June 6, 2014

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•AND MORE •Aggrieved PDP aspirants seek N11m refund ON PAGE 10 •Opinion poll rates Fayemi ahead of Fayose, Bamidele •PDP’ll win, says Adeyeye•Police undergo training

down interest rates

Police repel Biafra group

A

From Nduka Chiejina, Abuja

ENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele yesterday promised a gradual reduction in interest rates, signalling a shift from the monetary policy of his predecessor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

This will be the first time in two years that the CBN will be aiming to reduce the interest rates to single digit. The rates have remained at 12 per cent since 2011.

Speaking at a news conference at the CBN, Abuja HeadquarContinued on page 2

•www.thenationonlineng.net

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

EKITI 2014 Emefiele to bring

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•Argentina a strong side, Messi warns Eagles •Babangida tips team to TS SPORTS reach quarter finals SPOR Page 24 •FIFA ranks Nigeria 44th

•Emefiele...yesterday

B IAFRA separatist group yesterday failed in its bid to overrun the Enugu State Government and seize a radio station.

The police stopped the Biafra Zionist Movement (BZM) from achieving its aim and arrested its leader, Ben Onwuka and 12 others.

A police sergeant and a member of the group died dur-

•Two dead in gun battle at radio station From Chris Oji, Enugu

ing a gun battle at the Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS).

Onwuka, a United Kingdom-based lawyer, armed with a CD Rom for a broadcast to declare a “Republic of Biafra”, led members to the sta-

•Mothers of some of the abducted Chibok girls in Lagos...yesterday.

tion. The defunct Eastern region attempted secession as Biafra Republic which led to a 30-month Civil War between 1967 and January 1970.

In the early hours of March 7, the group attacked the Continued on page 59

PHOTOS: ADEJO DAVID

Chibok girls: Govt to adopt U.S.-Taliban swap model

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WHERE ARE THE CHIBOK GIRLS KIDNAPPED ON APRIL 15?

Mothers agonise over abducted pupils Boko Haram kills 42

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HE Presidency is under pressure to adopt the America-Taliban prisoner swap model in getting back the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls, it was gathered yesterday.

Under the deal, the United States (U.S.) got back its soldier, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for five Taliban prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay

From Yusuf Alli and Grace Obike, Abuja

in Cuba.

Sources said the Presidency is being prevailed upon to follow the U.S. example and reconsider its stand not to swap the girls for detained Boko Haram members.

Last month, the Presidency rejected

the sect’s demand for a prisoner swap, saying to accede to the request would amount to fueling insurgency.

There are, however, signs that it may change gear, following National Orientation Agency (NOA) DirectorGeneral Mike Omeri’s statement on Wednesday that negotiation with the sect has not been foreclosed.

Some mothers of the abducted girls spoke to reporters in Lagos yesterday on the agony they are going through.

Some clerics and government officials are said to be working secretly on a ‘deal’ with Boko Haram to rescue the girls, who were abducted from the Government Secondary School in Continued on page 2

•APC FAULTS CLARK’S POSITION ON EMERGENCY IN NORTHEAST P7

2

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

NEWS Chibok girls: Govt to adopt U.S.-Taliban swap model Continued from page 1

Chibok, Borno State, on April 15.

A timeline was said to have been set for the ‘deal’, but the parties are keeping it under wraps.

Some of those suspected to be part of the new initiative have

switched off their phones to avoid any action capable of frustrating the ‘deal’.

A highly-placed source, who spoke in confidence, said: “There is pressure on the Presidency to have a rethink on its no-swap position. These forces are saying the government should adopt the US-Taliban model or a variant of it.

“So far, the government has not foreclosed negotiation or a kind of understanding with Boko Haram to set the girls free.

“The target of the Presidency is to get the Chibok girls dilemma off national discourse as soon as possible.

“The government also does not want any rescue operation that will hurt the girls in any manner whatsoever.”

Answering a question, the source added: “Something tangible is in the offing, there is covert discussion going on as I talk to you.

“I think it involves some clerics and contacts respected by Boko Haram. There is hope for the release of the girls if all the parties reach consensus on time.”

On Wednesday, suspected Boko Haram members struck again on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State, killing 42 persons.

Also yesterday, the Presidential Fact-Finding Committee on the Abduction of Chibok Girls said it is not being teleguided by anyone or group.

It said no Presidency official has knowledge of its activities.

In a statement by its member spokesperson, Mr. Kingsley Osadolor, the panel said: “The

•Three of the girls that were freed by Boko Haram abductors in Lagos...yesterday.

PHOTOS: ADEJO DAVID Behind them is U.S. Congressman Gohmert

•A weeping mother being consoled ...yesterday.

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Mothers agonise over abducted pupils

ITH heavy hearts, mothers of some of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls yesterday in Lagos recalled their nightmares since the April 15 incident.

The women, at a gathering at the Intercontinental Hotel on Victoria Island, Lagos, said they were worried over the Federal Government’s handling of the girls’ rescue.

In the audience were visiting United States (U.S.) Congressman Louie Gohmert, former Lagos State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) and founder of a non-governmental organisation, Omoluabi Network, Pastor Ladi Thompson.

The event was organised by the Omoluabi Network in conjunction with the Chibok-based Gabassawa Women led by Kusheli Balami and the California-based Erica Grieve-led Unlikely HePresidential Fact-finding Committee on the Abduction of Chibok Schoolgirls has read recent reports insinuating that the Presidency is on a mission to either frustrate or manipulate the report of the committee.

“The reports have emerged on the heels of reactions to comments credited to some officials of the Federal Government.

“The Presidential fact-finding

By Dada Aladelokun, Assistant Editor

roes.

The gathering was moved to tears when Mrs. Esther Yakubu, Mrs Ruth Bitris and Mrs Monica Sitover, who were accompanied by three of the escapee girls, told their stories.

There was pin drop silence as Mrs Yakubu relived the April 15 bitter enterprise.

In tears, she said: “April 14 is a date I will never forget in history. It was around 11pm when my mother-in-law called to wake me up to what still remains a nightmare to me. She told me that she heard that some gunmen had come to abduct our children in school. I heeded her call and made towards the school. Guns boomed between about 11.30pm and about 4am. I was almost dead where I hid, shivering.

“They broke into the school’s premises

committee on the Chibok Abduction wishes to state categorically that those who have expressed their opinion on aspects of the committee’s terms of reference are not members of the Fact-finding committee.

“They have never attended any meeting of the committee, nor have they been participantobservers at the various interactive sessions the committee has held in Abuja,

with a rocket launcher. I passed through there into the premises. They set everything on fire. I got to the hostel; it was empty. It was at that point that it dawned on me that they had kidnapped my first baby. Then, I asked God repeatedly: “Why me … why me…?”

She could not continue as she was overwhelmed by tears. Mrs. Yakubu begged the government to rise to the situation and rescue the girls.

Mrs Bitris, who spoke through Pastor Philip Madu, said she wept until she could no longer walk before Pastor Thompson and his co-caregivers came to bring them to Lagos for therapy.

“I cannot explain what has kept me alive this far since the devil’s agent invaded our children’s school, carting them away. Before then, we had lived together as our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

Our religious beliefs never meant any-

Maiduguri, and Chibok.”

Saying no Presidency official has knowledge of its workings, it added: “Indeed no Presidency official has been privy to the minutes of the proceedings of the committee. Since the committee commenced work following its inauguration on May 6, the committee has issued media statements and granted interviews as the need arose. In other words, the Fact-finding

Continued on page 59

committee has communicated through its designated Member/ Spokesperson.

“The Presidential Fact-finding Committee wishes to assure all Nigerians and other stakeholders that the statements credited to certain officials are their personal views, which did not emanate either directly or indirectly from the Committee.

Continued on page 59

Jonathan: security challenges less in PDP states

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has called the bluff of the five governors and other chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The exit, he said, was not being felt by the party.

Besides, he said “security challenges are less in PDP states because of the commitment of the governors”.

The governors that defected to the APC are Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Abdul-

From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

fatah Ahmed (Kwara).

Other notable chieftains of the PDP that left for the APC include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former PDP Acting National Chairman Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, former PDP Deputy National Chairman Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, among others.

Also, no fewer than 37 members of the House of Representatives and 11 senators defected from the ruling party.

Speaking yesterday at the PDP National Executive Com-

Boko Haram kills 42

mittee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, the President said: “There was a time, especially when some of our governors for one reason or the other, moved and some members of the National Assembly also moved and people were saying that these people will overrun PDP “From the privileged position that I am, I see wider.

When I looked across, I did not really see that threat. Psychologically, we must let everybody know that PDP is still the dominant party.

“Even though some people Continued on page 59

•Some of the mothers...yesterday

•Troops repel attack in Adamawa

S

•Dr. Jonathan

USPECTED Islamist militants dressed as soldiers rounded up and killed at least 42 villagers in Borno State, the centre of an escalating insurgency increasingly targeting civilians, a police source said.

The assault in Bardari on Wednesday evening came a day after officials and witnesses said raiders killed scores of people in three other villages in the state, where Boko Haram insurgents first

launched their campaign to carve out an Islamist state.

The gunmen in military uniform called the Bardari villagers together, then opened fire, the police source told Reuters. “The people couldn’t identify them in time as terrorists.”

The militants then fled, crossing a river and setting fire to houses in the neighbouring village of Kayamla, Continued on page 59

CBN Governor Emefiele to take interest rates to single digit Continued from page 1

ters, Emefiele said.

“There is no doubt that reducing interest rates and maintaining exchange rates are very daunting twin goals,” adding, “however, the central bank will work assiduously to ensure that these goals are mutually achieved.”

But, analysts warned that reducing interest rates too quickly could hurt the naira and stoke inflation.

Emefiele said: “High interest rates create a perverse incentive for commercial banks to simply buy virtually risk-free government bonds rather than lend to the real sector.

To enhance financial access and reduce borrower cost of credit, the CBN, he said, “would pursue policies targeted at making

Nigeria’s Treasury Bill (T-Bill) rates more comparable with other emerging markets and by extension, pursue a reduction in both deposit and lending rates.”

A reduction in deposit rates he said “would encourage investment attitudes in savers, a reduction in lending rates would make credit cheaper for potential investors.”

The CBN, he said, would also begin to include the “unemployment rates as one of the key variables considered for its monetary policy decisions, but in the interim, will continue to maintain a monetary policy stance, reflecting the liquidity conditions in the economy as well as the potential fiscal expansion in the run-up to the 2015 general elections.”

Emefiele said all charges on deposits have been stopped with immediate effect, adding that this

is to ensure that the CBN has more cash under its control.

This decision Emefiele said, was taken because “we have become aware of complaints by customers particularly regarding the charges being imposed for cash deposits. This has resulted in customers devising various means to avoid the charges through opening of multiplicity of accounts and other disingenuous behaviour all aimed at undermining the objective of this policy.”

On Exchange Rate Policy under his tenure, Emefiele said: “The bank will continue to focus on maintaining exchange rate stability and preserve the value of the domestic currency.

“The will sustain the managed float regime in the management of the exchange rate, as this will allow the bank to intervene when necessary to offset pressures on

the exchange rate and to support this strategy, we will strive to build-up and maintain a healthy external reserves position and ensure external balance.”

He reiterated that “Charges on withdrawals, in view of their eventual elimination, remain sustained at the current 3 per cent for individual transactions exceeding N500,000 and 5 per cent for corporate transactions exceeding N3 million. Currently, these fees go entirely to the commercial banks. However, going forward, the Central Bank shall determine what percentage of these fees on excess drawings that will be redeemed by the bank while the rest shall be remitted to the CBN.” The core of his vision, he said, would be “to effectively manage potential threats to financial stability, and create a strong gover-

nance regime that is conducive for financial intermediation, innovative finance and inclusiveness.”

This vision, he noted, would be anchored on two main pillars which are: “managing factors that create liquidity shocks and zero tolerance on practices that undermine the health of financial institutions.”

To achieve these goals, the CBN, he said would work with the relevant stakeholders to aggressively shore up reserves.

“We hope to engage the fiscal and political authorities, as well as other stakeholders to improve our policy buffers, which will further create space for the Bank to implement monetary policy using its limited instruments.

The CBN’s new agenda for development finance, Emefiele said would be hinged on the core

principle “that the CBN will act as a financial catalyst by targeting predetermined sectors that can create jobs on a mass scale and significantly reduce our import bills.”

Some of the bank’s developmental functions, he said “will include credit allocations and direct interventions in key sectors of the economy such as Power, Agriculture, MSME, Oil & Gas, and Health. While playing an active developmental role, the CBN will not only operate within the law and its mandate but will also be transparent about what it believes as strategic and appropriate interventions.”

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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NEWS

Pension

•Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele (right) speaking at a news conference on the New Vision of the CBN in Abuja...yesterday. With him are Deputy Governor, Operations Kingsley Moghalu (left) and Deputy Governor, PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN. Corporate Services Sulieman Barau.

The amendment to the executive pension law in Akwa Ibom State sparked heated debate over pension packages for public officials in the country. But how does it work elsewhere? This is how it works in the United States, Canada and Britain, writes WALE AJETUNMOBI

•Carter

N Nigeria, most ex-governors and ex-presidents are technically still in power. Though sirens no longer announce their entry and exit at events and long convoys no longer go everywhere with them, they still get generous benefits from the governments’ coffers.

The law, as passed in Akwa Ibom, for instance, empowers a former governor to employ a cook, driver and security guards at a sum up to N5m per month. A former governor will also be entitled to free medical services of up to N100m per annum.

Another benefit is a five-bed room maisonette in either Abuja or any part of Akwa Ibom State.

The situation is not different in some other states. Some just keep theirs out of public glare. At the federal level, former Heads of State or Presidents and their deputies earn the same salaries as the incumbents.

The government also pays their personal staff and other emoluments.

Other benefits include: free medical services with members of his immediate family, 30 days vacation in or outside the country, office accommodation anywhere he wants, a well-furnished five-bedroom house anywhere in the country, an annual payment for upkeep of their spouse(s) and education allowance of their children up to the university level.

But what is the situation in the United States, which practices presidential system like Nigeria? The Nation finds out that there are similarities. But the system has been borrowed with ‘obscene’ local variations. Former U.S. Presidents are provided $96,000 for personnel compensation annually, a $201,700 pension annually and as much as an additional $990,000 in various benefits. An ex-president is provided limited funding for an office staff and “suitable office space, appropriately furnished and equipped,” at a location within the United States designated by a former President, for the rest of his lifetime.

A document authored by Wendy Ginsberg, an analyst in American National Government and published in April for the Congressional Research Service, gives an insight into the presidential pension regime in the United States.

It reads: “The Former Presidents Act (FPA; 3 U.S.C. §102 note) charges the General Services Administration (GSA) with providing former Presidents a pension, support staff, office support, travel funds, and mailing privileges. The FPA was enacted to “maintain the

dignity” of the Office of the President. The act provides the former President—and his or her spouse— certain benefits to help him respond to post-presidency mail and speaking requests, among other informal public duties often required of a former President. Prior to enactment of the FPA in 1958, former Presidents leaving office received no pension or other federal assistance.

Former Presidents currently receive a pension that is equal to pay for Cabinet Secretaries (Executive Level I), which was $199,700 in calendar year 2013. Executive Level I pay is set at $201,700 for calendar year 2014. In addition to benefits provided pursuant to the FPA, former Presidents are also provided Secret Service protection and financial “transition” benefits to assist their transition to post-presidential life. Pursuant to the FPA, former Presidents are eligible for benefits unless they hold “an appointive or elective office or position in or under the Federal Government or the government of the District of Columbia to which is attached a rate of pay other than a nominal rate.”

In 2014, the Congress appropriated $3,550,000 for expenditures for former Presidents, $113,000 (3.1 per cent) less than the $3,663,000 appropriated for 2013. For next year, President Obama requested $3,344,000 for expenditures for former Presidents.

On January 10, last year, Obama signed the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012 , which extended lifetime Secret Service protection to former Presidents and their children.

Prior to the bill’s enactment, President George W. Bush would have been the first former President to have his post-presidency Secret Service protection limited to 10 years.

Data on payments to former Presidents show that the value of benefits provided to each of the living former Presidents—when adjusted for inflation—have generally declined from 1998 through 2014.

The nominal appropriation levels for former Presidents’ benefits, however, increased through FY2011 and then declined from FY2011 through FY2014.

This report provides a legislative and cultural history of the Former Presidents Act. It details the benefits provided to former Presidents and their costs. Congress has the authority to reduce, increase, or maintain the pension and benefits provided to former Presidents of the United States.

I

• Senator Bukola Saraki (middle), Governor of Riyadh, Prince Turki bin Abdullah BIn Abdul Aziz Al Saud (right) and Mr Richard Shittu when Saraki visited the governor.

•Public Relations &Event Manager, Dufill Prima Foods,Tope Asiwaju (left) speaking at a news conference on Indomie Heroic Award in Lagos...yesterday. With him are Head, Marketing Manpreet Singh and Brand Manager Disna Agarwal PHOTO: BOLA OMILABU

•From left: Marketing Manager, Fidson Healthcare Plc Mr. Friday Enaholo, Genral Manager ,Marketing Mr. Ola Ijimakin and Corporate Services Manager Mr. Oladimeji Oduyebo at thelaunch of new Gascol Sugar Free Varian tin Lagos.

PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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laws…Lessons from America ‘ No statutes explicitly govern the payment of health benefits for former Presidents. Generally, however, former federal employees must be enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program for five years to qualify for health benefits

•Clinton

This report considers the potential effects of maintaining the FPA or amending the FPA in ways that might reduce or otherwise modify a former President’s benefits.”

Separate statutes provide U.S. Secret Service protection to former Presidents.

In the U.S., the more recently a former President left office, the higher the cost of his federal benefits. For example, in 2014, George W. Bush, the former President who left office most recently (January 2009), had the highest annual pension and benefit costs among the four living former Presidents ($1,287,000). Former President Jimmy Carter, the living former President with the longest tenure out of office (he left office in January 1981), drew the smallest pension and benefits ($470,000). Also in 2014, former President George W. Bush received a larger appropriation to pay for personnel benefits ($88,000) than former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, or William J. Clinton received ($0 for Carter, $66,000 for George H.W. Bush, and $61,000 for Clinton). The pension and benefits paid to former Presidents George W. Bush and Clinton in 2014, when added together, comprise 63.0 per cent of all benefits paid to the four living former Presidents and the widows of the former Presidents.

Ginsberg added that “in 2014, office space rental payments were the highest category of cost for former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. Former President Clinton received the highest appropriation for office space ($450,000). Former President George W. Bush’s office space costs ($440,000) were $10,000 less than former President Clinton’s costs. According to GSA, the appropriations provided for office space are estimates “based on prior year actual obligations and anticipated changes” to those obligations for the next fiscal year.”

There are also health benefits for U.S. ex-presidents. But it is radically different from the Akwa Ibom example and others.

“No statutes explicitly govern the payment of health benefits for former Presidents. Generally, however, former federal employees must be enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits programme for five years to qualify for health benefits (5 U.S.C. §8905(a)). GSA, historically, has interpreted similar service requirements for a former President to qualify as a federal annuitant

•Bush jnr

(defined in 5 U.S.C. §8901. Presidential terms are four years. Jimmy Carter served a single presidential term, and, therefore, does not qualify for federally funded health benefits. Although George H.W. Bush served only one term as President, he is entitled to federal health benefits because of his extensive federal service in other positions, including Director of Central Intelligence and Ambassador to the United Nations, and Vice President.

While former President George H.W. Bush is eligible for federal health benefits, he opts not to receive them. Since former President Clinton served two presidential terms and receives a monthly pension, GSA’s position is that he quali-

‘

•Akpabio

fies for federal health benefits.

George W. Bush is eligible for and receives federal health benefits,” said Ginsberg.

Britain and Canada also have a system similar to the U.S.’s In Britain, since 1937, Britain’s former prime ministers have received a pension equal to half of their ministerial salary. They have also received an office, secretarial support, a car and driver. In November 2012, the Canadian Parliament enacted the Pension Reform Act, which substantially reduced the pension provided to a former prime minister.

The new law decreased the pension benefits associated directly with his or her service as prime minister to 3 per cent of his or her salary multi-

plied by his or her years of service.

As a result of the legislation, a former prime minister is eligible for pension benefits as a former member of Parliament.

Significantly, even in the United States, there are criticisms of the Former Presidents Act. Some critics say it subsidises Presidents who are not struggling financially. Representative Chaffetz, during the 112th Congress, noted that while he did not want former presidents “living the remainder of their lives destitute,” that “none of our former presidents are poor.”

They also point out that every living former President has earned money from publishing an autobiography or presidential

memoir.

“Some former Presidents also reportedly earn millions of dollars each year from paid speaking engagements. Some argue that the expectations placed on former Presidents have changed, and so too should the pension and benefits they are provided. H.R. 248, for example, would cap a President’s pension benefit at $200,000, and significantly limited the other benefits provided,” Ginsberg noted.

Others argue that although a former President is not in a formal public position, he remains a public figure and should be provided a pension and benefits that permit him to perform duties that emerge as a result of his public status.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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NEWS Explosion in Dankwabo’s home

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja and Vincent Ekhoragbon, Gombe

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HERE was an explosion last night in the home of Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwabo.

An Armoured Personnel carrier (APC) in front of the house exploded, killing the two security men trapped inside it. Six others were injured in the blast, which happened around 7pm.

But the state government said nobody died.

Our correspondent gathered that the malfunction of a component of the armoured vehicle caused the explosion.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Alhaji Manfur Lawan, said the explosion was not an attack by Boko Haram but a mechanical fault in the APC. The government promised to pay the medical bills of the injured.

There was conflicting information on the cause of the explosion.

The governor’s private home also serves as his official quarters.

The loud bang from the explosion heightened fears among residents of the state capital.

A source said: “What we heard was that a bomb was thrown at the APC in front of the governor’s residence.

“We learnt that there were three fatalities with some security personnel injured. But the state government said no one died.”

Jonathan gets new aide From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday appointed Prof Rufa’i Alkali as his Special Adviser on Political Affairs.

Alkali, who was the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), replaces Ahmed Gulak, who was sacked in April.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, announced the new appointment via his Twitter account on the social media.

It reads: “President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed Professor Rufa’i Alkali as his new Special Adviser on Political Affairs.

“Prof Alkali, a Political Scientist, once served as National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and was appointed Pro-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna last year. He hails from Gombe State.”

• Southwest Commissioners for Culture, Tourism and Home Affairs, from left: Mr Adetona Sikiru Ayedun (Osun); Princess Adetutu Akhigbe Adeyemi (Oyo); Director-General, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), Mr Oladipupo Famakinwa; Mrs Ronke Okusanya (Ekiti); Mr Disun Holloway (Lgos); Mrs Yewande Amusan (Ogun); Mr Adetiloye Ayodeji (representative of Ondo) and Mr Lawrence Folayan (Permanent Secretary, Ondo), at their inaugural meeting in Lekki, Lagos PHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES

Corruption: Tambuwal condemns Executive for impunity

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HE House of Representatives will neither be intimidated nor be a rubber stamp to the Executive, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal said yesterday.

In a 32-paragraph speech he read at third anniversary of the Seventh House of Representatives, Tambuwal regretted the nation’s slip into corruption, insecurity, disregard for the rule of law and impunity through the Executive.

The Speaker, who said the state of the nation “is dire and disturbing,” lambasted the Executive for refusing to be accountable.

He highlighted instances “where obstacles were seemingly deliberately placed on the path of our progress to genuine democracy”.

Tambuwal said: “During the session under review,

findings at oversight visits as well as complaints and petitions from the public consistently revealed the extent to which corruption has eaten into the fabric of the stewardship of public resources.”

The Speaker said the House launched necessary investigations “to shine needed light into the darker recesses of public resource management in Nigeria, and where routine investigation was inadequate, we empanelled special committees to carry out a more thorough inquiry”.

He said the attitude of the Executive had not helped matters.

Tambuwal said: “Strangely, the collective experience of our members in exercising their oversight functions is that there is a growing culture of impunity

•Speaker blasts Mbu

on the part of public officers in Nigeria, which makes them inclined to resist the ethos of accountability. Some hesitate to honour their invitation to appear before the House, while others resort to litigation in an attempt to frustrate legislative oversight of their activities.”

The Speaker expressed concerns over the “disturbing trend whereby people now go to court to stop the National Assembly from exercising its constitutional mandate and conducting its internal operations”.

He noted that it was neither usual nor appropriate for the Judiciary to be used pre-emptively to stop the Legislature from acting in the first place.

Tambuwal said: “This is

unheard of in jurisdictions where genuine democracy is practised and venerated.

The usual democratic practice is that the powers of the courts are activated to challenge laws enacted by the Legislature. This is the proper manner in which the Judiciary is enabled to perform its constitutional function as the interpreter of both the constitution and duly enacted laws.”

The Speaker described the practice as an encroachment on the powers of the Legislature and a slap on the face of the principle of separation of powers.

He said: “I wish to assure Nigerians that the House of Representatives will not be intimidated into abdicating its sacred

APC’ll hold rancour-free National Convention, says Akande

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) will hold a rancour-free National Convention next week, its Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, said yesterday.

The party, he said, would examine the complaints and protests over the congresses in some states.

Akande said state chairmen who emerged outside the party’s guidelines would be thrown out.

He spoke yesterday in Abuja during the inauguration of the newly-elected 35 of the 37 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chairmen.

The APC interim chairman said issues about the just-concluded state congresses would not be swept under the carpet.

He was reacting to the protests at the ceremony on the outcome of the con-

gresses in Abia and Ebonyi states.

Besides the two states, the party has not inaugurated the executives in Katsina and Kaduna states because of some challenges on their congresses.

Despite the issues, Akande was optimistic that the convention will be hitch-free.

He said: “I am not a member of the Convention Committee. But the committee is working very hard. We will do our best to ensure that we have a rancour-free convention. Very shortly, we will do the national convention and then the national leadership will emerge.

“As time goes on, we will be announcing to you all guidelines and procedures for the National Convention and we will be inviting all our

delegates to that convention.

I am not going to tell you anything more because we have set up a convention which is already working hard to see that the final face of the structuring of the party is completed.”

On the alleged preference of the Northeast Caucus for a national chairman from the Southwest, Akande said: “I have no opinion as I am not a member of the Northeast caucus.”

The interim chairman said APC was trying to create a party of new generation, which would be fair to all.

According to him, any state chairman, who was not elected in line with the party’s guidelines, will be thrown out.

Akande added: “Those of you who are here today are the faces of what we call internal democracy, as being demonstrated by the All

dowed with low–lying coastline of about 853 kilometres long.

This coastline is very important to the economy of the country.

It accounts for most of the country’s industrial establishments and energy infrastructure, while major settlements, such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri are located along the coast and, therefore, sensitive to sea level rise and storm surge.

“Studies have projected that with an accelerated sea level rise

of 0.5 meters, 35 per cent of the Niger Delta landmass will be lost, and with accelerated sea level rise of 1.0 meters, 75 per cent of the Niger Delta will be gone under water.

“Given this scenario, it implies that nearly 32 million people (22.6 per cent of the national population) who live along the coastal zone are at risk of becoming environmental refugees. Such forced movement could result in social frictions arising from demands of

From Yusuf Alli and John Ofikhenua, Abuja

Progressives Congress.

“On July 31, 2013, INEC approved that this party should merge by the name All Progressives Congress.

The party, since then, has become a movement in all the nooks and crannies of this country. And it is a party that everybody wants to join.

We are very happy about this. Immediately thereafter, we inaugurated the National Interim Executive Committee of the party. Since then, we have held 10 meetings.

“The major functions of the Interim National Executive Committee were two: one function is to register Nigerians into the membership of this great party. We thank God that it has never happened in any other party in this country before. We were able to do it successfully. And all our registration forms are now at the data centres all over the country.

Rising sea level threatens Lagos, Warri, Port Harcout, Calabar, says minister

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HE Federal Government warned yesterday that about 32 million residents along the coastlines in Lagos and the Niger Delta region may be displaced because of the rise in sea level.

The government noted that with an accelerated sea level rise of 0.5 meters, 35 per cent of the Niger Delta landmass would be lost.

It added that with accelerated sea level rise of 1.0 meters, 75 per cent of the Niger Delta will be gone under water.

From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

The Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam, alerted the coastline residents to the looming danger at this year’s World Environment Day, with the theme: Raise Your Voice Not the Sea Level.

The minister said cities, such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Warri, which are located along the coast, are vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge.

She said: “Nigeria is en-

land resources for economic activities by the refugees.

“Moreover, many fishing grounds will be adversely affected, thus threatening major livelihood of the rural dwellers along the Nigerian coast. This is because the mangrove swamps provide breeding grounds and refuge for many fish species.

The intrusion of saline water due to sea level rise will have an undesirable consequence on fresh water resources of the affected areas.”

duty to provide robust checks and balances to Executive action, especially for the purpose of exposing corruption in the polity and of ensuring the judicious management of our commonwealth.”

On the House’s oversight functions, the Speaker said: “The House did its utmost best to exercise this very important constitutional mandate, which has always been contentious because of the direct and indirect opposition by the very entities that the Constitution gave us the power and the responsibility to oversight.”

He added that there had been attempts to denigrate the National Assembly for insisting on instilling sanity in the budgetary process.

‘Don’t scrap local govt’ From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

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HE Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has kicked against the recommendation of the National Conference the 774 local governments should be scrapped.

The union described the move as elite’s ploy to kill the third tier of government.

The NULGE leaders from the Southwest, led by their National Vice-President (West), Comrade Oludare Famoofo, addressed reporters yesterday at the NUJ Press Centre at Iyaganku, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Famoofo said members of the conference’s Committee on Restructuring and Forms of Government were the elite, former governors, the Presidency’s apologists and governors’ stooges.

The union leader was accompanied by the National Treasurer, Comrade Oluyemi Esan; National Trustee, Comrade Akeem Ambali; Comrade Titilola Sodo (Oyo), Comrade Adekomi Jacob (Osun), Comrade Ajimoko Olubunmi (Ekiti), Comrade Ayuba Olatunji (Osun), Comrade R. O. Lawal, Deputy National Secretary.

Famoofo said the composition of the committee deliberately excluded local government stakeholders.

He said this was at variance with the yearnings of the people and the reports of Etsu Nupe Commission of Enquiry and the subsequent position of the National Assembly.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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NEWS

APC faults Clark’s position emergency in Northeast

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) has faulted Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, for allegedly brazenly goading President Goodluck Jonathan to remove the democratic structures in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, which are under emergency over the activities of Boko Haram.

In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party noted that apart from pushing the President to commit an unconstitutional act, Chief Clark is also working to help the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to devise an undemocratic way to win the 2015 elections by forcefully overthrowing elected officials in the states.

It said Chief Clark’s outburst against the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation for “misadvising” President Jonathan on the declaration of emergency in the three states was not aimed at clipping the wings of the insurgents but “simply to give an unfair advantage to a party

•Party warns against enthroning illegality

By Olamilekan Andu

that has given the chief juicy patronage, so that his gravy train will not derail”.

APC said contrary to insinuations by the Federal Government, the three state governments have given the troops deployed to their states unprecedented support - in cash and kind - without which the war on terror there may have been harder to fight.

It said: “The Borno State Government, for example, has provided equipment and logistics worth N10 billion to the military, and this includes the provision of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), 400 brand new patrol vehicles, regular fuelling, provision of accommodation for soldiers and cash as immediate palliatives to families of slain soldiers, training, kitting and payment of stipends to civilian volunteers and robust intelligence support for the mili-

tary using residents, hunters, vigilantes and the traditional institutions.

“It, therefore, baffles any informed observer how this massive support could have hindered the fight against Boko Haram, as Chief Clark insinuated in his unnecessary diatribe, which he made with his usual flair.”

APC asked a number of questions begging for answers.

“Will the removal of the elected officials in the three states improve security in the states and immediately end the insurgency? Will it make the Army better equipped? Will it provide better intelligence? Will it scare Boko Haram away?

Will it increase the number of troops? Will it improve military logistics and planning? Will it inspire the people or build their confidence and sense of security?

Will it translate to a better trained and nimble military force?

“Won’t the removal of the officials eliminate a critical logistic and coordination infrastructure? Won’t it eliminate the very support system the military has depended on in those states? Won’t it eliminate a major rallying point and support system for the victims and residents of these states? Won’t it eliminate a major interface that even the military itself uses to engage the people? Won’t it eliminate a critical component of coordination and intelligence gathering? Won’t it eliminate the most critical resource for succour, support and alleviation to the communities suffering under this terrorist siege?” the party asked.

APC said the simple answer to the orchestrated rabble rousing by the ever pesky Chief Clark is that he and his ilk are seeking to give an undue advantage to the PDP ahead of the 2015 general elections.

The party this is because

the three states involved are all opposition states where the PDP knows it cannot win free, fair and transparent elections either today or at any other time.

It said elder statesmen should endeavour to rise above the fray and put the national interest above sectional considerations in their efforts to help seek an end to the insurgency that has claimed over 12,000 innocent lives since 2009.

The party said it is the same mindset as Chief Clark’s that has largely stifled the Jonathan Administration’s efforts to decisively tackle the Boko Haram insurgency.

“From the onset, the Jonathan Administration resorted to crying wolf where there is none, labelling the opposition and the so-called Northern elites of being the sponsors of Boko Haram and trying desperately to label it as a religious war. When that fails, the same government

now wants to profit from the same insurgency it blames on the opposition and others.

There is no way the Jonathan administration can eat its cake and have it, the party said.

It added: “Removing the Governors of the three states under a state of emergency and replacing them with PDP members or those with sympathy for the party, as the Clarks of this world are advocating, cannot be the panacea to the terrorist activities of Boko Haram. It can only give the ruling party an unfair electoral advantage and further worsen the antiterror fight.

“We, therefore, reject this satanic postulation and again reiterate our stand that Boko Haram is an enemy of Nigeria, of Christians and Muslims, Northerners and Southerners, the rich and the poor, the elite and the ordinary citizens, hence we must all forge a common national front against the bandits rather than engage in divisive and partisan tactics.”

Akume blasts delegates over proposed part-time legislature

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ENATE Minority Leader Senator George Akume (APC Benue North West) yesterday berated some delegates to the National Conference for proposing a part-time Legislative.

The delegates, on Wednesday, approved the recommendation of the Conference’s Committee on Public Service, headed by former Head of Service, Ebele Okeke. The committee suggested a parttime legislative system at the state and federal levels.

The committee argued that the arrangement would reduce the cost of governance in the areas of jumbo salaries and other mouth-watering packages paid to the lawmakers under the present arrangement.

Addressing reporters in Abuja, Akume said: “Parttime Legislature is not and can never be the answer to Executive impunity and corruption in the country.”

The distinguished senator insisted that Executive impunity was largely responsible for the high cost of governance in Nigeria.

He said: “I am not sur-

From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

prised that such a proposal is coming from people that were not elected but handpicked by an individual for a national assignment. In fact, they have no electoral value in the first place to stand for and win any election.

“How will they understand and appreciate what constitute elected offices, especially the legislative seats in the governance of the country under democratic template?

“I do not believe, as wrongly proposed by the unelected delegates at the National Conference, that part-time Legislature would help in appreciable terms in the reduction of the cost of governance in Nigeria.

“It cannot serve in any way as an antidote to Executive impunity and corruption that has over the years been the cause of the high cost of governance in the land.

“I am not, and I believe other lawmakers are not, surprised that such a proposal came from the National Conference; people who are hand-picked delegates.”

Stop celebrating terrorists, Jonathan tells media

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From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan warned the media yesterday to desist from celebrating terrorists in their reports.

The President said this would discourage them from carrying out more attacks.

Jonathan spoke in Abuja at the launch a book, titled: What They Don’t Teach You in Journalism, written by a broadcaster, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji.

The President, represented by Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, noted that though the public should be informed about happenings in the society, terrorists should not take the most important part of the news.

According to him, terrorists “need publicity to be recognised and they depend on the media, but they do not deserve the type of publicity the media are giving them”.

Jonathan said reports on terrorism should not be written to incite the people against one another, against religions and the government, but to make the people unite against terrorism.

•From left: Interim National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande; Interim National Secretary, Alhaji Tijani Tumsa; Deputy National Chairman (North), Aminu Masari and National Deputy Secretary, Mallam Nasir ElPHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE Rufai, during the inauguration of the party’s state chairmen in Abuja...yesterday

Mark: Nigeria won’t surrender its territory again

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IGERIA will no longer surrender any part of its territory to another country, Senate President David Mark, said yesterday.

Mark spoke on the heels of Senate Leader Victor NdomaEgba’s alert that there was an imminent loss of some communities in Danari, Boki Local Government of Cross River State, to Cameroun.

Ndoma-Egba, who spoke under Order 42 of the Senate Rules, said some additional Cross River territories were about to be ceded away, if the international boundary adjustment in the area was not immediately halted.

The Senate Leader explained that the boundary adjustment was causing a lot of anxiety among his people.

From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

He said: “They (constituents) fear that at the end of the exercise, we will be losing not just communities but a number of communities to the Cameroun.

“So, with your kind permission, I will like to bring a formal a motion on this on our next legislative day (June 24).”

Senators overwhelmingly approved Ndoma-Egba’s request when it was put to vote

by Senate President David Mark.

Mark said: “This country must never, under any circumstance, surrender one milimetre of our land to any country, irrespective of who is supervising it - whether it is the United Nations (UN), or African Union (AU).

“It is a serious issue, and the matter will be discussed on our next legislative day.”

Ndoma-Egba said he deferred the matter to the next legislative day to enable him get details.

He said: “I have information that right now, pursuant to the Green Tree Agreement, which resulted in the ceding of Bakassi to the Cameroun (in 2008), some boundary adjustment exercise is going on and they are right now in a place called Danari.

“Danari is in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State and it is in my constituency. And there is a lot of anxiety among the people that the exercise will result in loss of territory to the Cameroun.

“I don’t have the details, but

•Mark

I thought Nigerians should know that this is going on and this is the anxiety. I am going to the constituency now. When I get home, I will get more details and then bring a formal motion on the floor.

“I have received information that is to underscore the anxiety that is going on among the people of the affected communities.”

Delegates vote for ‘Character and Equal Opportunity Commission’

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HE National Conference yesterday voted in support of the proposed creation of a Federal Character and Equal Opportunity Commission.

Delegates said the new commission, which would be merged with the existing Federal Character Commission (FCC), became necessary to take care of minorities and persons with disability.

Alhaji Nurudeen Lemu

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Dele Anofi, Abuja

proposed the new commission and was seconded by Festus Okoye.

Prof A. B. C. Nwosu opposed the proposal on the ground that the FCC was strong enough to take care of minorities and persons with disability.

The former Education Minister noted that the intendments of the proposed Equal

Opportunity Commission were adequately covered by the FCC as presently established.

He insisted that it would be wrong for another body to be smuggled into the FCC, which was included in the Constitution after decades of hard work.

Senator Iyorchia Ayu disagreed with Nwosu.

Ayu argued that if created, the Equal Opportunity Com-

mission would be beneficial to the minorities and persons with disability.

The opposing views were put to vote and delegates agreed that Equal Opportunity Commission should be created and merged with the FCC. Delegates voted against the recommendation of the Committee on Public Service that the minimum wage of civil servants be increased to N40,000.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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NEWS Lanlehin joins Accord From Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja

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ICE Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Planning, Economic Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Senator Olufemi Lanlehin wrote yesterday to Senate President David Mark, informing him of his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Accord.

The letter reads: “I contested and got elected into the Senate in April, 2011, under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The said political party, sometime in 2013, merged with some other registered political parties and they are now registered and known as the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“In exercise of my constitutional right to freedom of association under the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and pursuant to the proviso contained in S.68 (g) of the said Constitution, I decided to transfer my membership of the defunct ACN to the Accord Party, with all the rights and duties accruing thereto.”

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•Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola (third left); his wife, Sherifat (fourth right); Iyalode of Osogboland Chief Alake Kolade (second left); Iyalode of Ekonde Chief Aishat Ajala (third right); Iyalode of Igege Chief Wulemotu Raimi (left) and others during the Iyalodes’ visit to the governor in Osogbo.

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Fashola laments rising sea level

HE rising sea level is threatening coastlines worldwide, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola said yesterday.

He spoke during the 2014 World Environmental Day celebration at the Blue Roof, LTV 8 in Agidingbi, Ikeja.

Bomb scare in Ibadan

HERE was a bomb scare yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

A rumour circulated around 7:30pm that an explosive was planted in Sabo.

Residents scampered for safety. People phoned and sent messages to their loved ones, telling them to avoid Sabo/Mokola Roundabout.

It was gathered that a beggar sighted an explosive device around Mokola

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

Roundabout and raised the alarm.

Police spokesperson Bisi Ilobanafor described the alarm as false.

She said after a search by men of the anti-bomb unit, a brief case was found containing an old typewriter.

Ilobanafor thanked the public for alerting the police, urging them to continue to report suspicious items or movement.

APC urges EFCC to probe Ondo Govt From Damisi Ojo, Akure

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the Ondo State government.

It accused the House of Assembly of abandoning its responsibility of checking the excesses of the executive, adding that the lawmakers were mere stooges.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Prince Aderemi Adesanya, APC alleged that several millions of Naira was spent by the state government last weekend on the funeral of Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s mother-in-law in Ondo town.

The party said: “We have many infrastructural deficiencies, among other problems, which are begging for the government’s attention, but the resources are expended on misplaced projects.

“Our roads are death traps, schools are dilapidated, health services and delivery are moribund, except the much advertised and glorified Mother and Child Clinic that are available in a few places.”

The APC lamented that the state, which is blessed with good sources of water, lacks potable water.

It said the Oluwa Glass Factory in Igbokoda was overgrown with weeds, adding: “The Okitipupa Oil Palm Plantation has been abandoned. Ifon Ceramics Factory is now a thing of the past. The forest reserve is gradually turning into a desert, as this government is not planting new trees.

“The visible traffic lights on the Oba Adesida Road in Akure, which illuminated Akure streets during the 2012 governorship election, have disappeared.

“The ecological problems facing major towns and cities like Okitipupa, Ore, Ikare, Igbokoda, Ijebu-Owo, Irele, Araromi-Obu, Oke-Agbe and Akure have been neglected by the government.

“In spite of our pleadings to know about the finances of the state, the government refused to give account of how much accrued to the state, the 18 local government areas and the 13 per cent oil derivation funds from the Federation Account since February, 2009, till date.”

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro and Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

Fashola, who was represented by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed, said no nation is free from the negative effects of climate change, adding that storms and floods threaten every continent.

He said: “The reality before us is that no nation, however large or small, developed or underdeveloped, wealthy or poor, can escape the impact of climate change. Rising sea levels threaten every coastline.

Storms and floods threaten every continent.

“Drought and crop failures deepen hunger and conflict in places where hunger and conflict already thrive. This in turn affects the productivity of the population and thus economic recession. The problems may seem daunting, but they are not insurmountable.

“The choice is ours to form a global partnership to care for the earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life.

•Nigerians urged to plant trees The current reality of the unsustainable pattern of development is threatening human existence and this has become a major source of worry to discerning minds around the world.”

Fashola said fundamental changes were needed in values, institutions and ways of living to mitigate the negative effects of global warming.

He said his administration was not leaving anything to chance, given the peculiarities of Lagos as a coastal state and its vulnerability to flooding arising from climate change.

“Indeed, our example in Lagos State is a clear case of resilience and innovation in tackling the challenges confronting our development as a coastal megacity. Over the past decade, in addressing climate change, we have institutionalised the tree planting campaign and have planted over five million trees so far.”

Commissioner for the Environment Tunji Bello said the focus of the 2014 World Environmental Day was to assess the vulnerability of developing states to climate change.

He said: “It is sad to note that environmental challenges were trivialised for long until the world began to witness u n p r e c e d e n t e d Ecocatastrophes. The manifestations of these across the globe could be seen through desertification, cyclones, tsunamis, global warming, flooding, diseases and other natural disasters.

“The dire consequences arising from the long neglect of the environment have brought global leaders together from across Europe to America, Asia and Africa in the quest for ways to avert further disaster.”

Also yesterday, the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, urged Nigerians to cultivate the habit of tree planting .

It said this would prevent the sea level from rising.

FRIN Director and Head of the Department of Sustainable Health Management Dr. Aderonke Shomade Adio spoke yesterday during a rally held by the Association of Women in Forestry and Environment (AWFE) to celebrate the 2014 World Environment Day. Dr. Adio said: “Nigerians need to start planting trees and stop dumping refuse in rivers. Planting timber trees, grass and flowers will solve a lot of problems. Rising sea level is one of the implications of deforestation, which has led to excessive heat, erosion and flood along the sea level.

“We have been sensitising the public on the risks involved, but people are not responding. It is high time Nigerians woke up to their responsibilities to prevent environmental crisis. We are going round markets and public places to distribute tree stems, flowers and grasses to people to plant and we shall follow up on it.”

Cleric advocates prayers, fasting for peace

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CHRISTIAN leader and former Chairman of Mushin Local Government in Lagos State, Superintendent Apostle Babatunde Odele, has called for more prayers, fasting and religious tolerance to surmount insurgency in Nigeria.

Speaking during a visit to The Nation’s corporate head office in Lagos, Apostle Odele urged believers of various faiths to forget their differences and unite to promote peace in the country.

He said with prayers and fasting, the Boko Haram insurgency will be defeated.

Apostle Odele, who was Mushin Council chairman from 1991 to 1993 and former Executive Secretary, IfakoIjaiye (2003 to 2005), said: “Nigerians, whether Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Fulani or people of other tribes, can live together peacefully wher-

By Bola Olajuwon, Asst.

Editor

ever they find themselves.”

He said: “During my tenure in Mushin Local Government Council, I won the award for the best local government chairman in Nigeria in the area of peace. The Hausa/Fulani Community gave me the title of Gariqa (chief who saved lives and properties); the Igbo also bestowed on me Igwe Odo for a similar reason. These titles have continued to encourage me to propagate the message of peace in churches and mosques. I will continue to preach this message in Mushin, Lagos State and Nigeria.”

Apostle Odele, who is fondly called Pawpaw by his admirers, said he discovered during his tenures that peacethreatening issues could easily be resolved before they degenerate.

On the belief that Mushin is a haven of Area Boy, he said: “No, we do not have Area Boys in Mushin. They may come from other states, but not Mushin. What we have are ‘Mu shine boys’. Our boys behave well and are hard working. We have a way of dealing with those who want to pollute them.”

Apostle Odele, who is the Minister-in-charge of Cherubim & Seraphim (C&S) Salem Evangelical Church, said his congregation was observing a 21-day fasting and prayer vigil, which will end on June 10.

He said: “We declared the fasting and prayer vigil to promote peace in Mushin Local Government Area, Lagos State and Nigeria. We must continue to seek the face of God and shun anything that may break peace and order.”

Apostle Odele said as the nation marks the 21st anni-

•Apostle Odele

versary of annulled June 12 election, security agents must desist from anything that can trigger a negative reaction from citizens.

Urging Lagos residents to be on the lookout for those who might want to breach the peace, he said: “Just as Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, the Omoluabi Eko, has been saying, I call on Lagosians to watch out for agents of destabilisation or those who want to create disharmony in the state. Lagos is a mini Nigeria and Centre of Excellence.”

THE NATION FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

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NEWS

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My trial is a witch-hunt, says Ikuforiji

AGOS State House of Assembly Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji yesterday told the Federal High Court in Lagos that his trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a witch-hunt.

His lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said the commission had no concrete evidence to substantiate the charges against his client.

The Speaker is facing a 24count charge of money laundering. He was charged along with his personal assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi, who is facing 49 counts. They were accepted of receiving “various cash payments” amounting to about N338.8 million from the House without going through a financial institution.

They pleaded “not guilty”.

Yesterday, Olanipekun cross-examined the first prosecution witness, a Principal Detective Superintendent, Adebayo Adeniyi.

He asked the witness if he was aware that a memo to the Clerk of the House containing the governor’s approval for the lawmakers to

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By Joseph Jibueze

attend the Commonwealth Plenary Conference in Tanzania was based on requisitions.

Adeniyi said he was aware, but that his major assignment was to investigate the Speaker, based on a petition against him by Comrade Olaye Olootu of the Anti-Corruption Vanguard, and not the House as a whole.

Olanipekun asked: “Have you ever met this petitioner?

Which organisation does he represent? Is the EFCC set up to deal with anonymous petitions?”

The witness said he had never met the petitioner and did not know his organisation, adding that the EFCC investigates anonymous complaints.

On the allegation that Ikuforiji received cash payments amounting to N7 billion in 14 months, Olanipekun asked the witness if he could provide evi-

dence; prove that the Speaker diverted funds through his automobile company for the purchase of properties overseas and show that the accused was once convicted in the United States (U.S.) or was guilty of perjury by falsifying his birth date.

The witness said there were no records showing that the accused collected the alleged sums or that he was guilty of perjury, adding that he did not travel abroad to confirm the allegation that Ikuforiji was convicted.

Adeniyi said the EFCC did not secure the services of any auditor during the investigation.

Olanipekun indicated from an exhibit that other lawmakers, such as Fola Akande, Adefunmilayo Tejuoso and Omowumi Olatunji, collected N4.5 million each for an official trip to Australia.

He also pointed out a portion where 29 other lawmakers collected money and signed for them, as did

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•Ikuforiji

Ikuforiji, but the others were not charged with any offence.

Olanipekun said the EFCC’s investigation was done in bad faith and with the intent of witch-hunting Ikuforiji.

He said: “I put it to you that your investigation and prosecution of the Speaker amounts to ego trip and witch-hunting.”

The witness said the EFCC does not witch-hunt anybody.

During re-examination by the EFCC’s lawyer, Godwin Obla (SAN), Adeniyi said one of the invoices, in which N41,450,000 was paid, did not specify the purpose of payment.

The trial continues today.

Ogun to employ 5,000 people

HE Ogun State government is to engage 3,000 youths as Environmental Marshals to enforce its sanitation and environmental regulations.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun disclosed this during the 2014 World Environment Day celebration.

Amosun said 2,000 street

sweepers would be employed in addition to the 1,000 previously engaged.

He said N1 billion had been approved for the procurement of more waste management equipment.

The governor said his administration’s efforts to provide greenery on the medians and pedestrian walkways can

only be successful if the people reciprocate by protecting the flowers and grasses planted.

He said: “While we continue to push forward our industrialisation agenda, we are not oblivious of the environmental cost.

This is why we always encourage incoming investors to

embrace clean production technology and provide plans for acceptable environmental management.

“In like manner, existing industries are being engaged on a regular basis to invest in emerging process technology that do not only optimise resource utilisation, but also reduce environmental impact.”

APC: Alao-Akala is day-dreaming

HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has told former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala to stop daydreaming about returning to power.

It was reacting to AlaoAkala’s statement that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would “capture” the state in 2015.

Alao-Akala was quoted in the media yesterday as saying: “There is nothing that can stop the PDP from winning in 2015. We want to capture the state and we have all it takes to do so.”

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Dauda Kolawole, APC told the former governor to “wake up from his slumber”, adding that PDP had become an empty shell, “weakened and splintered into unrecognisable cells and not capable of winning even councillorship seats”.

The statement reads: “Alao-Akala is a joke and he knows that that statement was mere grandstanding.

The PDP has been terribly hit by the greed for power of its leaders, so much so that it can hardly muzzle up enough votes to fill a basket. The former governor apparently woke up on the wrong side of his bed or merely wanted to gladden his heart on his birthday. The truth is that he was merely daydreaming.”

The APC asked Alao-Akala to tell the world which fac-

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

tion of the PDP he was referring to when he expressed hope that Oyo PDP would come back to power.

It said: “Elder Wole Oyelese, one of the founding fathers of the PDP, a few days ago, said there are, at least, seven factions of the party in the state. Was Alao-Akala referring to his faction, the Jumoke Akinjide faction or the Teslim Folarin faction of the PDP when he expressed that less-than scientific optimism? Was it is birthday wish or a prayer to God? We need to ask him.”

The APC said Oyo people could not forget “the PDP years” in a hurry, adding: “How can our people forget their reign of impunity in a hurry? Alao-Akala, Rashidi Ladoja and the parties they represent, to our people, leave very bad tastes in the mouth. Is it the thousands of our people that were murdered during needless partisan meddling in the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) crisis in the state? Is it the shameless backwardness they inflicted on Oyo State? Is it the image of dirt, deaths and bloodshed that they perpetrated for eight years? For Alao-Akala, who was a major cast in this bloody theatre, to grandstand that they are coming back is an insult that our people will resist on the election day.”

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THE NATION FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

NEWS EKITI 2014

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Aggrieved PDP aspirants seek N11m nomination fee refund

GRIEVED governorship aspirants on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform in Ekiti State have demanded a refund of the N11 million nomination fee each of them paid before the party’s primaries.

The aspirants earlier expressed anger that they were made to pay a non-refundable fee of N11 million each to the party despite alleged schemes to choose one of them, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, as the candidate.

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

In a May 31 communiqué given to reporters yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, they decried the non-chalant attitude of the party’s national leadership on the issue.

They warned that their group “would not attend the rally of Saturday where the President is to be in attendance to express our displeasure”.

The communiqué, signed

by the group’s chairman, Senator Gbenga Aluko and co-ordinator, Abiodun Aluko, reads: “We observed with dismay the non-chalant attitude of the national leadership of our party to our four-point demand which Mr. President asked the National Chairman to handle.

“We are equally dismayed and extremely disappointed by the contempt and value-loss we have been subjected to by the candidate of the party, Mr. Ayodele Fay-

ose, and state party executive.

“We feel extremely constrained and have therefore, resolved to let the leadership of the party know that, unless our demands are met, particularly the refund of the nomination fee which the party cajoled us to pay under the false pretence that they would use consensus to pick our candidate, we would not attend the rally of Saturday where the President is to be in attendance to express our displeasure.”

DFID trains police in electoral crimes’ prevention

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From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

HE British Department for International Development (DFID) has organised a training programme for the police in a bid to ensure a successful election in Ekiti State.

The programme, which was held yesterday in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, had in attendance the National Programme Manager, Justice for All (DFID), Mr. Bob Arnot, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Felix Uyanna and the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Alhaji Halilu Pai. Others were the State Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr. Rindom Kumven, officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, 24 Divisional Police officers among others.

Speaking at the training tagged: “Policing Election Project”, Arnot said the programme was meant to update the knowledge and skills of the force “in the art of policing for the maintenance of democratic process”.

Arnot’s words: “This is the continuation of the series of partnership that had been provided by civil society groups, including DFID in the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria. Ekiti election is very crucial because whatever happens would be a pointer to what will happen in the 2015 general elections”.

In his comments at the event, the commissioner of police said he had received the assurance of the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, that “12,000 well-trained policemen” would be sent to oversee the election.

Uyanna added the Command would do everything possible and reasonable to enforce orderliness during the election.

He explained that the state might be shutdown before the day of election if such “a move would guarantee free, fair and credible election” that would be acceptable to all partisan sides in the state.

Said he: “Ekiti is the next most focused place after Chibok, so we have to do what is necessary for the success of the election. If we do the right thing by ensuring that acceptable election is conducted, then the police have nothing to fear. But if we fail to do the right thing, that may be a recipe for violence”.

‘PDP victory will be landslide’ • Former Secretary to Ekiti State, Chief Afolabi Ojuawo (left), PDP governorship candidate, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, former PDP governorship aspirant and ministerial nominee, Dayo Adeyeye and Director-General, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye Movement Bisi Kolawole, at Fayose’s campaign office in Ado-Ekiti ... yesterday.

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Fayemi deserves second term, by wife

LL Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi needs a second term of four years to better consolidate his achievements, his wife, Erelu Bisi, argued yesterday.

Mrs. Fayemi spoke during the inaugural Nurses’ Week of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital held at the School of Nursing in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

She appealed to the nurses to use their positions as professionals who operate with the grassroots to educate the people on the need for them to vote for her husband, who she said, had a track record of achievements.

Erelu Fayemi said: “This election is just not about Governor Kayode Fayemi or the

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

APC. It is about the future of Ekiti and our children. This election will determine what the state will look like in the next 15 years.

“What do we want Ekiti to be like in 10 to 15 years down the line? Do we want an Ekiti that will continue to be inheritor of chaos, disunity, misgovernance, looting of state treasury or of a lack of future for our children?

“Will it be what it was in the recent past when people ask us how we came about having certain people as our leaders? Will it be like when Ekiti was treated like a pariah among the elite?

“We believe that this election will give us an opportunity to establish a foundation

that will ensure that Ekiti becomes the state where other people will come and do business and be proud of. We cannot afford a reversal of our fortunes.”

Describing the governor as “intelligent, competent, savvy and focused,” Governor’s wife said Fayemi stood tall among other contenders for the governorship position.

She said the government would continue to support the nurses in the planned construction of a crèche within the premises of the school, pledging to donate a bus to the nurses’ association very soon.

She assured them of opportunities to capacity-building and quality assurance through overseas and local training to enhance their productivity and cause further reduction of ma-

ternal and child mortality in the state.

“As someone who works in the areas of women leadership and promoting women’s rights, I will like to charge all of us here today to take this profession very seriously “Nurses are teachers in the communities. You are seen as people who are knowledgeable, you are seen as opinion moulders and they look up to you for advice and we hope that you will continue to live up to that,” she urged.

She described the election as a watershed that would determine the future prosperity of the state, sustainable peace and wellbeing of its people.

She said the forthcoming election transcended the aspiration of Governor Fayemi and the APC to rule for a second time.

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HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will win the June 21 governorship election convincingly, its former governorship aspirant, Prince Dayo Adeyeye has said.

“The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will be so embarrassed that it won’t be able to go to the tribunal,” Adeyeye said.

The Afenifere chieftain, who was nominated as minister by President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, told PDP supporters during a meeting in Ado-Ekiti yesterday that no effort must be spared to ensure a resounding victory for the party.

He charged leaders of his group, the Prince Adedayo Adeyeye Movement (PAAM), to go to their respective wards and make sure that they deliver their wards to the party.

Those who attended the meeting included former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Sola Ajigbolamu, former Secretary to the State Government, Chief Afolabi Ojuawo, the only PDP member in the State House of Assembly, Dele Ajibola, former Commissioners, Bade Adara, and Dr. Gboyega Isijola among others.

Adeyeye, who described the PDP governorship candidate, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, as a honest and sincere person, added: “The only way to reward a man who was sincere to you is to also support him and make him victorious.”

“Obviously, the masses of Ekiti State will liberate themselves from the APC deceitful government on June 21, 2014 by voting massively for the PDP such that Governor Kayode Fayemi and his APC won’t be able to challenge our victory in court.”

He thanked President Jonathan for finding him worthy to serve in his cabinet.

Yesterday, after the announcement of Adeyeye’s name at the Senate Plenary, his Ise-Ekiti country home was thronged by thousand s of PDP supporters, who came to congratulate him on the appointment.

Also speaking, former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Sola Ajigbolamu hailed President Jonathan for the appointment, saying: “For the first time in recent time, Ekiti will be having a minister worthy to be called a minister.”

Opinion poll rates Fayemi ahead of Fayose, Bamidele

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N opinion poll conducted by a research company, Brand Surveys Limited, has rated Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, as the preferred candidate of majority of registered voters in the state.

The result made available to reporters from the company’s corporate head office in Lagos by its managing consultant, Olaniyi Ayeni, shows that the study was conducted in May in the 16 local government areas in Ekiti State.

According to the result, majority of respondents representing 68 per cent of the people interviewed via questionnaire survey using multi-stage random sampling technique, in the local government council

areas want the incumbent governor to continue in office to consolidate on the different spheres of his eight-point agenda.

Fayemi was also adjudged as touching the lives of Ekiti People in so many ways.

But the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Mr. Ayo Fayose was preferred by 28 per cent of respondents whilst his Labour Party counterpart Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele scored four per cent.

The report further reveals that Brand Surveys Limited interviewed a total of 2,418 respondents.

However, 2,372 of respondents representing 98 per cent of all those interviewed are registered voters while only 46 of

them representing two per cent do not have voters cards.

“Therefore, if the elections were to be held today, this poll result is indicative of how the people may vote. Across all the 16 local governmentsvisited, 60 per cent of those interviewed, that is 1,423 of the respondents belong to one political party or the other whilst 40 per cent, that is, 949 respondents do not,” Ayeni said.

The study also shows that APC is the dominant party in Ekiti State.

Out of the 1,423 respondents who belong to political parties, 55 per cent of them, that is 783, said they belong to APC while 33 per cent - 469 respondents belong to PDP. Only 12 per cent of respond-

ents representing 171 belong to the Labour Party.

Brand Surveys Limited is a through-the-line research consultancy outfit in Nigeria; providing timely, accurate and actionable data and insights to guide decision making that will impact positively on our clients’ bottom-line but on the society.

The company has over the years handled a number of high profile Opinion Poll projects.

On why the company opted to conduct the opinion poll ahead of the coming governorship elections, Olaniyi Ayeni disclosed that the poll is the company’s own corporate social investment towards the sustainability of the current democratic dispensation.

According to him, “what

ended the Second Republic was not a nationwide crisis but a crisis over the declaration of Chief Akin Omoboriowo as winner of the Ondo State governorship elections against popular expectations that Pa Adekunle Ajasin was coasting home to victory.

So we must never assume that a post-election crisis in Ekiti State cannot snowball into a major crisis that will mark the end of this democratic experiment.”

“As a corporate organisation, we cannot continue to feign indifference because should a crisis engulf Nigeria today as result of the coming elections, there will be no conducive atmosphere for us to continue to do our business.

This is our own contribution to

•Fayemi

ensuring that we get it right with democratic transitions in Nigeria and we intend to continue doing this, “ Ayeni said.

The result of this poll is coming barely 17 days to the Ekiti State governorship elections scheduled to hold on June 21.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

BUSINESS EXTRA

Bresson, Aggreko partner to boost generation by 250Mw

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IGERIA’S pioneer In dependent Power Producers (IPPs), Bresson AS Nigeria Limited is partnering with Aggreko, to generate 250 megawatts (Mw) for electricity within the next nine months.

The firms signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of the project in Paris, France.

Chairman of Bresson Mr. Gbenga Olawepo signed on behalf of the firm; the Regional Director of Aggreko, Mr. Christopher Jacquin, signed on behalf of Aggreko.

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

The project, according to sources, will be sited where there are industrial clusters.

It was also learnt that Bresson has plans to subsequently increase its generation capacity from the planned 250Mw to 500Mw within the next one year.

Currently, Bresson is at the completion stage of its Magboro 90Mw power project in Magboro, Ogun State. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was executed

two years ago in collaboration with IEG of Slovakia (the EPC Contractor) and General Electric of US (the equipment supplier). The power plant was configured on two GE LM 6000 turbines and will be due for commissioning and use next year.

The Magboro power plant is designed for supply of power to the national grid while an additional 20Mw project, which is a joint project between Bresson and Aggreko, is designed to serve the neighbourhood of Magboro as an embedded

generation (off-grid generation).

The Olawepo-led Bresson Consortium include Bresson A.S Nigeria Limited, Engro Powergen Limited, Thomassen Holding Limited, Kappafrik Group, Mercados, Petrolog and Sana Elias Group as financial advisors, was among the pre-qualified firms for Omotosho Generation Company, one of the 10 power plants offered for sale under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), which is superintended by Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).

Olawepo said Bresson’s strategic goal is to deliver affordable, cleaner and efficient energy by providing innovative energy services using environmentally friendly technologies tailored to meet the needs of the customers and help the people of Nigeria become energy sufficient.

He said: “With many similar projects in the pipeline, I am very confident that Bresson will successfully consolidate its position as a key industry player in Nigeria and at the global

‘Ajaokuta Steel project needs $1.2b to function’

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HAIRMAN, National Conference Commit tee on Science and Technology, Dr. Daniel Maddo, yesterday told delegates that the abandoned Ajaokuta Steel project required $1.2 billion to come alive.

Maddo stated this while presenting the report of his committee for consideration and adoption.

He said the conference

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Asst.

Editor and Dele Anofi, Abuja

should mandate the Federal Government to provide the sum of $500 million needed to complete the steel complex.

Aside the $500 million, Maddo said delegates should ask the government to provide additional $700 million for the infrastructure required by the steel plant to

fast-track the acquisition of skills in the fabrication and foundry industry.

The committee chair said it was necessary for the government to provide the funds in view of the billions of dollars already spent on the project.

Most delegates who contributed agreed with the committee that the steel plant should be revamped to boost the economic well being of the coun-

try.

They agreed that if revitalised, the ptoject had the capacity to turn around the economic life of the country.

It is the view of the committee that if completed the steel plant would go a long way to lift the fortunes of the country.

The committee also recommended the enactment of social media laws to control its influence in the country to the Federal Government.

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stage.

“Bresson is poised to attain leadership position in the area of power generation in Nigeria and Africa.

We are working tirelessly to contribute to the socioeconomic development of a country of over 150million people. We are committed to making power outage a thing of the past, improve the quality of life of the people across all sectors of the economy and reduce poverty by making available the needed energy for growth and employment.”

Gas flaring down to 10 per cent, says NNPC

HE Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Engr.

Andrew Yakubu said in Kaduna yesterday that the firm is on the treshold of eliminating gas flaring in the country.

In a message to the 2014 World Environment Day at the Kaduna Refining and Petro-Chemical Company, Yakubu said NNPC and its subsidiaries have reduced gas flaring from 30 per cent to 10 per cent in the last three years.

Represented by the Executive Director, Services, Kaduna Refinery and PetroChemical Company, Mallam Idi Mukthar, Yakubu said as a responsible corporate citizen, the organisation has deployed strategies to ensure that its operations are environmentally friendly.

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

Such strategies include continous upgrade and improvement of its production facilities to state of the art technology with smart health, safety and environment (HSE) component, discontinuation of harmful and unsafe chemicals in its operations and disposal of same.

Such measures he said further include renewable energy development in line with Kyoto Protocol as well as pollution control and swift remediation of impacted sites whenever they occur.

According to the NNPC chief, there is urgent need to set the planet on a sustainable path through proactive engagement of all sectors of the society by collectively addressing issues of climate change.

Workers seek clarification over N174b aviation debts

• From left: Chief Executive Officer Caverton Plc, Olabode Makanjuola; Chairman Aderemi Makanjuola; and Secretary PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID. Modupe Omojafor during the firm’s maiden Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos...yesterday.

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NICON seeks to stay N1.7b judgment

ICON Group of Com panies has filed an ap plication at the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking to stay execution of a judgment, ordering it to pay the N1.7bilion debt which it owes Ecobank Nigeria Plc. Justice Chukwujeku Aneke, on May 4, made the order in a suit filed by Ecobank to compel NICON to pay the debt. He held NICON’s objection to the suit was “grossly unmeritorious”.

Hearing of NICON’s application was stalled yesterday because the judge was absent. The case was adjourned till September 23 for mention.

The court had also ordered NICON to pay interest on

By Joseph Jibueze

the “cumulative indebtedness totaling N1,787,108,417.923 at the rate of 30 per cent per annum from last November till judgment day.

It ordered that the interest rate on the cumulative debt shall be 10 per cent per annum after judgment until the debt was fully liquidated.

Justice Aneke also awarded N100,000 as the cost of the litigation in favour of Ecobank.

The court ordered NICON to pay “the sum of N1,599,597,144.04 being the mutually agreed ad subsisting indebtedness of the defendant to the plaintiff as per plaintiff’s correspondence of April 5, 2012 endorsed and

convenanted to by Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, the defendant’s Chairman, prime mover, alter ego.

“Judgment in the sum of N187,511,273.91 being the accrued interest thereon on the mutually agreed sum from April 30, 2013 till November 27, 2013 at the rate of 20 per cent per annum.

“Interest on the cumulative indebtedness totalling N1,787,108,417.92 at the rate of 30 per cent per annum from November 28, 2013 till judgment (or sooner payment) and thereafter at the rate of 10 per cent per annum until the final liquidation of the judgment sum. Cost of the sum of N100,000 is in favour of the plaintiff.”

The bank had offered loan

to NICON through a letter dated June 21, 2006, but NICON’s chairman, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, was said to have on April 5, 2012, agreed to pay the debt, before the bank approached the court for an order compelling the company to pay its debt on January 24, 2014.

Ecobank’s lawyer, Mr. Kunle Ogunba (SAN), had asked the court to dismiss NICON’s preliminary objection to the suit which he instituted under Undefended List Procedure.

NICON’s counsel, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), through his preliminary objection, contended that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit, but Justice Aneke overruled him.

Ikeja DISCO talks tough as customers by-pass 43,000 meters

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HE Ikeja Electricity Distribution Com pany (IKEDC) has said it will stop giving meters to customers because of what it called “fraudulent practice”.

Its Managing Director Director/Chief Executive Officer, Abiodun Ajifowobaje, at a meeting with Community Development Committees (CDCs) in its domain yesterday, lamented that out of 134,000 prepaid meters in-

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

stalled in the last five years, 43,000 were got through the backdoor.

The CDCs are representatives of power consumers inaugurated by the local governments and recognised by the governments at both states and federal levels through the Power Ministry and other regulatory bodies and parastatals

in the sector. There is one committee in each local government, which may represent as many as 30 Community Development Associations (CDAs) or more.

During the meeting, Ajifowobaje said the company has drawn a roadmap on metering, which is awaiting the board’s approval, adding that he expects the approval to come

before this month end. The target is to get every customer metered but noted that in view of the past experience, not every customer might be given meter under the roadmap until customers guarantee that the meters will not be bypassed or tampered with.

He said the company currently has 6,000 prepaid meters ready for installation.

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VIATION industry workers have urged the Senate Committee on Aviation to give a breakdown of the N174 billion debts owed contractors handling airport remodeling projects by the Ministry of Aviation in order to understand how the debts were incurred.

Coordinator, Congress of Aviation Unions and Aviation Professionals Association, Sheri Kyari said the scope of work going on at the airports required a lot of money. He said the projects are visible, adding that debts should be identified and tied to each of them.

He warned that this should not be an excuse to abandon the projects because the facilities would be worse than they were before the projects started. He said though the debt is huge, it is

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

relatively lower than debts incurred by government in projects in other sectors that are less in scope with what is going on in the aviation sector.

“We are talking about 14 perishable cargo terminals where agriculture produce will be processed and exported overseas by our farmers. Two terminals at the old General Aviation Terminal (GAT) in Lagos have been completed, a new GAT for private jet operators have almost been completed in Lagos. Work is going on at the Hajj Camp in Lagos as well as the cargo terminal. Expansion project is going on at the international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. These are big projects in Lagos alone.”

Kerosene subsidy report ready

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HE Hon. Dakuku Peterside led House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) said the report of its investigation into the expenditure and subsidy on kerosene is ready for submission.

Peterside said the report will be tabled before the House in the next two weeks.

The Lower House had last year mandated the Committee to investigate issues surrounding the expenditure and subsidy on kerosene.

The committee had eight public hearings between February and April this year where the Ministry of

Finance, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Petroleum Products Pricing regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the Department for Petroleum Resources (DPR) the Budget Office, among others, appeared.

The chairman enjoined all to wait until the report is laid at plenary. He posited that it is unparliamentary for reports to be made public before its consideration by the House. He assured all Nigerians that the report will meet their expectations and help solve problems in the oil and gas supply and distribution chain.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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PEOPLE THE NATION

A SIX -PAGE SECTION ON SOCIETY

An Abu Dhabi-based Network Security Administrator, AbdulWasiu Ademola Orenaike, got married to Nusaybah, daughter of Mufti, Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO) Sheikh Dhikrullahi Shafi’i, at Igbogbo, Ikorodu on the outskirts of Lagos, last May 24. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO reports

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T was a unique event. The rustic Igbogbo community in Ikorodu on the outskirts of Lagos, played host to dignitaries from different parts of the country.

It was as if they were in a race on who will get to the venue first.

As early as 9am, the Wharf road leading to the venue was jampacked with vehicles.

Men in Congress Guard (CG) green uniform, a security outfit of The Muslim Congress (TMC), stood at strategic locations, from Ogolonto Bus Stop to the venue. Besides ensuring smooth traffic, they also directed the guests.

The expansive Regal Hall was tastefully decorated with colourful satin materials.

Big canopies were mounted outside for those who could not find space inside the hall.

It was all for Nusaybah, daughter of Mufti, Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO) Sheikh Dhikrullahi Shafi’i, and her beau, AbdulWasiu Ademola Orenaike, an Abu Dhabi-based Network Security Administrator.

The Aqdun Nikah had been talk of the town since the announcement of the date a few months ago.

The wedding gave a true picture of Islam.

The Boko (Western Education) intellectuals as usual interacted freely with renowned Islamic scholars. Boko, according to all at the gathering, is HALAL (allowed) and not HARAM (forbidden).

Handsome AbdulWasiu appeared in flowing agbada, a pair of eye glasses, a befitting cap and a matching pair of shoes.

His better half, Nusaybah Adedasola, a University of Lagos (UNILAG) graduate, wore a flowing Arabian outfit – Jelbaab with hijab and a pair of shoes.

Shortly after the opening prayer and recitation of the Quran, the guest speaker, Dr Tajudeen Yusuf, took the gathering through the rudiments of marriage in Islam.

Yusuf, UNILAG’s Acting Head of Actuarial Science Department, called on parents, particularly, fathers to take the education of their children seriously, especially the girl-child, who must be supported.

According to him, it is an erroneous belief that Muslims don’t value female children education.

“As far as knowledge acquisition is concerned, Islam does not discriminate between the male and female. They are both entitled and obligated to take education very seriously. Not only sending your daughters to school, you must also be concerned about their marriages. Who do they marry? It is part of your duty to ensure that they are married to a believer; they are married to a God-fearing person and husband of good character.

Prophet Muhammad said, when a man who you do not doubt his religious sincerity and character, comes seeking the hand of your daughter in marriage, support it, else, there will be mischief and confusion in the society.

So, that is the message for Muslim parents to take girl-child education as primary goal,” he said.

He enjoined the couple to always remember why they came into the relationship “because there will be turbulence, there will be disagreements, there will be quarrelling. In fact, if we all understand the essence of coming together today, that it is for Allah. If the marriage is for Allah, it will last but if not for Allah, it won’t last because you allow other considerations to overwhelm you and there will be disharmony in the household. Neither the husband nor the wife is perfect.”

He warned them never to think about separation each time there is a misunderstanding.

“You will see things you don’t like in your wife the same way she will see it in you, too.

So, what do we do? A Yoruba adage says: ‘the tongue and the teeth do fight’ but they have to live together otherwise, you will be talking of separation. And when you talk of separation, you are adding more to the social malady,” he said.

The Nikah was handled by Ustadh Bilal

From Abu Dhabi with love •The couple, AbdulWasiu and Nusaybah

Shittu. Ustadh Shittu declared the lovebirds man and wife having fulfilled the rites of Nikah including the Mahr.

AbdulWasiu gave One thousand Riyal (Arabian currency), as Mahr to Nusaybah.

Afterwards, there were goodwill messages and prayers for the couple.

Among the personalities that spoke at the session were Mudir, Markaz Salam, Sheikh Ramadan Moshood Jubril; professor of Inter Religious Dialogue Prof Murtadoh Bidmos; Sheikh Thaoban Adam; Chief Imam of Lekki

PHOTO: RAHMAN SANUSI

Sheikh Ridwanullahi Jamiu; Sheikh AbdulMajeed AbdulFatah.

Sheikh Moshood congratulated the couple for having a humble father like Sheikh Shafi’i.

The humble nature of the bride’s father, he said, was responsible for the crowd at the Nikah. He prayed for the couple to enjoy marital bliss.

The Ogun Waterside-born AbdulWasiu, who works with an ICT company, Smart World in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, said the journey to the Saturday May 24 Nikah

started about six months ago.

“There wasn’t any kind of physical meeting but there was conversation through phone calls, social media; whatsApp and Viber, etc,” he said.

He described Nusaybah as an intelligent and God-fearing person.

Nusaybah described her husband as a cool headed man, humble and disciplined.

Guests were treated to sumptuous meals and choice drinks.

•More pictures on page 16

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SOCIETY FROM ABU DHABI WITH LOVE

•Bride’s father Sheikh Shafi’i (right) and Sheikh Adam

•Sheikh Moshood Jubril (right) and Sheikh Isa Tungbeji from Republic of Benin

•Groom’s mother Mrs Orenaike

•Bride’s step mother Hajia Aisha Islam

•Prof Bidmos

•MTN General Manager (Finance) Alhaji AbdulKareem Kadri (left) and Chief Executive Officer Easy and Quiet Ltd Alhaji Mutiu Anthony

•Dr Yusuf

•Alhaji AbdulRauf Adegbile

CONVOCATION

•Bride’s mother Hajia Asia AbdulWahab

•Prof Gbadamosi (right) and Dr AbdulHakeem Mobolaji

•Chairman, Al-Hujaaj International Hajj and Umrah Service Alhaji AbdulJelili Animashaun

•YABATECH Senior Lecturer Alhaji Luqman AbdurRaheem

•Sheikh AbdulFatah

PHOTOS: TAIWO JIMOH

AWARD

•Prelate, General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Most Rev. Emele Uka •All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftan Hon Abiodun Mafe; his daughter Mariam and (centre), dedicates the renovated church and four-storey multi-purpose building of St. Stephen's Aba East Parish, Aba, Abia State. Behind him are his wife, Mrs Uka; Prelate Emeritus, Most wife Oyedoyin during Mariam’s graduation at Babcock University, Ilishan, Ogun State Rev. Akanu Otu; Rev. S. K. Okocha; Rev. Eseme William and Rev. Uche Okafor (right).

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6 2014

COMMENTARY

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REAMBLE Today’s article had once been published in this column. It is however being brought back because of the popular demand for it by readers of ‘The Message’.

And since readers are, like customer, kings in their own rights, who is yours sincerely not to oblige? Here is the article again. Please read on: In the life of every nation, like that of every individual human being there must be a time of tribulation. Such a tribulation is a test of faith and that of steadfastness. For an individual, passing or failing it depends very much on the strength of his faith and for a nation, the competence or otherwise of the leadership at the helm of affairs.

Nigeria, as a country, cannot be an exception in this case.

For the past few years, Nigerians have been forced to grapple with the intensity of an unprecedented carnage of bomb blasts killing and maiming human lives in their scores continually but devastatingly.

This carnage engendered by economic, political, ethnic and religious tendencies first began in 2006 with a major threat to the existence of Nigeria by some war mongering Southsouth youths. It has now come to climax the decades of crises in the country thereby putting everybody on the edge. And since the crises have constantly been engineered by government’s insensitive policies, it is instructive that the attitude of the same government towards those crises cannot be suggestive of any serious readiness to proffer a permanent and sincere solution to them.

The language that rents the air this time is ‘Boko Haram’. That language has virtually become a spectre compelling both the government and the people to be on the run as it gives them a fierce chase of their lives.

Observation

From whichever angle it may be perceived, Boko Haram is now a huge balloon of smoke oozing out of a protruding chimney and destructively polluting the air which everybody in Nigeria today is forced to inhale willingly or unwillingly. But unfortunately, rather than finding out the fireplace beneath the chimney that gives vent to the oozing smoke, the government just insists on dispelling the smoke even as the fire keeps burning. Granted that Boko Haram was inherited by the current regime just as the menace of the Southsouth insurgency was inherited by Yar’Adua regime that preceded this, nevertheless, the late President YarÁdua did not allow it to overwhelm Nigerians before finding a solution to it.

The current government’s idea of Boko Haram seems to be quite different from what that disturbing body really is. Boko Haram has become like a huge elephant surrounded by thousands of blind men. Each one can only describe the part he is able to touch on the body of the mammoth animal and not the whole of it. Without diagnosis, only a quack doctor will proceed to prescribe medicine for an ailing patient.

And that is what the Federal Government continues to do in respect of the Boko Haram’s carnage in Nigeria.

However, some serious-minded and sincere individuals who are convinced that the problem posed by Boko Haram is beyond any surface scratching have begun to dig deep into the tap roots of those hardened insurgents. One of such individuals is Jean Herskovits a female Professor of History at the State University of New York, USA. She has been writing on Nigerian politics since 1970. The other is a well known and highly respected Nigerian Catholic Priest, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto Diocese.

But since both of them hold similar opinions on the issue, ‘The Message’ decided to bring the latter’s opinion because of Nigerians’ familiarity with his person.

Below is the verbatim text of his public address on Boko Haram which was entitled ‘AN APPEAL TO NIGERIANS’. This address was published in The Guardian of January 17, 2012. It goes thus: Reflections “On the occasion of the Carol of Nine Lessons organised by NTA and Radio Nigeria on December 10th last year, I was invited to deliver the message. I chose to speak on the theme, Do Not Be Afraid as a means of encouraging our people against the backdrop of fear and frustration that was mounting at the time. Since then, it would seem that things have gotten progressively worse in our country.

In the course of my reflections, I sought to encourage my fellow citizens not to be frightened by the events of the time. I insisted

FEMI ABBAS ON femabbas756@gmail.com 08115708536

Beyond Boko Haram propaganda of the notorious Boko Haram and hides the fact that this evil has crossed religious barriers. Let us take a few examples which, though still under investigation across the country, should call for restraint on our part.

Complicity •Rev Kukah

that despite these tragic and sad events and the situation of our country, we needed to conquer fear. I argued that the message of Christmas was a message about the good news of the birth of the Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, (God with us) and the Saviour of the world.

Against the backdrop of other developments in the country at that time, I concluded by calling on the Federal Government not to carry through its plans for the removal of fuel subsidy.

Since then, things have gradually snowballed well beyond what one had either feared or hoped. On Christmas day, a bomb exploded at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, in Niger State, killing over thirty people and wounding a significant number of other innocent citizens who had come to worship their God as the first part of their Christmas celebrations. Barely two days later, we heard of the tragic and mindless killings within a community in Ebonyi State in which over sixty people lost their lives with properties worth millions of naira destroyed and hundreds of families displaced. In the midst of all this, on New Year’s Day, the President announced the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and threw an already angry and frustrated nation into convulsion.

Right now, I feel that perhaps like the friends of Job (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar), who came to visit their sick friend and found the burden beyond comprehension, we find ourselves in the same situation.

For, as we know, when they came and found Job in his condition, they spent seven days and seven nights, and uttered not a word (Job 2:13).

Right now, no one can claim a full understanding of the state we are in. However, even if we cannot understand the issues of the moment, our faith compels us to understand that God’s hand is in all this. The challenge is for us to have the patience to let His will be done.

The Madalla Tragedy

The tragedy in Madalla was seen as a direct attack on Christians. When Boko Haram claimed responsibility, this line of argument seemed persuasive to those who believed that these merchants of death could be linked to the religion of Islam. Happily, prominent Muslims rose in unison to condemn this evil act and denounced both the perpetrators and their acts as being un-Islamic. All of this should cause us to pause and ponder about the nature of the force of evil that is in our midst and to appreciate the fact that contrary to popular thinking, we are not faced with a crisis or conflict between Christians and Muslims.

Rather, like the friends of Job, we need to humbly appreciate the limits of our human understanding.

In the last few years, with the deepening crises in parts of Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, and Plateau states, thanks to the international and national media, it has become fanciful to argue that we have crises between Christians and Muslims. Sadly, the kneejerk reaction of some very uninformed religious leaders has lent credence to this false belief. To complicate matters, some of these religious leaders have continued to rally their members to defend themselves in a religious war. This has fed the

Some time last year, a Christian woman went to her own parish Church in Bauchi and tried to set it ablaze. Again, recently, a man alleged to be a Christian, dressed as a Muslim, went to burn down a Church in Bayelsa. In Plateau State, a man purported to be a Christian was arrested while trying to bomb a Church.

Armed men gunned down a group of Christians meeting in a Church and now it turned out that those who have been arrested and are under interrogation are in fact not Muslims and that the story is more of an internal crisis. In Zamfara State, 19 Muslims were killed. After investigation it was discovered that those who killed them were not Christians. Other similar incidents have occurred across the country.

Clearly, these are very troubled times for our country. But they are also very promising times. I say so because amidst this confusing debris of hate, anger and frustration, we have had some very interesting dimensions. Nigeria is changing because Nigerians are taking back their country from the grip of marauders. These stories, few as they may be, are the beginning of our song of freedom.

Christians are now publicly crossing the artificial lines created by falsehood and bigotry.

Let us take a few examples of events in the last week alone: In Kano, amidst fears and threats of further attacks on Christians, a group of Muslims gathered round to protect Christians as they worshipped. In Minna and recently, in Lagos, the same thing repeated itself as Christians joined hands to protect Muslims as they prayed.

In the last week, Christians and Muslims together in solidarity are protesting against bad governance and corruption beyond the falsehood of religion. Once freed from the grip of these dark forces, religion will be able to play its role as a force for harmony, truth and the common good.

Clearly, drawing from our experiences as Christians, we must note that God has a message for us in all this. To elicit what I consider to be the message, I will make reference to three lessons and I know there are far more.

Prayer and Solidarity

These times call for prayer. At the height of our confusion during the Abacha years, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria composed two sets of prayers; one, Against Bribery and Corruption and second, for Nigeria in Distress. Millions of Catholics have continued to recite these prayers and we must remain relentless in the belief that God hears our prayers and that God’s ways are not our ways. We know that our Muslim brethren and millions of other non-Christians feel the same and are also praying in a similar way for our country. These times call for solidarity of all people of faith. We are a nation of very strong believers and despite what anyone else may say, millions of our Christians and Muslims do take their religion very seriously. However, you might ask, if that is true, why do we have so many killings in the name of God and of religion? My answer is that we have such killings because we live in an environment of a severely weak architecture of state which allows evil to triumph. It is this poverty that produces jealousy and hatred which leads to violence.

We live in a state of ineffective law

enforcement and tragic social conditions.

Corruption has destroyed the fabric of our society. Its corrosive effect can be seen in the ruination of our lives and the decay in our society. The inability of the state to punish criminals as criminals has created the illusion that there is a conflict between Christians and Muslims. In fact, it would seem that many elements today are going to great extremes to pitch Christians against Muslims, and vice versa, so that our attention is taken away from the true source of our woes: corruption. As Nigerians, Christians and Muslims, we must stand together to ensure that our resources are well utilised for the common good. This is why, despite the hardships we must endure as a result of the strike, the Fuel Subsidy debate must be seen as the real dividend of democracy.

Role of Religious Leaders

Religious leaders across the faiths must indeed stand up together and face the challenge of the times by offering a leadership that focuses on our common humanity and common good rather than the insignificant issues that divide us. We therefore condemn in very strong terms the tendency by some religious leaders to play politics with the issues of our collective survival. Rather than rallying our people, some of our religious leaders have resorted to divisive utterances, wild allegations and insinuations against adherents of other religions. In the last five or so days, text messages have been circulating across the country appealing to some of our worst demons. We are told that many senior clerics either believed or encouraged the circulation of these divisive and false text messages. We must condemn this for what it is; a grand design by enemies within our folds who are determined to destroy our country. Whatever they may call themselves, they are neither true Christians nor Muslims.

For those Christians who have reacted in fear, they require conversion. If we wait for these evil men or women to decide when we shall stand for Christ, then we have surrendered our soul to the devil. If we fear to stand up for Christ now, let us remember that He has already said: Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my father in Heaven, Whoever denies me before others, I will deny him before my father in Heaven(Mt 10: 32).

Again, Jesus warns that rather than fear at times of uncertainty, adversity or upheavals, we should be confident. He said: When these things begin to take place, stand erect; hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand (Lk. 21: 28). Furthermore, St Paul has assured us that; If we die with Him, we shall live with Him. If we endure with Him, we shall reign with him (2 Tim 2: 11-12).

Surely, those who are asking us to go under our beds, to flee in the face of persecution must be reading a different Bible.

Difficult Times

These are difficult times but they are also times of promise. Our country has turned its back on all forms of dictatorships. Our hands are on the plough and we are resolutely committed to democracy. Like a Catholic marriage, we may not be happy but we cannot contemplate a divorce. God does not make mistakes.

Although the freedom and growth promised by democracy are not here yet, we must remind ourselves that a better tomorrow is possible, a more united and peaceful Nigeria is possible. The challenges of the last few days have shown the resilience of our people and their commitment to democracy and a better life. We believe this is possible. The government must strive to earn the trust of our people.

All sides must take lessons from the demonstrations and resolve to build a better and stronger nation. Let us hold on to the words of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, when he told the President, religious, traditional rulers and people of the Republic of Benin in the Presidential Palace on the 19th of November: Do not cut off your peoples from their future by mutilating their present....There are too many scandals and injustices, too much corruption and greed, too many errors and lies, too much violence.

All peoples desire to understand the political and economic choices which are made in their name; they wish to participate in good governance. No economic regime is ideal and no economic choice is neutral. But these must always serve the common good”.

•Address by Rev. Father Mathew Hassah Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

COMMENTARY FROM OTHER LANDS

EDITORIAL

FIFA needs to deal with the shadow over soccer

Mbu again

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•The about-turn over the order on protests reignites worries over whether the CP should still be allowed to function in a democracy

HE procedural conflict within the police begs for rectification. Otherwise, how could Joseph Mbu, Commissioner of Police for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have single-handedly banned protests by the ‘Bring Back our Girls’ protesters without direct authorisation from the Inspector-General of Police (IGP)? What has happened to discipline in the force?

We were appalled by reports that Mbu, who came to national consciousness through his notorious mishandling of the Rivers State political crisis, audaciously trampled on people’s rights in the FCT where he currently holds sway. He reportedly banned peaceful protests embarked upon by the pro-Chibok girls’ protesters under the direction of Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education, and Hadiza Bala Usman. The protests in Abuja had been on for over 34 days without hiccups until the latest condemnable but supposedly overruled ban by Mbu. We are pleased by the timely intervention of the IGP even though with a bit of reservation. Frank Mba, Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), who held forth for the IGP at a media parley in Abuja disclosed that the “buck stops at the table of the IGP” and that the ‘Police High Command wishes to inform the general public that the force has not issued any order banning peaceful assemblies/protests anywhere in Nigeria.’

Despite this explicit about-face on the Mbu ban, we consider the subsequent clarification that follows as befuddling

as Mba further ambivalently stated that “security is a collective responsibility of all and consequently, citizens are strongly advised to reconsider their positions on the issues of rallies and protests in FCT until the existing threats are appropriately neutralised and removed from our midst by relevant security agencies.”

We ask: What constitute the threats in these peaceful protests and how did such intelligence report come about in a country where peaceful protests are always treated by government as a serious crime?

We recollect that peaceful protest has been judicially declared to be lawful under the nation’s democracy.

So, this latter statement by Mba is ambiguous and capable of mischievous interpretations. The IGP cannot be approbating and reprobating on this same issue at the same time. After all, the police have not adduced any clear-cut evidence showing that there were indeed plans by miscreants to hijack the Abuja protests on the Chibok girls’ abduction. If there were any, it is, in our view, the duty of the police to prevent such from happening. This is why we agree with Ezekwesili and Usman when they declared that the protest “movement is legitimate and lawful and cannot be arrested by the police whose responsibility is to enforce, not betray the law.”

The point is that advocacy for the safe rescue of the Chibok girls should not be seen by the police as an affront to government’s authority but rather a welcome development. Such protests should be

encouraged for they serve as daily reminder to the authorities of the need not to rest on their oars until the girls are rescued. This should be encouraged especially in a country like ours where serious state matters easily get relegated to the backburner of national discourse.

Mbu unleashed subversive disorder as CP in Rivers State. He has extended that patent in Abuja. We call on the IGP to rein in CP Mbu before he does further damage to the police as an institution.

He went too far this time, which shows the contempt he has for the gravity of the Chibok abductions, the parents and the nation in general, despite the latest damage control. His conduct over time is incompatible with democratic tenets.

Perhaps it is time for him to go.

‘We call on the IGP to rein in CP Mbu before he does further damage to the police as an institution. He went too far this time, which shows the contempt he has for the gravity of the Chibok abductions, the parents and the nation in general, despite the latest damage control. His conduct over time is incompatible with democratic tenets. Perhaps it is time for him to go’

Singing silence

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• Maya Angelou, 86, was regal in poetry, politics and battle against patriarchy

ERHAPS one of the most definitive indications of what Maya Angelou represented was her insightful statement following the 2009 emergence of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States of America. “We are growing up beyond the idiocies of racism and sexism,” she declared profoundly when Obama won the historic presidential election.

Of particular relevance to Nigeria, her impressive perspective on another idiocy, specifically despotism, was instructively supplied in a posthumous tribute by a fellow writer, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, who said she “mobilised emergency forces, and personally led the charge to beat down the doors of a lethargic – and/or ambiguous – US administration during the Sani Abacha murderous dictatorship.”

According to Soyinka, “She kept her finger on the nation’s pulse throughout a people’s travails,” referring to Abacha’s

‘One defining incident in Angelou’s life is worth recounting.

Raped by her mother’s boyfriend, the fact that she exposed the man led to his murder by avengers, and the shocked eight-year-old became mute for almost five years.

She said: ”I thought my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone ...’

brutish military rule from 1993 to 1998.

This picture is remarkably representative of her phenomenal activism and civil rights consciousness. Black and proud of her colour, she lived and worked in Ghana in the 1960s, which deepened her sense of identity and influenced her trajectory.

By the time Angelou made her exit on May 28, aged 86, there was no doubt that hers was a well-rounded life. The AfricanAmerican woman of many memorable parts personified a can-do spirit that inspired numerous people across the world and she told her dramatic life story to huge international applause. She achieved fame for her chain of seven autobiographies, especially the first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), which captures her life up to the age of 17.

Significantly, her devotion to documentary writing was mirrored by the fact that in 2013, at the age of 85, she published her seventh autobiography, Mom & Me & Mom, which is about her relationship with her mother. Indeed, she was reportedly writing another autobiography about her experiences with national and world leaders, which her death aborted. It is a testimony to her distinctive quality that her non-fiction narratives of her life experiences, which centred on themes of racism, identity and family, were consciously stylised and, paradoxically, attracted description as autobiographical fiction.

Like her personality, her oeuvre was expansive and transcended autobiographies. Characterised as “the black woman’s poet laureate”, she also published several volumes of poetry, three collections of essays, and got credit for a number of plays, movies and television shows in a

writing life that spanned about 50 years and earned her multiple awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.

Her stature was reflected in her momentous poetry performance at the 1993 inauguration of US President Bill Clinton where she recited her poem, On the Pulse of Morning, setting a record as the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. Notably, the occasion was regarded as a massive boost for her celebrity “across racial, economic, and educational boundaries,” and the recording of the poem got a Grammy Award.

It is noteworthy that two years later, she drew global attention with the presentation of what was described as her “second ‘public’ poem”, A Brave and Startling Truth, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. Other honours distinguished her, including three Grammys for her spoken word albums, the National Medal of Arts in 2000, the Lincoln Medal in 2008 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

One defining incident in Angelou’s life is worth recounting. Raped by her mother’s boyfriend, the fact that she exposed the man led to his murder by avengers, and the shocked eight-yearold became mute for almost five years.

She said: ”I thought my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone ...” It was during this period of silence that she found her voice as a writer.

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HEN the Fédération Internationale de Football Assn. picked Qatar four years ago to host the 2022 World Cup soccer championship, it seemed an odd choice.

The tiny oil-rich emirate has neither a history of nor the infrastructure for top-level soccer, and the summertime matches would be played in life-threatening triple-digit heat. On the other hand, FIFA’s decision meant that for the first time, a Middle Eastern country would host the world’s largest sporting event, an important milestone for the quadrennial tournament.

Now, if recent allegations reported by the Times of London prove true, there is a dark explanation for Qatar’s surprising victory over bids by the U.S., Australia and other larger nations: some $5 million in alleged bribes to secure FIFA site-committee votes. The key figure in the scandal, the report said, is Mohamed bin Hammam, a former Qatari soccer official and FIFA vice president. If true, that means that the culture of bribery reached high into the organization’s leadership. FIFA has already banned Hammam over unrelated conflicts of interest, and a ban even before that — related to allegations that he tried to bribe his way into the FIFA presidency — was voided on appeal. Others allegedly involved in the events reported by the Times of London, including Qatar’s bid committee, have denied wrongdoing.

The report has fueled demands that FIFA rescind its plans to hold the World Cup in Qatar and redo the site-selection process. If the bribery allegations turn out to be true, that is the right and reasonable response. (Frankly, Qatar’s offensive laws criminalizing homosexuality are also problematic, and this page recently urged FIFA to ensure humane treatment of foreign laborers living and working in dangerous conditions to help Qatar prepare for the tournament.)

But FIFA’s problems run deeper than Qatar.

The association has also been drawn into political arguments in Brazil over the $11.5 billion that country is spending to meet FIFA demands for hosting the 2014 World Cup, which begins next week. And then there are allegations of match-rigging. According to an internal FIFA report obtained by the New York Times, a Singapore-based gambling ring tried to rig as many as 15 international scrimmages before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa — a scandal FIFA has allegedly kept under wraps.

FIFA has tremendous power in international sports, and that brings with it significant responsibilities. Yet these reports call into question the body’s professionalism. If governing votes can be bought and if matches can be rigged, then FIFA’s core credibility is in doubt. A full investigation into FIFA’s governance and management should be undertaken by disinterested outsiders, seeking an open accounting of what has occurred — and a blueprint for how FIFA could be reformed.

– Los Angeles Times-

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: To every objective observer of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, one of its major failings is the faulty strategic approach to key national issues. One is tempted to conclude that the administration lacks deep thinkers who can critically evaluate events, trends and situations with the objective of coming up with bespoke strategy that will solve problems, douse tension and ultimately, boost the image of the president.

This blatant deficiency in strategy has accounted for series of blunders that the presidency commits each time the nation looks up to it for clear-cut direction, symbolic gestures, concrete actions and inspiring pronouncements.

One great example that explicitly highlights this obvious deficiency in this administration is them is handling of the Chibok girls’ abduction. While a more strategic government would have used the opportunity of the problem to rebuild its fluffing image and garner better political capital through a

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Jonathan’s Chibok blunders series of well-articulated and compassionate activities and pronouncements, the Jonathan presidency, as usual, didn’t seize the occasion.

Even when opportunities present itself on a platter of gold, the president’s “strategists” would rather snatch defeat from the jaw of victory.

Some examples will here suffice.

Barely 24 hours after the girls’ abduction and the Nyanya bomb blasts, President Goodluck Jonathan attended a political rally in Kano in which some APC defectors were welcomed into the PDP fold. The festive mood at the rally and the presidential dance steps didn’t reflect a nation that just witnessed two major tragedies a day earlier.

A more strategic president would have cancelled the rally and immediately mobilized all the military resources at the nation’s disposal to rescue the girls particularly in the light of the reported logistics problems of the abductors in ferrying the girls away.

The body language and silence of the president coupled with the disappointing utterances of presidential aides clearly showed that the president didn’t believe any abduction took place. To him, it was one of the gimmicks of the opposition to pile more pressure on his government ahead of the 2015 elections.

It took the relentless social media campaigns and international pressure from foreign media and key

political and social figures for the president to realise the enormity of the issue.

The presidency and the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been under the illusion that the opposition, especially, the All Progressives Congress (APC), is responsible for the spate of violence in the country. They see the current insecurity as part of the grand plan to frustrate the second term ambition of the president. Instead of waking up to the constitutional responsibility of guaranteeing the welfare and security of the citizens, the presidency’s warped mindset has sucked logic out of their response to the abduction and other similar incidents.

Boko Haram: Tiff over amnesty

IR: The goose and the gander are indeed lucky birds. So also are the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the Boko Haram insurgents; especially so for the Boko Haram insurgents who took up arms against their fatherland, but are being considered for forgiveness of sins because the federal government thinks it is the best way to go to have peace and unity in the land.

It does not matter that innocent blood was shed by the two groups, women defiled, and misery callously distributed to innocent souls; but peace we must have at all cost. It is only logical to conclude that though men may forgive these heinous crimes of bloodshed, the Owner of the souls that were wasted-the Almighty Godwill ask for an account of them.

And if these criminals do not make amends with God, they will rot in hell.

But we must thank President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for waving this generous olive branch to the insurgents, just as his predecessor did to the Niger Delta mili-

tants a few years ago. The ball is in the court of the Boko Haram insurgents to either accept or reject this offer.

I am not interested in the needless controversy that has been introduced into the proposition by the Special Adviser to the President on Media, Reuben Abati to the effect that the President has not granted amnesty to the insurgents as purportedly claimed by the Minister of Youth Affairs, Boni Haruna.

Here are excerpts of what President Jonathan said: “My government, while pursuing security measures, will explore all options, including readiness to accept unconditional renunciation of violence by insurgents, and to ensure their deradicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration into the broader society....”

To me, the message of the President is clear and simple: the government is ready to grant amnesty if they renounce violence, unconditionally.

At this year’s Democracy Day, Youth Development Minister, Boni Haruna, had said: “A series of integration programmes have been

lined up for members of the sect who surrender their arms and embrace peace. Let me use this opportunity on behalf of the federal government, to call on members of the Boko Haram sect to embrace the government’s gesture and key into the amnesty programme.”

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The minister’s position did not say that amnesty had been granted; rather, that the option was open to the insurgents to embrace. So, why has the controversy reared its head?

• Johnson Momodu Benin City.

After weeks of sit-in protests in Abuja, the Oby Ezekwesili-led #Bringbackourgirlsgroup resolved to take their grievances to President Jonathan in Aso Rock. The wellpublicised protest was designed to hear directly from the president the government’s efforts at rescuing the girls. The group unwittingly provided an image laundering platform for the president to address the concerns of the group and other similar campaigns all around the world. But in what has become the hallmark of this administration, the president was nowhere to be found.

Not only were they not allowed access to Aso Rock, but also the aides that stood in for the president didn’t help his cause as well. Anyway, their response reflected the mindset of the president: Don’t Blame the Government for the Abduction, Take Your Campaign to Boko Haram.

While the government has failed woefully in responding strategically to the Chibokgirls abduction, the presidency can however learn valuable lessons from the event that has attracted global outrage. It’s time for the president to reorganize his strategy team and appoint competent people who would be bold enough to give him sound counsel without entertaining the fear of losing their jobs. Also, the president must be determined to turn deaf ears to those who believe people with dissenting opinions are his enemies.

• Muyiwa Akande Lagos

On the match fixing allegation

IR: When I read about the match fixing allegations the British Police was investigating prior to the Nigeria/ Scotland match, I waived it off as one of those attempts by the British media to paint Nigeria black.

However, events of the last few days have confirmed my worst fears. Considering the fact that we are still recovering from the Amos Adamu bribery fiasco, the revelation that a Nigerian match-fixing agent, who is also a licensed FIFA agent is offering matches involving Nigeria to the highest bidder has cast a dark cloud over the quality of Nigeria’s participation in this month’s World Cup. As I write this piece, images of

Yakubu Ayegbeni’s goal mouth miss and Sani Keita’s unnecessary red card kept flashing though my mind; unfortunately for us, these sad memories which have refused disappear, are about to be re-enacted.

The activities of Henry Chukwuma Okoroji who was allegedly caught telling an undercover reporter that he could fix games and organize certain outcomes during the tournament in Brazil this month is not only despicable but deeply regrettable.

Furthermore, his reported attempt to lure Ogenyi Onazi one of Nigeria’s finest players into this shameful scam is a clear indication of how far some people are

willing to go to in their quest for sour grapes.

Nevertheless, Onazi must be commended for being a true professional as evidenced by his decision to rebuff Okoroji’s offer, choosing to place the country above financial and material gains. Onazi’s experience should be an eye opener to other players, that endorsement could sometimes mean a career ending free ticket to jail.

As we match towards the World cup In Brazil, I am not convinced that the present crop of players paraded by Stephen Keshi has what it takes to make us proud, but for the sake of the over 170 million Nigerians I sincerely pray I am wrong.

• Oche Otorkpa Twitter: @ochejoseph

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014 16

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COMMENTS

The demons within (A long introspection cut short)

Email: tunji_ololade@yahoo.co.uk 08038551123, 08111845040

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O one could teach humanity to our callous clan. Nobody could teach reality to a land that dies of dreams of plunder. Who could teach direction to a land that thrives on monstrosities and misdirection? “This is another epoch…another order…another clime,” we enthuse – but if you look closely enough, you will find that we are still in that same epoch we swore to survive. You will find that we are still that great ship with no certain commitment to compass and outlast our course’s most hideous storms.

This ‘new epoch’ of ours, every moment uncoils as that in which like starved greyhounds, we return to sup on yesterday’s vomit, still.

Every minute passes as that in which seedlings fear the late, as crop-shoots, the early rainstorm.

Our young expects too little, still; and our old still indulge in pleasurable reminiscences even as they discover no logic to justify that which they had forsaken and squandered. Come 2015, we have another chance at a ‘new dawn’ but in our ‘new dawn,’ will promises be broken? Will fear’s moonflower spread and attain full blossom till our pro-

verbial dawn illumines as familiar dusk of compromise, as usual?

Every ‘new dawn,’ we continue to pretend that we have answers to everything. As Nigeria ruins and stagnates like cocoyam sodden in a mud field, you and I continue to rant and articulate highfaluting remedies to the problems that persist and smother. We continue to bandy common sense and text book panacea to preventable cankers we frantically preserve and foster.

Our pains are of substandard education, mass unemployment, sky-rocketing inflation, pervasive poverty, insecurity, crime, high infant and maternal mortality, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) epidemic, cyber –fraud, institutional fraud, etc. To these, we have proffered countless solutions.

We have suggested population control. We have suggested greater government support and presence in the Niger Delta claiming that since it is Nigeria’s only reliable source of national income, the federal government ought to devote greater time, money and other resources to the region.

And more often than we could count, we have suggested that we

‘What manner of redress do you seek? Many have suggested that we break-up. They claim we shall do better if we go our separate ways. Bet you have mooted such fantastic enterprise in more instances than you could count. Now picture the dissolution of our 54-year-old union; what plenitude could it bring? What manner of peace, justice and stability could we derive from a relapse to humanity’s often wildest and best-forgotten enterprise?’

E

XPLOSIONS. Mass kidnappings. Nigeria is no stranger to international news these days, making the region seem like a train wreck that the world can’t help but gawk at. Most recently we’ve landed in the spotlight for the two bomb blasts in my own hometown, Jos. From the kidnappings of over 200 young girls to this most recent act of terror, it’s easy to look at Nigeria and imagine a country descending into violent chaos. Don’t misunderstand. Nigeria faces many challenges, ranging from violent extremism to corruption and poverty, and it is crucial for the media to share these stories with the rest of the world. But this is only one side of the picture.

What’s not reaching the air waves is the extraordinary resilience of the people. Every day, Nigerians come together across tribal and religious lines to build peace in their country. In fact, the bombings in Jos have brazenly interrupted the relative peace enjoyed in the area for the past two years. This and other acts violence will not deter the ongoing efforts to promote peace in Plateau State and throughout Nigeria. While we mourn the tragedies that have taken place in Nigeria, we must also support and amplify the good work that so many Nigerians are doing to prevent such violence in the future.

First, let’s address the bombings in the city of Jos. The first car bomb exploded around 3:00 p.m. at the busy Terminus market. The same market where my family and I have purchased our food and goods for generations. A second bomb exploded 20 minutes later. Estimates put the death toll at 118 people, with countless other injuries.

Bombings of civilians in public spaces are clearly designed to terrorize the population. Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the pattern of the blasts is similar to those carried out by the terrorist group

‘Despite these horrific events, this attack will not divide us. Rather, it must serve to strengthen our resolve to live together in peace’

paid greater attention to our ailing agricultural sector. We claim it would do us great good if we could revivify our dying cocoa industry, collapsed groundnut pyramids and struggling oil palm sector.

Not to forget our persistent rant about our neglect of our tourist attractions. It’s amusing to see us mount the soap-box in fickle fits of contempt – in our liquor and rantactivated pubs, living-rooms, courtyards and pages of our sensational newsprints. We have perfected the art of lamentation, bandying angst and pitiful punch lines as we mourn our rudderless politics.

What’s your poison? Nigeria’s leadership problem? Pervasive poverty? Endemic corruption? Religious upheavals cum perversion of faith? What is it that causes riotous incense to course through your brain? The abject rot of the Onyeama Coal Mine? The collapse of Ajaokuta Steel as well as other appendages to Nigeria’s steel sector? Our underperforming oil refineries and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)?

What excites your grief? Our conduit-built and corruption-enabled civil service? Perhaps like the lot of us disgruntled citizenry, you also harbor all manners of discontent for our public officers’ outrageous attitude to governance.

Bet you could recite by rote your ‘patriotic’ and ‘heartfelt’ panacea to every canker and vestige of inhumanity that has become the scourge of our portal of ruined stones. Perhaps like too many of our compatriots, you suggest a sovereign national conference or referendum which sole aim is to provide the forum by which we could redress the state of the union.

What manner of redress do you seek? Many have suggested that we break-up. They claim we shall do better if we go our separate ways.

Bet you have mooted such fantastic enterprise in more instances than

you could count. Now picture the dissolution of our 54-year-old union; what plenitude could it bring?

What manner of peace, justice and stability could we derive from a relapse to humanity’s often wildest and best-forgotten enterprise?

What would be your role in the new order? Who will you be in your fantastic era? Funny, isn’t it that you seek to reinvent the millipede by calling it, ‘snake?’ Shall the lion cub become tomcat simply because we keep it as a house pet?

We could reinvent ourselves as much as we like; we could secede by our terms as many times as we like; we could quote Nietzsche, Plato, Disreali et al and re-echo the idiosyncrasies of our favourite columnists for as long as it gets us to justify our cynicism and grief, nothing will change.

Our lives shan’t get better. Nigeria won’t become the land of honey and milk we wish it would become nor it’s separated parts if we ever become foolish enough to go our separate ways; not in a trillion years. Until we change.

It’s a fundamental nature of our society that we accept abnormality and debauchery as incontestable parts of our nature. Yet if we did not indulge in such abject perversions and pitiable evasions as our principle of moral agnosticism which imbues us to be tolerant of anything and everything, we could have matured enough in intellect and psyche to know how and why not to compromise between truth and falsehood, reason and irrationality.

We could have attained such maturity that would enable us to understand that the values we project become the essence of our sociopolitics and being – whether we like it or not.

Every utterance we make, as our most humane and inhumane actions and reactions, intensify the simplicity or degeneracy of our individual

perceptions as well as the rationality and otherwise of every human politic we choose to scorn or celebrate.

It needn’t be so hard to be good.

But it does – simply because for all our touted morality, wisdom and predilection to constitute a quintessential civilization of humans, we have lost direction.

Knowingly, we scorn both our glaring and latent abilities to discern that proverbial path, conspicuous as it is, to the realization of the essence and undeniable benefits of being good. Thus our culture and our lives disintegrate for our lack of character.

When we ennoble double speak and refrain from praising men’s virtues and condemning their vices, our fraudulence declares and we foster the corruption of our larger society. No practicable and highfaluting panacea could resolve our most hideous realities until we attain the essence of goodness without being self-righteous.

Simply put, there can be no compromise, however exquisitely couched, between us and the depravity we tolerate. Aiding and abetting corruption in the spirit of socio-economic and political expediency is hardly a compromise but a cowardly surrender to the elements that disintegrates and makes bleak.

Whether we like it or not, there can be no compromise or wanton sophistry acceptable on basic principles and fundamental issues. It’s time we desist from every conscious quest to improve the status quo from the deceitful springboard of compromise.

The change we seek subsists in such random and premeditated acts of goodness that we have learnt to forsake: like a citizen’s resoluteness to respect the traffic light and a local government chairman’s immutable passion to improve life at the grassroots – particularly when the world and the press aren’t looking.

Nigeria: The flip side

By Chom Bagu Boko Haram. The same group currently holding over 200 school girls as hostages, detonated two bombs last month in Kano, killing dozens of Nigerians.

Jos remains a target of Boko Haram attacks because it has historically been at the centre of tension between Muslim and Christian communities in Northern Nigeria.

The blasts in the market have the potential to reignite tension and refuel animosity between the different religious and ethnic groups in the city at a time when so much cooperation between the people has been achieved.

A security official reported that on Tuesday evening, some youth attacked motorists and traders after the blasts. This is exactly what the bombers want. However, in the aftermath of these bombs, we have also seen the police and security forces working to reduce tensions and prevent agitation that could result in further violence. Muslim and Christian Nigerians have also come together following these attacks to show support and solidarity. People across Nigeria and the world have shown that they want peace, not violence.

To be sure, Nigeria has work to do. As my colleague Lantana Abdullahi recently noted in her testimony in front of the U.S. Senate, we must work to consolidate the gains in peace-building in Nigeria, improve human security, monitor human rights abuses, work to reduce poverty and corruption that drive extremism, and support a regional effort to prevent Boko Haram from growing.

Despite these horrific events, this attack will not divide us. Rather, it must serve to strengthen our resolve to live together in peace. At Search for Common Ground, we work with inspiring Nigerians every day who are coming together to push for peace, including community, traditional, religious, women, and youth leaders, as well as state and local government officials. We are highlighting their voices through a participatory Early Warning System that collects information on tensions, rumours, and

violent incidents and shares reports with security and civil society groups. We also run two radio programs that promote Nigerian messages of peace: “Voices of Peace” airs messages twice daily from government and security authorities calling for calm, and “Our Children Are Talking” allows children and youth to discuss the ways that they are impacted by conflict. These people are the future of Nigeria, not violent extremists.

So while we send our thoughts and prayers to those affected by violence in Nigeria, let us also celebrate the Nigerians who have already come together to show support in the aftermath of these attacks and who are working to build peace in their country. We invite all Nigerians and the global community to show their solidarity and with the people of Jos and faith in a brighter future on social media using the hashtag #plateauwillarise!. We at Search will continue to highlight voices for peace, because we know that these bombings and acts of violence will not deter the work that so many Nigerians are doing to make their country a better place with a brighter future.

• Bagu is Country Director for Search for Common Ground Nigeria.

‘Jos remains a target of Boko Haram attacks because it has historically been at the centre of tension between Muslim and Christian communities in Northern Nigeria. The blasts in the market have the potential to reignite tension and refuel animosity between the different religious and ethnic groups in the city at a time when so much cooperation between the people has been achieved’

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

22

COMMENTS ''The mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness; the mind of the mean man is conversant with gain.'' - Confucius 551 B.C. - 479 B.C

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T this moment, Nigeria's highest political need is higher ethical standards – one that is propelled by genuine role models and also enforced by adherence to strict laws and upheld by responsible political leadership. But sadly, the tempo at which politics of harlotry is gaining momentum in the country should concern the reasonable discerning few among us. In the view of this column, the principal goal of politics in societal development should be that of creating men and women who are capable of sustaining principles and not simply repeating the foibles of other generations and which may have largely contributed to the sorry state to which the nation is plunged today.

Yours sincerely do engage in persistent ruminations, and in such hopeless state come up with several pertinent questions: where are the men and women of principles and integrity in politics? Is it still impossible to have men that are ready to uphold the values necessary to bind the society together without bowing to the lure of being turned into quislings in the corridors of power? Is there any hope, again, for the current generation of Nigerians to witness better days ahead? What is unfurling in the country is depicting the reality that in our clime, nothing defines political humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs.

To develop our society and get our judgments right, we need to get our priorities right - as individuals and as government. And to be perfect in our judgments, there is the need to make moral principles and justice the starting point of all our undertakings and the root of everything that was beneficial.

‘Perhaps, if the appointment is right by the incumbent, Fani-Kayode will not think twice before unleashing his notorious fangs against Obasanjo, his former pay master. This is so, especially now that his calculated expectations of what to be reaped had been dashed in APC and the yet-to-be disclosed permutations with the centre government’s ruling party looks so tempting’

W

HEN an old friend called to inform me that Monsignor Adeigbo had passed on, I wasn’t sure I heard her right. But she repeated herself, this time more loudly. I felt the ground shift under my feet. Told that his illness was sudden, I was sure someone was negligent.

Talking to no one in particular, I said that this was not fair; he was a good man; why didn’t he come home sooner from Port Harcourt to be cared for by us – his spiritual children? I was angry blaming everyone and everything. I felt a great personal loss.

A prince of Ibowon, Felix Adedoyin Adeigbo very early on in life opted for the royal priesthood. He lived simple and poor.

His well-worn shoes and 30-year old Volvo car were often matters of frustration for his staff. Everyone who came across him had a personal tale to tell – donating his rare blood type to a sick parishioner, settling conflicts within families, converting noncatholic spouses but not forcing unwilling ones, saying private masses for family celebrations when requested for and so on. I am left with the painful feeling that he was in hardship before our eyes but we thought he needed nothing. In fact, the little he had parishioners took from him.

As the Archdiocesan Education Coordinator, he was insistent that the children of cooks, stewards and gardeners should benefit from the high standard of education that the Mary Hill Convent School Ibadan offered. He therefore told us at the Board to find ways of ensuring that the then impending increase in school fees did not affect those children be they already enrolled or incoming. Such was his concern for the needy.

Professor Felix Adeigbo, an accom-

07011117777

Resurgence of political promiscuity

• Fani-Kayode

This is something that persons of middling or even more elevated intellect never grasps in the polity today, which is why they gain fleeting profits rather than integrity.

Thomas Jefferson, one-time president of the United States of America, once said: ‘In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.’ How many of the younger and middle age politicians in our clime today can claim genuine acceptance of this statement by sincerely affirming that it remains the moderating influence of their actions with self and the Nigerian nation? The realism in this statement dawned on yours sincerely when earlier this week, Femi Fani-Kayode, beleaguered former Minister of Aviation finally announced his longexpected departure from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

His professed major reasons: Consideration of “… nation-building as being far more important than party politics, party affiliation or party formations.” Anyone that truly follows the antecedents of this chameleonic rab-

ble-rouser will realise that he has always considered ‘pocket building’ far more important than nation building through identification with anything odiously indefensible from the ignoble government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He claimed that he could not stand a party where; “… members of the Christian faith are not treated as equals….” More damning is his accusing the major opposition party of “working hard silently” and “behind the scenes” to produce an all-Muslim pairing for the 2015 presidential election and that “all the substantive positions of the national executive of the party are made up of almost exclusively Muslims.”

All of a sudden, Fani-Kayode just realised that he is questionably ‘a devout and committed Christian’ who ‘…cannot remain in a party where a handful of people that have sympathies for Boko Haram and that have a clear Islamic agenda are playing a leading role.” Is he equating performance in public affairs with religious inclination? He needs to tell us whether two Christian presidents in Obasanjo and Goodluck have shown inspiring flashes of hope for a better Nigeria than what late YarÁdua, a Muslim did in his brief period in power? Despite his claim of being a ‘devout Christian,’ the nation’s aviation sector was not better off what it is today when he was head of that ministry. If not for the embellished claim of Femi-Fani-kayode’s claim of having been in power for 24 years, he would still remember that the only Muslim-Muslim ticket of MKO Abiola/Kingibe in 1993 won the best and fairest presidential election in the annals of this country.

He also erroneously claims not to want to be in a party where “… dissent and a differing opinion with others on fundamental issues are seen as an offence.’’ Now that he is

Monsignor Adeigbo – A Tribute

By Ayoka Lawani plished scholar, taught socio-political philosophy and theology at the University of Ibadan. He was at various times, formator of young men aspiring to the priesthood at the Minor Seminary Oke Are, Lecturer at the SS Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Head of Dept. of Philosophy, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and stood in for the Vice Chancellor on many occasions in and out of the university. A brilliant mind, he challenged his students of theology and philosophy to rigorous study, to think anew and discard presuppositions and unexamined ways of thinking, and those of ethics he taught that for good governance to be enthroned, politics must go hand in hand with ethics. He was a priest, a philosopher, an eminent ecclesiastic and an accomplished academic. For over 25 years he was the Parish priest at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Catholic Church University of Ibadan - the first African to be so appointed.

Delivering an inspiring homily at the Vigil Mass, the Dominican Preacher – Father (Prof.) Anthony Akinwale himself a former student of Msgr. Adeigbo said: “In a society where the separation of religion and reason, of faith and scholarship, has occasioned the degeneration of religion into public nuisance and the descent of piety into insecurity, the life of Adeigbo has something to teach us. Indeed, with admirable

eloquence has he taught us about a moral obligation we must assume. And this is the obligation: that we must, of urgent necessity, for our own good and for the good of generations yet unborn, cease being schizophrenics, men and women whose religious devotion and professional competence walk on either side of the street without ever exchanging glances”.

When on January 7, 2007, he was appointed Rector of the Catholic Institute of West Africa ( CIWA), Port Harcourt, a lot of us were quite unhappy because we knew it would be a daunting task, an extremely demanding position. And for someone who put his all into his job, it would be quite exhausting. But as usual, animated by child-like simplicity, he smiled and told

back in the conservative PDP, it would be nice for him to let the world know what led to the fractionalisation of the ruling party last October when some of its leading members were forced to exit it for expressing differing views and what informed his selfish decision to go back this time around. He accused APC of having ‘… politicised the whole Chibok issue and even stated that the role of one of its governors is not clear on the Chibok issue.’’

The issue of Chibok is tied to the Boko Haram menace and what yours sincerely presumes to be the issue is the shoddy handling of it by the federal administration. It is thus callous for Fani-Kayode to think that a party populated by parents will ever contemplate playing politics with the lives of innocent children, especially knowing the consequence of such an action in a year preceding a general election. More laughable was his erroneously claim of having been in politics since the ‘last 24 years of my life and all along, I have taken monumental risks and being guided by my principles.”

Expectedly, he has returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the APC that he formally joined on February 7th, 2014. This man is a liar for claiming to have been in politics since 1990. Where was he when June 12 was annulled? The only noticeable actions of him were his then trenchant self-conceited write-ups in newspapers against President Obasanjo in the early days of this century. To him, there was nothing good in Obasanjo until he was, like a crying monkey pacified with banana appointments that saw him finally ended up in the aviation ministry. He started and, in obvious more established self comfort, ended with Obasanjo without being able to rectify the derided shortcomings in the man and his government. It is, of course, not his fault that he thrives in this society where bootlickers of power and unstable jobbers. More knocks for the APC leadership for falling easily to the deceits of Fani-Kayode who ordinarily should not be allowed to mingle where decent politicians are congregating.

Perhaps, if the appointment is right by the incumbent, Fani-Kayode will not think twice before unleashing his notorious fangs against Obasanjo, his former pay master. This is so, especially now that his calculated expectations of what to be reaped had been dashed in APC and the yet-to-be disclosed permutations with the centre government’s ruling party looks so tempting.

The danger in the conduct of characters like Fani-Kayode is well amplified in the speech of the 34th president of the United States, Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969), when he said: ‘A person that values his privileges above his principles soon loses both.’ For this immoral self-celebrated political creature, time will tell.

us to pray for him. Anyway he was soon coming back or so we thought. But our wish was not the will of the Almighty. Yes, he came back but very ill.

His earthly pilgrimages were almost always to Lourdes at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. He passed on on May 13, the day of the anniversary of that catholic observance. How fitting.

He was ever gracious to me and my family – having one of my sons, Akinyemi as a mass server; coming all the way from Port Harcourt to preside over the wedding of another, Kolawole. He was tireless in the service of God and humanity. He was my counsel and confidant. The wonderful memories of this kind man and all that he did in the life of my family help me to take solace in the Book of Wisdom “ In the eyes of the unwise, the virtuous did appear to die, their going looked like a disaster, their leaving us, like annihilation; but they are in peace”.

Monsignor, rest in peace.

• Lawani writes from Ibadan.

“In a society where the separation of religion and reason, of faith and scholarship, has occasioned the degeneration of religion into public nuisance and the descent of piety into insecurity, the life of Adeigbo has something to teach us. Indeed, with admirable eloquence has he taught us about a moral obligation we must assume.

And this is the obligation: that we must, of urgent necessity, for our own good and for the good of generations yet unborn, cease being schizophrenics, men and women whose religious devotion and professional competence walk on either side of the street without ever exchanging glances”

COUNTDOWN

6

DAYS TO GO

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

25

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

“Until recently, the Nigerian banking industry had not given much attention to sustainability beyond ticking off environmental impact assessment on checklist for credit risk assessment for evaluation of loan applications, other jurisdictions have for decades been engraving sustainability ethos in their financial system,” –Former CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

BATNF trains women farmers

Community joins DPR in ASCON Oil’s suit

By Bukola Afolabi

B

RITISH America Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) has trained 33 women vegetable farmers for better performance and increased productivity.

Its General Manager, Ms Abimbola Okoya, said the training will empower the farmers with in-depth knowledge of how, when and where to plant their crops; how to access loans, and apply fertilisers, among others, for better yield.

Okoya said BATNF invited agriculturalists from the National Horticultural Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan, to train the women.

She said: “From our research, we found out that the women needed expert knowledge on vegetable farming. This is why we brought in experts from NIHORT to conduct the training. It is also in line with our mandate of contributing to sustainable agricultural development in the country.”

Head of the NIHORT’s sixman team that trained the farmers, Dr Oluyemisi Adebisi-Adelani, said the training was aimed at “building the capacity of the women farmers on improved production technique of vegetables such as ‘ugu’ (fluted pumpkin), tomatoes and pepper.”

A participant and head of the Oshodi Women Vegetable Farmers, Mrs. Veronica Daniel, said participants have benefitted immensely from the training and would begin to put into practice all that they have been taught by the experts.

She enjoined other organisations to emulate BATNF in empowering women farmers in the country, “so that our lot can be better.”

At the end of the training, the women were each awarded Certificate of Participation jointly endorsed

by BATNF and NIHORT.

DATA STREAM

COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$117.4/ barrel Cocoa -$2,686.35/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,396.9/troy Sugar -$163/lb MARKET CAPITALISATIONS NSE -N11.4 trillion JSE -Z5.112trillion NYSE -$10.84 trillion LSE -£61.67 trillion RATES Inflation -8% Treasury Bills 10.58%(91d) Maximum lending -30% Prime lending -15.87% Savings rate -1% 91-day NTB -15% Time Deposit -5.49% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $45b FOREX CFA -0.2958 EUR -206.9 £ -242.1 $ -156 ¥ -1.9179 SDR -238 RIYAL -40.472

By Sampson Unamka

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From left: Managing Director, Oasis Group, Mr. Wale Adegbite, Chief Executive Officer, Multimix Academy, Mr. Obiora Madu, President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alhaji Remi Bello, Country Director, Empretec Nigeria Foundation; former First Lady, Cross River State, Mrs. Owanari Duke and Managing Director Nigeria, Accenture, Mr. Niyi Yusuf, all LCCI Council members, after the council’s meeting in Lagos.

156 contractors for trial over breach of procurement law T

HE Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) is prosecuting 156 contractors for violating the procurement law, its DirectorGeneral, Mr Emeka Ezeh, has said.

Speaking in Abuja, he said the offences ranged from forgery to tendering of fake documents.

He blamed officials of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) for clearing the contractors, warning that government officials who accepted incompetent contractors would be dealt with.

“Naturally, the contractors go to various government MDAs because they are the

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie said.

ones that process their documents. All the government officers involved have been invited for questioning and possible prosecution. Established rules for administrative and criminal breaches will be followed in their sanctions. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) will do the investigation to establish the culpability or otherwise of the officers involved. So, depending on their findings, they will be prosecuted accordingly,” he

Ezeh said breaches of the Procurement Act were often caused by ignorance and, as such, BPP had set up a training school to educate key officers of MDAs on the right procurement processes. He added that 5,000 procurement officers and stakeholders have been trained.

“We do this because we believe that the understanding of the rules makes it easier for people to get the job done. So, after understanding the rules and if they still find a way to sidetrack them, they are on their own. But we will continue to encourage people to

do the right thing,” he explained.

Ezeh said the training was free for the MDAs, adding that the school catered to different sectors from oil and gas to agriculture. To ensure good procurement practices, MDAs, he suggested that the establishment of a department of procurement headed by a director.

“Since MDAs began to set up departments of procurement, there has been improvement in procurement procedures. There has been so much improvement in terms of not just the saving of money but in terms of compliance,” he pointed out.

Shippers’ Council set to make port competitive HE management of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) said it is working hard to reduce the costs of doing business at the ports and make it competitive.

Its Executive Secretary, Alhaji Hassan Bello, said the task becomes imperative based on the council’s new position as commercial regulator of the ports.

Briefing top editors of newspapers in Lagos, the NSC boss said since the ports were privatised in 2006, the turnaround time for vessels and cargo discharge time have reduced, and port efficiency has increased.

He however, lamented the high cost of doing business adding that the cardinal principle of privatisation was to reduce cost.

Bello said the council has embarked on consultations with stakeholders, ports concessionaires, shipping lines, freight forwarders, government agencies, insurance companies, banks, port users and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), which he called the “technical regulators,” to promote businesses at the ports.

He told the editors that the council opted for consultation to achieve cooperation from all stakeholders.

Bello said reducing the cost

T

By Oluwakemi Dauda

was imperative to make the ports more competitive for both domestic and international markets, arguing that with lower costs comes more volume and with more volume comes more revenue for the government.

Bello said discharging the responsibilities attached to NSC’s new status as economic regulator has not been easy in terms of mediating tariffs, quality of service, and ensuring that NPA provides the necessary infrastructure demanded of it. He likened it to “a teacher being

thrown at a rowdy class of primary four kids. We are like a referee coming in to stamp order when the match is already on.

“A commercial regulator ought to have come with the privatisation of the ports in 2006.

Now, it is a bedlam out there with the different segments trading blames as to why things are not working. We hope to streamline the business and make the ports more efficient.”

Bello urged the Federal Government to support the council in terms of upholding its operational autonomy. He said the public should see the NSC as

port regulators as the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) regulates telecoms business, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulates banking, and National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) regulates insurance.

He identified primitive procedure of discharging cargo, overpopulation where people swarm “as if they emerge from the ground” and difficult access to ports causing huge traffic gridlocksas some of the industry’s challenges. Others are mutual blame game among operators, adding that NSC, as an umpire, NSC will streamline things.

OME residents of Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos have joined the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in a suit filed at the Lagos High Court to stop ASCON Oil from building an ultra modern petrol filling station on Block 36, Plot 10 Admiralty Way, Lekki Peninsula.

The plaintiffs, Chief Rasheed Williams, Chief Kayode Aderinokun, Alhaji Useni, Mr. Malachy Ezeoke, Mrs. Ogunmokun and Mr. Olajide Kuti said DPR, which allegedly gave ASCON Oil approval to build, did not take into consideration the interests of the residents before the Environmental Impacts Assessments (EIA) were conducted.

They claimed they were not aware of any EIA carried out or produced on the land by the ASCON Oil before it applied for requisite development permit and approval for the construction of the petrol station.

They also said there were no time residents were given opportunity to make inputs on the EIA of the petrol station project adding that the assessment was not subjected to public review.

These responsibilities of DPR, they said, involve monitoring of operations at drilling sites, storage depots, pump stations, retail outlets, any other locations where petroleum is either stored or sold.

The residents also said DPR has the power to issue permits, licences, and approvals for all activities connected with petroleum exploration and exploitation, storage, marketing, transportation and distribution across the entire oil and gas value chain.

“In view of the above position and obligations of the DPR, it has become expedient that it be joined as a party to the instant suit to enable the court completely adjudicate and settle all the issues raised in the suit on the propriety or otherwise of the situation of the petrol station,” they averred.

But other residents insisted that the community needs the petrol station because of the developmental and job creation benefits that will come with it. “The unemployment rate in the country is over 30 per cent and any project that will take the unemployed out of the streets should be encouraged,” Chinedu Okafor, a resident said.

Weights & Measures seals ATMs over non-certification

T

HE Weights and Measures Department, Fed-

eral Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has sealed the Automated Teller Machines(ATMs) belonging to UBA Plc and Union Bank.

The affected UBA branch is located in AP Plaza, Wuse 2 while that of Union Bank is in the Central Business District of Abuja. They were found to be using ATMs and counting machines that were not properly certificated by the appropriate authority.

•Carts away counting machines From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

Apart from sealing the ATMs, the Department which conducted the exercise, also carted away counting machines of the affected banks.

There have a been various complaints from customers across the country over the malfunctioning of some ATMs which have often times led to debiting without payment and other sundry

complaints.

Speaking during the exercise, Mr. Salim Mohamed, a legal metrology in the Department stated that both banks contravened the provision of Weight and Measure Act by deploying machines that were not certificated by the appropriate authority.

He said: ”The essence of the exercise is to enforce compliance with the provision of the Weight and Measure Act which states that any equip-

ment that is deployed to use in the country must be properly certificated. “ Before any equipment is put into use in Nigeria, it has to be verified to find out whether it is accurate. This is the normal practice all over the world, and Nigeria cannot be an exception. In the exercise we have just concluded, we found out that the banks contravened the provision of the laws and we have taken an initial step to stop the usage of their ATMs and counting machines.”

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

26

THE NATION

BUSINESS BRANDS & MARKETING

e-mail: adedejiademigbuji@yahoo.com /mobile line: 08131075667

Reality shows appear to be gradually becoming a new platform that generates emotional bonding to viewers thus delivering on media investment than traditional platforms. ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI reports that the trend poses danger to the survival of traditional platforms.

F

AKE and edited, reality TV shows have been criticised for lacking any clue of reality but the curiosity they create in the minds of the audience has continued to endear the platform to advertisers and brand managers in the Nigeria marketing communication industry.

In spite of the feelings among critics that the platform, with its growing audience base, is creating a very bad effect on the minds of the youth, the impact the shows have on youth in discovering their talents have made such misgivings to become irrelevant.

Beyond the job it creates for art directors, producers, creative agencies, modeling agencies, make-up artists, the huge revenue the platform generates for TV stations is unprecedented. But media buying pattern trendspotters are having concern that the level of corporate sponsorship enjoyed by the platform may have caused revenue loss to other traditional media such as press, outdoor as well as other TV contents which hardly secure advertisement.

TV reality shows have become the place where advertisers put their sponsorship money because of the higher return-onadvert-spend it offers. With the level the platform engages consumers, it has become a stronger touch-points where brand handlers can reach out to all demography apart from the youth.

The Group Managing Director of SO & U, a leading marketing communication agency, Mr. Uffot Udeme, said reality shows have become a platform that came with spontaneity. He said: “Over the years, Reality Shows have caught the fancy of the younger generation of consumers. These shows offer a certain spontaneity that excites the audience and any opportunity for involvement is an added bonus.”

Uffot explained further that TV reality show has become an extension of social media lifestyle. “To me, this is an extension of the social media lifestyle where people delight in being involved in each others’ lives no matter how geographically remote they may be from each other,” he noted.

With the level of sponsorship enjoyed by the platform, other platforms especially, press and outdoor has continued to suffer revenue loss while indication showed that the huge budget on reality shows has continued to lift the TV advertisement revenue.

According to the 2012 edition of Mediafact, a publication of MediaReach OMD, a media planning, buying and strategy agency, media investment for both press and outdoor declined last year while TV recorded rise in media investment. The figure showed that advertising industry spend on Above-the-Line Advertising activities dropped by 10.6 per cent to N91.846 billion in 2012 as against N102.755 billion in 2011. The decrease, accordingly, was due to reduced media investment of 43.9 per cent on outdoor advertising and 41.7 per cent on press while media investment on TV and radio grew by 7.2 per cent and 20.1 per cent respectively.

Although there are no explanation as to why the investment level has continued to drop in favour of reality TV shows, The Nation spotted the trends based on the level of sponsorship and growing adoption of global reality shows by Nigerian brands. It suggests that the platform is the rave of the moment while producers and franchisees of these shows are making fortune at the expense of some traditional media. For instance, the chairman of Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) Mr. Charles Chijide has complained about revenue loss in the sector while a lot of its agency members have fled the industry into politics as a result of dwindling fortune.

Also, other sub-sectors in the industry aside media agencies which invest clients media spend on the best platforms, have never had any cause to complain about revenue loss.

Findings also show that other TV contents that have suffered low sponsorship as a result of growing strength of reality shows in delivering target audience to brands include but not limited to animated series, breakfast television shows, television comedy, comedydrama, docudrama, educational television, interview, mockumentary, paranormal tel-

TV reality shows, traditional platforms battle for survival

• Judges of Etisalat’s Nigeria Idols

evision, participation TV, political drama, public affairs (broadcasting) and reality TV shows but the one that has enjoyed higher corporate sponsorship and adaptation to brands sole-sponsorship remains TV reality shows which comes in various content forms such as court show, food reality television, game opera and game show, hidden camera, masterchef among others.

The TV reality genre of TV content began in earnest between the early and mid 90s with The Real World. It then exploded as a phenomenon in the late 90s and early 2000s with the global success of the series Survivor and Big Brother. These shows and a number of others (usually also competition-based) became global franchises, spawning local versions in dozens of countries.

For instance, the show became popular as a result of the success of the global TV reality shows. As the show continues to generate massive audience and sponsors, many producers and advertisers began to adapt the global shows that have become a brand such as Big Brother, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Dancing with the Stars, Fear Factor, Got Talent, Pop Idols, Project Runway, The Apprentice, X Factor among others.

Some local brands who, however, have appended their brand name to some of these TV shows to increase shows as way of enhancing top-of-the-mind awareness for their brands.

Glo X-factor, Airtel’s Nigeria’s Got Talent, Etisalat Nigeria Idols, MTN Who Wants To Be A Millionaire are some of the global reality shows franchised to some brands in Nigeria.

While producers of these shows have continued to innovate in other to remain relevance to changing consumer’s behaviours, a music reality TV show, Star Quest, which has produced major Nigerian stars like Kcee, Klint D’Drunk, Mr. Raw, was recently rested by its organisers after 10 years but the producer of the shows have replaced it with a new one,

‘The Winner Is’ which will feature entries from soloists and groups, as contestants battle for a cash prize of N10 million and brand new car.

Also, recently, Guinness Nigeria bought into one of the reality shows Airtel Nigeria’s Got Talent as co-sponsor. The show is produced

by Rapid Blue Format, a global trendsetting and independent production company, but now with a local franchisee in Nigeria to tap into multibillion naira advert budget for reality shows. However, beyond the façade of the excursion into talent discovery, Guinness Nigeria has seen the show as a potential point of engagement to promote the premium products from the stable of Guinness, Malta Guinness.

The Director, Marketing and Innovation, Guinness Nigeria, Austin Ufomba said Malta Guinness’ decision to sponsor Nigeria’s Got Talent is because the show embodies the passion of the brand.

Also, Coca-Cola last year designed Coke Studio Africa, a new and exciting music television show, to sustain its brand awareness and leadership in the continent where it features musical icons from each participating country to bring every market into consideration.

The Brand Manager, Colas, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Mr. Olufemi Ashipa, said through the Coke Studio, fans will be able to access content from the show on the new Coke Studio Africa while the entire episodes of the show will also be available on the CocaCola official YouTube channel as viewers across the continent are expected to win various prizes including autographed posters, coke studio kits and branded merchandise through the show.

With this trend growing, a senior lecturer, marketing, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Lagos, Dr. Peter Iyiegbuniwe, said the trend is gaining popularity because of its entertainment impact. He said: “This is a new trend in the marketing

‘Not all Reality Shows are crowd pullers. They can only be a threat to other television exposure opportunities by their appeal to, and resonance with the desired audience groups. Content, personalities involved and quality of production are key elements that will determine attraction, followership and value for money for the advertiser’

communication industry in Nigeria. It is fast becoming a platform to engage consumers because of its entertaining features. It can be used to stimulate the desire of their target market.”

Also, a brand analyst, Mr. Tomi Ogunlesi, said Nigeria as a late adopter of reality and games show, has got to wait after eight decades after an American, Allen Flunt had popularised the concept. Ogunlesi said: “It seems we’ve been late adopters, however, over the past decades, the association of brand names with popular television shows has become a trend on the ascendancy, particularly by companies and brands in a quest to increase their market share.

“Flipping past channels on both terrestrial and cable TV channels these days, the sheer avalanche of reality shows that is aired assails one. Contemporary television programming has clearly become incomplete without them, or so it seems!”

Iyiegbuniwe said for any brand-sponsored reality show to make the desired impact on consumers, “it must be localised. It must reflect the culture and values of the people. It must not be offensive and must be of quality standard in production.”

However, the Managing Director of Media Share, Mr. Dele Odugbemi, said traditional media should improve its content to drive revenue which is being loss to reality shows. “Print media is losing market share largely to digital media so it’s not a surprise the numbers have been declining over the past decade. The medium will need to reinvent itself so that it can remain relevant in the digital age.”

He said radio and TV continue to thrive because they have incorporated digital media into their offering, adding that a radio station can interact with its audience via its Facebook page or Twitter account. When faced with declining advertising revenues, TV stations reinvented themselves by changing the type of content they offer so one now has soap operas and reality shows.

But Uffot said in spite of the growing trend, not all reality shows are crowd-pullers. “Not all Reality Shows are crowd pullers. They can only be a threat to other television exposure opportunities by their appeal to, and resonance with the desired audience groups.

“Content, personalities involved and quality of production are key elements that will determine attraction, followership and value for money for the advertiser,” Uffot insisted.

27

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

Brandnews

Positioning brands for new moms, babies M

ANAGERS of baby care products and other household items find it difficult to market their goods to moms and their babies.

Although experts advise that brand mangers should have a marketing plan and strategy to reach their market segment to sustain brand equity, there is the problem of who to target first – the new moms or the babies.

Brand managers who can influence consumer behaviours with an effective campaign that attracts the new moms, the decision-maker for products used by her family, hardly have issues.

A new mom in marketing is seen as someone who wants only the best for her baby, but may not know what “the best” looks like. While brand managers have predictable media options, such as TV and magazine advertisements, in-store shopping experiences, and her trusted group of friends and family to rly on, there are fears that once a woman consumer becomes a new mother, her preference for particular brand shifts.

“No longer is it about herself and luxury items; instead, the focus is on her new baby and growing family,” said a brand analyst.

However, when moms are satisfied with the brand they desire, brand managers run into the trouble of sustaining their preference for the brands against close substitutes.

Hence, the need to create experience for the babies to make the brand last long becomes the next race becomes inevitable as a result of growing competition.

According to AdWeek, a global advertising and marketing magazine, high end brands, such as Versace,

•First Prize winner Unilever Nigeria Promo, Pears Baby of the Year, Miss Somekene Chukwuka-Eze and her mother Mrs Ihunanya Chukwuka-Eze. Stories by Adedeji Ademigbuji

Fendi, and Marc Jacobs, have introduced clothing lines for toddlers, and they aren’t just hoping to attract parents who can afford to laugh it off when their child dribbles pureed carrots down the front of a $900 sweater but the reports that beyond designing such products for the infants, the brands have seen it as an effective way to sustaining preference for the product with the hope that 30 years later, they’ll buy their kid a new designer collection every three months.

A former marketing consultant for companies such as Hasbro, Mattel, and Nestlé Dan Acuff, explains:

“Brands are going younger and younger all the time. Babies don’t distinguish between reality and fantasy, so they think, ‘let’s get them while they’re susceptible.’”

To ensure that both new mothers and babies remain bonded with the brands from generation to generation however, some brands are designing a touch-point where both new mothers and babies will experience their brands.

Pears Baby Range, introduced to the market in 1971 by Unilever Nigeria, has continued to sustain its brand equity through various positioning efforts to make the brand remain a generational brand. Last

December, the brand handler started Pears Baby of the Year Promo.

The aim of the promo is to excite new mothers who, perhaps, grew up using the brand and also creating an experience the babies will cherish in future when they see the memorabilia.

At the grand finale, a baby, Miss Somekene Chukwuka, was crowned

Pears Baby of the Year while Master David Kelechukwu Ezeocha was named the first runner up and Miss Alice Esosa Aghedo the second runner up.

The emergence of these kids came after their mothers helped their babies to upload their best pictures on facebook, mobile sites and, in some instances, dropped at designated locations. Those who didn’t reach the final won instant prizes and weekly prizes, such as Pears Hamper. The first winner received a cash prize of N1million; first runner up N500,000 cash prize, and the second runner up walked away with N250,000 cash prize. All the three babies will also be given a year’s supply of the pears baby range of products.

According to experts, the event will remain evergreen for winners. The Brand Building Director, Home and Personal Care, Unilever Nigeria, Mr David Okeme, said there were positive disposition by category consumers, especially mothers, towards the brand.

The Category Manager, Skin Care, Unilever Nigeria, James Inglesby, said Pears brand has a great heritage in Nigeria, and will rejuvenate the brand for new mothers.

The mothers of the top three winners also expressed their gratitude to Unilever for giving their children the opportunity at such a tender age, saying they will never forget this experience.

New restaurant launched

T

HE new Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) has entered the market with a local name Labule and it is offering Nigerian dishes to carve a niche.

Labule managers said the firm was established to offer Nigerians and lovers of Nigerian foods delicious and unique experience by offering real local delicacies available in buka (canteens) in a cozy and serene environment.

Labule, which means in the village in Yoruba language, was conceptualised as a restaurant where local dishes are served in a contemporary setting.

The Managing Director/Chief Chef of Labule Restaurant, Mrs. Binta

Adisa, noted that the restaurant was opened to cater for the needs of consumers who would love to have the feel and taste of foods served in the buka in a neat emvironment.

Adisa described the opening of the restaurant on May 29, Democracy Day, as symbolic, noting that it is in line with the freedom that Labule is offering people to make choices and experience different dishes.

Ace Nollywood cinematographer/producer, Tunde Kelani, who was a special guest of honour, commended the management of the restaurant for bridging the gap by making local delicacies available to consumers in a comfortable environment and at affordable rates.

Centenary Seaman’s Schnapps unveiled

S

• From left: Chief Festival Consultant, Chief Ayo Olumokun; representative of Alafin of Oyo, Aare Ayandotun; Oba Wahab Balogun; Chairman, Lexel Group, Mr Ola Rosiji; Commercial Director Aare Fatai Odesile and General Marketing Manager, Mr Brajash Kumar at the 100 years Seaman Drink in Nigeria at Event Centre Billy PHOTO: JOHN EBHOTA Way, Ikeja, Lagos.

Diamond Bank, firm partner on travel cards

D

IAMOND Bank has announced its partnership with Wakanow, Nigeria’s leading online travel firm.

The partnership will see the introduction of the Wakanow cards, a collection of MasterCardbranded pre and post-paid cards that will enable prospective travellers to enjoy special discount and pocket friendly travelling.

The Deputy Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc, Uzoma Dozie, said the launch was borne out of a need to give travellers the best deals.

“As a key player in the country’s financial industry, we are always looking out for innovative ways to impact the lives of Nigerians. That was what informed our decision to

work with Wakanow. What we are doing essentially is to give financial ease to the teeming Nigerians who wish to travel whether outside or within the shores of this country for whatever reasons,” he said.

He added that the bank’s decision to work with Wakanow stems from the company’s immense contribution to the travel/tourism industry.

“The decision to work with Wakanow was not a hard one for Diamond Bank to make. Wakanow is a prominent player in the travel and tourism industry and just like Diamond Bank, Wakanow is renowned for putting the customers first in all they do. This partnership coming at a crucial time when Nigerians are preparing to travel

to Brazil for the World Cup to support the national team, the Super Eagles,” explained Dozie.

The Chief Executive Officer of Wakanow, Obinna Ekezie, said the firm is at the forefront of making travelling affordable to Nigerians.

“This is just one of the ways we intend to fulfill that mandate. With Diamond Bank coming on-board to support us, we have raised the bar a notch higher.”

However, the Head, Corporate Communications Division, Diamond Bank, Ayona Trimnell, said users will enjoy discounts on flight tickets and hotels, and earn loyalty points on every purchase which can be exchanged for free services on Wakanow Reward programme.

EAMAN’S Schnapps, produced by Grand Oak Limited, has unveiled a special centenary pack for its premium brand, Schnapps to mark Nigeria’s centenary.

According to the brand handler, this is anchored on the celebration of the Nigerians as well as her cultures that have co-existed for the past 100 years.

The Commercial Director of Grand Oak, Aare Fatai Odesile, said at the launch that “the introduction of Seaman’s special centenrary pack becomes inevitable at this point in

the chequered history of our dear country as the nation needs providential blessings to come out stronger and more united”.

Also, General Manager, Marketing, Mr. Brajesh Kumar, said like Nigeria, the brand has pioneered many innovations in the schnapps segment. He enjoined consumers to embrace the centenary pack as a conveyor of their prayers for Nigeria at 100.

However, Odesile noted that Grand Oak is grateful to Nigeria for being the birthplace of the brand.

Blue Band excites children

U

NILEVER Nigeria Plc and Children of Africa gave children treat during the 16th Annual Cildren of Africa Children’s Day with Blue Band margarine.

The theme of the funfair was: “Every child has got potential”. It held in four cities, Ibadan, PortHarcourt, Lagos and Enugu.

At the various locations, pupils were treated to various fun-filled activities.

Some of these include competitions among pupils and schools such as dance/drama choreography, quiz and spelling bees.

The winners of the Blue Band essay competition were also announced and rewarded with prizes such as outdoor plastic play slide, mobile air conditioners; 24" flat screen television, water dispenser as well as lots of Blue Band products and branded T-shirts, Bags and Pens.

The Category Manager, Tea and Spreads, Unilever Nigeria Miss Vivian Ihaza, said Unilever has partnered with Children of Africa over the years.

She emphasised that Unilever is serving its customers well.

28

FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

THE NATION

BUSINESS SHOPPING

E-mail: toniaitose@gmail.com

Sms : 07035302326 Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.net

Retailers strategise to retain customers To boost quarterly sales, major retailers across the metropolis are shifting focus from attracting new customers to retaining old ones. They are devising ingenious strategies to retain customers’ loyalty and boost sales this second quarter. TONIA ‘DIYAN reports.

T

O maximise profit, most retailers are dangling the proverbial carrot in form of a significant reduction

in prices of often-purchased items to retain customers. The strategy, retail analysts say, represents a gradual shift in focus from attracting new customers to retaining old ones by most retailers. It is also seen as a response to advise by some experienced retail analysts who say that it is important to boost sales quarterly.

The import of the advice is not lost on Emeka Alozie, a tyre seller at Ladipo Mar-

ket and his colleagues, who have since step up their game to retain their old customers.

To Emeka and his friends, it is a winning strategy that would not only increase sales, but also help build customer base, which is why they are shifting sales focus from attracting new customers to enticing proven ones to buy again.

Other retailers and major shopping malls are also devising strategies to retain their customers’ loyalty. For instance, at the Palms in Lekki, a woman who was shopping at a retail house wares store, had picked an item

and was contemplating whether or not to buy it when a salesperson approached her and said: “I see you’re interested in that blender; we’re having a sale next week and all our blenders will be 20 per cent off.”

Some retailers, particularly the small ones, who spoke with The Nation Shopping, said they would rather work hard on retaining their existing and loyal customers than scramble for new ones.

According to them, they want to be able to create clear and obvious difference between regular customers and other customers. To them, there should be something their

regular customers should perceive as showing that they (retailers) value them either in form of reduced prices or free bees.

Another potent strategy retailers are dangling before old customers to retain their loyalty, it was learnt, is the distribution of free samples including samples of other products when a product is bought. By doing this, the thinking is that shifting sales focus to enticing customers makes increasing sales easier and also help build customer loyalty that results in repeat sales.

UNILAG student wins car to Konga.com promo

A

400 level Marine Science student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Uzoamaka Anyanwu, has won a car in the Konga.com promo.

The promo was a deal between Konga.com and Infinix Mobility, makers of Infinix range of mobile devices and tablets. It was aimed at ensuring that Nigerians get access to quality and super affordable mobile and tablet devices.

The draw was witnessed by journalists.

The initiative, which saw a slash in the price of the Infinix Joypad 7 tablet, was well received by Nigerians with several positive reviews about how Konga.com and Infinix were truly creating innovations that Nigerians can truly love.

To further ensure Nigerians get access to mobile and tablet devices, Konga and Infinix partnered to launch the Infinix 8s tablet to the Nigerian market and to create a promotion called the Konga.com and infinix splash which rewarded loyal shoppers last month with

an opportunity to win a brand new Hyundai i10 and gift vouchers by simply buying the Infinix 8s tablet.

The promo was part of other initiatives like free nationwide delivery which Konga carried out last month.

Nollywood star actress, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, who was recognised as one of the Times 100 Most Influential People in the World, presented the Hyundai i10 car to Anyanwu.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Konga.com, Sim Shagaya: said: “It is truly an honour to be in a position to bring such great value to our customers. This promo is one of the many rewards we have in store for Nigerians who choose to shop online and we are happy to present this brand new car to Uzoamaka. We hope to have another edition of the promo and I will like to thank Infinix for coming together to make this happen.”

Also, the Vice President of Infinix Andy Yan, said: “We are very happy with this partnership with Konga.com. The response from Nigerians to the Infinix

• Anyanwu in the car with Omotola (2nd right) and her family members

brand has been tremendous, and our dream is to ensure that all Nigerians get access to our range of devices.

“We will continue to work with Konga in ensuring that this dream is achieved.”

The Infinix 8s is one of the best value tablets on the market, and is available exclusively on Konga.com.

The promo will run again, for the next 500 buyers of the Infinix Joypad 8s.

Kaymu.com.ng trains future entrepreneurs

N

IGERIA’s leading online marketplace, Kaymu.com.ng, has trained pupils of Kiddie Quest Montessori School.

At a workshop titled: ‘Kaymu future entrepreneurs training,’ 10 bright pupils from the school were given the opportunity to work half day at Kaymu office on ‘Children’s Day.’ It was an educative, interactive and engaging training and practical session.

Managing Director of Kaymu.com.ng, Massimiliano Spalazzi said: “We believe that children are future leaders, with unique passions and aspirations. We like to give entrepreneurial children the ability to observe first-hand the work space and engage them in practical activities that the work environment presents.”

He pledged the company’s dedication to drive the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country. Earlier, the brand put strategic measures in place to drive entrepreneurship in youths, such as the Kaymu Entrepreneurial Workshop conducted in some universities and the Kaymu Varsity Initiative for SMEs. Deputy Head Girl of the school, Olubukola Falayajo, expressed gratitude at the opportunity presented to pupils of the school through the Kaymu Future Entrepreneur Training.

“It was a great experience and we learnt a lot about being an entrepreneur and the

• Pupils of Kiddie Quest Montessori School with Kaymu PR Manager Tomiwa Oladele and Community Manager Abiola Fabio.

qualities of a successful entrepreneur,” she said.

For the school’s Head Teacher, Rotimi

Akapo, “It was an insightful initiative by Kaymu and a very educative and captivating experience for primary school chil-

dren.”

Kaymu is reputed as one of the safest online market places.

Newspaper of the Year

AN 6-PAGE PULLOUT ON THE SOUTHSOUTH STATES

•Imoke

CR OSS RIVER CROSS

BAYELSA

A little over seven years ago, Liyel Imoke assumed office as governor of Cross River State. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.

From Calabar to Ikom and Ogoja, there are changes. The administration showcased its achievements to reporters.

A medical mission by the Navy in Otuoke, President Goodluck Jonathan’s hometown, has brought succour to many indigent people.

They are praying for more of such missions to cater for their health needs.

•PAGE 34

•Dickson

FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

PAGE 29

TEARS IN RIVERS

•PAGE 30

SCORES were displaced in Ubima community of Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State following a heavy storm that also blew away a Catholic Church and other buildings. No fewer than 12 houses were affected.

•Mrs Orlu

•PAGE 30

How Akpabio dumped ‘obscene’ pension law The opposition, rights activists and aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State fought hard to get Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio to abandon a controversial pension law, writes WALE AJETUNMOBI

I

•Akpabio

T was not a battle limited to the opposition. Even members of his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially those who used to be his allies, were also involved in the battle, which eventually made Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio to abandon his “altruistic intention” of amending the state’s Executive Pension Act. The labour also spoke against it, but failed to carry out a protest aimed at getting the House of Assembly not to pass the law.

Eight of the 26 members of the Assembly were against the amendment. But their voices were not loud enough to stop the bill from becoming an Act. The House of Assembly passed into law a bill seeking a pension for life at a rate equivalent to the salary of the incumbent governor and deputy.

The deputy leader of the House, Dr Ekaete Okon (PDP), moved a motion for the bill to be read the third time and passed into law.

The motion was seconded by Mr Aniekan Akpan (PDP) member representing Ukanafun state constituency.

The law also provides for the former governor a provision for funds to employ a cook, chauffeurs and security guards at a sum not exceeding N5 million per month and N2.5 million for the deputy.

According to the bill as passed, the former governor would also be

entitled to free medical services for his person and spouse at a sum not exceeding N100 million per annum and N50 million for former deputy governor.

The bill also seeks to provide for the former governor a befitting accommodation not below a 5- bed room maisonette in either Abuja or Akwa Ibom for the ex-governor.

It also provides for yearly accommodation allowance of 300 per cent of annual basic salary for the deputy governor of Akwa Ibom.

The former governor would also receive a severance gratuity of 300 per cent of annual basic salary as at the time the former leaves office among other things.

According to the bill: “A former governor or former deputy governor who receives a severance gratuity under the provisions of the public and political office holders (remuneration) law cap. 101, laws of Akwa Ibom State, 2000 (as amended), shall not be eligible to obtain any other gratuity under the law.

“Where a former governor or former deputy governor dies, government shall make adequate arrangement and bear the financial responsibility for his burial. Government will also pay a condolence allowance of a sum equivalent to the annual basic salary of the incumbent to his next of kin.

•Continued on page 30

• YOU HAVE STORIES FOR US? PLEASE CONTACT US ON 07066954441 OR 08123521990

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

30

NIGER DELTA REPORT COVER

How Akpabio dumped •Continued from page 29 “And provide one surviving spouse with medical allowance not exceeding N12million per annum. Provided that such a spouse was married to the governor at the time he or she was in office, and if a wife, had served the state as First Lady.”

The former governor would also receive a severance gratuity of 300 per cent of annual basic salary as at the time the former leaves office among other things.

A governorship aspirant of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State, Umana Okon Umana, described the pension law signed by the state Governor, Godswill Akpabio as obscene, provocative and insensitive.

Umana stated this on Sunday at an interactive session with some Akwa Ibom stakeholders at the Sheraton Hotels, Abuja.

Umana said through his interaction with stakeholders in the state, the people expressed their objection to virtually all the provisions of the law, as they described the legislation as selfserving and anti-people.

He said: “It is surprising that in spite of a nationwide public outcry against the bill for the pension law, the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly rushed to pass it within 11 days and the governor signed it into law with indecent haste within 24 hours without any inputs from members of the public who will foot the bill.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State described the law as criminal and fraudulent.

Speaking at a briefing in Uyo,

the state capital, the APC’s State Publicity Secretary, Samuel Udobong, said the bill was not in the interest of the suffering low income earners in the state.

Udobong explained that the speed in which the bill became law had confirmed the speculations that lawmakers in the State House of Assembly were ‘bribed’ by Governor Godswill Akpabio.

He expressed worry that despite the condemnation that trailed the bill when it went public, the house members still went ahead to pass it into law.

The party: “It reveals and confirms the disconnect that exists between the government and the governed in Akwa Ibom state. While Akwab Ibomites are wallowing in hunger and deprivation, seeking simple bailouts of food shelter, clothing and job opportunities.

“The government engages in scheming to steal the commonwealth, become richer and widen the gap that exists between the rich and the poor in our society. This is dangerous and we strongly condemn it. Therefore, we call on Akwa Ibomites to continue to rise against this law and insist that it is reversed.”

The party went further: “Let us inform you that Akwa Ibom State Government is yet to pay Primary School teachers and other retirees of her civil service their gratuity, some from 2009.

What is due for those folks is just pittance compare to the monthly income of the governor and the government.

“Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has not cared to address the welfare needs of these citizens who have given 35

Why I’m reverting to the o Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio, in a statement on Tuesday, explained why he is dumping the controversial law.

N the last few weeks, truth has come under siege by agents of falsehood in Akwa Ibom State. The good people of Akwa Ibom State have been unfortunately subjected to the cruelest and most unkind political gimmickry in the history of our state over the amendment of a sixteen-year-old law. This tidal wave of propaganda, misinformation, lies, falsehood, mischief and cynicism, we fear, may already have sucked in some unsuspecting members of the public who lack the ability to appreciate the salient points of this law and its ennobling attributes.

Regrettably, one of the best-kept secrets in the political scene in Nigeria is that in Akwa Ibom State some politicians do not circumscribe their activities within the limits of morality and decorum.

Some of them can abase the most hallowed and sacred things for their selfish advantages. The present matter is a case in point.

The GOVERNORS AND DEPUTY GOVERNORS PENSION LAW was first enacted in 1998 as the Special Grant (Former Chief Executives) Edict. It was amended in 1999 by the Special Grant (Former Chief Executives (Amendment) Edict of 1999) and was retained in Cap. 122 Laws of Akwa Ibom State 2000. It was amended in 2002 by the Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Law 2002, which was later repealed by the Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Law 2006 assented to by my predecessor in office on 26th April 2007.

However, in the course of its implementation, We noticed a lacuna in the 2007 law, particularly on account of its open-endedness in the provisions relating to the medical expenses and provision of funds for the employment of domestic staff for the former Governors and Deputy Governors.

I

years of their lives to the service of the state. It gives credence to our long held position that this government is naïve and insensitive. They know no shame and care very little about what Akwa Ibom people think or feel about it.”

Chairman of the Akwa Ibom State chapter, Civil Liberties Organisation, Mr. Clifford Thomas, said the law was unnecessary, considering the level of poverty among the citizenry.

He said career civil servants who had served the state meri-

Working with the House of Assembly, we sought to protect the law from abuse by putting a ceiling on the medical expenses for the treatment of these senior citizens of Akwa Ibom State. The ceiling, which was pegged at N100 million per annum for former Governors and N50 million per annum for former Deputy Governors, was never meant to be given either in part or in whole to anybody at anytime for any reason. It was meant to be paid to health institutions involved in the treatment of the former Governors or former Deputy Governors and their spouses. It was, therefore, deliberate falsehood and organized misinformation to claim that the said money will be paid to former Governors or Deputy Governors every year. This has never been the practice and the amendment has added nothing to give credence to this obviously politicized orchestration.

Former Governors and Deputy Governors and their spouses who were not sick were not to receive a dime from the fund. These sums, which were for the Governors and the Deputy Governor’s medical treatment, suffered the most bashing from a mischievous vocal minority who sought to reap political capital out of it. In their frenzied desperation, they even claimed that the law was made for my personal benefit. They lost sight of the fact that I am not among the beneficiaries as I am not on pension.

The other sickening claim was that we excluded some categories of eligible former Deputy Governors and Governors. This is absolutely incorrect. Since the Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Law 2006 referred to above,

toriously were the ones who needed to be treated better and not self serving political office holders.

Thomas said: “The new law does not serve the interest of the state. It has to be reviewed. If we want to amend any law or

enact another, it should be for career civil servants. We should think of those who had spent their entire lives serving the state before thinking of governors or their deputies. The governor himself does not even need the pension.”

Rivers’ rainstorm victims seek help CORES of persons were displaced in Ubima community of Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State following a heavy storm that also blew away a Catholic Church and buildings.

The strange storm removed the roofs of over 12 houses, damaged important documents and properties at the affected houses.

It was gathered that the storm accompanied by heavy rain started at about midday, when some of the affected members of the community were in the farms. When they returned they found their houses without roofs. Their clothes, food, and other important items were soaked with rain beyond amendment. Some of them said the roofs of their houses were pulled out completely and taken to another location by the strange wind. Their cloths and goods were littered everywhere when they returned back from farm.

The victims urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to come to their aid.

Some residents of the community and victims who spoke to Niger Delta Report said the strange storm killed two persons at the neighbouring community in Elele the same day.

Mr. Eze Ofurum said: “I was in

S

From Precious Dikewoha, Port Harcourt

school when I received a call that our house has been de-roofed by the heavy storm, when I returned I discovered that water has soaked inside my room. My documents were fully soaked, including my foam. I don’t know what to do and I have no money with me.

“I am sleeping outside; there is no money to renovate the house for now. What we did is to evacuate everything in the house to our neighbours’ house. Though some of them were soaked beyond use, I want to call on the government to assist us. It is very sad that my family is sleeping out. “ Mrs. Mary Orlu, a victim whose house was completely damaged, said the condition has forced her and others out of their homes.

“Everything in our house was damaged that day, even the bed, chair and the zinc were destroyed.

We are confused. Right now we are sleeping in my husband’s brother’s house. We are calling on the government to come to our aid.”

Chibueze Amadi, another victim, said: “Some of us are now sleeping in our neighbour’s house.”

The Parish Priest of St. Theresa Catholic Church Ubima, Rev. Fr.

Emmanuel Nnadozie whose church collapsed, said the members of the church have nowhere to worship.

“We give glory to God that no life was lost; we need help at the moment, what happened was terrible, the church is totally off. But we are hoping on God to bring those who will assist us, we have nowhere to worship. The Local government Chairman, Hon. Welendu Amadi, has visited us and other individuals but all we are praying is that God should touch them to re-build the church of the Lord.”

The Chairman of Ubima Community Development Committee (CDC), Chief Kingdom Elem, said the community is in a sad mood.

He advised the people to be calm, saying: “We are going to write to NEMA, the LG chairman and every other person that may show willingness to assist the victims.

Some of these affected persons are not doing anything they solely depend on the proceeds from their farm which may not be enough to take care of their family.”

For Ikwerre Citizens for Democratic Movement, it is the responsibility of the local government chairman to assist the rural communities affected by disaster.

•Mrs Orlu

•One of the victims, Eze Ofurum

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‘obscene’ pension law old law, by governor a new eligibility provision beyond just being a former Governor or Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State origin was introduced by the last administration whereby certain persons who served in these two offices and who would otherwise have benefited from the pension, were excluded on account of resignation otherwise than on health grounds, impeachment or holding office for a period less than three years. Section 3 of the 2006 version of the Law attests to this, and this provision, retained in section 3 of the 2014 version of the Law has attracted unsavory comments as though it was a new provision just inserted.

It is distressing to all patriots in our state that this well reasoned and thought-out solution to an open-ended law, which common-sense indicates can be subject to abuse, has been cast rather as a problem by fifth columnists in our state. I share the sense of revulsion of all decent Akwa Ibom people in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly in particular and the entire State in general at these politics of blackmail.

I believe in the Akwa Ibom project as evidenced in my work in the state. I am under oath to protect the constitution of this great country, and this I have done to the best of my abilities.

I am obligated by the mandate given to me by the good people of my state to do good to all manner of people and I have not been found wanting in this responsibility. This amendment was undertaken, with the patriotic understanding of the House of Assembly, in fulfillment of

A former Deputy Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Mr. Uwem Udoma, also described the new law as atrocious and ill-timed. He said the overwhelming majority of the people of the state would reject the law, if given the

these articles of faith.

I reject in its entirety the unwarranted condemnation of this altruistic amendment. I am deeply saddened by the vilification of the Honourable Members of the House of Assembly for undertaking a course of action, which we as a state, we should applaud. Truth has been under siege and today I have decided that we should lift this evil siege by proposing to the House of Assembly that the parts of the amendment putting a N100 million ceiling and a N50 million ceiling on the medical treatment of former Governors and former Deputy Governors respectively be expunged from the amendment. Let it revert to the openended situation inherent in the law, before the amendment. I will further advise, in observance of the articles of faith guiding the discharge of the Office of Governor that, through extant circulars, a medical insurance scheme be put in place for the authentic and proper management of the medical treatment of former Governors and Deputy Governors and their spouses in order to ensure that the openended nature of the law is not abused.

It is my hope that with the excision of these sections from the amendment, the agents of falsehood would lift their siege on truth and not distract the good people of this state from the task of the Uncommon Transformation of our dear state. Let them remember that I am not a governorship candidate. Instead of firing brickbats at me, let them tell the good peo-

chance.

He said: “I see a lot of greed in the framing of this particular bill. You spend up to N350m on four people, that is about N1.4bn for a year; and N1.4bn a year is almost equal to some states allocation for a month.

The government can do a lot with N1.4bn. If you are paying four people N1.4bn a year and the population of Akwa Ibom is just 3.9m people, how then are you going to protect the interest of other citizens? How are you going to take care of the

•Akpabio

ple of Akwa Ibom State their plans for Akwa Ibom State.

Ladies and gentlemen, I consider this case rested and I take solace and comfort in the immortal words of the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, that “History will vindicate the just.”

people if only four people would take N1.4bn? The amended bill is outrageous. It is not nice at all. The exclusivity clause in pension is not acceptable. If it is the pension law, it should be enjoyed by everybody, but this present amend-

ment of the 2006 pension law that has been passed into law in 2014 has excluded so many people.

“In fact, we are wasting a lot of funds that we should use to invest in agriculture, which we should use in establishing in-

dustries that the government promised, at least, one in each of the 31 local government areas of the state. The government is not doing anything about that.

“If you go the Internet now, you can get the bill for yourself.

That of Akwa Ibom State is almost 300 per cent higher than any other states in the country.

I can say that as a former lawmaker. It is higher, it is outrageous; we do not accept it, at all. So, they are not correct.”

Speaking with editors in Lagos on Tuesday, Akpabio announced that he was going to initiate a move to get the House of Assembly to dump the law and revert to the old one. He accused the opposition and aggrieved members of his party of frustrating his intention to standardise the pension law.

He added that the truth was stood on the head in the bid to frustrate the law.

The governor said: “The good people of Akwa Ibom State have been unfortunately subjected to the cruelest and most unkind political gimmickry in the history of our state over the amendment of a sixteen-year-old law. This tidal wave of propaganda, misinformation, lies, falsehood, mischief and cynicism, we fear, may already have sucked in some unsuspecting members of the public who lack the ability to appreciate the salient points of this law and its ennobling attributes (see box for details).”

But for observers, what matters is that the governor bowed to pressure and the law is to be jettisoned.

Naval medical mission makes Otuoke people happy

D

AME Patience Jonathan Square in Otuoke, President Goodluck Jonathan’s hometown, was a beehive Tuesday last week. Many residents trooped to the square to partake in a medical rhapsody organised by the Central Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy.

It was a case of who heard should tell another. In a twinkle the entire town was saturated with the information that the medical team of the Navy was on ground. Teenagers, pregnant women, women, men and elders including children soon rushed and occupied the seats at the square.

The free medical exercise was organised as part of the Navy Week to mark the 58th anniversary of the Nigerian Navy. Experts in dental care, eye care, reproductive health, pharmacy, laboratory, and sexual health were not in short supply.

Different medical stands immediately sprung up. Beneficiaries started by consulting a doctor who received their medical complaints. They went for medical tests. They tested for HIV/ AIDS, blood sugar, High Blood Pressure (HBP), malaria and hepatitis. Others were asked to do dental and optical examinations.

After the results were produced by the laboratory technicians, the doctors prescribed drugs and the beneficiaries headed for the dispensary. There were a range of drugs to cover treatments within the scope of the exercise. Persons whose ailments were beyond the scope, were given referrals to hospitals that could handle their cases.

But before the medical tests and treatments commenced, experts in various fields were invited by the Navy to offer free health lectures to the residents. Many health practitioners gave talks on a wide range of health related issues such as reproductive health, substance abuse, visual impairment, among others.

In her lecture, state Coordinator, Family Planning, Dr. Mary Ogholi, spoke on reproductive health with emphasis on barrier method. She hammered on the need for people to abstain from unsafe sex. Her lecture dwelled on the significance of condom in healthy living.

She debunked some sentiments that had discouraged some persons from using condom. For instance, she dispelled the belief by some persons that condom usage does not guarantee maximum pleasure in sex.

She insisted that there is only a slight difference in enjoyment when people engage in sex without condom. But she maintained that the difference is compensated with peace of mind and good health.

According to her apart from preventing the users from contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), condoms are also very useful in preventing unwanted pregnancies and for family planning.

She clarified the beliefs in some quarters that condoms could go into the womb and constitute a risk for women. She said it was false to say that the woman’s vagina does not have end.

Ogholi said: “Woman’s vagina has an end. The myth that condom can go into the womb is not correct. If you do not want an unwanted pregnancy or contract viral and bacteria infections, your sure bet is to use the condoms.

“However, one condom is meant for one round of sex only.

Using the condoms give you rest of mind. Also, some people say it is not enjoyable to use the condom. I also dispute this assertion. The difference between condom and without condom use is very insignificant.”

She also warned those who drink the spermatozoa to desist from it, saying it was erroneous to believe that one could get nutrients from it.

Also, Ephraim Sobito, a medical practitioner with the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, counselled Nigerians against substance abuse.

He said abuse of substances such as gin, drugs, antibiotics, narcotics and others posed health risks, stressing that many had been sent to their early graves because of such abuses.

Sobito said another far-reaching implications of substance abuse were depression, wrong association, and the risks of engaging in unprotected sex and thereby contracting terminal diseases.

On her part, Dr. Obiageli Azubuike, lectured the residents on the causes of visual impairment. She advised against too much intake of sugar, saying it could lead to diabetes, which would in turn result in visual impairment, stroke and other attendant diseases.

She also recommended the use of sunglasses especially when the sun is too harsh, saying that excessive sun ray could dam-

age the eyes.

She further recommended regular eyes check, noting that it was a panacea for detecting quickly if one was suffering from eye defects.

A resident, Chief David Ibeh, commended the Navy for the programme, advising other institutions to emulate the Navy.

“I am very happy. It is a good thing that has happened to my people. We thank the Navy for choosing our place to be one of their engagements. We have a lot of drugs, doctors here. They are testing everything, “ Ibeh said.

The Navy health experts worked alongside health officials from the state’s Ministry of Health and practitioners from health based non-governmental organisations during the exercise.

Shedding light on the Navy outreach programme, Chairman, Organising Committee and representative of the Flag Officer Commanding, CNC, Navy Capt. Salihu Jibril, said the health programme was part of the activities to celebrate the Navy’s 58th anniversary.

He said it was customary for the security outfit to perform some civic responsibilities during the Navy Week.

He stressed that this year’s celebration was targeted at health because of itsix portable to the people.

Jibril said: “This health rhapsody is organised wherever we are domained that requires help. The idea is to go round and give the community or area we have chosen some health awareness, testing and drugs.

“As you can see, before we started administering tests and treatment, we had given them lectures on safe sex, STIs, STDs, family planning, hypertension and a whole lot of other ailments. From that point, they will be better educated on lifestyles and how to live a healthy life.”

He urged the residents to embrace the health programme and see it as an opportunity to get themselves tested and treated free of charge.

He said persons with challenges above the scope of the programme would be referred to the appropriate health facilities.

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Imoke…Seven years after

•The Ikom Stadium

Seven years and some days ago, Liyel Imoke assumed office as governor of Cross River State. What has changed since then? NICHOLAS KALU was part of a media tour of government projects. His report

W

HEN Governor Liyel Imoke assumed office as Cross River State governor in May 2007, he promised that he would ensure the state did not fall from the height it attained in the Donald Duke era. He has kept that promise.

Agriculture, tourism and others have been the focus of the administration.

Agricultural projects abound but worthy of mention is the Songhai Farms Project embarked upon by the government. The 200-hectare Songhai Farm Project in Abi Local Government Area is intended to become the pivot of agricultural revolution in Nigeria.

The project is a prototype of what is in Port Novo, where the original Songhai Farms is located. It is divided into technology, processing, agricultural and service parts, and is intended to attract the entire value chain in agricultural production and is expected to generate more employment as it grows.

The concept of the farm is to become a food basket using both local and modern technology while ensuring zero emission as by-products are recycled and put back into production Already a first batch of 100 graduates from the state has been sent to Port Novo, Benin Republic, on training on administering the farm.

According to the governor, it is expected to be replicated in the 18 local government areas of the state.

Another massive agricultural investment of the government is in oil palm production. One of them, the Calaro Oil Palm Estate which was established in government in 1954 on 6, 384 hectares of land in Mbarakom community of Akampka Local Government Area was handed over to one of

the leaders of oil palm production in the world, Wilmar from Malaysia, to manage.

The company has a contract of 25 years which can be renewed. The estate manager, Henry Dusmin, said the first planting was done in 2012 and is expected to be harvested in 2016.

There is also plan to construct an oil mill instead of transporting them out for processing.

According to Imoke, “Our biggest agricultural investors, Wilmar International, have settled in and the operations are beginning to yield the expected results on the lives of the people in the rural communities within which they operate.”

In the area of tourism, which the state’s leadership position has remained unchallenged in Nigeria, the state is steadily becoming a credible destination within the West African sub-region.

To remain at the peak, the state’s new regulations on standards for the hospitality industry have been approved while efforts are being made to enhance its sites and making them more visitor–friendly.

The state has embarked on the Summit Hills development, which will also host a range of projects pivotal to the growth of its economy. The state, in 2013, made provisions for the development of the Calabar International Convention Centre (CICC), the new Calabar Golf Course and the Calabar Specialist Hospital, which is expected revolutionalise the delivery of specialist healthcare in the state and in Nigeria.

Reginald Longdon, Project Manager of the Summit Hills project, said it is also designed to revive the Tinapa.

“The idea of the centre is not just to

bring in tourism into Calabar but also to open up Tinapa. The CICC is not just a building but a vision,” says Longdon.

He said it was part of the government’s strategy for the development of tourism in Calabar and the state. “Tourism has been identified as the key driver of the Cross River economy going forward and one of the key factors is the project,” he stated.

He said the centre is built to cater for functions of various sizes and flexible to accommodate meetings of just 20 people to hosting up to 2000 people. The main auditorium, he noted, holds 2000 while the entire building can hold up to 5000.

He said the centre would be linked to Tinapa through a monorail, so that visitors would not need to go and do a drive around to access Tinapa. The monorail, he said would also be a novelty which would attract more people to the facilities.

Also to boost traffic into the Obudu Ranch Resort, facilities at the Bebi Airstrip in Obanliku have been upgraded. The airstrip has the Dopller VeryHigh Frequency Omnidirectioanl Range (DVOR), one of only two in the country, says Christian Ita, the governor’s media aide.

Again with Cross River becoming a destination in the West African sub region, the demand for land has become and the need for proper land management becomes necessary. To this end, the state government has set up the Cross River Geographical Information Agency (CRGIA) to digitally manage every issue related to land.

Also noting the importance of adequate housing for its citizenry, the government has also embarked on a number of housing projects for the people,

•Fish ponds at the Songhai Farm in Abi

•Longdon explaining the Summit Hills Project to reporters...With him is Ita.

one of which is the Akpabuyo Housing Project.

Located in Akpabuyo Local Government about 15 minutes’ drive from Calabar, the projects aims at alleviating the problem housing for civil servants as well as decongest the state capital. The project kicked off in 2007 but after initial setbacks with incompetent developers was taken over in 2010 by different developers.

The project is aimed at constructing 610 houses in three phases. So far, the first phase of 200 houses has been completed and fully occupied.

The Special Adviser on Mortgage

Finance to the governor, Eddy Ogon, said the state keyed into the Federal Housing Fund to make the houses available for the people.

He said the estate is the first of its kind in the state in 30 years, and subsequently would be replicated in Ikom and Ogoja in the central and northern senatorial districts.

He said the houses were heavily subsidised, with a three-bedroom apartment selling for N4.8 million, two bedrooms for N2.8million and onebedroom apartment for N1.8million.

He said pipe borne water was supplied to the estate from Calabar.

Pomp, ceremony as Ogbe-Ijoh buries monarch For one week, the chiefs and people of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom in Warri South-West Council Area of Delta State turned out in their best to bid their late king, Pere Amakosu, the Oduwor III, farewell. SHOLA O’NEIL and BOLAJI OGUNDELE chronicle the elaborate ceremonies that attended the monarch’s funeral

H

E was their chief; the first to be named when names are to be called among their kind. They revered him while he was still among them. He led them for over four decades, during which he became the longest reigning monarch in the state. It was therefore no wonder that his people spared no expenses when the time came to accord him their last respect.

They are the Ogbe-Ijoh people, one of the Ijaw clans in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State. For the seven days the burial rites lasted, they came from far and wide, left their businesses and gave all to bid the Pere Amakosu of OgbeIjaw/Warri Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, King Israel Sele Sokoh Gbenebode, Oduwor III, a final goodbye.

To honour the passage of the late king, the council of chiefs and peo-

ple of Ogbe-Ijoh, lined out a number of activities, spanning a whole week, and involving participants from home and abroad. Having led the people for almost forty years -1974 to 2012- and participated in the larger political affairs of his state, right from the defunct Midwest (Bendel) state to the current Delta State, the Pere was not the sort of traditional ruler who would be allowed to just go home without a bang that would reverberate throughout the Niger Delta.

The events of his final journey to join his ancestors were led by the Regent of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom, Chief (Dr) Samson Mamamu; they were carefully planned and executed with the sort of pageantry befitting a true royalty that he was.

The ceremony was flagged off on May 24 with the traditional wakekeeping (Duwei Deinkoru). The rarely seen Ogbolomo masquerades,

which only perform in honour of revered personalities, as monarch and those who reached a very ripe age as Pere Amakosu did, came out. They defied the sun and scourging heat as they performed for several hours.

When night fell, the elders and spiritual leaders of the kingdom took over to perform Igodo (traditional cleansing) ceremony.

As a predominantly Christian clan, an interdenominational church service was held in the town on Sunday, 25th May; it combined all but a few churches Ogbe-Ijoh. The service was followed on the third day by colourful dance troupes from the various quarters of the kingdom. Dancers from Egrangbene, Orugbene, Ijansa, Kenlogbene and Oyangbene took turns to perform all day long into the night. Their songs and dances were not mournful, rather, it was salutary to legacies and achievements of a

monarch, during whose time on the throne Ogbe-Ijoh was made the headquarters of oil-rich Warri SouthWest local council.

On the fourth day, the ceremony crossed the creeks into Warri metropolis for a couple of events. First, there was the Pere Ogele; a long procession by sons and daughters of the kingdom from the Catholic Church down to the Ogbe-Ijoh Market, through the NPA area. The procession was capped with a boat regatta in Warri.

The rest part of the day was occupied by some more Ogbe-Ijoh subcommunities, performing dances; Wilikigbene, Bomobolou, Arotenghan, Odidi and some Warri town corner communities.

Wednesday last week saw the visit of traditional rulers from other towns and communities paying their last respect to the memory of their departed royal colleague, who was one

of the longest serving monarchs in the state. More than 25 royal fathers from different parts of the state, made their way to Ogbe-Ijoh to bid a colleague farewell. The train include His Royal Majesty, Pere Charles Ayemi Botu (JP) OFR, paramount ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom; the Owhorode of Olomu Kingdom, HRM Ovie Ogoni-Oghoro1, JP; Agadagba of Egbema, His Royal Majesty Benipere III; HRM Joseph Timiyan (JP), Pere of Ogulagha Kingdom and HRM S.O Akemetubo (JP) The Ebenanaowei of Obotebe Kingdom. Others were E.B.O Delekpe, Owhorue (JP) Ovie of Udu Kingdom; Pere of Akugbene Mein V11 Pere Kalanama V111 (JP).

Speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers, the Owhorode of Olomu Kongdom, HRM, Ovie Ogoni-Oghoro 1, (JP) poured encomium on the late king, describing him as a father indeed. He said the late Pere of Ogbe-

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•Some bungalows at the Akpabuyo Housing Estate

•The DVOR equipment at the Bebi airstrip in Obanliku

•Atimbo after intervention

•Atimbo before intervention

The project, he said, has opened up the area in terms of social activities and business. “The idea is to develop a new city outside of Calabar,” he said.

The administration has also shown its desire to develop sports, which the governor has identified as a viable means of developing youths. Already it has established a comprehensive youths’ sports development programme, which is already yielding results in terms of laurels. Further manifesting its desire for sports, the government has embarked on the construction of two stadia, each located in Ikom and Ogoja.

Ita said it was important sporting facilities of world class standard were made available across the state.

Also the state, which will host the 19th edition of the National Sports Festival, is putting things in place to ensure it will be the best since the inception of the competition.

Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Patrick Ugbe, who conducted reporters round some of the facilities for the festival still under construction, was confident everything would be ready in time.

Ugbe said the swimming pool was being expanded from an eight-lane

pool to 10-lane pool and the depth taken from 1.2 metres to 2 metres, according to FINA specifications.

He said they were using the Mitre pool technology, which is going to make it the first of its kind in Africa.

The government’s plan to decongest the city centre also led to the construction of the N6.4 Margaret Ekpo Airport bypass.

The Commissioner for Works, Legor Idagbo, said project which passed through difficult terrain would do well to check the volume of traffic within the centre.

The notorious Atimbo gully erosion

•Suogele dance group entertaining guests at the ceremony.

Ijoh was a peaceful and hardworking traditional ruler who believed in team work and spirit of unity among his subjects and neigbhouring kingdoms in the state.

“We have lost a colleague who was like our father. He was a peaceful and industrious ruler who was the oldest traditional ruler in the state on the throne for 40 years. He held various offices in the Delta

state traditional rulers council before his demise. We want to tell you that we loved him so much. We wish him peaceful rest at the bosom of the Lord”, the royal father declared.

On Thursday last week, inlaws, family members and children led by the deputy governor of the state, Professor Amos Utuama, whose daughter is married to an Ogbe-Ijoh son.

The deputy governor was in

is also being checked by the Ministry of Works. The erosion, which threatened to cut the Atimbo Road in two and which claimed a life, is being speedily fixed to the delight of residents of the area and commuters. Idagbo said concrete drainages would be constructed to make the work permanent.

Also given a breath of life is the College of Education, which has been elevated from the derogatory status of a “glorified secondary school” to a tertiary institution in its own right. Dilapidated infrastructure and earth roads within the premises have now given way to renovated and new stric-

tures as well as asphalted roads courtesy of the Imoke administration. The Provost of the institution, Dr James Ejue, said: “The place was devastated when we took over.”

He said the state government carried out about 40 enormous projects within the institution and TETFUND funded about 10 projects.

The institution, which has about 1000 students when the Imoke administration took over, now has 6,000, Ejue said.

He said the intuition offered 23 courses, of which 20 have full accreditation and three, partial accreditation.

He said they were vigorously pursuing the accreditation of these three just as they were working to ensure the institution starts awarding degrees.

In partnership with Highbury College in the United Kingdom, the state has established the Institute of Technology and Management in Yakurr Local Government Area, which is expected to kick of next session.

Rural roads are also not left out of the developmental strides. Director, Rural Roads of the agency, Isaac Ishamale, said the Cross River State government has spent N35 billion constructing rural roads under the Rural Development Agency (RUDA).

He said 565km of roads have been completed with the amount. He added that the number of roads which total up to this stretch are 36, with two in each of the 18 local government of the state.

Also under the Rural Access Mobility Project (RAMP), which is in collaboration with the African Development Bank, 474 km of roads have been constructed according to Engineer Benson Ogba.

Sharing the success story of water management and distribution in Calabar to other parts of the state, the government had gone ahead to fix water treatment plants in Itigidi, Ikom and Ogoja.

In Ikom, Godwin Adie Akwagiode, in charge of the new plant, said they were still in the first phase of the water supply scheme, which holds a capacity of 5, 700 cubic metres per day.

“Before now the people were drinking from ponds, rivers, lakes and wells,” he said.

He said the water projects would be expanded to accommodate more communities in subsequent phases.

The Ogoja water treatment plant though established in the 1960s was rehabilitated by the present administration and its capacity increased from 900 cubic metres per day to 3000.

•Senator Okowa in a warm hanshake with the Regent of Ogbe-Ijoh Traditional Council,High Chief S.Y.Mamamu. With them is Chief Frank Omare.

the kingdom in dual capacity; as an in-law and as a representative of the state government.

The rites climaxed last Friday with HRH Mamamu leading the kingdom to receive an array of other dignitaries, comprising of chiefs, political office holders and some ex-freedom fighters. The last set of callers included Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, Senator Ifeanyi

Okowa; the state’s Commissioner for Environment and a son of Ogbe-Ijoh, Frank Omare as well as representatives of Ijaw national leader, Chief Edwin Clark. Intels Nigeria, a corporate organisation operating within the kingdom also sent representatives. The climax of the last day of the event was the arrival of ex-agitators, led

by Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo).

The Fiye-Owei (spokesman) of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom, Chief Favour Izoukumor, attributed the success of the programme to God’s grace and the support of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the traditional rulers, Chief Ekemupolo and other personalities who participated in one way or the other.

On the next step for OgbeIjoh kingdom, the spokesman

said the selection of a new Pere would have to be initiated within the shortest possible time, after which installation ceremony would be performed, for a new leader of the people to be crowned. All these would only happen after the kingdom has rested from the stress of burying its last king.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

36

NIGER DELTA REPORT COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

S

IREN. Convoy. A retinue of aides. Freebies upon freebies. Power almost beyond limit. These are the words and phrases that readily come to mind when one discusses power the Nigerian way.

As governors, there is a larger-than-life image around individuals elected or rigged in.

Sirens announce their arrival and exit from events. Aides have headache on their bosses' behalf. Things happen at a governor's say so.

A governor once asked that a boy who insulted him should be beaten to a pulp and brought him. He thereafter gave his father money to rehabilitate him. The beating was carried out by men of our security agencies who are well aware that their action was unconstitutional.

But who were they to disobey the governor?

Such is the power of a governor.

It is, however, a different kettle of fish after a governor has completed his tenure of office.

Some of them even go broke and unable to sustain the life in power. The flipside of power is nothing like life in power.

That perhaps explains why some governors have tried to make provisions for their lives after power to be close to their years in power.

Until three days ago, Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio was the darling of commentators. He has less than one year to complete his tenure. He plans to take a seat at the National Assembly thereafter. Whether or not he will succeed with this can only be determined by time. The reason behind the bashing of His Excellency was a law he assented to, which literally meant he did not have to work again for the rest of his life.

If the law had endured, Akpabio's headache would have become the state's. His pain the state's. His worries would have been sold to the state. He could rest and the state would bear the brunt for him. Many had wondered what more can a state do for the architect of Uncommon Transformation? How better can a state pay a man who is serving a second term of four years and is getting set to take a seat for another four years, in the first instance, at the Senate?

By virtue of the controversial law, the state would have been paying the governor, effective from May 29 next year, N100 million annual medical allowance. He would have been entitled to a brand new official car and utility vehicle once every four years; a personal aide paid for by the government would have served him for the rest of his life; his security would have been sorted out by the government; and he would have been paid some N5 million annually as payout for a cook, chauffeurs and security guards.

Additionally, His Excellency would have been entitled to a house either in Abuja or any part of the state at the expense of the government; a furniture allowance of 300 per cent of his annual basic salary must be paid to him once every four years; an annual maintenance

OLUKOREDE YISHAU

ABOVE WHISPERS

•A weekly intervention on Southsouth people

olukoredeyishau@gmail.com

Life after Govt House ‘

•Akpabio

and fuel allowance of 300 per cent of his annual basic salary and severance gratuity of 300 per cent of his annual basic salary must be paid to him.

His Excellency, in the wisdom of the lawmakers, also deserved a yearly utility allowance of 100 per cent of basic salary. There was also a provision which mandated the government to bear the full cost of the burial of the beneficiary and pay a condolence allowance equivalent to the annual basic salary to his next of kin. The gesture would have been extended to his pre-

If you are not satisfied with the way Nigeria is being governed now, it means they should not be given another term. If you are not satisfied that there is corruption, and corruption is called common stealing, if you are not satisfied with that, vote them out. The Federal Government has the responsibility to protect your lives and to protect the lives of the Chibok girls...If that has failed, then the government has failed __

‘

Governor Rotimi Amaechi

‘

decessors.

Akwa Ibom rakes in an average of N15 billion every month. It is on top of the chart of the top 10 on the Federal Allocation. Let us not talk about its debts which are some N150 billion. It is also instructive to add that despite Akwa Ibom's wealth, poverty still walks on all fours in the state. Many of its citizens can still not afford three square meals and life is certainly not sweet for these people ravaged by extreme poverty. Only a fraction of the state's population enjoys the chunk of its wealth. What the major-

LAST WORD

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

‘

The amendment should not have even been contemplated in the first place not to talk of being given life. The governor's argument about the law not being new but only an amendment to an existing law is neither here nor there... It is good he has repealed it himself.

He has no one but himself to blame for the blows he has received on account of the misadventure

ity benefits from is nothing but crumbs.

For a fact, Akpabio did not score first by assenting to this bill, which some have vowed was his idea in the first place. One or two governors had done something similar.

On Tuesday, Akpabio put a seal to the whole debate by initiating a reversal. He said the state government has sent a bill to the House of Assembly requesting that a section of the controversial state Pension Act be expunged.

He also asked the lawmakers that the act reverts to the status quo, according to a statement by the government on Tuesday.

In his letter to the House, Akpabio said: "It is my hope that with the excision of these sections from the amendment, the agents of falsehood would lift their siege on truth and not distract the good people of this state from the task of the Uncommon Transformation of our dear state.

“Let them remember that I am not a governorship candidate. Instead of firing brickbats at me, let them tell the good people of Akwa Ibom State their plans for Akwa Ibom State.

“Because of the sponsored media comments and misinformation of the members of the public on the good intentions of Pension Act by the few opposition elements in the state, and because this government is a product of the people, we have, as a government, decided to forward a request to the House that those areas, which the opposition has capitalised on to misinform the people be expunged and the former law that had been in existence be made to remain the law.”

With this decision, Akpabio seems to have silenced a former Secretary to the State Government and governorship hopeful Umana Okon Umana who condemned the law and promised to repeal it if he gets into power next May 29.

He described the legislation as “obscene, provocative and insensitive”.

In his words: “It is surprising that in spite of a nationwide public outcry against the bill, the state House of Assembly rushed to pass it within 11 days and the governor signed it into law with indecent haste within 24 hours without any inputs from members of the public who will foot the bill.”

My final take: The amendment should not have even been contemplated in the first place not to talk of being given life. The governor's argument about the law not being new but only an amendment to an existing law is neither here nor there. I must also add that Akpabio's achievements are there for all to see. The record will speak for him and he deserves to rest after office without having to grapple with a situation whereby his successor will make a mockery of the time and energy expended on making the law by doing away with it. It is good he has repealed it himself. He has no one but himself to blame for the blows he has received on account of the misadventure.

•Last Word is Niger Delta Report’s verdict on Southsouth affairs

Cross River...For tomorrow to be better

F

OR three days last week, Cross River State government took reporters round some of its legacy projects. The tour started in Calabar and terminated in Ogoja, the far end of the state which is no less than five hours away from the state capital. was one of tempered expectations, In Ogoja, many of the state correspondents, who were conversant with the state of rural roads, were impressed with the transformation that has taken place between their last visit and now. Almost all streets in Ogoja have had their roads tarred, with good drainage channel.

Across the state, old roads have become new and non-existent ones, such as the Margaret Ekpo Bye-pass, have sprung up.

There is a deliberate effort to redress the neglect of the rural areas. It is a case of roads, roads everywhere and several to travel smoothly on.

The importance of water has not been lost on the administration too. Things that will sustain its status as the tourism headquaters of Nigeria have been deliberately targetted and given attention.

Through the State Investment Promotion Bureau, it has attracted foreign investment.

Top on the list is Wilmar International

Limited’s $400 million investment in agriculture and agro-processing. There is also the Brentex Petroleum $300 million pipe mills manufacturing; the $700 million Essar Power Limited 660MW Integrated Power Project; Southgate Cocoa, and the Artee Group’s investment in shopping malls.

All these are despite the fact that the state’s last derivation cheque in the sum of N345 million came in 2012 – the aftermath of the July 2012 apex court ruling terminating its membership of the oil-producing club. The ruling ceded its 176 oil-wells to its neighbour, Akwa Ibom State. The development came as dampener, but the state has risen beyond it.

The state may have lost close to N20 billion in the over 22 months of non-receipt of the 13 per cent derivation funds, it is making up through FDI. The world-class Calabar International Convention Centre (CICC) not far from the Tinapa Resort –both in the domain of the sprawling Summit Hills – holds a lot of promises. It promises to make the state a force in global tourism.

On completion, the CICC will host a 200bed Convention Hotel under the state’s Public Private Partnership model.

Tinapa also stands to gain from the Summit Hills project, where a monorail will

link it with the CICC and end its current woes.

The Songhai farm complex in Abi and the multi-million dollar Wilmar farm complex in Akampka also hold promises of improving the state’s fortunes. The Songhai Farm is intended to train the youths in integrated farming system. In the farm, waste products from plants, birds, fish ponds, which are ordinarily disposed off, are recycled as inputs. The Wilmar farm is strictly for oil palm, the mainstay of Malaysia’s economy.

Cross River may as well become Malaysia all things being equal.

As good as what the state has to showcase are, they must be followed through. The CICC, the Songhai Farm and the Wilmar Farm are not at maturity stage yet. So, nothing must stop their destinies. They hold a lot of promises that will eventually pay off what the state lost to derivation funds. Cross River can be better and the key to its being better is in the oil palm farm, the CICC, the other parts of the Summit Hills project, the Songhai Farm and others, which if not followed through, can turn out to be white elephant projects. It is good Governor Liyel Imoke says all the funds needed to see these projects through are ready.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

37

SHOPPING

Shoprite to open outlet in Ibadan

S

HOPRITE is set to open its biggest store in the Sub-Saharan Africa as part of its expansion plans in Nigeria.

The store, which will be the second in the ancient city of Ibadan, Oyo State, would be located at the new Palms Shopping Mall.

This store, which would be the 10th store since Shoprite opened its first Nigerian store in 2004 is part of the expansion plans the retail giant has set as its target to have a flagship store in every city.

The Palms Mall in Ibadan is the Persianas’ group latest development and the fourth of its kind in Nigeria with 21,000 m2 retail space that would will have as neighbours a rich line of other international and local Nigerian retail brands.

It will be recalled that after the first Palms Mall in Lekki, the Persianas’group developed more malls in Enugu and Ilorin – where Shoprite has stores.

Trading from the right wing of the ground

floor, the 4,754 square metre new aspirational store will offer customers the very best of Shoprite’s customer service, wider range of products, groceries, freshly baked meals, as well as a specially chosen selection of food at affordable prices.

In preparation for the opening, the management of Shoprite has put together some activities to excite the people of Ibadan. Between June 9 and 18, there would be a charity run amid fun exercises, free breast cancer screening, donations to schools and lots of giveaways.

The event, which would also be used to draw attention to the Shoprite Community Network Initiative, supports organisations that provide care in various capacities; it will be supported by some Shoprite’s suppliers.

The Shoprite Store Manager in Ibadan, Mr. Fatai Oshungboye, said: “We’re delighted to be opening a second store in Ibadan. This is one of Nigeria’s largest cities and one filled

with friendly people who are renowned for their effortless taste and we have the quality to satisfy.”

Oshungboye reiterated the management’s outlook on growth. He said: “Shoprite have plans to open 44 new stores in Nigeria as we believe by going to all places where our customers are located we can serve them better.”

Shoprite Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Whitey Basson while addressing the media in August, last year, said: “Nigeria can handle 600 to 800 stores if you look at the size of the cities and the penetration of supermarkets; and it can happen quickly but that’s not dependent on Shoprite but on (the availability of) sites.”

About 200 direct and over 100 indirect jobs will be created as the new store opens. This confirms the retail outlets resolve to create sustainable employment alongside investing in training and development.

• Ighodalo

‘I don’t waste time when shopping’

Tradestable.com.ng launches portal

Pastor Ituah Ighodalo is the Founder/Senior Pastor, Trinity House Church, Victoria Island, Lagos. He is also the Managing Partner of SIAO Accounting. He spoke with NNEKA NWANERI on his shopping style, where he buys from and his promptness when shopping.

N

IGERIA’s leading classifieds ads platform, Tradestable.com.ng, has launched a platform to aid the growth of commerce and trade in Nigeria.

The platform, which offers users the opportunity to buy and sell almost everything online, was unveiled after the firm undertook some tests to determine what truly serves the needs of interested buyers and sellers.

The test was one of the first to be carried out by any online company in Nigeria. The test, which covered at Yaba College of Technology, Alaba International Market, and other key areas in Nigeria, helped in the development of an intuitive platform which embodies feedback received from the different test subjects.

Users were asked many questions relating to the layout, navigation and overall feel of the website. They were also given several tasks to complete, such as posting a free ad, all the while giving feedback for improvements.

The firm’s Country Ambassador, Mr. Onyeka Akumah, said: “We wanted to make the site more intuitive and feel more modern. We listened to our users, so we decided to base this redesign on their feedback. We want to provide the easiest way for anyone to buy and sell any kind of item.”

He added: “We set out to create a platform that is social, easy to use, with a wide range of products, and we are happy and proud to say that with the launch of this new and improved look for our website, we have taken another step to truly achieving this goal. We want to invite everyone

MY SHOPPING

H

OW do you shop for items?

I don’t waste time when shopping or window-shopping. Before I go shopping, I make a list of what to buy, walk into the store, pick the items on my shopping list and I leave the place.

Where and what do you buy?

• Staff of TradeStable.com.ng enlightening people

to join the journey, as we create a truly amazing product that will not just serve the use of the urban class but also of the rural class.”

Akumah explained that Nigerians are natural lovers of trade and commerce, adding that his firm wants to support and set the pace for this drive through its easy to

use platform, price comparison opportunity, convenient shopping experience and wide range of products.

He said to experience the ‘tradestable’ joy, users should visit the firm’s website at www.tradestable.com.ng, list their products and enjoy rewards from the numerous buyers who visit the site daily.

Do you buy spontaneously?

These days, I never buy things spontaneously. I buy only what I think I need, a few things and mainly to replace what is old or worn out. When some things stop being needed or useful or I haven’t worn in six months or so I give them out, no point accumulating and wasting when there are so many people out there who need and can make better use of them. I do this regularly. Last year, someone close to me gave out almost six suit cases of clothes they hadn’t used in ages. It gives great joy to give.

Winners emerge in mall’s ‘Mad Dash Promo’

T

EN winners have emerged at the just-concluded Ikeja City Mall 60 seconds ‘Mad Dash Promo.’ The promo, the third in the series, organised to reward loyal customers this year, was fun-filled.

The winners emerged at a raffle draw. They emerged through the lucky dip by store representatives of Etisalat and Foschini. The winners were told via telephone calls to show up the following day at the mall for their prizes.

Afterwards, they were taken through the promo process to ensure clarity. Each of them were given 60 seconds to dash into their choice store and pick any item not more than N10,000.

The lucky winners were Mrs. Olayinka Onatola, Janet Orekoya, Ben Tobilade, Yusuph Abdulrahman, Omeka Victoria, Ope, and Toyosi Kuti.

Othere were Michael Okafor, Femi Aiyegbusi and Olayide Shiyanbade.

The winners shared their experiences with The Nation Shopping. Onatola said she grudgingly acceded to her daughter’s request to participate in the promo, bought a phone from Samsung and submitted her receipt. She was sceptical about the promo, but due to her daughter’s persistence, she finally gave in and when it was time to redeem her prize, she bought toys worth N10, 000 from the Lego shop for her daughter.

On her part, Orekoya gave an intriguing story of how she participated in the promo, saying that earlier in the month, she came into the mall to shop at Da Viva, a clothing retailer, but the store had not opened for business so, she bought from Truworths instead. After emerging as one of the lucky winners, Orekoya said she decided to visit Da Viva store again, but this time with her free shopping voucher.

I shop mainly abroad. I take a day or two off to buy few things like shoes and ties.

For clothing, I have a few tailors based locally that know my style and what I am comfortable in.

I am an extremely stylish man because my parents were stylish and am not going to give up that their legacy for anything.

But at my age and stage, what is expected of me is to dress comfortably in whatever I wear, to be self respecting without being flamboyant with a sense of style.

Any favourite shopping place?

I have just a few shops I visit depending on what I have been shopping at those places /labels for ages.

What do you think of Nigerian Shopping malls?

• From left: Efe from ESP; Whitney Onatola and her mother Olayinka Onatola.

To enter for the promo, shoppers who spent N10, 000 or above in any of the stores were directed by Brand Ambassadors to drop their receipts in the boxes designated at the three entrances to the mall. Collation of receipts started on May 19 and ended nine days later.

The mall, which remains one of the choice destinations for leisure, entertainment and shopping, promised to continue its reward programmes to loyal shoppers.

Shopping has improved a lot in Nigeria and its growing; its much better in all areas. You can get almost everything you need/want here now with the coming of big malls. We need to encourage more of our own and patronise them. I try to do that. I don’t think Nigerians should be importing anything, we have enough talent here.

Do you buy items in vogue, especially fashion items?

I have long ago stopped buying seasonal fashion items. I am too old for that now and they soon get out of style and become a waste of money. There are a few basic and time tested things that never fail. At my age, I don’t need much anyway.

38

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

THE NATION

BUSINESS

AGRICBUSINESS

e-mail: agrobusiness@thenationonlineng.net

As the youth population rises and employment prospects become more limited, the development of strategies to engage young people in agriculture has become pertinent.This formed the focus of a workshop at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan. DANIEL ESSIET writes.

How to engage youths in agric A

FTER decades of neglect, the agric sector is attracting attention from both the private and public sectors not only because of its potential to solve the problem of youth unemployment but because of the increasing need for food security.

While there is tremendous effort to boost youth involvement in agriculture, there is however a huge number of bright, educated and ambitious young people who still do not find farming attractive. The challenge therefore is to make them aware of the opportunities and provide them with entrepreneurial attitudes, skills and resources they require to move into farming.

This formed the focus of a threeday Youth in Agribusiness workshop organised by the International Institute of Agriculture and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

The forum was essetially designed to generate new ideas on how to engage the youths in more diverse and productive roles in agriculture and also offered secondary benefits to the larger communities.

With almost 200 participants from about 20 countries, including policy makers, donors - African Development Bank (AFDB), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), it was a gathering of men and women with ideas.

Other partcipants include CGIAR, youth groups from different countries, regional research organisations and the National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) in Africa.

IITA’s Director–General, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, set the tone for the gathering when he reiterated the importance of the idea of engaging the youth in agribusiness as one of the ways to solve the high rate of unemployment and contribute to enhancing food security in Africa.

He described unemployment as a time bomb waiting to explode, warning that the socio-economic implications of such an implosion may be difficult to contain in Africa. Therefore, he enjoined all to brainstorm and come up with solutions on how African countries could engage and integrate the youth into agribusiness and financially support the programme.

The Director, Agriculture and Agro Industry Department, Dr

•Adesina and Sanginga

•Participants at the workshop

Chiji Ojukwu stressed that holding the interest of the African youths and women in agribusiness development is crucial if Africa is to meet the growth target of six per cent under the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development (CAADP) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The workshop, he noted, would not have come at a better time than now, given the high level of unemployment among the youth and women in various African countries.

“Some of the highest rates on the continent are in Southern Africa, where 51 per cent of young women and 43 per cent of young men are unemployed,” he said.

Recent information, he said indicates that the youths have the potential to increase the delivery of the transformational impact expected of a project such as Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SDRC-SC) and that IITA’s youth in agribusiness model has demonstrated this over the past 15 months.

According to him, IITA’s Youth in Agribusiness team have been successful in the multiplication and wide dissemination of improved crop varieties under the SARD-SC project. Ojukwu, said the bank was pleased to be associated with IITA ‘s initiative to

advance youth employment in agriculture and agribusiness in Africa, “because unemployment in general, and youth unemployment in particular, is becoming a serious challenge to African countries, development planners and institutions.” Thus, Ojukwu believes that such an initiative aimed at harnessing, exploiting and channeling opportunities to enlist and hold the interest of the youth and women in agribusiness development is crucial if Africa is to meet the agricultural growth target of six per cent under the CAADP and the poverty reduction target of eradication of extreme poverty and hunger under the MDGs. Thus, he said the foresight and thoughts of IITA and AGRA squarely tally with the mission and vision of the AfDB in agribusiness development for broad based economic growth and development for youths and women.

He said recent information from the IITA to the bank indicated that the youth have the potential to increase the delivery of the transformational impact expected of a project such as the SARD-SC and that the IITA’s youth in agribusiness model has demonstrated this over the past 15 months. “For instance, IITA ‘s youth in Agribusiness Team have been very successful in the multiplication and wide dissemi-

nation of improved crop varieties under the SARD-SC project,” he said, and commended the agripreneurs for their strides in agriculture.

To boost agribusiness, he said the bank has supported projects aimed at the reduction of postharvest losses, inputs, processing and packaging techniques and marketing. In addition, it has improved benefits for value chain stakeholders.

According to him, the AfDB, through its investments in rural infrastructure (rural access roads, water management systems for irrigation, electricity generation/ distribution and proper storage facilities); agricultural productivity enhancement through support to research; and sector capacitybuilding and knowledge-sharing on appropriate development policies for the sector in Africa, has helped to improve agricultural productivity and competitiveness.

The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina said the government prioritised integration of youths into agric business through facilities that can improve farm production, processing, and market linkages and incomes which are critical for enhanced productivity along the continuum from subsistence to commercial agriculture.

‘While there is tremendous effort to boost youth involvement in agriculture, there is however a huge number of bright, educated and ambitious young people who still do not find farming attractive.

The challenge therefore is to make them aware of the opportunities and provide them with entrepreneurial attitudes, skills and resources they require to move into farming’

He reiterated government’s determination to boost the nation’s agriculture sector by accelerating the development of infrastructure.

According to him, the potential of the sector’s contribution to growth and development has been underexploited due to a variety of challenges, including the widening technology divide, weak infrastructure and declining technical capacity. These challenges, he noted, have been exacerbated by weak input and output marketing systems and services, and limited access to affordable credit.

Through the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), Adesina said the government is addressing constraints along the entire value chain, focusing on human capacity building in agribusiness, facilitating the formation/development of more efficient production clusters geared towards establishing a reliable supply of the commodities (rice, cassava and sorghum) to industries.

He said increasing youth productivity in agriculture is critical for sustainable development and poverty reduction.

He said the government was determined to improve capacities across the agricultural value chain, entailing all the activities from the field to the fork, and encompasses the steps from primary production, processing, storage, transportation, and marketing/ export to consumption of commodities.”

Adesina pledged $500,000 to support the IITA programme on engaging the youth in agribusiness.

Addressing the workshop, the Executive Secretary, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Prof Buba Abubakar, represented by Director, Gender & Youth in Agricultural Research and Innovation, Mrs Deborah Ogbede said youth employment was of great concern to the continent and Nigeria in particular.

To this end, he said the Federal Government has introduced many interventions and among which is the ATA aimed at job creation and poverty reduction.

Having recognised the role of youths, he said ARCN is committed to their engagement in agriculture and is providing quidance, training, extension and career development through the 15 national agricultural research institutes and the 11 federal colleges of agriculture.

Further, he said the council intends to have a core of young professionals who can be given mentorship and career development as well as an entrepreneurship/agribusiness development scheme for youths to be empowered in agriculture.

At the event, Dr Namanga Ngongi, a member, IITA Board of Trustees gave the keynote address, Dr. Awa Bamba, Advisor to the Special Envoy on Gender, AfDB, delivered a paper titled: AfDB’s Gender strategy and the Implications for the youth engagement programme.

Ministers of Agriculture from Guinea Conakry, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, DR Congo sent good will messages.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

39

AGRICBUSINESS

Don laments decline in food manufacturing

D

IRECTOR-GENERAL, Kaduna Business School, Dr Dahiru Sani, has lamented the decline of the food manufacturing sector in the country, urging the Federal Government to take urgent steps to address the situation.

He told The Nation that historically, Nigeria is a low-cost business operating environment, which is attractive to multinational companies seeking to minimise production costs.

Following the collapse of the power supply situation, he said food manufacturers were grappling with changing conditions that have increased cost of doing business – physical infrastructure and raw materials.

These challenges, and the pace at which they were taking place, he noted, are forcing multinational

Stories by Daniel Essiet

companies to rethink their local strategy to remain competitive.

For firms not in a position to move up the cost/quality curve, he said an attractive option is to shift their operations to Ghana. He said multinationals are also facing hiring competition from local private and state-owned enterprises.

He said Nigeria should concentrate on improving its business and governance environment to create a high value-adding food manufacturing industry, as opposed to its traditional low-cost, low valueadded ecosystem.

Sani said Nigeria plans to create an industrial corridor, investing in vital support infrastructure such as power plants, water facilities and transport infrastructure.

Food manufacturers, he added, should be prepared for competition, considering a wider range of options when looking to offshore operations.

Also, the Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has said over 50 per cent of manufacturing firms in the country are operating below capacity.

The association said most of the companies are in ailing conditions, noting that some of them are not getting support to thrive.

The association said manufacturing have declined in the country due to the global economic meltdown that further led to the closure of many industries, particularly those industries, which depend on importation to survive and had to spend more foreign cur-

rency on imported raw materials and spare-parts, adding that the capacity utilisation of industries stood at between 30 per cent and 45 per cent with an average of 100 per cent overhead costs.

NACCIMA blamed the continued decline in the manufacturing sector on political and economic factors, saying that poor infrastructure and epileptic power supply are key impediments to the growth of the sector.

“The manufacturing industry as a whole operates on more than 70 per cent of energy it generates.

Using generators and operating these generators greatly increases the cost of manufacturing goods,’’ he said, adding that other factors such as incessant increase in the price of petroleum products used by industries, multiple taxation, unabated smuggling and inad-

•Sani

equate access to finance, both local and abroad have also contributed to the problems of the manufacturing sector.

Nigeria, others benefit from rice project

T

•From left: Olaniyan, Dapo Aroloye, Ajigo, Thomas Faber, Shade Rafiu, AdeoluAdewoyin, Samson Ojediran and Deborah Ajewole, all of Kokodola Team project, at Osogbo.

Oxfam condemns child labour on cocoa farms

O

XFAM has reiterated its commitment to seeing more certified farmers in Nigeria earn higher yields and revenue from their cocoa crops, stressing it will not encourage use of child labour on the farms.

Addressing children at an event organised under the Kokodola project in collaboration with Osun State in Oshogbo, its Programme Officer, Women Empowerment, Mainstreaming and Networking Cocoa Project, Mr John Ajipo, said the organisation was charged with dealing with social issues, including child labour and promotion of gender justice.

According to him, most of the industry’s effort was focused on child labour, following an International Cocoa Initiative and an industry group to respond to the challenge.

Oxfam, he explained, was committed to ensuring that child labour is reduced and the rights of children

protected across cocoa plantations.

To this end, he maintained that there was sustained awareness campaign for the prevention and elimination of child labour adding that the organisation uses the Children’s Day to raise awareness on the issue with the state government.

According to him, the cocoa sector is of great importance for rural livelihoods and provides employment for many households, stressing that the organisation does not support employing children on cocoa plantation.

He said the sector has been criticised for using children on the farms globally.

Consequently, most of the industry’s effort was focused on child labour.

He said Oxfam was determined to foster a durable relationship with farmers by supporting programmes to help them to manage their re-

sources sustainably.

Oxfam’s mission, he maintained, is to work with individuals and organisations to create a just world without poverty.

The organisation works with other members of the Kokodola project consortium to implement the Sustainable Cocoa projects in Osun and Ondo states. The goal of the project is to create a growing sustainable and efficient value chain of farmers for certified cocoa production, thereby improving social, economic and environmental conditions of the cocoa farmers across the two states.

The Programme Coordinator, Farmers Development Union (FADU), Mr. Bayo Olaniyan, highlighted the danger of child labour.

He said the organisation is working as hard as possible to playan even more proactive role towards the elimination of the worst formsof child labour.

HE German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and stakeholders, has launched the Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) project to reach 120,000 rice producers in Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania.

The initiative targeted at male and female smallholder rice farmers is to improve the livelihood of rice farmers in select countries in the sub-region by increasing the competitiveness of domestic rice supply to meet increasing regional demand.

Country Director, TechnoServe Ghana, Mr Emmanuel Toureille, said the project is being implemented in these countries to reach 120,000 rice producers.

He said rice is the fastest growing food source in Africa in recent years and as such has far outstrip the subregions population growth, hence the initiative.

Toureille said the project would see to the increment of productivity

and quality of paddy rice, increase the efficiency of local rice sourcing, processing and marketing and improve the enabling environment at the national and regional levels.

He said the adventure would go along with the Gates Foundation, the German Government, German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and the Kufuor Foundation to develop a competitive rice industry in Ghana.

Deputy Head of Missions, German Embassy, Mr Thomas Wimmer, said growth in the agricultural sector has been proved to be the most effective in reducing poverty.

He said it was mainly lack of favourable policies, regulatory environment and inadequate investments in the sector that has motivated Germany to support agriculture in nations, such as Ghana.

Wimmer said Germany believes that Africa could feed itself and provide food for other regions of the world.

15,000 farmers get N375m BoA loan

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O fewer than 15,000 cassava farmers have benefited from t the N375 million loan by the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) to boost cassava production in Adamawa State.

Chairman, Borno Cassava Farmers Cooperative Union (BCFCU), Alhaji Lawal Umara, made this known in Maiduguri.

He said the farmers who received N250,000 each were drawn from the 27 local government areas.

He said the initiative was part of the government’s effort to enhance cassava production for local consumption and export.

He said the initiative would go help ensure food security in the state and the country.

Umara said cassava farmers in

the state also received about 10,000 bundles of cassava seedlings under the Federal Government’s Agricultural Enhancement Programme to enable them improve on their yields.

He said the association also secured 100 hectares of farm in each of the 27 local government areas for cassava farmers.

“Some of our members were also empowered to produce different varieties of cassava.

“Plans are also underway to train 2,700 women farmers who lost their farmlands due to the activities of insurgents in some local government areas.

“The women would be trained on how to make biscuits, bread, cakes, doughnuts, pies, rolls and chin-chin, among items,’’ he said.

Ogun to upgrade slaughter houses

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N line with international best practices and promotion of quality health in the meat sector, the Ogun State goverment is embarking on a phased development and upgrade of its slaughter houses in Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu-Igbo and IsheriKara.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs Ibironke Sokefun, said this at a ministerial briefing in Abeokuta, the state capital as part of activities marking the third year anniversary of Senator Ibikunle Amosun administration.

According to her, a preferred partner has emerged for the development and upgrade of the Lafenwa Slaughter House in Abeokuta, which will be ready in seven months at N507 million while the rest will also be upgraded through public-private

partnership.

The Commisioner also said Refrigerated Meat Vans will soon be introduced to ferry meat from different slaughter facilities to various markets in a clean and hygienic manner to curb the spread of pathogens and reduce the risk of post abbatoir contamination.

Mrs Sokefun listed the achievements of the state government to include purchase of farming equipment and implements for the use of farmers at highly subsidised rates, rehabilitation of farm settlements and fish farms.

Others are cultivation of rice at Eggua, cassava multiplication project in Ibiade, establishment of Model Farm Estate in Owowo, 50hectares cocoa plantation in Alagbagba and a 50-hectare cashew plantation in Afon, Green House in Kotopo.

•From left: Permanent Secretary, Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture Lanre Bisiriyu; Sokefun; Commissioner for Information and Strategy Yusuph Olaniyonu and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Abdul-Fatai Opebiyi, during the ministerial briefing.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL De Beers to get diamond exploration rights in Angola E Beers SA, the world’s largest diamond miner by market value, hopes to obtain a concession to explore in Angola by the end of this year, its Chief Executive Philippe Mellier said.

The London-based company, majority-owned by global miner Anglo American PLC, is also holding initial talks with India about exploring in some areas in the centre-north of the country.

“We expect to have news about exploration licenses before the end of this year and we are in contact with the Angolan government to discuss that. We hope that it’s going to be successful,” Mellier told Reuters in an interview last week.

Early stage work in Angola should start later this year, a spokesman for the company added.

Russia’s Alrosa, De Beers’ main competitor, already operates the Catoca mine in Angola, the world’s fourth-largest, in a joint venture with Angola’s state-owned Endiama.

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•Prof Al Gini flanked by Prof Basil Leonard (left), head of University of Stellenbosch Business School's Centre for Leadership Studies, and YolandiJanse van Rensburg, at an event at the institute in South Africa.

Bombardier wins $5b S/African rail contract B OMBARDIER Inc. is one of four companies picked to supply a total of 1,064 locomotives to South Africa’s state-owned freight rail system.

Transnet Freight Rail says the total contract is worth 50 billion rand, or about C$5.16-billion.

Bombardier’s announcement didn’t disclose how much its share of the contract is worth but a spokesman said the company will supply 240 electric locomotives.

Bombardier’s C-Series commercial jet took off on its first flight on September 16, last year in Montreal.

Bombardier blew past BlackBerry as Canada’s top R&D spender.

In total, Transnet said it’s buying 599 electric locomotives from Bombardier and CSR Zhuzhou Electric and 465 diesel engines will be supplied by General Electric and CNR Rolling Stock.

Montreal-based Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) said it will build all its Traxx Africa design locomotives in South Africa.

“This implies investments in local manufacturing capacity, training and further improving the skills development of local

employees, while working with local partners to achieve the same objectives,” Bombardier said in its statement.

The Canadian company, which is more involved in passenger rail equipment and commuter systems than freight equipment, has been in South Africa since 1995.

Bombardier and its consortium partners have been involved in providing trains and signalling systems for commuter services in the Johannesburg-Pretoria region and a modernisation of the rail control system in the main corridors around Durban, South Africa.

Mining spurs Sierra Leone’s economic growth

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HE rapid expansion of Sierra Leone’s nascent iron ore mining industry fuelled economic growth of 20 per cent last year, according to IMF data, but prices also surged in the impoverished West African nation.

Interest in its largely untapped mineral resources has sparked a flood of investment in Sierra Leone a decade after the end of a devastating 19912002 civil war. Its economic growth rate is ranked among the highest in the world.

British miners African Minerals, which operates the Tonkolili project, and London Mining, owner of the Marampa mine, both began shipping iron ore in 2011.

“Economic activity continues to expand robustly, mainly on account of a

sharp increase in mining activity,” MalanguKabedi-Mbuyi, who headed a recent International Monetary Fund mission to the country, said in a statement.

Sierra Leone remains one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries, and there is widespread frustration that despite the mining boom, more than half of the population of six million lives on less than $1.25 (U.S.) per day.

Economic growth excluding iron ore mining activity was 5.5 per cent last year, while inflation eased from 12.5 per cent in 2012 to 8.5 per cent at the end of 2013, the statement said.

Gross international reserves reached 3-1/2 months of import cover, supported by increased ex-

port receipts from iron ore, while the fiscal deficit narrowed to 1.9 per cent of non-iron ore GDP, from 5.6 per cent in 2012.

The dominance of its mining sector has also raised concerns that natural resource exploitation will stifle other exports and fail to encourage broad-based economic development.

“We are aware of it and the government is also aware of it,” Francis Kumah, the IMF’s resident representative in Sierra Leone, told Reuters on Thursday, adding that the country needed more policies to diversify its economy.

“There is the awareness to do so now and that is a good thing,” he said, citing efforts by the agriculture and marine ministries to expand the revenue base.

Samsung unveils Galaxy S5 in Nigeria

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AMSUNG Electronics has unveiled its new Galaxy S5 smartphone, alongside the latest in its industry-leading wearable device line, the Gear Fit and Gear 2, in Nigeria.

The Managing Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Brovo Kim, said the Galaxy S5 will redefine how technology innovation enhances quality of life. “With the Galaxy S5, Samsung is going back to basics to focus on delivering capabilities that matter most to our consumers. Consumers today are on the lookout for mobile tools that inspire and support them as they improve their everyday lives.

The Galaxy S5 represents an iconic design with essential and useful features that focus on delivering the ultimate smartphone on the market today through people-inspired innovation.” he said.

Also on display at the event were brand new additions to Samsung’s

wearable-technology line-up, the Gear 2 and Gear Fit, offering consumers enhanced connectivity alongside an integrated communication experience. The Gear 2, an upgrade of Samsung’s original Gear device, incorporates a 1.63inch screen, a 2-megapixel camera that is now located on the device’s screen, a sensor that enables usage of the device as a television remote control and a personal fitness coaching guide. The device also comes with a range of changeable straps and interface themes that lets wearers create their own style, with a choice of colours including Charcoal Black, Mocha Grey and Wild Orange.

Also, the Director, Information Technology and Mobile, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Emmanouil Revmatas said: “At Samsung, we understand that the next generation of wearable mo-

bile solutions must directly reflect the diverse interests and needs of consumers. Our Gear product portfolio continues to expand with unique devices for a wide range of lifestyles, including the Gear 2 and the new Gear Fit designed to help those consumers striving to live fit and active lives without sacrificing their own personal style or their ability to stay connected on the go.”

Revmatas added that the Gear 2 and Gear Fit can run for between two to six days before requiring a battery recharge, depending on usage levels and number of connected devices.

In further demonstration of its commitment to providing innovative, consumer-oriented service, Samsung announced that the new Galaxy S5 smartphone will feature Samsung Premium, an advanced version of the company’s original 24month accidental damage from handling (ADH) warranty.

De Beers previously explored for diamonds in Angola between 2005 and 2012 but concluded that a standalone deposit in the area was not economic and relinquished its concession.

It is now going back to explore a new area in the country, which Melliersaid was highly prospective.

Angola is the world’s fourth-largest diamond producer by value, and sixth by volume, and the government is keen to boost a sector where few companies are currently drilling. But the country needs to develop transport links and services for mining companies, and make geological data more accessible, according to a study published late last year.

De Beers produced more than 31 million carats of diamonds last year at its existing operations in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Canada. The Botswana government owns 15 per cent of De Beers, while Anglo American owns the rest.

Airtel, Apple seal deal

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IRTEL Nigeria has announced a partnership with mobile phone maker, Apple, and unveiled the iPhone 5s in the country.

With this, Airtel becomes the first mobile telecoms services provider in Nigeria to seal a partnership deal with Apple.

The partnership will offer telecoms consumers across the country an opportunity to purchase the iPhones in Airtel showrooms or from the outlets of its channel/retail partners including Slot.

Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, described the partnership as the coming together of two great brands, saying it is a demonstration of Apple’s trust in Airtel and Nigeria.

He added that the partnership underscores Airtel’s unwavering commitment to its vision of becoming Nigeria’s number 1 mobile Internet service provider.

“At Airtel Nigeria, we believe that the future of mobile telephony is mobile Internet and so we are repositioning to revolutionise this land-

scape with innovative value offerings and strategic partnerships.

“Our partnership with Apple is a glowing testimony to our desire to lead with Internet. Our enviable track record also provides us a leverage to empower more Nigerians to enjoy super-fast Internet services on their devices and mobile phones on the Airtel network,” he said.

Ogunsanya also noted that Airtel is embarking on a wide-scale expansion, modernisation and transformation of its network.

“Our goal is to ensure that telecoms consumers enjoy the best experience on voice, visual and video as they engage and connect with friends and family members as well as transact their businesses on the Airtel network,” he said.

The iPhone 5s is described by experts as the most forward-thinking smartphone in the world. iPhone 5s sets a precedent, with an amazing amount of technology in a remarkably thin, light design. It builds on that achievement with Touch ID — a ûngerprint identity sensor. An A7 chip with 64-bit architecture.

Kenya lament Western travel warnings

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ENYA has rebuked Britain, the United States, Australia and France for issuing warnings about travel to the east African country, while hoteliers said at least 400 tourists had checked out of hotels along the Indian Ocean coast.

Kenya called the alerts “unfriendly,” saying they would increase panic and play into the hands of those behind the gun and grenade assaults that have hit the capital Nairobi and the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa, a tourist magnet.

Explosions in Nairobi and Mombasa on May 3-4, one of them at a luxury seaside resort, killed

seven people and Kenya has blamed this as well as other attacks on the al Qaeda-linked Somali group al Shabaab.

The Islamist movement killed at least 67 people including foreigners in a raid on a Nairobi shopping mall in September, saying it was in revenge for attacks on its fighters

by Kenyan troops in Somalia.

The warnings and departures by tourists from hotels along the popular coast may further damage Kenya’s tourism sector, one that President Uhuru Kenyatta said is “on its knees” following the series of deadly attacks.

MTN sponsored-pilgrims leave for Jerusalem

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HE over 20 pilgrims sponsored by the leading ICT and telecoms giant, MTN, have departed for Jerusalem for this year’s pilgrimage.

The largesse is part of the company’s commitment to uplifting the spiritual life of its subscribers by helping them to be better in their Christian journey.

The pilgrims, who left via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, will be spending 10 days in the holy land. They could not hide their excitement and the rare privilege MTN has given them. They were full of praise to the telecom firm for not just sponsoring them on an all-expenses paid trip, but for also giving them an opportunity

to fulfil a life-long desire.

One of the pilgrims, Blessing O. Amadi, from Rivers State, said: “I feel fulfilled. Going to Jerusalem is something I have always wished for and have been saving towards this. Now, God has used MTN as an instrument to make my dream come true again.”

The Senior Manager, Segments, MTN, Saidat Lawal-Mohammed, admonished the pilgrims to put the country in prayer in view of the challenges facing the nation at this time in its history.

Speaking on the electronic selection of the customers, she explained that subscribers were selected based on the Valued Added Service (VAS) they subscribed to.

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

POLITICS

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FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

ABIA POLITICS The succession battle is raging in Abia State. The bone of contention is zoning. Which senatorial district should produce the next governor? EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the claims and counter-claims of the three zones competing for power.

Abia 2015: Controversy over zoning

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EXT year, Abia State Gover nor Theodore Orji will vacate the State House, after completing two terms. Ahead of the 2015 polls, the governor has said that power should shift to the Ukwa/ Ngwa Zone in the spirit of fairness and justice.

As the contest gathers momentum, one salient issue that will shape the exercise is zoning. Now, the bone of contention is the controversial ‘Abia Charter of Equity.’

Many observers believe that the zoning pact was exhumed to give an undue advantage to the Ukwa/Ngwa at the expense of credible contestants from other zones.

Orji, who has endorsed the zoning, emphasised that it will give the zones a sense of belonging and reduce the fear of domination and marginalisation. But, a partisan group, the Abia Consultative Forum, disagreed.

Its Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Rita Okpalaugo, said that zoning is tantamount to the exclusion of qualified people from the contest without justification. “ it is analogous to a situation where a few oligarchs seize the structures of power and cause much alienation and discontent among the people. Since the creation of Abia State in 1991 and the return to civil rule in 1999, participatory democracy has been the norm, she added.”

Abia is a heterogeneous state. The diverse ethnic nationalities are lumped together in three senatorial districts, despite their cultural and linguistic differences. Thus, competition for amenities and political appointments is stiff in the Southeast state.

For example, the people of

Isuikwuato and Umunneochi councils, which make up the Isuikwuato District, have rejected the agitation for power shift to Ukwa/Ngwa, saying that it is their turn to produce the governor. In a statement by its leaders, the district pointed out that the agitation has the backing of the law, adding that the ethnic group has been marginalised in the Abia North Senatorial District.

Last week, the leaders of Isuikwuato requested an indigene, Gen. Chibuzor Ihejirika to declare interest in the governorship.

To avoid acrimony and disunity, Abia Consultative Forum maintained that the race should be thrown open to the three districts. “This will prevent the manipulation of ethnic politics and foster equity”, said Okpalaguo, who added: “The best candidate will emerge in a free and fair contest.”

Eminent indigenes agree that, historically, this has always been so.

Since the state was created on on August 17, 1991, the people have always elected their governors in an all-inclusive race without complaints by any zone.

In 1991, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu from Ohaozara, Afikpo Zone, won the governorship on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC). His rivals were Mr Gershon Amuta from Isiala Ngwa South(Ukwa/Ngwa Zone), Dr Chris Ukpabi from Arochukwu (old Bende

• Orji

Zone),a nd Chief Lambert Nmecha from Ukwa East (UKWA Ngwa).

Also, Chief Samuel Eke from old Bende, Chief Empire Kanu (Umuahia, Abia Central), Augustine Alaribe, and Isiala Ngwa contested on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) without let or hindrance. In that aborted Third Republic, zoning was a non-issue.

Onu ceased to be the governor on November 17, 1993, following the military coup by the late General Sani Abacha, which threw out democratic

structures,and sacked the Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government (ING).

Following the carving out of the old Afikpo Zone from Abia State to Ebonyi State, in build up to the 1999 contest, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu from Bende North (Peoples Democratic Party), Chief Chris Ukpabi from Arochukwu also of the PDP, Chief Iboko Imo Iboko (Bende North) Mr Dan Nwakwo, also aspirant candidate, from Obingwa South, Mr Ike Orika from Umunneochi and Sonny Iroche all threw their hats into the ring for the primaries. Kalu became the flag bearer.

In the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) the three zones put up their best forward for the primaries. The aspirants included Chief Vincent Ogbulafor from Umuahia South, Chief Chukwunwachuku from Isiala Ngwa, South District, Max Nduaguibe (Isiala Ngwa, South District), and Senator Onyeka Okoroafor (Ohafia). Ogbulafor, who won the primaries, competed for the number one seat with Kalu, who was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In 2003, gladiators from the three zones showed interest in the governorship primaries in the ruling PDP. They included Kalu (Abia North), Austin Akobundu (Ikwuano), Enyinnaya Abaribe (Obingwa) Henry Ikoh (Ikwuano) Dan Nwakwo

‘The zoning of elective position is a recipe for mediocrity in a state that is brimming with star professionals, politicians and egg heads. We do no desire a situation where power is delivered to surrogates under the guise of zoning’

(Obingwa) and Onwuka Kalu (Ohafia). After the Primaries, came the main election. Similarly, candidates from the three zones participated in the election on April 19. They were Kalu (PDP), Enyi Abaribe(ANPP), Onwuka Kalu (APGA), and Henry Ikoh (UNPP). Kalu of the PDP was re-elected.

In 2007, no zone was exluded from the primaries and general elections.

The aspirants were Onyema Ugochukwu from Umuahia North, Theodore Orji Uzor, Ikechi Emenike, and Uzodinma Okpara. From Ngwaland came Isiguzoro (Obingwa South) and Ihenacho Okezie Orji (Obingwa South). Okey Nwadiuko, Capt Ogbonna. Emeka Atuma (Ikwuano) Henry Ikoh (Ikwuano) and Chinonye Macebuh (Ukwa) came from Isiukwuato.

After the primaries, Orji (PPA), Onyema Ugochukwu (PDP), Ikechi Emenike (ANPP), and Uzodimma Okpara (APGA) locked horns at the poll. Orji, who won the election, was not endorsed by any zone.

In 2011, it was a big fight among Chris Akomas (Obingwa), Paul Ikonne (Aba North), Regan Ufomba (Isiala Ngwa North), Bob Ogu (Isiala Ngwa), and Orji (Umuahia North).

Orji was re-elected.

Dismissing zoning as a factor, Okpalaugo maintained that Orji was not a beneficiary of zoning.

She added: “The zoning of elective position is a recipe for mediocrity in a state that is brimming with star professionals, politicians and egg heads.

We do no desire a situation where power is delivered to surrogates under the guise of zoning”

Abia State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant Mr. Friday Nwosu, a lawyer, spoke on his ambition, zoning and other partisan issues. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE met him.

‘There are many pretenders in the race’

• Nwosu

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RE you still running for the governorship in Abia State?

There is a rumour being spread by those who are not comfortable with my growing popularity across the state that I will not run.

Nobody anointed me; I seek the support of God and people of Abia State to be the next governor. I’m not somebody who can abandon a battle halfway. I don’t engage in things I don’t mean. I mean what I do and do what I mean. So, my interest in the governorship race is never going to be an exception. I’m still very much in the governorship race. Go to Ohafia, Bende, Arochukwu, Umunneochi, Umuahia, Ukwa and other parts of the state. The name on everybody’s lips for the governorship race is Barrister Friday Nwosu.

The leaders of Ukwa/Ngwa Zone are pushing for a consensus candidate. What is your view?

We can only recognise an aspirant when that person has bought the party forms for the election. As at now, beside myself, I don’t know of any other aspirant, who will contest for the position. Are you sure that these other people will participate at the primaries? So, we cannot begin to talk of consensus when you don’t even know who is contesting. Some of these people you call aspirants are pretenders who were sent to cause confusion among those genuinely interested in the race. When you procure a form from your political party, with a view to running for the primaries, we will know that you are an aspirant. I’m the only aspirant who has been going to all corners of the state telling people that I want to be the next governor of Abia State and everybody knows I’m not pretending about it.

It was said that you promised to withdraw for a better candidate...

This is the handwork of my detractors, who have chosen to quote me out of context. I did not make such a statement. Who is the better candidate that I will withdraw for? As a legal practitioner, I deal with facts. I cannot begin to talk about stepping down for anybody when I know that no aspirant is better qualified than me. I can

‘I can assure you that many of these aspirants will not even purchase the expression of interest forms. They are standing on one foot, pretending to be aspirants. But, time will reveal these pretenders and their game’ assure you that many of these aspirants will not even purchase the expression of interest forms. They are standing on one foot, pretending to be aspirants. But, time will reveal these pretenders and their game.

What are your chances in the race?

From the result of my consultations, I tell you that I will win the party primaries and the general elections. Even, if there is going to be a consensus candidate, I believe I have the wherewithal to emerge. I’m the candidate to beat in the race.

What value do you think you can add to governance, if elected?

I have developed programmes and policies capable of taking Abia to the next level, from where Governor

Theodore Orji would stop. My plans are carefully tailored to sustain his worthy legacies. I will build on the achievements of the governor because he has laid a solid foundation on which anybody coming after him can build on. I’m particularly interested in the Liberation Farms projects undertaken by the governor. My administration shall accord every sector of the economy the attention it deserves, if elected as the next governor of Abia State. We must look towards agriculture as the solution to the unemployment problem in Nigeria. If Nigeria must regain her lost glory, there should a well articulated work plan towards reviving our agriculture, which is capable of offering employment more than the oil industry. We must also invest in education and skill acquisition and grant scholarship to indigent students. I will work with relevant development agencies to bring more democracy dividends to the people.

Some people perceive you as a green horn in politics. Is this your first outing politically?

I have been in politics in this country since 1983. I was in politics in 1983 before I joined the Nigerian Police that year. I resigned from the police at the end of 1994. On October 1, 1996, when we were expecting Gen. Sani Abacha to lift the partial ban on politics, I was

a leading politician in my locality. I was a founding member of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN).

When Abacha died and we all started afresh, I was in the PDP. At a time, I left the PDP for theAPGA. In 2002/2003, I had emerged as the state chairman of the APGA. In the APGA, I was also the Secretary of Forum of Political Parties Chairmen and candidates in Abia State.

In 2005, I resigned from the APGA and returned to the PDP. Since then, I have been in the party as a member in my ward, local government, state and national. In 2010, I was the Secretary of the Bayelsa State Ward Congress Committee of the PDP. In 2011, I was a member of the Kogi State Ward Congress Appeal Panel of the party. I was also a member of the Bayelsa State Governorship Screening Panel. Again, I was a member of the Disciplinary Committee/Fact Finding Panel, which investigated constitutional breaches in Rivers State. As a lawyer, I have a lot of representations for the PDP at the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. When some people got an order of injunction to stop the PDP from holding its national convention last year, I went to court and set aside that injunction. I went this far to tell you where and how I started. Is this the experience of a greenhorn?

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THE NATION FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

POLITICS EKITI POLITICS Former Ekiti State Governor Segun Oni, who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke with reporters in Ifaki-Ekiti on why he has endorsed Governor Kayode Fayemi for the poll. Excerpts:

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‘Out of all of them, my preference goes to Dr Fayemi. But, I will not spare anything for the kind of monsters that are preparing themselves in the PDP to take over Ekiti State and probably, the Southwest. For whatever reason, we must fight them ruthlessly’

‘Poll is about Ekiti’s future’

HY did you defect from the PDP to the APC? I did everything I could do to give the PDP a chance to pick a candidate that we can work with, that we can be proud of, that we can show to generations that are coming to, somebody that we can throw up as a role model for them. When the PDP decided what its own options would be, we had no alternative but to make up our mind, rigidly, to toe the path that we have now chosen.

You said that you left the PDP to join the APC to build a future for Ekiti.

Could you shed light on this?

What I am doing personally, is in the interest of Ekiti and in the interest of the good name that we may lose, if we are not careful. The generations coming may have to suffer for it, if we allow it to be completely destroyed.

As a loyalist of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, did you at any time discuss your grievances with him?

Yes and no, because baba knows our feelings. He knows that, like him, we hold dearly the future of this society.

We take that after him. He also knows that we are not looking for personal gains, he knows that we are looking for a better future for our people.I believe his reaction would that of a father whose children are disagreeing on the field and he will not kill one for the other.

If you are reinstated to the position of the Southwest Vice Chairman of the PDP, would you return to the PDP? For me, I do not think that is an option. For example, will I go back and support a Fayose?

Why are you not supporting Fayose?

I want to make it very clear that the reason why I am not supporting Ayo

Fayose is not for anything that he has done to me personally in the past.

Fayose offended me, Fayemi offended me, but I have taken a position of forgiving everyone that offended me because I know I have probably offended them and others in the past.

Anybody who finds it convenient in his own heart can also forgive me, but I am looking at the future of Ekiti State.

What is that future?

I have been governor and I am privileged to know that the position of the governor is an exalted position that people should be using as a point of contact to pray for their children. It means that the governor is a moral leader; he is a role model.

If you put someone in the position of governor and not sincerely pray in your heart of hearts that your child should take after, then, it means the society has gone amiss, it means something is wrong.

If you have somebody in the position of governor that you do not wish to be a role model for the younger ones, then, it means something is amiss. What we are saying is that this is more than legal qualifications or satisfying the letters of the constitution, we are saying the position of governor is a higher ground. And like Caesar’s wife, anybody who comes to it, should be seen to be above board because you cannot just bring anybody and say you must make him governor. That is also a slight on that position because it is supposed to be an exalted position. You just cannot make anybody governor because you are going to create problems for generations that are coming.

If they take after a wrong role model, the society will be in trouble. Can 80

•Oni

per cent of Ekiti people pray that their child or ward should take on a role model as that which we are saying?

Secondly, I know the institution that is forming itself up for the position of governorship in Ekiti state, I think it is very dangerous. It is a very grave mistake that people are making to believe that, if evil is forming itself in a nursery, in any part of the country, if it is remote to theirs, they can afford to sleep and it won’t get to them.

I know that, if we allow that institution to form itself, our children, our younger ones will be swearing to oaths and sleeping in coffins because we have seen the hand of the monster somewhere else in the part of the Southwest. I have seen some of their foundations, people who are wanted and are involved in questionable deals.

They now want to be in charge of my state. I take an exception. Those sending them to Ekiti should know that, if this evil should germinate in Nigeria, it will not leave them untouched. We all have a responsibility as Nigerians. Let us join hands to ensure that this evil, in whatever form it is, is not allowed to triumph or prosper.

We all have a responsibility to ensure that generations that are coming will not be under the influence of such foundations because it is an amalgamation of evil.

But, Mr Fayose said he is now a changed man.

‘Ekiti has bright future’

•Bamidele

E

KITI State Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele has unfolded his manifesto, urging the people to be hopeful for a brighter future.

He said, if elected as the governor, the LP would build a new democratic culture in the Fountain of Knowledge, foster development and promote a charter of prosperity.

Bamidele, who released a 68-paged blue-print titled: “My vision, my dreams, my aspirations for Ekiti’ in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, promised to develop agriculture, commerce and industry, mining and tourism.

The flag bearer also said that his administration would accord priority to education, healthcare delivery, infrastructural development, housing, urban development, environmental sustainability and security.

Describing himself as a change agent, the House of Representatives mem-

ber said that his emotional attachment to the 130 towns and villages underscored the Labour Party’s and the Bibiire Coalition’s quest to invest governance in Ekiti State.

Noting that he was motivated by the deep sense of patriotism to introduce the social welfare intervention programmes in Ekiti since February 2004, Bamidele assured that he would provide a credible and transparent leadership.

He said: “I have chosen to put these ideas in the public domain with this ‘Blueprint on Ekiti Growth and Development Agenda’. It is a manifesto of change and charter of prosperity through which Ekiti will be catapulted to the next level”.

Bamidele added: “My vision is driven by the conviction that government primarily has responsibilities to perform and must be held to account on improved conditions that meet basic standards of living; employment generation and livelihoods sustainability, rural transformation and infrastructural development, access to quality and affordable education and security of lives and property.

“I strongly envision a responsible, responsive, constructive, inclusive, all-engaging and resourceful leadership to steer the ship of the State. With the support of the good people of Ekiti

State, we will passionately commit ourselves to deploying governance to make life better for our people. I am committed to translating the limitless potentials in Ekiti State into socio-economic advancement and sustainability.”

The LP flag bearer said that, within the his first year in office, he will embark on programmes aimed at revatalising education, agriculture, vocational training and entrepreneur development and health care services.

Bamidele described poverty as a challenge, assuring that his government will reduce it through its intervention programmes. He said politicians cannot afford to treat it kid gloves.

He added: “We must, most aggressively, pursue an ambitious programme to wage war against poverty, if the future must be secured in the interest of all and sundry, both rich and poor, in the society. We reckon that corruption, to a large extent, fuels poverty. Our focus therefore, is to be unequivocally committed to openness, transparency and accountability in governance. We would ensure fiscal discipline and due process in carrying out government policies. That way, we would be assured the commitment of the people to work handin-hand with government to create the much needed environment for wealth

He claims to have changed when we know his sponsors, we can also see that the primaries did not indicate that.

Let me tell you that the man who coined the adage ‘a fool at 40 is a fool forever’, must have had a basic knowledge of psychology that you do not change much after you are 40.

So, after a man of over forty says he has changed, it is a talk to hoodwink those who are vulnerable.

Did the Presidency attempt to prevail on you not to leave the PDP? I do not think the President needs to call me because there are people working with the President and they can always deliver the President’s message. You see, it is not about the party now. I am sorry to say this. Some of my closest friends are in the PDP. This is about the future of Ekiti and what will happen to Ekiti State.

This is the only state I have. If Nigeria were such that we operate a constitution that can make you an Ekiti person, today, a Borno person tomorrow or your children can be Anambra, I will not be as worried, but here you are stuck. So, why would you now allow the values that made us Ekiti, the values that made us so proud as to ask for a state a state of people, who had been known to have a history for industry, education, for integrity to now have on our laps somebody, whose educational qualifications cannot even be guaranteed. I take an exception for that and I want to be counted on the side of those who said no to such a creation through socio-economic opportunities at household, community and societal levels.”

Bamidele proposed an-all inclusive government, stressing that governance is a collective enterprise involving the elder statesmen who agitated for the creation of the state, the political class, the academia, the civil society, organised and informal private sector, traditional institutions, the media, and faith-based organizations.

He said that his administration will give a sense of belonging to the stakeholders, including civil servants, so that they can meaningfully contribute to the decision making process.

He also said that, apart from the emphasis on democratisation and stability, his government will develop the Ekiti economy and guarantee prosperity.

Bamidele stressed: “In collaboration with the relevant federal agencies, organised private sector (OPS), multilateral agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), our government will address the varying needs of different categories of people, including the women, aged, widow, youths, students, special people, unemployed citizens, etc.

“The physically challenged will equally have access to free education and other forms of sponsorships to facilitate access to equal opportunities, and the infrastructural development initiatives in the state will be

‘We must, most aggressively, pursue an ambitious programme to wage war against poverty, if the future must be secured in the interest of all and sundry, both rich and poor, in the society’

system, no matter what it costs.

Some might say you left the PDP for ambition or economic gains, how do you see this?

Is there any office that I want to seek from the PDP that I would not be able to attain? If I wanted to stay in the PDP and do a bargain, do you think I would not be able to do it? If I wanted anything, including positions, contracts and everything, I would have gotten it.

I am doing this for my conscience and that is it. Nigerians do not even believe that Nigerians can work for free for their conscience. We have so monetised it and made everything look as if it is either cash or position. That is not what all of us are. I have been out of office for nearly four years now and I want to tell you that I have not taken any largesses from any source.

What is your opinion on the growing tension, ahead of the election?

I am worried because this is part of the problem. I hope that the players on every side would be careful because, if they destroy Ekiti State, what are they going to gain from it? If you destroy the younger ones, what are you going to gain from it?

Decent people should succeed here and that is why we want decent people to be brought. They should not expect that it is only indecency that can triumph here.

We are urging others to let us all work together and deliver what we believe will be in the interest of Ekiti State and that is Dr Kayode Fayemi.

Out of all of them, my preference goes to Dr Fayemi and next to that, my sympathy will go to Opeyemi Bamidele.

But, I will not spare anything for the kind of monsters that are preparing themselves in the PDP to take over Ekiti State and probably, the Southwest. For whatever reason, we must fight them ruthlessly.

What role will you be playing in ensuring that the elections is free, fair and credible?

The first role I am playing now is to work with others, to support the candidate of our choice, that is, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and the APC; to sell him as much as possible to various groups and sectors to be able to see the Ekiti vision that we should all be looking at, an Ekiti that should not become a pariah in Nigeria, an Ekiti, whose name and image does not become an albatross for our children to carry. handicap-friendly and inclusive, ensuring that public buildings and walkways cater for the sensitive needs like the building of ramps and provision of Braille signs, where possible; thus setting the pace for other States in the federation.

“Mass empowerment initiatives will be deployed into harnessing the potentials of our youths and to encourage the development of specialized skills in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and other technical vocations such as welding, barbing, electrical/electronic installation and repairs, hairdressing, and fashion design.”

On participatory governance, the federal legislator said: “Our government would embark on community roundtables that will draw participation from representatives of community”.

Bamidele promised to set up a skill acquisition institute to coordinate learning and skill transfer in business.

He said the institute will be equipped with standard training facilities and designated sites for farmland and mining activities. He added: “The institute will facilitate training in mining, piggery, horticulture and other forms of agricultural practice, handiworks, craft-works, creative designs, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as other technical vocations.

“The institute will develop and review, from time to time, curriculum for socio-economic empowerment and development to sustain skill transfer. The institute will designate and coordinate business incubation clusters with appropriate and sufficient facilities within Ekiti State”.

49

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

SOCIETY

COMMUNICATE YOUR IDEAS Mental Preparation

M

•Pa Ogienagbon flanked by elders of the community

Meet the clan head Eighty-one-year old Pa Sadiku Ogienagbon has been installed as the head of Afokpoma Quarters in Imiokhono-Jagbe in Edo State.

OSAGIE OTABOR was there.

I

T is an age-long tradition which the community has clung to despite the coming of civilisation.

The oldest living man in the community is installed the head. As the head, the people consult him on the settlement of all kinds of dispute.

Welcome to Jagbe community in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.

The people of Afokpoma in the Imiokhono part of the community celebrates their oldest living man. Last May 16, they did that for Pa Sadiku Ogienagbon (81), who is now the community’s oldest man.

He was installed as the Odionwele (village head).

The home of Pa Ogienagbon was filled with friends and family members.

The people of the community came in large number to

pray for his protection and long life.

There was assorted food and drinks for guests.

Before the installation, family members gathered indoors to pray for the new Odionwele.

Kolanuts were served as tradition demands.

Pa Ogienagbon urged his people to pray for his success.

He promised to do his best for the community.

According to him, being the oldest man in the community comes with the responsibility of praying for the welfare of the people.

The octogenarian said: “As the Odionwele, I have to take charge of everybody in the quarters. I will pray for them.

It is my responsibility to start praying for progress, unity and love in the quarters so

•Mr Shuaibu Usman

•Mr Anefi Ogienagbon

that good things will come to everybody. Some of these things are good education, rural development and progress for our people. The people will have to come and pray for you for long life and prosperity and I in turn will pray for them.”

A member of the community, Alhaji Abdul Adams, said the installation of Pa

Ogienagbon meant a lot to the community.

He said: “To live and become the oldest man is not what one can easily buy in the market. He will receive our blessings and we will receive blessings from him. When you live a free life without taking what belongs to others, God will give you long life,” Adams said.

INSTALLATION

•Dancing time! Iyaloja General of Nigeria Mrs Folasade Tinubu-Ojo (second left); Lagos Mainland Local Government Area Chairman Oladele Adekanye, his wife Anike (right) and Iyaloja General of Mainland Alhaja Basirat Balogun during the official installation of Alhaja Balogun as Iyaloja General of Mainland in Lagos... yesterday.

R. Thomas sat at a comfortable but less conspicuous spot at the conference table.

He had arrived 15 minutes before the meeting to carefully select it. Hopefully, the seat would give him better advantage than he had enjoyed in the past. The meeting was to be a crucial one, which would determine the AMODU LANRE OLAOLU company’s strategic direc(Ph.D) sospeak2lanre@yahoo.com. tion for the year. Thomas had 07034737394 brilliant ideas, as usual; but @lanreamodu also as usual, no one would get to hear them. He specially selected the position at the table, not because he desired to be close enough to contribute, but to be far enough to be invisible.

The meeting started on a comfortable note and everything went on as Thomas planned. Twice when the group brainstormed for several minutes on specific subjects and couldn’t arrive at the best approach to adopt, Thomas thought he had an idea, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. On the first subject, the group eventually arrived at an acceptable approach, which happened to be strikingly similar to what Thomas had in mind. So, what did Thomas do? He thought to himself, “see, I knew they don’t need me; they would always figure it out.”

For the second subject, however, they could not agree on the best thing to do. Thomas waited and waited but they could not come up with any brilliant idea. Finally, the MD decided they should move on to other subjects and return to the problematic one later. They had already moved on to something else when Thomas finally decided to try to say something. In order to find a comfortable way of interrupting the new line of discussion, he coughed. The cough made everyone look in his direction. As he looked into all their eyes, he felt like disappearing into his seat. His brain suddenly seemed to be shrinking, his palms sweaty and his vision blurry. Thomas opened his mouth, the idea played out in his head, but he didn’t realize that no voice came out of his mouth until the MD said, “yes, Mr Thomas?

You have something to say?” After a few failed attempts, he finally managed to say, “No sir, I need to go to the restroom.”

Poor dear Mr. Thomas! There are several people like him you know? Some people just have phobia for speaking in public no matter where. Some people cannot even express their views among their friends not to mention total strangers. If you happen to fall into that category or you know someone in that category, our current series is for you. On the other hand, some people consider themselves as good speakers, only that they don’t like emergency speaking.

“Why should anybody call me to speak without prior notice?” They would say. They can’t handle that. Some other people will even throw caution to the wind and say, “they should know better. For them to have called on me suddenly, they must be willing to put up with my rambling.”

I believe there is no excuse for failure. You ought to do your best at all times. Think of it, if you are called unexpectedly to make a comment at a gathering, and you put up a poor performance, no one would care whether or not you were informed ahead of time. So, why don’t you just accept that you must always be prepared? Instead of spending most of your time praying that you should not be called, be proactive and prepare ahead. Try these two suggestions: • Place value on your own ideas: If you are ever called to give an impromptu speech, it is because people believe you have something to say. Some people who fear impromptu speaking have inferiority complex! They believe there is nothing they can say that is worth listening to. We would be making a big mistake if we thought Mr. Thomas’ problem was all about speaking. No! His problem started with his mind. He conditioned himself to believe that the more invisible he was the better. However, he was wrong wasn’t he? He was so intelligent that he figured out, and in a short while, what took the rest of the team several minutes to unravel. Before he can become a visible contributor instead of an invisible incubator, he has to work on his self perception. I’m not teaching you pride, heavens no! However, you need to know that your brilliant ideas are of no use if not shared. The first step to giving successful impromptu speeches is to believe you have something valuable to say.

• Prepare mentally: any time you are in a gathering in which you are likely to be asked to speak, mentally prepare ahead. Condition your mind so that it doesn’t come as a surprise. Opportunities may arise in classroom lectures, group discussions, religious programmes, public discussions, management meetings, you name it. No matter the occasion, decide to make contributions that will improve the quality of the subject. This doesn’t mean that you must speak always; just be ready in case you are called, or speak up if you have brilliant ideas.

Dr. Amodu teaches at the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University, Ogun State.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

50

SOCIETY

‘My dream love’ May 24, 2014 would remain evergreen in the life of High Chief Osho Oladesu, who gave his daughter, Oluwaseun in marriage to Omotayo Tajudeen at the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), OkeAlabukunfun in Akure, Ondo State.

LEKE AKEREDOLU was there.

•Oba Aladejare with the couple Oluwaseun and Omotayo

T

T was a carnival-like event when the families of High Chief Osho Oladesu and Tajudeen celebrated the union of their children Oluwaseun and Omotayo.

At 10a.m, the auditorium of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke-Alabukunfun, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, was filled to capacity.

Well wishers came in their scores to witness the solemnisation of the marriage in colourful Ankara fabric chosen for the occasion.

The parents of the couple appeared in an orange Aso Ofi and a cream dry lace.

People were in a joyful mood as cars of various brands competed for space on the church premises.

The beautifully-dressed choristers gave their best in songs renditions while the exciting band electrified the environment.

Delivering his sermon, the Assembly’s Pastor G.A Ojo emphasised the importance of love, Jesus and effective communication in marriage.

He noted that without the three keys in a marriage, it would be at risk.

Pastor Ojo, who quoted copiously from the Bible, urged the bride to humble herself in the presence of her husband.

The cleric urged the groom to see his wife as part of his body and do

•Groom's mum Mrs Folake Sulaiman

•Mr Babatunde Sulaiman

•Prince Peter Agbaje and wife from Canada

•Mrs Alake Ologbenula

•Nigeria Customs Service Assistant Controller Mr Ishola Oladesu

nothing to hurt her.

The event did not end at the church. Guests later moved to the expansive Governor’s Event Centre Hall, Akure for the reception.

They were treated to sumptuous meals, assorted wines and drinks.

Waiters with tags “Ask and you shall be given” were strategically positioned in the hall to attend to

Oluwaseun described the day as great.

“I am now a new person because I am now ready to spend the rest of my life with the chosen man from God,” she said.

She described her husband as an excellent and God-fearing man, whom she had decided to spend the rest of her life with.

Tajudeen described Oluwaseun as everything to him, adding that he is happy because his dream was to have her as a wife.

Dignitaries at the event included the Alaaye of Efonland, Oba Adesanya Aladejare; former Ondo State Head of Service Alaba Isijola and Prof Dipo Kolawole, among others.

•Bride's mum Mrs Toyin Oladesu

•Bride's dad Mr Osho Oladesu

the needs of the invited guests.

The bride, Oluwaseun, wore a new look at the reception. She changed from her white wedding dress to a cream dry lace gown.

Despite the presence of the popular Apala singer, Musiliu Ishola, on the band stand, the couple was ushered into the hall with a mixture of songs by Naija hip-hop artistes.

CONFERENCE

•From right: Amirah, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN) Lagos State chapter Dr Sariyu Ashiru; Internal Auditor Alhaja Qudrat Dada and Public Relations Officer Alhaja Rashidat Oyesoro during a conference to herald FOMWAN Week in Lagos

AWARD

•Coordinator, Lagos State Carnival, Kilo chapter, Mr Tunji Amusan presenting Award of excellence to Hon Hakeem Bamgbola (middle). With them are Pastor Gbenga Oyebode and Hon Yomi Lawrence (second right)

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

51

52

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

53

MONEYLINK

T

NDIC pays N588.6m to depositors of shut MfBs

HE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has started the payment of of N588.6 million to 33 out of the 83 operators of closed microfinance banks (MfBs).

A statement endorsed by its Head, Corporate Communication, H. S. Birch said the deposit pay-out will ensure that each depositor re-

Stories by Collins Nweze

ceives a maximum of N200, 000.

He said the verification and payment of insured deposits of 33 MFBs whose licences were recently revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has commenced.

He said as part of the verification and payment exer-

to obtain introduction letters with their photographs; the letters must be duly signed by traditional rulers of their localities or local government chairmen.

He said the depositors are also requested to take along details of alternative bank accounts operated in any of the existing banks into which their insured claims could be

cise, affected depositors are to report to the last known addresses of their MfBs with evidence of account ownership including pass books, cheque books and personal identification documents such as national identity cards, drivers licences and voters cards.

Depositors without valid identification documents are

paid while those without bank accounts have been asked to provide details of accounts of close relatives to which their payment could be made.

NDIC said it has commenced verification and pay- •NDIC CEO Umaru Ibrahim ment of N125 million as first liquidation dividend of 50 Bank at its Abuja and Lagos kobo each to shareholders of Offices and eight zonal offices the defunct Rims Merchant nationwide.

NSIA, GuarantCo partner to bridge infrastructure gap

T

HE Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and GuarantCo, a development finance fund are partnering to explore the potential creation of a Nigerian Credit Enhancement Facility (NCEF).

The project is expected to attract a pool of capital for which safety is paramount such as pension funds, insurance firms and Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF).

It said a key barrier preventing these forms of capital from investing in infrastructure projects is the absence of an appropriate credit enhancement mechanism that helps bring infrastructure projects up to a credit quality that represents appropriate invest-

ments for their stakeholders.

“To address this gap, GuarantCo is partnering with the NSIA to explore the potential for establishing a Nigerian Credit Enhancement Facility that would provide credit enhancement for critical infrastructure projects by improving their credit ratings to investment grade. Such a vehicle could also potentially attract international capital.

NSIA and GuarantCo see this partnership as a potential catalyst for unlocking long-term patient capital, typically required by infrastructure projects to be commercially successful. It is expected to have positive effects on the Nigerian economy given

the strong correlation between critical infrastructure and accelerated economic growth,” NSIA statement read in part.

NSIAManaging Director and CEO, Mr. Uche Orji, said enhaning the infrastructure of the country is one of its statutory duties. He said: “One of the statutory mandates of the NSIA is the enhancement of Nigeria’s infrastructure and in fulfilling this mandate we are desirous of establishing the necessary institutional frameworks and sustainable enablers that will attract long term capital necessary for this purpose. We are excited about the potential role this partnership can play in revolutionising the

Euro rebounds as ECB launches inflation fight

extant model of infrastructure development in Nigeria; now and into the future.”

Head, GuarantCo at FMFM (Frontier Markets Fund Managers) Mr. Chris Vermont, said his firm shares the vsion of NSIA. “GuarantCo shares NSIA’s vision for mobilising new sources of finance for infrastructure through creating a Nigerian Credit Enhancement Facility. “We are proud to be partnering NSIA as they map out a prudent but ambitious pathway for Nigeria. We hope our experience of best practice across many markets can be combined with NSIA’s local expertise in the service of the country,” he said.

T

HE euro rebounded from four-month lows yesterday, brushing aside the European Central Bank’s decision to cut interest rates and announce an array of measures to loosen monetary policy in order to halt a disinflation trend.

The ECB cut all its main rates to record lows in a drive to fight off the risk of a Japan-like deflation and bring down the euro’s exchange rate. For the first time, it will charge banks 0.10 per cent for parking funds at the central bank overnight.

The euro had been trading in a tight range heading into the decision, coming one day before the U.S. jobs report that is expected to show slowing employment growth but unlikely to affect a change in loose U.S. monetary policy.

President Mario Draghi stopped short of large-scale asset purchases known as quantitative easing, which is meant to keep interest rates low and spur borrowing. Draghi said more action would come if necessary.

FCMB urges youth to embrace financial literacy

F

IRST City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited has donated 30 new computer systems to Community Secondary School (CSS), Aka-Offot in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State to promote financial literacy.

The donation was done to fulfil the pledge the bank made during the financial literacy lecture series organised in three months ago, in

commemoration of the 2014 Global Money Week and Financial Literacy Day, and also as part of activities celebrating Children’s Day held on May 27.

The school was adopted by FCMB for a full year as part of the financial literacy programme and initiative.

The programme, an initiative of the Bankers’ Committee in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria

ing Director/Chief Executive of FCMB, Mr. Ladi Balogun, said the gesture is aimed at building the capacity of the students to facilitate knowledge and skill, particularly on the use of information technology devices.

This, he said “can effectively motivate them to understand and key into the financial literacy and inclusion agenda’’ of the apex bank.

(CBN), is focused on educating youth about their economic environment, impressing upon them the importance of saving, entrepreneurship and wealth creation. During the year, FCMB will mentor the students, teach them about the banking, finances and how they can save and grow their money.

Speaking during the presentation of the computers, the Group Manag-

DATA BANK

FGN BONDS Tenor

Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year

35m 35m

11.039 12.23

19-05-2014 18-05-2016

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM Amount Amount Offered ($) Demanded ($) 400m 400m 400m 400m 400m 400m

MANAGED FUNDS Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33

NIDF

OBB Rate

Price Loss 2754.67

INTERBANK RATES 7.9-10%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Tenor 91-Day 182-Day

Amount 30m 46.7m

Rate % 10.96 9.62

Date 28-04-2012 “

GAINERS AS AT 05-06-14

SYMBOL REDSTAREX CONOIL AVONCROWN ABCTRANS EVANSMED UPL DNMEYER OKOMUOIL VITAFOAM FCMB

O/PRICE 4.41 48.41 1.61 0.81 2.44 4.08 1.06 33.00 4.30 4.01

C/PRICE 4.63 50.82 1.69 0.85 2.56 4.28 1.11 34.50 4.48 4.17

EXHANGE RATE 6-03-12 Currency

Year Start Offer

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

NGN USD NGN GBP

147.6000 239.4810

149.7100 244.0123

150.7100 245.6422

-2.11 -2.57

NGN EUR 212.4997 NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N) 149.7450 (S/N) Bureau de Change 152.0000 (S/N)

207.9023

209.2910

-1.51

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

CHANGE 0.22 2.41 0.08 0.04 0.12 0.20 0.05 1.50 0.18 0.16

DISCOUNT WINDOWx Feb. ’11

July ’11

July ’12

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

12%

Standing Lending Rate ,, Deposit Rate ,, Liquidity Ratio Cash Return Rate

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 2.00%

SYMBOL

O/PRICE 20.34 4.75 1.58 1.77 0.52 0.53 3.20 17.50 2.49 9.75

C/PRICE 19.00 4.52 1.51 1.70 0.50 0.51 3.08 16.85 2.40 9.40

CHANGE -1.34 -0.23 -0.07 -0.07 -0.02 -0.02 -0.12 -0.65 -0.09 -0.35

Exchange Rate (N) 155.75 155.8 155.7

Date 2-5-14 2-3-14 1-29-14

CAPITAL MARKET INDEX

NSE

6-2-14

28-10-11

% Change

CAP Index

N13.07tr 40,766.16

N6.617tr 20,903.16

-1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH BGL NUBIAN FUND BGL SAPPHIRE FUND CANARY GROWTH FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CORAL INCOME FUND FBN FIXED INCOME FUND FBN HERITAGET FUND FBN MONEY MARKET FUND FIDELITY NIGFUND INTERCONTINENTAL INTEGRITY FUND KAKAWA GUARANTEED INCOME FUND

Offer Price Bid Price 157.99 157.07 9.17 9.08 1.09 1.08 1.18 1.18 0.73 0.71 1.39 1.33 1,653.49 1,656.44 1,084.91 1,084.42 117.11 116.59 1,087.30 1,087.00 1.67 1.62 1.05 1.03

LEGACY FUND NIGERIA INTER DEBIT FUND PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND STANBIC IBTC ETHICAL FUND • UBA BALANCED FUND • UBA BOND FUND • UBA EQUITY FUND • UBA MONEY MARKET FUND

LOSERS AS AT 05-06-14

OANDO PORTPAINT VONO MAYBAKER CORNERST PRESTIGE AFRIPRUD ETI UBCAP DANGSUGAR

Amount Sold ($) 399.9m 399.9m 399.9m

143.11

142.62

0.78 1,944.64 13.62 1.07

0.76 1,936.31 13.28 1.05

1.3331 1.3540 1.0102 1.1764

1.3222 1.3540 0.9924 1.1764

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days

Rate (Previous) 4 Mar, 2012 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917

Rate (Currency) 6, Mar, 2012 10.17% 11.46% 11.96%

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK

Bank

Previous 04 July, 2012

Current 07, Aug, 2012

8.5000

8.5000

Movement

54

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 05-06-14

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 05-06-14

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

55

EQUITIES

Caverton to build Africa’s first aviation training centre

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EWLY listed Caverton Offshore Support Group (COSG) Plc has received all regulatory approvals to build Africa’s first aviation training centre in Nigeria as it seeks further opportunities to diversify its income base and ensure better returns to shareholders.

Chairman, Caverton Offshore Support Group (COSG) Plc, Mr. Aderemi Makanjuola, told shareholders yesterday at the annual general meeting of the company in Lagos that construction of the aviation training centre would begin in the next few weeks.

According to him, the company has also obtained relevant regulatory approvals to commence its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre alongside the aviation training centre on a 40,000 sq meters facility at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), both of which will house original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

He outlined that the centres were part of the group’s medium-term strategy aimed at diversifying its revenue stream and insulate Caverton from the vagaries of contract awards.

He noted that the venture partner-

•Pays N418m dividends to shareholders Stories by Taofik Salako Capital Market Editor

ship of Caverton Marine and RK Offshore Management PTE Limited owners, suppliers and operators of marine equipment based in Singapore, is now well positioned to convert opportunities for full participation in the provision of logistics to both national and international oil companies within Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Our plans in 2014 include the vigorous promotion of its AIM 4 ZERO campaign in all our operations. We also started in May 2014, our corporate rebranding exercise with the unification of all operating companies’ logos into a single logo that all companies under the Caverton brand are now using. The campaign will entail paying more attention to all our communication media and effective use of both online and offline media for positive reinforcement of our messages,” Makanjuola said.

He pointed out that the recent listing of Caverton has created a winwin opportunity for previous own-

ers of the company and new shareholders to trade on the company’s shares adding that the company has entered a new growth phase that would yield huge benefits to all stakeholders.

He noted that Caverton had consolidated its operations in 2013 as it had full operations of all six of Shell’s AW139 helicopters and commenced operations of the DHC6-400 for Shell and also started the TUPNI operations from Lagos using the AW139.

According to him, the group’s aircraft availability remains high at an average of 95 per cent on all contracts.

“In Douala, we replaced in April 2013 the leased aircraft with our twin otter and stabilized the operations through a number of initiatives. We also focused attention on quality and safety standards. Our efforts were indeed rewarded with the subsequent issuance of an unrestricted AOC for Caverton’s operations,” Makanjuola said about the group’s international operations.

He reiterated the commitments of the group to development of indig-

enous capacity in the oil and gas servicing industry noting that the group had in 2013 sponsored 18 trainee pilots in various trainings on both rotor and fixed wing aircraft while it also sponsored six trainee engineers to NCAT who will be graduating in 2014.

“We hope to do more in 2014. Just like we had done in flight operations, we want to raise the technical knowledge and efficiency of our engineering and non-technical staff. Our focus will thus be on engineering and nontechnical training as well as training for non-technical staff-ground operations, back office and resources management among others. All this is in full compliance to the National Content Development (NCD) Act signed into law in 2010, which was designed primarily to encourage the core development of technical expertise amongst Nigerian Nationals. We remain strategically positioned in the Nigerian oil and gas support industry to encourage the realization of the

IOSCO reviews reliance on credit rating agencies

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Online forum to promote Nigeria’s investment potential

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NEW window of opportunity for aspiring investors in Nigeria will soon be opened with the impending launch of “Nigeria States”- a web-based forum that highlights the nation’s potential.

The website was created by Goldstock Chambers, which invited the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) to collaborate in its launch. The NIPC, NEPC and NEXIM are the foremost agencies for attracting, promoting and aiding investors to transact business in Nigeria. The forum will be officially unveiled at the Nigerian Diaspora Direct Investment Summit next week in London.

Head, Goldstock Chambers, Barrister Lloyd Aneke, said the online forum contains information on the investment opportunities within every state of the federation.

According to him, the information will act as a magnet to attract investors to Nigeria.

“The essential aim is to attract a greater inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) to our country,” Aneke said.

He noted that the site is targeting groups such as Nigerians in the Diaspora, Nigerians at home, as well as foreign investors.

“It will have the effect through increased FDI in aiding our new Nigeria reach the millennium development goals (MDGs) and Vision 20:20/20, thereby reducing poverty,” Aneke stated.

He listed the areas identified by investors for investment within the states to include agriculture, infrastructure, health, real estate, solid minerals and tourism adding that

such method of showcasing a country’s profile has been adopted in recent years by a host of different countries to boost their economies.

“The information on the international web site took our chambers several years to complete and we act as legal consultants and advisers to the investors. We are able to actively link investors to the areas of investment within states. We are also able to seek investors in particular fields on behalf of states,” Aneke said.

He pointed out that the current global economic situation offers Nigeria the opportunity to showcase its investment opportunity to the world noting that it will have the effect of offering Nigerians in the Diaspora a clear alternative location for relocation.

According to him, Nigerians in the

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Diaspora require information and a helping hand to return to Nigeria to invest.

“It will bring about increased visibility in the world. Investors will have a direct link to the appropriate state agency able to aid them in transacting business in the state. We can attract investors for states in specific areas of investment potential within the state. The state will be able to tailor its requirements on the site. The site will enable ease of comparison for the investor between all the states in the federation, thereby raising the profile and presence of each state. We will hold investment road shows in Europe and USA to attract investors to the states. We will take the investment web site to industrial events taking place in Europe and the USA to ensure that the states profile reach a broad audience,” Aneke said.

Act,” Makanjuola said.

He added that the group has strengthened its corporate governance, board and management to ensure that it complies with code of corporate governance and relevant listing requirements.

Shareholders approved the payment of gross dividend of N418 million, representing a dividend per share of 12.5 kobo. Audited report and accounts of Caverton for the year ended December 31, 2013 showed that turnover rose from N16.13 billion in 2012 to N18.66 billion. Total operating profit grew to N4.42 billion in 2013 as against N3.56 billion in 2012. Profit before tax rose from N2.16 billion to N3.16 billion while profit after tax rose from N1.36 billion to N1.88 billion.

Makanjuola noted that the increase in both turnover and net profit was due to the stability in the group operations and incremental business from both existing and new contracts signed during the year.

HE International Organization of Securities Commissions is reviewing the extent to which asset managers, investors and other parties should rely on credit rating agencies (CRAs) in their asset management.

The global body of securities regulators has published a consultation report on Good Practices on Reducing Reliance on Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) in asset management with the aim of gathering the views and practices of investment managers, institutional investors and other interested parties on the subject.

It will subsequently develop a set of good practices on reducing over reliance on external credit rating in the asset management space.

IOSCO noted that CRAs play a prominent role in today’s global financial markets pointing out that while approaches may differ across jurisdictions, investment managers often use the services of CRAs to form an opinion on the creditworthiness of a particular issuer before purchasing securities, selecting counterparties, or choosing the best collateral to secure transactions.

It added that investors often refer to CRA ratings before buying shares of a fund, or when guiding investment managers on the basis of a tailored investment mandate.

IOSCO pointed out that the role of CRAs has come under regulatory scrutiny, mainly as a result of the overreliance of market participants, including investment managers and institutional investors, on CRA ratings in their assessments of both financial instruments and issuers in the run-up to the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

According to IOSCO, the good prac-

tices that result the consultation paper will be addressed to national regulators, investment managers, and investors, where applicable while IOSCO has also launched a separate project to identify the good practices of intermediaries with regard to the use of alternatives to credit ratings to assess creditworthiness.

The report stresses the importance for asset managers to have the appropriate expertise and processes in place to assess and manage the credit risk associated with their investment decisions. Recognizing the utility of external ratings, the report mentions that they can be used as an input among others to complement a manager’s internal credit analysis and provide an independent opinion as to the quality of the portfolio constituents. However, in order to avoid the over-reliance on external ratings, the report lists some possible good practices that managers may consider when resorting to external ratings.

Some of the good practices undergoing consultation include that investment managers make their own determinations as to the credit quality of a financial instrument before investing and throughout the holding period. While external credit ratings may form one element, among others, of the internal assessment process but it should not constitute the sole factor supporting the credit analysis.

Also, there should be an internal assessment process that is commensurate with the type and proportion of debt instruments the investment manager may invest in, and a brief summary description of which is made available to investors, as appropriate.

Nomanini partners Aurora on informal markets

OMANINI has announced its expansion into West Africa, having secured a partnership with Nigerian enterprise Aurora VM. This partnership represents Nomanini’s entry into Nigeria.

Nomanini is a Cape Town-based technology solutions provider that builds tools to facilitate cash payments in informal markets.

Nomanini’s hardware enables traders in the informal economy to sell prepaid mobile services, prepaid utility services and can be used as a cash collection point for microloans, microinsurance and mobile money. Vendors provide these services to their communities by utilising Nomanini’s portable point of sale terminals which are easy to use, fully mobile, and which

have been specifically designed for use in informal markets.

Nomanini’s technology enables local clients like Aurora to customise its technology for their regions.

Chief executive officer, Nomanini, Vahid Mondajem said the firm’s core business of facilitating cash transactions in informal markets is well-aligned with Aurora’s goal of alleviating poverty in Nigeria.

Aurora will use Nomanini’s technology to enable self-employment opportunities to empower women and unemployed youth to alleviate poverty in Nigeria.

“Nigeria represents a key market in Africa. It is the continent’s biggest, and by some estimations, most dynamic market. We are delighted

that, together with Aurora VM, our solutions are providing opportunities for women and youth,” Mondajem said.

Aurora VM is a Nigerian womenrun social enterprise that was formed in 2013.

Aurora’s first initiative is to introduce airtime vending solutions for the informal sector in Nigeria.

This initiative specifically targets the economic empowerment of traditionally ostracised females - widows, abandoned wives, the uneducated - in the first phase of the programme.

The most widely traded virtual commodity in Africa is prepaid mobile service. There are over 120 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria, 97% of which are prepaid. At present, prepaid distribution is

achieved via trade in physical scratch cards primarily because they are easy to use and relatively quick to trade. However, their production is costly and they effectively leave informal entrepreneurs with little profit as they are at the end of a very long distribution chain.

“The most commonly used form of prepayment in Nigeria is scratch cards. We were looking for a better form and researched POS terminals used both in Nigeria and abroad as an alternative. Unfortunately, they generally have a steep learning curve and are difficult to operate.

What we wanted was a simple and quick solution that satisfied all our needs and Nomanini offers us this,” chief executive officer, Aurora, Iyabode Uko said.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

56

NEWS

Call Clark to order, Gaidam tells Jonathan

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OBE State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam has condemned the statement credited to Ijaw leader Chief Edwin Clark, calling for the declaration of a full state of emergency in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Abdullahi Bego, the governor described Clark as an ethnic champion.

The statement reads: “Once again, we are constrained to re-state our position with regard to the state of emergency extended by President Goodluck Jonathan in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states a few weeks ago and comment on the lies, vitriol and provocative statements made by an ethnic champion from the Southsouth, Chief Edwin Clark.

“Clark was reported by several news media as repeating his malicious, vindictive and ill-informed call on President Jonathan to declare what he called ‘full emergency rule’ in the three northeast states on the basis of dubious inferences and grounds of null validity.

“More gravely, Clark was reported as describing Governors Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), Kashim Shettima (Borno) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) as “conspirators who are hiding under the guise of opposition to foster

Falana: ignore ignorant comments

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AGOS lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ignore the suggestion by elder statesman Chief Edwin Clark, to replace all democratic structures in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa with military administrators.

He said Clark’s position could not be justified under the constitution, describing it as “an invitation to anarchy and chaos in the circumstance”.

In a statement in Lagos yesterday, the activist said an elected governor could only cease to hold office on account of resignation, death, permanent incapacity or impeachment.

“I wish to reiterate that any other method of removing elected governors outside the ambit of the constitution is treason.

From Duku Joel, Damaturu

their political nests and display their politics of bitterness, hatred, ethnicity and religion to disparage and scuttle Jonathan’s constitutional right to seek a second term as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution.

“First, we condemn in the strongest terms this totally unwarranted attack on the governors. We take the strongest possible exception to Mr. Clark’s vitriolic and totally baseless statements. We ask that he respects his very old age and either speak with decorum and facts or keep quiet.

“Second, we ask President Jonathan, in whose defence

By Adebisi Onanuga

“The President may wish to ask Chief Clark to refer to any country with a written constitution where the doctrine of necessity has ever been invoked to remove elected governors and dissolve democratic structures.

“Having conceded that there is no legal basis for the undemocratic removal of elected governors under the pretext of imposing emergency rule Chief Clark has modified his position.

“Once again, I urge President Jonathan to discountenance Chief Clark’s latest call as the doctrine of necessity cannot be invoked to justify the brazen violation of the constitution and the subversion of the democratic process in the country.”

Clark is apparently speaking, to call him to order and make it clear that he (Jonathan) is the President of the whole country and not a section of it.

“This call has become necessary because, by his carriage and utterances, Clark is pretending that he personally made Jonathan president and not Nigerians.

“We have said for the umpteenth time that Boko Haram is an evil, ignorant, totally un-Islamic and condemnable ideology which must be fought as a threat to humanity and the country.

“It is only Chief Clark who sees this great catastrophe, which requires an all-handson-deck approach to resolve,

from the prism of politics and ethnicity. How unfortunate and unbecoming of a man who sees himself as an elder statesman.

“If the Ijaw leader is making these senseless and baseless statements to deflect attention from the corpus of serious issues which must be addressed by the Jonathan presidency, he has failed and will continue to fail.

“Clark would do well to realise that we will always remain focused on issues of substance, will refuse to be distracted and will oppose and condemn his intemperate, insensate, dubious and selfish remarks about our dire situation in the Northeast.”

Why we want Land Use Act,

by North’s delegates

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ORTH’S delegates to the National Conference yesterday described their insistence on the retention of the Land Use Act as an act of patriotism.

They said land is the only resource that belongs to all Nigerians.

Their spokesman, Anthony Sani said in an email to The Nation that land was the only thing that binds all Nigerians together.

The email reads: “The preference of northern delegates for Land Use Act to be retained in the constitution is predicated on the concept of nationhood.

“For example, land is about the only resource owned by all Nigerians as a common patrimony, albeit no one has worked for it. It is about the only resource that binds all constituent parts of this country together in common patrimony.

A

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HE police in Kano have arrested the perpetrators of last year’s multiple bomb blasts at the New Road Luxury Park in Sabon Gari.

Commissioner of Police Adenrele Shinaba said: “If you recall last year, there were

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

bomb blasts at New Road Park, Sabon Gari, Kano. The Command is getting a breakthrough.

“Some suspects are in custody and some exhibits have been recovered. Investigation is on and

Leave our land, Igede tell Fulani

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From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

HE people of Igede have told the Gen Lawrence Onojaled peace committee that they cannot live with Fulani herdsmen. They said the herdsmen value their cattle more than human lives.

The president, Omini Igede, Dave Odeh, said it would be difficult to accommodate Fulani herdsmen in Igede land, following the violence they “waged” against their host community in Zamfara, Nasarawa and parts of Benue and Taraba states.

Governor Gabriel Suswam set up the peace committee in the wake of clashes between Tiv farmers and the herdsmen. The committee was in Benue South to broker peace between the groups.

Odeh begged the committee to leave Igede land.

He said: “We have no weapon to match their sophisticated attacks and killings, we are farmers and since they value their cattle more than human beings, we are pleading with the committee to ask them to leave our land.”

after that, we will be able to provide you with details. We shall get to the root of the matter and we won’t rest on our oars until we do so.”

The police recovered Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in a joint operation with the Department of State Services (DSS).

Three fabricated air conditioner coolants, cans containing hand grenades, two fabricated fire extinguisher containers built with electronic switch, four pieces of teargas cartridges, two gas cylinders and three fabricated oil containers with electric components built to be detonated by remote controls were safely defused by the police anti-bomb squad.

Shinaba said prompt information by the public led to the discovery of the explosives.

The commissioner said the police foiled the vandalisation of telecommunication facilities in Bebeji. The hoodlums removed 39 batteries which were

From Johnny Danjuma, Lafia

GROUP, Eggon Youth Movement (EYM), has dissociated itself from a report by Mathew Alaku in which he alleged that Eggon youths were deceived by their political leaders to vilify Nasarawa State Governor Umaru Tanko AlMakura.

The youths, in a statement yesterday by its National President and Secretary-General, Daniel Anyuabaga and Maga Emmanuel, said Alaku’s statement that Eggon political leaders were championing ethnic politics was a personal opinion.

They said Eggon people have given their political, moral and electoral support to other ethnic groups in the state and have nothing to show for their hard work and support.

“It is therefore preposterous for anybody, including Alaku, to make statements on behalf of Eggon youths.

“It is not surprising that this Mathew Alaku, who is singing Governor Al-Makura’s praises, is out to tarnish the images of youths and Eggon political leaders as he (Alaku) had gone to declare support for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate.”

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Police arrest Kano bomb blast suspects concealed inside tomato baskets.

Breaking tools and a vehicle were recovered but the suspects fled when they sighted the police.

Shinaba said the command also arrested three suspected car thieves and recovered six vehicles and a tricycle.

He said: “A combined team of Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad and the famous Ali Kwara Vigilance team on patrol on Zaria Road pursued a Toyota Camry with two occupants.

“The occupants abandoned the car and ran into a nearby bush.

On a search, 20 live ammunitions of AK 47, 7.62mm were recovered, but no arrest was made.

“The raid of black spots in Kano will continue; we are not sleeping; and as such, robberies and rapes have reduced. We are doing all we can to secure lives and property by adopting proactive measures for residents to live in peace.”

“It is against such logic that the management of land has been put under the watch of government in trust for common good of the people, which is a good reasoning.

“Therefore, in so far as Land Use Act is concerned, expunging it is self same as throwing away the baby with the bath water. So the Land Use Act should be retained in the constitution”.

On the call for a referendum in drafting a new constitution for the country, he said “When people talk about referendum and about new constitution they at once forget that the constitution we practice does not allow its replacement by a new one.

Before a referendum can hold, the current constitution must first be amended in order to accommodate it.”

‘Leave Eggon youths out’

Jang advises council chiefs

LATEAU State Governor Jonah Jang has urged local government chairmen to ensure that his administration’s transformation agenda is replicated in their councils.

Jang gave the advice at the opening of a three-day retreat for the 17 chairmen and some local governments officials.

The governor said: “The transformation agenda of this administration is not restricted to urban areas, the development plan is meant to cover all the local governments.

“I therefore expect local government chairmen to drive this development plan

•The explosives recovered and two suspected car snatchers. Inset: The vehicle used to convey the stolen batteries.

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

at the grassroots; we cannot afford to leave the rural areas behind in our quest to develop the state.

Jang, who was represented

by Commissioner for Science and Technology Paul Wai, said: “Rural transformation is a priority area for this administration and government will not hesitate to sanction any council chairman who deviates.

This is why government has come up with this development road map to guide all local government chairmen.”

Kogi sacks Accountant-General

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From James Azania, Lokoja

HE Kogi State Government has sacked the AccountantGeneral, Paul Audu. It appointed Ibrahim Idakwo to replace him.

Audu’s sack was contained in a statement by Governor Idris Wada’s Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Jacob Edi. The statement said that Governor Wada thanked the former Accountant-General for his years of service and wished him success in his future endeavours.

Yoruba leader in Kano killed

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HE 86-year-old grand patron of the Yoruba community in Kano and owner of Criss-Cross Hotels, Alhaji Ganiyu Akanbi Bello, was yesterday killed in his home on Race Course road.

Bello, who hailed from Oyo State, had lived in Kano for over 40 years and was a close associate of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero.

Sources said he was stabbed in the chest several times. The

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

police have arrested five people in connection with the incident.

He has since been buried according to Muslim rites.

One of his sons, Nurudeen, described his father’s death as cruel, adding that Allah will expose the assassins.

The president of the Yoruba community in Kano, Dr Suara Adesokan, said the killers would soon be exposed.

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THE NATION FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

NEWS

Coalition holds national discourse

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•From left: Director, Legal Services, Mrs. Caroline Ojukwu; DG/CEO, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC); Mr. Chris Onyemenam; Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Jonah Otunla; Director, Operations, NIMC, Mrs. Cecilia Yahaya and Director, IRC, NIMC, Mrs. Hadiza Dagabana, after the enrolment of the AGF for his National Identification Number (NIN) at the NIMC Headquarters, Abuja.

Al-Makura vows to prosecute Ombatse militia, sponsors N ASARAWA State Governor Umaru Al-Makura yesterday vowed to ensure the prosecution of members of the Ombatse militia and their sponsors over the killing of innocent of people and destruction of property in the state.

Al-Makura, who stated this in Lafia promised not to relent until justice was done.

“We will go to the logical conclusion in bringing the culprits to book.

“We will go through the

right process and make sure whoever is involved, even if you have immunity, we will wait for the period of the immunity to expire and then, we will get back to you.”

According to him, dropping name will not help them because his administration is passionate about bringing to book people who have given the entire citizens

of this state sleepless night.

The governor said that the most challenging thing before him was how to deal with ‘’these criminals.

“How I stand up to Ombatse is my biggest challenge and no matter how they run, no matter how highly placed is their leaders, I most bring them to book”.

“If that is the only thing I will do, I will do it so that I can give

my people some kind of sense of peace, sense of protection and sense of security.

“If these people are thinking they are going to destabilise me or unsettle me by this sporadic criminal activities, attacking innocent people, innocent tribes, will weaken my nerves, that will strengthen my nerve.

“I am here first and foremost as governor to ensure that every citizen of this state is protected; that is my most important responsibility.”

Police, task force clash vindicates us, says Lagos APC

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State has said the clash between the Police and members of the Federal Task Force in Ojota, Lagos, has vindicated its earlier stance that the “so-called task force is a group of hoodlums assembled by inordinate individuals to disrupt the peace and progress of Lagos”.

The party said the existence of the task force will impede the peace and progress of Lagos and called for its immediate disbandment.

In a statement by its Publicity

Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, APC said the formation of the task force was “purely political as it has no legal or statutory backing”.

It urged Lagosians to be vigilant and report the activities of the task force to security agencies, adding that Lagos is prepared to deal with “this political nuisance”.

APC said: “We recall that we earlier called attention to the existence of this so called task force in a Federal Roads Management Agency (FERMA) facility in Ojota, Lagos, some weeks ago. We pointed out the inordinate mis-

sion of the task force, which is the recruitment of hoodlums to leverage mayhem in Lagos in the guise of securing federal roads in Lagos.

“We have alleged that this was the resurrection of the FERMA thugs the erstwhile Minister of Works, Adeseye Ogunlewe, recruited when he presided over the complete ruination of Nigerian roads while being fixated with disrupting the relative peace and progress Lagos was then making.

“We recall that FERMA was to deny being behind this task force some days after our allega-

tion but no one has come to claim being behind this task force. This group has attached SURE-P/ FERMA task force to its name even as there is no proof of legal backing behind it and even after it had been proved it exists only in Lagos.

“We recall that last week, Lagos Police Commissioner declared the task force illegal. We note the spirited effort by those alleged to have packaged that illegal task force to disown the group, even when no effort had been made to stop its illegal operations.”

Surveyor-General counsels politicians on honesty, service

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HE Surveyor General of Lagos State, Joseph Olorunjuwon Agbenla, has advised political office holders to imbibe the virtue of honesty and be truthful in carrying out their duties.

Agbenla, who is also a cleric, advised that civil servants should be mindful of their responsibilities having the nation’s interest at heart.

He made this call at the third anniversary of the Lamb Summit and opening of the Lamb Christian Library in Lagos.

The cleric described leaders as problem solvers who believe in good governance.

“If we have good leaders, we will not have high rate of unemployment, bad roads, insecurity, attacks and lack of power supply, which has daunted the society in recent times.

He, however, noted that the programme, which is focused on national development with special focus on leadership, is germane at this time of Nigeria’s democratic dispensation. “Ït is important

DAWN Commission takes Southwest integration through culture

I

to educate the people to elect leaders that will not only lead us to the’ promised land’ but with the fear of God in their heart.

As leaders, when people see fear of God in us, just like David did, we would be doing

Ultimatum for vehicle owners

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HE Lagos State Police Command has warned owners of accident and abandoned vehicles parked at Ilasan Divisional Police headquarters, Lekki Ajah to come and remove them or lose them to members of the public through auction, two weeks after this publication. The vehicles are Mercedes Benz ML320BQ23AKD, Range Rover jeep GJ266LSR, Toyota Camry MN54AAA, Water XV449AKD, Nissan Pathfinder Jeep MS57KJA, One Accord DF106LND, One Toyota Corolla DN661EKY, one Golf DK494ABC.

Fidau for Alhaja Busari

By Uyoatta Eshiet

N furtherance of the efforts of the South Western States to pursue a common regional integration and development, the commission tasked with integrating Southwest states, the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, yesterday met in Lagos with commissioners for Culture, Tourism and Home Affairs in the six states –Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo. Lagos Commissioner for Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs Oladisun Holloway said the meeting, which was the third in the series, was to brainstorm and harmonise the states’ individual calendars to promote culture and tourism in the region.

He said any Southwest state having an event is mandated to invite others to participate.

DAWN Commission Director-General Dipo Famakinwa said DAWN will help the Southwest to achieve regional integration.

He said one of the strategies to achieve integration in the region was to exploit culture and tourism.

the right thing at the right time. People will know that we do not engage in affairs that are detrimental to the nation’s interest, which should be utmost in our hearts rather than personal interest,” he said.

•The late Alhaja Busari

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HE death has occurred of Alhaja Sifau Alari Monisola Busari, wife of the late Ekerin Olubadan, Alhaji Alarape Busari. She was 76.

Alhaja Busari, a community

leader and a businesswoman in the Ibadan metropolis, who was born on December 22, 1938, died on May 31 after a brief illness.

She survived by children, grandchildren and relations.

Alhaja Busari was buried on Sunday in Ibadan in accordance with Islamic rites.

A spokesperson for the family, Mrs. Bose Ajayi, said the eight day Fidau would hold on Sunday at 10 am at the Ibadan Civic Centre (Kola Daisi Foundation), Agodi, Ibadan, to be followed by reception at the same venue.

HE Coalition for a Better Nigeria will on June 11 hold the fourth edition of its two-day national discourse on the theme: electoral offences and administration of justice in Nigeria.

It will hold at the Adetiloye Hall, Fountain Hotel, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State by 11am and will be chaired by former Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) Speakers include Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and activist-lawyer Mr Festus Keyamo.

Other topics to be discussed are: Curbing electoral rigging, violence and political assassination: The role of Nigerian Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Inspector-General of Police Muhammed Abubakar and INEC chairman Prof Attahiru Jega are expected to speak.

Prof Ben Nwabueze (SAN) will be the father of the day, Ekiti governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, is the chief host.

The coalition is an alliance of the Pro-Democracy Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Community-based Organisations (CBOs), National Youths Council of Nigeria (NYCN) and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).

The group, in a statement by the Chairman, Organising Committee Comrade Awa Bamiji and Secretary Comrade Ibrahim Musa, said: “We are so much concerned about the security situation, irregularities in our electoral process, seemingly inordinate level of corruption, alarming unemployment rate, infrastructural decay and other aspects of bad Governance in our dear nation.

“In line with our vision for a better Nigeria, we have been criticising various government policies and actions constructively for over two decades.

“As part of our resolutions, we decided to form a Vanguard with the mass media through which we could monitor the subsequent elections in Nigeria under this body, right from the toter’s registration exercise because it forms a foundation for a poor or bad electoral process.”

Don accuses govt of failing to foster unity

A

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

don, Prof. Isaac Albert, has accused leaders of failing to foster unity. This, he said, has led to the challenges facing the country.

Albert, the chairman of the organising committee of a three-day conference on “Leadership and Peace in Nigeria”, held by the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, spoke yesterday when briefing reporters. He said there was no way the country’s problem could be removed from leadership, which had performed below expectation after five decades of independence.

“We are convinced that the criPUBLIC NOTICE ses witnessed in the nation have one NORBERT thing or the other to do with leaderI formerly known and addressed as Miss Norbert Temitope Titilayo, ship, ethnic diversity and religion. now wish to be known as Mrs Probably our leaders have not been Tunde-Akinbode Temitope able to hold the country. This is why Titilayo. All former documents remain valid general public please we have found ourselves in this take note. kind of a situation,” Albert said.

The don, who is also a member LOSS OF DOCUMENT of the National Conference, said he We formerly known and addressed disagreed with the majority of Nias Iwu Uchechukwu Magnus,Iwu gerians who were against the incluLilan Nkiruka, Iwu Kenechi Dorothy, Iwu Angel Chinonye, Iwu sion of elders at the conference.

Chinonso Cleary, Iwu Ebubechi Said he: “Elders have key to the Krystalbel, Iwu Esther country’s problems. They should Chimbusomma Now we wish to be be allowed to unlock them.” known and addressed FerdinandIwu Uchechukwu Albert said elders have contribMagnus,Ferdinand- Iwu Lilan uted to the country’s progress.

Nkiruka Ferdinand- Iwu Kenechi “I used to belong to a school of Dorothy,Ferdinand- Iwu Angel Chinonye, Ferdinand- Iwu Chinonso thought, which preferred youths to Cleary,Ferdinand- Iwu Ebubechi be in leadership, but I’m now a betKrystalbel, Ferdinand-Iwu Esther ter person with my participation at Chimbusomma. All document with the conference.” either names remain valid.

PUBLIC NOTICE

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VEHICLES 1.

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JINCHENG UNREGISTERED SIGNED: ASP ABIMBOLA OYEYEMI 2i/c Police Public Relations Officer, For: Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Command

PUBLIC NOTICE

FAR ABOVE ALL OPEN HEAVEN MINISTRY The general public is hereby notified that the above name organization has applied Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under the part 'C' of the Companies and Allied Act, No 1 of 1990, Cap, C20, LFN 2014.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES (1) VICTOR JAMES. CHAIRMAN (2) EXCELLENT VICTOR. SECRETARY (3) SAMUEL OBIANEFO. MEMBER (4) OGAN FRIDAY WILBERFORCE. MEMBER AIMS AND OBJECTIVE. Winning souls for God's Kingdom through Evangelism, Crusade, organization outreach programmes, education, healing to humanity and preaching.

Any objection to the registration of the above organization should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 426 Tigri Cresent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi street, Maitama Abuja,within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: CHIEF BARRISTER DAVE E.ENUAH OGWOGWO CHAMBERS 13 OMOKU STREET, DLINE, PORT HARCOURT 08033170037

THE NATION FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

58

NEWS

Protest in UniAbuja over ASUU strike

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From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

TUDENTS of the University of Abuja (UniAbuja) yesterday protested the strike by the university chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University (SSANU) has also joined in the strike.

As early as 8am the university’s main gate was locked, preventing movement of people in and out of the campus.

It took the efforts of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. James Adelabu, to calm the situation and he assured the protesting students that everything would be done to resolve the situation. He advised them to be orderly.

ASUU has vowed to continue the strike, until the government and the institution’s governing council resolve these issues - the White Paper, check off dues and sundry claims, arrears owed lecturers, restoration of promotion process and constitution of various committees.

But Adelabu denied the allegations levelled against the leadership of the institution.

He said the check up dues and other allowances ASUU was demanding for have been paid with their salaries.

His words: “The check up due is now paid with their salaries and ASUU knows about this development. Why don’t they take the check up dues from their salaries and go and pay? On the issue of allowances, there are no allowances approved by government that I am holding unto.

“The public has not been told the truth. The problem is the sharing formula of all the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Things must be done according to the law. ASUU has its ulterior motive.

Don’t forget this trouble has been there for over two years now.”

But ASUU Chairman Ben Ugheoke said: “Adelabu is lying. He has not paid the check up dues since April last year. He said we should be paying it ourselves.

“The Trade Union Act Section 16 (1) states that every employer shall pay check up dues on behalf of every registered union that operates under it.”

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Bomb scare in Ibadan

THERE WAS ANDEMONIUM last night in Sabo, a popular Hausa community in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital following the alarm that an explosive had been planted in the area.

Traders and residents ran in different directions for fear of being caught in an explosion.

There was an unconfirmed story that a combustive substance was programmed to explode in few hours from the time it was discovered.

It was also gathered that the substance was sighted by a beggar around Mokola roundabout before raising the alarm.

He was said to have advised them to run for their dear lives.

The situation got to the attention of Policemen attached to Mokola roundabout and they were there to calm the situation.

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

Shortly, calls and text messages were sent to loved ones to avoid Sabo via Mokola round-about.

But in a telephone interview, the Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bisi Ilobanafor described the alarm as false.

According to her, immediately the alarm was raised, men of the Anti-bomb unit got to the scene immediately and evacuated the people, but after thorough search, a brief case was found containing an old typewriter.

Ilobanafor thanked members of the public for alerting the police immediately, urging them to continue to report any suspicious moves or scenes.

•Dr. Uduaghan (middle); Commissioner for Information Chike Ogeah (right) and Economic Adviser to the Governor Afam Obiago at the Forum in Cologne, Germany...on Wednesday

Industrialisation key to Delta’s economy, says Uduaghan D ELTA State Governor E m m a n u e l Uduaghan has outlined a comprehensive and attractive package for private investors.

A five-year tax holiday, duty draw back for exportoriented concerns and tariff incentives on value chain enterprises were some of the incentives dangled before investors at the 2014 African Finance and Investment Forum (AFIF) in Cologne, Germany.

In his presentation, “Investment Opportunities to Enhance Economic and Development”, the governor listed other incentives as land acquisition concessions,

reduced stamp duty charges, permits and licence cost cutting and timeliness and liaising with federal regulatory agencies to facilitate operational licencing procedures.

Explaining that industrialisation remains the key driver of his Delta Beyond Oil initiative, Uduaghan said the private sector is leading the establishment of industries in the state through harnessing the economic potentials of the environment and leveraging on the state’s comparative advantage.

With a population of 5.1 million and Gross Domestic

Product (GDP) of $24.88 billion last year as well as huge investments in physical infrastructure development, security and human capital development, he said Delta offers an exceptional and profitable haven for investors.

Using the Delta Beyond Oil initiative, the governor identified five key investment opportunities in Delta State.

They include power, manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure and tourism.

He emphasised that Delta State is the most viable destination for investors, a situ-

•Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola with pupils of Oregun High School during the ‘Do the Dream and Life Initiative 8th Leadership Summit at Event Centre, Oregun, Lagos ...yesterday

Kidnappers demand N40m

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From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

HE kidnappers of Mrs. Ogbona Orumo, the 90-yearold mother-in-law of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly Speaker, Kombowei Benson, have demanded N40million for her freedom.

Mrs. Orumo was abducted last Friday from her Seibiri compound in Korokorosei, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

Traditional rulers cursed the abductors, especially after learning that the victim was taken away naked.

The Chairman of the State Traditional Rulers Council, King Godwin Igodo, who spent 29 days in kidnappers den last year, decried rising cases of kidnapping in the state.

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‘Don’t seek foreign assistance’

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PHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES

Alumni meet

T Charles Grammar School, Osogbo, Osun State, Old Boys Association ’84 set’s reunion/ gala nite holds on June 21 at Mauve, Ring Road, Ibadan, Oyo State by 3pm. All members are requested to be present at the meeting as important issues affecting members will be discussed.

HE Methodist Church of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to be conscious of the foreign assistance it sought to secure the release of the over 200 Chibok girls.

The Bishop, Diocese of Agodi, Rev Amos Ajiboye, said the failure of the government to protect its people, led to opting for foreign assistance, which amounts to a vote of no confidence on the government.

“As military forces from

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

other countries help us in the search for the missing girls, I encourage Christians to be prayerful in the fight against Boko Haram.

“The Federal Government should not negotiate with Boko Haram as it will be a very stupid and irresponsible thing to do. Boko Haram members are not ghosts and can’t be powerful more than Nigerians.”

ation boosted by its status as a leading oil and gas producer, a coastal state with access to four seaports, having a young, educated and active population and continuous investment in security.

AFIF brings together expert financiers, bankers, investors, public sector and entrepreneurs from across sub-Saharan Africa to the rest of the world.

The forum is designed for public and private institutions interested in securing finance for projects; investors (private and institutional) looking for projects to invest in; as well as policy makers, financiers/bankers, to build partnership.

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LASU students storm Fashola’s office

CORES of students of the Lagos State University (LASU) yesterday stormed Governor Babatunde Fashola’s office to continue their protest over the hike in their school fees.

The students who arrived at the governor’s office in Bus Rapid Transit Buses marked XQ 837 EPE and LRS 652 XC and other vehicles danced to solidarity songs.

Some of them were seen with various cooking utensils, preparing beans in the front of the office, before holding mid-day prayers to seek divine intervention.

The students in a letter to the governor, titled: “Save our future”, alleged that the fee hike has taken education beyond the reach of students.

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro

The letter reads: “The Lagos State Government in 2011 decided to take education out of the reach of the masses by introducing more than 100% increase in our tuition fee.

“The fee was increased from N25,000 to between N193, 750 and N348, 750.

With the fee hike, more than 1,000 students have dropped out. The hope that the remaining students will graduate is bleak.

“After several peaceful marches, the governor on March 31 said reversal was not possible he therefore asked the students union to come up with a proposal of how much they can pay.

“We proposed N46, 500 for

‘With the fee hike, more than 1,000 students have dropped out.

The hope that the remaining students will graduate is bleak.’ returning students and N65, 500 for fresh students. The proposal was submitted on April 24 and several reminders were sent to the governor on reduction of LASU fees.”

The Commissioner for Information, Aderemi Ibirogba and his counterpart

in the Ministry of Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, said the government had reached an agreement with stakeholders on the way out of the lingering crisis.

They wondered why the crises have continued to escalate, despite assurances from the government explaining that the government was only awaiting a report from the Executive Council Committee on LASU it constituted to resolve the issue.

The commissioners said the committee will not be able to reach a conclusion on the issue till June 9, saying the students and stakeholders raised a lot of issues that needed interrogation or conclusive position.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

59

NEWS Boko Haram kills 42

Police repel Biafra group

Continued from page 2

Continued from page 1

Enugu Government House to hoist the flag of the still-born Republic of Biafra. They insisted that Enugu was still the capital of Biafra.

Onwuka and over 500 of his

members were on November 5, 2012 arrested by the police and detained at the Enugu prisons, after the group re-declared the Republic of Biafra.

The police in March declared Onwuka wanted after the attempted invasion of the Government House.

Yesterday, the BZM members, numbering about 20, as early as 4.30 am sneaked into the premises of the radio station where Onwuka intended to broadcast the rebirth of the Republic of Biafra.

They chased out the security men and entered the studio where they met a handful of employees who were on night shift.

But, the radio station was going through challenges as a result of which every gadget was switched off. They were on the verge of forcing some technical employees to switch on the gadgets when the police arrived.

The security personnel who ran out of the radio house alerted the police and four policemen arrived in two different police cars.

Despite being four, they gunned down one of them and arrested two. One of the policemen was overpowered by some of the BZM members hiding in the bush. He was disarmed and shot him. An Inspector was injured.

When reinforcement came, the BZM members had escaped by

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•Leader of the Biafra group Onwuka (left) and other members being paraded by the police...yesterday

scaling the fence of the Radio House.

But the police chased and caught up with them, arresting the leader, Onwuka and 12 others.

Enugu Police chief, Mohammed Abubakar Mohammed said the suspects invaded the Enugu Broadcasting Service with the intention of setting the place ablaze.

He paraded the arrested members before the media.

Mohammed said: “When they invaded the place and by the time we reached there, we discovered a lot of arms, a lot of machetes, they went there with 25 litres of petrol with about 46 empty beer bottles and one Biafran flag.

“They went there with even guns because when the police confronted them, they shot and

killed the sergeant and in the process of trying to prevent them from setting the place ablaze, they also had a casualty. One of them was shot dead.

“About 13 of them were arrested including the leader, Benjamin Igwe Onwuka,” the commissioner said.

According to him, they got access into the studio, got the people in the studio and wanted them to give them access for a live broadcast to the people.

Said he: “They had a CD Rom where the details of what they wanted to say are contained.

“The highlights of what they wanted to tell the public was an appeal calling for all boys from Obiagu, Ogui and entire Enugu to come out. They also asked students to come out. The people

with Keke NAPEP to come out.

They wanted to order all businesses to be closed today (yesterday). All schools, markets, offices to be closed and all the elected government officials to surrender all government property in their possession by midday. These people went there in a sense to overturn the government,” he said.

The police chief warned: “I want to sound this note of warning to any group of persons or individuals that are planning to foment trouble in whatever form to cause breach of the peace to any community and to any society in this country, we shall not tolerate that.”

The police refused to allow the suspects to be interviewed by reporters.

and envoys from Nigeria’s neighbours Benin, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger, plus the U.S., France, Canada and the European Union for the June 12 meeting.

The Foreign Office said the meeting follows up on last month’s Paris

summit on Boko Haram and will consider further measures to improve regional co-ordination.

Boko Haram, an Islamist terror group, has carried out a wave of deadly attacks in Nigeria and kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls

in mid-April.

Speaking alongside President Barack Obama in Brussels on Thursday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said both countries are committed to helping Nigeria.

London hosts foreign ministers on insurgency

IGERIA’s foreign minister will attend a meeting in London next week to discuss how to tackle Boko Haram and terrorism in the African country.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague will host Aminu Bashir Wali

Jonathan: security challenges less in PDP states Continued from page 2

left us but we are not noticing their absence because of the leadership and commitment shown by Governor Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Governor Jonah Jang (Plateau), the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and other members of the Governors Forum from the PDP. “Because of their total commitment, it is like a football team. We (Nigeria) have won a team (match) with 10 players before because when they removed one and they removed the second one, the rest people started playing as if they were 13. So, we didn’t even notice that we have lost two. That is what the PDP governors are doing.

“We have to encourage them, we have to commend them.

They are working and defend-

ing the party as if we have 36 governors and we believe they will carry on with that spirit especially in this injury time”.

“I told the national chairman that let us have zonal unity rallies; let us demonstrate our strength so that they will know that one or two persons that left was inconsequential.

“I am not sure they can win their wards in an election because some of those states are totally PDP states. When you think that you are this and you are that and you probably think you will leave with the whole state, by the time we arrive, you get to know that others are behind to continue with PDP. “All what I am saying is that PDP is still solid, PDP is still the dominant party, our rallies show very clearly and surely that this party will win our elections free and fair”.

The President said the government was tackling the pre-

vailing insurgency, adding that the necessary equipment and military hardware required to fight the insurgents were being put in place.

“Obviously, everybody knows the security challenges we have. I don’t want to be moaning or complaining but all I can assure our great party is that we are taking on the challenges.

“God willing, these challenges of Boko Haram or other criminal elements will soon come to be history in this country. While contending with security challenges, we are still totally committed to our developmental programmes based on our party’s manifesto”, he said.

National Chairman Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, said the leadership had been able to halt the spate of defections from the ruling party.

In a communique issued at the end of the meeting and

signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, PDP said: “NEC also debated the proposal to hold the PDP National Convention according to the provisions of the constitution of the PDP and resolved to hold same after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“NEC unanimously passed an overwhelming vote of confidence on President Goodluck Jonathan and particularly praised the decisive steps so far taken to contain insurgency in the country”.

Also at the meeting were Vice President Namadi Sambo, Board of Trustees (BoT) chair Tony Anenih, ten PDP governors, past national chairmen, Senate President and members of the House of Representatives.

House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal was absent.

a snippet of what the Committee is working on. Furthermore, the Committee has not issued any interim report.”

The protesters resumed in Abuja yesterday.

The campaigners resolved to write Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima on the rehabilitation and resettlement of the over 200 abducted schoolgirls.

The group said the girls’ rehabilitation would go a long way in helping them after suffering so much in the hands of their abductors.

Speaking in Abuja, where the group holds a daily sit out,

former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili said: “We decide to sit out everyday in support of the young girls who are obviously going through a lot of trauma and will need a lot of support when they return.

“We as a group have agreed to send a letter to the Borno State Governor, encouraging him on the rehabilitation and relocation of these girls who have gone through a lot at such young ages to enable them rejoin the society without fear.”

The group resumed sitting, after a ban on activity by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),

Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu. It has a suit against him, seeking N200 million damages.

A member of the group, Yusuf Banki, said the groups aim is the safe return of the girls. He added that they are taken care of after their return and not abandoned after the trauma they must have gone though.

His words: “We are not only advocating for their return but that the girls whom are obviously traumatized by the experience are not just thrown back into the society without support or help.”

Chibok girls: Govt to adopt U.S.-Taliban swap model Continued from page 2

“Since the Committee’s inauguration on May 6, there has been no meeting between the Committee— or any one or more of its members— and the Presidency. The Committee has never been invited to give any secret or open briefing on its work or findings so far.

“The Committee would like to reiterate that it is not being teleguided.

“The Fact-finding Committee is now on the home stretch of its assignment. No staff of the Presidency has been obliged with

close to Maiduguri, added the source.

Boko Haram has killed thousands since it started its revolt in Africa’s largest oilproducing country in 2009 and grabbed world headlines in April when it abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in another part of Borno state.

The mass kidnapping has piled political pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan, who has accepted help from the United States and other foreign powers to try to free the girls.

Troops yesterday foiled an attempt by Boko Haram to overrun a village in Madagali Area of Adamawa State.

A military source, who spoke at about 6.55pm said: “We just got a report that Boko Haram invaded a village in Madagali area of Adamawa but they were repelled by troops.

“There was no doubt a clash between troops and the insurgents but I cannot give

you the casualty figures now until we have mopped up the area.”

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force has offered to meet with BringBackOurGirls on its ongoing protest marches in the FCT and other parts of the country.

The BringBackOurGirls campaigners had on Wednesday written the InspectorGeneral of Police, Mr. M.D. Abubakar for protection but the Nigeria Police Force was claiming that it had not received the letter.

The Force spokesman, CSP Frank Mba however told our correspondent that the NPF leadership is willing to meet with the protesters or any person or group.

Mba said: “I don’t have any information concerning the receipt of such letter. However, the police force is a public institution and we will, in accordance with our mandate, be willing to meet with any Nigerian or group of Nigerians who wishes to meet with us.”

Mothers agonise over abducted pupils Continued from page 2

thing to us. No one knows what these people (the insurgents) wanted. They just came and seized our joy. We are begging government to see to this situation. We are helpless; we are as good as dead for now,” she said.

Mrs Sitover caused a stir when, after about two minutes, she started rolling on the floor, urging God and people of the world to ensure that her child is rescued and brought back to her in sound health.

Rising to her feet, she said: “When I was told that our girls had been packed away by the gunmen, I lost control of myself. That I am still breathing today is by the grace of God; It is a miracle. For two days, I was roaming the bush to see if I could set my eyes on my child.

“I am in pains; we are in real trouble. I am pleading with the world to help us find our children and bring peace back into our community and our country …”.

Gohmert, who said insurgency is unacceptable, urged the women not to give up hope on their children. The US, he said, would prove to Nigeria to be a friend indeed.

Gohmert hugged and shook hands with the women, urging them to take heart and be assured that their children would be found and brought back to them. He also encouraged the three veiled schoolgirls, who were said to have escaped from their abductors.

“The hate, the callousness of the terrorists, their willingness to kill fellow human beings and the abduction of the innocent girls are condemnable in the least. It is an evil that must stop. The evil being inflicted by Boko Haram is unacceptable. I have come here with a message of hope.

I hope the US will prove to be the friend they are to Nigeria and be part of efforts to find solution to this problem.

“The Federal Government in Nigeria must realise the fact that Christians and Muslims have, over the years, been living together without any problem. It must realise the gravity of the pains that

the Boko Haram has inflicted on Nigerians and stop them forthwith,” Gohmert added.

Likening the ordeal of the abducted girls to that of the biblical Joseph, he expressed hope that the girls would be brought back safely to reunite with their parents.

Pastor Thompson said his organisation invited Gohmert to the country to feel the girls’ mothers plight and appeal to the US government to help Nigeria in this dark hour.

“Unless the Federal Government and indeed, the world quickly separate religion from the work of the devil that is casting darkness over the country, Nigeria may cease to be in the next 18 months,” he said.

There was gloom in the hall when Balami fought back tears while begging Gohmert to pressure his country “and the entire world to come to the aid of the abducted girls, their mothers and our terrorised country.”

Osinbajo said: “The coming of the US Congressman underscores the importance attached to the matter. It is absurd for anybody or a group of people to attempt to politicise the serious issue that we have on our hands now. We must come together to fight the evil no matter our faiths. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Christian, a Muslim or a pagan. It is a problem that we must jointly confront.”

Since bringing the girls and their mothers to Lagos for “comprehensive therapy”, Grieve said they had been displaying symptoms of trauma, adding: “The girls are still in shock; they want their friends back and the mothers want their children back too.”

Mosunmola Umoru, a youth representative at the National Conference, said: “At the moment, we must bury our religious and ethnic differences and fight the darkness that is looming on our country. I join other worried Nigerians to beg the Federal Government to do everything to end insurgency, rescue and care for the girls and their traumatised mothers.”

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THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

FOREIGN NEWS

COMMENT & DEBATE Only three democrats in this land!

Obama has ‘no apologies’ for exchange to free Bergdahl

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RESIDENT Barack Obama said he makes “no apologies” for the Taliban prisoner exchange that freed Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan.

Responding to questions at a news conference today in Brussels, he dismissed the uproar in the U.S. over his decision to trade five Taliban prisoners and not tell Congress in advance.

“We have a basic principle: We do not leave anybody wearing the American uniform behind,” Obama said at a joint news conference with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron in Brussels. “We saw an oppor-

tunity and we seized it and I make no apologies for that.”

While Russian President Vladimir Putin and the crisis in Ukraine have dominated the discussions during Obama’s trip this week to Europe, the controversy over the terms of Bergdahl’s release has eclipsed the Ukraine situation in the U.S. Since Obama announced Bergdahl’s release in a Rose Garden ceremony five days ago, pressure has mounted for an explanation on why the administration sidestepped a law requiring the president to give 30 days notice to Congress of plans for a Guantanamo prisoner re-

‘South Korea databases hacked’

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ACKERS might have compromised the personal information of thousands of South Koreans employed by American armed forces, the commander of US Forces in South Korea said yesterday.

Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti apologised for the “possible theft” from two databases of private details of South Koreans such as names, contact in-

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formation and work history, AP said.

About 16,000 current and former workers, almost all of them Korean nationals, and people who have sought jobs with the US military in the country, are affected by the incident.

No classified military data was compromised as the databases were on a separate network.

Pope Francis sacks board

OPE Francis yesterday sacked the entire Italian board of the Vatican’s financial watchdog, Reuters said.

The pope named four experts from Switzerland, Singapore, the US and Italy to the board of the Financial Information Authority (AIF), the Holy See's internal regulatory office, according to the Vatican. All five outgoing board members had been expected to serve five-year terms ending in 2016.

lease. Opponents of the swap have raised questions about whether Bergdahl is a patriot or a deserter.

“The American people understand that this is somebody’s child,” Obama said today. “We don’t condition whether or not we make the effort to try and get them back.”

The uproar in Congress is “par for the course” in Washington, he said.

Democrats including Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, have joined Republicans in attacking the administration’s handling of the deal.

“There’s considerable opposition to this and that’s just where things are,” she said yesterday after a more than hourlong classified briefing for senators by four Obama administration officials.

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican who was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years, said yesterday: “I promise you -- in a year from now, if not before” the five released Taliban “will be back in Afghanistan and in the fight.”

After senators received a classified briefing from White House officials yesterday, Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida told reporters that Obama “set a precedent that will encourage enemies of the United States to target American men and women in uniform

•Continued on back page

•President Obama

and capture them in order to carry out a similar exchange in the future.”

Second-ranking Senate Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois said that while he didn’t know if he would’ve made the same decision Obama did, “I feel more confident now in the decision that was made.” He added: “The premise was solid. Bring our troops home.”

Senator Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, told Bloomberg reporters and editors at a breakfast today: “The administration left a lot to be desired on engagement with the Senate and House over time,” adding that the “decision wasn’t made in a couple of days.”

Several lawmakers and congressional candidates deleted Twitter statements supporting Bergdahl as the backlash against his rescue grew, according to the Sunlight Foundation’s Politwoops, which tracks deleted tweets. Sunlight is an open-government group in Washington.

“So glad to hear that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is coming home safely. He’s a true American hero,” Ohio Republican Representative Jim Renacci wrote, along with a link to a news article on Bergdahl’s rescue. The posting was deleted June 4.

Ndigbo (though not unlike other tribes of the land but more peculiarly so) have long discountenanced democracy.

Since 1999, governance had been by the powerful, of the powerful and for the powerful in Igboland. And during elections, only cash counts, votes don’t.

Thus since 1999, hardly any elective office was won by vote count. Peter Obi bucked this trend in the Anambra governorship race of 2003. A businessman, he was moved to join politics after the disastrous outing of Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju. His state was like a jungle where the treasury was booty for party pimps. A man of some means, he could have joined the PDP, gotten in the mix and awaited his turn and share of the booty. But he had a mission to engage governance in the proper, democratic way.

He won the election with his puny APGA but the PDP cabal snatched his mandate and for over three years he fought doggedly through the courts of the land to reclaim it. His ordeal in the hands of a visceral corps of power mongers in the state is a story for an epic political literature. Suffice it to say that Obi proved that votes can truly count and a nonruling party could win fair and square. All through his tenure as governor, he showed that power, especially on a democratic platform, is not an end in itself. Lastly he proved not to be a prisoner to power like most of his peers who are so power- hungry they shop for positions and offices even after two terms as governor.

The trio of Tinubu, Buhari and Obi represent the bright lights of this age. They sacrificed and braved odds to make an impact. It’s not all doom and gloom after all.

Honorable mentions: Of course this is not an absolute shortlists, there must be numerous other leaders at all level holding out and holding forth on behalf of democracy. Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State is one and INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega is another.

LAST MUG: Fani wonder: It was Fani Power those days but today we are ‘blessed’ to have a chip of an old block: let’s call him Fani Wonder or wander if you please. He has done it again – a multiple back flip that landed him back in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fold. We speak of the now migrant politician Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK!) who jumped from PDP to ACN/APC and now back to PDP. Fani Wander is a story for another day but let’s say that we are no longer a wasted generation, we are actually a wondrous one: no qualms, no scruples, no compunctions; absolutely hollow and vain.

NEWS (SHOWBIZ) Ebele Okaro premieres Musical Whispers in style

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Nigerian Idol, more than singing, says Rotimi Pedro

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HEAD of the ongoing Nigerian Idol’s grand finale scheduled to hold tomorrow at the Dream Studios, Rotimi Pedro, the CEO of Optima Media Group, organisers of the show talks, talked about what differentiates the show from the others.

Pedro, who spoke to journalists on Tuesday at his Ladipo Bateye office, Lagos, explained that beyond providing the platform for burgeoning music talents to grow, Nigerian Idol competition had evolved into a brand that promotes the ideals of the Nigerian youths, by using each edition to campaign for a course.

“The show is not only about singing, but the ‘Nigerianess’ that we promote. Each year, we campaign for a course, just like we did during the Occupy Nigeria protest over the hike in fuel pump prize. What is different this year is that, we

By Victor Akande

have captured the mood of the nation to ask for the return of the abducted Chibok girls,” he said.

The Optima Media boss also revealed that, apart from the spectacular performances expected from the two finalists, Eye-D and Evelle, as well as guest artistes during the grand finale, all the 12 contestants would perform a song on the missing Chibok schoolgirls.

Pedro, who noted that over 10000 wannabes were auditioned in five Nigerian cities, said it took more than three months to get to the top 12 stage. He praised the sponsors, whose brand vision aligned with the aspiration of his company.

“We have signed a recording deal with Universal Records and they will be coming for the show’s finale. The sponsors have been quite responsive such that they have

provided two cars this year, which is going to be given to the last two contestants. Like Universal Records, our other sponsors, Etisalat and Pepsi, are epitome of youth culture.

They stand out, in terms of renaissance of the Nigerian youth culture. We are proud to be associated with these sponsors.”

He described the show as the most democratic, owing to the fact that voting for contestants could be done via any mobile network. “It’s a liberal show and you don’t have to be locked to one network to be able to vote for the contestants, making it the most democratic show,” he said.

Although many have criticized the voting pattern, saying it doesn’t usually favour the best candidates, Pedro said a balance mechanism lied in Wild Card and Lifeline through which the judges could keep any candidate of their choice in the competition.

Interestingly, the two finalists were brought back through the judges’ Wild Card, when they scored the least votes from the public.

However, the fate of both singers will be decided tomorrow, when one of them will be crowned the winner of Nigerian Idol season 4.

Organisers said voting lines would close at midnight.

The winner is expected to go home with the coveted prize of N7.5 million, a Galaxy Tab, a Blackberry, an iPod and a brand new SUV car. The first runner-up gets N1.5 million, a brand new car, a Galaxy Tab, a Blackberry and iPod, while the 2nd runner-up will receive N1million, a Galaxy Tab, a Blackberry and an iPod. Also, the organisers said each of the finalists from the 4th to 10th place would also receive a cash prize of N100, 000, a Galaxy Tab, a Blackberry and an iPod each.

NUMBER of Nollywood stars last Friday stormed the Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos, when actress Ebele Okaro Onyuike premiered her new film titled Musical Whispers.

Directed by Bond Emeruwa, Musical Whispers tells the story of David and Agatha Kalu who are blessed with a son, David Junior (DJ). DJ has a medical condition known as autism, a developmental disorder that is characterised by impairment in communication, social interaction and behaviour.

While Agatha spends her time and energy trying to give her son the best love she can, her husband is frus-

trated with the demands and distractions that come from caring for DJ. He eventually walks out on the family. Sadly, Agatha loses her job.

Producer of the flick, Ebele Okaro, said the movie, among other themes, seeks to make a strong case for people living with autism in the society.

The premiere was attended by the cast and crew of the movie, including Chioma Akpotha, Kalu Ikeagwu, Ekpenyong Bassey Inyang, Bond Emeruwa, Belinda Effah, Tonto Dikeh, Patrick Doyle and Reggae artiste Orits Wiliki, who made a special appearance in the movie.

THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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TODAY IN THE NATION

FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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N the eve of the rerun of the Ekiti State governorship election in April 2009, I made a bold prediction in my “Give us this moment” that Dr. Kayode Fayemi will come out on top.

My prediction was based firstly, on my assessment of Fayemi’s background and his 10-point agenda for the development of the state, and secondly on my understanding and appreciation of the demographics of the state as the Land of Honor and the home of a people with an unquenchable appetite for knowledge.

We all witnessed the rerun election and its discontents which prompted my “Ekiti wonder” the following week, followed by my “Weapons of mass deception.” Those were the days of the locust. I am hopeful that we have all learned from that sordid experience with its ugly stain on our young democracy and can now look forward to the upcoming election with renewed confidence in the system.

Fayemi had to wait for another year before his mandate was restored by the Appeals Court. His patience was tried. His resolve was tested. His humanity was challenged.

In the end, he came out triumphant. His triumph was not just because his mandate was restored, but especially because with the ultimate result he proved that (i) the people’s voice and action will not be ignored and (ii) the hope and aspirations of the people will not be disappointed.

I do not live in the country and in my shortterm visits since 2010 I have not been privileged to visit Ekiti. I have only seen Governor Fayemi two or three times at events in Lagos in the last three and a half years. Though, he visits Washington metro area every now and then, our paths don’t cross. I mention this to make an important point. I evaluate him on the basis of (a) his fidelity to his campaign promise based on credible reports of independent observers and (b) the integrity that he brought to governance. Outside of these, nothing else matters to me. I have heard a lot of complaints: Fayemi doesn’t give recognition to party leaders. He doesn’t reward party members. He is being advised by a few, etc.

This is all hogwash. We need to go beyond personality politics and a “me-too mentality” and embrace the ideal of governance.

We elect leaders to lead in accordance with the promises that they make. If they succeed in fulfilling the majority of those promises, and they make a good-faith effort to fulfil the rest, then it is only fair that they be given a second term to carry out the rest. When a leader fails abjectly because he has no clue

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HREE are chosen?: What is a democracy without democrats operating the system in deed and in spirit? Well a mere civil rule at best. But if we want an honest answer, what we have had in the last 15 years in the guise of democracy has really been a hiatus; a vacuum waiting to be filled.

This is why one is deeply disturbed by the excitement and theatrics over what we call a 15-year stretch of democratic rule in Nigeria.

To celebrate democracy and reel out achievements in bricks and mortar is one of those laughable things we do around here.

Democracy cannot equate some resurfaced roads or official vehicles ‘given’ to civil servants. Democracy is that fine art and science of governing a people in a manner that brings out the maximum potentials derivable. It is a conscious effort, it is something you have to internalize and practice. It is often spearheaded by leader-democrats who build solid institutions and inspire mass followership.

Aung Kyi, the iconic Burmese activist surmised it thus: “Development requires democracy, the genuine empowerment of the people.”

But where are the Nigerian democrats?

Hardly any; we talk democracy but just a few pursue it. In fact, through this period, this column can identify only three Nigerians who may be said to have furthered the cause of democracy in Nigeria.

Bola Tinubu’s tireless struggle: To properly understand and situate the depth of his

VOL.9 NO.2,869

‘What manner of redress do you seek? Many have suggested that we break-up. They claim we shall do better if we go our separate ways. Bet you have mooted such fantastic enterprise in more instances than you could count....’

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

SEGUN GBADEGESIN gbadegesin@thenationonlineng.net

Fayemi deserves a second term

•Dr. Fayemi

about what he got into in the first place, then no matter how gentle or loving or friendly he may be, to “reward” cluelessness with a second term is to mortgage the lives of millions of people.

Secondly, while everyone has a right to present him-or herself for the position of a governor, I feel strongly that, as a matter of political morality, members of the same political party who originally gave the incumbent the mandate to lead, have a heavy burden of moral responsibility to support him for a second term as long as he delivers on his promises and the party’s manifesto.

This is on the understanding that there is always going to be future opportunities for other aspirants within the party.These are important issues for our political development in this country. The splintering of political parties on the basis of nothing more serious than a “me-too can be governor”doesn’t help our cause.

Now, what has Fayemi accomplished to deserve a second term in office? I will attempt to answer this question based on a candid

comparison of my 2009 election eve optimistic assessment of what a Fayemi administration will do and what the Fayemi administration has actually done.

In “Give us this moment” I maintained that I was sure that Ekiti people will give Fayemi their mandate because as a people fired up for knowledge and honor, they knew best who can deliver their dream Ekitiland. After almost four years, I am sure that the people can now say that the Land of Honor has reclaimed its glory. Decency has returned to governance. Assume that there has been no material improvement, which is certainly not the case; this return of decency to governance would still be a big deal. Who want to be associated with rascality and hooliganism?

Secondly, I observed in 2009 that “Ekiti indigenes know which candidate in this election has an agenda for their welfare needs.” I ca now boldly assert that Fayemi has fulfilled his promise to look after the aged and the needy. The N5000 monthly social security benefit for the elderly citizens of the state is a gesture that lets them know that their years of productive services to the state are greatly appreciated. In the same category are the free health program and the free health mission that the State government embarked upon as soon as Fayemi took over. More than two-thirds of the state population in need of these services have benefitted from the programs.

Thirdly, in 2009 I based my prediction that Ekiti will elect Fayemi as their Governor on his agenda for education. I observed then that the “Fountain of Knowledge” will make education its foremost industry again by improving access to quality education towards creating a knowledge economy…Computer education will be prioritized in the spirit of the 21st century advances.” I cannot overemphasize the significance of good education for our country and our region, and for me, it is this particular aspect of his campaign promise

C OMMENT & D EB ATE EBA

STEVE OSUJI

EXPRESSO

steve.osuji@yahoo.com

Only three democrats in this land! roles in nurturing Nigeria’s democracy through this period, it would be best to consider how the last 15 years would have played out without his input. Coming from a life-threatening role in the National Democratic Coalition’s (NADECO) campaign which ousted the military, Tinubu went ahead to co-initiate the political party, Alliance for Democracy (AD), which swept the polls in the Southwest of Nigerian in 1999.

He has held out since then even when his peers from the zone floundered, leading that party to metamorphose into the All Progressives Congress (APC), the major alternative to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It has been 15 years of impassioned political activism and relentless propagation of progressive democratic ethos.

He has engineered the Southwest of Nigeria into the democratic showpiece of Nigeria,

providing an alternative to an obdurate conservative ruling clique. With the APC, democracy has deepened; Nigerians have a viable choice while quality changes would willy-nilly be forced in the PDP. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will no doubt get a pride of place when the history of this democracy is written. He is a man who bucked the trend; he chose to act when he could have taken the path of reclined comfort and good life like most of his peers.

Buhari, the unlikely democrat: not a few Nigerians would consider it anathema to associate General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) with democracy but that is what the erstwhile military officer and dictator has morphed into in the last 15 years. True many Nigerians still consider him ultra-conservative and lacking in democratic salubrity but that may be because he has remained true to his cause

OLA TUNJI OLOLADE AT

that attracted my attention.

In view of the fact that years of the locust have had a debilitating effect on our educational system, it will take more than four years in office to make an appreciable impact. But Governor Fayemi has started well with bold plans and strategic thinking.

The renovation of schools has been a top priority for him. He has provided laptops for students. He has inaugurated the Committee on Ekiti State Integrated Science and Technology Education Transformation Framework and Roadmap with a view to positioning the economy of the state and converting its “intellectual capital to prosperity for the people of Ekiti.” As I also observed five years ago, “a progressive politician measures success by how many citizens he or she lifts from the depth of poverty onto the pinnacle of knowledge and wealth.” I think Fayemi has opened the path for the desirable uplift of Ekiti citizens.

If education is the key, then those who have the responsibility to provide sound education for the children must also have sound knowledge and the temperament to educate for success. I have been an educationist all my life with the exception of a couple of off-years. As a proud recipient of the Teachers’ Grade III and Teachers’ Grade II certificates, I take teaching seriously and I have tried to give my students the best.

I am disheartened about the current state of the education of our teachers. I am even more disappointed about our approach to further training. I believe that this was the context in which Governor Fayemi proposed the further training and testing of teachers.

That proposal was politicized but there was a good intention behind it and I expect that teachers would see beyond the unprincipled politics of others who try to put a wedge between them and Fayemi.

I observed in 2009 that Fayemi promised the infrastructural development of the state.

In the three and a half years that he has been in the saddle, he has transformed the state with the building of roads, linking major towns in the state, successfully accessing development funds from international agencies such as the World Bank. We have reports of rural electrification projects and construction of water-works across the state.

Finally, citizens of Ekiti know Fayemi as a compassionate leader who has demonstrated his democratic credentials. They will again give us this moment to savor and cherish when they elect him for a second term in office on June 21, 2014.

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over these years. Three times he has contested presidential election, three times he has failed and thrice he had followed his quests legally right up to the apex courts.

As a former general (and one without a deep pocket), he joined political parties and remained a faithful party man at every step.

He grew into a party leader commanding large followership over his area of influence. When he was betrayed by his former party, he founded one in his image which became an instant success. It is his formidable Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) that merged with Tinubu’s ACN to become APC. This episode is perhaps the single most important footnote in our current democratic narrative.

Yet he has remained his starchy, soldier self over these years instead of the classic politician; he has also made some conflagrant statements in his journey. Notwithstanding, he has furthered the cause of democracy more than all of his soldiersturned politicians of this age. Yes, even more than Olusegun Obasanjo.

Peter Obi, star of the east: The immediate past governor of Anambra State proved to be an icon of this fledgling democracy in a very peculiar way. Coming from a place where that old, Grecian ideal might well be a fancy article of trade in Ochanja market.

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