice segment is yet to comply with the NCC directive”.

The NCC, according to the report, had among other things, directed that the dominant player (according to them) in the mobile voice market should collapse on-net and off-net retail tariffs with immediate effectsince 2012. Apparently, Ogii’s worry is that that directive and some others were yet to be carried out by concerned market operators as at the time he was making his comments in May 2013.

By the way, the invited guest to the Transformation Agenda’s Mid-Term report did say “…put your hands together…like you really mean it” when he called for applause for our President, during his speech. Now, did he have to say that, ahn! Who told him the honorable Ladies and Gentlemen that obliged his request didn’t mean it? Such should not be accepted next time O.

New WOMAN

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

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HE cool ambience of the Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi, did well in setting guests at ease at an event that was to become an expose of knowledge and celebration of women who have displayed extraordinary courage in the Nigerian society. The occasion was the launching of the Women of Substance Magazine by Ms. Ify Onyegbule, a broadcaster-turnedwomen's rights advocate.

On-air personality, Cordelia Okpei, hosted the event to the delight of all.

Veteran broadcaster, Mrs. Bimbo Oloyede, who gave the key note address, took the audience on a voyage of discovery when she gave an insightful lecture on “Mentoring and Nurturing: a path to p o s i t i v e development”.

In her address, she corrected the impression of many who tend to associate the word mentor and role model to mean the same thing.

“A mentor is an experienced person who advises a less experienced person, while a role model is someone one admires even though one may not have had personal contact with them,” she said. Describing mentorship as a huge responsibility, she advised that mentors must create opportunities for protégées to connect with them. This they can do by creating specific opportunities that would help nurture them. She quoted the words of Mark Twain; “to get the full value of joy, you must have someone to share it with,” to illustrate her points.

For the protégées, they also must recognise that mentorship is not a right but a service, hence the need to appreciate the opportunity by being submissive and understanding. She also advised that protégées should be adventurous and creative. “All the advice in the world would not take you anywhere if you are not a risk taker, she stressed.” She urged protégées to be

with

YETUNDE OLADEINDE

molaralife@yahoo.com

Bouquets for Adam and St (eve)

We must be adventurous and creative

By Hannah Ojo

available on demand and also take to criticism.

Other guests who graced the event included Chief Mrs. Opral Mason Benson, former Lagos State deputy governor, Princess Sarah Sosan, who was represented by Dr. (Mrs.) Ayo Sobowale from LASU, Dr Quincy Ayodele of Quincy Herbal Slimmers, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, founder of Women Arise, Mrs. Yemisi RansomeKuti, Mrs. Betty Ubeku, Regional Chair, W e s t A f r i c a W o m e n Association(WAWA), and Mrs Toyin Onanuga who represented the deputy governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Dr Samuel Pimpim, a Ghanaian-American who is into youth advocacy, and a host of other personalities.

The event which also coincided with

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the 40 birthday of the convener, Ms. Onyegbule also featured a presentation of awards to deserving individuals such as Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, a recent recipient of the International Women of Courage award. Others who also received awards were Dr. Keziah Awosika and Oluwatoyin Adesola, a sickle cell victim who also runs an NGO. The highlight of the event was the launching and public presentation of the Women of Substance Magazine, which according to the editor, Ms Onyegbule, came to be as a result of her adventure with risk-taking. She further added that her experience with the Women of Substance TV programme which ran for over three years on TV Continental has reinforced in her the need to go the extra mile to get extra ordinary results. The vision of the magazine, she said, is to celebrate women achievers and also raise a generation of women who are goaloriented and also create a society where women are bold enough to come out and contest elections and not just get compensated with political appointments.

Solutions to real life relationship issues

Thought for the week: Continuation of our compatibility test: Please play this with your partner: 1) When watching television, custody of the remote control belongs to: A) The husband B) The wife C) Whoever turns on the television D) Whoever is stronger E) Whoever can find it underneath the cushion F)Either party 2) A new car should be selected based on: A) Its purchased price B) Its performance, repair and insurance cost C) What your business associates are driving D) Its color E)The arrangement of the cup holders.

Question: Princess, I am a 49 year old Barrister, single with 1 son aged 18. I was married twice and had dated a few men. In the last 4 years it had been difficult to find a decent guy, when you find one that is half decent they are not ready to assist you financially,talk less of emotional support.

The saddest part is sometimes I can go for 6 months or more without finding anyone to touch me. Currently I am dating these 2 men and they are always too busy to see me. How can you help my generation? A lot of my friends are having similar problems. Isadora, Abuja.

Answer: Isadora, this issue you brought up is very interesting. The saddest part is that this has been happening even during our parent's time. Single, married, and divorced people normally live in different worlds. The age you are at in Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is supposed to be middle adulthood which is generatively vs. stagnation (Work and parenthood), age 40 to 65 years old.

Unfortunately, single women or parents at

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your age revert back to young adulthood (19 to 40 years)which is intimacy vs. isolation, (This is the stage you are supposed to deal with relationships).

Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness and isolation. As a 49 single mother, you are competing with people in their the 20's, 30's and early 40's.

The 20's and 30's are looking to find the right people to settle with. The one's in their early 40's are already settled and are not willing to let go. So once you find yourself out of the loop, things like this are bound to happen. Finally, men who under ordinarycircumstances, will date mainly single or divorced women. Unfortunately, the trend of “run” girls is so high that most men do not look for “quality” but “quantity” in women nowadays, that is what is causing shortage of decent or half decent men to have time or need to sleep with women in your category. They can get a “run” girl for 2,000 naira to buy calling card and she will give him a lasting performance of a lifetime. While you on the other hand want someone to call, text, and most importantly take you out and spend time with you, someone to babysit you emotionally. In a nutshell many men nowadays are emotionally dry and emotionally bankrupt that any wife or girlfriend that a man still spends time with, takes out, and pampers, should count herself lucky and hold on to that man. My advice is not to give up and keep trying.

There's still a goodchance you might find one to hold on to which will be the “night husband or partner”. There are three categories of partners nowadays. There is the “morning partner,” that's the one you get married to first in life. The“noon partner,” which is the second marriage, and the “night partner or husband” hopefully will be the one that stays with you 'till death do you part”. I wish you the best and pray you find a “night partner or husband” that compliments you the best.

Question: Dear Princess, I am a 42 year old woman, married for the last 18 years with 3 children. I found out about 3 months ago that my husband is having an affair. When confronted he denied it, meanwhile a 30 year old man had been on my case wanting to date me. My question is now should I start dating the younger

man since my husband is already having an affair o his own, I believe two can play the game. Laura, Ikoyi Answer: Laura, two does not always have to play the game; likewise two wrongs can never make a right. Just because your husband is or had done the wrong thing does not allow you to do the same. You said you have 3 children, have you thought about how your children will feel if they found that their mother is promiscuous. To be promiscuous is acceptable in most if not all societies if it is a man doing it, but for a woman it shows that you are not well trained or that you don't have self-discipline. What I want you to do is to try as much as possible and lure your husband back to the beginning of your relationship. Look at yourself; do you look the same way when you first got married to him? If not so, lose some weight, change your mode of dressing, and make sure you are sexually appealing, but your main target is your husband. Try everything you know that will make him look your way again. Anything other than that will break your home and you might never be able to put it back together. Think about the disgrace and unhappiness your children and family might go through just for “momentarily satisfaction”. I pray you make the right decision and I wish you all the best.

Thought for the week: Adultery- The strictness concerning the end of a marriage does not mean that adultery “unfaithfulness” cannot be forgiven by the betrayed party, it means that it requires a recommencement of the marriage if the betrayed party wishes to continue as a spouse. That certainly does not mean signing at state register again. It simply means that the marriage foundation itself must be re-laid by their mutual sexual acceptance of each other, and from that moment they are then one again. Yes, the rebuilding of much else will take time but, it is upon that essential and irreversible foundation of the sacredness of their sexual union, communication skill and most importantly, understanding of each other that will determine if the foundation is solid or not.

Send your comments to: askprincess10@gmail.com SMS to: 08155558770

DAM and Eve according to the Abrahamic religions were the first man and woman. Here we are told that all humans descended from Adam and Eve. In the Book of Genesis, chapter one through five, there are two creation narratives with two distinct perspectives on woman.

In the first, Adam and Eve were created together in God's image and jointly given instructions to multiply and to be stewards over everything else that God had made.

In the second narrative, which is much more detailed, God fashions Adam from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden where he is to have dominion over the plants and animals. God places a tree in the garden which he prohibits Adam from eating. Eve is later created to be Adam's companion.

During the week, two men were celebrated as France's same-sex married couple. Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau went to town to talk about their love story. The pair exchanged vows at a ceremony in the Town Hall in the southern city of Montpellier in front of hundreds of specially invited guests as well as world media.

Interestingly, the event came a few days after the controversial same-sex bill was signed into law. The mayor of Montpellier, Hélène Mandroux, officiated in what was dubbed as the marriage of the century.

The big question, however, is if these lovebirds would be able to sleep on their honeymoon bed with both eyes closed.

Well from the signs here, it may be Herculean. There was a tight security presence inside the Town Hall and on the streets outside, after fierce opponents, involved in recent violence protests against gay marriage, could target the event.

The couple, Autin, 40, and Boileau, 30, had to be escorted by the police from their hotel into the Town Hall where they were greeted by well wishers but were also jeered by some opponents of same-sex unions.

For many year and centuries the old arrangement (male and female) was adhered to. Unfortunately, we have a number of emotional rebels around and they have redesigned the love idea to involve 'two dry bones' mingling together?

Benefits? Well, yours truly cannot really see one; it takes a participant observer to confirm the benefits. But from a distance, you could almost say that it's likely to be borne out of frustration, rebellion and the dire need to prove to the rest of us that one group can do without the other. Kissing with kissers that are dry and unattractive. Nobody is blushing in the arrangement and nothing soft to touch.

For many, there is indeed a moral question hanging in the balance. It actually goes further down the emotional lane with no clues on how they are going to dot their emotional i's as well as cross the t's.

Oh dear! What is also going to happen to the injunction to go into the world and multiply? Won't the humans go into extinction if everybody decides to toe this line? Or could this be their way of phasing the next and subsequent generations out. Questions and more questions.

The bottom line, however, is that it is a matter of choice. Is the marriage institution on the verge of collapse? No, it isn't.

People are just reorganising their emotional scale of preference and putting things of value in boxes. The truth, therefore, is that some trends and fads are likely to fade out.

Once you find the bone of your bones, marriage experts say it's good for your health. Married people live longer, enjoy a more satisfying sex life, experience less stress, live a healthier lifestyle, and have lower rates of heart diseases, diabetes and depression compared to their single counterparts.

Revelations explain that a man's sex life is likely to improve more than a woman's after getting married, for instance, while a woman's risk for depression tends to decrease more than her partner's when she's in a long-term relationship.

Women and men can reap some health benefits just by living together, or even by being in a stable long-term relationship, research suggests. Experts believe that samesex couples, many of whom don't even have the option to get married, also score health gains, though almost all research so far has focused only on heterosexual relationships.

Research has also gone to prove that marriage offers the ultimate health benefit: a longer life. Compared to their unwed counterparts, married people have longer average life spans and are drastically less likely to die at an early age.

The link between marriage and longevity is much stronger among husbands than wives, however.

Although people love to complain that their significant others are driving them crazy, companionship actually tends to be good for mental health especially for women. This is particularly true when it comes to depression, which is roughly twice as common in women.

They also argue that being in a solid relationship actually tends to be good for your sex life (at least for the first decade or two). Married and cohabiting couples both have more sex than people who are single or dating, and married people in particular report more satisfying sex lives than their counterparts who are dating or shacking up.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

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With Joe Agbro Jr. 08056745268

WORD WHEEL

Hello Children, Last Tuesday was fun for children as this year’s International Children’s Day was observed. Savour some images of the day displayed here

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L D How many words of three or more letters, each including the letter at centre of the wheel, can you make from this diagram? We've found 25, including one nine-letter words.

PUZZLE • Children celebrating at a party organised by Bishop Chioma Grace Dauji of Amazing Grace Pentecostal Church, Palmgrove, Lagos to mark this year’s Children’s Day PHOTO: Muyiwa Hassan

Three kids went to the beach. They each saw a different sea creature, each played a different game and they all had something different to eat. Can you figure out which child saw which creature, played which game and ate what item of food?

Child: Emily, Ryan, Tyler Animal: Crab, Starfish, Jellyfish Game: Cricket, Football, Kite Food: Hot Dog, Ice Cream, Lolly

1. Ryan did not play cricket, did not see a crab & did not eat a lolly.

2. The jellyfish was seen by the child that played with a kite.

3. Tyler did not fly a kite, but did eat a hot dog.

4. Emily either spotted a jellyfish or she ate an ice cream.

SUDOKU

• Back (L-R): Marketing Manager, Oral Health Care and Innivations, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, Mr. Winston Ailemoh; Brand Manager, Macleans, Davis Iyoha, with some children at the Macleans Milk Teeth Free Children Dental Outreach and Party to mark the 2013 Children’s Day at Ikeja Mall, Lagos

To play Sudoku: Fill the box with the numbers 1 to 9 in a way that •Each column must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •Each row must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •Each block must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •No two numbers in the same column, row, or block can be the same.

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7 Send in your stories, poems, articles, games, puzzles, riddles and jokes to sundaynation@yahoo.com

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Young Nation

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

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•Cadbury's Tang, Ozone Cinemas, and E-Centre Mall host over 1,200 on Children's Day.

• Some students of Olashore International School Iloko-Ijesha, Osun State during a march past held in their school to celebrate Children's Day

•Group of students at a parade organised by Ejigbo LCDA to celebrate Children's Day PHOTO: Sampson Unamka

• Students of Chrisland Primary Schools having fun during Children’s Day at the school premises in Opebi, Ikeja Lagos

WORD GAME

WORD SEARCH

FLOWERS A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants. Flowers give rise to fruit and seeds. Many flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, causing them to be vectors for the transfer of

pollen. Flowers have long been admired and used by humans to beautify their environment, and also as objects of romance, ritual, religion, medicine and as a source of food.

Find the listed flowers in the word search

Fill in the spaces to get the correct words using the clues below

1. O - U - A • The name of a popular lake resort in Imo State

2. - M - U - U • He was the first labour leader in Nigeria

3. V - O - E • One of the colours of the rainbow

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•An international organisation that cares for children

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•A place to read books BOUVARDIA CARNATION CASPIA CORNFLOWER DAFFODIL DAHLIA DAISY

GARDENIA HYDRANGEA IVY LAVENDER LILY MARIGOLD MIMOSA

PEONY ROSE SAFFLOWER SUNFLOWER TAZETTA TULIP VIOLET

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• A gathering of vipers

7. - T - B - E ,

Write for The Nation!

Do you fancy yourself as a writer someday? Stop dreaming and start writing. A topic will be presented here every week and you’re encouraged to send in entries in not more than 150 words. The best original story will be published from time to time, so get cracking!

Entries should be sent to sundaynation@yahoo.com and should be accompanied by the writer’s name, age, school and class.

This week’s topic is : “My favourite subject”

• Where horses stay

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•A precious stone

9. - H - N -

- R

•Nickname of a Nigerian footballer in the 1950s with the name Balogun

10. E - G - N •A major ethnic group in Nasarawa State

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Etcetera

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

POLITICKLE

Deboh’s move

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

AT DUSK, Deboh studied activity around the M.R. Salamander, the mighty ship he had decided upon for his adventure abroad. He needed to deploy his wits to sneak on board in the same fashion as he slipped through the port gates earlier. Hawkish security staff waved him back as he attempted to walk in with port workers and sundry visitors then, but Deboh didn’t give up. Noticing less scrutiny at the second gate, he headed for the entrance, ensuring he walked with a swagger missing in previous steps.

To his relief, he came through, and began to contemplate the next challenge.

Pacing stealthily about the ship, he watched for movement on deck, but there appeared none. The crew must be busy elsewhere, or his lucky stars twinkled. Well, now that he held his fate firmly, he could finally launch much-craved flight. Satisfied that the coast looked clear, Deboh climbed the ship’s steps briskly. He didn’t get far. “Stop!” a voice boomed from the darkness.

“What do you think you’re doing?” The speaker, a tall thin sailor, stomped towards Deboh. Scared stiff at first, the boy recovered to render tearful plea for passage to escape “child abuse at home”. But the sailor saw through the lie. The police would be the more suitable quarter, he said. Things are better worked out on land before tackling the rough seas, where anything could happen and the ultimate price paid with life.

Deflated, Deboh retired to the quayside to ponder his short-lived adventure. How the tide turned; the day took off on such a bright note, and now, this. He thought his carefully-planned getaway would help reach life goals and get away from problems with just about everyone – family, friends and teachers. They said he had an attitude problem. Did he, really?

Beneath an oblivious half-moon in the starry night sky, he lay on a bench to retrace his itinerary, from hastily making the bus stop before 5 a.m. to mingling with workers sleepily boarding buses for the factories and companies that dot the city. He hoped no one would question why he, an obvious minor, was up and about so early on a weekend. None did and he was soon bound for the wharf. But a fortunate meeting with a forlorn sailor and an even more fortuitous flight plan spurred by the sailor’s tips ended in naught.

As he lay, Deboh seemed to hear his 12 year-old heart breaking; the same heart that pounded in tandem with his feet on the asphalt in the dim light of dawn. A wave of drowsiness washed over him. He closed his eyes with one last thought: to confront the issues that made living so turbulent.

Back home he would go and start afresh tomorrow. It was the most natural course to sail for in the circumstance.

Readers’ Response A modern dictionary

CHEEK BY JOWL

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QUOTE

Jokes Humour

Hard Landing AN AIRLINE had a policy that required the chief pilot to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile, and give them a “Thanks for flying our airline”.

Then one day, a chief pilot hammered his plane into the runway really hard. After the bad landing, he struggled to look the passengers in the eye, afraid that a passenger would have a smart comment.

However, it seemed that the passengers were too shell-shocked to say anything.

Everyone managed to get off except a little old lady walking with a cane.

She said, “Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?”

“Why no Ma’am,” said the pilot.

“What is it,” said the little old lady, “did we land or were we shot down?”

Amusing Auction THE bidding was proceeding furiously and strong at a famous city auction when the Head Auctioneer interrupted it. “A gentleman in this room has lost a wallet containing $10, 000. If returned, he will pay

a reward of $2, 000.”

There was a moment’s silence in the auction house and from the back of the room came a shout. “Two thousand five hundred!”

Real Definition MISS Mercy had been giving her Primary Two students a lesson on science. She had explained about magnets and showed how they would pick up nails and other bits of iron.

Now it was question time, and she asked, “My name begins with the letter ‘m’ and I pick up things. What am I?” Little Johnny in the front row put up his hands. “You’re a mother!”

Correct Diagnosis A MAN tells his doctor that he’s incapable of doing all the things around the house that he used to do. When the examination is over, he says, “Okay, Doctor. In plain English, what’s wrong with me?”

“Well, in plain English,” says the doctor, “you’re just lazy.”

The man nods. “Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife.”

•Adapted from the Internet

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You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

—Plato

OWARDS Writer’s Fountain A MORE SATISFYING CLOSE: Anything can meaning.

For instance, a famous story opens with serve, symbolically, to define a Book End. Perhaps the same object appears at the start a man climbing a mountain hazardously and the end (or throughout). Or a similar alone. It ends with a similar episode. incident does. Or the same snatch of dialogue. However, this time he dies at its peak, frozen Or a key phrase. The same words reappear to the rock, his eyes wide open beneath the but they are given a new, perhaps ironic, clear, blue sky. It’s an apt finalé. The man is a psychopathic killer, a loner. His mind is as National ways: cold as ice. Both the rock-climbing episodes •Damascus, Syria is the oldest continuously are emblems or symbols. They frame the inhabited city in the world. Civilization story in a Book End. there is traced as far back as 2,000 B.C. In a humorous story, a timid boss might •At the height of its power (400 BC) the be faced with the ordeal of firing an Greek city of Sparta had 500,000 slaves and insubordinate clerk. only 25,000 citizens.

‘A man’s got to do what a man’s got to •Madagascar is situated about 300 miles off do,’ he tells himself, through gritted teeth. the Eastern African coast, but the majority He makes a hash of it. The bemused clerk of its population is from Indonesia – 3000 asks: ‘Are you quite finished? Then I’ll go back miles further east. to my desk.’ After several such humiliations, •With the USSR’s breakup, Russia is still the boss hires a female personnel manager. the largest country in the world – almost ‘A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do,’ twice the size of Canada, which ranks the boss reminds himself, happily ‘except second. when a woman can do it better.’

•Belgium is the only country that has never Here, a familiar phrase - repeated with an imposed censorship for adult films. ironic twist - provides the Book End. •Dominica, Mexico, Zambia, Kiribati, Fiji As a formula, the Book End may be a cliché and Egypt all have birds on their flags. but, given the proliferation, it works.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

53

Ronke AinaScott holds first solo exhibition —PAGE 56

‘I met Haile Selassie and his lions’ Ganiyu Bolaji Davies was a cameraman who covered the Nigeria civil war and three former heads of state. He also met the late Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia during one of his trips.

Now, despite his bad eyesight he is happy that he is still alive. Taiwo Abiodun met him.

A

T the entrance to his Gabovies Events Centre at Ojodu, Lagos are several cameras of different makes and sizes.

They are safely and neatly arranged in a small museum for everyone to see. They are the various shapes of the tool he used in the 50s, 60s, and 70s to capture the history of the world in a hurry; the good, the bad and the ugly.

He had with this tool covered wars, world conferences, meetings and events within and outside the country. He had covered various assignments on land, sea and air. He had through his lens dined and wined with the mighty such as Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Region, Generals Yakubu Gowon, the late Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo, who all at different times presided over the affairs of the country.

With his facing beaming with smiles, he said, “Those cameras you are seeing are my working tool I used in the 50s to 70s before I retired in 1978 and became a business man. I am keeping the cameras for posterity and it is the evidence that I was once a national photographer.”

Davies covered the civil war with his ‘guns’ (read cameras) to ‘shoot’ while soldiers too went with their riffles. He has set up a mini museum where he stores all the cameras he used. It is made of glass at the gate to his Events Centre so everyone can have a glimpse.

Gabovies Events Centre is located at Ojodu – Berger. According to him, he retired from the Army in 1978 and went into real estate , Oil and Gas business, among other things.

Although he is a Muslim, he also practices Christianity no wonder on the walls of his office are both Biblical and Quranic quotations such as: This place is the Fair Heavens, Act 27 :8,The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom -Proverbs 9:10, among others. So also are quotations from the Holy Koran: Then Allah will accept repentance and Allah is forgiving and merciful (Surat at Tauba 9-27).

According to Davies, “I practise all religions and I believe in God.” In his office are framed photographs with some former heads of state such as Gen Gowon, Gen Muhammed, and Gen Obasanjo, as well as former Prime Minister, the late Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and others at various functions. Although he can no longer see well, he could tell with exactitude which photograph he took at which function and in what year! They are all at his finger tips.

•Continue on Page 54

•Davies

PHOTOS: TAIWO ABIODUN

54

Life •Continued from page 53

A glowing career Davies said his love for photography made him to go for training and seized the opportunity of knowing more of the country and travelling around the world. “I was trained as a photographer, and I was using Omega 120 still camera in 1954. I covered Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Nigeria and that was during the Macpherson Constitution. After Independence, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik ) became the President of Nigeria. “ When the Nigeria Television Service started I was the first chief cameraman under the late Chief TOS Benson who was the then minister of information. I was picked to cover Prime Ministers’ Conference attended by the late Tafawa Balewa at Marlborough, Britain. I was later to travel to New York to cover the United Nations Summit. I remember some journalists that went with us such as Peter Enahoro, the late Marshal Kebby, with Nuhu Bamali.

He continued, “When we came back I also covered the late Ahmadu Bello to lay the foundation of the Kainji Dam and again to lay the foundation of Onitsha Bridge. I used to cover the Apapa Wharf. I used to take photograph of those travelling abroad by sea, not many travelled by air then and any passenger who had to travel by air had to pay 40pounds as transportation fee, but during my time I did not go by ship but by air. The only place I travelled to by ship then was to Calabar. I used to cover assignments for Daily Times, Daily Service, and West African Pilot as a freelancer.”

He also worked with Paramount Studio, Olojo Soyo Studio till 1960 when he joined Palladin, a film company which specialised in documentary films.

Recruitment into the Army During the Nigeria, civil war, Davies was recruited into the Nigerian Army. He was given uniform to wear. According to him, the job was interesting but bloody. In a fearless voice typical of the military, he said, “We had accepted whatever comes our way. I was with the late Murtala Muhammed covering his activities during the war. He was a gentle and calm man. He was a GOC. I travelled with him from Ore to Onitsha.”

Asked how true it was the rumour that the late Muhammed was among those who looted banks during the war, he said emphatically, “No, not at all. He did not loot. He handed over the rein of government to Ogbemudia in Benin. All what was in his mind was the civil war. Generals Alani Akinrinade, Ike Nwachukwu , and Musa Yar’ Adua were all there. And we thank God that nobody lost his life in Benin when the rebel force of the late Emeka Ojukwu broke the Onitsha bridge. When Ojukwu saw us coming he sent some of his soldiers to go and break down the Onitsha bridge.

When we asked some of our soldiers to drive through the bridge and they could not we knew something had happened. We later took a boat to cross the river. I remember that a reporter, Jide Akinbiyi, was with us then, he is still alive to testify to it. I cannot forget that in a hurry !” He also dismissed as unfounded and mythical the saying that the late army general killed many Igbo in Asaba.

He confessed that due to the nature of his job, he was very close to Gen Gowon. On the demeanour of the former head of state, Davies testified that: “He was a very quiet man, a gentleman with precision. I covered his wedding to his wife Victoria at Christ Cathedral Church, Marina.

The bishop who officiated then was a Kwale.”

On the criticisms that followed Gen Gowon’s wedding when the civil war was going on, Davies said he did not see anything wrong in getting married at that time. “I don’t think anything is wrong with that.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

‘I ‘m the first Nigerian to shoot 35mm film’

•Davies tools Many people got married during the war. Esuene, a senior soldier wedded during the war. His aide also wedded, I covered it in Port Harcourt.

I see nothing wrong in that.”

Having been close to the military, was it not dangerous for him as he could be a security risk? He said: “No, No. They all knew I faced my job. I am disciplined. I don’t do two things at a time. I follow assignments given to me; they all called, me Bob Davies.”

Life without eyesight How does he feel now that the eyes with which he had travelled round the world and beheld beautiful sights could no longer see his framed pictures on the wall, he said he does not feel anything. He said confidently, “I know I would regain my sight one day,” He added “I will say it is a natural thing that somebody would pass through his own life. I still feel good and I am sure I will regain my sight one day by the grace of God.”Tracing the genesis of

his eye defect, he said, “The eye problem started in 1986 gradually. I had operated it but I had to stop operation as instructed by the doctor. I am okay, since I am still alive life continues”.

He is, however, pained that he was duped by a developer. According to him, “The man collected N30 million from tenants and bolted away. The prospective tenants started trooping here but the man had bolted away. He should have told me that he collected money from prospective tenants, and should have refunded those money but he wanted to smear my image. I believe I have good reputation to protect, nobody should spoil my name at this stage of my life. The developer convinced me not to sell my building and I gave him the go ahead and he started building it but he messed up in the end. He is now on the run.”

A soldier without rank A very interesting thing is that Pa Davies who said he was recruited

into the officer corps of the military while covering the war never knew his rank till he retired. According to him, “I cannot say whether I was a General or Brigadier since my purpose was to go there to cover the war.

I had to be in uniform to allow me have the privilege all officers had, so they gave me a uniform too. I don’t know whether it was a Major or Brigadier or an officer with special grade. A documentary officer has any rank.”

Memories of Haile Selasie Travelling is part of education and an opportunity of meeting high profile people, thus he had the opportunity to meet the king of kings and the conquering Lion of Judah who Reggae musicians adore as their living messiah, the late Emperor Haile Selasie.

He brims with satisfaction, “Yes, I met the late Emperor Haile Selasie. It was after the civil war. I went with Gen Gowon to see him. He (Gowon) was the chairman of OAU.” He described the Emperor as “a normal human be-

ing. He was a short and calm man.

People respected him a lot.”

On whether the Emperor truly had live lions, he affirmed, “Yes, he had lions, and he used to pat them on the head. Nobody could touch the lions except him.”

Close shaves with death He said the moment one entered the Army one had signed for whatever would come. “We had given up our lives. Anything could happen. A bomb exploded opposite a textile company not far from Catholic Church in Asaba before the Onitsha bridge. The rebels threw bomb at us there. I was there with Gens. Ike Nwachukwu, the late Musa Yar’Adua, and Alani Akinrinade but we were lucky because it only emitted smoke.

It could have killed all of us. Another case was at Ayafu 14 miles to Enugu where Brigadier Apollo was in charge. We were asked to go and make inquiries on what was going on in Markurdi. We experienced heavy shelling from the rebels, thank God General Theophilus Danjuma escaped His many regrets The septuagenarian said he has some regrets in life. One of these was what the developer who duped people did. “I fell for him not knowing he was a crook. I have promised to pay those he duped. I don’t want anybody to tarnish my name.”

Another episode he remembers was the meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the early 70s. “I went with the late Anthony Enahoro, we first went to Uganda and that was where the personal secretary of Enahoro was kidnapped and was not seen till today! (during the civil war).

There was another meeting between Ojukwu and the federal government which was led by Enahoro, the chairman of the meeting was Haile Selassie .

At 79 and having lost his wife 37 years ago he said he is now considering marrying another wife. He said “I have not been willing to marry these years. But that has changed now as I will soon be fully married again.”

Advent of electronic cameras Davies said the old method of taking pictures and of using camera has become obsolete. “In the past, you had to spend four years as apprentice before you could be qualified as a good cameraman.

Before these ones you had to be sure of what film you were sending before you could send your films to the laboratories for processing. In 1974 I shot a feature film for Star Films led by now Olowu of Owu, Oba Adesanya Dosumu. The film was Dinner with the Devil. I was the first Nigerian to shoot 35mm film at the National Theatre.

The chairman of the occasion was General Ibrahim Haruna who was then the Commissioner of Information under Gen Obasanjo.”

According to him, all former heads of state still recognise him if he meets any of them. “I remember that I met President Olusegun Obasanjo in December 1998 at a marriage ceremony in Catholic Church, Oyingbo. I was standing with some people when they said he was coming and when he sighted me he greeted me first before any other person. Who will not recognise Bob? “ he intoned, as he burst into laughter.

On whether another war could break out in the country, he said, “Not at all. It is very, very dangerous but then we cannot help it when it comes but nobody should pray for civil war because, it is not good for any country. “ Epitaph On what should be his epitaph, the old man did not think twice and without mincing words, he said in a croaked voice: “I want to be remembered for my good name. I want them to remember me as a man who had helped a lot of people and with a good name!” Simple.

THE ARTS

55

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2 , 2013

With four Nigerian writers making this year’s shortlist for the Caine Prize for African Writing, Edozie Udeze takes a look at the genesis of the prize, why it strikes a chord in Africa and what it means to both the losers and the winners.

Caine becomes a Nigerian affair

I

T was first awarded in 2000 to a Sudanese writer, Leila Aboulela whose short strory, The Museum, arrested the interest of the judges. When the Caine Prize for African Writing for short stories was instituted in 2000, the primary focus was to encourage African writers to use the prize to get to greater heights in their writing career.

It was meant as an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African, whether he was living in Africa or in the Diaspora. In the first place, the story has to be written and published in English Language and the story itself ought to have an insight into the ways Africans live, perceive and conceptualise their environment and other issues in and around them.

History When the prize was founded in England, it was named in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine, a former chairman of the Booker Group, owners and founder of both the Booker prize and the Booker International.

Owing to this connection, however, the Caine Prize has come to be known in some quarters as the African Booker.

And it is made so in order to help writers in the short story genre to find true expressions in their muse.

Every July, the winner is usually announced at a bumper dinner party in Oxford, England.

There, all the shortlisted candidates are invited to be part of the show during which also their stories are read, autographs are signed while there are press interviews to let the public know who the writers are and what motivates them to write.

To date, the prize has been supported and encouraged by four African winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Apart from acting as patrons of the award, their presence often gives credence to the prize. They include Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer, Naguib Mahfouz and J. M. Coetzee. These big writers, like the Caine Chair has often described them, have shown the light for other African authors to follow.

Criticism A lot of close watchers of the prize have often descended hard on the conditions for selecting winners and the type of stories they write. In 2011, Ikhide

•Folarin

Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

•John

•Okparanta

Past Winners

Author Leila Aboulela Helon Habila Binyavanga Wainaina Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor Brain Chikwava S. A. Afolabi Mary Watson Monica Arac de Nyeko Henrietta Rose-Innes E. C. Osondu Olufemi Terry NoViolet Bulawayo Babatunde Rotimi

Ikheloa, a Nigerian writer criticised the prise, saying that “many writers are skewing their written perspectives to fit what they imagine will sell to the West and the judges of the Caine Prize.”

He went on to say that the creation of a prize for African writing may have inadvertently created the un-intended effect of breeding writers who are willing to be stereotype for African glory.

So far, the 2011 edition has been singled out as the most poorly judged in terms of storyline, structure, texture and orthodoxy.

It was apparently skewed in absolute absurdity and mediocrity where the whole stories that made the shortlist were deliberately tailored and patterned to suit and satisfy the whims of the West.

2013 edition: For the first time in the history of the prize, four out of the five shortlist are Nigerians. Daggar Tolar, chairman of Lagos chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), says it is a sign of the commitment of Nigerian writers towards creativity. “Yes it shows the outside world how

•Ibrahim

Work and Country “The Museum” Sudan “Love Poems” Nigeria “Discovering Home” Kenya “Weight of Whispers” Kenya “Seventh Street Alchemy” Zimbabwe “Monday Morning” Nigeria “Jungfrau” South Africa “Jambula Tree” Uganda “Poison” South Africa “Waiting” Nigeria “Stickfighting Days” Sierra Leone “Hitting Budapest” Zimbabwe “Bombay’s Republic” Nigeria

much our literature is valued.

Even in the face of mounting pressures, uncertainties, difficulties and the like, people still find the discipline to write.

It is really impossible to silence or disrupt the resilient spirit of an average Nigerian who is determined to prove himself.”

Tolar asserted.

Taking a critical look at the stories for this year, the chairman of the judges, Gus Casely-Hayford, said: “It has been gripping for us… The shortlist was selected from 96 entries from 16 African countries.

They are all outstanding African stories that were drawn from an extra ordinary body of high quality submissions.

The lucky ones Besides the fact that the £10,000 prize is to challenge writers, these five contrasting titles for this year interrogate aspects of things that people feel and know about Africa. They range from violence, thuggery, religion, corruption, family, community, ethnicity and so on.

However, all these are subjects that are deconstructed, represented and beautifully remade and repackaged to entice readers.

The stories are refreshing, challenging, intriguing, provocative, suffusing, ambitious and breathtaking in many diverse respects. For this and more, Gus said: “we can see through them Africa, a continent and its descendants captured at a time of burgeoning change.”

These authors are: Tope Folarin (Nigerian) whose work Miracle was published in Bloomington last year. He was educated at the Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he obtained two Master’s degrees: He is a Rhodes Scholar and a recipient of writing fellowships from the Institute for Policy Studies and Callaloo. Folarin lives and works in Washington DC, USA, where he also devotes time to writing.

Elnathan John’s (Nigerian) work is entitled Bayan Layi and has its setting in Nigeria. John is not only a full time writer, he is equally a lawyer and lives in Nigeria. His

•Holist

works have appeared in Per Contra, Zam Magazine, Evergreen Review, Sentinel Nigeria and lots more.

Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Nigerian) is based in Abuja, Nigeria. His entry, The Whispering Trees published by Parresia Press seems to have the most arresting title and a lot of people have even tipped it to win if an intriguing title has a way of doing it for the author.

Besides, he is a Gabriel Garcia Marquez fellow who in 2007 won the BBC African Performance Prize.

Chinelo Okparanta (Nigerian) was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and educated at Pennsylvania State University and Rutgers University, both in the USA where she studied for her two degrees.

Her entry work, America, has been dissected from different perspectives by critics as being prowest. Yet, she is a profound and conscientious writer whose works have appeared in many publications in the United States of America and beyond. She currently teaches at Colgate University in the US where she is an Olive B. O’Connor Fellow in Fiction.

Pede Hollist (Sierra Leonean) has the title of his work as Foreign Aid, a work that is obviously proWest, yet he sees it from the point of view of the ‘homeland.’ He is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Tampa, Florida.

There, his areas of interest cover the literature of the African imagination, literary expressions in African continent in the Diaspora.

Notably, the winner will be given the opportunity to take up a month’s residence at the Georgetown University. The award will cover all travel and living expenses, including an invitation to take part in the Open Book Festival in Cape Town, South Africa in September this year.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

Arts/Reviews

Zeleza's testament on bad leadership

I

N Smouldering Charcoal, Tiyambe Zeleza, a Malawian, born in Harare, Zimbabwe, tells a compelling story of life under a corrupt regime in Africa. He deliberately chose two families - one poor, the other rich, to let people into the obnoxious political system that dogged the life of most African nations soon after independence.

Newly independent African nations had bigger hopes of attaining both economic and social status to help the citizens live a better life.

Everywhere people turned to, there was that zeal and vigour to work to build a new nation. Industries and factories were taken over by the local people themselves. The civil service was manned by young Africans who had

P

only returned from overseas with bags of degrees to grapple with the new dispensation at home.

It was within this momentous mood and setting that Chola found himself after returning home from the US to be part of the people to rebuild his young nation. As a journalist, he found himself engulfed by people in leadership who did not want him to report the truth.

Obviously, dictatorship was in vogue, everyone sang the praises of the president, who was seen to be infallible, ubiquitous and untouchable.

Those who wished to say the truth were branded terrorists and saboteurs; they were either killed or maimed for life. Dambo, a young lawyer and an activist and a

By Edozie Udeze

friend of Chola, was murdered and thrown into a river. It was done to serve as a deterrent to others who were gingering to foment more trouble for the government. It was from that mo-

ment that Chola decided to sit up to assert his own rights as a citizen.

Mchere was poor, indigent and as a factory worker, hardly ever had enough to cater for his family. As he struggled to actualise his dreams, the stark realities of a nation in the bowel of poverty stared him squarely in the face. And so, due to poor remunerations and salaries, they preferred to go on strike.

It was such a heavy blow on government that a lot of them were hounded in prison.

Thus, the hope and dreams of a lot of vibrant youths hitherto eager to serve their nation hung in the balance.

Zeleza, indeed, chronicles the story of two families from different social and po-

litical classes to demonstrate what happens in a draconian regime to all the people. It was purposely done to draw together the very issue of what bad government can do to the psyche of the people irrespective of class or education. The story is told with deep precision and passion to show why African nations and societies still remain behind in terms of development; in terms of respect for human dignity.

The story of Malawi invariably is also the story of Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Mali or Angola. All African nations have been made to live bellow poverty level due to bad leadership. As you go through the book, all you feel and perceive are injustices, wickedness, victimisation and all the bad examples of

people at the helm of affairs which are not too far from what you also feel wherever you are in the African continent.

The story is so real and provocative, so close to the people who are usually at the receiving end. In other words, Zeleza's world is our world. It is our own story, the story of inept and corrupt leadership, depicting a people suffering in the midst of plenty and in the hands of their own brothers and sisters.

In the end, the people were wont to persist, fighting diligently to regain their self esteem; to reclaim their own commonwealth. Zeleza did not fail to point that out this is our own and we must redeem it and move forward to the next level.

Portraying Nigeria through paintings

AINTING a n d drawing and the usage of imageries of diverse forms to demonstrate and depict the state of the nation formed the centre-piece of the National Gallery of Art’s (NGA) Children in Art talent hunt exhibition which took place last week in Lagos.

With the theme, Hope and Creativity Through the Eyes of Children, the NGA asked the students both in secondary and •Nnerika’s winning work in junior category primary schools to draw and paint any aspect of the nation’s myriad of social and political landscapes.

The idea was to see how the kids could perceive, interpret, inculcate and understand the society in which they live through images, forms, palettes and water colours.

Incidentally, a lot of them were able to depict Nigeria in varied forms, ranging from the ordinary, to the

serious and then proffered solutions. The topical issues of the moment bordered essentially on how to use the art, as it were, to portray a better Nigeria where love, peace and progress predominate.

Ekene Okoroma, the head of the Lagos office of NGA, charged the students to pursue their dreams at all times. She said: “A nation without hope is like a lost one, a society at a

A

N exhibition of 50 artworks rendered in various art forms of pointillism, Acrylic, Pastel and Pen & Ink, mostly abstracts, is to open at the Mydrim Gallery, Ikoyi, on June 22, 2013 at 1pm. The 50 works to be displayed at the exhibition are the works of Ronke Aina-Scott, a graduate (Second Class Upper Division) of Fine Arts of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. The theme of the exhibition is “Colours on my Mind.”

The Special Guest of Honour and Chairman of the event is Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi, Managing Director & CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc.

To celebrate the children this year, the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in collaboration with other art foundations in Nigeria, put together drawing and painting competition to help students appreciate and understand Nigeria better through the visual art.

Edozie Udeze reports. cross roads, chasing shadows, groping in the dark. It is like a man who has lost the zeal to live. But when we believe and have faith in ourselves, then we can tap into our inner strength even in the face of mounting disillusions, looking for that silver lining behind the clouds.”

To her, it is proper to begin on time to inculcate in the children, a society where there are no ethnic or sentimental barriers, where tongue may differ, but in brotherhood we stand. Therefore, through different media – painting, textiles, ceramics, graphics and sculpture, they were able to show a new Nigeria where issues of hatred have no place.

The overall winner in the senior category, Joshua Idiaria of Imoye High School, Lagos, said the competition gave impetus to his love for the art. “You see, I began to draw when I was five years old. This was why when the

competition was announced, my art teachers quickly asked me to enroll for it,” Idiaria explained.

It was amazing how 17 year, old Idiaria could gather the woods and irons to do his sculpting and had such a perfect work. “Oh yes,” he enthused, “it is my joy to study Fine Arts in the University. My parents have already given me the go-ahead to do so,” he said.

The winning work will be one of those to receive national attention at the NGA. Thereafter, Idiaria will be taken round the world to hobnob with other children artists in his category.

Thirteen year old Chisom Nnerika of Vivian Fowler Memorial College, Lagos who emerged the overall winner in the junior category, was excited and also surprised when she was announced the winner.

“But when the topic was given to me I was confused at first. I then retired into my room, prayed and asked

God to give me an idea of what to paint. Thereafter, the issue of the environment came into my mind and I pursued it.

Although I want to study engineering, I still love painting,” she said.

For Iwalola AkinJimoh, of Ovie Brume Art Foundation, one of the sponsors of the competition, art generally should be given its due place in the scheme of things in Nigeria. The foundation, she said, has been into art promotion in the past ten years.

Akin-Jimoh, explained their involvement thus: “Our primary role is to encourage the development of arts, drama and so on in children generally, particularly in public schools. We have been doing this for the past 10 years or so. We try to let students and parents realise that it is not being a success in academic that matters most. Just let the student be who he is by

developing his natural and inherent talent. Thereafter, let him be allowed to pursue it.”

To her, when a kid is allowed to develop and exhibit his talent, he will come tops in whatever he does. And that indeed is the beauty of what NGA is doing in collaboration with other arts foundations in Nigeria. It was interesting too to note that most of these schools have wellstructured Fine Arts departments and studios where the students are taught the rudiments of the subject. Nnerika said, “In my school, we have two Fine Arts teachers. And they find time to teach us all aspects of the subject.

It is such an interesting subject.”

The ceremony, which took place in Lagos, saw winners getting awards and prizes in different categories. “We have been on this for sometime now. And we have been able to discover and encourage many talents in this regard,” Okoroma said. “It is still our joy to do more to ensure that more new talents are discovered and projected to the limelight,” she concluded.

Ronke Aina-Scott holds first solo exhibition • Aina-Scott

According to AinaScott, “As a little girl, my coloured pencils were the most prized of my earthly possessions, whenever they got missing, which

was very often, I was usually reduced to tears. Painting fills me with a sense of accomplishment and I am most at peace with myself when I am at work on my canvas. Art for me has proven a most amenable vehicle for translating inner vision to outer reality.”

Other dignitaries expected at the opening ceremony are IK Mbagwu; Onome Olaolu; John Obi; Chijioke Ugochukwu; Nnamdi Okonkwo; and Mohammed Balarabe; who

are all Executive Directors of Fidelity Bank Plc. Aina-Scott was born in the seventies and encouraged by her mother to take interest in the art. She began drawing with coloured pencils and crayon as a young girl at home. Her talent blossomed in primary school and while in secondary school she won many awards in Art. She has in the past participated in other exhibitions such as: Best of Ife ’95 (1995), MinajTV Exhibition

(1997) and Naija Woman Exhibition by Tourshop in 2007.

Before she joined the corporate world, AinaScott was one of the founding Graphic Artists at the Daily Independent Newspapers, from where she moved to FSB International Bank. She currently heads the Design & Production arm of the Marketing & Communications Group, Fidelity Bank Plc. She is a very prolific

artist whose works tend to be simple, yet with a mass ‘African’ appeal. Her subjects are diversified, but mostly she is inspired by the role of the African woman in society. As an artist, Aina-Scott is very versatile, she is able to exhibit dexterity in the use of oil paints, pastel, acrylic, gouache and even pen and ink as a medium and her technique leans towards the abstract.

She is a mother of twins (a girl and boy).

58

WORSHIP THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

'God, not anointing, determines healing' The Senior Pastor of Sovereign Word Church, Egbeda, Lagos, Pastor Antoni Okoh, is a renowned healing evangelist. He spoke with reporters on how to access healing and sundry issues. Sunday Oguntola was there

•Okoh

H

OW did you come about the vision of Day of Recovery?

The vision has been birthed in my heart right from my childhood, precisely at 13.

My encounter at that time could be described as the key catalyst that actually thrust me into the healing ministry and that was how I got to know Jesus.

I fell sick and what they thought was malaria was later discovered to be tuberculosis of the bones and it damaged my cartilage. Within a space of months, I could not walk.

That caused me to actually repeat a class. There was something demonic about the sickness because after about one year, the doctors felt I was not improving and had me forcefully discharged. It was then my elder sister invited me to a crusade that was being conducted by the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa at Upper Mission Road, Benin City. That was in 1980.

He played host to Evangelist R. W. Shambach, a minister from America. It was in that crusade I got healed and till date, the testimony of the healing is still standing. I gave my life to Christ also at that crusade. My sister actually was the leader of her fellowship at Lydia College in Benin and all secondary schools in the area were mobilised to attend the crusade. The two people that actually brought me out of the car were Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and Dr. Boyo.

Pastor Chris was actually the President of the Christian

Fellowship at Edo College and Pastor Boyo, a medical doctor, has a church now in Mafoluku, Lagos. They were the two people that held me physically while prayers were being offered. I could walk but it was at that crusade that I took my first leap after almost a year of being bedridden.

So, what is the connection between sickness and the healing ministry?

For a child of about 13 years to have been bedridden, seeing your mates go to school and not being able to walk, the emotional torment and torture is intense but eventually, when God gives you a second chance to bounce back to life, the experience just ignites a passion in you naturally to see other people healed. Also, you can identify with the suffering of people that are sick and infirmed.

Sometimes you cannot really be compassionate until you have been in places where other people have been. So my case was like, 'Yes you have tasted sickness, you have known what it means for doctors to say, 'there is nothing we can do.'� Then, God gives you a miracle. It just makes you passionate to see other people healed and delivered.

Would you recall your first healing experience as a minister?

Just about that same period, I went back to school after receiving the healing. Then I was in Class Four and the Church of God Mission automatically became my church and the late Archbishop

Benson Idahosa became my pastor. Every Sunday we watched him on television and saw all his crusades abroad.

After a while, we also put up a crusade right in the dinning hall of our school and asked our fellow students to go and bring all the sick people around. Interestingly, our friends brought a lot of sick people. In fact, it was a frightening experience. Funny enough, there were a couple of deaf and dumb persons there too. But you know what, I just did what I saw Papa Idahosa did. I put my ear near their ears and my finger on their tongue, though I didn't know what those gestures signified.

I just replicated what I saw him do and said, "You deaf and dumb spirit, come out in the name of Jesus."

Though the first, second and third persons were not healed, I didn't have a choice but to continue because in the hall, people were laughing and booing me. It was a full hall, so we just kept on trying and it was at the fourth attempt that the miracle happened. The deaf and dumb spoke and the crowd erupted in jubilation.

Which particular healing has remained with you, which you consider outstanding, unforgettable and most thrilling such that anytime you remember your ministry, that incident keeps coming to mind?

There was a particular time I was invited to minister in a church at Iba Estate, Ojo, and an 18- year- old lady was brought to me. Her name is Elizabeth. She had never spoken or heard before. She was born deaf and dumb and there were medical reports to confirm that. She was brought to the meeting by her parents and I was so scared. In fact, that was one of the things that made that miracle very unique.

If I tell you I had faith, I would be lying. I was so scared, I was not comfortable and they just thrust this girl to me. If I had a fore-knowledge of that situation, I would not even allow anybody to step upstage and thrust her at me. I prayed for her, just to fulfill all righteousness, not even expecting anything to happen.

I then went on to test her and miraculously, she started hearing and talking. It was so dramatic. I called her name and she repeated it. Anything she heard, she spoke it clearly. That day, I drove into the night, just overwhelmed by what had just happened.

You know, the average pastor will tell you, "I fasted, I prayed and so on." But in this case, I was reminded of that meeting only that afternoon.

There was no sign that anything unusual would happen.

It was just like any other day.

So, I saw the sovereignty of God at work. That was what actually thrilled me about that miracle.

There was nothing about me that had to do with the healing of that girl. So, I saw another side of God that it is His will to see the sick healed. We are only instruments in the hand of God. With your experience in the ministry, would you say there is healing for everyone?

My answer is yes and no.

Do you know that death itself is a form of healing? It is a situation where mortality takes up immortality. We see death as an enemy- fine! But it is also a way for a believer to take up a new body. There are many times and situations where we have prayed for people's healing passionately but they died.

Technically, death is another form of healing.

Has it happened in your ministry?

Several times!

How does that make you feel when you pray and instead of getting healed, the person dies?

It shows that we are only instruments in the hand of God. God chooses the prayer He answers. I have done crusades where I did not see any evidential sign of miracle but I just continued because I knew it would come at another time.

I have packed equipment from meetings overnight and went home depressed, never planning to do another one but later inspired to host another crusade.

Would you mention some of the challenges you have faced in this area of calling?

Yes! The expectation put on me is too high, especially from the people that are dying. Most times you are left with guilt after the person you prayed for dies. Sometimes you can't sleep. It is like you should have an explanation to give to the family of the bereaved.

There are times you have had to tell a wife that her husband would live and you are so sure. At such times you believe you have heard from God, only to be faced with the death of that person. Then the wife begins to query you, "But Pastor, you told me my husband would not die?"

At such times, you are in a tight spot as you have to explain to the wife and children that God is good and sovereign. I believe that what we call death is a healing of a kind.

As a close associate and friend of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, how do you feel when you hear about his association with Pastor TB Joshua to acquire more power?

To the people that grew up

with him, that would be like a slap. I remember in 1984 after I left secondary school, I did not do well in my WAEC so I went to repeat it in a village called Obayatan. Then, I put up a crusade in the village and invited Pastor Chris' team. So, he came from Ekpoma with some other brethren.

The chief of Obayatan had a daughter that was crippled and they put a brace on her legs.

Then, he turned to the girl with the brace and looked at her for a minute. I was watching him. Then he took that brace from the girl, did a song and asked everybody to stretch their hands towards her. You could see the leg of that child that it was different from the other one. She was said to have been injected and this led to the paralysis.

After praying and singing, he told the girl to run and just after taking two steps, she ran so fast. That miracle brought tears to many eyes. I travelled with him to many villages for crusades, so I have a firsthand experience of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome's healing ministry. He has the healing anointing. What I believe transpired between him and TB Joshua was like you are into the healing ministry and then you see another dimension of the healing being done through another person.

You see, gifts may differ.

There are people in healing

ministry who have more successes with people having tumours and cancers. There are those who have great results with the fruit of the womb or bone cure. For Prophet TB Joshua, I think he must have seen something quite unique about Pastor Chris.

Once you are in the miraculous, you are always drawn to someone in that ministry too. So, it is just a case of going to see what God is doing with somebody else.

Could you say it was a meeting of exchange of power?

Exchange? When talking about anointing, the fact is that when I see another level of anointing in you, the Bible allows me to covet what you have. If I come close to you, it will rub off on me.

So, how do you differentiate between healing that is coming from God and the devil?

All I know is that I have never known false healing before. I do not know how it is done. All I know is that I call upon God and he answers. For anybody doing miracles through demonic powers, I salute his courage.

What should we expect ahead of the next edition of Day of Recovery?

It holds next Sunday at the Banquet Hall of Excellence Hotel, Ogba and we are looking at having three thousand people in attendance.

xxx

AD E R T S U 50 M N NIGERIAAN I CHRIST R S AUTHO Are you a Christian author? Are you bothered about poor exposure at bookshops and limited patronage?

The Nation is offering you an unbeatable opportunity to showcase your books and talk about your passion.

The 2-in-1 project involves an advert supplement backed with a profile story on each participant.

Kindly contact Sunday Oguntola on 08034309265 or shinystarontop@gmail.com for advert details and participation.

You will be glad you did!

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

NEWS

Fun, thrill as See Magazine repackages

H

ANDS were raised and souls lifted to God in pure praises last week at the Inspire the world benefit dinner organised by See Inspirations Magazine in Lekki Lagos.

The dinner also featured a live concert with Asu Ekiye, Aity DennisInyang and others on stage.

Distinguished guests danced excitedly in the Lord's presence to commemorate the second anniversary of the magazine, which has become a leading voice in the Christian community.

There were also hilarious clean jokes from some comedians to lighten up the evening.

Testifying to the impact of the two-year-old publication, Mrs. Comfort Ukpong described it as the

By Sunday Oguntola

"Bible of our time".

She said reading through stories of ordinary people whose lives God transformed has imbued her with vigour and inspiration to pursue her dreams.

Aity stated that the magazine is a must-read for those who believe in the wondrous acts of God, saying it is not just a publication but one that stands out among the crowd.

The publisher, Mrs. Lawretta Sam-Ogrih, said the publication is soaring because of complete dependence on God. The event, she said, marked the transition of the magazine to a voice to millions across the world from a soft-sell publication.

Worship On how she intends to survive now that the magazine has become a not-forsale item, Sam-Ogrih said: "God who has bought us this far will sustain us."

She said partners and advert patronage powered

by God will see the publication, through adding that it has recorded amazing testimonies of Christians across divides over the years.

The publisher explained: "We are just in God's hands. From the word go, He was the one that ordained this publication.

"We believe He will bring testifiers, adverts, support and all resources we need as at when due.

We are not worried but settled knowing He is in charge."

The senior pastor of Household of Love Church, Lekki, Lagos, Rev. Yinka Yusuf, solicited support for the publication, stating an investment in it is tantamount to investing in God's kingdom.

L-R Sam Ogrih, Lauretta Sam-Ogrih, Richard and Tonye Ntan at the event

A

R E N O W N E D business solutions consultant, Mr. John Ekpikhe of Mark-George Consultants, has concluded an entrepreneurial seminar in partnership with Olivet Bible Church Lagos.

Quoting from Genesis 40: 27, he challenged Christians to engage in spiritual warfare to overcome forces working against their economic progress.

He identified warfare as a necessary foundation for

Church partners entrepreneurial consultants to lift members

By Uyoatta Eshiet all other efforts to yield desired fruits.

Ekpikhe advised Christians to depend on God and not envy unbelievers whose wealth he said will soon fizzle away.

He argued Christians can do business without involving in graft despite the

59

COLUMN

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

Engaging the power of faith to fulfill prophecies

P

ROPHECIES are ordained for fulfilment; they are not mere statements made to excite you. Prophetic words are the expressions of God's thoughts and God's purpose for your life.

The Bible says: The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand (Isaiah 14:24). However, you cannot see prophecies fulfilled, until you choose and take responsibility to believe.

Until you believe it, you are not empowered to become it.

The fact that you don't believe, does not erase its validity; it just means you have refused to be a beneficiary.

Every prophecy is ordained for fulfilment, but only on the platform of faith.

What, then, is Faith?

And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord (Luke 1:45).

•Faith is the principal thing in your quest to see prophecies fulfilled. You can pray from now till forever, if you don't have faith, you won't see prophecies fulfilled.

•Faith is a spiritual force within, that determines the triumphs without. It is a spiritual force within you that determines the happenings around you.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:10). Faith is not on the face, faith is in the heart.

Just as faith is a force within, doubt is also a force within.

Mark 11:23 says: …Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith (Mark 11:23). That's why you must be committed to building your faith within.

•Faith is not a dormant force; faith is a dominant force. When faith is at work on the inside, it dominates your environment. Faith does not live under circumstances, faith lives above all circumstances.

•Faith is no cheap talk; faith is hard work. No lazy man can manifest strong faith,

because strong faith demands a great price to build. Faith demands great discipline.

Faith is no cheap talk, faith is hard work. Faith is hard to acquire; hard to maintain and hard to operate, because the faith that delivers must fill your thoughts. If you think contrary to what you claim to believe, you have killed your faith.

How Can I Fire Up My Faith?

You can't get into faith wishing, you labour your way into faith.

1. You labour in the Word: To get your faith fired up, you need a Word search. There are things you will never catch, except by reading books. Faith is not waiting for God to work; faith is putting God's Word to work, by believing. It is your depth in the truth that determines the strength of your faith (Luke 1:45).

2. Guard your thoughts and words: Faith calls for high level discipline and guarded thoughts (James 1:6-8). You walk and speak courteously, because everything counts for your faith to deliver (Ecclesiastes 5:6).

Friend, the grace to fire up your faith is the privilege of children of God. You become a child of God as you confess your sins and accept Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. You can be His child now, if you have not been, by saying this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. I cannot help myself. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan, to serve the Living God. Today, Lord Jesus, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You, for saving me! Now I know, I am born again!

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

prevalence of corruption.

The senior pastor, Pastor Owen Nlekwuwa, explained the seminar was to empower members for business success.

He disclosed that the church has empowered not less than five members to become business owners between January and March.

Apostolic children celebrate

N

O fewer than 120 children choir of the Apostolic Faith Church performed during the Children's Day celebrated in the church last week.

They held the audience spell-bound with songs delivered in Yoruba, Igbo and Efik.

It was a spectacle to see four, five year olds playing the violin. They played inspiring melodious songs with the piano, orchestra and duets.

The celebration with the theme Shining light was the second of its kind.

It was to encourage children in drama, singing and use of musical instruments.

The head of the Children's Sunday School of the

By Abike Adegbulehin Apostolic Faith West and Central Africa, Christiana Oshiodipe, said the event was held to thrill children and charge them to deploy their talents in working for God. "Our purpose is to show other children the opportu-

nity they have, that they can dramatise, they can sing and they can play instruments in the church," she stressed.

She urged parents to make their children shining lights in their community by bringing them to God even at tender ages.

Church hosts American healing evangelist

T

HE Abundant Life Gospel Church is hosting renowned American healing evangelist, Dr. Peter Gammons, at a healing/deliverance and minister's conference organised by the church at its auditorium at 69 Iju road Agege, Lagos.

The new general overseer of the church, Rev (Mrs.) Jane Onaolapo, in a statement, said: "Peter Gammons is an esteemed man of God, widely

sought after all around the world.

"He has spoken to larger crowds than any person in history, with up to four million people attending a single service."

The crusade holds on Thursday, June 6-8 by 6 pm daily while the minister's conference comes up on Friday, June 7 from 10 am.

The impartation service is on Sunday by 9am.

General Overseer of Life Changers Assembly Lagos, Pastor Dada Gbolahan, with his wife, Olufunke, during his 50th birthday service... last week

Church trains students, ministers on writing

T

HE Ransomed Christian Centre has trained students and ministers of God on book writing and publishing.

The training with the theme, "How to write, and publish and sell your books" took place during the annual International Restoration Crusade of the church at the Ikenne Town Hall, Ogun State.

The convener, Pastor Tosin Onayiga, said it was necessary to train the public, ministers of God and the students because writing remains a veritable way of immortalising one's legacies and ideas.

The workshop commemorated the World Book Day for 2013.

Ogun State commissioner for Education, Science and

Technology, Barrister Segun Odubela, encouraged the students to embrace writing.

Odubela, who was represented by Mrs. Taiwo and the Zonal Education officer for Ikenne Local government, Mrs. Sola Onayiga, described writing as a powerful tool for self-expression.

Onayiga, at the crusade, spoke on "I will give you the keys."

60

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

INSIGHT

• Workers putting finishing touches to the cenotaph at the crash scene

I

T's been over 30 years since Alhaja Ramota Akinwusi moved to House 11, Popoola Street, Iju-Ishaga Lagos. But the last one year has been the most traumatic and frenetic for the widow. "This place is not the same again at all," she muttered last Friday.

She was merely stating the obvious. The changes are there for all to see. Alhaja Ojasope, as she is popularly called, and other residents have been battling with how much has changed in the community. Many of their former neighbours and acquaintances are nowhere to be found again.

At least four of them died when Dana Air Flight 992 crashed in the vicinity on June 3, 2012.

It was a crash that was to change their destiny and that of the community forever!

Mass relocation and arrivals Other survivors lost their apartments and accommodations, forcing them to relocate. Those whose lives and property were spared have lost the courage to live in the neighbourhood again.

"Many of them have moved away. They say they see things and live under torment. The sight and sound of airplanes kill them every day psychologically," a resident who identified himself as Ibrahim stated.

Akinwusi, a leader in the community, said she had lost count of families that have moved away. "They keep going and going. I have known some of them for over 20 years. Some were tenants and some house owners. We have shared intimate moments together but no more, thanks to the Dana crash," she added.

Their departures left voids and memories difficult to replace. "Many of my friends and pals have left. It is so scary that it was the crash that made them leave," Ibrahim lamented. These families were closely knitted, sharing close affinities forever severed in a harsh, unpleasant manner.

But as they leave, there are naturally new arrivals. The high demand for accommodation in a populous city like Lagos would mean people will most certainly take over. In almost all the streets in the community, investigations showed there has been unprecedented arrival of new families. Blessing Uwa is one of them.

Her new apartment on Olaniyi Street was badly affected when the McDonnell Douglas MD83 plane crashed. Those who could not live with

ONE YEAR AFTER

Dana crash victims seek justice A year after the Dana Air crash that killed 163 passengers, it is no longer business as usual at the Iju Ishaga site reports Sunday Oguntola the torments left, making it possible for her to move in with her husband. "I came here about three months ago," she began. "Though I knew about what happened but I was not bothered because I did not live here to see the carnages."

These arrivals have shot up rent values in the neighbourhood. A 3-bedroom apartment that used to go for N250, 000 per annum now costs N350,000 - 400,000. Yinka Bello, an estate agent in the community, said this is expected as house owners move to maximise profits.

"Those whose buildings were affected had to rebuild through loans and borrowing. They have

to recoup. Those whose houses were unaffected have to benefit from the current market value since their old tenants moved. That is why the rents have gone up drastically," he explained.

High costs of renovations and rebuilding For most house owners, the last one year has been frenetic. Many of them have had to rebuild devastated buildings at massive costs. The toilets, bathrooms and a room in the apartment of Alhaja Ojasope were badly destroyed after the crash. All of them are wearing a new look but at great costs.

She revealed she had been left with no option

than to obtain a high interest-paying loan to rebuild the structures. "I am only a poor widow.

Where can I get money? What trade do I have? I only had to borrow and I am still heavily indebted for the reconstruction," she hinted.

One of her two shops has also been demolished to accommodate a new road construction in the community. "Since I moved here, things have never been this bad," she complained. Mrs. Grace Adekunle is the owner of House 7 Popoola Street. The widow had been through the valley of the shadow of death since the incident.

The trauma of leaving the house where her late husband was buried compounded her health challenges. Her blood pressure had been on the rise since. "I have not been myself at all. Apart from the loss of my trading business and the damage to our house, I was hospitalised and left to suffer," she recounted. At a point, she moved to the rehabilitation home in Ipaja for victims where she said she only benefitted from the feeding.

"They (Dana officials) took us to hospital for tests but failed to pay for our treatments. I stopped going after nothing was forthcoming. I had to live with a landlord in a room apartment after being a house owner for years," she recalled.

When she finally came back, she was faced with the challenge of rebuilding without funds.

"I had to just borrow. I am still in debts with my children, otherwise we won't be here again at all."

Many other house owners on Okusanya, Olaniyi and Popoola streets stated that they have become indebted due to the reconstruction they had to do.

Where is the compensation?

But they are still a bit luckier. They, at least, have houses and structures to rebuild. For Pastor Daniel Omowumi, it is a tale of nowhere to go.

The highly successful entrepreneur is down to ground zero, no thanks to the crash. His business empire and residence crashed with the plane less than six months after he moved to the community.

From an employer of labour, he has become an ordinary struggler, surviving on the largesse of acquaintances and relations. When our correspondent met him last Friday, he cut a Continued on page 61

INSIGHT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

• Adewusi

• One of the roads in the neighbourhood nearing completion

• Adekunle Continued from page 60

pitiable sight. Recounting his ordeals in the last one year, Omowumi said: "My brother, it has been tough. It is not easy at all. It is only by the grace of God that I have been surviving. You know those who work and receive salaries are still struggling, let alone someone like me who

has been out of business for almost a year now.

"Dana has almost ruined my life. The airline destroyed my business." Despite his losses, he said he has not been paid any compensation (see full interview). What used to be his thriving furniture and printing press businesses have been turned to a cenotaph ahead of the first anniversary of the ill-fated flight.

A blessing in disguise?

There is blessing in adversity for some. In so many ways, however, the crash has been a blessing in disguise for the community. The Lagos State government has focused developmental

projects in the neighbourhood ahead of the anniversary. Two months ago, H.F.P Engineering Nigeria Limited moved to the area to embark on massive road constructions. The inner roads on Kufeji, Idowu Williams, Okusanya and Olaniyi streets leading to the cenotaph were being completed last Friday when our correspondent visited.

Many staff of the firm were seen frantically working on the projects. Not less than four caterpillars were on site. The roads were being constructed with culvert drains to fight flooding, which has been troubling the neighbourhood

61

for ages. There are also street lights ready for commissioning ahead of the visit of Governor Raji Fashola tomorrow.

The secretary of Akande Community Development Association (CDA), Mr. Akin Aina, noted the "rapid, unprecedented infrastructural developments'' were most welcomed. According to him, "There have been some rapid and unexpected infrastructural developments here.

That is very connected with the crash. We are really grateful to Governor Fashola for this because we are now receiving infrastructural attention in this area."

He admitted the projects would not have been possible without the unfortunate incident. The fences of several houses have been demolished to accommodate the new roads. This, Aina stated, has left the community insecure. "In the last one week, we have recorded four armed robberies because the houses are left without fences. We want the government to help us on this. We also have the issue of flooding that has devastated many houses."

Cries for justice Omowumi, Adewusi, Adekunle and other residents are livid Dana Air has not been forthcoming with compensation. "I have not received a dime from them," Adewusi stated.

According to Adekunle, she only got an umbrella worth N200 from the airline after the incident.

"When we were in the rehabilitation home, they gave me an umbrella that I found out costs only N200. Apart from that, I have not received anything else." The debts she incurred to rebuild her house, she said, keep mounting, forcing her blood pressure to keep shooting up. "It is true we are alive but we are dead already. How can we survive without any form of compensation?"

Omowumi accused the airline of playing hanky panky with his claims after submission of all relevant documents. "They have ruined my business but they cannot ruin my life,'' he boasted.

When our correspondent visited the Allen Avenue, Ikeja office of Dana Air, he was told the spokesman, Mr. Tony Oshidame, was not around.

No official of the airline was willing to comment, saying only Oshidame was competent to talk.

Calls to his mobile phone were not successful.

For Omowumi and others who ever lived on Iju Ishaga, the crash was one too many. Their lives and community will never remain the same.

It is only a year after but life has taken a different turn.

'Dana has almost turned me to a beggar'

H

ow has it been in the last one year?

My brother, it has been tough. It is not easy at all. It is only by the grace of God that I have been surviving. You know those who work and receive salaries are still struggling, let alone someone like me who has been out of business for almost a year now. It has been tough but God has been faithful. I have a family of eight, three biological children, my wife and others living with me.

How far have you gone with Dana Plc on the issue of compensation?

There is nothing at all from them. They only wrote my lawyer after I locked up their office requesting for two weeks to make an offer for compensation. They did not even bother to crosscheck my claims; they were only willing to make an offer. Then a day before the two weeks elapsed, they wrote back asking for a week extension. That ends today (Friday) but we haven't heard anything from them. Can you imagine that? You wonder the kind of boldness they have. They just do things as if nobody can question them.

I originally would think that a responsible organisation like that will not wait for me to lock up their office before settlement.

Until you picketed their office, are you saying there was no correspondence or negotiation with you?

There was none at all. The letter we got three weeks ago was from the lawyer to their foreign insurer, Yomi Oshikoya. He told my lawyer that he had instructed Dana not to talk to anybody on compensations except him. If you go and ask Dana, they won't say anything. I learnt their spokesman, Tony Usidamen, claimed on air that they were negotiating with me. I want him to provide evidence of negotiation with me. You can only be talking about negotiating if there had been an offer and I accepted or declined. Tony is a liar and what he said is untrue.

How much claims have you put to them?

It is about N500million for three different people. There is someone who had six warehouses of educational materials with me. There was another who had five warehouses of kitchen utensils. All the documents to that effect have been put across to Dana. I lost four apartments in the crash; one detached apartment; two bedroom apartments and a bungalow at the back, four fish ponds and my Xterra SUV.

The owner of the building on which the plane crashed, Pastor Daniel Omowumi, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on his ordeals and futile efforts to get compensation in the last one year. Excerpts:

• Omowumi All the details were put across to them.

Whenever my lawyer pressurises their lawyer, they will call for meetings and then decline. This has been dragging for almost a year now. They keep asking for all manners of documents, which we have provided. The only thing they have not asked for is the receipt of my life. Every required document has been given to them.

The community recalled how helpful you were. How does it make you feel looking back now?

When I got to that community, everything was at a standstill. Within the short time I was there, I alleviated poverty there to an extent. I

moved there in January 2012. The house was completed in December 2011. I was barely six months when the crash happened. I believe in giving and that is the life I live. But now see the man giving has been made to start depending on others.

But it is believed you received $30,000 from the airline. Is that true?

Yes, I received that sum, which is about N4.5million from them. But how much is that compared to what I had there? So, I should be left alone after that peanut? I initially rejected the money but my lawyer, in his wisdom, said it was wrong. He said I should receive it that they might

use it against me in the court. They might say when they wanted to start compensating me, I refused. It was on that basis that I collected the money from them.

My lawyer said if they bring a kobo, we should collect it. The money came barely three months ago for an incident that happened almost a year ago. Dana has almost ruined my life. The airline destroyed my business.

How does it make you feel that the airline is back in business?

It makes me shudder at the kind of wickedness that we allow in this country. They destroyed the businesses of people and have returned to their own. They are back because they believe they get away with anything. It is a very bad signal for the country and a big slap on Nigeria. It is a disgrace on Nigeria. The thing is we have people feeding on the dead, forgetting that they will drop dead one day.

How far are you willing to go with this battle?

I won't stop until I get my money.

And you believe you will get it?

I will get my money. I believe so without doubts. There won't be a letdown until I get my money. The longer it takes the better for me.

Did you receive any compensation from Lagos State on the crash site that is being turned to a cenotaph?

I have not received anything. That is what you get from Nigeria.

Were you ever contacted?

I was invited to a meeting sometime ago that I would be compensated. They promised I would be relocated somewhere before then. As we speak, there is nothing like that. The meeting was at the instance of the ministry of lands and physical planning.

What do you do every day when you wake up now?

I just thank God because going by what is happening in this country, one is lucky to be alive.

The whole thing has taught me never to rely on human beings. I have realised the best you can get from any human being is disappointment. God is the only one who does not disappoint.

Do you see yourself bouncing back soon?

My brother, I will be back. I won't allow what happened to keep me down. I am going to emerge stronger and better from all of these.

62

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

BUSINESS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

65

Non-remittance of taxes: Affected banks risk sanction

M

ONEY deposit banks found culpable in the ongoing probe of banks allegedly involved in taxes and duties irregularities risk serious sanction by the Federal Government, it was learnt.

The Nation can authoritatively report that the 24 money deposit banks involved in the collection of revenue on behalf of the Federal Government specifically for the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) would face the wrath of the law.

Speaking with The Nation over the weekend, a source at the FIRS Abuja, who would not be named because he was not authorised to speak, said the agency was doing everything to assist members of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) committee on non-oil revenue on monitoring of banks' compliance with taxes and duties remittances.

The RMAFC is the Federal Government agency charged with the responsibility of among other things to monitor revenue accruals and disbursements of federallycollected revenue to the three tiers of government.

About 21 banks in the country have been contracted by the FIRS and the NCS to collect taxes and duties for government.

A special account is to be opened with the CBN where all recoveries made shall be paid from where consultants engaged are also to be paid their relevant professional fees and the balance remitted to the Federation Account.

Confirming this development, the Chairman of RMAFC, Elias Mbam , at a press conference in Abuja, last Thursday said the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) following a report to it by the RMAFC has authorised it to carry out an

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

investigation of the banks' activities beginning from January 2008 to June 2012.

Accordingly, Mbam said the commission in line with due relevant provisions of the Public Procurement Act has appointed a lead consultant, J.K. Consulting, led by Mr. Joseph Kayode Naiyeju, former Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) and also one-time chairman of the FIRS and 52 other consultants, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers Ltd, to look into the activities of the banks throughout the country.

Expatiating, the RMAFC boss said the terms of reference would be to: "Supervise and co-ordinate the activities of other consultants; develop data capturing and reporting template; verify, reconcile and ensure that the flow of revenue from collecting agencies from January 2008 to June 2012 is in accordance with the relevant agreements between the collecting banks, FIRS and the NIS; produce a comprehensive report of all the findings and recommendations."

On the other hand, the task for other consultants, according to the chairman of RMAFC, is: "cover allocated bank(s) and revenue sources as provided by the Commission; reconcile the flow of revenue from collecting banks to Lead banks; reconcile all transfers from the Lead banks to the Federation Account in the CBN. Others are: verify that the remuneration paid to each Lead and collecting banks is in accordance with the agreement signed with FIRS and NCS; submit comprehensive report of all findings to the Lead Consultant."

The consultants are expected to begin their assignment on Monday and to turn in their report

by August 15, 2013.

Dealers task SON on substandard products

D

ESPITE claims by the Standard Organization of Nigeria to have stamped out substandard products in the markets by 40%, marketers have expressed their anger at the agency for looking at the wrong direction instead of the Nigerian manufacturers of these products.

Mr. Chukwuemeka Ebuke, a trader disclosed this during an enforcement exercise by SON in Abuja stating that the government should be blamed for the recurring problem of substandard product in the country.

According to Ebuke, "Substandard product problem is from foreigners who have manufacturing companies in Nigeria. These

From: Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

foreigners use Nigeria as dumping ground, these are things they cannot try in their own country but because with the Nigeria government anything goes they just come in and dump whatever they want on us.

"Government know where these manufacturers are, they should go and look for them instead of harassing innocent traders that are going about doing their business," he said.

The Director of Enforcement, SON, Mr. Nelson Adebiyi , who led the team to the monitoring raid at the Abuja metropolis said the exercise will be a continuous one.

•From left: Company Secretary and Legal Adviser, ChitHub, Mr. Fred Isoh, Mrs. Nkechi Agbogo, Managing Director, ChitHub, Mr. Michael Agbogo and Deputy Director, NTA, Ms. Tayo Daramola at the product launch of Chitbox in Lagos‌recently

Firms' profits re-open cement glut claims

B

USINESS managers can tell you that revenue is the main reason a business lives. Revenue is one sure indicator that tells if a business is going up or down because it is the mirror from where all receivables could be seen. In a nut-shell, the strength of any business lies in its ability to generate good revenue. In other words, only very lively or healthy business can drive good revenue.

Conversely, the revenue position of any business is enough to determine if the business is on the verge of going down or making waves. However, impressive revenue statement explains in clear terms, the fact that a business is on the right track.

The beauty of a strong revenue position of any company lies in the fact that it commands positive results in all the other indices such as profit, asset, dividend earnings, employment, and even perception from the various publics. It is therefore inordinate for companies whose processes are pointing towards the fulfillment of impressive revenue results to continue to propagate the converse, with the intention of achieving personal or selfish points to the detriment of the economy. It is good that the various financial regulatory bodies like the Central Bank, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nigerian Stock Exchange have made the publication of financial reports of quoted companies compulsory, otherwise many companies with farreaching ulterior motives, which larger target is to defraud the economy, would have been making spurious claims capable of sending wrong signals to the economy and its followers.

With the emergence of auditing firms that can boast of global practice standards, many manufacturers can no longer be allowed to influence their auditors so as to publish very poor results with the intention of deceiving the operators and stakeholders in the economy. The presence of the last two checks in our financial reporting system has made it possible for certain claims that are largely false to stand the test of the times.

A very careful study of the revenue position of some major cement companies in Nigeria makes one to con-

By Ayo Kazim

tinue to ask if the consumers and owners of smaller businesses are in any way protected in the economy. A situation where a company or an organization wakes up any time to paint pictures of a non existing economic doom, either for a sector or an institution, must be seriously looked into .

Early in the year, A leading cement firm projected that 2013 will be very bleak in the annals of its production activities as a major or dominant producers of the all-important product which his company enjoys over 70 per cent market share. This claim was instantly supported by an association of cement manufacturers, insisting that many cement plants would be closed down as over 80 per cent of its current workforce will be in danger. They tried to justify their claims by concocting an imaginary year 2013 quarter one financial report. Two of the major operators tried to use the issue of glut to armtwist the federal government so that some guarantees and licenses already issued to some Nigerian dealers would be revoked . Ibeto cement was the primary target of the glut claim, in a bid by those raising the issue of glut to have their way and make even more profit even as the Nigerian publics were being roasted in overzealous prices which only a competitive market can effectively dismantle.

As companies begin to release the 2012 full financial statements and the first quarter of 2013, the fallacies of the association and those of the powerful market leaders started to emerge, showing very wide gaps between their claims and their earlier positions that were made to windhook government and the operators in the economy.

As against all the projections made by one of the firms against the back-drop of a very poor 2013 outing, the gap between its 2011 financial result and that of 2012 has continued to widen, depicting a very impressive business activities within the period against the orchestration of a likely industrial collapse. In 2012, its revenue grew by 24 per cent, recording a whopping N298.5 billion against the N241 billion in the previous year.

Profit for the year recorded a 25 per cent rise to about N152 billion while earnings per share also made a 25 per cent rise. The company's total assets moved up by 28 per cent.

At the same time, it has proposed a dividend payout of as much as N3 per share against a paltry N1.25k last year. Even though it has a very high inventory stock stockpile which can be attributed to the expanding production scope, the company has enjoyed a continuous price movement over the last one year. With total profit running to as much as 25 per cent, it is obvious that if the company sells its produced 50 per cent less than the usual shelve price it will still make huge profit and declare dividends.

Some companies embarked on a media frenzy to sell their purported glut story in national newspapers. Business Editors were hurriedly bundled into flight to some locations to see purported cement-filled-silos with no buyers because of the "glut". And to drive home their point, it was said to have closed down a cement firm, thereby putting jobs of 890 workers in jeopardy. Lafarge was also rumoured to be in the process of shutting down Ewekoro plant.

Alas, it was all a gimmick to deceive Nigerians, an attempt to use government machinery to drive out competition. Now all that is proving to be the sad tactics of businessmen hell-bent on muscling out any form of competition.

The 2012 financial performance notwithstanding, the first quarter result of the company for the 2013 period has already pointed towards a higher return, prompting a further conclusion that the hues and cries by those companies was designed to fool the government , as it would have offered them the opportunity of milking Nigerians dry with uncompromising price for cement. This trend is also the same in other cement companies.

Lafarge/Wapco Nigeria also made an average of 30 per cent increase in all indices against the belief that sales were very bad and would remain so in the coming months.

Its 2013 First Quarter result also indicate that there is no end to profit maximization in the industry. Lafarge moved

its revenue to N88 billion from N63 billion while profit also moved up to about 40 per cent to N33 billion against N19 billion in 2011. A 51 per cent profit record, from N10 billion in 2011 to 21 billion in 2012 also dims the claims that importers have the capacity of sending many manufacturers home. Both companies still enjoy very good earnings per share even as they cry.

There are strong indications that cement market is still enjoying a very wide gap and that is why the price has not come down all this while, because there seems to have been some integrated demand for the product both in the construction projects and housing needs. The cry for a non-existing glut was believed to have been a protest against an effort to make the product affordable. If the claim has been true, the trading figures will say it. It is spurious for any business to make profit in the face of poor sales and patronage. What the records have shown at large is that the industry is even large and could need more off-market dealers to increase their imports into the country even as the revenue will rise if the few manufacturers increase their capacity.

Nigerians must have seen the picture of glut and do not need to imagine its consequences with some jaundiced projections. We have seen textile mills collapse, beer bottling companies die, beverage companies close shop and even car companies folded; etc these are examples of products that were sandwiched by glut, overwhelming glut. They died because their revenues were swallowed in the frenzy of massive importation.

Their revenue records and profit can tell the difference.

These may have put an end to the glut story, and it is real; the records are here and there is no hiding place. Government must take note of these companies tactics in business and be wary of them. There was never any glut in the cement market. All those who helped to sell the glut theory merely aided and abetted a misrepresentation of facts.

These companies audited result and first quarter 2013 results have effectively put to rest the purported glut claims.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013 CHANGE OF NAME AMUJO

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EMEH

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ADELEKE

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CHANGE OF NAME

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CHANGE OF NAME

IGBE

OGUNLEYE

ABDULLAHI

IMURAN

I formerly known and addressed as Imuran Rabiu now wish to be known and addressed as Imran Adeyanju Rabiu, all former documents remain valid general public take note.

ADEBAYO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebayo Adenike Elizabeth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Femi - Falana Adenike Elizabeth, all former documents remain valid. University of Nigerian Usukka, Adeyemi College of Education Ondo, Teaching Service Commission Ado Ekiti and general public take note.

ADEGUN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adegun Busayo Rebecca now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ajayi Busayo Rebecca, all former documents remain valid general public take note.

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ERA urges passage of tobacco control bill

By Hannah Ojo

E

NVIRONMENTAL Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has reiterated its call for the urgent passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB), saying the bill contains provisions for the elimination of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

Speaking at the event marking this year’s World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) at the weekend, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, ERA/FoEN’s Director of Corporate Campaigns, called on government and other concerned bodies to put a stop to the promotion and advertisement of tobacco.

According to him, “Bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship are one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco consumption, with countries that have already introduced bans showing an average of seven per cent reduction in tobacco consumption.”

The WNTD is set aside by the World Health Organisation (WHO) every May 31 “to moblise governments and communities across the world to take actions to prevent deaths, diseases and disabilities associated with smoking.”

This year’s theme is “Ban Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship”. According to Oluwafemi, research shows that about one third of youths experiment with tobacco as a result of exposure to tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, adding that the passage of the bill will curb consumption of tobacco.

Also speaking at the event, Mr. Rafsanjani Awwal of the Civil Society Legislative Centre decried the fact that most young people today are susceptible to health challenges because they smoke. He added, “We (Nigeria) are not making the Millennium Development Goal in health. Yet we are complicating it with cigarettes. We must work to stop this because it is killing many people, especially the young. The sad thing is that the tobacco companies escape payment of taxes and destroy our income.”

Mr. Nuhu Ogbara, a lawyer and chairman of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) linked health to the dignity of human and called for the need to compel government to make and execute laws against tobacco consumption.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

WORDSWORTH G

Making basic education matter

EBERE WABARA

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08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Collocational facts

ATIONAL MIRROR Front Page of May 30 failed a simple phrasal verb test: “Mid-term report card: Jonathan lashes at critics” Collocational information: Jonathan lashes out at critics Of course, the inside pages, naturally, were also not left out: “The Honourable Minister for (of) Power….” But, Commissioner for Power…Niger State Government, take note!

“NDLEA arrests two over (for or in connection with) trafficking at Lagos Airport” NATIONAL MIRROR Editorial equally contributed four howlers to the pool of improprieties: “Bamigbetan regained his freedom on the payment of a whooping (whopping) ransom of N15 million.” “…has given a firm assurance that his government will stop at nothing to (at) reducing the menace to the barest minimum in the state.” “…and like (as) Governor Fashola said, eternal vigilance should be the watch word (watchword).”

“I misled Middle Belt to vote for Jonathan” Politics Today: I misled Middle Belt into voting for Jonathan “…he has been able to repay back N20 billion.”

Delete ‘back’ and move forward!

“Osuntokun scores Jonathan low in education” My amiable and humanistic former lecturer scored GEJ low on (not in) education. An aside: Prof., thanks for all the biros you gave to us during lectures almost three decades ago in UNILAG. I remember it all as if it were yesterday!

God will continue to prosper you. I also fondly recollect another fine gentleman, the late Dr. Hakeem Haruna of History Department, for his unique didactic methodology.

May his soul continue to rest in peace.

Still on National Mirror: “ABUAD: It can stand with world class (worldclass) universities” “ABUAD students on life in the campus” Special Report: ABUAD students on life on campus—or, simply, ABUAD students on campus life, especially for headline purposes “Jonathan has no solution to Nigeria’s crisis” Definitely, Nigeria has more than one crisis: therefore crises.

Now, the final entry from National Mirror: “…creative people to interact at (in) the corridors of power” The Guardian front and inside pages of May 28 contained a surfeit of lexical falsehoods: “One military personnel was also killed in the encounter.” ‘Personnel’ (plural) is a collective noun that cannot be used for just an individual. “…Amaechi said that his purported suspension was an act of political witch-hunting.” Conscience, Nurtured by Truth: political witchhunt The next five wrongdoings are from a full-page advertisement signed by the management of SINOHYDRO as published by THE GUARDIAN under review: “SINOHYDRO…wishes to congratulate the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) (another comma) for (on/ upon) the successful flagging off (inauguration, et al) and the Ground Breaking Ceremony (groundbreaking ceremony) for the….” Elsewhere in National Mirror of May 30, the Niger State Government in an allied full-page advertisement also goofed on ‘ground-breaking ceremony’!

“We further wish to congratulate the Honourable Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo (yet another comma) as well as his counterpart (colleague/deputy/partner/assistant) the Honourable Minister of State, Hajiya Zainab Kuchi.”

“Time for leaders to close rank (ranks)…”

“Jang assures on welfare” Who did the governor assure? ‘Assure’ compulsorily takes an object.

“Okorocha seeks on leadership training” Yank off ‘on’!

Still on THE GUARDIAN under focus: “…the military lobby intensively for deployment into (in) the zone.” (Editorial) “To bring this to the attention of the decerning (discerning) investors, the Jigawa State Government is organising the first Economic and Investment Summit.” (Full-page advertorial) Lastly from THE GUARDIAN Law Report: “Courts are not permitted to suo motu raise issues, resolve same (the same) without hearing from par-

ties” THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER of May 25, circulated a few errors right from its Front Page: “The good news came few (a few) hours before President Goodluck….” “…after overrunning three terrorists camps (terrorists’ camps) in the riotous….”

The next four blunders are from a full-page advertisement in the Saturday newspaper under review: “I duff (doff) my hart (hat) for (to) a brother that is more of value than gold.”

“Your deligence (diligence) in business is wonderful….”

“Many residents of the state have agreed to endure in order to enjoy a safe and secured (secure) tomorrow.”

“Some parts of Maiduguri was (were) no go area (no-go areas) to any sane mind as people are (were) picked up for slaughter. The laws operating in those areas were different from any other parts (part) of the state (or other parts of the state).”

Finally from THISDAY COVER under review: “….the deployment of more troops to (in) states was belated.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY of May 26 displayed slothfulness and crankiness: “To stem this abuse by some judges, the CJN said that she has (had) directed that before any judge can (could) travel abroad, he or she (sic) must obtain permission from the head judge.”

My comment: instead of ‘he or she,’ use ‘they’— which is the acceptable form.

Still on last week’s edition of this medium: “…Wike opened up on the crisis in Rivers State and his grouse with (about) Governor Rotimi Amaechi….”

“If we have problems, probably there might be one reason or the other (one reason or another) the governor is not happy.”

“As two-time Governor of Lagos, you shone like star (a star).”

“To their dubious chicanery, your voice resonate (resonates) distinctly….” Also note that the last word in the extract is otiose! (This and the preceding blunder are from a full-page congratulatory advertisement by the Edo State Governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in honour of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu)

OAL two of the millennium development goals, MDG, specifically talks about achieving Universal Primary Education for every child by 2015. These children are not only expected to have access to primary education, they are to be retained in their classes to ensure they complete the full course of primary education.

Closely related to goal two of the MDG is goal three that focuses on promoting gender equality and empowering women. In essence, gender parity between girls and boys in terms of accessing basic education should be eliminated. Again, the target is 2015.

By historical design, the first term of President Jonathan administration coincides with this critical era when the entire universe is working towards ensuring that no child is denied access to basic education, which is a right. From the very beginning, the administration made it clear that it was committed to addressing the fundamental challenges that negatively affected the development of the basic education sub-sector in particular and the entire education sector in general.

This commitment led to the launch of the four-year strategic plan to completely re-position the education. One of the cardinal objectives of this plan that runs from 2011 to 2015 is the creation of access to quality education for Nigerians at all levels.

Since 2011, the administration has completely re-positioned the basic education sector. Two years down the line, the steps taken by the administration are now yielding positive results and Nigerians from all walks of life are keying into the plan of the Federal Government to ensure universal basic education for Nigerian children.

Spear-heading the Federal Government’s revival of basic education in the last two years is the Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike. He has two controlling philosophies that have driven his successful campaign to get less privileged Nigerian children get enrolled in schools and stay there to acquire life sustaining skills.

First, is that running the nation’s basic education would not be business as usual and the other, working assiduously towards achieving results rather than promoting bureaucracy.

Second, he works from everywhere in the country and has revolutionized monitoring and evaluation of projects and programmes at the highest level.

Across the nation, unprecedented achievements in the basic education sector dot the landscape. These projects are carefully designed to increase the enrolment of less privileged Nigerian children in basic education institutions. The projects are supported by a vibrant academic workforce being trained and retrained by the Federal Government.

Some of the projects that have increased access to basic education for the less privileged Nigerian out-of-school children include the Almajiri schools, the special girl-child schools and the out-of-school project for children in the south-south and southeast.

Over eighty percent of the Almajiri schools in parts of the country have been completed and are ready for the commissioning. These schools will cater for the need of the roving

• Rukayat

By Simeon Nwakaudu

Almajiris in the north and other parts of the country.

These schools will absorb a large number of the Almajiri, with the framework for the construction of additional three hundred Almajiri schools between 2013 and 2015 already in place. The interesting aspect of this programme is that several states in the north have bought into it and are constructing their own schools for these out-ofschool children.

The story has been the same for the girl-child in most parts of the north. The Federal Government has completed majority of the schools in sixteen states of the federation. By June ending, all the schools would have been completed. The aim of these schools is to grant access to basic education to girls hitherto left out due to cultural, religious and environmental reasons.

Collaborating with the state governments, teacher capacity development has been comprehensive since 2011. More than one million teachers and basic education administrators have benefitted from training programmes. The government has also initiated the Housing for All teachers programme, with the Nigerian Union of Teachers participating actively.

While the government has created access to basic education for a high percentage of Nigerian children, it has strengthened the distribution of free textbooks and instructional materials to these children for quality of education in the public schools to be guaranteed.

Other key projects that have taken place in the course of the last two years include; phased rehabilitation of Federal Unity Colleges, construction of e-library in selected unity colleges and sponsorship of self-help infrastructural programmes in communities.

Technical and vocational education and training have acquired a new meaning under the Jonathan administration. The hitherto neglected Federal Science and Technical Colleges have been given grants to reposition their facilities and equipment. This process of repositioning these schools is nearing completion in most of the schools. The new schools for the Boy-Child in the South-East and South-South about to be constructed will have elements of technical and vocational education infused in them.

Increased investments in the basic education sector by the administration have led to more foreign participation by international development partners all over the country.

Korea International Development Agency, Japan International Development Agency, British Department for International Development, the Chinese government and other global groups have helped in developing infrastructure and the capacity of teachers to improve access to basic education in the country.

Progressively, the enrolment of less privileged Nigerian children in basic education schools has increased under the Jonathan administration. This is expected because of the quality results attained due to the investments by the government and the sustained monitoring of the process of implementation. However, the population of out-of-school children is still on the high side. The good news is that with the level of commitment by the administration, if the target is not met by 2015, the percentage of work left undone will be minimal. The Federal Ministry of Education and other stakeholders are working towards achieving 70percent reduction of out of school children by 2015.

Before concluding this piece, it is instructive to point out that the four year strategic plan of the Federal Ministry of Education has two fundamental goals, creating access to education across all levels and maintaining quality. These two principal goals have been achieved from the basic through to the tertiary level of education.

Detailed above are key steps that have implemented in the basic education sub-sector.

However, in the tertiary education sub-sector, the Jonathan administration through the Federal Ministry of Education has established 12 New Federal Universities. Nine of these universities have started full operations, while the other three are building their operational framework. The Federal Ministry of Education has kick-started several programmes to develop a virile academia for all universities, state and Federal, with first class brains being trained in 25 world class universities.

The Jonathan administration has also released funds to all Federal and State Universities for the development of infrastructure though TETFUND. This was done after the first Needs Assessment of the Universities were conducted by the administration.

Therefore, for any stakeholder to opine that education has not grown under the administration tantamount to acute cerebral fixation. The type most social media enthusiasts have fallen into. Doling out criticism for the sake of it. Whatever assessments that should be made of the nation’s education sector must take into cognizance the position of the sector before the administration started her surgical remedial operation. To do otherwise would be unjust and pedestrian.

What is considered by most stakeholders in the educational circle to be the most important achievement of the administration in the education sector is the fact that most states are beginning to live up to their responsibility in development of this allimportant segment of our national life because the Federal Ministry of Education has provided the right example.

Nwakaudu is the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of State for Education.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

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70

THE NATION SPORT SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013

SPORT EXTRA

Ideye focuses on lifting Eagles again

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Musa's goal seal CSKA's Russian double

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IGERIA'S Ahmed Musa and Cote D'Ivoire's Seydou Doumbia scored the crucial goals for CSKA Moscow as they beat Anzhi Makhachkala on penalties in the Russian Cup final.

The win for ten-man CSKA Moscow means they have clinched the domestic double.

Musa gave CSKA an early lead, only for French international Lassana Diarra to pull Anzhi level in the 74th minute.

With no more goals in the 90 minutes or in extra time it was left to Doumbia to score the decisive spot kick.

The Red Army side started well and took the lead just seven minutes in with Musa's effort squirming past goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov from a tight angle.

Anzhi pushed forward in search of an equaliser but missed several clear chances before Diarra finally pulled them level in the 74th minute with a powerful strike past

CSKA keeper Igor Akinfeev.

CSKA were then dealt a blow three minutes from the end of regulation time when Swedish midfielder Pontus Wernbloom was shown a straight red card for a dangerous challenge on Ivory Coast striker Lacina Traore.

Brazilian forward Vagner Love came closest to winning the game for CSKA after that, but it came down to penalties.

Yuri Zhirkov had his kick against his old club saved while Jucilei also missed, leaving the path clear for Doumbia to score the winning kick.

It is the seventh time CSKA have won the Cup since the fall of the Soviet Union.

IGERIAN striker, Brown Ideye, says Super Eagles are in good shape to tackle their World Cup qualifiers opponent and he's looking forward to extend his scoring form in the clash against Kenya in June 5.

The Dynamo Kiev prolific striker has lived up to his own expectations after fulfilling his goal promise against Mexico where Nigeria played 2-2 draw against the CONCACAF champions in an international friendly match in the United States on Saturday morning.

Now, the Super Eagles will be looking towards a better performance when they battle Kenya and Namibia next week in order to book a flight for Brazil 2014 World Cup. “No doubt about our performance against Mexico, but like we all know that victory was the biggest expectation of our fans at home but it was a perfect game for both teams and I think we can build more on that against Kenya and Namibia,” said Ideye.

“I am personally expecting a big task against the two teams. It is going to be difficult, we all know that but we must conquer them. Everybody was expecting us to beat Mexico but I was not expecting a tough game and at the end we settled for a draw which I think it's good for us in this kind of situation.

Eagles, Mexico share the spoils

40 make MTN Football Soccer Academy list

A

F

orty youths have qualified for the MTN Football Soccer Academy. This is the second phase in the build-up to the final selection of winners in the third year of the programme's existence.

The session, which held at the National Stadium Legacy pitch, Lagos, over the weekend, was conducted by the technical team from Peculiar People Management (PPM), the project's consultants.

The Project Head, Kikelomo AtandaOwo, said the youth have shown exceptional interest in the programme, adding that about two thousand youths showed up in Lagos, out of which sixteen were selected. She said the rigorous selection process made it possible for only the best to emerge.

She said after the Academy in Lagos, the training will move to Wasimi, Ogun State, for another six days were the boys will sharpen their skills, adding that the process will finally lead to the selection of the potential finalists with the active participation of the foreign coaches who are being expected.

• Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, tee-off a Golf tournament marking the second anniversary of his administration at the Golf Resort, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta...yesterday

CMCL: Mark, Iredia headline amateur field

T

HE 15th edition of the annual CMCL Open Golf Championship ends today with Senate President David Mark highlighting a rich field that also has top amateurs and professionals vying for honours.

FRICAN champions Nigeria and 10-man Mexico settled for a 2-2 draw in a friendly played at Houston, Texas, USA, Saturday morning.

Watched by over 62,000 fans, both teams gave a good account of themselves, but as it was in their last meeting six years ago, it finished on an equal pegging for both continental champions.

Portugal-based John Ogu impressed in his first start for the Eagles and, with Nnamdi Oduamadi, will be a useful option for Nigeria at this level.

Mexico were the better side for the first 23 minutes of the game as the Super Eagles were confined to their own half.

Javier Hernandez, aka Chicharito, hit the bar in the 10th minute after he beat Austin Ejide in goal for the Eagles from six yards.

Mexico created a lot of chances within that period only to convert one when Chicharito finally put the ball into the net

beyond Ejide in the 21st minute.

Brown Ideye had earlier found the back of the net after he was set up by John Ogu in the 17th minute, but the effort was ruled offside.

Eagles fought back and won a penalty when Elderson Echiejile's goal-bound shot was handled by a Mexican and the resulting penalty was converted

by Ideye in the 29th minute to restore parity.

John Ogu made it 2-1 for Nigeria when his 20-yard leftfooted shot was deflected into the net in the 40th minute by Torrado.

Nnamdi Oduamadi's effort in the 63rd minute hit the bar.

Chicharito completed his brace in the 70th minute when he tapped in from close range to ensure there was no victor, no vanquished in this high-profile encounter.

It was the Manchester United birthday boy's 36th goal in 46 appearances for his country.

Also in the charge for trophy hunt in the amateur category is the former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Chief of Staff to Edo State government, Chief Sam Iredia, Uche Loius Okpunor, Barrister Tony Azogu, Okey Igwe, Emeka Okatta, Mohammed Sulaiman, amongst others.

Disclosing this in a chat with newsmen in Abuja during the week, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CMCL Golf Tours Limited, Frank Igbene, said he expected the amateur event of the competition to be a keenly contested one, noting that the calibre of amateur golfers expected on the

course on Saturday and Sunday is a testimony of what is to come.

While saying all necessary arrangements at ensuring that everything goes on as planned has been put in place, Igbene said participants in this year's edition will have something to cheer about.

“We have made all necessary arrangements for their welfare and comfort and have done everything to ensure that they enjoy their time with us. What I am also assuring the participant is that they will enjoy themselves on the course,” Igbene added.

A welcoming cocktail has been slated for Sunday evening.

Kanu: Why I founded Papillo FC

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WANKWO Kanu, twotime African Footballer of the Year, has exclusively told The Nation on Sunday that his desire to support development of football from the grassroots was the rationale behind the founding of a new club, Papillo Football Club, in his native Imo State.

Kanu said Papillo FC is an idea that has been well conceived after almost eight years of running a soccer academy, adding that the club would be a model to follow since it would be fashioned after some of the best clubs in the world.

“This gesture of founding Papillo FC is borne out of my desire to give back to the society

that made me,” said the former captain of the Super Eagles who incidentally led Nigeria to a historic soccer gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. “My desire is to ensure that the club plays in the Premier League “Though we are starting from the scratch, Papillo FC would be run like a club in the Premier League and you can be sure we shall give it our best shot,” added the former Arsenal star.

Our correspondent gathered that a top-level management team as well as professional coaches will be announced in due course with recruitment of players to begin in earnest.

Imo guber race and Ohakim’s volte face Continued from Page 26 Okorocha’s lawyer, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), contended that Ohakim was a beneficiary of the exercise of such power by INEC during the 2007 general elections when INEC cancelled the governorship elections in Imo. Ohakim was then the governorship candidate of the Progressive Peoples’ Alliance (PPA) for Imo. As a result of the violence which trailed the elections, INEC cancelled the election and ordered a fresh one which was later won by Ohakim.

In fact, when the APGA candidate, Chief Martins Agbaso, went to court, the Supreme Court upheld the sanctity of INEC’s power to cancel elections in such circumstances.

Okorocha further argued that Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended gives INEC the power to postpone an election and not to declare anyone the winner of the election until the supplementary elections have been held. This is precisely what took place in Imo on April 26, 2011.

In dismissing PDP’s appeal, the Court of Appeal in the lead judgment delivered by Justice Tijani Abdullahi held that: “Although the PDP made heavy weather of the fact that there were no cogent and verifiable reasons which could have made INEC to order the supplementary elections that took place on May 6, 2011, with due respect to the

senior learned counsel, their case in the lower tribunal was that elections took place in the four disputed local government areas, but the witnesses in support of that claim testified to the effect that election did not take place due to thuggery and violence in the affected local government areas.

“In the light of the foregoing, I am of the considered view that non holding of election is a cogent and verifiable reason to justify the conduct of supplementary election, more so when the petitioner/appellant who claimed that elections held called witnesses that helped to destroy its case.

“I am of the considered view that whatever name designated by INEC whether supplementary, additional, continuation, conclusion and or wind up is a matter of nomenclature which cannot derail from the fact that what was crucial and fundamental is that the election aimed at ensuring that the kick started election on 26th April 2011 was concluded. This is most especially that INEC has no control of the supervising circumstances involved in the process of the conduct of the election which the appellant itself conceded has so many components starting from the first to the final stage” he declared.

It would be recalled that Ararume of the ACN had gone to the Federal High Court Owerri to challenge the supplementary elec-

tions of May 6th, 2012 but the court dismissed the suit on the ground that the subject matter of the case was a post- election matter which ought to have been submitted to election tribunal for adjudication.

Both ACN and Ararume were dissatisfied with the judgment and consequently filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal in Owerri.

While the appeal was pending, Ohakim sought to join and asked that he should be given an opportunity to challenge the judgment of the high court.

Okorocha objected to Ohakim’s application to join, but the Court of Appeal, in a ruling delivered by Justice Hussein Mukhtar, dismissed the objection and consequently made Ohakim an appellant in the case.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Okorocha through his counsel filed an appeal at the Supreme Court.

In the appeal, Okorocha argued that Ohakim’s party, PDP, had earlier challenged the subject matter of the suit at the election petition tribunal, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court and lost.

According to him, to allow Ohakim to challenge the high court’s judgment on appeal is to afford him the opportunity to pursue two remedies against the same infraction in two courts at the same time.

Okorocha posed two issues for determi-

nation: Whether by the combined effect of S. 233(1), (2) & (7) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and S. 133 (1) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended), as well as the relief sought at the lower court by 1stRespondent (Chief Ikedi Ohakim) in his notice of appeal, the lower court has jurisdiction to entertain the appeal of the 1st Respondent and grant the relief sought while not sitting as an election petition appellate court.

Secondly, whether the lower court has jurisdiction to hear the appeal of the 1st Respondent, the subject matter and the relief being sought having been heard and determined by the Supreme Court on 2nd March, 2012 in an election appeal No. SC/17/2012 – PDP Vs Okorocha and others.

There are two issues for determination here and they are whether a candidate whose matter has already been heard and decided by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal can re-open such a case and whether such a case constitutes an abuse of court process as the issue that were decided on by the Tribunal and Court of Appeal are one and the same.

•Ogbonnaya writes from Owerri

THE NATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2013

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QUOTABLE ‘Hardly a day goes by without news of fresh slaughter of fellow citizens in one part of the country or the other. We have violent insurgents, armed robbers and kidnappers. While these may, in a sense, be seen as part of nation building, the danger is that we may be proceeding at a pace that would destroy the very nation that we seek to build.”

SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 7, NO. 2504

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AR is hell. Civil war is hell gone mad.

Once fighting began, Syria became a tragedy foretold. A society and government short on tolerance but fully conversant with ruthlessness and its attendant crafts of misrule were thrust into tumult by the protests many cheered as part of the "Arab Spring." Arab it was. Spring it wasn't. As events unfolded, what occurred proved worse than the most biting winter.

A harsh nation in a dark neighborhood where friends are more dangerous than enemies, Syria was not well suited for the protests. Rarely do protests against a paranoid regime yield placid results. While liberty and justice might be the aim, the result tends toward the opposite initially. Dictators do not respond to democratic protests by offering the olive branch or more democracy. They respond by offering more dictatorship. Such was the case in Syria. The morally vacant Assad regime would flash the mailed fist to deal with the protests.

A minority government with a callous reputation, the Assad regime knew the protests could roll into something challenging the regime's very survival. The friends Assad has in the international community could be counted on fingers of one hand yet leaving at least two of those digits unencumbered in the accounting. Lurking behind the protests was the sectarian rivalry between Assad's Alawite minority and the nation's Sunni majority.

Unless the protesters backed down after their initial forays, conflagration was inevitable. For good measure, toss in subterranean tribal fissures in both camps and a dose of international intrigue as leaven.

The contrived peace that had been imposed by force was set to expire. It would do so in puffs of smoke, fusillades of bullets and the roadside heaping of the corpses of the innocent, the guilty and the indifferent.

This is the worst type of civil war. Pitting a minority regime against a fragmented majority opposition, the eruption forecasted stalemate. The regime enjoys the preponderance of material assets but not by such numbers as to overcome its lack of faithful followers. Most in government belong to the Sunni majority. Their membership in government was a marriage of convenience. Few things are as inconvenient as civil war. When the pinch came, their loyalty also became suspect. For Assad, this is more than a pinch. It is a vise grip closing on his throat. Thus, his government has effectively shrunk to where half of those in it are suspected opposition collaborators. Assad fights the rebels while keeping his second eye on perceived enemies within. It is hard enough to quash an uprising using all a government's assets and energy. Using half of that inventory makes the task impossible.

The rebels have greater people power but the power is unharnessed, wild and as often directed against internecine rivals as against the ogre government. Thusly fragmented, it cannot be viewed as a unified opposition. It too is a marriage of convenience, wedding genuine democrats, opportunists, carpetbaggers, tribalists, Sunni chauvinists, and radical jihadists. Should Assad suddenly fall, these disparate elements will lunge with equal ferocity at each other as much as they will attack the hapless remnant of Assad loyalists. Because they lack unity and also have inferior arsenals and military experience, the rebels are not strong enough by themselves to topple Assad.

Aided by Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah, Assad has tipped the extant balance in his favor. He still remains unable to exterminate the rebels. As things stand, however, he believes he can preside over a rump Syria. Given the alternative of dangling from the wrong end of a thick rope or of being hauled before the International Criminal Court, Assad would gladly rule this abbreviated tract indefinitely.

Meanwhile the rebels are furious at the West.

In Western calls for Assad's departure, the rebels thought they heard the unmistaken language of material support. They saw Libya being repeated in their homeland. The West wanted Assad gone but did not want to entangle themselves in protracted misadventure. Libya had proven harder than envisioned. Syria would be harder still, with the outcome less certain. Te West, including America, has given clandestine support and weapons but not at a decisive magnitude. This dollop augments the war materiel provided by conservative Sunni regimes like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar; still, the total cannot tip the scales.

Ironically, some of these weapons will fall into the possession of Al Qaeda and other jihadist elements in the opposition. That this same situation played in Libya brings into question the primacy the West, especially America, publicly gives its antiterrorism policies. While Syria can be considered a bad card in all categories, it is hard to believe Syria has been a more active and geographically diverse

—Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, raising the alarm on the threat security challenges pose to the nation’s unity

A swamp called Syria

•Civil War is as a crazed lion devouring its own flesh; only the sobriety that comes from weariness shall stop it.

• US President Barack Obama

• Syria President, Bashar al-Assad

BRIAN

BROWNE terrorist threat than Al Qaeda and its jumble of franchises and affiliated groups. Apparently, the war on terror has conditional primacy for the West. If there is chance to pick off an unfriendly Middle Eastern nation, the West will cooperate with the dreaded terrorists to achieve the task, even though who might ascend to govern the downcast nation remains uncertain. This tryst with terror groups strengthens the groups by equipping them and giving them a fighting chance at influence in or even leadership of the newborn government. Apparently, the West would rather toss the future of unfriendly nations upon the wheel of blind fortune than to focus on minimizing the impact of terrorist groups. Western nations evidently believe they can stifle large-scale attacks on their territories. Thus, they can now return to the timeworn practice of picking off recalcitrant nations.

This policy shows neo-conservative thought retains primacy even after the Bush years. President Bush designated several nations as evil. Syria was among them. While the world has moved on and danger spots have evolved, American policy seems to have remained static at its core. This is a most curious and low-minded policy. Osama bin Laden was begotten by the blowback from the West's cynical support for jihadists in Afghanistan during the 1980s. This time it might produce a scourge more virulent. Hopefully, it will not be born in the urban battlefields of a crumbling Syria. However, if the West persists with this tack, the blowback will occur in some desolate, broken land.

The war has stabbed into the marrow of Syrian society. The death toll exceeds 70,000; one million people have been displaced. More are disfigured and wounded. None will forget this grisly woe.

Horror is written on the face of children and lodges in the wombs of those who should be giving birth to a more optimistic generation. The mounting violence ferments sectarian tension. Senseless killing demands an answer: That answer is usually hatred.

With each innocent Sunni killed, other Sunnis inch closer to blaming all Alawites for wanting to suppress them. The death of a guiltless Alawite sparks fear in that community of a bloodbath should Assad fall. Neighbor looks at long-time neighbor with new fear. In a civil war, even the initially indifferent become partisan because the ethnic or sectarian divide that shapes the battlefield comes to define the entire nation. This already harsh political system and the society underpinning are sundering, gradually but inexorably to the point that repair will be measured in decades not in years.

Superimpose international rivalry on this picture. What emerges is the turbid portrait of a genu-

ine catastrophe.

Heretofore the West hoped to oust Assad by the power of positive thinking. When this failed, the spigot of clandestine aid was opened. That proved inadequate. A few months ago in an attempt to restrain Assad and pre-position the Syrian leader as being criminally responsible for potential American intervention, the American president proclaimed the use of chemical weapons would be "a game changer," implying America would deliver militarily decisive aid to the opposition or get even more directly involved. The statement was tantamount to striding out on a narrow ledge. It would encourage renegade Syrian troops or rebels to deploy chemical weapons on a small scale to provoke a massive U.S. response. It would make little sense for Assad to order such a deployment unless he was certain the American statement was pure bluff. Assad is ruthless but not so reckless as to take the unnecessary gamble. The inhumane use of any chemical weapons was probably done by solders outside the chain-of-command or by agents provocateurs trying to elicit a muscular American response.

When confronted by foggy evidence of deployment of the despicable weapons, President Obama wisely retreated from the precipice. Exercising prudence, he did not take the bait. His move was roundly condemned by America's conservatives as having sacrificed the nation's credibility. These people complain because they somehow ache for more war notwithstanding Afghanistan and Iraq.

They seem to prefer America on permanent war footing. It must be good for their stock portfolios as it makes little sense from the standpoint of national interests. To his credit, Obama ignored their protestations. He realized leaping to war based on such scant evidence would not have added to America's global credibility. It would have confirmed either American naiveté or its war lust.

European leaders have been more hawkish than President Obama. In the face of Assad's recently military gains, the European Union seeks to reestablish a more even balance. Consequently, it ended the arms embargo on Syria, meaning it will start openly supplying the opposition. However, given the EU's history of half promises and given the uneven Libyan performance of key EU members, the opposition still might be disappointed by the wares it gets. The EU move will place pressure on America to openly supply the rebels. At some point, America will join the line.

Meanwhile, Israeli takes occasional potshots at Syrian installations and Hezbollah soldiers entering Syria. Israel dislikes Assad because of his sup-

port for Hezbollah in Lebanon and because of the disputed Golan Heights. However, Israel is wary of his downfall because of the complete breakdown of order it might occasion. Israel would rather see Syria in indefinite turmoil. The uncertainty furnishes a credible reason for Israel to be skittish about peace talks with anyone, including the Palestinians. Moreover, the global attention directed at Syria deflects the overall pressure on Israel to talk peace.

On Syria's side stand Russia, Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah. In the shadows, hides China. Russia has too much invested in Syria, including a naval installation, to walk away from Assad. In a demonstration of support that counters the EU arms action and that will make Israel think twice about airstrikes, Russia is giving Assad new anti-air missiles. No nation makes such an expensive, obvious gift to a leader who it believes will soon be scurrying for his life. Iran has been Syria's best friend in the region. Iran needs a friendly Syria as a conduit to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Without a cordial Syria, Hezbollah's supply line is truncated to the extent the group will lose ground in Lebanon. Thus, Assad's fight for survival is its own. Iraq is also a conduit of war materiel and personnel to Syria and Hezbollah. A Syria in the hands of a Sunni government with jihadist inclinations could foment Sunni resentment in Iraq, moving that already frail, febrile nation to the threshold of civil war. The Syrian crisis magnifies the Sunni/Shi'a divide throughout the region which could spark real problems in other nations.

On balance, the western nations opposing Assad are stronger than the half-handful aligned with him. While this is serious business, it remains a bit of a lark for the West. Their existence is not threatened by the war. They have something to gain but little to lose in the contest. They will calculate how much to invest and will go no further. For them, this is a limited proxy war. For Assad's allies, especially Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah, more is at stake.

Significant interests, if not their outright existence, hold in the balance. While they have fewer assets than the West, they are willing to give more from the little they have. Much like the internal Syrian balance, the international balance of power and effort portends stalemate. However, the introduction of additional weaponry will escalate the lethality and destructiveness of the stalemate.

In what is likely a hollow gesture at this point, the US and Russia, though on opposite sides of this matter, joined by the UN seek to sponsor peace talks. Buoyed by recent tactical military gains, Assad is eager to attend talks. With his ship currently riding high tide, any agreement achieved at the talks must memorialize his currently strong position. A few months ago, observers were talking about the regime collapsing from within and Assad escaping in the dead of night with but the shirt on his back.

Today, he speaks of running for reelection next year. The opposition has no present desire for talks.

Their sine qua non is Assad's ouster; but a strong Assad will not step toward the exit let alone walk through it. Consequently, the opposition wants to continue fighting in order to change the shape of the battlefield before approaching the negotiating table.

This problem is inherent with all wars, particularly civil wars. Rarely do both sides simultaneously see an advantage in negotiating. It may take years and concomitant war fatigue before the parties negotiate. In war, combatants rarely come to the table as a function of wisdom or reason. They usually do so because out of weariness.

Without divine intervention or the sudden irruption of wisdom among the leaders of both sides, war shall continue for some time to come. Those who head the rival sides have little to fear personally war's continuance. They live in padded comfort far from the daily misery and the macabre.

They bear little of the physical brunt of war. They don't experience the physical danger or the material deprivation. The anonymous, common man, woman and child whose only dream was to live a decent existence in relative peace and comfort will bear the brunt.

Their dreams now shattered, they exist to survive. They are no longer human beings. They are objects in a dreadful game of sniper fire, indiscriminate bombing and rash executions. For them, this is not war and this war is not about them or their interests. In a situation like this, the prospective leaders who hold the interests of the people to heart are rarely those who possess enough military power to take over. Those who hold such power, on either side of the fight, are not those most interested in the people. This war is but a contest between those who want to rule but not necessarily improve the nation. For the Syrian people, this war is hell. For the rest of us, it is a hellish reminder that the best way to end a civil war is never to start one.

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ISSN: 115-5302 E-mail: sunday@thenationonlineng.net Editor: FESTUS ERIYE