The Nation May 16 2011

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VOL. 6, NO. 1761 MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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IMF chief Strauss-Kahn charged with attempted rape

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EAD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strass-Kahn and a potential candidate for the French presidency next year was yesterday charged with attempted rape and a criminal sex act on a woman in New York, the police said yesterday.

•Strauss-Kahn

According to the police, the charges stemmed from an incident that allegedly occurred on Saturday against a 32-year-old female at a Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan, Bloomberg news reported.

New York Police Department said in an e-mailed statement early yesterday

that Strauss-Kahn was arrested on an Air France flight at John F. Kennedy Airport. He also was charged with unlawful imprisonment.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, denied the charges pleaded not guilty, his lawyer Benjamin Brafman said. His wife Anne Sinclair, a French television

journalist said: “His innocence will be established.”

The bank chief was expected to appear in a Manhattan court last night New York Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said.

The alleged victim is a maid at the hotel. Browne said the assault occurred at about 1 p.m. on Saturday

when the woman entered the $3,000 a night suite Room 2806 – that StraussKahn checked into on May 13.

The maid alleged: “He came out of the bathroom naked, ran down a hallway to ... where she was, pulled Continued on page 2

AMNESTY ACCUSES NIGERIA OF UNLAWFUL KILLINGS, SLOW JUDICIAL PROCESS - P7

Tension: Buhari’s CPC, PDP in verbal war Parties disagree on cause of riots

Military action goes on in Niger Delta

From Jide Babalola, Sanni Ologun and Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

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EN. Muhammadu Buhari’s Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) has been buffeted by criticisms over its posture on the post-election violence.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday accused the CPC of aggravating tension across the country.

Also yesterday, an Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) chieftain, Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman, said it would be difficult for the CPC to distance itself from the violence that greeted the elections in some parts of the North because its leaders made inciting statements.

But the CPC, which at the weekend described as illegal President Goodluck Jonathan’s inauguration of a 22-member panel to probe the violence, denied the allegations last night. Its National Chairman, Prince Tony Momoh, said the CPC has no blame.

PDP National Publicity Secretary Prof Continued on page 2

‘

The violence ... especially in areas where the CPC won overwhelmingly, was a direct fallout of inciting comments and directives made by their leaders ...

’

‘

The people who are in charge of the youths in the North are not doing anything and they are all PDP governors ...

They collect money and spend ...

’

•Dr Jonathan

•Gen. Buhari

HE Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta yesterday continued the onslaught against the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF), led by renegade warlord, ‘General’ John Togo.

Troops of the task force are said to be closing in on the suspected sea pirate.

It was gathered that no fewer than six members of the militant group have been killed since the clashes broke out last Wednesday. They were reportedly killed when the task force strafed one of Togo’s camps in Obubu Creek.

NDLF spokesperson Colonel Mark Anthony denied the death of its members, claiming that they all survived the JTF aerial bombardment.

The Nation gathered that scores of JTF’s soldiers were injured in the fighting.

JTF spokesman Lt.-Colonel Timothy Antigha, who confirmed that some soldiers were injured, said the task force had marked out Togo’s camp around the Tambou Creek, contrary to reports that the operation was at Ayakoromo, Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.

He said the JTF was taking steps, including consulta-

From Shola O’Neil, Warri

tions with Ijaw leaders, to enlist their cooperation and to insulate innocent persons from the attack.

Antigha warned community leaders of the danger in sheltering fleeing criminal gang members.

He said in a statement yesterday: “The JTF is continuing with its efforts to isolate renegade militant leader John Togo and his gang. In this regard, the JTF has been holding consultations with Continued on page 2

•Togo

•POLITICS P13 •SPORTS P24 •CITYBEATS P25 •JOBS P43 •MOTORING P54

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

NEWS

Military action is to discredit Jonathan, says NDLF

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•Guest Speaker and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri with another speaker, Mr. Scott Michell at the just concluded fourth United Nations conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Istanbul, Turkey

IMF chief Strauss-Kahn charged Continued from page 1

her into a bedroom and began to sexually assault her,” said Browne.

The maid managed to escape from the room and notified colleagues who called the police, Browne told the Times. When officers arrived, Strauss-Kahn was not there and appeared to have left in a hurry, Browne said he left his mobile phone behind as he fled to the airport.

After allegedly fleeing to New York’s John F Kennedy airport, he was dramatically captured onboard an Air France flight to Paris that was parked on the tarmac barely 10 minutes from take-off.

Strauss-Kahn was scheduled to attend a meeting of

euro area finance ministers in Brussels yesterday. The meeting was slated to discuss the possible increase of a 110- billion euro ($155-billion) loan package to Greece amid concerns the country may be unable to return to markets to finance its debt next year.

“For the fund, this is terrible news at a time when its leadership needs to portray stability, wisdom, and confidence,” a professor in the department of political science at the University of Waterloo in Canada, Bessma Momani, who specialises in the IMF and its policies, said.

The IMF “remains fully functioning and operational” following Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, the Washington DCbased organisation said in a

statement on its website yesterday. ”Mr. Strauss-Kahn has retained legal counsel, and the IMF has no comment on the case; all inquiries will be referred to his personal lawyer and to the local authorities,” Director of External Relations at the IMF Caroline Atkinson said in the statement.

New York police said Strauss-Kahn doesn’t have diplomatic immunity. The French Foreign Ministry in Paris said the IMF will have to examine what immunity Strauss-Kahn may have. A French consul visited StraussKahn in detention late yesterday, ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said in an interview on the telephone.

Continued on page 7

DLF accused the JTF of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on its camps in spite of peace moves between the authorities of the amnesty programme and NDLF as directed by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Mark Anthony, spokesman of the NDLF, said NDLF kept the gentleman’s agreement for peace with the amnesty authority, following sincere appeal by prominent Nigerians, like the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Ayo Oritsejafor, Comrade Joseph Evan, Chief E. K Clark and the coordinator of the amnesty programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku.

Anthony said: “NDLF keyed into the call by various highly placed personalities not to carry out any attack over the months and there was minimum calm in the creeks. But to our surprise, evil forces in JTF bent on making money through crisis truncated the ongoing peace so as to continue to stay in their ilicit business in Niger Delta. Thereby, JTF has carried out unprovoked attacks on our camps in both ground and air with military jet fighters.

“To NDLF, we will still keep the gentleman agree-

JTF pursues militants Continued from page 1

community leaders of riverine communities where John Togo has been hiding. The essence of this effort is to carry the leaders along and intimate them of the risk in providing safe haven for people who constitute clear and present threat to the stability of the nation.

“I would also like to disclose that the JTF has so far discovered some recently constructed camps, built by John Togo within Obubu Creek and environs. The import of this discovery is that Togo is not considering giving up on militancy and criminal activities.

“Furthermore, the JTF would also want to clarify that the on-going operation is not in Ayakoromo as mischievously portrayed in some media. The ongoing operation is around Tambou Creek. Therefore, the imputation that the JTF is destroying houses and killing people in Ayakoromo is not only callous and irresponsible; it is also false and misleading and, therefore, should be disregarded.”

But, the militant group has accused the JTF of launching the attack to justify its occupation of the Niger Delta.

ment with the authorities of the federal amnesty programme by not bombing oil installations in order not to allow JTF achieve its mischievous ploy to make the Niger Delta a conduit pipe all the times with crisis, despite the slap on the faces of NDLF gallant soldiers.

“We want to assure our good people of Niger Delta that NDLF will not let President Jonathan down by engaging in pipeline bombing, despite the confrontation and the temptation by JTF to do so.”

The NDLF urged President Jonathan to call the JTF

authorities to order “as this war cannot be won with lethal weapons and that it is only justice and fairplay that can restore permanent peace in Niger Delta”.

Anthony said JTF troops attacked John Togo’s camp with two war planes and three gun boats at Bobougbene creek, Ayakoromo in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State. Shooting lasted about one hour and over 100 military personnel now occupy Bobougbene, he said, adding that this has led to the displacement of many, including children and women.

Buhari’s CPC, PDP in verbal war over rising tension Continued from page 1

Rufai Ahmed Alkali, in a statement in Abuja, said what the CPC leaders said before, during and after the April elections, did “very little” to mitigate the tensed up political atmosphere after the elections.

Alkali said while the PDP after the elections toed the path of “national healing, reconciliation and extensive consultation”, “some elements in our society are still deeply entrenched in politics of division, hate, banal language and violence”.

“Rather than condemn and distance itself from these unfortunate events, the CPC leadership has resorted to falsehoods and mocking the victims by the rationalisation of their despicable acts,” he added.

Alkali said: “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has noted a consistent trend emerging since the last general elections where some politicians have engaged in a deliberate process to discredit the electoral system and also misinform and mislead unsuspecting members of the public.

“We are particularly concerned about the insensitivity of certain individuals and groups on the plight of victims of the orgy of violence unleashed in some parts of the country by misguided elements.

“The orchestrated violence that greeted the election, especially in areas where the CPC won overwhelmingly, was a direct fallout of inciting comments and directives made by their leaders even before the conclusion of elec-

PDP governors to blame, says CPC chair

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PC National Chairman Prince Tony Momoh yesterday defended the integrity of his party and exonerated it from violent conducts.

He said violence broke out in the north because the PDP governors did nothing for their people, “instead, the governors collect money and spend.”

Momoh said: “The PDP has set the ball rolling and can not stop the aftermath”, adding, “They said they have won election, let them go and govern now.”

Speaking in an interview last night, Momoh said: “How can the CPC be causing violence where they have majority support? It was the PDP that caused the violence. They initiated the Police and the Army to guard the governors in the north and they started imposing curfew for 24 hours so that they tions.

“In analysing the trend of the violence, we want the leadership of the CPC to answer the following questions: Why did the violence take place only in areas where the CPC won? Why did the violence breakout in those areas even before the results of the elections were known?

“What was the purpose of vandalising traditional palaces? Why were INEC offices the target of attacks? Why were PDP leaders and members of their families the main victims of the mayhem? The answer to these is that the actions were premeditated to disrupt the electoral process and create a semblance of anarchy.

“While we await the official report of the probe panel instituted by the Federal Government to probe the vio-

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

could rig the elections. All we can do after the elections is to go to court and we have gone. The CPC has never caused tension anywhere.

“If the CPC and Buhari did not calm our followers, would there have been peace?

“The PDP set the boll rolling and they are not able to control it. The fact is that PDP is in charge of the north and they have done nothing for the people and they are angry. Buhari’s jeeps were destroyed. They said they have won election, let them go and govern now.

“With their statement, it means that CPC sat down and decided that there should be violence. That is what they mean. There is no way they can link the CPC with violence. The CPC has never

lence, we call on Nigerians to closely watch the activities of people who are determined to derail the nation’s democracy.

“The Nigerian people have made enough sacrifices to stabilise this system and we must protect it with all that we have. No amount of threats and sabotage should be allowed to reverse our gains.”

Speaking on the telephone last night, Abdulrahman, immediate past Secretary of ACF’s Political Committee, said there were clear indications that rather than being a spontaneous reaction as Alhaji Buba Galadima, Buhari’s close associate said, the crises after the presidential election were orchestrated.

“Let them not distort facts now; the crises were premeditated. It was frustration that

planned any violence. We are not a violent party.

“All campaigns for CPC were attended by enormous crowds all over.

The fact is that the CPC has become a movement and those who are undermining the party are the ones causing the violence.

“The failure to attend to the needs of the people is what caused the violence. Look at the amnesty programme initiated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, which started taking care of the Niger Delta youths.

“The people who are in charge of the youths in the north are not doing anything and they are all PDP governors.

What have they done? They collect money and spend. So, if people are angry, why are they calling on CPC? The CPC is just one year old.”

resulted into unleashing of mayhem on the society. There was no spontaneous reaction; it was not even a reaction against election results because the results were not yet out before they began,” he said.

Abdulrahman said Buhari and his associates committed a major political blunder by expecting that large campaign crowds in some northern states were enough guarantee for victory in the presidential polls.

“The results of the presidential election had not been released before the crises erupted. Buhari won in Katsina, Kano and Kaduna. I do not know the reason why they would riot in those places because they were the people who were winning in those states. Therefore, it was a planned act.

“Buhari cannot win elections in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina and, by that, become president.

“So, it seems as if these people had already planned mayhem because they thought that there was going to be a presidential run-off election.

“I do not see a pragmatic politician in a multicultural, multi-ethnic nation like Nigeria who will bank on winning just the northern states and then hope to call for a runoff election with whatever number of votes he gets there. Besides, nothing guaranteed that this man (Buhari) would win the 19 northern states.

Abdulraham went on: “He came in and saw too clearly that they were going to lose out with all those people that were gathering around during the presidential campaign

as well as all the talakawas of Kano. They deceived Buhari because he deceived them too.

“The calculation went wrong because many Kano people chose to vote for individuals, not particular political parties. For instance, in Kano, they wanted Abacha’s son to become governor; they wanted him.

“Kano people came out en masse to welcome Buhari because they were expecting Abacha’s son to become governor through CPC. However, Buhari cancelled the whole thing; he supported Jafaru Isa, a former governor. So the people just withdrew all the support from the CPC. “Now, I cannot understand how Buhari’s associate, like Buba Galadima, would be making a statement that the crises happened because people’s action was spontaneous at the time election results were released. The fact is that there was no election result when the violence started in several places.hx” ”It is likely that people like Galadima already knew that there was no way Buhari could have made it. Perhaps the only person that could have been very helpful to Buhari in the Southeast geopolitical zone was Chief Mike Ahamba, the lawyer who handled Buhari’s election petition in the past.

“The Buhari people said they did not want him as their party leader and they even said his exit was mere riddance of bad rubbish. After insulting the only notable easterner in their camp, they still thought they were going to get votes from there,” he said.

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

NEWS

• Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Dr Odumodu (middle) and Managing Director/CEO of Fidson Healthcare PLC Fidelis Ayebae ( fifth from right) during a visit

by SON’s top management to Fidson’s corporate headquatres in Lagos. With them are: management staff of Fidson and SON.

EU envoy knocks economy From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Yola

THE European Union (EU) Ambassador and the Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria, Dr. David Macrae said the country could be a force to reckon with, if it turned its potentials to reality through good governance, accountability and transparency.

He spoke at the American University of Nigeria (AUN) 3rd Commencement Ceremony in Yola, Adamawa State.

About 211 students graduated.

Macrae, who was conferred with a doctorate degree in Humane Letters, lamented the loss of lives of youth corpers to post presidential election violence that erupted in some parts of the north.

AUN President Margee Ensign charged the graduands to be of good conduct and contribute to the development of the nation.

NYSC call up letters to bear photographs From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

DIRECTOR-General of the National Youth Service Corps Scheme (NYSC) Brig. Gen. Maharazu Tsiga, at the weekend, said call-up letters for prosepective corps members will now bear their photographs.

He said this was part of the reasons for the upgrading of its computer centre.

Gen. Tsiga said this would help curb the incidence of fake corps members.

He said it would also help stop the activities of people who issue fake NYSC discharge certioficates.

He said: “This project is to complement our earlier attempts at encouraging proper record keeping and instilling the spirit of maintenance culture.”

IBB faults PDP over power sharing F

ORMER military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) has faulted leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over their inconsistencies on the principles of the zoning formula.

Babangida, who dropped his presidential ambition to support the endorsement of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as the consensus candidate of the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF), accused the PDP leaders of breaking zoning formula at will.

Faulting the leaders for sticking to the zoning principle after the just-concluded general elections, he queried why the party returned to a formula it earlier discarded for merit before the polls.

Babangida, who spoke through a statement signed by his spokesman, Kassim Afegbua, denied he was nursing the ambition of succeeding former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT).

He said there will be no hope for the country if those who double-speak, are made to preside over certain levels of government.

The national caucus of the had PDP last Tuesday re-

•Accuses party of inconsistency From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

tained the present zoning formula of the party.

The formula is as follows: President (South-South); Vice-President (North-West); Senate President (North Central); Speaker (South-West); Deputy Senate President (SouthEast); Deputy Speaker (NorthEast); National Chairman (North East); SGF (South-East); Senate Leader (South-West); House Leader (SouthSouth); Senate Chief Whip (North-West); and the House Chief Whip (South-East).

But Babangida said the retention of the formula amounted to double-speak.

The statement said: “General Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR has been watching with very keen interest the dimensions of political commentaries in the country in the last two weeks particularly after the conclusion of the general elections.

“Such observation has enabled him to see human inconsistencies and the dual role that people tend to play in the name of politics. He is

pained at heart to conclude that with the caliber and quality of those we have around at the political circle, the nation may just have to wait for another generation to get things right.

“One of the issues that convey his shock and surprise is that of zoning of political positions in the country. Following the heated debate that has enveloped the nation in the last one month on which zone to produce what position and vice-versa, General Babangida is wondering over some Nigerians’ ingenuous capacity to make a 360-degree u-turn on the issue of zoning.

“When the Northern Political Leaders’ Forum raised concerns over the zoning formula of the Peoples’ Democratic Party and the deliberate disobedience of that constitutional provision, some Nigerians called the body all manners of names.

“While some argued that zoning should be discarded and merit should be the subsisting criteria, the voice of those who stressed the importance of zoning was lost in the maddening crowd. After the elections, the music has suddenly

changed and the chorus is now zoning, zoning, zoning and zoning. How time heals.

“General Babangida is of the considered opinion that those who aspire to lead the country at different levels of government must come out with certain qualities that will portray them as patriotic and nationalistic.

“There will be no hope for the country if those who double-speak are made to preside over certain levels of government in the name of dubious politicking and zoning which they never believed in.

“The character indices of our leaders must be known at different times and levels.

Their elements must be visible and patriotic. Their conduct must be above pecuniary interest. And above all, their desperation must be checked within the ambit of law.

“If those who shouted hoax over the issue of zoning in the PDP yesterday, [saying as it were, that the party’s constitution could be jettisoned], are now made to be beneficiaries of zoning in the Party today, then we all are doomed as a nation.

• Babangida

“Those who shy away from such incontrovertible political requirement to put paid to all cries of marginalisation cannot simply wake up overnight to be beneficiaries of what they never believed in. In a democracy, we should learn to play by the rules no matter how painful it might be and no matter whose ox is gored.”

The former military leader denied rumours that he was scheming to become the chairman of the ruling party’s BOT. “Gen. IBB does not have any interest in the Chairmanship of the PDP Board of Trustees, whether now or in the foreseeable future,” he said.

ACN to Jonathan: stop systematic killing of our members

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ORRIED by last Friday’s murder of one of its stalwarts in Benue State, Charles Ayede, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to stop the on-going systematic elimination of its members and supporters in the Northcentral state.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who made the call in a statement, warned that it will not stand by and allow the killings to degenerate to genocide against people, whose only offence was the membership of the ACN. It said if President Jonathan is sincere about his muchquoted statement, that the

political ambition of anyone is not worth the blood of a fellow Nigerian, then he should step up to the plate today by taking measures to end such killings, even when the elections have ended.

The statement reads: “This is the time to tackle this issue, not when those being targeted decide to fight back and things get out of hand, and the government then resorts to setting up a panel to find the cause, as it happened after the post-election violence in several northern states.”

The party said Ayede’s gruesome murder fell into a pattern of threats and attacks against ACN members in Benue and that it was part of a campaign aimed at frustrating

the party’s decision to challenge the election of Governor Gabriel Suswan at the tribunal.

It said the campaign to frustrate ACN’s decision to tackle issues of electoral malfeasance at the various tribunals are also being carried out in Kwara State, where a court bailiff was beaten up by people suspected to be agents of the PDP-led state government when he went to serve a court order in the Government House. The party also alleged that all its billboards have been destroyed to show PDP’s displeasure at the court order.

ACN noted that the postelection killings and harassment have continued because the Federal Government that

should tackle them, have either chosen to look the other way, or feign ignorance, even before the election, citing the situation in Akwa Ibom, Taraba and Edo states.

It said: “In Akwa Ibom, many of our members were attacked and killed before the election, and such acts have not stopped even after the election. In Benue, several of our top members, including Young Alhaji and Gen. Lawrence Onoja (rtd), were attacked before the election.

“While both Young Alhaji and Onoja survived the attacks, Onoja’s personal assistant was killed. In Edo, one of our Senatorial candidates also lost his personal aide when he was attacked.

‘’It is glaring that these attacks and killings are statesponsored. That is why the police have not been able to stop them. Or will the Inspector-General of Police claim he is not aware of these dastardly acts? Can the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS) also claim ignorance? Are those being killed no longer Nigerians just because they belong to the ACN? It is time to investigate these killings with the aim of stopping them. ‘’We do not want to believe that President Jonathan will only be concerned about violence when it is perpetrated against his party, the PDP. After all, he is the President of Nigeria, not that of the PDP.”

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

Akiolu hails post-election violence panel

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HE Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, has commended President Goodluck Jonathan for setting up a panel to investigate the post-election violence.

He gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Ijebu-Ode. Akinolu who was at the inauguration of a multi-million Naira extension project of the Awujale of Ijebuland’s palace said the move was in the right direction.

“The outcome of the investigation by the panel will enable government to know the cause of the violence and prevent future re-occurrence,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the postelection violence had claimed many lives, including those of 10 corps members in Bauchi state.

Akinolu berated those who described the setting up of the panel as illegal.

“Those who say the setting up of the panel to investigate the crisis is illegal are not saying the right thing. Whenever crisis happen, it is important to know what led to it so that government can find a solution to it.

“My stand is that the perpetrators of the violence should be unmasked and punished according to the law. It is criminal and against the will of God for anyone to kill his fellow human being,” he said.

Akiolu who described the killing of the 10 corps members as unfortunate however said scrapping the NYSC scheme was not necessary.

The monarch explained that government should rather ensure more security for the corps members wherever they are posted.

•Oba Akiolu

Northern CAN rejects Lemu panel on violence

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HE Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), yesterday rejected the composition of the 22-man panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the post election violence in parts of the North, saying the neutrality of the panel chairman is in doubt.

In a statement by its Chairman and Secretary, Bishop Peter Jatau and Elder Saidu Dogo, CAN said a as retired Grand Khadi, the views of Justice Lemu on Christianity makes his chairmanship of the panel suspect.

The association lamented that in composing the panel, the leadership of CAN was never consulted to make impute on Christian representation, neither was any Christian from the affected states appointed into the commit-

•Flays appointment of Islamic cleric as chair From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

tee.

The association noted that the president has not made the right choice of people to carry out the assignment aimed at putting an end to the unfortunate bloody crisis that has continued to reoccur in the north.

The Christian body also argued that at 82, Justice Lemu may not have the physical and mental capacity to carry out the task, pointing out that the hope of the body that the government will get to the root of the crisis has been dampened.

The CAN statement reads: “The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 Northern states and Abuja wish to commend President Goodluck Jonathan for keep-

ing up to his promise to set up a judicial panel to investigate the bloody killings and destruction of property of innocent Nigerians in some Northern states after the April presidential election, .

“The constitution of a 22man panel which Mr. President recently inaugurated has proven that he is determined to ensure that the perpetrators of the barbaric act are fished out and brought to justice.

“However, we observed with utmost disappointed the appointment of an Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmed Lemu as the chairman of the panel.

“Going by Lemu’s antecedents and his perception about Christianity, we do not believe that Mr. President has made the right choice in this important assignment which is aimed at putting an end to

the bloody crises that has continued to bedevil the north.

“Lemu, as Grand Khadi, and as one of the brains behind the introduction of the Sharia legal system which caused serious upheaval and killings in the North is not qualified to chair such important panel charged with the responsibility of addressing this very sensitive issue.

“The truth is that Nigerians know those who always start the killings and burning of houses and churches in Nigeria. The government too cannot pretend not to know those who started this massacre. In this sense, we wish to state categorically that Sheikh Lemu is an interested party in this matter and therefore his neutrality in this matter is in question.

“Besides, at 82, we wonder

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Court throws out suit against Senate, NDIC, EFCC

By Eric Ikhilae

•Vice-President, Ifelodun Society, First Baptist Church, Ikeja, Lagos Mr. Abiodun Oke (second right) presenting a card to the chairman of MicCom Wires and Cables, Prince Tunde Ponnle and his wife, Comfort at their 46th wedding anniversary at the PHOTO: ABIDOUN WILLIAM MicCom House, Ogudu, Lagos...yesterday

House members-elect split over new Speaker ESPITE the intervention of Vice-President Namadi Sambo, there were strong indications yesterday that new members-elect of the House of Representatives are split over the choice of Speaker.

The development has caused anxiety in the presidency which is determined to ensure a smooth take-off for the 7th National Assembly.

The new members need to choose between Muraina Suabana Ajibola and Mulikat Adeola as their new Speaker.

Although the Southwest PDP has adopted Ajibola as its candidate, Adeola is going ahead with her campaign.

Apart from the two gladiators being in Kano for campaign and retreat, they have been moving round the country for support.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that despite the fact that the Vice-President met with some House

whether Lemu still has the physical and mental capacity to carry out this very tasking assignment. Our hope that the government will get to the root of the crisis has been dampened by the appointment of Sheikh Lemu. We therefore reject the composition of the panel.

“It is rather unfortunate that in raising the panel, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) was never consulted to make input on Christian representation.

“Again, no Christian from Kaduna, Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, Borno, Niger and Zamfara states where the violence took place are represented on the panel. We call on the Federal Government to consider reconstituting the panel with a neutral and unbiased chairman”.

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

members-elect on Saturday on the focus of President Goodluck Jonathan to have a stable democracy, they were still split on who to choose as the new Speaker.

It was learnt that Sambo was on a ‘tactical’ mission to present the mindset of the presidency on the new Speaker as Ajibola was later allowed to address the gathering before the Vice-President took his exit.

But the trouble shooting mission of Sambo has not prevented the split among members-elect as some of them were against imposition of candidates.

A source said: “There is anxiety in the presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party that the new members-elect may not adopt the candidate of the South-West PDP. “This is the only office the presidency and the PDP have

not built a consensus for. This is unlike the Senate Presidency.

“Ajibola is no doubt the official candidate of the Presidency but how to secure the majority support for him is a challenge. In fact, Ajibola met with President Goodluck Jonathan during his recent retreat in Obudu Cattle Ranch.

Yet, the President cannot impose him, he can only lobby.

“It has been difficult for the Presidency and the PDP to prevail on Mulikat to step down for Ajibola. Even a few days ago, Ajibola had talks with Mulikat without any success.

“That is why some loyalists of the President in the National Assembly, including a returnee House member from Bayelsa State, are coordinating Ajibola’s campaign.

“The problem is mainly from members-elect from the North-East, the North-West and the North-Central that have not made up their mind

on who to support.

“I think the North-East Caucus is not happy that the presidency and the PDP leadership have not shown enough commitment to the zone’s agitation for the Office of the Deputy Speaker.

“Members from the NorthEast are suspecting Ajibola for trying to cause division in the North by planning to concede the Office of the Deputy Speaker to the North-West.

“The antecedent of Mulikat as a Northern girl is also compounding the game plan. Mulikat, who speaks Hausa fluently, was born and bred in Kaduna and she is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria . So, some lawmakers from the North see her as one of their own.

“I think the buck still stops at the table of the Presidency to put its house in order as far as the Deputy Speaker is concerned. Once this issue is not clearly resolved, the presiden-

cy may not make it with Ajibola.”

As at press time, female groups and lawmakers have also been lobbying the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan to give Mulikat a chance.

A returnee lawmaker from the South-West said: “We are trying to reach out to all groups and leaders for Mulikat not only because she is a woman but due to the fact that she is competent and she has what it takes to be a speaker.

“We have reached out to our Northern colleagues and we know that they are enlightened enough to support Mulikat who has the temperament, integrity and character to occupy that office.

“We are calling on the First Lady to join the lobbying group for Mulikat, who will not disappoint the nation. She was an activist in the university with a rare focus. Unfortunately, some of our leaders only talk of gender factor.”

A FEDERAL High Court in Lagos has struck out a suit by a Lagos socialite Angela Onyeador and her company, Enta Associates Limited against the Senate, Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Onyeador had challenged her inclusion in the list of debtors of the failed banks by the Senate and sought N1.5 billion exemplary and aggravated damages against the defendants as.

Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Mohammed Idris said his decision to strike the case out was informed by the suit’s incompetence having not complied with the provision of Order two of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009.

The judge held that the suit was particularly incompetent because its originating summons was not accompanied with a supporting affidavit as required under the Fundamental Rights Rules.

He further held that the suit’s incompetence denied the court the jurisdiction to go into the substantive case.

He awarded a N50,000 cost against the plaintiff.

Hope for widows BRIGHT Hope for Widows Initiative (BHFWI), a nongovernmental organisation, is to be inaugurated as part of the activities marking the 50th birthday of its founder Dr. Foluke Morohunmubo Omosehin.

Dr. Omosehin is a lecturer in the Department of Social Studies, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin, Lagos.

The objective of the BHFWI is touching the lives and providing support for widows.

Dr. Omosehin who hails from Igbajo in Osun state, was born in Oyo in 1961. She attended the University of Ibadan where she bagged her chain of degrees

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

NEWS

Oyo ACN, Alao-Akala disagree over alleged last-minute looting O

Mimiko hails Army

•Monarch laments increase in fraud

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S the outgoing administration of Oyo State Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala looting the treasury?

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) alleged it is.

But Alao-Akala denied the allegation, describing it as frivolous.

In a statement by its Secretary, Wasiu Olatubosun, Oyo State ACN said: “It is to the knowledge of the public that the outgoing administration of Alao-Akala would go down in the history of Oyo State as the most corrupt ever, but events in the last few days have indicated that there is a grand plan to completely ground the state and ensure

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

that the in-coming administration does not succeed, even as the governor-elect, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has indicated his resolve to fix the state socially, economically and politically in no time.

“Our party has been inundated with various reports of illegal withdrawals from state accounts, diversion of fertiliser stock, conversion of public properties to private assets, increased sponsorship of foreign trips for political office holders and “cooperating” career officers, among other illegal activities capable of milking the state dry.

“We call on relevant officials of the state, principal staff of commercial banks and other financial institutions to steer clear of any questionable order or arrangement aimed at stealing public funds further, as culprits and their accomplices shall be made to face the full wrath of the law sooner than expected.”

Denying the allegation in a statement by his spokesman, Prince Dotun Oyelade, Alao-Akala said: “The allegations are frivolous and baseless. Why is the ACN fretting over illegal withdrawal of funds while it is quiet about various daily deposits into government accounts? This

government will run and perform its duties till May 28.

“On the issue of fertilisers, ACN dwelled on half information.

Government attention was called to a fertiliser purchase that had not been paid for. Government has ensured that a balance of N8 million will be paid to its coffers by Wednesday and 248 bags returned to the government’s warehouse.

“No government property has been personalised and the in-coming administration needs not get too excited until it gets to power two weeks from now, during which it will be at liberty to go on a wild goose chase.”

NDO State Governor Olusegun Mimiko has praised officers and men of the Armed Forces for their contributions to the success of last month’s elections.

Mimiko spoke in Akure, the state capital, at the weekend, while hosting the Commander, 32 Artillery Brigade, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Brig.-Gen. Modibbo Alkali.

He said the neutrality of security agencies restored the hope of Nigerians in democracy.

Mimiko said: “The success of the April elections, particularly in Ondo State, was due largely to the professional way the security forces comported themselves. One cannot but be proud of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

“I thank the Chief of Army Staff and other members of the Nigerian Armed Forces for making Nigeria proud.

The whole world is applauding Nigeria for the first time. Although it’s not perfect yet, there is no doubt that the last elections have rekindled a new hope in Nigerians.”

Brig.-Gen. Alkali, who was on a tour of formations

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

under his Command, thanked Mimiko for his commitment to the welfare of officers and men of the Army in the state.

Also at the weekend, the Deji of Akure, Oba Adebiyi Adesida, urged the Police to curb the rising spate of fraud in the state.

Oba Adesida spoke at his palace while hosting the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sani Magaji.

He said a fraudulent group known as 60 by 120 had been demanding royalties on his behalf from owners of new buildings.

Oba Adesida said: “I never instructed anyone to collect money from anybody that is building a house in Akure. Those extorting money from innocent people are not from the palace.

“The police needs to rise to the challenge and apprehend these fraudsters. They are a threat to the society and must not be allowed to go unpunished. That would deter others from venturing into similar dastardly acts.”

Magaji assured the monarch that the criminals would be apprehended.

African students honour Afe Babalola From Damisi Ojo, Akure

•From left: Class teacher, Pacelli School for the Blind, Mr Abeeb Owonikoko; Project Manager, Arm of Joy Foundation, Mr Umesi Jacob; Principal, Pacelli School for the Blind, Rev. Sister Benedicta Ogike and a primary six pupil and winner of a Quiz competition, Master John Adayi, during a visit and donation of gifts to the school by the Foundation in conjunction with Poise PHOTO:ADEJO DAVID Nigeria...at the weekend

Ogun private schools protest alleged exploitation by govt

HE National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) in Ogun State has protested an alleged plan by the government to collect N100 per pupil in primary six from the association as a prerequisite for placement in public secondary schools.

NAPPS said the alleged levy amounts to “asking minors to pay education tax.”

Members of the Association marched to Iwe–Iroyin, the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abeokuta, the state

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•Govt: it’s false •JSCE postponed From Nwokolo Ernest, Abeokuta

capital at the weekend.

They said with about 4, 000 private schools in the state , the levy would amount to about N12 million.

NAPPS’s President Alhaja Basirat Alimi said: “Parents pay tax. Schools equally pay money to the government.

Introducing N100 placement fees is asking minors to pay tax. It is unheard of.”

The association threatened to boycott the Junior School Certificate Examination (JSCE) scheduled for today, if the Ministry of Education does not postpone it.

Alhaja Alimi said: “The present academic session had been interrupted by strike, voters’ registration, the just concluded elections and the extended holiday.

The scheduled examination, if allowed to commence,

implies testing students on work yet to be covered by schools.”

Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Elder Yemi Akinwonmi debunked the allegation.

He said: “On the issue of N100 placement levy, there is no government circular to that effect and the ministry does not intend to introduce this.

“Government has postponed the JSCE in view of prevailing situations. It will now hold between June 1 and 8 with only three papers per day.”

Fayemi hails new OAU VC •Legislators-elect urged to be accountable

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OVERNOR Kayode Fayemi has lauded the appointment of an Ekiti State indigene, Prof.

Tale Omole, as the Vice Chancellor (VC) of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State.

Omole, who hails from Oye-Ekiti in Oye local government, was a member of the Ekiti Education Summit and Visitation Panel.

In a congratulatory letter yesterday, Fayemi said: “This appointment is a confirmation of your pedigree as an outstanding scholar with robust managerial skills, whose rich experience would uphold the great virtues of

By Yinka Aderibigbe

the ‘Great Ife’.

“I’m confident that you have what it takes to build on these virtues and provide virile leadership that would push the university to a greater height of academic excellence with global exploits.

“The tasks are truly challenging but certainly not insurmountable for a person made of your stuff.

“On behalf of the government and the good people of Ekiti State, please accept my hearty congratulations on this well-deserved elevation.”

Also yesterday, newlyelected members of the National and House of Assemblies from the state were urged not to execute projects during their tenures to ensure transparency and accountability.

This is one of the high points of a communiqué issued at the end of a retreat for the lawmakers-elect at Royal Parks Hotel, IlokoIjesa, Osun State.

The communiqué said it is not the duty of legislators to execute projects but to supervise them.

The legislators-elect were warned against ostentatious lifestyles and urged to spon-

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HE All African Students’ Union (AASU) has named renowned lawyer and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, (ABUAD), Ekiti State, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), “African Man of the year 2011.”

During the ceremony at the weekend at ABUAD campus , AASU Secretary-General Olufemi Lawson and the union’s representative in Nigeria, Mr. Yinka Dallas, said it was in honour of Babalola’s contributions to the development of education in Africa.

They praised him for living an exemplary life and emancipating the poor. Lawson said: “Our choice of Babalola for this honour is to promote our values in education and defend the African culture of leadership with integrity.

“While many other leaders are preoccupied with inordinate ambitions, quest to acquire billions, private jets, skyscrapers and mansions, Babalola dedicate his time and hard earned resources to human capacity development and the welfare of the downtrodden masses.

“This vision has given hope to the younger generation for a brighter future.”

Dedicating the award to the staff and students of ABUAD, Babalola said he would continue to contribute to human development.

He said the establishment of ABUAD, the first private university in Ekiti State, was to impact knowledge and mould characters for a better Nigeria. Babalola bemoaned the falling standard of education and urged AASU leadership to advocate for non-profit-oriented university education in Nigeria.

He said: “Nigerian education is getting worse by the day and we have to do something about it. What you are doing today is intended to send a message to rich Nigerians to make life more comfortable for the ordinary man.

“I’m delighted that these young people decided that I’m the person that qualifies for this award. It shows that the younger generation is watching our efforts and the ripples will certainly go far.”

ABUAD Vice Chancellor Prof. Sidi Osho said the discipline among students and high standard of education in the school was proof that privatisation of Nigerian universities would not debase education.

Ondo tribunal begins sitting today •Fayemi

sor bills that will impact on good governance.

Participants included Fayemi; his deputy, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka; retired bureaucrats and community leaders from the state.

The keynote speech was delivered by the Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora.

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HE Ondo State threeman Election Petitions Tribunal will today in Akure, the state capital, hold its inaugural sitting at the premises of the State High Court.

Four petitions are before the tribunal.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Ondo South senatorial candidate, former Governor Olusegun Agagu, are challenging the

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

victory of Mr. Boluwaji Kunlere of the Labour Party (LP).

PDP House of Representatives candidate in Ilaje/EseOdo Agboola Ajayi is challenging the victory of Raphel Nomiye of LP. PDP House of Representatives candidate in Idanre/ Ifedore Jones Akinyugha is also questioning the victory of LP’s Bakare Moshood.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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NEWS

‘Rule barring new senators from principal offices unconstitutional’

‘Appointments ‘ll be on members’ contributions’

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WARA State Governor Bukola Saraki has advocated the adoption of contributions of party members and constituencies as criteria for political appointments in the formation of a new government.

He said this would ensure party discipline among members.

The governor-elect, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has assured that the constitution of his administration would be guided by party framework to ensure party discipline.

Saraki spoke at the weekend at the Government House in Ilorin, the state capital, when he received the reports of last month’s elections from members of the Mandate Continuity Campaign Organisation, led by its chairman, Prof. Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem.

He said those seeking political appointments under the incoming administration had been directed to return to their constituencies.

The governor said there was need for a transparent process in the formation of the new executive council, adding that only people who can effectively hold the party flag in their constituencies would be appointed into key positions.

The import of this, he said, was to ensure that the gov-

A

T •Saraki ernment had a discipline approach on appointments so that the 2015 elections would be much easier for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Saraki said: “There is need to emphasise the importance of having a process that is transparent; recognise the people who are respected in their constituencies; people who have contributed and can hold the party flag effectively in their constituencies, as criteria in the issue of appointments.

“We should start now with the right appointments if we want the 2015 elections to be a walk-over for the party in the state.”

A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Mas’ud Adebimpe, said Saraki urged the party to prepare for the next elections, noting that this reflect in the way appointments are made.

HE Senator-elect for Ekiti Central Senatorial District Mr. Babafemi Ojudu, at the weekend condemned the Senate Rule which bars fresh senators from holding principal offices.

He said the rule lacked the backing of the Constitution, adding that its proponents were serving selfish interests.

Ojudu, who is of the Action COngress of nigeria (ACN) addressed reporters in AdoEkiti, the Ekiti State capital, at Media Platform, a programme organised by the local Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

He said: “They (proponents of the rule) should come up with the sections of the Constitution where it is stated that

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

some posts in the Assembly are the indefeasible rights of only the returning or the experienced senators and that newly elected senators are unfit for such posts.

“The Constitution overrides any standing rule or order. So, the action of the senators is selfish and cannot stand. Even some of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators - I mean both the new and old will soon challenge the action that was meant to railroad the members into taking action that is against their wishes.

“The Constitution does not discriminate against Nigerians. I expected the senators to

have resorted to persuasion rather than this arm-twisting tactic.”

Ojudu expressed regrets over the killing of some National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in the postelection violence in parts of the North, canvassing military training for corps members to enable them handle the types of mayhem witnessed in the last elections.

He said: “I also want to say that the N5 million (compensation) offered to the families of the slain youths is shameful in all regards. Is this saying the amount represents what it would mean for the corps members to be alive with their families today?”

Stolen car

TOYOTA Camry, with registration number, (Lagos) JY944EKY, belonging to Mr Toyin Adeyeri, was stolen in Lagos yesterday.

It was painted grey and its engine number is 5S6261783 and chasis number, 4T1BG22KXVU125193, at the time it was stolen.

Anyone with information on the car should contact the nearest police station.

Ugba accuses Suswam of attack on his convoy •Governor: count me out

Oyo ACN celebrates victory

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CORES of members of the Oyo State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at the weekend in Ibadan, the state capital, celebrated last month’s governorship election victory, which its candidate Senator Abiola Ajimobi won.

Some chieftains of the party prayed to God for the victory over the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate and Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala.

They were hosted by the former Secretary to the Oyo State Government (SSG), Mr Sarafadeen Alli.

Present were a former lawmaker in the House of Assembly, Sakirullahi Fajimi; Alhaji Akilapa Lawal and a community leader, Comrade Muse Popoola, among others.

Ali thanked God for the victory and expressed appre-

Nigeria guilty of unlawful killings, slow judicial system, says Amnesty

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From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

ciation to the members for their hard work and endurance.

He noted that the incoming Ajimobi administration would transform the Pace Setter State to greatness, adding that Oyo would have new infrastructural facelift, educational upliftment, health revitalisation and rural development.

Alli told reporters that it was unthinkable that the state could degenerate into its present level in the hands of the outgoing PDP government.

He said the incoming administration cannot afford to fail the people, adding that Oyo would have accelerated development under the Ajimobi administration.

SLOW, under funded judicial system, congested prisons and human rights violations by the police and unlawful killings are the highlights of the Amnesty International’s 2011 annual report on Nigeria.

According to the worldwide report released at the weekend by the human rights body, the situation in the Niger Delta deteriorated while human rights defenders and journalists continued to face harassment.

It also detailed violence against women which remained widespread while “torture and other ill treatment and enforced disappearances” persisted.

Although the report said “no executions were reported” during the period, it said “prisons remained overcrowded, the majority of inmates were pre trial detainees. Approximately 920 people were on death row.” The report also highlighted the killings by the Boko Haram sect. See full report tomorrow.

The senator-elect said paramilitary training for the corps members would help them during distress.

He advocated an insurance scheme for the corps members to enable them get good compensation, in case of death, and to increase their dedication and patriotism during their service.

He said some senators-elect would challenge the government action in court before the inauguration of the seventh Senate, adding that the Constitution does not support class differences among federal lawmakers.

Ojudu canvassed handsome compensation for road accident victims because of what he described as the Federal Government’s inexcusable neglect of the highways which has caused the death of many citizens and foreigners.

He said it was necessary for the Federal Government to collate statistics of road accidents’ victims and compensate the families of the dead and those who might have suffered other losses in handsome measures.

Ojudu maintained that it was necessary to wakeup the Federal Government to its responsibility of maintaining the roads and for it to accept the responsibility for the lives that are wasted on the many ill-maintained roads.

B •Taiye Feyisayo Osisoye and Oluwafemi Adedayo Adedeji cutting the giant cake at their PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID wedding receptionat LTV 8, Ikeja, Lagos…at the weekend.

IMF chief Strauss-Kahn charged with attempted rape Continued from page 2

Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister and member of France’s opposition Socialist Party, has consistently been among the most popular possible candidates to contest France’s 2012 presidential election.

President Nicholas Sarkozy would have trailed Strauss-Kahn by five per cent points in the first round of the presidential voting if the election had been held at the end of last month, a CSA poll for 20 Minutes newspaper, BFM Television and RMC radio showed on April 28.

Strauss-Kahn, whose term at the IMF expires next year, had declined to say whether he was planning to run for president. The vote will be held in April and May 2012.

Any prospect of getting elected has now has vanished, said Laurent Dubois of the Paris Political Studies Institute. “It’s a tsunami,” Dubois said in a phone in-

terview. “There is no way he can recover from this and run for president.”

This is the second time since he took the helm of the IMF in November 2007 that Strauss-Kahn has faced allegations of misconduct.

In 2008, he had a relationship with Piroska Nagy, a female economist at the IMF, who quit in August of that year. An investigation by the IMF board, released in October 2008, concluded that while he had made a “serious error of judgment,” he shouldn’t be fired.

Strauss-Kahn apologised to his staff and family, which includes his third wife, French television journalist Anne Sinclair, and four children from his previous marriages. ”For fund critics and challengers of Western leadership in international financial institutions, this is emblematic of poor judgment and may further motivate them to call for serious changes in management,”

Momani said.

Last month, officials from the Group of 24, which includes Brazil, China and Mexico, repeated a call for “an open, transparent, merit-based process” for choosing the heads of the World Bank and IMF, “without regard to nationality.”

The IMF job is traditionally held by a European, while an American leads the World Bank.

Strauss-Kahn took the helm of the IMF in November 2007, following his loss in the primaries of the French Socialist Party ahead of the 2007 presidential elections.

Strauss-Kahn, who succeeded Spain’s Rodrigo Rato, has helped reshape the agency’s mission and restored its relevance.

When he arrived, its emergency lending dropped to $58.7 million in 2006 from $66.4 billion in 2002.

Among his first moves there was to cut about 400 jobs.

ENUE State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate in last month’s election, Prof. Torkuma Ugba has alleged that he was the target when his convoyed was waylaid on Makurdi-Lafia road by unknown gunmen and his aide, Charles Ayede, killed on the spot.

Ugba accused Governor Gabriel Suswam of masterminding the attack, saying the governor wanted to silence him before hearing begins on his petition at the elections tribunal.

But Suswam denied the allegation, saying it was meant to tarnish his reputation.

The governor said he would not plan to kill anyone, adding that he was away in Nasarawa State when the attack occurred.

Addressing reporters in Makurdi, the state capital, Ugba said if anyone was in doubt that Suswam and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had put the ACN under siege, the killing of Ayede had cleared the doubt.

He berated the Police Command for turning blind eye to ACN’s cries when the ruling PDP allegedly killed some ACN members.

Ugba said: “I was the main target of the attack because I am the governorship candidate of the ACN, which won the April 26 governorship election stolen by Suswam in connivance with dubious INEC officials.”

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

NEWS

Auditors uncover N2.8b ‘fraud’ in UNAD

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TEAM of auditors has allegedly uncovered the mismanagement of internally generated revenue at the University of AdoEkiti (UNAD), Ekiti State.

The auditors allegedly discovered that of the N4.9 billion internally generated revenue (IGR), N2.8 billion could not be accounted for.

The auditors, said a source, also discovered that the university is owing the state government N1.6 billion tax, which was deducted from salaries of the workers in the institution and from contracts awarded in the school.

They said the N4.9 billon was generated between 2009 and May 2011 when Prof.

Dipo Kolawole was the vice-

•’It’s not true’ From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

chancellor, adding that UNAD is owing the Federal Government N500 million withholding tax.

The team of auditors was also alleged to claim that Kolawole installed a private elevator in his office at the cost of N70 million without the approval of the university’s governing council.

He was also alleged to have constructed a new gate for the school at N60 million, without the approval or knowledge of the governing council.

Kolawole yesterday de-

nied the allegations, saying they were all made up to bring him to disrepute.

Kolawole said: “I have never been involved in any manner of financial mismanagement either in the school or elsewhere. All contracts executed during my tenure had the approval of the university governing council.

Whoever is in doubt concerning financial transactions during my tenure should verify details with the school’s bursar.”

The Special Adviser (Media) to the Governor, Alhaji Mojeed Jamiu, confirmed that some auditors were auditing the financial dealings of the erstwhile administration but had not submitted their report.

Two charged with murder of Nigerian boy in London

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WO teenagers will today be charged with the murder of a Nigerian teenager, Temidayo Ogunneye, who was stabbed to death in a street in Camberwell, south London.

Ogunneye is the fifth teen to be stabbed to death in London this year Kieron Carew-Donaldson, 18, of Brixton, and Darius Kwakye, 18, of Camberwell, are to be charged with the murder. They will also face another two counts of rob-

bery, Scotland Yard said.

They will appear in custody at Sutton Magistrates’ court.

Temidayo, who lived with his family in Peckham, south London, was pronounced dead at 10.30pm on Wednesday - six hours after he was taken to hospital.

Police have said he was robbed of his BlackBerry phone about two hours before he was murdered in Cormont Road.

A post-mortem examination

gave cause of death as loss of blood from stabbing injuries.

A third boy, who was arrested on suspicion of murder, was released on Thursday with no further action.

A fourth teenage boy was arrested that day on suspicion of murder. He has since been bailed until a later date in May. On Saturday, a 17-year-old girl was arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody in a south London police station.

Atiku cautions Fed Govt against scrapping NYSC

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ORMER Vice-President Atiku Abubakar yesterday cautioned the Federal Government against scrapping the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

He however, called for a review of the scheme.

Atiku, in a statement by his Media Office in Abuja, said since the introduction of NYSC in 1973, the scheme has enabled young men and women to appreciate the ethnic and cultural diversity of the country, thereby significantly helping them re-think their prejudices and promoting their understanding.

Atiku said with the NYSC,

From Sanni Ologun, Abuja

many graduates have remarkably managed to perceive their country more broadmindedly.

He said no country that went through a civil war should take unity for granted by dismantling NYSC, gains, which among others include forging unity even in diversity.

“No right-thinking person should recommend the abolition of the programme because of the misguided actions of political thugs who are ruled by emotion rather than reason. You don’t decapitate

• Atiku

yourself to cure a headache,” Atiku said.

He criticised the legal action instituted by some persons to scrap NYSC, noting that no nation should formulate or reverse its policies out of sentiments.

Dignitaries praise Awujale at palace extension

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UBJECTS of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, at the weekend, celebrated the inauguration of the multi-million Naira extension of his palace.

The inauguration also commemorated the 77th birthday and 51st coronation anniversary of the paramount ruler.

The Awujale, born on May 10, 1934, became king at 26 in January 1960.

The palace extension named “Oba Sikiru Adetona Golden Jubilee Centre” is a replica of a mini-stadium and has a 5,000-sitting capacity.

It also has office space, restaurant, museum, archive, social event hall and parade ground for the annual Ojude Oba festival.

Eminent personalities witnessed the ceremony. They

extolled the virtues of Adetona, describing him as a courageous, trustworthy, loyal and forthright royal father.

In his speech, the chairman of the occasion, Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos commended the Awujale for his developmental vision for Ijebuland.

Akiolu, who described the edifice as impressive and monumental, prayed God to grant the Awujale long life so as to enjoy his hard-earned labour.

“It is only a visionary leader like Awujale that can put in place this kind of edifice. I am proud of him and it is my prayer that more of this impressive project will be executed in his life time.

“I cherish his fatherly role because he does not tell lies and that was why before I became Oba of Lagos I prayed to God to make me emulate his good character and qual-

ity leadership on the throne,’’ he said.

Governor Gbenga Daniel said the palace extension was a symbolic reference of the Awujale and the throne he represents.

Daniel also described the completion and inauguration of the edifice as a demonstration of the quality leadership the Awujale has given to his subjects.

Oba Adetona thanked all his subjects, who contributed to the completion of the project.

The Awujale also thanked Daniel for his moral and financial support.

A former military administrator of the state, Gen. Oladipo Diya (rtd.), described the edifice as impressive, adding that it was one of the many achievements by the Awujale.

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

NEWS Committee for inauguration

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HE Rivers State Government has set-up a planning committee for the swearing-in of Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

The committee, which has the Commissioner for Finance, George Feyii as Chairman, is made up of 90 members drawn from all sectors of the society.

A statement by Amaechi’s Acting Chief Press Secretary Blessing Wikina said the committee has the Registrar of University of Port Harcourt, Mrs Matilda Nnodim as Secretary.

Wikina said the committee would be formally inaugurated by the Deputy Governor, Tele Ikuru, today at the Government House.

Uduaghan advises civil servants

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ELTA State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has urged civil servants to be agents of positive change and growth.

Uduaghan gave the advice at the swearing in of 11 Permanent Secretaries, at the weekend.

He said the Civil Service has remained a vehicle for the translation of government programmes and policies into reality.

His words: “I will like civil servants to see themselves as agents of change.

“I, therefore, call on all civil servants to make quality service and transparency their watch-word.”

The Permanent Secretaries include: Cyril Chuma Agbele; Mrs. Julie Yom; Dr Daniel Omodon; Mr. Felix Okobi; Samuel Okolie and Matthew Ukey.

Others are: Peter Nkenchor; Alex Ukubeyinye; Stephen Ishoka; Kingdom Amukoyo and Eric Ebiuwa.

Why buildings collapse in Nigeria, by housing minister T HE Minister of Land, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Nduese Essien, has explained why there are frequent cases of buildings collaspe in the country.

Essien said the town planning departments were no longer performing their duty as laid down by the law.

He spoke in Abuja at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Peoples forum.

T he minister said government would revisit the process of approving building plans.

He also disclosed that President Goodluck Jonathan is not comfortable with housing delivery in the country, adding that: “Some years ago, we used to have town planning departments that would give approval for every building in the city but for some time now the town planning departments are no longer performing

•’President not comfortable with housing delivery’ From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

that function. They just stay wherever they are and give approval without studying the design or location of the houses. That is why we have ended up with several collapse buildings. The buildings that are collapsing are not the old buildings, they are the new ones that have not gone through proper process.

“What we need to do is to revisit the process of approval building planning to our people. I am not comfortable with housing delivery in Nigeria ; President Goodluck Jonathan is also not comfortable. That is why he created the Ministry of

Land, Housing and Urban Development to refocus on housing delivery and we have started addressing the problems. This will also be possible with the next budget he will be presenting to the National Assembly.

There is hope for all Nigerians on this.”

Essien added: “We are trying to build more houses.

The Land Use Act has been of concern to this administration right from 2007. The Land Use Act has been a major impediment to access to land and the issue of land title has been a very rigorous and difficult to get land titles in Nigeria.

“When we got in to office in April last year, we inher-

ited a backlog of unsigned land titles from year 2007, 2008, 2009 and in 2010. But within the period, we have been able to clear the backlog. I have so far signed 2, 165 land titles, C of Os of people who had applied many years ago. We have discovered that with this there has been some little ease to Federal Government owned land.

“At the state level, it is still an up hilled task for the governors to have time to sit down and sign the document for Nigerians. So very soon the Land Use Act and its problems will be addressed by the National Assembly with the bill that has been sent.”

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

S

THE Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Hope Hall Parish, will on May 29, hold a special thanksgiving service tagged: ‘African Praise’.

The service will hold at the indoor sports hall of the National Stadium, Surulere at 8a.m.

Pastor Supo Oluwasakin said the church decided on the service to celebrate with the nation and to thank God for His grace and mercies.

He said: “Against many worries and doubts with respect to the just concluded general elections, God saw the nation through the period of voting for new leaders.

“And in spite of pockets of challenges, He has taken the nation to another level of democracy. And we can only show our gratitude to God as people of this great country, by having a very special praise time in God’s presence.”

There will be free transportation of intending worshippers at at Orile, Ajegunle, and Aguda bus-stops.

Tinubu, ACN congratulated

Southsouth Senators back Mark, Ekweremadu OUTHsouth Senators yesterday threw their weight behind the retention of Senators David Mark and Ike Ekweremadu as the Senate President and Deputy Senate President.

This brings to three the number of zones that have promised their votes for Mark in the past three days. The Northcentral and the Southeast caucuses had already announced their support.

Addressing reporters at the National Assembly, Deputy Senate Leader Victor NdomaEgba said the zone endorsed Mark and Ekweremadu because of their track record.

He said: “They have led the most remarkable tenure since 1999. They have brought dignity to their offices. They would be needed for continuity. More so as Nigerians are awaiting dividends of democracy, there is need for a strong senate to achieve all these.”

At the conference yesterday were Senators James Manager, Alloysious Etuk, Emmanuel Paulker, Odion Ugbesia and George Thompson Sekibo and new senators-elect including Helen Esuene, Dr. Okowa, Pius Ewheredo and Hon. Eta Enang.

‘African Praise’ for May 29

Delta State Deputy Governor Prof Amos Utuama (SAN) presenting staff of office to the Odio of Emevor, His Royal Majesty Francis Onovughakpor Ekama, at Emevor…at the weekend

Kidnap suspect lynched in Edo

A

KIDNAP suspect was yesterday lynched by a mob in Benin, the Edo State capital.

The man was said to be a member of a four-man gang that kidnapped a woman inside a church.

Sources said the gang kidnapped their victim about 9:30am inside the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witness opposite Air Force

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

Primary School in Oko along Airport Road.

They said one of the suspects was worshipping with them before others came with arms and asked after their victim who was identified as their member.

They said: “The woman, Mrs. Imanakhue, was dragged out of the church

and her Honda Civic car was used as a get away car.

“They were checking faces until they saw her. One of the kidnappers worshipping with us stood up and joined them. They were armed with sophisticated weapons.”

The kidnappers ran out of luck when policemen pursued them. They engaged the policemen in a gun battle, abandoning

their weapons and their victim.

The victim was, however, shot and is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.

One of the kidnappers shot was found hiding at an uncompleted building in the area was lynched by the mob.

Police spokesman Peter Ogboi said he was yet to be briefed.

Omehia to inspect ballot materials

T

HE Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) to allow the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance party (APGA), Sir Celestine Omehia, to in-

From Clarice Azuatalam, Port Harcourt

spect all the ballot papers and documents used in the 4,441 polling units.

The tribunal Chairman, Justice A.A. Wambai, also allowed APGA; Omehia’s solicitors; biometric and forensic experts to join in the inspection of the materials.

The tribunal ordered that all the result forms com-

pleted or recorded at the polling units (Forms EC8A) and in the 319 ward units (Forms EC8B) are to be inspected as well.

Other materials to be inspected include result forms completed or recorded at the local governments (Forms EC8C); the return forms (EC8D); voters registers used in all the 4,441 polling units as well as all

•Omehia

the records of accredited voters.

AN Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) House of Representatives memberelect, Maruf Akinderu-Fatai has congratulated former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on the party’s success in last month’s elections.

The lawmaker, who represents Oshodi-Isolo Lagos Federal Constituency1, said Tinubu, who is ACN’s national leader, has created record as one of the greatest and most visionary leaders in the world political history.”

He also congratulated Lagos State Governor-elect, Raji Fashola and his Ogun and Oyo states counterparts, Senator Ibikunle Amosu and Abiola Ajimobi.

Akinderu-Fatai said the party’s triumph in the Southwest has come as a harbinger for the needed transformation and rapid development of the states in the zone.

Lagos prosecuting 50 rapists

By Miriam Ndikanwu

THE Lagos State Government is prosecuting 50 suspected rapists, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Risqat Akiyode, has said.

She said no fewer than 137 children faced different forms of abuses, including rape, in the past one year.

Mrs. Akiyode lamented increasing cases of child abuse, saying there were 137 reported cases at government disposal in the past year.

Of the 50, Akiyode said 25 men were currently being prosecuted over violence on children while another 25 men were currently in government’s custody, awaiting prosecution over abuse on children.

According to her, 73 children abused by men had been reconciled with their parents, adding that government was ready to prosecute offenders under the child rights law.

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

11

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

12

NEWS

Imo tribunal receives 14 petitions T

T

HE National/ House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Owerri, Imo State,was yesterday inaugurated.

Fourteen petitions have been received by the tribunal.

Members of the three-man panel are: Justices U.E. Essang, A.N. Yakubu and A.O. Salihu.

Justice Essang is the chairman.

Justice Essang promised a level playing field for all the parties, adding that the panel would not entertain delay from the litigants.

He said all the cases would be treated in accordance with the Electoral Act. There has been no petition against the governor-elect Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

Governor Ikedi Ohakim had said he would not contest the result of the Governorship

• Group: don’t appoint Ohakim minister election.

The Nation gathered that in 2007, the Governorship/National Assembly/State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunals received over 100 petitions, with the governorship topping the list.

The tribunal has received petitions from Achike Udenwa of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) against Hope Uzodinma of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP); Kema Chikwe of the PDP against Chris Anyanwu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA); and Cosmas Iwu of ACN against Matthew Nwagwu of PDP. No House of Assembly petition had been received by the

tribunal. However, the elections in three state constituencies are yet to be concluded.

They are Oguta; Oru East and Owerri West.

Others are Sylvester Igwilo (Anambra); Edward E. Ofomona (Delta); Austin Asuquo Cross River); Effiong Bassey Obotnyah (Akwa Ibom); Iheanacho Graceman (Abia); Ben Anuebunwa (Imo); Emeka Okafor (Enugu); Williams Berezi (Bayelsa); Adewale Adeleke (Oyo); Nnoli Amaechi (Youth leader) and Obiesie Azunnah (Southeast leader).

President Goodluck Jonathan has been advised not to appoint the Imo State Governor Ikedi Ohakim a minister.

The League of Okigwe Professionals gave the advise in a statement in Owerri yesterday. They said Ohakim has been voted out by the electorate because of non- performance and greed.

Rev. Jerome Nwokere (Okigwe); Jones Umunna (Onuimo); Ohakim Jonas (Isiala Mbano); Nze Odika Iwu (Ehime Mbano); George Anyanwu (Ihitte-Uboma); and Charles Ala (Obowo) signed the statement.

According to the statement, Ohakim was scheming to be a minister.

The group averred that having failed as governor, there was no justification for Ohakim to aspire to a higher office.

HE Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) governorship candidate in Abia State Ako Atuloma has called for the suspension of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Azubike Ihejirika.

Atuloma spoke in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.

He urged President Goodluck Jonathan to suspend Ihejirika over the role of the military in the last elections.

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate Paul Ikonne last week called for Ihejirika’s resignation.

Atuloma said Ihejirika’s failed to abide by his oath of office. He alleged that the army rigged the elections for

Atuloma seeks army chief’s suspension From Ugochukwu Eke, Umuahia

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). ” Atuloma decried Ihejirika’s failure to speak on the role of his men during the last elections.

According to him, the soldiers allegedly snatched ballot boxes.

He said the CPC would challenge the result of the governorship election at the Election Petition Tribunal.

Jonathan, Obama tasked on death of Nigerian student

T

HE National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has charged President Goodluck Jonathan and his United States counterpart Barack Obama to ensure that the killer of a Nigerian student in USA, Mr. Oluseun Fasina, is brought to book.

President of NANS Comrade Bassey Etuk Williams and the Secretary-General Comrade Jossy Ekpe, in a statement, said Fasina’s killing was pathetic.

Faina, a Nigerian undergraduate law student of the University of Maryland, College Park, was reportedly shot dead on April 17.

Officers from the Prince Georges County police found Fashina at Glenshire Drive, 1500 block of Jennings Lane, near his house in Bowie.

Fashina was rushed to a nearby hospital but he later died after all efforts to save his life failed.

NANS described Fashina’s death as unfortunate and insisted that both USA and Nigerian governments ought to have apprehended and prosecuted the perpetrator.

The statement reads: “We condemned the killing of the Nigerian student in USA; we therefore call on Presidents Jonathan and Obama to mandate security agencies to investigate the matter and fish out the killer of Fashina so that the deceased will not just die in vain.”

NANS urged Jonathan to take necessary steps to ensure the safety of Nigerian citizens that are studying outside the country.

Bassey and Jossy said the association was tired of mourning its members.

Andy Uba backs Mark for HE Senator-elect for Senate president

T

Anambra South, Andy Uba, has called for the retention of David Mark as Senate president.

Uba spoke in Abuja, at the weekend.

He said: “The issue of who presides over the Senate NOTICE TO ALL CHILDREN OF LATE CHIEF MORRISSON MBAT UDOBONG This is to inform the children of Late Chief Morrisson Mbat Udobong and the general public, that the sharing of their late father’s properties would take place on the 9th day of July, 2011 at No. 9 Uwanse street, Calabar, Cross River State. Every member of the family is expected to be present. However, anyone who is owing the family or being owed by the family is also invited.

Sign: Emmanuel M. Udobong

should not arise. David Mark has done well in office.

“For the past 12 years, I have seen Mark as a patriotic Nigerian who believes in dialogue in resolving conflicts.”

Uba said Mark’s victory in the last National Assembly poll was a mark of confidence his constituents reposed in him. He described the Senate president as a team player who has excellent working relationship with his colleagues and the executive arm of government.

PUBLIC NOTICE KUW CHRIST FOLLOWERS GLOBAL MISSION The General Public is hereby NOTIFIED that the above named Association has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under Part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 1 of 1990.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 1.

REV. UGWUEZE CHRISTIAN 2.

REV MRS FELICIA UGWUEZE 3.

PASTOR CHIZARAM EMMANUEL MBARAONYE 4.

PASTOR NWAUBANI OGBONNA 5.

PASTOR GIUS CHINWENDU ONUOHA AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1) To love one another 2) To share each others fortune and distress 3) To seek the welfare and progress of the Association and its members at all times 4) To ensure the proper management of the Association’s projects and funds at all times 5) To preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ 6) To teach Christian Education, Divine Healings, Doctrines and salvation of souls.

Any objection to the Registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama Garki Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

Signed: REV. UGWUEZE CHRISTIAN

13

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

•Jonathan

• Buhari

• Akande

What fate for Government of National Unity?

Mixed reactions have continued to trail the ‘Government of National Unity’ proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan to opposition parties. Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the prospects and constraints in the light of conflicts of ideologies among the motley crowd of political parties.

W

HEN President Goodluck Jonathan proposed a ‘Govern ment of National Unity’ to opposition political parties after winning the last month’s election, the idea was greeted with mixed reactions.

Some Nigerians, who applauded the move, described it as a sincere call on all political leaders to close ranks and work for collective progress. They contended that the Commander-In-Chief was propelled by a genuine patriotic instinct to make the proposal.

They also believed that waving an olive branch to the camps of opponents after a hotly contested presidential election would make the government to be formed to forge national unity in the heterogeneous country sharply divided by ethno-religious sentiments.

On the other side of the coin are bitter critics of the move who perceived the idea as a Greek Gift deliberately packaged to seduce and compromise in the long run credible opposition leaders in the long run. To this latter group, the basis for a Government of National Unity at this crucial time is porous because the various parties being targeted by the President are not united by the same ideological viewpoint.

The two leading opposition parties; Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), rejected the Unity Government on grounds of differing ideologies and suspicion. ACN National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, described any deal between PDP and ACN as the pairing of light with darkness.

“ACN will never work in any PDP government”, declared the former Osun State governor.

As if he was reading Akande’s lip, CPC National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, said that the President lacked the skills and competence to brainwash the party leaders. He said CPC has vowed irrevocably to challenge the victory of Dr Jonathan at the presidential poll, alleging that the election was rigged.

The presidential candidate of Fresh Democratic Party (FDP), one of the mushroom parties merely warming the register of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Pastor Chris Okotie, also rejected the idea, saying that his party would not be part of it. Unlike other party leaders however, he called for an Interim National Government, although he was silent on the nature, elements and duration of the government.

Questions abound on the motive, composition, size and focus of the Unity Government being proposed by the Head of State. Is President Jonathan dangling carrots at the aggrieved opposition parties to avert litigations that have arisen from last month’s presidential election, INEC declared that he won?

Is he trying to live above partisan considerations and assemble a cabinet of talents from the contending shades of opinion as President of all Nigeria? Is the President deliberately threading the populist path to divert attention from residual complaints about rigging that marred the exercise in certain parts of the country?

Should ACN and CPC, which could not work together before the general elections now marry the ruling party, PDP, in an unholy alliance? More questions, few answers.

Historically, the proposal is not new. But it has often been dogged by doubts and suspicion whenever it is made by the head of gov-

ernment at the center. What usually made it more compelling was the feeling that in a plural society like Nigeria, no single party would be too strong to command an overwhelming majority vote.

A university teacher who wrote the late Chief Ayo Rosiji’s biography, Nina Mba, recalled that, in 1957, the first Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, had exhibited political deftness and initiative when he sought to co-opt support from the disparate factions by forming a ‘National government, so that Nigeria could speak with one voice.

Balewa described the period between 1957 and 1959 as a “National Emergency...in which we shall bury all our differences...so that we can create better understanding and mutual respect among ourselves”. At that time, the National Government being conceived paled into a coalition of the three major parties; Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), Action Group (AG) and National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC). When it eventually came into being, the old Council of Ministers was revamped as the pre-independence cabinet consisting of six NCNC members, four NPC members, one KNC member and two AG members.

Independence day broke on October 1, 1960, but the suspicion among the parties rendered the arrangement ineffective. The debate on the possibility of joining the projected National Government by the AG created division, strife and rancour among the rank and file to the extent that a section of the party wanted the party to join the NPC in a coalition arrangement to either edge out the AG leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, from participatory democracy or reduce him into a position of irrelevance. The party later broke into two factions at the 1962 Jos Conference.

The party crisis escalated because many AG politicians were ready to bury their time-tested principles and faith in ideology, philosophy and values for a slot in the federal cabinet, where they would cohabit with strange bed fellows.

In the Second Republic, following the assumption of office by President Shehu Shagari, the ruling party, National Party of Nigeria (NPN) proposed an accord with the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). The offer was rejected by Awolowo, who explained to Nigerians that he was invited to join a building project which plan and team of bricklayers he did not know. “I was not part of the plan. The plan was not shown to me. I did not know how they came about the plan. The foundation I did not know. The motive I did not know”, Awo told his supporters.

The Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) led by Zik grabbed the opportunity, just as the leaders of NCNC did in the First Republic. The power sharing arrangement made NPP the junior partner. The Speakership of the House of representatives and few ministerial positions were conceded to the party. After two years, the accord broke down, following accusation by the NPP that the terms were not fully honoured. Two NPP ministers; Janet Akinrinade and Paul

‘We know this is the ripe season for ‘food is ready politicians’, who are ready to sell their birthright...to join any government in power. But, as we have always said, we are not willing to compromise our ideals just because we want to share in the spoils of office’

Nnongu, left the cabinet honourably. However, the NPP Speaker refused to resign his position. Other NPP ministers who also refused to resign later joined the NPN. The party was decimated by lack of principle.

Many opposition figures are often weary of any form of cooperation or collaboration with the ruling party, owing to lack of sincerity. The Interim National Government headed by Ernest Shonekan, was decorated ad a Government of Unity. It only exposed the opportunistic hustling for power by desperate politicians, who abandoned the historic ‘June 12’ struggle.

Following the restoration of civil rule in 1999, former President Olusegun Obasanjo attempted to propose a pseudo-coalition arrangement, which was later to the detriment of the participating parties and individuals. The National Chairman of All Nigeria Party (APP), Senator Mahmud Waziri, was appointed as the Political Adviser to the President. A leadership crisis broke out in the party when he joined the government. Besides, Waziri’s party could not effectively play the role of an opposition party.

Also, the Alliance for Democracy (AD leader, Chief Bola Ige, who joined the government, did not return alive from what the Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka described as the nest of killers. The party leaders complained that the former President only pick Ige without prior consultation with them. The crisis rocking Afenifere, the pan Yoruba socio-political group, was aggravated. Ige was later described as someone who was invited to come and chop.

Reflecting on that tragedy, a cleric and politician, Rev. Tunji Adebiyi, said the lessons of the past are still instructive.

He added: “Before any GNU, parties should sit down, discuss and have a memorandum of understanding. If ANC is to be part of the arrangement, then, their leaders would want the GNU to implement its manifesto on true federalism, state police, Sovereign National Conference, free education, free health, full employment, revival of education. It is easy when there are guiding principles binding the relationship together. But PDP cannot be ready for all thses”.

When in 2003, the AD chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Abdullahi, also became Special Adviser to the President on Manufacturing Matters, his party came to ruins. The leadership squabbles that engulfed AD lasted for almost seven years.

President Jonathan is silent on the shape of the GNU, the terms of agreement, number of slots to be shared, pattern of relationship between the senior and junior partners and conditions for dissolution of the arrangement, if the terms are violated.

Fashakin had all these factors in mind when he ruled out the option of joining the GNU. He said, apart joining the proposed GNU would halt the litigations by CPC, which believed that the poll was rigged in favour of the President.

Besides, he was emphatic that CPC’s relationship with any political party would be predicated on shared values.

ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Layiwola Mohammed, is in the same frame of mind. He said the proposed GNU has the tendency of wiping out the role of opposition in democracy. To him, when a vibrant opposition is stifled and opposition figures are compromised, democracy is at an edge.

More worrisome to him is the likelihood of systematically foisting on the country a one party state. Mohammed that this would stunt democratic development, promote complacency and weaken the democratic culture.

The ACN spokesman said: “We know this is the ripe season for ‘food is ready politicians’, who are ready to sell their birthright, if necessary, to join any government in power. But, as we have always said, we are not willing to compromise our ideals just because we want to share in the spoils of office”.

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

OLITICS PPOLITICS

Oyo State Governor-elect, Senator Abiola Ajimobi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), in this interview with BISI OLADELE, speaks about his plans.

My plans for Oyo people, by Ajimobi

H

OW has it been with you since you won the Oyo State governorship election?

I took it with a sense of gratitude, happiness and a sense of ecstasy. I also took it with all sense of humility and determination to succeed, more so that the expectation is very high from the people. However, I believe that with the support of the citizens of the state, we will succeed and you could see that from the transition committee that we have inaugurated, we chose men of good quality with proven track records. Many of them have been Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Head of Service.

We even took one that just retired from the service, Mrs Ogunleye. In fact, three of them have been SSG before. We took men that are professionally reputable, including professors there. Because the task is enormous, we need quality people in order to reposition the state. We are a government of redemption, transformation and of repositioning.

As an individual who has distinguished himself in his career before coming into politics, what exactly is in your mind that will be the hallmark of your administration? What are you bringing into governance?

I think I am bringing in integrity, transparency and I want to simplify governance. I want to be remembered as a governor that performed; as an offshoot of the Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s political dynasty; a governor that met the state in shambles and put it together and made it better than he met it. It is going to be a government of the people, for the people and by the people.

I want to be remembered for that. I want to be remembered as a governor that came, consulted and brought the state back to its lost glory in terms of education, agriculture, infrastructure and service delivery.

There is the fear that you will be controlled by leaders of the ACN both within and outside Oyo State as well as Ibadan elders who gave you overwhelming support...

I think people don’t know me, and they are the ones that are exercising that fear. What will the elders of Oyo State do? What will elders of the party do? What they all want is the betterment of the state. They can only advise; they cannot sign as governor. They cannot do anything that I don’t want to do. So, I think I am the

A

one to do it. I’m sure many people who will advise me are men of integrity. Anybody can give advice and it is for the government to sit down and look at all the pieces of advice and decide on what to do.

People should not be afraid of that.

Will they advise me to go and steal money? These are men of integrity.

We are talking of elders who have been ambassadors, who have been men of honour. Even the leaders of the party were there before and they did not steal money during their time. I think people should not forget that I am over sixty years old and I am not a baby. I have held very high positions, multinationals in and outside Nigeria and I was able to take decisions on my own. If there are some people somewhere pushing me around to do their will, then I think I’m not fit to be governor. I will listen to their advice and it is something given to consider.

From my age, my track record and from my integrity and from the integrity of people that will be advising me, I think people should not be afraid.

Are you looking forward to a second term in office?

Believe me, I think let’s do the first term first. I think it is the job that we do that will determine all other things. I think if we do well and people say, “come back,” fine. It is a rare opportunity to be given four years to lead a people, particularly a place like Oyo State. So, I think people should not be talking of second term or third term now. I think what we should concentrate on is how to make life better for our people.

You came in at a time expectations were high. How do you intend do handle these high expectations with regard to the reality on ground?

There are challenges and that is why we are there. The first thing is to take stock. Then be transparent about it. Once you are transparent and you govern with integrity, carry people along through consultations and have open book with them, you will be able to meet most of their expectations. Nobody can meet everybody’s expectations but we will try our best to satisfy the yearnings of the people.

A governorship candidate of a party is allegedly being sponsored by another party to challenge your victory at the election petition tribunal. Does that not bother you?

Oh no! Even those who want to go

•Ajimobi

‘The party wants to bring back the old glory of the region. We used to be pacesetters. We used to be the first and we want to remain the first. We want to set the pace for the rest of the country. You can see what is happening in Lagos State.

You can see what is happening in Ekiti and Osun states. See also what is going on in Edo State’ don’t have a case. I think the problem is that people are ignorant of the electoral laws and electoral acts; once you are conversant with it you don’t have a problem. They should

go to court if they want to go to court – they have no case. I think we have consulted with all our legal luminaries and they said we should look at the INEC electoral law which says

that there is no case for them.

People are looking up to you on May 29. I’m sure you are also looking up to the date. How anxious are you?

You can see that I am preparing.

We are setting up committees everywhere within the House. I think we really need to work because it is a big challenge. It is about meeting up with the challenges that are ahead of us.

A lot of people are complaining about Ibadan generally because of its importance in terms of population, economics and politics. What is the most important thing that you are thinking of doing for the state now?

I think the decadence or deterioration, the dirt, the environment need attention; we need to clean it up. I will pay a lot of attention to environmental sanitation and cleanliness generally. We will tackle the lawlessness, reckless driving of people who could park anywhere. Many roads have been blocked by market women and street traders. Disorderliness is what concerns me the most and I really need to look into it.

Look at the growing influence of your party in the South West. What is ACN really driving at in the region?

The party wants to bring back the old glory of the region. We used to be pacesetters. We used to be the first and we want to remain the first. We want to set the pace for the rest of the country. You can see what is happening in Lagos State. You can see what is happening in Ekiti and Osun states. See also what is going on in Edo State. We are coming back to the South West of those days, the region that Obafemi Awolowo once ruled and we are proud of his achievements. He only ruled for four to five years and up till today nobody can match his records. So, we are going back to that because this PDP does not pay us in the South West. In fact it did not pay the whole of Nigeria. Look at where we are in the comity of nations. What ACN is doing and pursuing is to improve the region for the betterment of the masses.

PDP in the South West has started regrouping. They had their meeting in Ibadan two days ago to restrategise and bring people back to the party before 2015. What challenge does that pose to your party in the region?

We have taken this place for good.

They will never win again and they never won in the first instance; believe me. They can restrategise ten times. It does not mean. How can a vehicle restrategise to face a train? It is not possible. Akala said he was a bulldozer, but we have bulldozed the bulldozer. What is mostly important is performance. It is our performance that will speak for us as Fashola’s performance is doing for him.

Nigerians are so enlightened now and politically inclined; so, nobody can deceive them again. It is performance that everybody is looking for. It is not about PDP or AD but it is your performance.

Battle for exco positions begins in Lagos

CTION Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftains are lobbying for commissioners and special advisers in an executive council that is expected to be named by Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) after his swearing in for a second term later in the month.

No fewer than 125 CVs have been forwarded to the governor for consideration for appointments. Referees for the political job seekers are prominent party leaders and decision makers. Others are

By Emmanuel Oladesu

banking on the endorsement of traditional and religious rulers, a source said.

Majority of the lobbyists are party chieftains who lost out at the party primaries, committed party stalwarts and other apolitical people, who are experts in their various fields of endeavour. In a presidential system, the Chief Executive is at liberty to set up a cabinet of talents comprising politicians and nonpoliticians, who can add value to the administration.

There is also tension in the

current cabinet as most of the members of the State Executive Council want to retain their portfolios in the spirit of continuity. The cabinet stands dissolved immediately the governor takes the new baton.

During the campaigns for the general elections, the ruling party has clarified that the appointment would be made by the party, thereby sending signals about an impending move to restore party supremacy and discipline.

The sheer number of aspirants for cabinet posts is a precursor for participation crises. “Many,

honestly, are qualified by education, pedigree and political loyalty, but the available slots are comparatively limited”, said a party leader from the East District at the weekend.

“But one thing that is certain is that there will be a compelling reason to reward or compensate dedicated party chieftains who worked assiduously for the success of the party at the polls’, added the source.

Currently, there are vacancies in the ministries of Agriculture, Housing and Office of Special Adviser on Environment. Their

commissioners and the special adviser were removed before the elections. The vacancies created by the resignation of the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Opeyemi Bamidele, and Special Adviser Segun Ayobolu were not filled by the governor.

Sources hinted that when the cabinet is set up, there will be changes in the offices of Secretary to the Government, Commissioners for Finance, Tourism, Sports, Agriculture, Housing, Environment, Education and Works, among others. Now, the scramble remains heated on.

15

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

UBA shareholders endorse HoldCo structure

P

LANS by United Bank for Africa (UBA) to adopt a holding company structure have received the blessings of shareholders.

The shareholders, at the 49th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank last Friday in Asaba, Delta State, voted unanimously in support of the plans embarked upon by UBA in compliance with the ongoing banking sector reforms.

Under the new structure designed to drive the bank’s operational efficiency and support its growth strategies, the umbrella company will be known as UBA Holding Company (UBA Holdco): UBA Plc, UBA Capital Holdings, UBA Africa Holdings and UBA Properties.

“The holding company arrangement as proposed by the bank is good. It gives us shareholders the opportunity to be part of the holdco and a leeway into assets that are not hitherto part of the company,” said Sunny Nwosu, National Coordinator of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria.

In the proposed Holdco arrangement, which is before the apex banking regulatory body, the CBN for approval, UBA Plc will continue to be the flagship business of the group, provide banking services to customers through its large network of branches and an excellent suite of e-banking products while UBA Capital Holdings will be holding entity for all the nonbank financial services businesses of the group.

The third sub-entity, UBA Africa Holdings, will oversee the bank’s subsidiaries in the 17 countries in Africa to provide the focus required for the delivery of its growth objectives in the market.

Everybody makes business mistakes.

I mean, I take the responsibility, and I did. I was the captain of the ship and I took that responsibility.

- Alan Bond

Fed Govt, US sign pact on electricity engineering •Ikeja, Eko, Abuja distribution companies for pilot study

T

HE Federal Govern ment has entered into an agreement with the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), an arm of United States Government, to carry out a study on how to tackle technical and commercial losses in the power sector.

Technical and commercial losses account for about 30 per cent losses in generated power and about 50 per cent losses in revenue collection from power supply.

The agreement was sealed in Washington DC between the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) on behalf of the government and USTDA. According to the agreement, the USTDA will fi-

From Emeka Ugwuanyi Asst. Editor

nance the project, which will cost about $666,000.

The terms of agreement stipulate that a United States company will assemble experts in the power sector, who will come to Nigeria with world class information technology equipment to understudy the operations of select electricity distribution companies in the country including Ikeja, Eko and Abuja, as the pilot scheme, and find the causes of the intractable technical and commercial losses that have existed in the system over the years.

The experts will find sustainable solutions to the problems and train Nigerians on

how to apply the technology before returning to the US. The Director-General of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, Reuben Okeke, an engineer, who signed the agreement on behalf of the government, said the project is imperative because the technical and commercial losses in the system contribute immensely to the less-than-expected service delivery being witnessed in the power sector.

He added that Nigerians that would be trained under the project will train other Nigerians to ensure that these losses are substantially mitigated.

Okeke also said the project could have commenced in January this year, but they

are yet to award the contract, which has to be given to a US company. However, he said the project would takeoff shortly as arrangements have been concluded and the contract would soon be awarded.

He said: “We have entered into an agreement with the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). I went to Washington DC to sign the agreement with USTDA. It is an arm of United States government. They will come and pick three distribution companies – Ikeja, Eko and Abuja - to carry out a study on how to use IT technology to reduce technical and commercial losses that currently obtains in the system...”

MARKET CAPITALISATIONS NSE JSE NYSE LSE

-N8.1 trillion -Z5.112trillion -$10.84 trillion -£61.67 trillion

RATES Inflation -12.8% Treasury Bills -2.64% Normal lending -24% Prime lending -18% Savings rate -3% 91-day NTB -6.99% Time Deposit - 6% MPR -7.50% Foreign Reserve -$34.5bn FOREX CFA 0.281 • 222.92 £ 252.9 $ 153.39 ¥ 1.5652 SDR 245.85 RIYAL 39.3

N

IGERIAN interbank lending rates rose to an average of 9.41 per cent from 8.41 per cent last week after the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC) recalled about N82 billion ($523.9 million) from the system, traders said last Friday.

NNPC usually sells dollars to some banks in a monthly cycle and recalls the naira proceeds to its account with the Central Bank, which then affects liquidity in the market and pushes up the cost of borrowing among lenders.

The secured open Buy Back (OBB) climbed to nine per cent from eight per cent, 150 basis points above the central bank’s 7.50 per cent benchmark rate and 3.5 per centage points higher than the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate.

Overnight placement rose to 9.50 per cent from 8.50 per cent, while call money climbed to 9.75 per cent from 8.75 per cent.

Traders said the market opened last Friday with a N19.3 billion deficit after the NNPC withdrawal, and outflows to foreign exchange and treasury bills purchases.

“We expect that rates will come down next week after the release of April budgetary allocations to the three tiers of government,” one dealer said.

NB posts N11.9b Q1 profit

N

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$125.2/barrel Cocoa - $2,856/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢78.07.pound Gold -$1,161/troy ounce Rubber - ¢146.37/pound

Interbank rates climb on NNPC withdrawal

•From left: Delta State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; Mr Tony Elumelu, Chairman, Heirs Holdings; Mr Phillips Oduoza, GMD/CEO, UBA and Mr Victor Osadolor, DMD, UBA, during the meeting with directors and shareholders of the bank, at the State House, Asaba ... on Friday.

EFCC’s advisory saves foreign investors over $12b

I

N less than two years, po tential foreign investors have been saved from losing over $12 billion to fraudsters through the advisory mails sent to them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Chairman of the anti-graft agency, Mrs Farida Waziri, disclosed this while addressing a private sector track session at the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which ended in Istanbul, Turkey, last weekend.

She disclosed this while speaking on Anti-Corruption and the Challenge of Increasing Capital Flow To Africa: Re-

By Collins Nweze

forms, Result and The Road Ahead.

The EFCC boss, according to a statement signed by EFCC’s Head, Media and Publicity, Femi Babafemi, enumerated the various strategic steps that have been taken by the government through the anti-graft agency to check corruption and make the country safe for foreign investments and investors alike.

Some of the reforms that have been successfully carried out in Nigeria’s antigraft campaign in the last three years, she said, include: creating a transactions

clearance platform, TCP to interface with offshore investors and entities, sustained sensitisation and public awareness campaigns, capacity building for operatives and judicial officers.

Others include partnership with Microsoft against internet scam, recovery and return of proceeds of advance fee fraud crimes, intense prosecution and conviction of corrupt public officers as well as sanitisation of the banking sector, among others.

While explaining some of the results of the various initiatives, Waziri said the TCP she created some 18 months ago, had helped tremen-

dously to boost foreign investors’ confidence in the Nigerian business environment.

“We have created the Transactions Clearance Platform (TCP). The TCP, which can be accessed at our website,www.efccnigeria.org, is designed to do basic due diligence for anyone who gets a business proposal from Nigeria.The TCP will confirm the authenticity of the business, the individuals behind the business and the track record of the business. It will not confirm the profitability or otherwise of a business or, indeed, help in procuring licence and approvals.

IGERIAN Breweries Plc has declared an operating profit of N11.9 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, indicating a 25.8 per cent increase over the N9.4billion declared during the corresponding period in 2010.

The unaudited and provisional result released by the company’s Board of Directors shows that the company made a turnover of N52 billion in the first quarter of 2011 as against N40.6billion declared in the first quarter of 2010.

With an estimated tax of N3.9billion, the company’s profit after tax of N7.9billion is 22.7 per cent higher than the N6.5billion declared in the first quarter of 2010.

The board, according to statement signed by the Company Secretary and Legal Adviser, Mr Uaboi Agbebaku, said the volume and revenue growths are reflections of improvement in the supply of the company’s products as well as benefits arising from increased investment in brands.

The statement added that barring any unforeseen circumstance, the Board expects the positive trend recorded in the first quarter to continue in the next quarter.

16

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

BUSINESS NEWS Flight Schedule MONDAY - FRIDAY LAGOS – ABUJA Departure Arrival 1. Aero 06.50 08.10 2. Associated 07.00 09.30 3. Air Nigeria 07.00 08.20 4. IRS 07.00 08.20 5. Dana 07.02 08.22 6. Arik 07.15 08.15 7. Chanchangi 07.15 8. Air Nigeria 08.15 09.35 9. Dana 08.10 09.20 10. Aero 08.45 10.05 11. Arik 09.15 10.15 12. Chanchangi 10.00 11.00 13. IRS 11.15 12.35 14. Dana 12.06 12.26 15. Aero 12.20 13.30 16. Air Nigeria 13.25 14.45 17. Chanchangi 13.30 14.30 18. Arik 13.45 14.45 19. IRS 14.00 15.20 20. Aero 14.10 15.30 21. Air Nigeria 14.50 16.10 22. Dana 15.30 16.50 23. Chanchangi 15.30 16.30 24. Arik 15.50 16.50 25. Aero 16.00 17.20 26. IRS 16.30 17.50 27. Arik 16.50 17.50 28. Dana 17.10 18.30 29. Chanchangi 17.30 18.30 30. Air Nigeria 17.35 18.55 31. Air Nigeria (T/TH) 18.30 19.50 32. Arik 18.45 19.45 33. Aero 19.20 20.40 1.

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LAGOS – BENIN Arik 07.30 Associated 08.30 Aero 10.50 Arik 11.45 Associated 13.00 Aero 14.25 Arik 15.30 Associated 16.00

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Arik Aero Arik Aero

1. Arik 2. Aero 1.

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LAGOS – CALABAR 07.30 11.20 12.50 16.00 LAGOS – JOS 10.55 11.15

LAGOS – KADUNA Aero 08.00 Chanchangi 10.00 Arik 10.00 Arik 15.10

disintermediation.

The NASB boss, who addressed the press in Lagos, on the ‘urgent need to pass the Financial Reporting Council Bill,’ pointed out that the European Union directive of July 29, 2008 (and reconsidered on August 12, 2008,) gave a transition period for audit activities of certain third country auditors. In that directive, Obazee stated, only South Africa and Mauritius were recognised in Africa. Nigeria, he assured, “ will be included if we have a Financial Reporting Council in place.”

The NASB chief executive stated that there are inter-linked global

trends in financial reporting which Nigeria, in his view, “should not ignore.”

He said the European Union Commission, every two years, reviews the quality situation of countries to verify whether there exists competent administrative authority in such countries that have made commitment to public oversight and quality assurance systems of audit.

Obazee, cautioned that Nigeria’s failure to have the FRC Bill in place, puts the country at a disadvantage, as foreign investors confidence in the quality assurance systems of our financial reporting regime in both public and private sector entities will be highly challenged.

12.15 12.45 09.10 11.00 11.10 16.20

LAGOS – OWERRI Aero 07.30 Arik 07.30 Air Nigeria 13.40 Arik 14.00 Arik 16.30

08.40 08.40 14.55 15.10 17.40

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LAGOS – WARRI 08.15 11.50 11.55 14.55

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LAGOS – KANO Air Nigeria 07.10 IRS 08.00 Dana 08.10 Arik 12.20 IRS 14.00 IRS 18.15

08.50 09.45 09.40 14.00 15.45 19.55

LAGOS – OWERRI 07.20 14.00 16.30

08.30 15.10 17.40

LAGOS – UYO 10.35

11.35

LAGOS – MAIDUGURI 1. IRS 11.15 13.15 2. Arik 15.50 18.00 LAGOS – ILORIN 1. Overland 07.15 2. Arik (M/T/TH/F) 17.30

By Simeon Ebulu

08.50 12.40 14.10 17.20

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1. Dana

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HE Executive Secretary, Nige rian Accounting Standards Board, Jim Osayande Obazee, has called for the passage of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Bill.

He said its passage would address the institutional weaknesses affecting compliance in financial reporting standards.

Obazee stressed that the Bill, when passed, will put Nigeria on the path to adopting the best organised approach to regulation of financial reporting as it is the practice in the developed world, saying the move will align the country with others, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Malaysia, which are now moving towards

08.30 09.10 11.50 12.45 13.40 15.20 16.30 16.40

LAGOS – PORT HARCOURT (CIVIL) 1. Aero 07.15 08.35 2. Arik 07.15 08.35 3. Arik 09.00 10.20 4. Dana 09.27 10.40 5. Aero 10.50 12.30 6. Arik 11.40 13.00 7. Air Nigeria 12.00 13.10 8. IRS 13.30 15.00 9. Arik 14.00 15.20 10. Dana 15.03 16.20 11. Air Nigeria 16.00 17.10 12. Arik 16.10 17.30 13. Aero 16.15 17.30 14. Arik 17.10 18.30

1. Arik 2. Arik 3. Arik

Accounting Board seeks passage of Financial Reporting Bill

08.00 18.00

LAGOS – ABUJA SAT/SUN Arik 7.15; 10.20; 2.20; 5.20pm – 7.30; 9.15; 10.20; 2.20; 4.50; 6.45 Aero 07.30; 09.35; 13.10; 14.50; 20.20 – 07.30; 09.35; 13.10; 14.50; 20.20 Air Nigeria 08.15; 14.30; 17.15; 18.30 – 08.15; 13.30; 14.30; 17.15; 18.30

•From left: Dr. Femi Oyetunji, MD/CEO, Continental Reinsurance Plc; Chairman, Akin Laguda and a Director, Mr David Sobanjo, at the unveiling of a new logo for Continental Re. in Lagos ... at the weekend.

Customer satisfaction: Zenith, GTBank, StanbicIBTC, Fidelity lead

Z

ENITH Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc have clinched top positions in the 2011 Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted by KPMG International.

The survey assessed the performance of Nigerian banks in creating value and satisfying their customers.

In the Retail/SME customer segment, remarkable in the result is the performance of three banks – Zenith, Fidelity and StanbicIBTC. For the first time in three years,

GTBank lost its leadership position in this segment to Zenith Bank. The CSI rating for GTBank also dropped from 77.21 to 74 while Zenith maintained a CSI of 75.8 to come tops.

StanbicIBTC travelled a long distance from the number 10 position last year to third this year, while Fidelity Bank moved also from seventh last year to fourth this year, with a CSI of 72.2.

This year, banks were assessed on these criteria:Financial Stability (13.7 per cent); Image/ Reputation - 13.1 per cent; Customer Service -

13.1 per cent; Access to credit- 12.2 per cent; Proximity/ Accessibility – 11.8 per cent; Access to ATM & other Channels- 11.0 per cent; Pricing- 10.9 per cent.

On the Corporate/Commercial Segment, unlike last year when Fidelity did not feature among the top 10 customer-focused banks in the corporates, they were ranked eight this year with a CSI rating of 74.6. The other top-ranked banks in this segment are GTBank, Zenith, FCMB, Access, Sterling, FBN and Diamond.

Bank PHB opposes move to stay action on N34.5m judgment

T

HE Platinum Habib Bank (Bank PHB) has asked a Lagos High Court in Ikeja to refuse an application seeking to stay further execution of a N36.5 million judgment granted in its favour against a firm, XL Management Service Limited.

The firm and one of its directors, Mr. Charles Nwodo, are by the application, asking the court to prevail on Bank PHB PLC from demanding the outstanding N25 million of the judgment sum pending the determination of their pending motion on notice.

In the said motion on notice, XL Management and its director, are seeking the court’s leave to be allowed to pay the outstanding sum in

By Eric Ikhilae

installments and within an extended period of time, outside the period contained in the judgment given by Justice K. A. Jose on October 13, 2010.

Bank PHB, represented by the law firm of by Kenneth Ahia and co, objected to the applicants’ prayers.

It contended in a supporting affidavit that XL Management was buoyant enough to pay its debt within a short time, but that it purportedly refused to comply with the judgment.

It stated that the debt formed part of depositors’ funds in it custody, adding that there was no special circumstance to warrant a stay of the execution of the judgment or jus-

tify installment payment.

It averred that the applicants deliberately refused to pay depite postjudgment waivers granted them by the bank for over six months.

The bank accused the applications of allegedly plotting to unjustly delay the payment of the judgment sum or split same in a manner that would impede its utilisation by the bank.

It described XL Management as being healthy financially and a major provider of bullion vans to most financial institutions in this country. XL Management, the bank said, operates a courier service with vehicles and motorcycles all over the town, from which it makes income daily.

ATM: ‘Banks stall CBN’s refund policy’

By Akinola Ajibade and Adline Atili

B

ANKS are contravening the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) directives on refunding customers who lost money to the malfunction of the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

CBN had last year directed banks to refund customers within 72 hours of experiencing a default.

The Managing Director, InterSwitch, Mr Mitchell Elegbe, disclosed this in Lagos during a media parley to rebrand the company. He accused banks of not filling reports that would ensure payment to customers as early as possible.

He said the inability of banks to treat claims on time prevented many customers from getting a refund.

According to him, the inability of customers to understand the workings of the ATMs has affected electronic payment system in the country.

He said: “Automated Teller Machine is mechanical. You must know how to operate it before making transactions. Failure to understand the mechanism would affect transactions. As a customer, you can as well report to the banks or their call centres when you discover anomalies in the process of withdrawing money through ATM.” He advised customers to report to the issuing banks, and not e-payment solution providers.

He said InterSwitch has designed an automated system that would enable customers to get their money within 70 hours.

Elegbe said the electronic payment card industry has a standard called Data Security Standard, noting that the company has been certified to use the standard.

The InterSwitch’s boss said the company has acquired 60 per cent of the licensed switch of a bank in Uganda, as part of efforts to expand its operations.

FCMB shareholders approve 35 kobo dividend

S

HAREHOLDERS of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc have approved a dividend payment of 35kobo to shareholders registered in the books of the bank as at Friday May 6, 2011 for every 50 kobo share of the bank held by them.

This, according to a statement from the bank, is against the 5kobo paid by the bank in the previous year.The dividend payment amounts to a total value of N5.7billion.

At the bank’s 28th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last Friday in Lagos, shareholders also ratified the decision of the bank to adopt a holding company (Holdco) structure, which will require it to separate its non-banking subsidiaries from the bank and re-organise the non-banking businesses with a group arrangement.

They also authorised the bank to apply for a commercial international banking licence while relinquishing its universal banking licence in line with the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Chairman of the bank, Dr. Jonathan Long, who announced the bank’s 2010 results, said the bank declared profit after taxation of N7.9 billion.

The N7.9 billion profit after taxation declared by the bank represents 837 per cent growth in post-tax earnings on an annualised basis compared to the N564 million for the eight-month ended December 2009, following the 2009 change in financial year-end.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16 , 2011

17

ISSUES

Making air travellers king

•Muritala Muhammed Airport

Passengers’ frustration caused by delayed flights, loss of luggage and related issues has attracted the attention of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCCA), which is working on a remedy through a proposed Passenger Rights Bill, reports KELVIN OSA- OKUNBOR

O

VER time, passengers have been complaining about delayed flights, flight cancellations and related matters such as missing luggages. These are some of the issues that have propelled the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to consider putting in place a Passenger Rights Bill, which will establish a template for the regulator, airlines, passengers as well as other stakeholders on the limit of their rights as far as air travel is concerned.

NCAA Director-General Dr Harold Demuren told reporters that the agency has fashioned a document that will serve as a working tool for the protection of the rights of passengers.

Demuren said the step became imperative following the litany of abuse of passengers’ rights by airlines, which delay flights unnecessarily, cancel flights at will and frustrate passengers’ efforts to get refund if they could not travel on a particular flight.

At airports across the country, passengers continue to complain over the way airlines, both foreign and domestic, abuse their rights, confirming speculations that the NCAA Con-

sumer Protection Unit may just be a toothless dog.

Demuren explained that because aviation is a perishable product, it gives rise to the need for airlines to treat passengers as king.

He explained that since the United States (US) Department of Transport has unveiled new rules for passengers’ protection, Nigeria, will have to domesticate the rules, so that passengers can enjoy their rights and privileges, as obtainable in other parts of the world.

Demuren said part of the hurdles that NCAA was grappling with, despite its readiness to protect passengers, is the attitude of members of the society, who are uncooperative.

“Yes we are ready in Nigeria to domesticate the Passengers Protection Act, but, the major challenge militating against it, is the societal problem that causes flight delays. We are packaging a bill on passenger’s rights, which will take care of delays in flight by airlines, flight cancellation, ticket refunds, but some agencies of government, including Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), insist that in the event of a delayed or missing passenger baggage, they must open the baggage.

But, doing that will lead to trouble, as some passengers will frown at opening their baggage. We have tried to get the police involved, but the Nigeria Customs Service has been erecting a road block, which is interpreted as violation of privacy, a development that could bring about court injunctions from passengers.”

On Nigeria’s readiness to bring about the new document on passengers’ bills of right, he said: “My answer to that question is yes, we can, but I am not really sure that we are ready for it right now.”

Demuren, explained: “In Nigeria, in receiving passenger luggage, you must not forget societal problems. There are other things that cause delays that are beyond our control. You need to be a bit careful; those are the things that we should be discussing and see how we can resolve them, but, definitely, NCAA is doing something,” he stated.

“We are working tremendously now on consumer protection, there is going to be a bill of rights to be issued out for all travelers, you know your rights and everything.

We are going to come up with some publications.”

“However, whether it is delay, loss of baggage, broken baggage, flight cancellation,

ticket refund and others, we are trying to address them”, the NCAA boss disclosed.

He said there would be a public hearing where all stakeholders would be invited to participate and address the issue.

“We are going to work this out, but we have a template. The template is clear, that is what we are going to do. We have our solicitors with us to see how we can take this to a higher level so that people should know their rights and we have told the airlines, they should not be afraid.

“Let me just give you one scenario; in developed countries, if passengers don’t get their luggage, they fill a form and the airline will take the luggage to their houses. So, we asked airlines, if that can apply in Nigeria.”

Demuren said such practice may be a bit difficult in Nigeria, because of difficulties associated with locating those concerned. He said the involvement of other sister agencies, such as Customs, could create unin•Story on page 18

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

18

ISSUES

Making air travellers king •Continued from page 17

tended hurdles.

Meanwhile, investigations revealed that flight delay, mainly by domestic airlines, is predicated on operational reasons, which could be linked to delays in the supply of aviation fuel, weather-related challenges, as well as others that the airlines may be reluctant to give.

It has also been revealed that many airlines delay flights as a strategy to reduce operating costs by combining flights, instead of flying a half-full aircraft.

The industry is fraught with bad service, relationship and compensation plans for passengers, especially in flight cancellation and delays, which have become a characteristic of the domestic air travel industry, which has never been addressed.

Today, flight cancellation has become so common place that the number of flights cancelled weekly by domestic airlines is ever increasing. The cost implication of these delays and cancellations to the flying public, the airlines and even the airport managers, are issues that have to be addressed as well.

Across the world, the NCAA boss argued, there are flight cancellations. This is not new and this occurs for a number of reasons, some for safety reasons, including weather-related incidents and technical problems in aircraft, and a whole lot of others of which the airlines involved are not supposed to be held liable.

“Other reasons, however, are those that have to do with an airline cancelling a flight and not giving reasons, this is routine in Nigeria,” he said.

Demuren explained that some airlines delay or cancel flights because they have no choice. He gave example of an airline that cancelled a scheduled flight when the aircraft developed a technical fault and it was grounded. This singular act affected the rest of its passenger services as another aircraft was brought in to replace the one that had a problem to ferry passengers.

Unfortunately, that aircraft was to be used on another route network, and this affected that service and passengers who were told, virtually, started harassing the ticket sales people. Simply put, there is also the safety implication of flight cancellation as air travellers are also advised during unexpected weather change periods, to exercise patience.

Sometimes, these flight delays could be caused by extraneous factors, beyond the control of the airlines, he stated.

Demuren stated that in December, 2010, heavy snow in Europe caused airlines travelling to that region to cancel their flights leaving many passengers stranded at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. It was total confusion at the airport with passengers showing their frustration in any way they could.

In most cases, he said, cancellations cause many hardships to passengers including missed connections, unexpected overnight stays in the airport, or other significant inconveniences. It also affects airlines and other downstream sectors in the industry.

Once there are flight cancellations for any reason, he noted, there will be no takeoff or landing, so there will be no navigational charges to the airlines and so it affects the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency’s (NAMA) revenue.

Almost every day at the nation’s major terminals, passengers continue to struggle with airline staff, exchanging abuses because a flight was arbitrarily cancelled and the airline in question conveniently forgetting to mention to the passenger until, sometimes, when his/her baggage has been checked in.

One situation with a Nigerian carrier became an issue when just at the last minute, the airline canceled its Abuja flight leaving passengers stranded, especially those that booked cheap fares online and told them to collect their money back from the counter which did not go down well with the intending passengers.

When talking about international standards and practices, Nigeria claims to be one of the countries that adhere strictly, but sadly that cannot be said of the Consumer Protection Unit of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, as it is said to be too weak to take any action or enforce any laws.

Olumide Ohunayo, Head of Research, Zenith Travel Agency, said both passengers and airlines bear the cost of every delay and can-

•Mrs. Njeze

cellation. He said: “The cost implication, first of all, goes to the passenger, especially when he or she is scheduled for something and needs to get there. That means he would have to buy another ticket because in Nigeria, airlines do not co-operate anymore. If I have an airline’s ticket and my flight is cancelled, no other airline in Nigeria has a partnership with me and that means I need to buy another ticket.”

He also said that the cancellation of any flight sets the people back with time as well as disrupts the passenger’s itinerary for a day or maybe two depending on how long it takes to get another flight.

Ohunayo, however, said airlines are not left out of the impact as every cancellation means an additional cost to operation, including fuel.

“Loss of credibility by the airline is also another issue as most of its passenger would start losing confidence in it and the perception will be altered wrongly.”

During the hey days of Bellview Airways, the airline started stranding passengers on its Lagos- London and Lagos-Johannesburg route and this caused many fracas at the MMIA and left a permanent dent in the image of the airline, probably that is one of the reasons the airline changed identity to avoid the perception its former passengers had of Bellview.

Even the Director General of the NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, in a chat recently, said an airline flight is a perishable item.Once the flight is gone the revenue for any seat unsold is gone. S, if an airline does not operate its flight at a given time, the revenue to be made there has automatically gone.

•Demuren

Industry stakeholder, Deba Uwadiae who also responded to our correspondent on the issue of flight cancellation, explained that although some flight delays cannot be blamed solely on the airlines, the airline needs to tidy up situations that are directly their fault and not play tin gods with passengers.

He said:” Flights are canceled on various grounds, including safety procedure, unexpected technical problem and economic situation. Safety procedure could be due to weather issues, difficulties at destination and departure points - crises . Unexpected technical problem could be due to incident/accident to aircraft at apron or damage to engine caused by foreign objects after last flight.”

“Economic challenge could be a cause for cancellation where aircraft do not have enough passengers to operate that flight economically. While the first two grounds are safety procedures that have to be adhered to and which must be explained to passengers for their understanding, the economic ground, most times, is not tenable because a deliberate breach has occurred.”

He was also of the strong notion that if an intentional breach occurs, the regulatory body through its CPU should swing into action and try to make right the wrong done since they are the passenger’s succour “This is the only area (cancellation caused for economic purposes), I feel, NCAA can come in and see it can be addressed in such a way that passengers that have been delayed due to this will not lose everything. Most times passengers are not updated on happenings when there are delays. When eventually this is done belatedly, the airline would

‘The cost implication, first of all, goes to the passenger, especially when he or she is scheduled for something and needs to get there. That means he would have to buy another ticket because in Nigeria, airlines do not co-operate anymore. If I have an airline’s ticket and my flight is cancelled, no other airline in Nigeria has a partnership with me and that means I need to buy another ticket’

assume that it has informed or updated the passengers as required. However, when treating the issue of cancellation of flights, it should be looked at from the point to the cause for such delay.”

If Nigeria wants to truly be on top of its game in the civil aviation business, less lip service should be paid to consumer protection and more action taken.

Minister of Aviation, Mrs Fidelia Njeze recently revealed that the CPU has received a total of 46, 998,000 complaints against airlines between January and December 2010. However, she left out, for obvious reasons, how many of those complaints had been handled.

And although one cannot tell how many of that number is related in any way to flight cancellation, common sense will tell every logical man that it is a huge number and that the CPU needs to be empowered to carry out its responsibility.

In 2007, the Senate had condemned airlines over frequent flight cancellation in Nigeria without adequate compensation to passengers. In a motion titled, Frequent Cancellation of Scheduled Flights by Airlines in Nigeria, moved by the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin and seven others, the Senate also directed relevant agencies of the government to ensure that adequate compensation was paid to passengers who were denied boarding.

It also directed its committee on aviation to immediately come up with proposals for amending the Civil Aviation Act 2006 to include provisions for compensation for passengers denied boarding and specific sanctions on airlines perpetrating these acts stating that the frequent cancellations violated section 71 (1) of the Act. If the NCAA is serious about doing something to reduce the number of flight cancellations by airlines then it should be willing to take examples from other countries so as to get it right instead of playing politics and paying lip service to an institution that can guarantee growth.

Other countries experience In India for example, on June 1, 2008 the Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued draft Civil Aviation Requirements on facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, flight cancellations and delays.

These have now been further modified and finalised through a regulation dated August 6, 2010, which came into effect on August 15, 2010.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

19

EDITORIAL/OPINION EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

COMMENT

Mr. Gingrich’s Intolerant History

Basket case •Lots of questions on award of contract for Alaoji power plant pipeline

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ET again, it is bad news from the 1,074MW Alaoji Power Plant, Aba, Abia State, one of the power plants on which the Federal Government hinges its plans to bring respite to the power sector. The N1.3 billion ($8.5 million) 18 inches gas pipeline awarded last August to an indigenous contractor, covering a distance of 2.5 kilometres has been found unsuitable for the power facility.

Reason: the new pipeline is said to be incongruous with the existing 12 inches pipeline built in the 1960s by Shell.

An unnamed official of the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) was quoted as saying that the new pipeline is “a low pressure pipeline...it can transport gas to manufacturing companies and others in Aba, but not a big power plant, which requires a high pressure pipeline of 24 inches.”

A Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) top shot was said to have convinced the corporation that the 18inch pipeline was of top priority “to help

‘The citizens require answers.

Answers to why the N1.3 billion contract was necessary in the first place; why the contract was awarded rather surreptitiously and without competitive bidding; the nature of exigency that would warrant committing the nation’s treasury to the project that has turned white elephant before the last screw is turned’

generate considerable electricity” pending the time the main pipeline of 24 inches was completed.

Here again is a manifestation of the multiple afflictions of incompetence, bad faith and corruption that have permeated every sector of our national life.

The situation hardly lends to obfuscation. There was said to be a subsisting contract awarded by the NNPC for the 24 inches pressure pipeline. The existing 12-inch pipeline – although clearly obsolete, is nonetheless said to be still in use. While the completion of the main contract was being awaited, some functionaries within or outside the NNPC conceived another project without bothering to ascertain its technical feasibility.

Can the NNPC management claim to be unaware that the old 12 inches lowpressure pipeline could have met the gas requirements of the two units, pending the completion of the 24 inches pressure pipeline?

We are aware of allegations that the NNPC management actually knew – and yet went ahead to commit the nation to what now seems to be a white elephant pipeline project. That leaves little else outside the question of the motives of the promoters.

It therefore comes as hardly surprising that the contract would violate all the norms of due process. Clearly, it would have been a wonder if it didn’t. A query said to have been issued by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in September last year to the NNPC demanding ex-

planations for grave violations of due process was said to have been unanswered. A reminder, which followed three months later was also reported to have been roundly ignored. Till date, there is no information that the NNPC responded to the query – not to talk of any satisfactory explanations. The closest was the statement credited to Levi Ajuonuma, Group General Manager (Public Affairs Division), NNPC inferring that the NGC engineers who questioned the feasibility of the project do not have the monopoly of knowledge.

His words: “If the engineers have alleged this, then we have to work towards it. We will also need independent confirmation from other sources”.

Would that suffice to exculpate the corporation from the weighty charges? The response –reeking of impunity merely underlies the tragedy of the national oil corporation that is not only impervious to reason but has remained unyielding to demands for public scrutiny.

The citizens require answers. Answers to why the N1.3 billion contract was necessary in the first place; why the contract was awarded rather surreptitiously and without competitive bidding; the nature of exigency that would warrant committing the nation’s treasury to the project that has turned white elephant before the last screw is turned. Needless to state that such developments are what have rendered the power sector a basket case.

The anti-graft bodies should be interested in helping the nation get answers.

Dangerous gesture •By wooing politicians for unsolicited loans, our banks have forgotten history HE media report that banks are now wooing newly elected political office holders with unsolicited loans that run into billions of naira is not only baffling, but represents yet another low point in the bastardisation of banking ethos for which the banks, unfortunately, have become famous of late.

It is appropriate for banks, especially the specialised ones, to approach relevant industries to advertise their service-products and areas of competence. However, when banks run after public office holders with unsolicited ‘mouth-watering’ loan figures, there is need for caution.

Usually, the first likely casualty is the due diligence required for the perfection of ‘security’ offered (if any is ever offered) for such loans.

Secondly, although the banks may see it as an aggressive business drive: Nigerians consider it a desperate and reckless business initiative which could lower the banks’ business integrity profile. Put differently, unsolicited bank loans, if disbursed, open the flood gates to corruption through compromised, noncommittal, or doctored terms of loan agreements, with very low chances of possible recovery. We are alarmed because it was the unsecured loans granted the Second Republic politicians by the defunct National Bank Ltd which contributed significantly to the collapse of that bank.

How did the banks become ‘deposit’ speculators and what is the fundamental philosophy that drives their aggressive pursuit of liquid funds within and outside the domestic economy? The answer is in the traumatic and mindless alteration of money management pattern in the banking industry, and a complete disori-

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entation occasioned by the decreed compulsive recapitalisation of the banks.

Here, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the banks violated one fundamental rule about capital formation and accumulation: production must necessarily precede savings, and savings may lead to wealth/ capital accumulation. That is the essence of the spirit of capitalism – capital does evolve; it is not decreed into existence. The apex bank decreed capital into existence simply by imagining some surplus savings somewhere. A lacuna thus exists between the banks, the people and the economy, dovetailing into a palpable disconnect between the market stakeholders and the Federal Government.

The truth is that, the implied capital did not exist anywhere within the shores of Nigeria at that time, and funds stashed abroad by corrupt Nigerians did not find their way back home either. Consequently, banks became desperate, and in order to stay afloat and remain in business, insider abused loans, shares manipulations, boardroom collusion, and other hanky-panky dealings pervaded the recapitalisation exercise. The flaws of Prof Charles Soludo’s recapitalisation scheme notwithstanding, it pointed our attention to the dwindling fortune of the national economy, and the apparent insufficiency of finance capital.

Ultimately, however, because the policy was built on imagination, there was no infrastructure outlay that could support production even if, and when capital is injected into the economy. Sadly enough, since the Soludo years, the infrastructure profile of the country and the fiscal ‘indiscipline’ record of the Federal Gov-

ernment have not changed much. This is the crux of the matter; for even if the banks get ‘juicy’ Value Added Tax (VAT) account as well as the Federation Account, we are at pains to see the extra benefits these would fetch. Indeed, no serious lending or core banking is going on; banks may be desperate to lend, but not much viable businesses in the country.

The cost of doing business remains prohibitive, especially with the prevailing interest rates and the cost of funds.

We commend the efforts of the whistle blowers who put this information in the public domain. We call on the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to do the needful now, instead of waiting until there are many banks’ managing directors and chief executive officers to be sacked. We must return to the era of core and professional banking.

‘We commend the efforts of the whistle blowers who put this information in the public domain. We call on the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to do the needful now, instead of waiting until there are many banks’ managing directors and chief executive officers to be sacked. We must return to the era of core and professional banking’

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EWT Gingrich, the former House speaker and latest entrant in the Republican presidential field, has money, experience and name recognition. His introductory video is all serenity and hope, a deceptively calm way for many voters to meet a splenetic politician with a long history of slashing divisiveness and intolerance.

He refers to himself as a historian, but apparently his personal study of history has primarily taught him about the effectiveness of demagogy. Donald Trump, fiddling with birth certificates, is an amateur compared with Mr. Gingrich at sliming the Obama administration — as well as Democrats, Muslims, blacks and gay men and lesbians.

The Democrats who won in 2008, including President Obama, are “left-wing radicals” who lead a “secular socialist machine,” he wrote in his 2010 book, “To Save America.”

He accused them of producing “the greatest political corruption ever seen in modern America.” And then the inevitable historical coup de grâce: “The secular-socialist machine represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did.”

The slurs don’t stop there. He compared the Muslims who wanted to open an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan to the German Reich, saying it “would be like putting a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust Museum.” He is promoting the fringe idea that “jihadis” are intent on imposing Islamic law on every American village and farm.

Last year, he called for a federal law to stop the (nonexistent) onslaught of Sharia on American jurisprudence and accused the left of refusing to acknowledge its “mortal threat to the survival of freedom in the United States and in the world as we know it.” This nuanced grasp of world affairs was reinforced when he said that Mr. Obama displayed “Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior.”

In his world, advocates for gay rights are imposing a “gay and secular fascism” using violence and harassment, blacks have little entrepreneurial tradition, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court is a “Latina woman racist.” (He kind of took back that last slur.)

Despite all this, not to mention the ethics violation when he was speaker, Mr. Gingrich’s real liability among the conservative and fundamentalist groups that dominate the Republican primaries is his personal history of infidelity that led to two sordid divorces.

(Much of which took place while he was denouncing President Bill Clinton for moral transgressions.) That may explain his endless calls to restore Judeo-Christian values.

It is sometimes difficult to know what some Republican candidates stand for, as they pander to the far right without alienating the center. It is not difficult to know what Newt Gingrich stands for, and to find it repellent.

– New York Times

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

20

EDITORIAL/OPINION

IR: I was not born when you were Premier of the old Western Region. But I thank God for the grace of education which availed me the opportunity to learn about you, the inspiring genius and formidable valour in you, your daring creativity and ingenuity, your inimitable erudition and sagacity, your visionary political craftsmanship and decisiveness of action, your patriotic desire for service and irrepressible sense of nationalism.

You desired and laboured to put these great attributes to the service of the country you loved so much.

Being the authentic attributes for quality leadership, the country badly needed them, but unbelievably refused to appreciate and grab them, perhaps mainly because you came centuries ahead of your time.

They lived in you and with you, until they finally died with you in May, l987.

Your four-cardinal programmes upon which you premised your patriotic desire to serve as President in 1979 and 1983 are today the basic problems of Nigeria.

Your free education programme, which you had desired to replicate at the national level, had produced the best brains and world-renowned intellectuals. Today, in your beloved country where even primary school pupils now are cultists, parents openly flaunt their ability to prepare the stage for their children to perpetrate examination fraud as status symbol. Education of acquisition of knowledge, intellectual development and broadening of the mind has been rubbished to glorify education of mere acquisition of degrees and titles.

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EDITOR’S MAIL BAG SEND TYPEWRITTEN, DOUBLE SPACED AND SIGNED CONTRIBUTIONS, LETTERS AND REJOINDERS OF NOT MORE THAN 800 WORDS TO THE EDITOR, THE NATION, 27B, FATAI ATERE ROAD, MATORI, LAGOS. E-mail: views@thenationonlineng.net

Letter to Papa Awo Papa, remember the roads you constructed? They boosted economic activities, improved the quality of life of your people and gave efficiency to the machinery of effective governance. Today, the nation’s roads are real traps of carnage and sorrow with gullies and pot-holes deep enough to have swallowed the trucks transporting the cocoa beans with which you performed your lifetransforming wonders. In recording such extra-ordinary achievements including many ‘firsts’ in Africa, you made public accountability your watch-word in government. But now public office holders from federal down to local government lev-

els “swallow” public funds in multiples of billions.

We are the world’s sixth largest producer of crude oil, yet, nations without a pint of the precious mineral buried in their under-bellies export fuel to the world’s biggest generator economy. Those who refer to us as the largest black nation on earth also receive us as the largest foreign seekers of medical services, including for presidential radiculopathy, which your health care programme had sought to fix.

Unlike in your days, there are so many fake Awoists these days that one could not easily identify the few genuine ones that are probably still

there!

Yet, it is not as if this nation lacks great minds of your tribe. You would be immensely proud, even in your glorious sleep, of Nigerian men and women like Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Babatunde Fashola, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Dora Akunyili. The problem, unfortunately for us, Papa, is the cabal who robbed Nigeria of the invaluable services of the "best president Nigeria never had" and "the issue in Nigerian politics" are still on the prowl holding the country by the jugular, This is why even at critical moments such as these, political brigands, economic saboteurs and

Nigeria and global food shortage

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IR: Inadequate food production seems to be general across the world today.

Farmer’s predicament includes global warming that metamorphose to weather hazards like (excessive heat), flood disaster, earthquakes, tsunami in many parts of the world.

Many farmers in the world experienced crop failure due to devastating effect of the weather and above mentioned hazards.

Seventy percent of food available in our local market particularly rice, caned food and host of others are imported. With global food production being threatened, future food importation may hit the rocks.

Year-in-year out, food crops production in Nigeria has been in decline and population continues to grow. Increase in food production is therefore a must.

The middle-aged that are sup-

posed to be engaged in farming have become emergency transporters (riding Okadas). Even through heavy casualties are recorded daily due to the dangerous trend of the business yet people have to survive, no thanks to the nation’s inefficient transportation system especially railways, coupled with bad roads within the urban and rural areas.

Inadequate and late supply of fertilizer to the farmers is another hindrance to self sufficiency in the

Political violence: memo to the 22-wise men IR: I have just read that the Presidency has inaugurated a 22-man probe panel to investigate the post-election violence that rocked some northern states after the April 16, presidential poll.

Good as the idea of the panel seems, one wonders why it was set up with selective focus on pre-election violence in Akwa Ibom State alone when there were other preelection incidents of violence in other states. The panel should have also been saddled with the task of probing these other ones including the recurrent killings in Plateau, Borno and Bauchi states because Governor Jonah Jang once told the nation that the recurring incidents

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people of questionable spirit of nationalism are always on the fore front of the deadly intrigues and shenanigans bedeviling the scramble for positions of authority.

Therefore, Papa, please, do not be inactive in your sleep. It is high time you acted, in mega coalition with your colleagues over there, to dislodge whatever remains of the holdtight mafia once and for all so that the nation could be handed over to leaders of your breed. Nations such as the Koreas, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Ghana and South Africa which, a few decades ago, viewed Nigeria with envy have all left us way behind. The time has come for this inevitable revolution of whatever shade or form and we count on the leadership and guidance of you and your colleagues – Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Herbert Macaulay, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Malam Aminu Kano, Dr. Tai Solarin, General Murtala Muhammed, Chief MKO Abiola - the heavenly hosts.

• Dele Akinola, Ikorodu, Lagos.

in the state were politically motivated.

It is common knowledge that the Uyo incident was ignited by the restriction placed on campaigns by the opposition by the state government in Annang land. When the ACN campaign convoy was attacked on their way to Ikot Ekpene (an Annang land), reprisal attack offered the PDP supporters the opportunity to inflict unprecedented destruction on official, private and common property of the people of the state, and lives were wasted in the process. All this was calculated to incriminate the opposition in the state, preparatory to the election proper.

These puzzles should agitate the

minds of the 22-wise men: why were the vehicles at the state secretariat Uyo parked for upward of three months without distribution?

Was there any plan to allocate the vehicles (cars and tricycles) before the incident and then a rethink?

How could it be that the heavy security presence including armoured cars at the gates of the secretariat were overpowered by the mob? Why did Governor Akpabio rush an arrangement with the police to point accusing fingers at the opposition? Did the Governors’ Forum, in paid advertisements, not promise to provide a level playing ground for all parties participating in the election? Why did the Akwa Ibom government

pass instruction that no political party other than PDP should be allowed to campaign in Annang land?

Why did the government enact a retrospective law to charge ACN’s Senator Akpan Udoedehe with treason?

These are critical questions that demand proper answers. Suffice however to say that there is this rumour making the rounds that Akwa Ibom’s pre-election violence was included in this probe agenda so that an effective distraction can be created to divert attention of the people and thus allow the unconscionably rigged governorship election to stand.

Dr. Edet Iniodu, Ontario, Canada.

nation’s food industry.

Currently, food demand is greater than supplies on food crops. This factor gives room to food-price inflation; many essential foods are out of reach (table) of the common man because of the exorbitant prices.

The rate at which livestock and man compete with grains is not helping matters.

The fresh maize which normally bring succor to the common man during its season has become things of the past due to competition. Also, high cost of diesel coupled with irregular power supply contributes in no small measure to the food decline in the country.

We suggest that the government should focus and put more attention to farmers’ plight. Farming tools, fertilizer, fund and all that are necessary to engage in meaningful, productive and profitable farming must be put in place.

Finally, live stock farmers need to shift to production of livestock with less competition with man, on available food crops especially (grains).

• Emmanuel Ogunnaike (MFR) Former Vice Chairman, South West, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN)

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION

Will our eagle now fly?

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HAT comes to mind when we think of an eagle?

A beautiful, strong and noble bird with very likable qualities? Or a large powerful bird of prey, swooping down and snatching up its victim to fulfil its purpose? Essentially, eagles are all of these and more.

The eagle is significant among Nigeria’s national symbols, standing firm at the centre of the nation’s insignia. It must have been put there for a purpose. In the United States, the Bald Eagle is a symbol of justice, strength and fairness. To the rest of the world, the eagle may bring to mind many different images because there are many different types of eagles. In fact, there are about 59 different species of eagles, and they can be found on every continent - except Antarctica.

Although eagles come in all sorts of sizes and colours, as members of the same species, the 59 different eagles share a lot in common. They are all predatory birds - with hooked flaps and strong grasping feet - raptors that seize and carry away for a long distance; they are excellent fliers with ability to soar above the sea, mountains and clouds; and they all have excellent vision.

Our national soccer teams are tagged with the eagle – be it Green, Super, Flying or even the Falcon. The purpose, one can safely deduce, was to designate strength and ability to achieve beyond the ordinary. And if so, the architects of the Nigerian nation must have as well been so optimistically minded in conceiving the armorial bearing with the eagle as the central figure.

For a rewarding understanding, let’s take a brief trip by borrowing from the Caribbean erudite teacher of the Word, Dr. Myles Munroe who enumerated some fundamental principles of an eagle, to see how Nigeria has fared by its own set standard. Some vital questions being raised might spur our inner minds to appreciate where we are now instead of where ought to be.

How have we as a nation been complying with the attributes of our chosen symbol? How have we been guided by our own encouraging icon? Are we truly set for transformation as canvassed during the electioneering campaigns? Or will ‘change’ become a mere soap box slogan?

Munroe’s Principle 1: Eagles fly alone at high altitude

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N February 8, 2011, during his presidential campaign in Ibadan, President Goodluck Jonathan declared, “The southwest is too important to be left in the hands of rascals. We must take it over from them. The ruling party must take over Lagos.

We must also take over Osun and Ekiti states”. In this presidential declaration, Mr President made it clear that PDP must win the April polls in the South West and that the battle would continue till whenever Ondo, Osun and Ekiti would be due for governorship elections. Then those states too would be ‘captured’ and ‘rascals’ would be chased out of the South West forever.

Reactions followed this declaration. So many people described the statement as unbecoming of a president.

How can the president describe responsible and elderly politicians as rascals? But some others were happy with Mr President. Among them was Adebayo Alao-Akala, now outgoing governor of Oyo State. Standing on the right-hand side of the President on the podium, Mr Akala roared with laughter and urged the President to finis all of them, Sa. Awon rasika buruku!

Though not quite sure what the word ‘rascals’ meant, Mr Akala concluded that it must be an apt description of the likes of Tinubu, Fashola, Aregbesola and, in fact, anyone not in the ruling PDP including Oyo State school teachers. Applying all his imagination and judgement, Mr Akala concluded that for him in Oyo, for Olurin in Ogun, and for Dosunmu in Lagos, victory was signed, sealed and delivered! After all, Mr President just said it, and the oldest living godfather, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo, dancing on the podium between Jonathan and Sambo, just stamped it ‘yes’.

Well, the general elections were held last month and the people spoke with their ballots. South West voted for Mr President but voted out nearly every other appearance of PDP. In governorship, state house and national assembly elections, Mr President’s ruling party lost in the south west most woefully. Many ‘rascals’ won.

The ‘rascals’ have multiplied greatly. Four years ago, there was only one such ‘rascal’ governor in the Southwest — Babatunde Fashola of Lagos. Then Ondo, Ekiti and Osun went down in the courts and more ‘rascals’ took over. Last week, Ogun and Oyo fell off the talons of PDP into the hands of these ‘rascals’. As from May 29 when new governors will be sworn in, the whole of the South West will be in the hands of ‘rascals’ as

and not with sparrows or other small birds. Eagles only fly with eagles. No other bird can get to the height of the eagle.

Now the questions: In what ways has Nigeria been outstanding rather than crawling among the dregs of nations? Why has the nation not soared in 50 years of flag independence? Why are we not yet at the mountain top with the successful climes?

Principle 2: Eagles have strong vision. They have the ability to focus on something up to five kilometres away.

When an eagle sites its prey, it narrows its focus on it and set out to get it. No matter the obstacles, the eagle will not move its focus from the prey until it grabs it.

And the queries: Why should visionary leadership remain the bane of a nation so blessed with resourceful and hardworking human resources? What has the nation achieved with all the great potentials of the numerous development plans? How much of the set goals have been accomplished by successive administrations compared to nations that were once at the same level with Nigeria?

Will the nation now be governed with a vision? Will the nation remain focused on set developmental goals no matter the challenges?

Principle 3: Eagles do not eat dead things. They feed only on fresh prey. Vultures eat dead animals, but eagles will not.

The concerns: Has the nation learnt any lesson from the numerous past pitfalls? Why is ethnicity still a deciding factor in our national politics? Even when electorates decide to abandon the old unprofitable way and vote their conscience, why sectional response with violence, destructions and wastages of innocent lives? Why should crisis be concocted in place of celebrating a progressive democratic experience? Why the draw back and distractions when the nation should be moving forward?

Principle 4: Eagles love the storm. When clouds gather, the eagle gets excited. The eagle uses the storm’s wind to lift itself higher above the clouds. This gives it an opportunity to glide and rest its wings. In the meantime, all the other birds would hide in the leaves and branches of the trees.

Pray, is Nigeria using the storms of life to rise to greater heights? Do we relish challenges and use them profitably?

Or are our leaders exploiting challenges to satisfy self?

Principle 5: The Eagle tests before it trusts. When a female eagle meets a male and they want to mate, nothing will happen until the female eagle is assured that the male eagle has mastered the art of commitment. Then and only

The rascals have multiplied!

By Ayobami Ojebode governors. All the members of the House of Assembly in Lagos and Osun States, and all the members of the National Assembly from Osun State are from the group that the President described as ‘rascals’. An overwhelming majority of decision makers in South West will be ‘rascals’.

Mr President had three ‘rascals’ as governors to kick out but the three became six before his very eyes.

But that is not all. These ‘rascals’ are multiplying fast.

Here is an example: A lecturer in the University of Ibadan gave his students an assignment. He asked them to write on any subject and publish it in a newspaper. The subject could be fashion, nature, hobbies, food, death, anything.

What mattered was to write and get published. One by one, the fifty-something students made their choice. Each one corked their pen, aimed it at a PDP governor or policy, fired and brought him or it down. For reasons which may include proximity and his intrusive visibility, Mr AlaoAkala took more bullets than any other. A student wrote to ‘thrash’ his environmental policy known as ‘Environmental Akalism’ wondering if Akalism was not synonymous with festering refuse heaps on Ibadan roads.

Another wrote about Oyo schools without roofs, chairs and tables. The list is endless. And these got published in the papers.

Amazed, the lecturer confronted some of the students on the corridor: ‘What on earth do you think you’re doing?’ They responded, ‘We are being “rascals”. If being a rascal means being focused like Fashola, dogged like Aregbesola, immovable like Iroko, or quietly working like Fayemi, these young people said they want to be just that.

As if to prove the point, they moved to tackle the problems they had highlighted. They embarked on health campaigns in ten primary schools providing soap, water and basins for pupils to wash hands so as to stave off bacterial infections. Some went much further: they bought about forty pairs of sandals and distributed them to shoeless primary school pupils in Ajibode Village, Ibadan.

then, will she allow him to mate with her.

How much commitment is being shown to the nation’s interest? Are people aligning politically on ideological grounds? For instance, what is the true purpose of a Government of National Unity? Is it to de-wing the opposition and eventually install a one-party state? Or are people cringing to eat from just any government in power?

Principle 6: When ready to lay eggs, the female and male eagle identify a place very high on a cliff where no predators can reach. Both participate in raising the eagle family. She lays the eggs and protects them; he builds the nest and hunts. The young ones are also trained to fly by both. Until they start flapping their wings and get excited at this newfound knowledge that they can fly, they are not left alone.

To what extent are we prepared for changes? Are we ready to work together for the progress of the nation? Do we realise that the seemingly comfortable and safe haven may have thorns? What legacy is today’s generation of leaders leaving for the future ones?

Do leaders truly love the led and would not let them languish in apathy and frustration? What are being done to push the people to grow and prosper? Even in their seemingly bad actions, when will Nigerians begin to see their leaders’ good intentions?

Principle 7: When an eagle grows old, its feathers become weak and cannot take it as fast as it should. When it feels weak and about to die, it retires to a place far away in the rocks. While there, it plucks out every feather on its body until it is completely bare. It stays in this hiding place until it has grown new feathers, then it can come out.

Will the new political dispensation launch the beleaguered nation to a new beginning? As a people, are we now set to shed off old habits that burden us without adding to our lives? Will the desperate old marauders and prowlers shelf self interest and give Goodluck Jonathan the chance to prove his ability to lift the eagle up?

Or will the president be bold enough to shun political predators so that he can awaken the slumbering eagle?

When will the nation envisaged to be strong and flourishing become a fulfilling place for its inhabitants?

With the emergence of the Jonathan administration, will our eagle now be allowed to fly? Would it even be enough for it to just fly and not soar after the many years of its standing static? In reality, is the eagle called Nigeria now set to soar to fulfil its purpose? Questions upon questions!

‘Or will the president be bold enough to shun political predators so that he can awaken the slumbering eagle?’

Mr President, will you still chase off ‘rascals’ from the South West? Shouldn’t you rather pray for more ‘rascals’ like these ones?

The option for the president is to court the cooperation of the ‘rascals’ especially because most in the South West voted for him as president. This option should reflect in his selection of cabinet members and the zoning of political offices. The strife is over. The ‘rascals’ should be treated as partners in progress. Mr President should not tread the path of his predecessor, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo. For over four years, Mr Obasanjo treated senior ‘rascal’ Bola Tinubu as an enemy. While Mr Obasanjo’s minister, Mr Ogunlewe reached for Tinubu’s jugular in Lagos, Mr Obasanjo himself withheld allocations to Lagos State for months. It took a ‘rascal’ like Tinubu to survive such double-pronged attacks and at the same time govern well. As Reuben Abati put it, Obasanjo abandoned the path of the statesman too early and stuck to the path of the politician with steadfast ruthlessness.

That is not an example for Jonathan to emulate. The PDP is still the dominant party in Nigeria with 26 of 36 states and majority of national assembly seats in its control.

But it needs the South West where it has lost face, reputation and control because, as the President said, “the South West is too important...”.

• Ayobami Ojebode is on staff of the University of Ibadan.

‘Though not quite sure what the word ‘rascals’ meant, Mr Akala concluded that it must be an apt description of the likes of Tinubu, Fashola, Aregbesola and, in fact, anyone not in the ruling PDP including Oyo State school teachers. Applying all his imagination and judgement, Mr Akala concluded that for him in Oyo, for Olurin in Ogun, and for Dosunmu in Lagos, victory was signed, sealed and delivered!’

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

22

EDITORIAL/OPINION

T

HIS is a post-mortem. The 2011 elections have come and gone, but it will go down in our lore as one election in which the fabled ‘masquerades” of the Nigerian politics were thoroughly demystified. Among other things, one remarkable factor of the election is the demystification of these demi-gods who had bestridden the country’s political firmament like a colossus. For former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, particularly, it is the demystification of a self-styled master strategist, the unmasking of the masquerade, and the humbling of the enfant terrible.

From the almost two-third of the Senate members who would not return to the upper house of the national assembly to key figures like Dimeji Bankole and Iyabo Obasanjo, it has been a deconstruction of the face of power in Nigeria. Particularly, the greatest victim of this twist of fate seems to be the celebrated, self-acclaimed master strategist himself. Kalu did not only lose the election for the senatorial seat of the Abia North, his brother, Nnanna Kalu also lost his seat in the House of Representatives, and yet another brother who was the Chief of Staff to the governor also lost out in the power games that culminated in the liberation of the state from the stranglehold of their family’s political dynasty.

Today, Kalu is a dimming star, gradually descending into limbo. In the days of his

‘From that moment, Governor Theodore Orji took the bull by the horns and orchestrated the liberation of Abia out of the captivity of the Kalu dynasty. Today, Kalu has been stripped naked at the market square. The once enfant terrible of Abia has been de-robed.

All the simulations that created the Kalu mystique have been unveiled’

Kalu: demystifying the master strategist

By Godwin Adindu pomp and power, he had been celebrated as the quensentesial political Maradona.

Two popular journalists and authors were part of the band of eulogists. Drawing from his schemes and his craft of manipulation, in a widely serialized biography, they designated him the “Master Strategist”.

And, indeed, he was. Kalu deployed a combination of street intelligence, desperate manipulation, outright deceit and selective generosity to build a cult of loyalists and a fortress of power under the banner of the Progressive People Alliance (PPA). Confident that he has conquered the state and consolidated his regime, he then boasted that his structure would rule Abia for 50 years and that his daughter was going to be the youngest governor in Nigeria.

Thus, having conquered the state, he became the very personification of power.

At the national level, he courted controversy as a way of gaining cheap popularity. This was benchmarked by his open confrontation against the then President Obasanjo whom he called names. Kalu’s popularity was later to soar when he took up the populist posture of a self-appointed advocate of Ndigbo. But, following from his pedigree of controversy and inconsistency, many discerning Igbos were not deceived. They were proven right when he suddenly somersaulted as his second term bid came under serious threat in 2003.

But, the assumed mystique around the man came to its height in 2007, when, against all the weapons unleashed by the federal government against him and his fraternity, he led Governor Theodore Orji from prison to power. He doubled his crown with the emergence of Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State under the banner of the PPA. But, all these are now history.

However, his demystification was essentially a gradual process which stated with the self-assertion of Governor

Ohakim, who quickly extricated himself from the PPA fraternity and abandoned Kalu mid-way. Indeed, to everybody’s shock and bewilderment, the lesson of that incident did not crystallize on him, for before long, it became obvious that this self-acclaimed strategist was not even a good student of the history of power. In his illusion of being in control, he tried to humiliate a sitting chief executive of the state with his deputy. This was the last straw that brought Kalu to his ruins. It was a tragic error with consequences that have been terribly devastating than he had imagined.

From that moment, Governor Theodore Orji took the bull by the horns and orchestrated the liberation of Abia out of the captivity of the Kalu dynasty. Today, Kalu has been stripped naked at the market square. The once enfant terrible of Abia has been de-robed. All the simulations that created the Kalu mystique have been unveiled. He is today a loner, denigrated and deflowered. He is as lonely as an orphan, abandoned by even his greatest die-hard followers.

What is obvious is that Kalu is coming to grips with the bitter lesson of the aphrodisiac of power. The self-acclaimed master strategist is now a wandering minstrel, with no political worth or value.

Indeed, his fate is the lamentable story of the classical tragic-hero.

For the entire state of Abia, it has been celebration and jubilation galore. For the eight years of his reign and the first three years of his successor, the master strategist held the state by the jugular.

From the leadership of the Okada Riders Association, traditional rulers, market associations to every political appointment from local government councilors to even the aides of his successor, he held a suffocating grip on the state. Power started and ended at his doorstep.

His first casualties were the elite. He

rubbished the elite by marginalizing and sidelining them out of power, and elevated commoners and miscreants as a way of insulting the intelligence of the well-meaning elite of the state. The strategy of the elevation of the commoners was to have a congregation of sheepish loyalists. These men were to forever deify him as their “maker”, and as the man who brought them out of the dark abyss of hopelessness to the daylight of hope.

In this mission, also, he deconstructed the entire Abia society, reduced the revered traditional institution into a calling for commoners and ridiculed even the political class. He balkanized many ancient kingdoms and appointed miscreants as traditional rulers for these new communities. In his own Igbere community, he created 21 communities out of a single community.

Thus, Abia inherited from Kalu, a burden of a societal anomie that resulted in the regime of crime with many youths taking to kidnapping and all manners of vices. He created Frankenstein monsters that later came to haunt the peace of the land. This is why, to Abians, his demystification amounts to liberation. It is a well-deserved end of a dark era and the dawn of a new society.

• Adindu writes from Aba.

• Kalu

VIEW FROM THE FOREIGN PRESS

S

O Osama bin Laden was living in a specially built villa in Pakistan. I wonder where he got the money to buy it? Cashed in his Saudi 401(k)? A Pakistani subprime mortgage, perhaps? No. I suspect we will find that it all came from the same place most of Al Qaeda’s funds come from: some combination of private Saudi donations spent under the watchful eye of the Pakistani Army.

Why should we care? Because this is the heart of the matter; that’s why. It was both just and strategically vital that we killed Bin Laden, who inspired 9/11. I just wish it were as easy to eliminate the two bad bargains that really made that attack possible, funded it and provided the key plotters and foot soldiers who carried it out. We are talking about the

‘Together, the message would be that we’re ready to help Pakistan fight its real enemies and ours — ignorance, illiteracy, corrupt elites and religious obscurantism — but we have no interest in being dupes for the nonsense that Pakistan is threatened

by India and therefore needs “strategic depth” in Afghanistan and allies among the Taliban’

Bad Bargains

By Thomas l. Friedman ruling bargains in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which are alive and well.

The Saudi ruling bargain is an old partnership between the al-Saud tribe and the Wahhabi religious sect. The al-Saud tribe get to stay in power and live however they want behind their palace walls, and, in return, the followers of the Wahhabi sect get to control the country’s religious mores, mosques and education system.

The Wahhabis bless the Saudi regime with legitimacy in the absence of any elections, and the regime blesses them with money and a free hand on religion. The only downside is that this system ensures a steady supply of “sitting around guys” — young Saudi males who have nothing other than religious education and no skills to compete — who then get recruited to become 9/11-style hijackers and suicide bombers in Iraq.

No one explains it better than the Saudi writer Mai Yamani, author of “Cradle of Islam” and the daughter of Saudi Arabia’s former oil minister. “Despite the decade of the West’s war on terror, and Saudi Arabia’s longer-term alliance with the United States, the kingdom’s Wahhabi religious establishment has continued to bankroll Islamic extremist ideologies around the world,” wrote Yamani in The Daily Star of Beirut, Lebanon, this week.

“Bin Laden, born, raised and educated in Saudi Arabia, is a product of this pervasive ideology,” Yamani added. “He was no

religious innovator; he was a product of Wahhabism, and later was exported by the Wahhabi regime as a jihadist. During the 1980s, Saudi Arabia spent some $75 billion for the propagation of Wahhabism, funding schools, mosques, and charities throughout the Islamic world, from Pakistan to Afghanistan, Yemen, Algeria and beyond. ...

Not surprisingly, the creation of a transnational Islamic political movement, boosted by thousands of underground jihadist Web sites, has blown back into the kingdom. Like the hijackers of 9/11, who were also Saudi-Wahhabi ideological exports ... Saudi Arabia’s reserve army of potential terrorists remains, because the Wahhabi factory of fanatical ideas remains intact. So the real battle has not been with Bin Laden, but with that Saudi state-supported ideology factory.”

Ditto Pakistan. The Pakistani ruling bargain is set by the Pakistani Army and says: “We let you civilians pretend to rule, but we will actually call all the key shots, we will consume nearly 25 percent of the state budget and we will justify all of this as necessary for Pakistan to confront its real security challenge: India and its occupation of Kashmir. Looking for Bin Laden became a side-business for Pakistan’s military to generate U.S. aid.

As the Al Qaeda expert Lawrence Wright observed in The New Yorker this week: Pakistan’s Army and intelligence service “were in the looking-for-Bin-Laden business,

and if they found him they’d be out of business.” Since 9/11, Wright added, “the U.S. had given $11 billion to Pakistan, the bulk of it in military aid, much of which was misappropriated to buy weapons to defend against India.”

(President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan plays the same game. He’s in the lookingfor-stability-in-Afghanistan business. And as long as we keep paying him, he’ll keep looking.)

What both countries need is shock therapy.

For Pakistan, that would mean America converting the lion’s share of its military aid to K-12 education programs, while also reducing the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan.

Together, the message would be that we’re ready to help Pakistan fight its real enemies and ours — ignorance, illiteracy, corrupt elites and religious obscurantism — but we have no interest in being dupes for the nonsense that Pakistan is threatened by India and therefore needs “strategic depth” in Afghanistan and allies among the Taliban.

Ditto Saudi Arabia. We are in a ménage à trois with the al-Sauds and the Wahhabis. We provide the al-Sauds security, and they provide us oil. The Wahhabis provide the alSauds with legitimacy and the al-Sauds provide them with money (from us). It works really well for the al-Sauds, but not too well for us. The only way out is a new U.S. energy policy, which neither party is proposing.

Hence, my conclusion: We are surely safer with Bin Laden dead, but no one will be safe — certainly not the many moderate Muslims in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan who deserve a decent future — without different ruling bargains in Islamabad and Riyadh.

– New York Times

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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41

NATION SPORT

NATION SPORT ICC AFRICA WCL DIV.2 TOURNEY

Nigeria defeats Sierra Leone •Phillips scores first century •Obed Harvey smashes 50 of 12 balls

I

N a West African clash, Nigeria met Sierra Leone on the main oval at Sahara Park Willowmoore on Day 2 of the WCL Div. 2 Tournament.

Nigeria was put into bat by Sierra Leone. They amassed an impressive 180 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. This was mainly due to a superb century

by Sean Phillips - his 109* came in 59 balls.

This century included 6 fours and 8 sixes. Endurance Ofem weighed in with a 23 of 19 balls and A. Adegbola

Toure dedicates winning goal to absent brother Kolo IVORIAN international Yaya Toure admitted that his 74th minute goal that won the FA Cup for his club side Manchester City would have been sweeter if his brother was on the pitch and celebrated with him. Kolo Toure is on suspension after testing positive for a specified substance and watched from the stands. Yaya dedicated his goal to Kolo saying “I am a little bit sad for my brother because l could see it in his eyes he wanted to be part of the team. I dedicate my goal to him because this season he has had a lot of problems. “ Yaya’s contribution has been immense for Man City and by scoring the solitary winning goal against Stoke City in the final he completed his own unique brace of important goals. It was Yaya’s solitary strike in the semi-final match against bitter rivals Manchester United that paved the way to the final where City claimed their first major trophy for 35 years.

Yaya adds an FA Cup medal to an impressive collection which includes among others a Spanish league title and European Champions League title both during a successful spell at Barcelona. Yaya went on to say, “I just love Wembley. To score the all important goal against a strong team like Stoke is very special. We deserved to win this game because we created a lot of chances and played so well. This is fantastic for us. Our target was to go to the Champions League and win something and my dream has come true. I am so happy for the club and the fans as they have waited a long time for a trophy” concluded Toure.

•Yaya Toure

assisted his batting partner in posting the 180 run target Unfortunately for the Sierra Leoneans fielding, they had dropped Phillips on 3 and their bowling attack struggled to contain the Nigerian batting.

Sierra Leone attempted to chase this large target. A. Kamara managed to score 47 and spent just about an hour at the crease. Unfortunately for the Sierra Leone batting they were unable to achieve any momentum and were restricted to 112 runs.

Sean Phillips featured with the ball and he managed to get 4 wickets for 17 runs.

Through his effort Nigeria managed to win by 68 runs!

On the A Field of Sahara Park Willowmoore, Ghana graced by Swaziland after a very passive start, 64 of 10 overs, Ghana were able to post an impressive 178 runs.

Opener James Vifah scored 36 runs and Samson Awiah 65 runs with the backbone of the Ghana innings. It was however, Obed Harvey that grabbed the attention. He smashed an impressive 58 of 16 balls, his 50 coming of 12 balls.

Swaziland begun chasing the mammoth total of 178 with a certain degree of trepidation they lost their first wicket with the score on 3 and were 2 for 10 at one stage.

However Naeem Gull and Joseph Wright managed to get a partnership together and the Swazilander’s were left stranded at 33 runs short of the target.

Isaac Aboagye featured with the ball for the Ghanaians. He returned a figure of 3 for 29 Ghana won by 33 runs In the third match of the morning Tanzania met the hapless Malawians.

Tanzania won the toss and posted a formidable 159 in their 20 overs.

A. Patwa impressed with 32 of 28 balls and Kasim Nassoro sparkled with his 42 of 27 balls. They were also helped considerably by sundries supplied courtesy of the Malawi bowling. This tallied 26.

Arjun Kalaria managed to capture 3 Tanzanian wickets for 15 runs and was assisted by M Patel who captured 3 wickets for 14 runs.

Unfortunately for the Malawi team the batsmen were unable to keep the

Tanzanian bowlers out and saw themselves falling short of a 105 runs.

Destroyer in chief was K Rehemtulla who returned figures of 3 for 9; Mwita and Nassoro both captured 2 wickets a piece Tanzania won by 105 runs Afternoon Matches.

In their second match of the day Nigeria faced the West African counterparts Ghana in what turned out to be an extremely exciting game.

Ghana batted first and posted a modest 114 for 8 in their 20 overs.

Obed Harvey scored 24 of 36 whilst SK Awiah scored 40 runs. O. Awolowo took 5 wickets for 24 runs in a magnificent bowling display.

In pursuit of the modest total, Nigeria were soon in trouble at 20 for 2 in the 6th over.

Yet again Sean Phillips managed to stabilize the innings (39 of 45) and he was assisted by Ramit Gill who scored his half century to steer Nigeria to an exciting win in the 19th over!

Vincent Ateak performed well with the ball for Ghana and took 2 wickets for 7 runs. Nigeria won by 7 wickets!

On the Sahara Park ‘A’ Field, Swaziland did battle with Botswana.

Winning the toss, Swaziland elected to bat and they managed to set a target of 122 runs in their 20 overs Top scorers Gull (37) and Khan (23).

For the bowling side Trivedi; Goalekwe and Ali each took 2 wickets respectively.

Botswana made no moans about their intention and managed to reach the target in their 17th over. Faizel Rashid top scored with a magnificent 78 for 54 this includes 10 boundries with 9 fours. Botswana won easily by 9 wickets. On the main field at Sahara Park Willowmoore, the Rwandans met up with the Mozambicans.

Mozambique batted first after winning the toss and set a competitive 127 runs in their allotted 20 overs. B. Vadavathy’s 23 of 27 was at the top of the order and SR Pania kept the middle order together with a constructive 30 of 26 balls.

In pursuit the Rwandans were never able to capitalize on some very undisciplined bowling from the Mozambicans. They eventually ended up with 97 runs in their 20 overs with 5 wickets remaining.Mozambique won by 30 runs.

We worship Osaze –Baggies’ fans

A

S egg-heads of West Brom await news concerning Osaze Odemwingie's latest injury during their 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday, delighted die-hard fans of the Baggies have even opened a “Peter Odemwingie is god” Facebook site as a measure of their appreciation and wait now in the hope that chairman Jeremy Peace will come up with the deal that will keep away any envious suitors.

The Nigerian international has a year and a year’s option on his current deal but came to England from Lokomotiv Moscow on the understanding that his terms would be improved if he proved a success.

Interestingly, the former Bendel Insurance forward has been one of the season’s sensations with 15 goals which have played a huge part in Albion’s finest Premier League campaign and established the previously-unknown Odemwingie as the club’s most successful top-flight striker for more than a generation.

“Coming here I didn’t think about the financial side as much because I wanted to fulfil my dream to play in

the English Premier League,” said Odemwingie, as he celebrated the April player of the month award, sponsored by HomeServe.

“I knew my income would be reduced but there was an agreement – a few players come to England and they do not perform as well as the club would want them to. But we could talk about a better contract if the club was happy.

“Now the season is nearly over, myself and my agent will speak with the club but the club have told me they are happy with me and I feel good and I’m playing very well.

“There’s a big chance I will continue with Albion. It would be a big risk to leave this club where things are going so well for me. I’m of an age where I need to playing.

“Every professional sportsman in the world wants to go as far as they can. There isn’t a player who doesn’t feel that. But it’s going to be hard for me to conceive a move unless there is a really, really top club which wants me,” Osaze added.

Djokovic edges Murray in epic Rome clash Gebrselassie clinches NOVAK DJOKOVIC's amazing up, Djokovic finding the net a couple of fourth Great winning run was extended as he edged times and sensing the set was slipping an epic semi-final encounter with Andy away from him.

Manchester run win Murray to set up a Rome Masters final Djokovic saved two set points on his serve in the next game but had no answer when a rejuvenated Murray served for the set, the Scot forcing his opponent to stay deep and clinching the set with a superb crosscourt passing shot.

•Djokovic

Super Falcons out, beaten 2-1 in Accra

Platini: English FA must present evidence U

EFA president Michel Platini has backed FIFA's request for evidence regarding claims of corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process.

On Wednesday FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke sent a letter to FA chairman David Bernstein requesting a complete report on the statement Lord Triesman made regarding claims of corruption. FIFA have also written to The Sunday Times asking for evidence with regards to statements made by MP John Whittingdale.

Former FA chairman Triesman spoke to the department of culture, media and sport committee about the sale of votes that he claims occurred during the process.

He accused four FIFA delegate members of corruption, including

governing body vice-president Jack Warner, who allegedly requested money to build a football education academy in Trinidad. Warner denied those accusations, insisting he "laughed like hell" when he heard the comments.

The former FA chairman also claimed Paraguay’s Nicolas Leoz had asked for a knighthood in return for his vote and Brazilian FIFA representative Ricardo Teixeira and Thailand's Worawi Makudi were also involved in illegal practices.

And while investigations continue, Platini urged the FA to supply the requested evidence.

"FIFA asked for proof from the English FA and Lord Triesman. I hope the English will provide proof, it’s easy to say allegations without proof," Platini, who is also a member of FIFA’s executive committee, told journalists, as reported by Times Live.

N

•Platini

THE Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie has won the Great Manchester Run for the fourth time, pulling clear of the British runner Chris Thompson to ease to victory in the 10km race.

Gebrselassie, the marathon world-record holder who won the event in 2005, 2009 and 2010, posted a time of 28min 10sec in wet and windy conditions.

"I am so happy to come back here again and again," said Gebrselassie, who ran eight seconds slower than his winning time 12 months ago. "It's wonderful."

Thompson kept pace with Gebrselassie for 7km, even coming up to the shoulder of the 38-year-old two-time Olympic 10,000m champion at one point, before fading and finishing second in 28min 21sec.

Sergiy Lebid of Ukraine came third, four seconds further behind.

"I didn't expect that from this boy," Gebrselassie said of Thompson. "He ran so great."

Britain's Helen Clitheroe, the 3,000m champion at the European indoors this year, smashed her personal best by 30 seconds to win the women's race in 31min 45sec.

IGERIA's hope of being represented at the All African Games was yesterday dashed when the Super Falcons in the City of Accra, the capital of Ghana were humbled 2-1 in the second-leg of the qualification series.

Ahead of the competition slated for Mozambique later in the year, the Black Queens had the upper hand in the decisive match after pulling a 1-1 draw in the firstleg in Abuja.with this result, the Ghanaians ousted their Nigerian counterpart with a 3-2 aggregate to qualify for the competition.

The Uche Eucharia led- team with this

Olofinjana excited over Reading test

O

UT OF FAVOUR Super Eagles midfielder, Seyi Olofinjana has admitted battle-hardened Cardiff City must be ready to take the ultimate next step if they pass their Royals test.

The Nigerian international reckons Tuesday night’s promotion make-orbreak battle with Reading is the perfect stage for the Bluebirds to prove it their worth.

By Uchenna Ajah

Other Sports...Other Sports...Other Sports...Other Sports...Other Sports...Other Sports

against world number one Rafael Nadal.

The Serbian world number two, heading into this match with an undefeated record of 35-0 this season, cruised through the first set before being pegged back as Murray found his rhythm.

But, after a topsy-turvy decider which saw Murray serve for the set at 5-4, Djokovic refused to be beaten. He broke back, forced a tie-break and then stormed through it to triumph 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7/2).

Murray, who lost the first set 6-1 to German Florian Mayer yesterday and spoke afterwards about the need to start well, must have feared the worst when he was 2-0 dwon early on but showed great fight to get the break straight back in game three - reducing the deficit with a delightful drop shot.

However, Djokovic gave the Dunblaneborn star the runaround in taking the set 6-1.

The first five games of the second set went with serve before a rare long forehand from Djokovic handed Murray a break of serve - and a 4-2 advantage.

Murray battled to hold serve to go 5-2

ALL AFRICAN GAMES QUALIFIERS

WORLD CUP BRIBERY CLAIMS

•QPR player Shaun Derry (r) battles for the ball with Cardiff player Seyi Olofinjana during the Championship game

By Uchenna Ajah “We feel we can do better than last year and the players who were there last season will draw on their experience to help us through.

“The players are excited about the prospect – but we have to beat Reading first and that’s where our focus is.”

Speaking further, the former Kwara United ace stressed that MICHAEL CHOPRA can be Cardiff City’s supersub after being dubbed as the readymade replacement for Craig Bellamy.

Cardiff’s dreams of a Wembley play-off promotion are in danger of being dealt a hammer blow, with boss Dave Jones nervously awaiting news on captain marvel Bellamy’s fitness.

Meanwhile, Reading are sweating on the fitness of Wales international Hal Robson-Kanu, impressive in the first leg before being withdrawn through injury, but could be boosted by the return of influential wideman Jimmy Kebe.

Yet Olofinjana said: “Kebe is a good player, but I’m not worried about him, it is about what we can do and about us. We just have to concentrate on ourselves now and make sure we perform.”

Sampdoria relegated from Serie A Sampdoria were on Sunday relegated to Serie B just one season after having qualified for the Champions League.

The Genoa-based club needed to win at home to Palermo to ensure they had a chance of staying in the division but they lost 2-1.

That coupled with Lecce's 2-0 victory at Bari in the Puglia derby meant Sampdoria were down.

By Innocent Amomoh defeat claimed the record of emerging as the first set of Nigerian women national team to fail to qualify for a major championship since inception.

After the first-leg result in Nigeria, the Falcons recooped with Perpetua Nkwocha, leading the foreign legions to make it seven to prosecute the all important encounter.

Nkwocha had opened scores in the 11th minute of the first-half, but two goals from the Black Queens through Faiza Ibrahim and a penalty by Rosemary Ampen in the second-half earned them a desired victory.

As it is now, Eucharia has emerged the first coach to fail to qualify the women national team for a major competition.

She was also assistant to Joseph Ladipo when the Super Falcons surrendered their African title for the very first time in Equatorial Guinea in 2008.

WIGAN 3-2 WEST HAM

Moses gets 44 mins action

S

UPER EAGLES prospect, Victor Moses enjoyed 44 minutes action for Wigan in Sunday's comeback win over West Ham at the DW Stadium.

The Kaduna-born Moses was a 46' sub for J. McCarthy as West Ham United surrendered a two-goal lead and were relegated to the Championship after Charles N'Zogbia struck a vital injurytime winner for Wigan Athletic.

A first-half brace from Demba Ba seemed to have kept the Hammers' slim Premier League survival hopes intact.

However, a second half collapse saw the Londoners seven points from safety with one game left, while Robert Green's mistake left Wigan level on points with Birmingham City and Blackpool.

For the hosts, manager Roberto Martinez welcomed back midfield battler Mohamed Diame after he passed a late fitness test to be included in the starting side. Victor Moses made way for the Frenchman in the only change from the team that drew 1-1 against Aston Villa last weekend.

Opposite number Avram Grant chanced his arm and made five changes from the team that played out a 1-1 stalemate with Blackburn Rovers last Saturday. Patched up talisman Scott Parker watched from the substitute's bench as Jordan Spence, James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Zavon Hines and Frederic Piquionne came in for Lars Jacobsen, Manuel Da Costa, Luis Boa Morte, Freddie Sears and Carlton Cole.

Real Madrid bills Arsenal £25m Maradona linked Mancini dedicates FA for Benzema with Al Wasl Cup win to Man City fans

REAL MADRID have confirmed that they are prepared to sell French striker Karim Benzema, but they will not let the forward leave for less than £25million.

The 23-year-old arrived at the Bernabeu in the summer of 2009 amid plenty of hype after an impressive season with Ligue 1 side Lyon and despite initially impressing has fallen out of favour with Madrid manager Jose Mourinho.

The former Chelsea boss has never been a fan of Benzema and had a number of arguments with the Madrid hirachy after demanding they gave him money to sign a new striker in January.

Now, according to reports in the Metro, Mourinho has told Benzema that he will not be guaranteed first teem football, paving the way for a summer move to England, and possibly north London.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is a known admirer of the French international and is desperate to strengthen his squad and once attempt to deliver some much needed

silverware next season, With question marks over the future of Nicklas Bendtner and Marouane Chamakh, Wenger is keen to bring a new forward to the club and could move for Benzema at the end of the season.

•Benzema

coaching role

DIEGO MARADONA is set for a return to coaching as reports from Argentina claim he has agreed to coach Dubai-based Al Wasl.

The World Cup winner has been out of work since leaving his post with the Argentine national team last summer.

But TyCsports comments that Maradona has signed a two-year deal with the side from the United Arab Emirates League.

The former Napoli and Barcelona forward was recently in Dubai as a guest at the inauguration of a medical centre for young footballers, and it was on this visit where he supposedly met with Al Wasl directors to discuss an agreement.

Earlier this week he was in Russia, taking part in a friendly for the unveiling of Terek Grozny's new stadium.

MANCHESTER CITY boss Roberto Mancini said he was happy to give the club's fans a trophy to celebrate after his team beat Stoke in the FA Cup final.

The 1-0 victory courtesy of Yaya Toure's 74th-minute strike earned them their first major trophy since 1976.

"I am happy for the fans, they deserved to win this Cup. For a long time they didn't win," said Mancini, who has also guided City into the Champions League.

"My feeling is good, but it's important that they feel good [too]."

Toure also scored the goal which beat Manchester United in the FA Cup semifinal and the victory over Stoke gave City supporters reason to celebrate on the same day that United sealed a record 19th top-flight title.

"I just love Wembley. To score the allimportant goal against a strong team like Stoke is very special," said Toure.

"We deserved to win this game because we created a lot of chances and played

so well. This win is fantastic for us.

Eastlands coach David Platt said the victory was important for the players as it would give them a mentality to win further honours.

And while he accepted that qualifying for the Champions League next season was vital for the club's future, he said securing the FA Cup would be important for the team's belief and the supporters.

"Champions League qualification was for the business end of the club, it makes the club more attractive to players that we might want to bring in and that was important, but for the dressing room we had to win something," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

"You ask Roberto which of the trophies was the best while he was at Inter and he will say it was the first Italian Cup because that is what gave the dressing room that winning mentality. What nobody can take away from the players is that they have won something.

Terry won’t leave Blues CHELSEA skipper John Terry says he isn’t interested in leaving Stamford Bridge and wants to stay and help the club win back the Premier League title (5/2 to win next season’s Premier League with bet365).

The 30-year-old has been with Chelsea since 1995, making his professional debut in 1998 at the start of what would turn out to be a glittering career for the east Londoner.

Terry has become Chelsea’s most successful captain, overseeing three Premier League triumphs, three FA Cups and two League Cups during his time with the armband.

In that time the former England captain has been courted by Manchester City and reportedly nearly joined the club at the start of their revolution under Sheikh Mansour.

Having opted to stay at Stamford Bridge rumours are now linking the central defender with a move to Real Madrid to link up with former Blues boss Jose Mourinho.

However, Terry seems set on staying with Chelsea for at least the rest of his contract – which still has three years left to run – and claims he would be happy to see out his career in west London.

“I’m hoping to get an extension on my contract of at least another year – I really am.

“I will try to stay here as long as I can.

I love this football club and I never want to leave.”

•Terry

Wenger rues setpiece problems ARSENAL WENGER has admitted that Arsenal have suffered from poor defending from set-pieces this season.

The Gunners have a fight on their hands to ensure that they finish in at least third place, with another relatively disappointing season for the North Londoners approaching its conclusion.

Arsenal lost 3-1 at Stoke last weekend, with the first goal scored by Kenwyne Jones thanks to lacklustre defending from a set-piece by the visitors.

Wenger has made it clear that, in general, his side have been shaky in the midst of opponents’ free-kicks and corners over the course of the campaign.

"It has been (a problem)," admitted Wenger to arsenal.com. "We cannot deny that because we conceded more goals from set-pieces than other teams."

Arsenal have also suffered from giving away what amounts to too many spotkick. Wenger added: "You have to consider as well that we conceded 17 penalties."

•Wenger

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

CITYBEATS THE NATION

E-mail:- ynotcitybeats@gmail.com

25

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HE atmosphere was heavy.

An offensive odour pavaded the air. The nauseating odour oozes out of the filth that has become a permanent feature of the environment. To a visitor, life here is hell, but residents have come to accept it as their fate. Only few, ostensibly the new settlers still manage to grumble. To the larger majority, living in the area is the price to pay for staying put in Lagos.

That is the summation of life at Makoko, a Lagos riverside community that evolved over time from the wetlands of Adekunle in Yaba.

Decency has taken a flight here, and residents have resigned to fate which has reduced them to living on the dunghills of the swamp.

The houses are made of bamboo stilts and wooden structures. Residents are mainly fishermen and they are of the Ilaje and Egun stock.

Life here is practically lived on the dark smelly and slimy water.

The reporter was ferried around by some school age kid canoe paddlers.

The community is headed by a Baale, who adjudicates on domestic feuds among residents and his counsel on matters is highly regarded.

Hawkers of sundry items; ranging from cooked rice, to beans, recharge cards, audio CDs, among others, displayed their wares in canoes, as they navigate the filth festooned water.

At various points in the community, hawkers of liquor, known as paraga displayed the drinks, amidst a boisterous crowd of customers.

The herb laced liquor variants, according to a patron are served with fried meat and it comes cheap.

Generators on which most residents depend for electricity supply are placed at the entrances of the wooden apartments, their sounds adding to the din around.

CityBeats gathered that many dealers in cat fish pepper soup get their supplies from Makoko because it is much economical to do so.

Tucked inside the community is a traditional orthopaedic home, where those with fractured bones throng for treatment. A relation of one of the patients simply called Madam Onigbekun, told this reporter that even though the environment is not friendly, they have no choice but to come to Makoko since their daughter, a victim of robbery attack, was receiving treatment at the home. The patient who did respond to treatment, at the hospitals she was taken, is said to be getting better at the home.

She said: “This community is nothing to write home about in terms of clean environment. One is particularly confronted by the smell of the water daily but then, we are left with no choice because our daughter, who was shot by some armed robbers in the leg, is now responding to treatment. We have taken her to various hospitals without any sign of improvement in her

•A house in Makoko

Makoko: A thriving community on stilts

By Kunle Akinrinade

condition before someone introduced us to this place.”

The kid rowing the canoe at a point pointed to one makeshift structure and said: “Oga, look, that’s a cinema house over there, and it’s usually jam packed in the evening, especially by football lovers who usually come to watch their favourite clubs play live matches.”

Accommodation is relatively cheap and it offers those who cannot afford the exorbitant rents in the city a safe haven.

Stephen Jowenten, a Togolese national, who resides in the community, told the reporter that he relocated to Makoko because he could not afford the huge rents demanded by landlords in the city.

He said:”My brother, what can I do? I was forced to seek accommodation here, when I could not afford the huge amount charged as rent in the city. I work as an itinerant tailor and my meagre take home is not enough to take care of such expensive accommodation “Besides, this community has its advantages which other places in the city don’t. For example, there are no cases of armed robberies here and there is no traffic jam on the water.

•SEE PAGE 26

• A child nesting in a canoe

Reduce cost of cement, Jakande pleads

100 Nigeriens deported from Badagry

FORMER governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, has urged the Federal Government to reduce the price of cement to make housing more affordable for the people.

Jakande, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeira (NAN) at the closing ceremony of the 11th Lagos Housing Fair said Nigeria was blessed with abundant raw materials for the production of the commodity to make it affordable for all. “The cost of building materials particularly cement, is unduly high. The price of cement should be brought down as we have abundant raw materials for cement production in the country,” he said.

Jakande also called for more investments in housing delivery to ensure that all citizens are able to have decent accommodation.

No fewer than 100 illegal immigrants suspected to be Nigeriens trading in the Badagry Local Government Area have been deported by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). The exercise followed a tip-off from an official of the Agbalata market, Badagry.

The source said the iimmigrants surfaced in the area few days after the death of the Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and were sleeping in the market.

The illegal immigrants pretended to be herb hawkers on the streets at day time, but would return to the big international market at night. Concerned about such trend, some traders it was learnt reported the development to the council manager, Mr Dehinde Adetayo, who passed the information on to the Immigration office.

PHOTOS: KUNLE AKINRINADE

Govt reviews civil service rules A NEW set of rules may soon be unveiled by the Lagos State Government for its workforce. This is due to the onging review of the existing "Civil Service rules." The operational guide book of the civil service.

Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Jide Sanwo-Olu said the review was in its final stage of completion.

Sanwo-Olu, said the review became necessary in view of the desire of the government to achieve enhance performance of its workforce and ensure a paradism shift in government in accordance with the new tempo of service which began in 2007.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

26

CITY BEATS Govt awards Ipaja-Ayobo road THE Lagos State Government has awarded the contract for the building of Ipaja-Ayobo road.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Ganiyu Johnson, who made this known, said the road has become a source of concern to motorists.

He said the contractor would soon move to site to start work.

Johnson said the scope of the project will cover Abesan-gate to the Deeper-Christian Life Bible Church area.

According to him, the state has completed a total of 100 road projects covering 176.03 kilometres, while construction of others covering 197.20 kilometres are ongoing.

Navy acquires three combat boats THE Navy has acquired three high speed combat boats to protect the nation’s territorial waters and halt criminality at seas.

The boats paraded at the Naval Base, Apapa, week, were fitted with high calibre arms and ammunition and have the capacity to chase and overtake sea pirates and oil smugglers.

The Commanding Officer, (NNS) Beecroft, Jonathan Ango, said with the acquisition of the boats, criminals no longer have hiding place.

He said the twin attacks on two of its ships, MT Dominia and MT Ocean Mariner early this year informed the decision to acquire the new arsenal. He said the Navy would do everything to stop criminal activities on the nation’s waterways. “The Navy is now well positioned to contact maritime crimes within the nation’s territorial waters in particular and the West African maritime environment in general to ensure the safety, comfort and progress of the Nigerian people,” Ango said.

Ikuforiji advocates better deal for lawmakers

L

AGOS House of Assembly, Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has said that the way forward for the state and Nigeria is to accord the legislature its rightful place.

Ikuforiji spoke at the launch of a book: “Lagos legislative factfinder”, written by Mr. Omoyele Abdul Qadir Oludotun, a senior legislative staff member and Personal Assistant to the Permanent Secretary/Clerk of the Assembly in Ikeja, Lagos.

He maintained that for over 50 years, the legislature has not been put in its rightful place in the country despite the fact that it remains the most important arm of government.

“With all that, we do in the name of democracy and governance, very little credit is given to the legislature, despite the fact that the buck stops at the table of the House, despite the fact that the House make laws for good governance and the House is actually where you find the real representatives of the people.

“The House is where you have those who speak on behalf of the people and who have the genuine interest of the people at heart,“ Ikuforiji said.

Commending the author for his painstaking research Ikuforiji said he has done a very good job and “I recommend the book to those who want to find out facts about the Lagos state House of Assembly,” he said.

Ikuforiji bought 100 copies of the book for N3million.

While reviewing the book, Deputy Clerk of Book on the Assembly, Mr Sola Ogayemi, Lagos State said the book House of which has 177 Assembly pages and nine

•Ikuforiji presenting the book at the launch. With him are other lawmakers

By Oziegbe Okoeki

chapters, contains everything that has to do with the Lagos State House of Assembly from inception to present day.

“The book talks extensively on the separation of powers, and function, of each arm of government, the functionaries of the House, principal officers of the House, bio-data of members including the Clerk, old members, activities of the House, map of state Constituencies etc.

According to him, “through the years, there have been dearth of materials of this very important arm of government and this book comes in handy.

The author, who has been in the Assembly since 2001, in his comment, said he was motivated to write the book because the

legislature in Nigeria has suffered so much because of military interregnum.

“I thought it is very important that to educate members of the public that I need to come up with a comprehensive compendium that would not only educate the people, but would also give vital information about the legislature,

Christian leaders honour Fashola’s aide

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HE Chief of Staff to Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, Mr Lanre Babalola, has been decorated with the award of “Distinguished Administrator of Lagos State”.

The presentation, which took

Makoko: A thriving community on stilts •Continued from page 25

So, we enjoy a ‘blissful’ life (laughter) on water here,” he added.

However, the community boasts of a flourishing night market where roasted fish and meat sellers converge to sell. The market as gathered has been in existence for over three decades.

According to a community leader, Elder Samuel Adewole, who has been living in the community since 1978, the market also serves other adjoining communities.

“At the market are various kinds of food items which go for relatively cheap prices and people from other adjoining communities come here to buy foodstuffs because it is cheaper. The amount you buy items like fish here is very different from what obtains elsewhere.”

Apart from petty trading, fishermen in the community also trade in shrimps, crabs and other sea foods. While the men engage in fishing the women engage in selling them.

The unhygienic environment not-

•A market on the water

withstanding, a cross section of residents say they preferred the community to living in a more decent abode in the city.

Friday Hyacinth, a technician, said: “Look, I enjoy living in this community. Despite what you people call unhygienic condition of people in this community. For example, if I want anything or item, I

can easily get it at a cheaper rate, especially food items. Even if you need a woman or girlfriend, you’ll get one if you can wait a little.”

“The social life here is fantastic and I can say it is incomparable with what you can enjoy in the other side.

We enjoy ourselves in our own little way on the water and more on the patch of land here, despite the

especially the Lagos State House of Assembly. And I believe it will go a long way in encouraging civic education; educate the people politically and in terms of legislative matters,” Oludotun said.

He disclosed that he will come out with another volume of the book that will cover the in-coming legislators.

poor living condition that visitors complained of whenever they come here, residents live a very healthy life, we rarely fall sick and there has never been any outbreak of diseases here. All these make this place a good pick for anyone who wants to avoid the exorbitant rates on demand by landlords in the mainland,” he added.

By Miriam Ndikanwu

place in his office at the State House Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, was given to him by the All Christian Leaders/Ministers Forum ACLMF. The award was presented on behalf of ACLMF by Primate Michael Aniyikaye, who commended him for his contribution to the peace and development of the state.

In his remark at the brief ceremony, the National President of ACLMF, Pastor Dr. Sam Ogedengbe, said the body had observed with keen interest the manner of execution of requests of various interest groups in Lagos.

He maintained that the group has over the years seen the speed and unbiased manner the Chief of Staff usually attend to the demands of the citizens with neutrality and promptness without fear and favour.

“Our body has observed with keen interest the mode and manner of execution of requests of various interest groups in Lagos.

Our investigations revealed that the brain behind the effectiveness, promptness and efficiency is no other person than the soft spoken Chief of Staff, Lanre Babalola”.

Accepting the award, Babalola said he was surprised but however, expressed his appreciation. He said the presentation of the award by the ACLMF shows that people somewhere are watching what he is doing.

“I did not expect it. I can tell you that the award came to me as a surprise. It shows that some people are watching and they know what I am doing as Chief of Staff to Fashola”, he said.

EMERGENCY LINES 1. Fire and Safety Services Control Room Phone Nos: 01-7944929; 080-33235892; 080-33235890; 08023321770; 080-56374036.

2. Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Lagos Zonal Command Phone No: 080-33706639; 01-7742771 Sector Commander Phone No: 080-34346168; 01-2881304

STATE AGENCIES

3. LASTMA Emergency Numbers: 080-75005411; 080-60152462 080-23111742; 080-29728371 080-23909364; 080-77551000 01-7904983

4. KAI Brigade Phone Nos: 080-23036632; 0805-5284914 Head office Phone Nos: 01-4703325; 01-7743026 5. Rapid Response Squad (RRS) Phone Nos: 070-55350249; 070-35068242 080-79279349; 080-63299264 070-55462708; 080-65154338

767 or email: rapidresponsesquad@yahoo.com 6. Health Services – LASAMBUS Ambulance Services Phone Nos: 01-4979844; 01-4979866; 01-4979899; 01-4979888; 01-2637853-4; 080-33057916; 080-33051918-9; 080-29000003-5.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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CITY BEATS

Cleric advocates reorientation FROM THE COURT church.

He also advised for northern youths them to emulate Christ and Woman seeks dissolution protect the church from

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HE Bishop of Methodist Church Lagos Mainland Diocese, Rt Rev Oladapo Babalola, has urged Northern governors to organise a reorientation programme for youths involved in the post-election mayhem in the zone.

He attributed youthful violence in the north to widespread illiteracy and ignorance, stressing that until illiteracy is reduced to the barest minimum in the zone, the youths would continue to be lured to political violence.

“The post-election violence in the north portends a bad omen for national unity. This is why the governors of those states need to roll up their sleeves and introduce reorientation programmes for their youths.

They must also strive to increase access to education because most of these youths involved in the may-

By Sunday Ogundugba

hem out of ignorance and illiteracy,” he said.

Babalola spoke during a recognition service for the elevated presbyters of the Hoares’s Memorial Methodist Cathedral, Yaba, Lagos.

The elevated presbyters are Very Rev Sunday Ekwere, Olumuyiwa Awe, Chinedum Eziuku, Moses Oke and David Olufemi.

Babalola urged them to see their elevation as a call to service. He advised them to be faithful and put their trust in God. The gathering attracted a large audience, who turned out in good attires to celebrate with the presbyters.

There was also a prayer session for them.

Reverend Kehinde Adeyemi, who delivered the sermon, urged the new leaders to strive for unity in the

disunity and disintegration. He described their calling as a unique opportunity to serve in higher capacity, saying they should not strive to impress man but God. He said successful leaders do not depend on their knowledge and instinct, but on the Almighty God. “As presbyters in the church, you are called to share in the ministry of Christ and the whole church, preaching and teaching the word of God. I want you to emulate Christ by being humble because leaders fail when they see themselves as the source of blessing to the congregation. You are to strive for the purpose of your calling by doing nothing out of selfishness and conceit but by looking up to God for wisdom.”

of 25-yr-old marriage

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41-year old nurse, Mrs. O m o l a r a Adegboyega, has taken her husband, Francis, to the Grade ‘A’ Customary Court, Mushin, seeking the dissolution of their 25 years marriage.

Mrs Adegboyega said the union, blessed with three boys has been devoid of love as her husband no longer cared for the family.

She alleged that since her husband is no longer interested in the marriage, she too is no longer obliged to continue to waste her time waiting and forcing herself to love a man who is no longer there for her and the children.

She said: “All efforts I have made to see if he could have any change of attitude has proved futile.”

She said she is convinced that nothing can change the present situation between the two of them as her husband

By Uchechi Nze with Agency Reports

did not bother to look for her two-and-a-half years after she left her matrimonial home.

Asked if she would be able to part with her last child if her husband so demanded, the petitioner said: “How can I grant him the custody of the child when he has not taken proper care of the two that I left with him?”

“After much pressure from the court, however, she mellowed and said she would have no choice, adding that he had to come to the court with unassailable evidence that he will take proper care of the children.”

A s k e d He no whether the longer children were allowed cared for to see one another, she the family told the court

that they do see each other daily at her shop and at times, she calls the other two staying with their dad to know how they are faring.

Asked if her husband has been bringing feeding allowance for the child that is with her since she left her matrimonial home, the petitioner said No. She informed the court that she was not surprised because she has been fending for the family since she got married to her husband and had decided to leave his home because he has been adamant in taking care of the family. She said she still prepares food and sends to the two children that are with him everyday.

The court agreed with the petitioner that they cannot delay her case any longer since the refusal of the accused to appear in court had shown his lack of interest in the marriage. The court president Dr Ipaye, however, adjourned the case till tomorrow, May 17 for definite hearing.

Man arraigned for robbing victim with broken bottle

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21-YEAR-OLD man, who allegedly used a broken bottle to rob his victim, was last Tuesday arraigned in Lagos.

Afees Abioye was alleged to have robbed one Mr Victor Akpovwowo of a wallet containing N15,000, documents and a Samsung handset.

The accused, who is facing a two-count charge of stealing and conspiracy before an Apapa Senior Magistrates’ Court, however, pleaded not guilty.

But the Prosecutor, Cpl. •The Presbyters

PHOTO: SUNDAY OGUNDUGBA

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nities should not abuse communal efforts which would be at the disadvantage of the people. Omonigbehin said street levies are being introduced by unscrupulous community development associations managed by shelfish landlord groups.

“Some streets put the gate fees between N500 and N1,000 before residents can be al-

lowed to discharge filling sand and other building materials for housing; whereas the money so collected is usually meant for the use of these landlords,” he said.

Omonigbehin said the group is concerned with this situation as it impedes the right of the retirees to building a decent home for their family members.

Radio drama on nutritious living coming

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ADIO listeners in Lagos and other parts of the country will soon be entertained and educated on the importance of nutrition in a radio drama, entitled Nunu nutritious living.

The programme designed to teach nutrition will be aired in Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo, the three major languages in the country and Pidgin.

According to the Managing Director, Creative Vindax, Mr Olumide Ofere, there is the need to provide necessary information on healthy nutrition so that the children can be adequately taken care of with necessary nourishment.

Ofere said in a statement

‘

By Wale Adepoju

that the educative, informative, entertaining and interactive radio drama would be on air on radio stations across Lagos and beyond.

He said the programme targets family with particular emphasis on the mother, who is the home maker. “There is a strong emphasis on mothers, based on their roles as decision makers in the home. The children, who are purchase influencers, are also important, as the programme tries to catch them young and help them develop a good habit of healthy nutrition.”

Ofere said the programme, which has the message of

You are fundamentally what you eat, as healthy living and balanced nutrition is the essence of life

’

nutrition and nurture is to enlighten family on the importance of balanced nourishment.

Quoting UNICEF, he said: “Most ailments are preventable and can be treated with appropriate diet and nutrition.”

He added: “You are fundamentally what you eat, as healthy living and balanced nutrition is the essence of life.”

Ofere said the new Nunu nutritious living is part of the relaunch of nutricima’s a brand of Nunu milk.

He added that Nutricima presents Nunu Milk as a high quality product with essential nutrients for AllRound healthy growth, as it contains Vitamins A for good eye sight, Vitamins D3 and Calcium for strong bones, teeth and gums.

Ofere said the programme will also be aired Anambra, Osogbo, Ibadan and Kano.

Akpovwowo was later treated at a hospital for the injuries he sustained during the attack.

He said the offence, which was committed on April 26 at Ebun junction, OlodiApapa, Lagos, contravened Sections 402 and 403 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The Senior Magistrate, Mr Amos Adeyemi, admitted the accused to bail for N50, 000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case till May 17.

Man, 62, in the dock for forgery, obtaining N7.5m falsely

‘Stop collection of street gate fees’ HE Lagos State government has been urged to stop the collection of street gates fees in the interest of the common people.

In a statement made available to CityBeats by the National Old People Association (NOPA), the group’s Chairman Primate Ayoola Omonigbehin, said commu-

Friday Inedu, insisted that the accused had a case to answer.

Inedu told the court that Abioye stabbed Akpovwowo with a broken bottle before robbing him of N15,000 and the wallet containing documents and the Samsung handset.

He said the accused, with others at large, armed themselves with bottles and other dangerous weapons when they attacked Akpovwowo and injured him on the head.

According to the prosecutor,

A

62-year-old man, who allegedly forged the identity card and a Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) letter to obtain N7.5 million from a bank was last Monday put in the dock in Lagos.

Charles Ajibade is standing trial before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, An Lagos, on a f o u r - c o u n t alleged charge of stealforger ing, conspiracy, meets forgery and waterloo presenting

T

forged documents.

The prosecutor, Inspector Godwin Anyanwu, told the court that the accused with two others now at large committed the offences on October 23, 2010, at Intercontinental Bank Plc, Lagos.

Anyanwu said the accused forged PHCN identity card and a letter, posed as a staff member of PHCN and collected N7.5 million from the bank.

He said the money belonged to Crystalife Assur-

ance Plc., an insurance company, operating at Eleganza House, Joseph Street, Lagos.

He said the offences contravened Sections 390(9), 467(2), 468 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Magistrate, Mr W.B. Balogun, granted him bail for N300, 000 with one surety in like sum.

He adjourned the case till June 6 for mention.

Court dissolves nine-year-old HE Somolu Customanything together as husmarriage ary Court in Lagos on band and wife.

Monday dissolved a nine-year-old marriage on the grounds that the couple are not compatible.

The Court President Modupe Bajulaiye, in her judgment, said the divorce suit started on May 31, 2010 and that all efforts by the judges to reconcile the couple had failed.

“The court does not have any other power than to dissolve their relationship as both parties have been living separately without any molestation from either side.

“The petitioner had secured an accommodation for the respondent because of the age of the second child in her care,” she said.

She ordered the petitioner

to give his estranged wife N50,000 to set up a business to enable her to move on with her life.

The court also compelled the petitioner to remit N5,000 monthly to the court for the child’s upkeep while the custody of the first child aged six was granted to him.

The petitioner, Anthony Obi, a 44-year-old driver with Zenith Bank, told the court that his wife Ukamaka was a problem to him because they hardly reason along the same line since they married.

“Although I loved her before, now I have no interest in the marriage any more because I have tolerated her to the extent that we do not do

“I think we are just like two strangers living together. We do not have any common interest to sustain the family because we quarrel all the time,” Obi said.

He said that both families had intervened to settle the misunderstanding, pointing out that he had no problem with his in-laws but only his wife.

Obi, however, noted that his wife was not having extra-marital affairs in spite of her quarrelsome attitude.

Ukamaka, 40, pleaded with the court to reconcile them and attributed their constant quarrelling to her husband’s lack of care.

LOAN Fayemi empowers commercial motorcyclists Ekiti

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ASSISTANCE

SUCCOUR

Council chief builds police station

Foundation uplifts people with special needs

Ondo

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Anambra

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Email: news_extra@yahoo.com

MONDAY MAY 16, 2011

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Fayemi assures on infrastructural development

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KITI State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi has assured the people of significant improvement in infrastructure.

The governor spoke through his Special Adviser on Planning and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Mrs Bunmi Salami.

The government is also poised to reduce the scourge of poverty in the state by networking with world agencies and development partners to evolve and implement people-friendly policies and programmes. The state’s comatose

Fayemi

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

economy is said to be of immense concern to the governor.

The Special Adviser who addressed journalists in AdoEkiti, the state capital, at the just concluded Ekiti Education Summit 2011, said efforts were underway to ensure that the people’s basic needs are provided and made affordable throughout the state. One way the administration can achieve this is

implementing its policies and programmes in agriculture and health.

Mrs Salami said there has been tremendous improvement in the Fayemi administration’s partnership with global development partners. She said since the inception of the present administration, the state has been enjoying robust and fruitful interactions with the World Bank, European Union (EU), Department for International Development (DFID) and other

global organisations.

“The Fayemi-led administration has been using the State Planning Commission as a fulcrum of actualising these development plans which are hinged on the 8Point Agenda of the administration,” said the Special Adviser. “With the passion and dedication of the governor and his team, as well as the goodwill and cooperation of the citizens, I can assure you that poverty will soon be kicked out of the Land of Honour.”

Glamour as Uduaghan, Itsekiri leaders rise for Olu of Warri Monarch in anniversary celebration Governor promises more development

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T was fun and fanfare for nine whole days in Delta State oil city of Warri and its environs, as the monarch Ogiame Atuwatse II, celebrated his 24th year on the throne. The city was engrossed in celebration. Residents and those of neighbouring communities savoured the royal feast which meansalottotheItsekiri.

The programme of the events, which was prepared by the Warri Council of Chiefs included Itsekiri fashion parade, during which the rich culture of the people were displayed, free health care and exhibition of Itsekiri art/craft, dishes, drama and comedy. The festival also showcased rich display of Itsekiri dances and payingofhomage,amongstothers.

The grand finale of the anniversary celebration was held on Saturday, May 7, when Itsekiri sons and daughters from all walks of life took turns to pay homage to Ogiame at his palace (Aghofen) in Ekurede-Itsekiri, Warri South Local Government. Delta State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, led top Itsekiri leaders and members of his executive council to the event. Deputy

His Imperial Majesty, Atuwatse II, Olu of Warri flanked by Governor Uduaghan and his deputy, Prof. Utuama From Shola O’Neil, Warri

Governor Prof. Amos Agbe Utuama, also headed a line of prominent non-Itsekiri wellwisherstotheevent.

Uduaghan was accompanied by a large crowd of supporters, including Mr. Thomas Ereyitomi, Chairman of Ugborodo Trust, Dr. Joseph Otumara, Mr. Godwin

Abigor, Mr. Egart Ogbemi Omonukanrin, and a host of key Itsekiri leaders. The crowd grew larger as the team moved to the palace, which was already overflowing with top dignitaries andcelebrities.

Political associates of the governor such as Senator-elect, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, Senator Patrick Osakwe, Senator James Manager,

Chairman of PDP in the state, Chief Peter Nwaoboshe, Mr. Fred Majemite, former Acting Governor and Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Sam Obi, his Deputy, Hon. Basil Ganagana, Dr. Alex Ideh, Chief Gabriel Sefia and Sir Tom Amioku,amongothers.

Prominent Itsekiri chiefs and members of the Warri Council of Chiefs were also in attendance.

Among them were Gabriel Mabiaku, the Iyatsere of Warri, Chiefs Brown Mene, Francis Omatseye and Walter Omadeli, andseveralothers.

After paying the traditional homage, which involved bowing to the monarch, and cultural displays by the various groups from across the Warri area, Continued on Page 30

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‘We deserve two more councils’

HE Caretaker Chairman of Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, Mr. Afolabi Mabogunje has called for the creation of two additional councils in the area to facilitate rapid development.

The chairman’s call came just as the committee on local council creation set up by the Olusegun Mimiko administration swung into action.

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

The committee is expected to receive memorandum from representatives from the 18 local councils in the state.

Mabogunje who spoke with reporters at Ifon, the headquarters of Ose Local Government, added that the creation of two more councils out of the original Ose Local government would ensure even dis-

Osun was in 1991 carved out of the old Oyo State into 23 councils, with a population of 2.2 million before a further increase to 30 local councils in 1996. We have remained at the old 18 local government areas, even when our population has increased geometrically. These facts in themselves justify the creation initiative •Mimiko

LABOUR Party (LP) member and human rights activist, Mr. Kayode Ajulo has urged the Ondo State government to focus on its commitments and obligations to the people, and ignore the negative criticisms of “desperate politicians”.

Ajulo who gave this advice while speaking with reporters in Akure, said the success of the party in the last general elections was due to the achievements of the ruling party in the last two years.

Ajulo who was kidnapped a few days to the general elections, recounted his ordeal. He said his abductors were hired by selfish and desperate politicians who were not comfortable with his political ambition to represent the people of Abuja at the senate He noted that those who were attacking the administration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko had misused the opportunities

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tribution of basic amenities in various communities.

He said the creation of more councils in the state has been long overdue in view of the fact that some states with less population and land mass have more councils.

His words: “With the carving out of Ekiti out of Ondo State in 1996, what is now Ondo State, with a population then of about 2.3 million, was split into 18 local government areas while the newly carved out Ekiti State of about 1.6 million people has 16 councils,” he said.

“Our other neighbour, Osun was in 1991 carved out of the old Oyo State into 23 councils, with a population of 2.2 million before a further increase to 30 local councils in 1996. We have remained at the old 18 local government areas, even when our population has increased geometrically.

These facts in themselves justify the creation initiative.”

Mabogunje added that the idea of local government creation being proposed by the state government should be supported by all the indigenes of the state irrespective of party affiliation.

Ondo govt told to ignore critics From Leke Akeredolu, Akure

given them in the past, which is why, he said, they will never see anything good in a government that is performing.

To him, the people of Ondo State are politically mature and cannot be deceived by disgruntled elements who resort to cheap blackmail.

“We know those who had mismanaged the state’s resources in the past,” he said.

“I am based in Abuja but I want to tell you that I am following closely the political development of the state. We know comments that are made from desperate and selfish minds.”

He commended the efforts of Mimiko who he said has demonstrated his determination to develop the entire Ondo State so as to leave it better than he met it.

His words: “I want to use this medium to sincerely express my gratitude to the

government and good people of the state for their support, prayers and goodwill during my travail in the hands of unknown abductors. I specifically salute the governor for his caring heart policy and concern for my safety.”

Ajuo who appreciated the members of the press for the publicity given to his abduction, promised to call a comprehensive press conference on his experience and the just conducted general elections.

‘We deserve two more councils’ From Damisi Ojo, Akure

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HE Caretaker Chairman of Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State,

Mr. Afolabi Mabogunje has called for the creation of two additional councils in the area to facilitate rapid development.

The chairman’s call came just as the committee on local council creation set up by the Olusegun Mimiko administration swung into action.

The committee is expected to receive memorandum from representatives from the 18 local councils in the state.

Mabogunje who spoke with reporters at Ifon, the headquarters of Ose Local Government, added that the creation of two more councils out of the original Ose Local government would ensure even distribution of basic amenities in various communities.

He said the creation of more councils in the state has been long overdue in view of the fact that some states with less population and land mass have more councils.

His words: “With the carving out of Ekiti out of Ondo State in 1996, what is now Ondo State, with a population then of about 2.3 million, was split into 18 local government areas while the newly carved out Ekiti State of about 1.6 million people has 16 councils,” he said.

“Our other neighbour, Osun was in 1991 carved out of the old Oyo State into 23 councils, with a population of 2.2 million before a further increase to 30 local councils in 1996. We have remained at the old 18 local government areas, even when our population has increased geometrically.

These facts in themselves justify the creation initiative.”

Mabogunje added that the idea of local government creation being proposed by the state government should be supported by all the indigenes of the state irrespective of party affiliation.

•From right: Dr. Joseph Otumara, Alex Ideh, Mr. Peter Nwaoboshi, PDP chairman, Delta State, Prince Sam Obi, Speaker Delta House of Assembly and Basil Ganagana, Deputy Speaker at the event

Uduaghan, Itsekiri leaders rise for Olu of Warri •Continued from Page 29 Uduaghan briefed the king on recent developments in the state, particularly his victory at the April 26, gubernatorial election.

He promised even development and equal spread of political appointments and other dividends of democracy across the various ethnic groups in the state. Apparently aware of the fears in some quarters that he may neglect a particular ethnic group over their opposition to his re-election, he promised to see the entire state as his constituency.The governor attributed his victory to God’s desire, stressing, “We are where we are today because of the Grace of God”. He also used the opportunity to warn against unguarded utterances, stressing that in-

flammatory remarks remain the greatest threat to the peace and security of the state.

“We are concerned about peace and security, so our people should continue to be patient about what we hear or see,” he said. “It is our determination to make Delta State Number 1. I pledge before God that we shall get to our destination.”

Uduaghan also appealed to instigators of ethnic hatred in the state to change their ways, remarking that it was not a mistake that God put the various ethnic groups together.”

In his remark, Ogiame Atuwatse II, who spoke through Chief Brown Mene, prayed for a successful second tenure for Uduaghan and his political associates as well as for God to lead him right.

On Sunday, May 8, the 9-day event ended with a thanksgiving service at the Foursquare Gospel Church, Olu Palace Branch. The guest minister, Pastor Gbenga Adegbenro called on the Itsekiri nation to allow God to reign in their hearts. Adegbenro, who preached on the theme “The Lord Reigns” admonished the people of Iwere land (Warri) to embrace the knowledge of God, who he reminded them, reigns over every situation. He encouraged the Olu and his subjects to always put their trust in God as, according to him, “all authorities come from God”.

Pastor Adegbenro prayed God to prolong the life of the Olu and also restore all the wasted years of Warri kingdom.

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MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

NIPOST chief’s score card

By Olaoluwa Jacobs

•Ibrahim

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HE postal world was thrown into mournful mood and confusion in October 2005, when an Abuja-bound Bell-View plane crashed somewhere in Ogun State few minutes after take-off.

Aboard the aircraft was the then amiable Post Master-General, Mallam Abubakar Musa Argungu, who, alongside other illustrious Nigerians perished in the mishap.

To ensure that the achievements of the late Mallam Abubakar Musa Argungu were not only sustained but improved upon, the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo became very much involved in who succeeded Argungu.

Obasanjo eventually settled for another thorough-bred accountant and an astute manager of resources-human and material, Mallam Ibrahim Mori Baba, who, before the death of Argungu, was the Deputy Post Master-General in charge of finance and investment.

Since 2006, when Mori Baba was appointed as the Post Master-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), the postal industry has wit-

nessed remarkable improvement with the introduction of some new measures aimed at repositioning the postal system for greater contribution to nation-building.

Determined to keep pace with the achievements of his predecessor in mail distribution, Mallam Mori Baba intensified efforts at meeting mail delivery targets. The targets include 24 hours for intra-city mails, 48 hours for intra-state and 72 hours for interstate. Mori Baba did not only sustain this feat but threw everything at his disposal to improve on the target delivery time.

NIPOST is funding the transmission of mail by road within the West African subregion, a project which the organisation kick-started in September, 2005.

Because of the successful turn-around of the post within the past five years, the Universal Postal Union has now mandated Nigeria to assist other West African countries, such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Chad, Benin Republic and Niger to develop their postal system.

Arising from the desire to develop more adaptive business strategies through technology application to serve the customers better, NIPOST is partnering with private Information Technology (IT) companies to provide technology solutions for automation of its counter operations.

Last year, NIPOST began the automation with eight centres namely Abuja, Benin-City, Lagos, and Port Harcourt on a pilot scheme.

According to Mori Baba, the automation scheme and the introduction of Internetbased services, on-line postal and financial services was one way of facing the challenges posed by globalisation and dwindling revenue.

The installation of Close Circuit Televisions (CCTV) and bomb/metal detectors in major post offices has assisted in stemming the incidence of small arms and ammunition being transmitted through the post, thereby reducing criminal activities perpetrated through the post to the barest minimum.

In addition, NIPOST’s collaboration with security agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Customs and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) of Britain has led to the interception of scam mail containing various negotiable financial instruments meant to defraud international businessmen and investors.

NIPOST, within the past five years, has intercepted and handed over to appropriate security agencies arms and ammunition sent through the post. According to Mori Baba, the seized items were concealed in slippers and textbooks to deceive the eagle eyes of NIPOST and other security operatives, pointing out that “since these 419 and yahoo boys are not relenting in the heinous crime, we have resolved to give them a run for their money, because our network cannot be used as a conduit to defraud investor to give Nigeria a bad name.”

According to the immediate past Information and Communications Minister, Prof.

Dora Akunyili, by September 2010, the number of scam mails intercepted by NIPOST and other security operatives had risen to 200 with various denominations valued more than N75b.

In the area of staff welfare, Mallam Mori Baba has done so much to show that he recognises the fact that the staff remains the greatest asset of the organisation. He has given training of staff a top priority.

Since the past five years, almost all the staff, including members of the top echelon, has benefited from different forms of training.

In 2002, NIPOST got 47,380 US Dollars for improvement of the quality of International mail service and 372,453 US Dollars in 2005 for the installation of tracking system to ensure the safety of registered items and parcels transmitted through its Courier arm otherwise known as the EMS. Between 2006 and 2009, NIPOST got 1.179,202 US Dollars for the purchase and deployment of vehicles to boost mail distribution across the country.

However, despite efforts to reposition the Post in Nigeria, Mori Baba says that NIPOST is still experiencing a lot of challenges. “We are not yet where we ought to be. There are quite a lot of challenges ranging from inadequate infrastructure, bad road network across the country, insecurity especially at the highways and the poor state of power among others,” he added.

As at today, about 205 local government headquarters out of the 774 local governments in the country don’t have post offices which are in conflict with the Universal Postal Union requirement of One Post Office for 6,000 inhabitants.

Baba said it had been an uphill task meeting the standard because of budgetary constraints. He said: “It is not an easy task.

The Federal Government has a lot of challenges. On the budgetary limits, you are probably aware that the government in this year’s budget plans to borrow to finance its deficit.”

•Jacobs is an Abuja-based journalist

In the area of staff welfare, Mallam Mori Baba has done so much to show that he recognises the fact that the staff remains the greatest asset of the organisation. He has given training of staff a top priority

NIM celebrates 50 years of human development

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HE Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) has celebrated 50 years of developing the nation and advancing the management profession.

The organisation, established in 1961, according to its President/Chairman of Council, Dr Sally Adukwu-Bolujoko, is poised for greater impact on the nation.

Addressing reporters on the forthcoming golden jubilee celebration at NIM corporate office, Victoria Island, Dr AdukwuBolujoko said the 50th anniversary provides the institute yet another opportunity to rebrand, re-launch and reposition itself for better performance and service delivery.

“Since inception and especially after the charter, the institute has been in the forefront of filling the nation’s need for welltrained professional managers both in public and private sectors of the economy.

“We have been able to achieve this allimportant aspect of our statutory role through our professional membership qualifying examinations and wellthought-out learning and training programmes designed for all levels of managers. And today, we make bold to say that the institute has membership strength of over 12, 000 professional members and about 55, 000 graduate members and still counting.

“The institution is poised more than ever before to do more in the coming years towards the advancement of the management profession and the betterment of the Nigerian project,” she said.

Dr Adukwu-Bolujoko disclosed that NIM has trained about 200,000 graduates through NIM/NYSC Partnership Scheme

•From left: Dr Adukwu-Bolujoko; NIM Registrar/Chief Executive, Mr Maurice Lakanu and NIM fellow, Alhaji Ezeigbe Abubakar during the briefing

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

entered since 2005 to train serving corps members each year in the areas of skill acquisition and entrepreneurship.

The NIM boss promised not to relent in

its quest to bequeath a well trained and productive workforce to the nation.

“Nor will we be tired until corruption and other social vices which have hampered Nigeria’s development are completely exterminated from our polity,” she

said.

These lofty ideals, Dr Adukwu-Bolujoko noted, cannot be achieved without the continued support of the Nigerian press.

She canvassed a return of moral values to the school curriculum.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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Council gives N6m bursary award

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•Fayemi

HE Chairman, Oye Local Government Caretaker Committee, Hon. Akindele Ogungbuyi, has urged students of tertiary institutions from the area to face their studies and shun cultism, drug addiction and exam malpractices.

He gave the admonition at the presentation of the 2010 bursary awards to 1,200 indigenous students of the area at the council secretariat.

Community seeks infrastructural development

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HE traditional ruler of Aboro community in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, South West of Nigeria, Baale James Akindele has appealed to the state government to extend modern infrastructure to the area.

Akindele, who is also the spiritual leader of St. Moses Orimolade Memorial Church, Aboro said his community desired good road network, health facilities and government housing scheme, to serve the overall interest of the people of his domain.

He said through community effort, residents had spent over N5 million to construct a bridge linking the community with Lagos State, adding that currently, millions of naira had been spent on the ongoing construction of drainages and Aboro- Ojurin Road.

“We are appealing to our governor to assist us in completing the road; we do not have enough money to tar the road or complete our health centre.” he said.

He said that officials of the Ogun State Road Maintenance Agency (OGROMA) had visited the area on an assessment tour, but nothing had been heard from them ever since.

A woman leader in the area, Mrs. Olorunjeda T. Tijani, decried the inadequate educational institutions in the community, saying that, “Our children suffer a lot to go to schools in Lagos State simply because we do not have enough schools in Aboro to cater for them.”

She assured the government of women’s

Ogun

By Kunle Akinrinade

support in the area in its quest to foster unity and development of the community.

Rotary lauds Amaechi

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HE President of Rotary International, Mr Ray Klinkginsmith has described the leadership style of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State as a determined effort to rally support for the upliftment of society.

Mr Klinkginsmith represented by Dr Varinder Singh said this when he led members of the Rotary family in District 9140 on a courtesy visit at Government House, Port Harcourt.

He said he was impressed with the mission statement of the Amaechi administration which places premium on providing credible service to mankind.

Reminding the governor that the policy thrust of his administration is in agreement with the objectives of Rotary, the RI President’s representative said he was encouraged by the governor’s commitment and urged him to keep the faith by being “your brothers’ keeper”.

Mother and Child Hospital produces 14,216 babies

Ekiti The chairman, who was represented at the occasion by the Secretary to the council, Hon. Osuolale Olorunsola, disclosed that the N6 million bursary awards was being distributed at the rate of N5000.00 per recipient.

Reiterating that he was appointed to better the lots of the people of the area, the chairman promised that the 2011 bursary awards would be paid as soon as possible.

Hon. Ogungbuyi, therefore, enjoined the people to continue to give unflinching support to the government of Dr. Kayode Fayemi in his determination to implement his eight-point agenda.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Supervisor for Education, Hon. Abdulrasaq Adewale, urged the awardees to reciprocate the kind gesture of the local government by making academic excellence their goal.

Replying, the acting President of the Federation of Oye Local Government Students, Mr Olalekan Faromiki, thanked the Chairman and his Caretaker Committee for the awards and promised to take their studies seriously.

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• From left: Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Mohammed Abubakar; Director-general, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, Prof. Adewoye-Oluwasegun and Permanent Secretary, Dr Dere Awosika, at a Science and Technology Stakeholders’meeting in Lagos

Oodu’a, Bishop advise Ajimobi, others

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HE Bishop of Ibadan Diocese of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Joseph Akinfenwa, has advised Oyo State governor-elect, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, to run a people-oriented government as he assumes office on May 29. The advice came

Oyo From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

as Odu’a Investment Company Limited also advised him to justify the confidence reposed in him through the April 26 election.

Akwa Ibom reiterates commitment to HE Akwa Ibom State government has reiterated its determination to do welfare of children

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everything in its power to ensure the protection of children, as well as the safety and wellbeing of all residents in the state.

Reacting to media reports of neglect and abuse of some Akwa Ibom children at some locations in Eket Local Government Area, the government warned parents, guardians and others in the habit of orchestrating sharp practices against children, especially labeling the children as witches, to desist forthwith or risk incurring the full wrath of the law.

In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Social Re-Orientation, Mr Aniekan Umanah, the government warned that it is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that all those culpable in the neglect and abuse of children in the state are brought to book in line with the provision of the Child Rights and Protection Law. Meanwhile, the state government has concluded plans to rehabilitate 21 abandoned children who were discovered taking refuge at two locations in Eket Local Government Area.

Akwa Ibom The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Eunice Thomas, disclosed this when she visited the children at the premises of the Eket Sports Stadium and the moribund Qua River Hotel.

She stated that information about the condition of the children did not get to the government early and promised to work expediently to integrate them into the society.

According to her, the ministry has been involved in the rehabilitation and integration of other children who were abandoned by their families for several reasons.

Mrs. Thomas said a temporary accommodation will be provided for the newly discovered children at the Women Development Centre pending when government will make permanent provision.

•From left: Mrs Stella Ajomiwe; Mr. Francis Ajomiwe; Mr Adewale Adeyanju,President, National Handicap Cares Association of Nigeria (NAHCAN) and Ibeziem Maduwaze at a press confrence on Making a road in the jungle of educational backwardness of the deaf at PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID Lagos

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They both gave the advice in separate statements in Ibadan.

While congratulating Ajimobi, Rev. Akinfenwa noted that people in the Southwest have embraced progressive ideology for which the region was known in the past, adding that it was the ideology that accorded her a pride of place in the country.

“As the build-up towards and the actual results of the election show, both your person and your party have received the overwhelming support and affirmation of the good people of Oyo State consequent upon this paradigm shift. You have, therefore, by this election, become the arrowhead and embodiment of the collective aspirations of the people of this state..

“As you prepare to assume office May 29 we hereby admonish you to keep faith with this new thinking and structure your administration in such ways as to lend credence to the ideology and instittion that gave flight to your aspiration for office.” the cleric advised.

In his own congratulatory message, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Odu’a Group, Mr Adebayo Jimoh, charged both Ajimobi and his counterpart in Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun to justify voters’ confidence in them by implementing programmes and projects that would improve the well-being of people in their states.

BOUT 10,315 pregnant women have delivered about 14,216 Children since the establishment of the Mother and Child Hospital in Akure, the state capital 15 months ago by the Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s administration.

The State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Ranti Akerele disclosed this to reporters in Akure recently.

He said that an average of 20 to 25 deliveries were being recorded daily, thereby making it the busiest maternity hospital in Ondo state.

The Mother and Child hospital with 100 bed facilities is dedicated to the care of pregnant women and children less than five years of age offering tertiary level health services free of charge.

Besides, the vision is to reduce maternal and child mortality by 50 percent and 30 percent by the year 2013 respectively.

Mr. Akerele explained that the management of the hospital was currently collaborating with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to improve services.

He said: “As at May 2 2011, about 15 months of operations,10,315 pregnant women, and 14,216 Children(2,754)as pediatric patients have been registered and treated with about 20 % of them being non-

Ondo From: Damisi Ojo, Akure

residents of Ondo State”.

He added that those who are referring to the Mother and Child hospital as mere maternity were ignorant of the fact.

‘Today the facility at the Mother and Child hospital is amongst other things, a unique and cost effective digitalised drug procurement system that has practically eradicated out of stock syndrome, the bane of many free health schemes across the country.

“The mother and child hospital has at it’s procession, state of art training mannequins including electronic force monitoring birthing

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HE World Bank has boosted the activities of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) with N1.5b. The Federal Ministry of Health and the FRSC have also signed an agreement to jointly reduce mortality rate in the country during road accidents.

The grant, according to the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Mr. Osita Chidoka, is to improve the effectiveness of the Corps in administrative and logistic platform in order to curb road accident in the country.

Chidoka disclosed this at a joint press briefing with the Ministry of Health, at the launch of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Action on Road Safety in Abuja.

He said: “As we speak, the FRSC has developed the roadmap required and the programme of action strategy to achieve reduction of road traffic crash. The World Bank has done the country’s capacity review in both administrative and logistics to deliver a professional strategy and based on this, the World Bank has committed itself to capacity building in the FRSC which is about N1.5b ($10m) investment in Nigeria”.

Chidoka added that the grant would enable Nigeria to achieve the UN decade of action on road safety and the recent Accra Declaration on safety of road users.

“Nigeria through the FRSC has indicated commitment to actualise two goals from the outcome of the United Nations General Assembly. First is the Accra Declaration

OVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola has charged nurses to shun acts of neglect and shabby treatment of patients who seek medical treatment in public hospitals but treat them with dignity while they work to save lives.

In a message he sent to the Grand Finale of the 41st national Florence Nightingale Trophy Speech Contest at the Ogunbanjo Hall, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Aregbesola counselled nurses to take cognisance of the complaints from patients which may have negative effects of healthcare delivery in public

Abuja From Dele Anofi and Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

which called on all African nations to reduce casualty of road accident by 50 per cent and the UN decade of action,” he said.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the partnership is necessary as medical practitioners in the health sector play predominant role in determining the fate of road accident victims which amount to increase or otherwise of mortality rate in the country.

“In the case of trauma arising from road traffic crashes, the health sector witnesses the final damage. The mortality and the severe mobility have implications on the national economy. The health sector has to collaborate with others if the carnage on our roads has to be effected,” the Minister noted.

Chukwu further promised to facilitate the upgrade of hospital services and provide appropriate mechanisms to improve the efficiency of government hospitals across the country.

He urged drivers, weather forecasters and other stakeholders to partner in ensuring the country has safe roads.

Reacting to why hospitals refuse to treat accident victims due to lack of police report from the victims,the Health Minister reiterated that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro and himself had given an instruction to medical practitioners on the need to save life before requesting for police reports.

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Waste Management Society of Nigeria (WAMASON), has called for nomination of environmental journalists to participate in a congress at Florence, Italy next year.

The submission of resume of “credible and leading” environmental journalists for nomination will enable one of them to participate in the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) Waste and Media Debate during the World Solid Waste Congress.

WAMASON’s Administrative Secretary, Edith Iriruaga, said in Port Harcourt that travel expenses and participation in the event of the eventual journalist would be funded by ISWA. The group called on interested journalists to send their resume to membership@wamason.org not later than May 27 this year.

ISWA holds waste-focused world congress in select countries, featuring thematic areas relevant to the promotion of sustainable waste management practice around the world.

Iriruaga noted that the 2012 edition had been designed to feature a session on media debate.

Osun hospitals.

He disclosed that “there have been complaints from patients of neglect and shabby treatments in our hospitals where they are often regarded as nuisance and irritants”.

Describing nurses as people who provide tender care for patients, the governor urged them to imbibe the virtue of providing humanitarian services while on duty.

He said : “We all know what therapeutic effect loving-tender-care can have on patients and more importantly, the difference one minute of neglect in an hospital can make between life and death. For this reason, many self respecting persons refuse to go to public hospitals”.

He explained that the new administration under him was encouraging new spirit of public service, adding that the Omoluabi spirit should permeate everywhere including the hospitals.

“This is antithetical to the new spirit of public service we are fostering in Osun State.

The Omoluabi spirit must permeate the hospital environment for the caregivers and care receivers. I therefore charge you to dedicate yourselves to the same cause that Nightingale did in her entire life”.

Edo decries delay in disbursing loan From left: Mr. Innocent Oduka; Dr Thomas K. Oloruntofa,Coordinator,BRF Campaign Group, Mr Kingsley Essien (Vice President ); Mr. Tunde Odumosu- all old school mates of Governor Babatunde Fashola (Birch Freeman High School) jubilating over his victory in the governoship election

Briefly

NGO calls for nomination

And airway management simulators for life like practical demonstrations and applications on emergency care”.

Aregbesola counsels nurses

•A side view of new Onitsha General Hospital

World Bank donates N1.5b to FRSC

• Mimiko

NAFDAC arrests 50 offenders

T

HE National Agency for Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has arrested 50 offenders in the past four months, the head of its Oyo State office, Mr Benjamin Haruna, has said.

Haruna told reporters in Ibadan that the offences included hawking of illegal drugs and failure to renew licences by registered companies as required by law.

“One of the challenges we are facing now is that we have not been able to apprehend many culprits because of the ingenious ways by which they sell their products,’’ Haruna said.

He said that some of the culprits were fined while others with grievous offences got prosecuted.

“We charged the minor offenders between N50,000 and N100,000. Some of their offences include non-functional factory and improper dressing of factory workers,’’ Haruna said.

He further said that the agency had established desk offices in 18 local government areas, adding that the remaining 17 would be opened during the second quarter of 2011.

Haruna said the desk offices would curb the activities of hawkers of illicit drugs, among other functions.

The NAFDAC chief further said that the agency had embarked on advocacy and sensitisation on breast milk substitute.

He explained that the substitute would

Oyo encourage nursing mothers to feed their babies with breast milk exclusively for six weeks and cease from the use of other substitutes.

E

DO State government has frowned at the delay in the disbursement of the government’s N1 billion agric loan to 720 cooperative farmers in the state by a first generation bank.

The government at the end of its State Executive Council meeting held recently lamented that the delay in the disbursement of the loan by the United Bank for Africa (UBA) has negatively affected the overall intention of the government to assist farmers especially as the farming season sets in.

The State Commissioner for Finance, Hon John Inegbedion who disclosed the outcome of the meeting said the “Council hereby directs that the United Bank for Africa (UBA) should release the entire N1 billion to all the 720 cooperatives within one week”.

•From right: Organising Secretary, Community Ambassadors, Mbutidem Affaia; Bayelsa State Students’ Union representative, Eseimo Mayor Midpudo; President Nigerian Association of Akwa Ibom Students, (NAKIS) Mr. Essien-Ekanem Cyprian and Mr. Patrick Mfom, member of NAKIS during a thank-you visit to Mr Mbuotidem.

THE NATION

34

MONDAY, MAY 16 , 2011

• Participants at the pre-retirement training for deputy directors and assistant directors of the federal civil service at Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) Topo, Badagry, PHOTO ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA Lagos

I

F serving officers fail to plan for their retirement, there is no way they won’t regret it in the end. To stave off such calamity, adequate planning ahead of retirement is the magic for serving officers in both the state and federal civil service.

The above admonition was given by the Director-General, Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) Mr. Ajibade Peters, during a six-day pre-retirement training programme for 40 federal civil servants, held at ASCON, Topo Badagry.

Ajibade said owing to unpleasant experiences by some retirees, some officers at the brink of their career dread retirement, while others merely see it as a period of uncertainties and untold hardship.

This, Ajibade stressed, compelled some serving officers to fraudulently enrich themselves or falsify documents in order to stay on.

“In most developed countries, retirement is planned for and seen as a period of reflection when retirees look back and re-assess what they had or had not contributed into the country.

“The principal reason for regrets is that many serving officers fail to plan for retirement. The situation is further compounded by the fact that payment of retiring benefits is usually delayed and the monthly pensions are hardly enough to meet pensioners’ liabilities.”

W

ORLD Health Organisation (WHO), Nigeria Office has dismissed fears that Amalar tablets and other anti malarial drugs composed of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) have been banned in the country.

The National Malaria Control Programme, Federal Ministry Health also joined in dispelling the concerns.

The two bodies denied its ban and reinstated its efficacy particularly in the malaria prevention and control in pregnancy.

It was in the news that WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr David Sambo said Amalar tablets as well as other mono-therapies had been prohibited for the treatment of malaria.

But the Information officer of WHO, Dr Ola Soyinka denied the report, insisting that his boss was quoted out of context.

He explained that Amalar as well as other drugs with similar composition Sulfadoxine/ pyrimethamine is one of the most effective therapies for the prevention and control of malaria in pregnancy.

In the same vein, the National Coordinator, National Malaria Control programme, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Jide Coker denied the ban of sulfadoxine/pyrimethamin Amalar tablets, insisting that the national malaria policy of the ministry recommends the drugs for Intermittent Prevention Treatment (IPT) in pregnancy as malaria in pregnancy is a major cause of maternal morbidity worldwide and leads to poor birth outcomes.

Pregnant women are more prone to complications of malaria infection than non-gravid

ASCON trains workers

By Adegunle Olugbamila

Lauding the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, for deeming it fit to organise the course which is the second batch for their new retirees, Ajibade who was represented by Director/ HoD, Human Resources Management department of ASCON, Mrs Cecilia Gayya, said the training aims to ‘equip the participants with necessary knowledge on how to process their disengagement from service, and also make them live a standard of living commensurate with the lives during service, among others things. Ajibade therefore implored various government parastatals to continue to exploit the valuable deposits of retirees by consulting them to make their input in advisory capacity or better still in service delivery.

“The summary of the objective is that government wants retirees to have comfortable retirement earnings. This can only be achieved through a purposeful, designed programme of this nature.”

The ASCON DG also urged the participants to consolidate on knowledge tapped from the training to empower them as successful businessmen and businesswomen, while

also being frugal in the manner they spend their retirement earnings.

Mrs Nkechi Ejele, Parmannent Secretary, Manpower Development office of the Head of Service who also spoke briefly said the Manpower Development need of OHCSF in concert with ASCON as well as Centre for Management Development (CMD) have developed a new module for the training so as to “address the necessary needs of retirees and equip them to adequately manage their lives in retirement. She added that the programmes which would run for six days, were being managed by seasoned experts for officers between Grade Level 03 to Grade Level 17.

According to Mrs Ejeje, the programmes was split into theory and practical noting; “the practical segment would cover all the occupational areas identified.”

She advised participants to make a good use of the training as government sometimes operates inconsistent policies “I envy all of you doing this programme.

Why? Because government could stop this training tomorrow. They (government) will say they no longer have money to run it.

That’s why I’m encouraging to use the knowledge and skills acquired during the train-

ing,” she admonished.

Speaking with our reporter, a female participant the, Ondo State Director, National Population Commission Mrs Elizabeth Foluke Akinboro, described her 35 years in service as ‘interesting.”

As she reaches the apogee of her service, Mrs Akinboro thanked the federal government for giving her all the promotions as at when due.

She urged government to always accord promotion to civil servant once they are due, noting that when promotion are denied, ‘workers become dejected and unwilling to give their best’ Mrs Akinboro nonetheless expressed her confidence that the training would open her eyes to her next line of action.

Another retiree, Dr David Bola Omotosho from Federal Ministry of Environment, Abuja, had this to say: “I was in service for 33 years. If you put in your best while working in the service, it will make you to be more prepared to work for yourselves after service. And being in service, you are taught to do things thoroughly. You may be slow but you do it thoroughly.

“I hope the training will prepare me more.

Already I’m out of service and I know what it takes to solidify my knowledge of what I already know concerning retirement. It would lead me to be able to face more about the challenges that are ahead. I’m a professional in constructing work, so I have to build on that.”

Amalar, anti-malaria drug not banned, says WHO

•Mosquito, vector of the malaria parasite

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha women.

WHO recommends a package of interventions for the prevention and control of malaria during pregnancy. This comprises Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) to address the heavy burden of asymptomatic infections

among pregnant women residing in areas of moderate or high transmission of P. falciparum, use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs), and access to effective case management for malaria illness and anaemia.

At the moment in Nigeria, sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (SP) is the only antimalarial medicine for which data on efficacy and safety

for IPT is available from controlled clinical trials, and WHO recommends that at least 2 doses of SP are given during regularly scheduled antenatal visits after the first trimester.

In the same vein, the President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Mr Azubuike Okwor regretted the misinformation, attributing it to unnecessary competition in the antimalarial market. “The guidelines are in place for Amalar and other drugs in that category, in the prevention and control of malaria, what Nigerians need are quality medicines”, he said Okwor explained that the procurement channels are highly fragmented resulting in too many antimalarials of varying quality on the market.

According to him, “Poor-quality medicines affect the health and lives of patients, damage the credibility of health services and, by generating sub-therapeutic drug levels in malaria patients, help develop resistance to this important life-saving class of pharmaceuticals.”

Soyinka said what the WHO recommends is that oral artemisinin-based monotherapy should be removed from the market because their use will hasten the development of parasite resistance.

Malaria kills more than a million people each year, mainly young children and pregnant women. It is caused by parasites that are injected into the bloodstream by infected mosquitoes. The most deadly form, Plasmodium falciparum, is responsible for nine out of ten deaths from malaria.

THE NATION

35

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

Fayemi empowers commercial motorcyclists

E

KITI State Governor has inaugurated the first batch of 100 motorcycles out of a 350 units for immediate distribution to members of the Okada Riders Association.

The 100 have already been distributed to the riders through their cooperative societies.

In his address at the event, the governor recalled that the earlier 100 Suzuki cars and 40 buses acquired by the state government in partnership with Urban and Development Bank were also inaugurated and distributed to commercial vehicle drivers through their cooperative societies.

“Today’s event is another milestone in using limited resources to touch the economic lives of our suffering masses,” he said.

“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I have traversed the length and breadth of the state and discovered that one of the major problems affecting our people is the twin challenge of poor road network and ineffective means of transportation.

Thus, the distibution of the motorcycles is meant to addres the shortfall in transportaion.

“It is in the realization of the foregoing that the state government has decided to assist the operators of commercial motorcycles in their trade by guaranteeing the purchase of these motorcycles. The motorcycles are being distributed on loan to the riders through their cooperative societies.

“Today, the first batch of 100 motorcycles out of 350 for which order has been placed are here for commissioning and are procured under the government rejuvenated micro-credit scheme.

“Let me use the opportunity provided by this event to advice the okada riders to demonstrate decency, skill and patience required of them while doing their business. The carnage on our roads has become so embarrassing that no serious government would fold its arms and watch helplessly. The rate of accidents involving the motorcyclists in the state has reached a level that is no longer acceptable by the government.

“Like I observed when commissioning the vehicles for commercial drivers, history of loan repayment of this nature has not been quite impressive. The state gov-

•Workers at the motorcycle assembly factory, Ado-Ekiti From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

ernment is however of the firm belief that all beneficiaries of this scheme would reciprocate its gestures by faithfully repaying the loans on these motorcycles within the repayment period of 12 months.

“I want to congratulate the lucky beneficiaries today while those who are yet to benefit should exercise a little patience for the arrival of the next batch of the motorcycles. It is not a mere coincidence that this event is taking place in this period of Easter when all Christians are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Governor Fayemi said.

“This signals a spiritual connection with the resuscitation of our comatose transportation system in Ekiti state. I am happy that all of you here are involved in this process.

Today’s event is another milestone in using limited resources to touch the economic lives of our suffering masses In his own address, the Honourable Commissioner for Commerce, Industries and Cooperatives, Otunba Remi Bodunrin, thanked the state governor for approving the request of the Okada Riders Association for the facility and en-

couraged the Ekiti State Okada Riders Cooperatives Multipurpose Societies to ensure on-time repayment of the loan.

“Towards this end, my ministry would work as a team with the association to ensure that we realise this vision at no distance period,” Bodunrin said.

D

ETERMINED to reduce the wave of crime in Okeluse in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, the caretaker chairman of the council, Mr. Afolabi Mabogunje has built a police station in the area.

Before now, Okeluse had come under serious attack by men of the underworld who operated with impunity. Kidnapping was also rampant.

The community was engulfed in serious crisis late last year when two policemen were killed at a police post. The policemen were the only officers on duty when the hoodlums arrived.

These attacks might have informed the construction of a more secure police station by the council boss to replace the inadequate police post. In a space of three months, the police station was ready for use, complete with modern gadgets.

Mabogunje hinted that he was moved by the high crime rate in Okeluse which he said has continued to make the community unsafe for its dwellers.

‘Before now, there was a police post in Okeluse which made criminals to carry out their nefarious activities with impunity. I was moved because the lives of my people were in serious danger.

“In view of this, I had to ensure that we built a befitting police station for the community. Today, the station has been completed and the people of the community are now living in peace.

“Activities of men of the underworld has reduced to the barest minimum in

•New Okeluse Police Station

Council chief builds police station From Damisi Ojo, Akure

Okeluse; the people of the community are busy going about their lawful business without any threat.”

He called on individuals and organisations to come to the aid of the Nigeria Po-

lice Force, saying the issue of security should be the responsibility of all.

He lamented that the police lack the necessary equipment to combat the increasing rate of crime in the country, hence the need for collective effort to assist the police.

“The Nigeria police like every other police all over the world deserve better funding,” he said. “They are doing the best to ensure that the nation is safe but they need sophisticated weapons to withstand the firepower of criminals who are always armed with dangerous weapons.”

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

36

We have come to spend some time with you to show others that they should not be afraid of you or discriminate against you. We love you, accept you and will help give you the support and care that you need

Foundation uplifts people with special needs

T

HE atmosphere was electric.

The deaf and dumb were excited, finding different ways other than speech, to express their happiness. People living with HIV/ AIDS (PLWHA), widows, the aged and AIDS orphans found reason to smile again.

It was the day a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Bina Foundation reached out to different categories of people with special needs in Anambra State.

At Saint Andrews Anglican Church in Nnewi, joy spread among the deaf and dumb.

At Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Ihiala, the situation was the same with people living with HIV/ AIDS, the aged, widows and orphans, especially AIDS orphans.

Bina Foundation lifted the spirits of this special segment of the society with cherry words and food items, drugs, beddings, among other things.

Lady Ifeoma Atuegwu who heads the organisation spoke with Newsextra on why the foundation took up such a task. She said that the foundation seeks to enhance the lot of people with special needs by discouraging discrimination, marginalisation and neglect suffered by them.

She said her organisation also

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

caters for the physically and mentally challenged and there less privileged people in the society.

Though privately funded, the foundation said it welcomes volunteers and donors who share its vision of providing help and charity services to those challenged by special situations. Newsextra also found out that the organisation is equally willing to partner the government, churches and other NGOs in those target areas.

Before now, the foundation had visited Nike Centre for the disabled located in Enugu State, and two leprosy centres, one in Amichi near Nnewi which is called Father Damian’s Memorial Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre, the other in Okija.

The people AT St Andrews, Nnewi who benefited from Bina Foundation’s philanthropy included 50 deaf and dumb pupils, 50 AIDS orphans and over 100 physically challenged and PLWHAs. Some of the items given by the foundation included six bags of rice, over 10 rolls of toilet paper, uncountable number of exercise books, packets of soap and assorted drugs, among other things.

•Children with special needs who benefited from the foundation Health and Community DevelopThe major beneficiary of this gesment Centre Orphans and Vulnerture by the group was Diocesan able Children (OVC) Project.

Special Education Centre which This school, according to Canon accommodates 51 pupils with speOkoli, needs about N4 million to cial needs including children with meet its needs, including building Down Syndrome and those with of a hostel for the special children other challenges. It is the only such and completing its classroom special school in Nnewi and its blocks. environs.

Reverend Canon He noted that they are facing seUgochukwu Okoli is in charge of rious challenges in handling such the Anglican Diocese of Nnewi special children. The school is in its second year of operation.

Mrs. Njideka Ejimbe, headmistress of the school, and one of the teachers Mrs Nkwo Nneka, told Newsextra that the special children are responding well in their different classes.

For Lady Ifeoma Atuegwu, the purpose of the visit of BINA Foundation was to encourage them and let them know the organisation’s heartfelt concern about their condition.

She said: “We have come to spend some time with you to show others that they should not be afraid of you or discriminate against you. We love you, accept you and will help give you the support and care that you need. We want to remind the public of your existence and hopefully more people will help you.

“The government, churches, international organisations, individuals, NGOs are all active in the fight against HIV/AIDS and for vulnerable children. But the menace still continues. We still need more people to join the battle.”

Furthermore, she told Newsextra •Rev Canon Okoli (second left) and the BINA Foundation founder Lady Atuegwu, with other members of the that the broad objective of BINA foundation

T

HE Director of FENOG Nigeria Limited, an indigenous major player in the oil sector, Mr. Matthew Tonlagha, has lauded the Federal Government over the Local Content Bill, stressing that it is a panacea to unemployment in the country.

Tonlagha, who hailed the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group for promoting the Bill, said it would encourage indigenous contractors to take active role towards

Foundation is to restore the humanity of people with special needs in an organised, focused and effective manner with a view to making them functionally relevant to the society.

The group also provided free and quality, medical services, among other things.

Mrs. Atuegwu said: “We have come to encourage you to strive to be somebody despite your challenges. Our medical teams of volunteer doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc, are here to assess your health needs and other quality medical checkups and treatment, including prescription and routine drugs.

“We commend the inspiration and vision of the Anglican Diocese of Nnewi Health and Community Development Centre headed by Rev. Canon John Ugochukwu Okoli in starting a wonderful school in Nnewi for the vulnerable children”.

Also at Ihiala, she said, “We commend the Catholic Diocese of Ihiala, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and the Coordinator of the Health Services of the diocese, Father Simon Adibe, for all their selfless efforts in supporting and caring for those infected and affected with HIV/AIDS and their wonderful project for orphans and vulnerable children.”

BINA Foundation came into existence in December 2010 and has visited about four different organisations in both Enugu and Anambra states, and has spent millions of naira in charity.

‘How to end youth restiveness’ From Shola O’neil, Warri

indigenisation of the oil and gas industry.

He said; “The Local Content Bill of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration is a very good bill because it has

The people are living in poverty while the so-called multinationals are taking all the money to their countries. Now because of the local content bills, a lot of indigenes have been trained on how to handle most of these projects in the oil sector

placed Nigerians on a good stead and given us (local contractors) hope of a bright future.

“For the past years that the multinational oil companies were doing these jobs , the local contractors took the back seat watching, but because of the Local Content Bill now, so many Nigerians are putting their money in the oil sector and this is giving employment to many of our youths.”

“Many Nigerians have invested their money in the oil industry and this has also brought a lot of jobs opportunities to the people. Nigeria churns out about 150,000 graduates every year and most of them do not have jobs. Some have resorted to arm robbery while others have resorted to all kinds of things to survive. It was a result of this that some of our people turned to militancy.

“The people are living in poverty while the so-called multinationals are taking all the money to their countries. Now because

of the local content bills, a lot of indigenes have been trained on how to handle most of these projects in the oil sector”, he added.

For its part, he said FENOG is training its engineers on the use of the ultramodern Horizontal Diagonal Drilling (HDD) technology, adding that to ensure adequate utilisation of the equipment, the company procured offshore lay-badge “My concern right now is about design construction and pipeline networking because as you can see Nigeria has gas and that is one of the reasons we have invested so much in bringing a lot of equipment, like the off shore lay-badge that can install jacket in deep and shallow water. And also the HDD technology that can bury pipes up to 45 to 50 metres depth so that people would no more vandalise them. I can also assure that with the support we are having from the Petroleum Minister, NNPC, and the Secretary, Mr. Ernest Nwankwo, we are going to be among the top players in this local content bill.”

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

37

CITY BEATS

CRIME

F THE COURTS SROM ECURITY TIPS • • • • • • • • • • •

1.

•From left: Abdulhakeem, Saheed Ojora, Daddy Showkey and Vice Chairman of Ajeromi Local Government, Obinna Nwabueze PHOTO: JUDE ISIGUZO

No more war: Ajegunle residents declare “W E want peace and progress in this community. It is in our interest that we maintain peace. No government would be interested in investing in a violent area. What all these are pointing to is that we need to create employment opportunities for the youth.

That is the only way to get them to eschew violence. If this is done, we can make this community the most peaceful in the state.”

These were the words of the House Leader of Ajeromi/ Ifelodun Local Government, Mr Abdulhakeem Suleiman, at a forum, where all the warring groups in Ajegunle assembled to brainstorm on how to promote peace and harmonious co-existence of all residents of the community.

The meeting was convened following last weekend’s crisis in the area in which two persons were killed and many others injured.

According to the community, those alleged to have caused the crisis - the senior boys and AJ 1 had no hand in the crisis.

Suleiman said: “It is sad that

By Jude Isiguzo

whenever people visit the community and see a police armoured carrier stationed here, they have a wrong impression about the community. It sends wrong signals of a people always on the path of violence. A people that must be brought to their knees by the sheer force of the law by the police, as if the LGA cannot handle the matter.

According to him, the situation is becoming worrisome for the LGA chairman hence the need for the forum.

“We are really worried. The information in the newspapers is that we are always fighting in Ajegunle. The foreign media are aware of what is going on in Ajegunle. We do not deserve this kind of negative publicity. We don’t want any more evil to happen here,” Suleiman lamented.

The House Leader noted that Ajegunle is a heavily populated place where you will find almost any tribe in Nigeria, but some enemies of progress are deliberately fomenting trouble and

spoiling the place.

“I even got to know that President Goodluck Jonathan once lived here before. Let us live like brothers and sisters,” he pleaded.

On his part, popular musician Daddy Showkey, who was at the meeting said the residents and youths should focus their energies on new ventures which would assure them financial security.

He noted that rich people do not fight, but they would want to make use of them to cause trouble in the community.

He said if they can get busy and channel their energy into areas that could make them become great people in life, they would not be available to be used as pun in the hands of those who are out to use them to prosecute violence.

“We are pleading that Ajegunle, as a community, should be reckoned with because of the condition under which people live here and what they are encountering daily. We should carry everybody along as events unfold and ensure that we channel our plights and problems to the appropriate authorities.

Whatever happens here is our responsibility,” he said.

Three urchins in court for allegedly still searching for the other damaging 26 vehicles escapees and that they would

T

HREE miscreants— aka area boys— were on Thursday in Lagos arraigned for allegedly using machetes and dangerous weapons on innocent people going about their businesses and damaging 26 vehicles.

The accused, Lukuman Saka (35), Kehinde Raji (32), and Akeem Ramon, who appeared before an Apapa Chief Magistrates’ court, are facing a three-count charge of felony, malicious damage

and assault.

The trio, however, pleaded not guilty before Senior Magistrate E. A. Ogundare.

The prosecutor, Cpl. John Iberedem, said the accused had a case to answer, alleging that they conspired with about 50 others at large to commit the crime.

He said the vehicle owners took to their heels to escape the disruption of public peace caused by the violent behavior of the accused.

He said the police were

face the law whenever they were apprehended.

Iberedem said the offence, committed on May 8 at about 11.30 p.m. at AmukokoApapa, Lagos, contravened Sections 320, 324 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

Ogundare admitted each of the accused to a bail of N200, 000, with two sureties each in like sum who would also show evidence of tax payment. He adjourned the case till June 10.

Businessman in court for stealing 33,000 litres of petrol

A

42-YEAR-OLD businessman, Amadi Ibekwe, who allegedly stole 33,000 litres of petrol, valued at N2.1 million, on Thursday appeared before an Ebute Meta Magistrates‘ Court, Lagos.

He is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing before Magistrate Joy Ugbomoiko.

Ibekwe, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Babaji Ishaku, told the court that the accused and some others, still at large, conspired and stole the product, property of one Mr Freedom Aharanwa.

According to the prosecutor, Ibekwe and his accomplices on February 6 stole the petrol at the Capital Depot, Apapa. “Ibekwe collected money from the complainant to help him convey the fuel to it station, but he diverted

it. The accused did not deliver the product, neither did he pay the complainant the cost of the product,’’ he said.

He said the offences were contrary to and punishable under Sections 390 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State. The magistrate granted the accused bail in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties in like sum. She adjourned the case till June 8 for further hearing.

Be cautious when entering private vehicles that operate as taxis Avoid spending the night with free women In crowded bus stops, hold tight to your bags and pockets in order not to be robbed by pick pockets Do not leave your children with strangers, especially in religious places of worship.

Always secure your residence by locking up the place.

Do not allow a stranger to embrace you in the public as such person may be out to pick your wallet Mind how you leave your car with strangers as some may be robbers.

Be observant inside and outside bank premises in order not to be trailed by robbers.

Provide adequate security for cash in transit, including the use of police escort, also stop keeping money or valuables inside your car.

Help the police to help you. Let us join hands to rid our society of crime. It is our collective responsibility.

Report suspicious movement within your vicinity to the Police, never confront crimi nals as your life is very important, call the police on the following numbers: Police Control Room 1 emergency/distress call telephone numbers 07055350249, 07035068242, RRS Control 2 Alausa 08065154338, 07055462708, Control Room 3 SHQ: 08079279349, 08063299264 and 767 Toll free line.

MISSING PERSONS One Elizabeth Idowu ‘f’ aged 20yrs old about 5ft tall dark in complexion speaks Yoruba and Pigin languages fluently. If seen contact one Idowu ogungbemi ‘m’ of No. 1, Idowu Street, off Akanbisi Street, Magbon Badagry Expressway, Lagos or Morogbo police Station.

2.

One Imag Eden ‘m’ aged 23yrs old about 5ft tall fair in complexion speaks English and Calabar Languages fluently. If seen contact Eden Nse ‘m’ of No.9, Owodunmi Onipanu or Ilupeju Lagos Ilupeju Police Station.

3.

One Mosunmola Samson ‘f’ aged 9yrs old about 3ft tall black in complexion speaks English and Yoruba Languages fluently. If seen contact one Ola Makinde ‘m’ of No. 15, olaolu Street, Owutu Ikorodu Lagos or Owutu police Station.

4.

One Yusuf Bukola Bamidele ‘m’ aged 20yrs about 5ft tall, dark in complexion, speaks English and Yoruba Languages fluently. If seen contact one Alhaji Ahmed Mufutau ‘m’ of No. 630, abeokuta Expressway Abule Taylor Lagos or oke-Odo Police Station.

5.

One Fredrick Ada ‘m’ aged 33yrs about 5ft tall, dark in complexion, speaks idoma and English Languages fluently. If seen one Silas Ada Igboili ‘m’ of No. 33, Okunola Street Lagos or Dopemu Police Station.

1.

STOLEN VEHICLES One Toyota Corolla S.Car with Reg. No PM 358 KJA colour Blue with Chassis No JTDBR32E030017958. If seen contact any nearest Police station or Bariga Police Station.

2.

One Honda Accord (Bulldog) with Reg. No SX 199 AAA. Colour Grey with Chassis No. IHGCD5656SA144796 and Engine No. 22B121168998. If seen contact Surulere Police Station or call 08023095314 or 08023015137.

3.

One Toyota camry with Reg. No. PW 357 AAA. Colour Green with Chassis No.937188 and Engine No. 5778185. If seen contact any nearest Police Station or Agege police Station.

4.

One Mitsubushi Charisma with Reg. No. BR 25 FKJ. Colour Blue with Chassis No XMCLRDA280F022028 and Engine No. DY00594G43. If seen contact any nearest Police Station or Dopemu Police Station.

RECOVERED VEHICLES The Lagos State Police Command recovered 22 vehicles from June 30th to July 7, 2010, suspected to have be stolen from different locations in Lagos and the vehicles can be located at the station mentioned against each of the recovered vehicles as follows:S/NO NAMES OF VEHICLE

REG. NO

COLOUR

LOCATION

1.

NISSAN SUNNY

LB 321 AAA

GREY

IDIMU

2.

TOYOTA CAMRY

HS 618 EKY

BLACK

OGUDU

3.

TOYTOTA CAMRY

FP 17 EKY

ASH

AREA ‘A’

4.

V/WAGEN FARAGON

UNREG.

LSCC

IDIMU

5.

FORD RANGER

ZR 819 FKJ

ASH

BARIGA

6.

V/WAGEN GOLF

BW 526 MUS

ASH

BARIGA

7.

HONDA ELANTRA

EQ 496 APP

AHS

DENTON

8.

V/WAGEN TOUREG

HD 702 EKY

ASH

OKE-ODO

9.

TOYOTA CAMRY

MX 640 AAA

BLUE

ALAGBADO

10.

ACURA LEGEND

AV 534 ABC

D/GREEN

OGBA

11.

V/WAGEN

XV 03 JJJ

LSCC

AREA ‘F’

12.

HONDA PILOT

KJ 492 EKY

GREEN

RRS HQTR

13.

TOYOTA 4 RUNNER

FT 92 LND

ASH

ALAPERE

14.

M/BENZ V/BOOT

BD 313 GGE

ASH

SATELLITE

15.

NISSAN SUNNY

NJ 998 KJA

ASH

IKORODO

16.

HYUNDAI SONATA

KM 993 AAA

RED

IKOTUN

17.

TOYOTA HIACE

XP 441 LND

LSCC

DENTON

18.

NISSAN PATHFINDER

DL 182 GGE

RED

MAROKO

19.

TOYOTA SIENNA

HV 972 EKY

GREEN

SHQ

20.

NISSAN TUDA

BJ 545 BDG

ASH

SEME

21.

TOYOTA LAND CRUISER

A.O. ST

BLACK

IKEJA

22.

TOYOTA CAMRY

PH 402 KJA

BLACK

ITIRE

23.

HONDA ODDYSE

JC 818 EKY

GOLD

SURULERE

24.

TOYOTA SPOT VAN

GJ 971 ABC

WHITE

ALAKARA

25.

RANGE ROVER JEEP

DF 670 APP

L/GREEN

ILUPEJU

26.

HONDA ACCORD

FA 427 LND

GREEN

ALADE

27.

TOYOTA HIACE

XS 758 SMK

G/YELLOW

IMOTA

28.

HYUNDAI BUS XA 675 EHM WHITE IGANDO Members of the public who have claims to the recovered vehicles should check at the police station mentioned against each recovered vehicles with original documents.

Claimants should endeavour to check the engine numbers as the original registration numbers may have been tampered with.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

38

CITY BEATS Ijegun residents bemoan bad roads RESIDENTS of Ijegun, Ijagemo and Ijedodo communities in Iba Local Council Development Area of the state are bemoaning the bad state of roads, which are getting worse due to the incessant rainfall.

The residents said with a population of 250, 000, as at the last census, the communities deserves better treatment from the state government.

According to the patron of Ijedodo community Development Association, Mr Felix Omoviro, some land owners are not ready to develop their lands, while some house owners are not ready to move in as a result of the nightmare that the roads have constituted in the area.

Omoviro in a statement said their closeness to Iba, FESTAC and Jakande Estates have failed to have any impact on the roads.

“Though the roads are bad already, it would soon get worse as a result of the advent of the rains. The roads are usually flooded and it will be impossible to bring a car in or to get out of here. That is what we go through every year,” Omoviro said.

Communities urged to brace up for flooding’ PEOPLE living in coastal areas in the state have been advised to put in place flood adaptation measures to prevent severe flooding during the rainy season, a meteorologist, Temi Ologunorisa has said.

Olorunorisa, director of the Centre for Cimate Change and Environmental Studies at the Osun State University, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), however, said the rainfall forecast and distribution pattern indicate a reduction in flooding of coastal communities in Lagos State.

“From the monthly rainfall distribution forecast for this year, there is indication that flooding would be reduced in coastal areas like Lagos and others, compared to past years.

“People living along the coastaline should, however put measures on ground for the movement to guard against flood emergencies,” he said.

He said this is necessary to ensure that people move out of danger zones when the flood comes.

Two brothers, four others charged with stealing SIX persons, including two brothers, were arraigned in Lagos for allegedly attempting to steal.

Ibrahim Adekunle (23), Ibrahim Awoneye (25), Owolabi Elijah (26), Saheed Kamorudeen (20), Akeem Araba (25) and Odujobi Oluwasegun (24) are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and breach of peace, before a Somolu Magistrates’ Court.

The accused, arraigned before Magistrate B.O. Osunsanmi, however, pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, Inspector A. Adegoke, told the court that the accused were apprehended on May 6, at midnight in an uncompleted building at 18, Onajimi Street, in Somolu, Lagos.

“The accused were arrested by a police patrol team at the uncompleted building planning how to carryout their criminal act.

•A cross section of youths at the event

Group set to empower youths

T

HE Kingdom Wealth Imperial Initiative (KWII), a NonG o v e r n m e n t a l Organisation, helping to empower the youth, is set to organise the Eagle’s Gathering 2011 to help the youth identify, grow their leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

The event, which will attract over 250 participants from across the country will be holding from June 24 to 31, 2011 at the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, Apapa, Lagos will feature empowerment workshops, vocational trainings, leadership trainings, sports, group projects, business presentation and debates.

The event, which targets youths from 16 to 30, especially from secondary and tertiary institutions is campaigning that hard work

By Collins Nweze

should precede sucGroup out cess. “We seek to use Eagle’s Gather- to disabuse youths ing 2011 to further mind drive home our conviction that the path to greatness is fraught with all kinds of challenges but it is possible to surmount them and emerge a star,” said KIWII President, Mr Victor Akintunde, at a pre-event briefing in Lagos.

He explained that the programme intends to disabuse the minds of Nigerian youths thinking that it is possible to be successful without working hard. Through the training, the organisers wish to restore and sustain the confidence of the youths by insisting that success can still be achieved despite challenges

confronting the country.

The programme will require participants to apply through the firm’s website www.kwii.org and supplying all other requested information.

“We are out to help build selfconfidence in Nigerian youths, exposing them to the realities of life and the tough path to greatness; while disabusing their minds about the increasingly popular short-cuts to success as ostensibly portrayed by the elites in the society,” Akintunde added.

The Eagles’ Gathering an annual camp meeting programme is one of the major media through which the KWII executes its mandates. The organisers have so far put together three successful events at various locations in Nigeria.

The KIWII boss explained that in 2008, over 70 participants and four facilitators attended the Eagles Gathering leadership development programme. Eagles’ gathering 2009 was a five-day Youth Leadership Retreat designed for the development of world class leadership skills amongst youths in a nation where such virtue has become very scarce.

It had in attendance over 130 participants at the Citizenship and Leadership Training centre, The Sea School, Tin Can Island, Apapa, Lagos.

The 2009 event saw professionals such as Gbenga Sesan, Nigeria’s United Nations Information Technology Ambassador; Kolawole Oyeyemi, top echelon staff member with MTN Nigeria communications; Mrs Dena Rose Ajayi, a banker with Oceanic Bank; Mr Tosin Runsewe, Managing Director of GT Assurance; Mr Bernard Orji, a Management Consultant expert from Accenture and a host of others facilitating.

According to him, the Eagles Gathering 2010 was a turning point for the youths as over 120 young adults travelled from different parts of the country to the Hill Top School in Awgu, Enugu state for one week of inspiring experiences.

Role Model Speakers, who motivated the youths with their personal stories included Toyosi Akerele, Founder, “Arise Network”; Ogbo Awoke Ogbo, President, Giant thoughts Initiative; Tim Akano, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) New Horizon and Victor Akintunde, President KWII who engaged the youths in mountain climbing, great trek, survival night in the jungle and initiative test. Some of these facilitators have already confirmed their plan to attend this year’s event. New speakers such as Dr Reuben Abati of the Guardian Newspapers; Hannah Oyebanjo of GSK Pharmaceutical and Ibukun Awosika of Soca Chairs will also be giving colour and glamour to this year’s event.

Commissioner attributes rapid development to ICT AGOS State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, has linked the rapid development witness in the state to the use of Information Communication Technology.

The commissioner made the remark at the ABAT Centre when the executives of the National Union of Lagos State Students, Kwara State Polytechnic, Illorin paid a courtesy visit to the ministry to acquaint themselves with the giant strides the state is making through e-governance.

He reiterated the commitment of the government to sustain and im-

L

By Miriam Ndikanwu

prove the automation of service delivery for the good of Lagosians, while adding that the Fashola administration remains focus to build on the global computerisation programme by automating government processes in all the Ministries, Parastatals and Agencies (MDA’s) of Government in the state.

He highlighted some of the achievements of the administration in e- governance to include the implementation of Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), Geographic Information

System (GIS) and Digital Mapping Project, Health Management Information System (HMIS), Lagos State Government Education Management Systems (LASGEMS).

According to him: “This administration identified the needs of Lagos State as a Mega city to include Health, Education, Transportation and Waste Management etc. The Government in tackling each of these challenges has put various projects in place to alleviate the suffering of the masses through the use of IT in this direction.”

He urged the students to focus on their studies to compete favourably

with their peers throughout the world they must have knowledge in the use of Computer and Information Technology.

The students were acquainted with the facilities on ground at the ABAT Centre which includes the Help desk section, Web site section, Training Rooms, Servers Room and the Control system.

The leader of the group Keshinro Moshood, appreciates the efforts of the state government in putting these facilities in place and thank the government for the opportunity given to them to see things for themselves through this visit.

MFM holds Eagles fellowship

G

ENERAL Overseer, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Dr Daniel Olukoya, has urged the country’s leaders to strive for spiritual development so as to fulfil their roles effectively.

He also charged them to be prayerful and increase their knowledge of spiritual warfare, saying problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.

Olukoya gave the charge in Lagos during the church’s special programme for top elite and leaders.

According to Olukoya, the event tagged, Eagle’s Fellowship, is an end time fellowship designed by God for top elites in the society to fulfill their roles and be a candidate of heaven.

“It is also meant to connect people to the power of prayer and to empower leaders on spiritual warfare,” he said.

The fellowship attracted the political class, top bank executives and administrators among which

By Sunday Ogundugba

were the Osun State Deputy Governor, Mrs Laoye Tomori and the Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Public Affairs, Mr Idowu Ajanaku.

Olukoya, who spoke on categories of dreamers, urged them to pray for prophetic dreams. He also encouraged them to pay attention to their dreams as it can make or mar their destinies. Lending credence to his message, he quoted copiously from scriptures on how God makes his plans known to man. He said the devil doesn’t fight against God’s promises for man but the fulfillment of such promises.

He said: “The only language the enemy recognises is violent prayer. Whatever problem you do not destroy now will live to eliminate you. That is why you need to increase your awareness of spiritual warfare and tap into the mighty power of prayers. If you dislike your present situation, be mad in prayers because the prayer

•Dr Olukoya and wife at the summit warrior would always succeed.

“The moment you get on your knee, you are tapping into the mighty power of God to confront any problem. Prayer is the only thing the devil cannot do. That is why he distracts Christians from praying. Ignorance is a terrible destroyer. If the enemy has stolen from you, recovery is by force.

Describing dream as a spiritual monitor, Olukoya explained it can come from God, man and the devil.

He urged them to pray for the manifestation of their God-given dreams and reject any bad dream.

“You must understand territorial powers because every territory is governed by one power or the other,” he said.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

39

A walk for the senior citizens

A

GROUP, The Compassionates, has called on the government to pay more attention to the old people. in the nation.

The group made the call at its rally tagged, walk for charity, which was organised to address the neglect of the old citizens send the need for them to be recognised and given their due priority by all and sundry, particularly the government.

The rally took members of the group from Yaba Psychiatric Hospital, through Adekunle bus stop, to other parts of the Yaba in the mainland axis of the state.

Founder of The Compassionates, Rev Mrs Kehinde Popoola, said the essence of the charity walk was to better the life of the aged in the society.

“The essence of the charity walk is for us to look after those who are old, whose family members have abandoned and we want to ensure that even in their old age the elderly remains graceful and are not neglected, she said.

She added that the group is concerned about on making life easier for the old citizens.

“All we do is to go out and reach out to them to give them succour and give them the opportunity to see that they are not left out in the

By Amidu Arije

cold,” she said.

She continued: “All we are trying to do is to make sure that sooner than later, the senior citizens know that a group of people care of for them. We have a place for them to relax; a place where they are well taken care, where they are assured that they will have a peaceful transition to the great beyond.We want them to be graceful even at old age that’s what we are trying to do,” she added.

Popoola urged the government to give more attention to their senior citizens.

“The government The oldies must ensure that deserve the old people are better well looked after, treatment so that when they will know that they have a government that cares and caters for the needs and development,” she said.

Vice-chairman of the association, Sir Peter Olorunfemi, said the aged have suffered neglect from both family and the government.

“The charity walk is to demonstrate our concern that the ageing people in our society are well taken care of. We are also

providing an opportunity for many people here to keep fit because walking keeps you fit and healthy and we are equally using it to raise funds for the aged. We are using the walk to commemorate the anniversary of The Compassionate,” he said.

“The way the old ones are treated in the country is not good enough: Our society does not bother about the aged. It is necessary for the old people to be exposed to fresh air, mix with their colleagues and fellowship together, when this is missing the aged becomes secluded and will no longer enjoy his old age.

We should have a situation where the government gives them more opportunities to live a happier life at old age. That is when we truly say they can be happy,” he said.

President of the association, Dr Festus Olumuyiwa Coker, said the association observed that the senior citizens who are supposed to be enjoying their old age have been perpetually forgotten by the government, that is why they have come out to raise the alarm on the need for them to be recognised and catered for.

“We observe that the government had almost neglected the senior citizens and we thought if we can start to campaign through charity walk, the government will listen to our cries and address their plight.”

T

CITY BEATS

HE National President of Change Agent International, Sotade George has called on youth to take more interest in the political process and establish strong platforms that are capable of calling their elected representatives at all levels of government to order anytime they are derailing on their various campaign promises.

George, who said this in an interview recently, noted so many plans and policies of the government have hit the rocks in the past due to the apathy displayed by young people. He added that the march towards accountability, democracy and good governance demands active engagement with the process that would make such possible.

George said: “The sustainability of programmes at all levels of governance is in the hands of the youths who must take personal responsibility of the success of the political actors.”

He observed that politicians, who were lucky to represent their people in the past had robbed their constituency of the dividends that ought to have manifested after 12 years of democratic rule, a development which the youths must be determined to put behind them as the nation further consolidates the democratic culture.

He said: “It is high time we participate, monitor, evaluate and engage the newly elected representatives on their campaign promises

‘

To all ruthless political businessmen who must get power at all cost and by any means we say time is up

’

‘Youth must ensure politicians fulfil promises’

By Adeola Ogunlade

and programmes, if truly we desire and hope for positive change and improvement in our national life”.

Sotade, who was the former acting National President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for ensuring a credible poll in the just concluded elections.

He said: “Our votes are now counting. We no longer need to express our grievances through violence.

For once, our voices are being heard by those who want to lead us, gradually the road is being paved for the emergence of credible leaders who will provide the needed impetus for the development that has been missing for a long time in the country.

“Nigerian youths must not lay back and allow this gin to be lost again because the future of this country is in their hands. They are the ones who will sharpen the future with new options and alternatives to make our world a better place.”

Sotade urged the youths to eschew violence, advising them to stay alive to enjoy the dividend of democracy, adding: “To all ruthless political businessmen who must get power at all cost and by any means, we say the time is up. Stop using our youths to fan your evil fancy.

“We call on all evil doers to stop the killing of innocent souls and adopt another means to achieve their dreams without taking lives. Their act of taking lives has made them and all that they stand for unpopular and we could regard them as terrorists.”

‘Current policy can’t sustain affordable housing’

T •Members of The Compassionates during the walk

PHOTO: DAYO ADEWUNMI

‘We will partner more with community leaders’

T

HE Chairman of Agbado/ Oke Odo Local Council Development Area, Pastor Kenny Olu Okunmuyide, has said his administration is poised to ensure meaningful development of the council area.

Speaking at the presentation of N500, 000 cheque to Oke-Odo Elders Unity Forum, for the upgrade of the Oke-Odo Post Office, at the council secretariat a few days ago, Okunmuyide said the council will partner more with the community leaders in the area to provide social amenities.

He said: “It is perhaps appropriate to remark that when the representatives of the community approached my office on this matter, it was just to seek the permission of the council on the project, the council, however, has offered to do more than just acceding to the request for permission. We decided to financially empower the com-

‘

The council has offered to do more than just acceding to the request

’

By Kunle Akinrinade

munity to make the execution of the project a reality” He also hinted on the readiness of his administration to distribute a new set of transformers to some communities to boost electricity supply in the council area.

He said: “We remain committed to the fulfillment of all the promises we made when we assumed office. To this end, arrangement has been put in place for the procurement and distribution of new set of transformers to boost electricity supply in some communities within the council area.”

“We have also made adequate preparations for the presentation of N200, 000 and N100, 000 to executives of community development associations. The fund is aimed at assisting CDAs with noticeable community development projects,” he added.

Chairman of the Oke-Odo Elders Unity Forum, Elder Olufunso Akintunde, commended Okunmuyide for the gesture, adding that the group will continue to co-operate with the council in all facets of socioeconomic development of the area.

Among those present on the occasion were the Alajasa of Ajasa Oba Sule Odu Alabe, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftains and community leaders, among others.

HE present housing policy and land management can not ensure a functional housing scheme for the generality of the people, an expert and President of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Mr Segun Ajanlekoko, has said.

Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, Ajanlekoko said though Lagos State at present has a mortgage scheme in place for civil servants, other categories of the people need to have equal access to funds, a development, he said, is impossible due to the bottleness existing in land management in the state.

•Okunmuyide (right) presenting the cheque to members of the group

“We cannot build on the present structure and think we can house our people. The land management system must change. We must have a title to land to have funds for development,” he charged.

He observed that most houses and lands in the state do not have titles and there is no financial instrument to guarantee the building of houses and payment by prospective home owners.

He said attention should be on building small, simple functional and affordable houses, and this could be made possible through a functional mortgage system.

“The average Nigerians did not need to build like the rich,” Ajanlekoko added.

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

40

CITYBEATS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The National Assembly should sign the FOI bill before May 29 otherwise we are going to start afresh, and this will be a national shame. They still have a lot of time to write their name in gold.”

Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye, Head of the Mass Communication Dept., UNILAG, at a forum organised by the Caleb University, Lagos.

•The shabby floor of the abattoir

PHOTO: ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA

Cheap meat market in Ojo cantonment

I

T was early in the morning and there was frenzy at the corner of the slaughter slab.

A fat cow seemed to have broken loose from its‘ keepers and attempted to run away, having seen what happened to others laying motionless on the ground in a pool of blood.

“Tighten the rope,” a hefty man holding the cow by the nose through a rope, bellowed. His message was well-received by the man behind, who tightened the rope more on one of the cow’s hind legs to ensure it did not secure total freedom as they led it a place already crowded by a impatient butchers and buyers mostly women. Sensing ‘danger’, the cow, struggled the more, attracting other butchers who rushed to their colleagues’ aid in bringing it to lie flat on the ground.

“We had better run out of here, shouted a woman to others who had hitherto been standing by. If a cow injures or kills you in this place, you be sarah be dat. Dem go ask you say wetin you come do for dis place. Na inside market dem dey sell meat, you go explain wetin carry you come.”

Her listeners heed her advice as they retreated amid the bedlam until everything was brought under control.

The people, mostly women, are the early morning buyers at the abbatoir located inside Ojo Military Cantonment in Ojo. But, they would rather damn any probable danger at the slaughter ground to get a piece of meat which comes at a good price.

“They (workers) have always warned us outsiders of the danger of coming into this place because they tell us that except you are a staff member they would not be

It is unnoticed from the outside, however residents of Ojo, Iba, Okokomaiko and environs are aware of this abattoir in the Ojo Military Cantonment which has existed for nearly three decades, reports ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA responsible if a cow injures or even kills you here. But here, we get meat at the cheapest price.

“My brother”, added another woman, “I’ve been buying meat here for over seven years. If you want it cheaper, come here early in the morning, when the cows are being slaughtered. You can see many of us are here. A cow head which they sell only a few distance away for between N12,000 and N17,000 are sold here between N10,000 and N12,000.”

Another buyer quickly interjected: “Some of us you see here are either food or pepper soup sellers. That is why we are always here every morning.

Others are housewives who like to buy in large quantity and store in their freezers.”

When viewed from outside, any stranger would consider this place as merely part of Ojo Military Cantonment. It, indeed is, for it sits right on a part of its land, albeit at the extreme end, sharing a boundary with Volkswagen of Nigeria(VoN), a German automobile company. Over the years, the abattoir seems to have gained its independence as a notable meat market serving both the residents

‘

in the barracks and other communities on Abule Osun, Barracks (opposite side), Volkswagen, Iyana-Iba, Ajangbadi and Okokmaiko, and beyond.

The slaughter area is an open enclave with rough concrete slab, which stands between the shops where meat are sold and another Butchers open ground specialise where the cows in selling are herded before parts being ushered into the slaughter ground.

Sorrounding the entire place is a swamp, which has become permanent abode for Cattle-Eagrets which usually perch on the slaughter ground to have a taste of the remnant of the newly slaughtered cows.

Next is the open space, which consist of small stalls for meat sellers. As usual, each stall is dotted with a stool made of hard wood where the sellers spread the meat before cutting then to smaller bits.

This particular section of the market also plays host to food sellers and sellers of provisions and other items. But predominantly, meat sellers dominate this particular space hawking fresh meat,

When viewed from outside, any stranger would consider this place as merely part of Ojo Military Cantonment. It, indeed is, for it sits right on a part of its land, albeit at the extreme end

’

which has become daily routine.

Odo-Eran as this abbatoir is called in Yoruba (Meat Market), is a Mecca of some sorts; boisterous in every sense, yet with a well-defined division of labour.

“I’ve been selling meat in this market for over 12 years, yet I can tell you that then we could not count ourselves not to talk of now.

We don’t even know ourselves, we are just too many,” said another meat seller.

The meat workers, in line with the custom, are all clad in green overall. Each specialises in the sale of spcific parts of the meat.

“Some of our members here only sell hide, known by the locals as ponmo some sells tail, some the intestines, some the hunch meat. No meat seller can boast that he sells all. We all specialise in spcific parts,” said Ganiyu, a meat seller.

Interestingly, this is the only abbatoir in the state where cows are slaughtered on Sunday. This is evident in the frenzy that engulfs the place every Sunday morning as retail meat sellers from across the state make regular visits to Odo Eran if they must buy or sell fresh meat.

“If you want to see fakafiki (frenzy), come here on Saturday, when parties are usually held in Lagos. But if you want to see real action, come on a Sunday because abattoir in Wilma Agege and Agbara don’t operate, so every meat sellers who want to make sales on Sunday must come here,” said a fair-complexioned middleaged woman who identified herself as Mama Nkechi.

According to another source, who is one of the executive members of the market, over 100 cows are being slaughtered at the abattoir each day, “But the number of cows we slaughter in this market, especially are unpredictable.

Sometimes, we slaughter up to 150 cows. If you doubt me, just come here on Sunday and see things for yourself,” another worker said.

Although this reporter did not have access to where the cows are kept, an insider the new place was created a few years ago after a face off with the military authority and the state government.

According to another source, since the military abhorred their interaction with the media, cows used to be paraded outside the fence opposite the highway to draw attention of motorists and passers-by alike to the activities inside the market.

“But later, some members of the council in the area visited. We didn’t know their intention. We thought they were just being impressed with our activities when they enquired how many cows were slauthered daily.

When we told them, they now demanded how much we will be giving the council on each of our slaughtered cows. They also said henceforth, they would be supplying us with vet doctors. This led to some members of the executives visiting the council ostensibly for possible negotiation. But when the military authorities later learnt we visited the council, they were not happy with us.

They demanded why we failed to consult them knowing full well that this is a military base and not the government’s jurisdiction.

Eventually, we reached a compromise with the council that since the military insisted it is not their jurisdiction, our cows should be moved inside the barracks because the open place whether the cows were being displayed before belonged to the state government, said another executive member.”

Sources told our reporter that the market was established in 1982 by a northerner simply called Alhaji, a notable cattle merchant and businessman.

A source, who told our reporter how it all started, said Alhaji Amisu heeded a piece of advice by the then Commandant of the Ojo Military Cantonement Barracks to reduce the stress being experienced by residents on the Ojo /Badagry axis, who have to travel all the way to Apapa which then had the only abbatoir.

Traders added that though the Odo Eran originally started operations right in the heart of the Ojo Military Cantonment, adding that as the barracks expanded and more houses built, the abattoir was relocated until it finally berthed at its present place.

An executive member of the butchers union who pleaded not to be named, told our reporter that they have always been receiving directives from the military barracks.

“They have always warned us not to involve the media in our activities. There was even a time we tried to achieve this by going to Abuja, but yet it was turned down.

Their excuse is that this place is a military barracks and, therefore, one of the country’s security units.

“Do you also know that we don’t allow white men to come inside this market. Any white man interested in buying meat or anything here can only do so through his driver.

SEND YOUR STORIES, VIDEOS AND PICTURES TO CITY BEATS at ynotcitybeats@gmail.com OR SEND AN SMS TO 08033054340

SLIDING TACKLE

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

42

"Nothing was wrong, it was football. they played for over 90mins. and one team lost, one team won. Of course if Siasia does not win the WAFU, Cup, that doesn’t mean, he doesn’t have the wherewithal to beat Argentina. As you are know very well , these boys were only put together, two weeks ago.

As for me they have done very well.”

Former NFF technical director, kashimawo Laloko advising Super Eagles’ coach, Samson Siasia, to hold onto the crop of players used to prosecute the WAFU tournament.

WAFU CUP OF NATIONS TOURNAMENT FALLOUTS...WAFU CUP OF NATIONS TOURNAMENT FALLOUTS...

Laloko to Siasia: Retain Home-based Eagles F

ORMER Technical Director, Nigeria F o o t b a l l Federation(NFF), Kashimawo Laloko has insisted that Super Eagles’ Coach, Samson Siasia still posses the correct credentials to lead the Super Eagles to a successful run at subsequent matches, while also advising the coach to retain the present crop of players in the Homebased team.

Laloko said the Home-based

• Commends Siasia despite loss

By Stella Bamawo Eagles failed to lift the trophy at the just concluded WAFU Cup of Nations tournament after losing to the Hawks of Togo 3-2 at the MKO Abiola Stadium, not because they were a technically deficient side but due to the fact they didn't have enough time for preparations.

Laloko told Nationsports: "Nothing was wrong, it was football. they played for over 90mins. and one team lost, one team won. Of course if Siasia does not win the WAFU, Cup, that doesn’t mean, he doesn’t have the wherewithal to beat Argentina. As you are know very well , these boys were only put together, two weeks ago. As for me they have done very well. He has his team,

what he needs to do for us is to keep the team for us as our own National team B for Nigeria and look after the Super Eagles as foreign-based players to play our international matches."

In the same vein, Governor Gbenga Daniels, expressed satisfaction at the national team’s campaign. In a chat with Nationsports, Governor Gbenga Daniels said: " I think the Super Eagles did not dissapoint us, they performed well. The standard was good compared to the previous ones."

Some players didn't play to instruction— Okonkwo

By Stella Bamawo HE injured captain of the Home-based Super Eagles, Chibuzor Okonkwo has rued the fact that the team was dethroned of its title at the just concluded WAFU Cup of Nations tournament at the MKO Abiola Stadium on Saturday.

Okonkwo, however,stated that the team could have won if some of the players had played to the coaches instructions.

In a chat with Nationsports, he said: "Well for me, when I was on the bench watching the game, I felt so bad, because under 30-40 minutes we were two goals down. so after we fought hard to equalize, goals I really felt bad because for some they couldn’t play to the instruction in the first half, that was why we lost the game."

Meanwhile, the top scorer of the Eagles team, Ekiogu Ehiosun waa also pained at the loss.

Ehiosun told Nationsports:"It was so challenging looking from the aspect that we lost today. I think it was a good one for us though. It is a game of football, sometime you lose, at other times, we win. But it was so unfortunate that we were at the losing end today. It was not what we expect that is why you are putting on the long faces, we are wearing today. There is nothing we can do, there is no way we can turn back the hands of time. If we have another opportunity to show ourselves like this again, it is going to be a different game entirely. Now we have put it behind us. It is really telling on us especially myself. "Okonkwo was replaced after the match against Niger Republic where he sustained an ankle injury. The Bayelsa United player could not play in the semi-finals against the Black Stars of Ghana and in the finals against the Hawks of Togo.

T

• Osadebamwen Okoro

S

UPER Eagles Homebased players have all enthused that they would forever be grateful to Coach Samson Siasia for giving them the opportunity to showcase their talents at the just concluded WAFU Cup of Nations tournament which was concluded over the weekend at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

In various interviews with the Nationsports after losing to the Hawks of Togo on Saturday, each and everyone of them were of the opinion that they had learned from Siasia's technical expertise.

Ekhiogu Ehiosun(Warri Wolves):"He(Siasia) has been like a father to me, I will tell you in a simple language, I have benefited a lot since I started playing under Siasia, it is really been wonderful.

There are some stages in this game that you get to and see

‘Siasia is our hero’

By Stella Bamawo that you need to appreciate what you are benefiting from the team. I am learning a lot, the team has been good to me."

Ibenegbu of heartland football club of Owerri also said: "We feel very happy for this kind of tournament because this is what we homebased players have been looking forward to show our talent. We thank the organisers of the competition immensely for organising this type of tournament for the home-based players all over the West Africa country to showcase their talent. By the special grace of God as you can see most of us tried in this tournament, we should be able to enter the Super Eagles team A, we hope that

as our main team coach is here with us, he should pick two or three players into the team."

Wasiu Showemimo, Kano Pillars: "We still have to give God the glory, because he is the one that is doing everything. So for the match I wont say much too. We did not play the match to go and lose the match because we knew what was at stake. We feel pains and there is nothing we can do.

This is the first time I am working with Coach Siasia, he has given us the opportunity, his technical training and everything.

Captain of the team, Chibuzor Okonkwo also has this to say about Coach Siasia: " The competition has been so good despite the fact that we lost today. He helped home-based players. he made us to be more popular in the society."

NFF commends Super Eagles DESPITE shock defeat in the final of this year’s West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup competition by Hawks of Togo, the Nigeria Football Federation has stated clearly that it is not ashamed of the Super Eagles and would indeed continue to encourage the domestic League boys’ challenge for places in the senior squad.

NFF President Aminu Maigari, while addressing the players in the dressing room minutes after the stunning loss to the Hawks, said the team put in everything to achieve victory on the day but had the tide against it.

“Let us take this as an act of God and brighten up”, Maigari intoned as he addressed the squad, standing beside Head Coach Samson Siasia. “Football is like that; you win some and you lose some. Truth is no one likes to lose in a final match, moreso when it is on home ground.

But truth also is that when two teams go up against each other in a final match, only one will emerge the winner.

“We lost today and it’s all part of the game, but I commend your spirit and enthusiasm, and your determination to win. More than these, you showed

courage and comportment.

“No team wins always. I can assure you that the Nigeria Football Federation, the coaching crew and indeed, you players must have learnt a lot from this tournament. These lessons will help us all as we go forward”, insisted Maigari.

Nigeria fell 2-3 in front of home fans at the MKO Abiola Stadium, with Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel among the fans. A second minute goal truly unsettled Super Eagles’ nerves, while red card to impressive centre back Gege Soriola and a colourless display by stand-in-skipper and goalkeeper Rotimi Sunday did not make help matters.

The NFF President urged the players to pick up their morale and fight for shirts in the main squad ahead of the highprofile international friendly against Argentina in Abuja on 1st June and the crucial 2012 Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia in Addis Ababa on 4th June.

Responding, head coach Siasia assured that the defeat would not impact on the focus of the team “as we cannot afford this because we have bigger fishes to fry very soon”.

Ameobi: Chelsea fans should not blame Torres NEWCASTLE United striker Shola Ameobi says Fernando Torres cannot be blamed for Chelsea's faltering season.

Ameobi is backing £50million Chelsea flop Torres to win over the Chelsea doubters.

Ameobi said: “You can’t blame one player for a team not achieving. Torres has had a tough time.

"He can get out of his bad run... after we’ve played them!”

• Torres

Garcia delighted to end club's long trophy drought LILLE coach Rudi Garcia has expressed his delight at seeing the club lift a trophy for the first time in over half a century after they defeated PSG courtesy of Ludovic Obraniak's 89th minute winner from a free-kick.

"We are happy - you must take into account that the people of Lille have been waiting for that for 56 years! Now, we have to savour the moment and then

• Garcia

prepare ourselves for Wednesday," he told French television after the game.

"In our favour is the fact that we did not play extra time when we thought that we were heading for it."

Midfielder Rio Mavuba admitted that it was a hardfought victory and he congratulated the entire team for their combined efforts in defeating Antoine Kombouare's side.

"It was very, very difficult.

PSG played their game. A final is only nice when you win it and we have done what we had to do.

"We were extremely solid throughout the entire season and we delivered one more collective effort. It was a substitute [Obraniak] who won us the match and it is magnificent."

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

43

• Nigerian engineers at work

Science graduates now hot cakes in labour market Many students read science. Some admitted to read science drop midway because of their phobia for figures. For science graduates, the labour market cannot be saturated. There will always be a room for them. They have now become employers’ first choice. Experts attribute the development to the flexibility of many science graduates, writes AKINOLA AJIBADE. • STORY ON PAGE 30

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

44

JOBS

Science graduates now hot cakes in labour market

T

HE labour market is setting a new trend.

The market is absorbing science graduates in an unprecedented manner. Globally, science graduates enjoy some privileges. They are allowed to work in areas of their competence. They work in banks, insurance, accounting, stock broking and marketing research firms. Other areas are agroallied, aviation, maritime and manufacturing companies.

The reason is because science graduates have research background and can delve into complex areas in an organisation. Besides, they are at home with figures, flexible, and optimise the window of opportunities that come their way. They have a repertoire of skills and attributes that endear them to employers.

Though graduates of Humanities are equally in demand, science graduates have the upper hand in the labour market now.

Findings have shown that many top shots abroad are etched in sciences. United States and Europe are believed to a have large number of Chief executives who primarily studied sciences. They later enrolled for courses in Business Administration, and Financial Management to make up for their lapses.

Nigeria is joining the league of countries making the best out of science graduates.

Unlike what obtains abroad, many of our scientists are more abreast with the theories. Most of their works are abstract in nature. They blame it on poor funding of the universities. But, in companies, Nigerian science graduates are exemplary. The Nation learnt that many banks outdo each other to employ graduates with science background.

After the 2005 consolidation, banks employed many science graduates. They hinged the development on the changing face of banking globally. They reasoned that modern banking is run on technology, hence the need to give science graduates more preference. The decision of banks to adopt Flexcube software to ensure seamless operations, underscore these assertions. Investigations have shown that most cashiers employed by banks studied one science course or the other. This is to ensure adaptability and further save cost.

Also, many science graduates are now practising accounting. They have studied courses such as mathematics, biochemistry, geology, civil, electrical and electronics, chemical and marine engineering, before veering into accounting. Many of them are chartered accountants today. They are members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

Interestingly, many science graduates have climbed up the ladder, becoming managing directors of companies too.

The former Managing Director, Berger Paints Plc, Mr Adebowale Thompson, is one of them. A chemical engineering graduate,

• President, NLC, Abdulwaheed Omar

• Minister of Education, Prof Ruqayyat Rufai

• Nwezie

Adebowale believes science holds the ace in the jobs’ market.

He told The Nation that an average employer prefers science graduates to their counterparts who studied courses, such as History, Theatre Arts, English, and Education.

He said employers know that science courses are difficult, and that graduates from those fields would perform when given the opportunity.

He said Mathematics and engineering courses require thinking, as against History which the students can cram.

Adebowale observed that employers are looking for workers who can think deeply, diagnose problems and proffer solutions to them.

He said: “You will notice that the cut-off point for students that sit for Medicine, Engineering and Geology are usually high, compared to those that applying for History, Yoruba and other Arts courses. This has become a trend in the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB). The reason is because the body believes that only the best students can study sciences. So, employers are aware of this development and, therefore, want to ensure that they employ good hands.”

He said students, who do not have the capacity to study science courses need not bother themselves. He said students can skip Arts classes and pass their examinations, adding that they cannot do that in science classes.

Adebowale said science enables us to reason well, analyse issues, and come up with

hypothesis that would help a company in finding solutions to its problems.

He said Chemistry as a course is broad and affords graduates’ opportunities to showcase their skills. He said Chemistry graduates can decide to work in pharmaceutical companies or create their own jobs.

According to him, employers are looking for people who can adapt to different situations and further record success. He said the development has given science graduates an edge over others.

Similarly, a senior lecturer at the Lagos Business School, Dr Austin Nwezie, said graduates with science background are performing well in their chosen fields.

Nwezie said such graduates are flexible, skillful and quickly fit into areas that are outside their fields.

“To some extent, we can say that science graduates are getting more recognition in the labour market. When it comes to technical works, such graduates get jobs easily because employers believe that they can do better. Though companies are still training people with science background to enhance performance, they are first- choice in the jobs’ market,” he said.

Nwezie said science graduates cannot perform creditably in all fields, claiming that they hardly do well in marketing and public relations.

He said people’s disposition and capacity determine whether they would perform, when they are employed in an organisation.

He said a company may employ some of the best workers around, but may not get the desired results if the workers are not

showing the right attitude to jobs.

There are cases where the best brains are employed in companies. But the inability of workers to show the right attitude could ground the operations of the organisations.

The don advised companies to employ people with good skills and attitudes, adding that it is the only way by which they can preserve the legacy.

A former Corporate Affairs Manager of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Mr Gbenga Adebija, said he did not allow his science background to affect his work as the image maker of the company.

Adebija, said his science background, has prepared him for the challenges in the marketing communications field.

He said he was not unaware of the tasks of managing the image of a conglomerate like Cadbury, but decided to see the job as a challenge. He said the experience garnered in Cadbury has helped him immensely in life.

Adebija noted that when a worker is flexible, analytical, patient and ready to learn, he would perform in any task assigned to him.

A senior official of Wema Bank Plc, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said banks are turning their attention to workers that can deliver good results. He said many workers lost their jobs to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reforms because they were not adding values.

He said banks are closing their doors to workers who are barely above average, adding that it is only people that are adept in research that can get good jobs in banks now.

CAREER MANAGEMENT

Are you not supposed to be employed by now?

A

RE you still wondering why you have not yet secured your dream job? Or even worse, why you are not even being called in for a job interview by the recruitment agency let alone the employer?

Well, have you taken a step back and looked at the package that you are offering and how you are presenting it? Maybe your offering is just not packaged together correctly which is why you are continuously being overlooked, even though you just know you are the right person for that job.

With the unofficial unemployment rate in Nigeria standing at over 30 per cent, there are millions of un-employed Job Seekers scouting the marketplace for their ideal job, and even more employed professionals applying for the same jobs, it is imperative that you take every effort of going above and beyond to ensure that you stand out from the crowds.

Let’s start by considering the basics, Your resume

By Olu Oyeniran

Clean up your resume and ensure that your it is professionally puttogether with no typographical, spelling or grammatical errors.

Make sure that the layout and format conforms to that of a professional resume. Your strengths and key skills - as they relate specifically to the job that you are applying to - should be clearly highlighted and visible at a glance at the off-set. Be sure not to make silly mistakes that can get you eliminated even before the short-list stage. Go through your resume to ensure that you have covered all essential aspects that make up a professional resume.

Next, develop a professionally-written application When applying for a job opening, please extend the recruiter the courtesy of ensuring that your skills do in fact meet the minimum requirements that they have set-out in the job advertisements. Do not apply to job advertisements that

you are not suitably qualified for as this wastes both your time and that of the recruiter.

If you do believe that you closely match the requirements and skills contained in the job advertisement, then be sure to create a professional, top self-selling customised application, sometimes referred to as covernote (not a standard one-size-fitsall) that is addressed personally to the hiring manager ( not personnel/ human resource dept), if possible, and that refers to the job title and where you saw the job advertised and on which date.

Then immediately get to the point and explain briefly why your skills best match the job and why you should be considered. End off by thanking the recruiter for their time. Be sure to include any relevant documentation or information that the recruiter might have asked for in the job advertisement. (see more on this at www.jobsearchhow.com)

Finally, present yourself in the most professional manner.

Should you be fortunate enough to secure an interview either with a recruitment agency or the employer directly, be sure that the product (you) matches the brochure (your resume) in the most professional manner. Be mindful of your interview manners but most importantly, dress appropriately for the job interview. Remember to prepare to dazzle in the job interview by researching the company, understanding the job requirements and knowing your strengths and how to communicate these effectively and in context to the job that you are being interviewed for.

Consider carefully the type of interview body language that you are giving off and be careful to avoid as far as possible - making any of the common job interview mistakes. Come prepared with a set of interview questions yourself. Job seekers who attend a job interview with a well prepared set of interviewee questions are always most successful.

Remember, every job interview

is an employment opportunity.

Should you be called back for a second interview, take just as much time preparing for the second job interview as you would on the initial meeting. When getting a call back for a second job interview ask the interviewer if there is anything that you specifically need to prepare for.

Without being over confident, attend your second job interview with the same intention as you did the first. Carry yourself with poise and professionalism.

One more thing, remember that the best way to prepare is by anticipating securing your dream job.

Good luck. Now go and secure that dream job now!

Olu Oyeniran is the Lead Consultant, EkiniConsult & Assoiciates.

Website: www.jobsearchhow.com E-mail: oluoyeniran@yahoo.com Tel 08083843230 (SMS Only).

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

45

CEO

‘We ‘re in strategic alliance with local banks’ BNP Paribas, the sixth largest bank in the world, has facilitated billions of dollars in loans to Nigerian banks in recent years.

It has also partnered with them in financing oil and gas businesses. Its Special Representative and Advisor in Nigeria, Aderonke Onadeko, tells Senior Finance Correspondent COLLINS NWEZE that the bank is targeting key sectors for financing using local financial institutions.

Excerpts:

• Onadeko

W

HAT is really driving BNP Paribas to the Nigerian market?

BNP Paribas has, traditionally, had a very long relationship with Africa. We have been involved in Nigeria for over 20 years. Our primary focus has been oil and gas, especially in trade finance. We are also into financing oil and gas importation and exportation. We later moved into upstream and reserve-based lending.

In reserve-based lending, we look at the reserves of an oil firm, and decide how much we can lend to the firm for the development of the oilfield. We are the pioneer of reservebased lending in Africa. We have done it with Alfren, Addax, Conoil. That’s one way we have been trying to support oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

So, you target mainly oil and gas businesses?

What happens is that we develop relation-

ship with certain people, and because of the expertise the bank has in oil and gas, it’s a natural base. We are probably one of the largest financial institutions with reservoir engineers on the part of the bank, mainly ex-Shell staff, ex-Total staff and ex-Elf staff, among others. So, we have a very good understanding of production and exploration, in-house.

When you talk of reservoir engineers, what do you mean?

Reservoir engineers have the capability to quickly read the data coming from oil and gas businesses. They have an idea of what the oil flow will be and understand the possibility of an oil block. So, with that expert knowledge, it is easy for them to assess how viable a project will be. Then, we will go ahead to put money on the table to support such client. Anytime we are talking to the oil firms, the engineers are there, the bank-

ers are there too. So, in one meeting, we are able to capture the entire needs of the client and then bring solutions that are appropriate for the type of oil blocks they have.

Apart from oil and gas, do you finance infrastructure?

Today, we have not. But it is something we have looked at. We have looked at the power sector, on how to get involved. However, we have been waiting for the fiscal regime and pricing policies and regulation. We want to be sure that there is a way out. We want to be certain that there is going to be a cashflow that can support the debt.

Are you also into downstream oil sector financing?

We do. We are primarily the number one bank, putting money on the table for banks to finance importation and exportation of • Continued on page 48

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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CEO • Continued from page 47

petroleum products. We are also involved in trading of petroleum products.

Are you dealing directly with the downstream operators, or liaising with banks?

We work in partnership with local banks. What happens is that a Nigerian bank will have a credit line with us, maybe, a dollar line.

And when a local player comes to the bank to finance the oil block, the bank will access that pool of fund through us. It is only local firms that have offshore subsidiaries that we deal with as well.

Hope you didn’t get your fingers burnt during the global financial crises?

No, we did not. We were structured in a way that we assess our risks very well. We always make sure that the credits are well covered. And when the markets are shifting, we are able to make sure that our positions are covered. The tool in banking used to achieve this is hedging. It is a system whereby if prices change; you have some form of cushioning to cover any losses you might incur. We think that more and more people are interested in hedging their cargo now to ensure that if there is a sudden price change, foreign exchange devaluation or revaluation, they are fully covered.

What happened at the time of global financial crises?

Then, two things happened together. International oil prices dropped so people who had bought at a high price had to sell at lower price locally and this created a gap which caused the loss. At that same time, the naira value changed significantly, so not only did they have exposures with the crude oil price change, they had naira exchange problems too. So, it was compounded by all of that. At the same time, the international financial crises caused a lot of investors to withdraw their funds too. So, there were pressures on the dollar content locally. The banks were really at a loss on how to cover the loss they were facing. People were dumping their shares. So, they suffered a lot of losses at the same time. That was the cause of the problems.

You must be ingenious not to have had one or two bad stories at that time?

I don’t know whether being ingenious had anything to do with it. I think it was all about the business model adopted. The way it was structured is that it takes sometime for us to know the clients. Clients we don’t know very well, we don’t interface with. We interface with the banks, which bank them. In most cases, such client’s risks are being taken by local banks.

Now that you have identified opportunities in the Nigerian market, are you likely to start full banking here?

Traditionally, the bank has operated through local banks in Nigeria. The only banks that BNP Pribas has in Africa are in northern Africa countries —Egypt and Morocco among others. But we also have banks in French speaking West Africa because of the language advantage. However, in Nigeria, we have come in with a different model, to work with local banks. The initial arrangement was for us to set up a consultancy arrangement in Nigeria whereby we are on ground, and understand how things are done, so that we can understand local risks better.

Hopefully, before the end of the year, we can have a representative office in Nigeria and, afterwards, set up a representative office and a branch.

What made you take that decision?

The advantage of that is the transfer of know-how which both parties will gain from each other. Then we will begin to learn how international best practices can be in-

‘We are in strategic alliance with local banks’

• Onadeko corporated into what they are doing. So, it’s a win-win situation for both ends. We are investing in Nigeria locally, through transfer of technology.

Are you preparing for changes the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill will have in oil and gas?

It is a good thing that the government opened it up for the public and stakeholders to have their say. Before the passage of the bill, we are already advising our client’s on how to structure credits going forward. We have to advise them properly. I think the bill should be passed and be continually reviewed.

Does the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guarantee of credit lines from international financial institutions give your bank more confidence when dealing with local banks?

When some banks received CBN’s intervention, there were concerns from the international market. The question was: what if credits are given to any of these banks and there is a run on the banks making it difficult for them to meet their obligations?

And that was when the CBN

stepped in as a guarantor for the loans. The apex bank told the foreign banks that should there be a default, it will step in as first obligor, to make sure that the money is paid. This is nearly two years and there have not been any such cases.

They have met all their obligations.

Does this mean that local banks easily get credit lines from international institutions now?

Almost all the local banks have trade lines with different international financial institutions. And depending on a bank’s size, balance sheet and credit risk assessment, a bank will determine year after year, how much it can handle.

And in some cases it’s client specific. A client can get $60 million to be given to a specified company or particular sector. Therefore, anytime that firm comes asking for credit, it’s given to it. So, it could be client-based, sector-based or open.

Are perceived risk considerations for such loans?

Yes. How would you assess the success level of the reforms carried out in the banking sector?

I have noticed that credit risk as-

sessment and corporate governance have improved in recent time following the Central Bank reforms. Now, the issue of transparency is better. It is now easier for one to know where money is from and where money is going to. It is not possible now for banks to exceed their sectoral lending limits. In the past, banks went beyond and above their limits. There were creative ways banks took transactions off their balance sheets and put them on the balance sheets of their mortgage companies.

There were all sorts of ways of breaking the rules which have been curbed. We now know who owns the banks and the value of their investments. It seems the Central Bank is inside these banks sniffing around.

Are these the only changes you have noticed?

Also, in the past, if you are good friends of bankers, you could get pretty much credit. But today, banks want to understand your business before giving you loans.

If you are bringing a cargo of oil, the bank wants to know who is going to buy it. If you don’t have a guaranteed buyer, they want to

‘I have noticed that credit risk assessment and corporate governance have improved in recent years following the Central Bank reforms. Now, the issue of transparency is better. It is now easier for one to know where money is from and where money is going to’

know if you have a filling station.

If you don’t have any of those things, it will become difficult for you to secure the credit. Today, I see remarkable changes in the way banks are doing business.

Do you see credit risk levels in banks also shrinking?

More banks are willing to share risks now. In the past, if a bank brought $400 million deal, it would want to corner the entire business and make all the profits.

But now, everything is syndicated.

Banks A, B, C and D will now share risks and profits together. By the time four banks scrutinise a business model and the customer, you’re likely to find more viable business to finance. They may probably make less profit but it’s safer. So, banks are being more careful with shareholders’ funds than ever before.

So, it does not matter who the clients are. The question is why take all the risks when it can be shared.

Sharing the business does not mean that, at the end of the year, a bank will have less spread because other banks shaed from a business it initiated, so also you will share from theirs. In the long run, it’s not such a bad deal.

So, shareholders should have less expectation in terms of returns on investments?

I would better have a less and consistent returns than lose my money. It is true that banks have been cautious in lending but that does not mean that they are no longer doing business. It is only that they may not be doing as much margin as they were doing before.

What changes do you expect from the Nigerian financial system?

We need a Nigeria where our credit rating has improved; our policies are constant; legislative and judicial body are transparent to protect foreign direct investments. Our eyes need to be opened to public-private partnership because government cannot do everything. We need to start thinking innovatively in our business plans.

What should Nigerians expect from BNP Paribas in the coming years?

A look at sub-Saharan Africa shows that it is only Nigeria and South Africa that are viable economies. South Africa is mature and sophisticated with strong local banks. So, it is not a market that one can just venture into and make waves. New countries like Angola and Ghana are coming up. But some Nigerian banks recently rushed to Ghana to open subsidiaries. From what I am hearing, the biggest bank in Ghana is not doing as much business as what a bank’s branch in Ikeja is doing.

Nigeria is where the market is. We are so underdeveloped in so many areas that the opportunities are unlimited.

What makes the opportunities bountiful?

There is always need for money.

There is no week the Central Bank of Nigeria is not bombarded with demands for dollar. There are new roads to be built, there are dams to be built, schools, health centres as well. BNP Paribas could not pick a better place to be, going forward, than Nigeria.

Nigerians have been to all parts of the world and are coming back and challenging the system. BNP Paribas is going to grow in its core area which is oil and gas. We are looking at power, infrastructure, mining and minerals to be financed. These are areas we are active in other parts of Africa. And I want to tell you that our power problems will soon be over. BNP Paribas is positioning itself in Nigeria to be able to key into the huge opportunities that are unveiling in the country. We are in over 24 countries, and always looking at what people in these countries are doing to enable us put money on the table.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

47

CAPITAL MARKET NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 13-05-11 2ND-TIER SECURITIES No of Deals Quotation(N) 4 2.90 4

Company Name JULI PLC Sector Totals

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 480 1,324.80 480 1,324.80

NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 1,064,913.76 PHARMA-DEKO PLC 1 Sector Totals 79

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 239,470 119,735.00 37,998 18,999.00 556,353 3,965,935.25 833,821 4,104,669.25

Company Name CAPITAL HOTEL PLC IKEJA HOTEL PLC Sector Totals

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 41,500 87,180.00 755,950 6,809,503.00 797,450 6,896,683.00

Company Name FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC VITAFOAM NIGERIA PLC VONO PRODUCTS PLC Sector Totals

AGRICULTURE/AGRO-ALLIED Company Name FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC PRESCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 7 3 23 33

Quotation(N) 0.50 0.50 7.23

AUTOMOBILE & TYRE No of Deals Quotation(N) 12 0.50 18 2.50 30 No of Deals 180 48 48 20 140 104 559 80 525 66 68 107 43 123 9 30 287 158 25 50 437 3,107

Quotation(N) 8.70 1.81 6.60 4.00 7.90 2.74 13.80 0.76 16.10 10.04 1.40 1.99 1.40 8.86 1.14 2.21 6.99 3.15 1.10 1.21 15.45

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 8,820,618 76,087,678.02 2,349,191 4,337,415.81 936,908 6,163,007.12 170,650 688,133.09 31,369,733 247,002,365.80 8,327,427 22,769,746.14 9,534,901 130,544,129.04 8,042,680 6,202,734.98 11,821,587 189,846,105.40 2,224,035 22,307,828.20 2,015,164 2,835,988.02 11,212,442 21,849,313.59 2,299,773 3,286,146.26 2,485,922 21,967,908.56 62,096 67,684.64 1,120,366 2,493,935.28 13,000,823 89,807,562.31 3,908,273 11,861,235.71 1,260,971 1,388,478.10 4,889,719 5,864,421.11 40,048,359 620,922,595.76 165,901,638 1,488,294,412.94

Quotation(N) 4.18 205.00 6.65 87.55

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 5,200,000 21,736,000.00 239,375 51,525,468.75 1,064,865 7,081,352.25 506,037 44,159,085.66 7,010,277 124,501,906.66

BREWERIES Company Name CHAMPION BREWERIES PLC GUINNESS NIGERIA PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 3 44 35 106 188

BUILDING MATERIALS Company Name ASHAKA CEMENT PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTHERN NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 47 21 38 81 187

No of Deals Quotation(N) 5 3.12 9 1.49 14

Quotation(N) 26.80 12.86 127.32 43.99

No of Deals 5 5 1 11

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 327,738 8,499,092.35 273,908 3,457,705.12 143,768 18,608,148.27 3,146,033 132,792,704.92 3,891,447 163,357,650.66

Company Name CHAMS PLC IHS NIGERIA PLC STARCOMMS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 19 1 13 33

No of Deals 22 1 1 1 2 27

Quotation(N) 12.34 22.03 1.76 10.53 10.93

No of Deals 2 6 3 11

Quotation(N) 0.50 2.90 5.78

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,100 550.00 397,493 1,152,974.35 3,950 21,725.00 402,543 1,175,249.35

CONGLOMERATES Company Name A. G. LEVENTIS (NIGERIA) PLC JOHN HOLT PLC PZ CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC SCOA NIGERIA PLC TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC UAC OF NIGERIA PLC UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 3 7 61 5 128 75 47 326

Quotation(N) 2.00 7.21 34.50 7.48 1.11 41.00 27.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 8,273 16,339.80 3,728 25,536.80 297,516 10,074,875.84 1,034 7,351.74 37,051,714 42,586,692.16 3,123,079 130,522,793.69 302,772 8,261,512.28 40,788,116 191,495,102.31

CONSTRUCTION Company Name COSTAIN (WA) PLC JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC MULTIVERSE PLC ROADS NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 18 9 1 1 29

Quotation(N) 5.49 52.00 0.50 3.01

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 65,663 345,016.47 30,639 1,545,654.63 1,000,000 500,000.00 29 91.64 1,096,331 2,390,762.74

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY Company Name CUTIX PLC NIGERIAN WIRE AND CABLE PLC. Sector Totals

No of Deals Quotation(N) 4 2.00 2 0.50 6 No of Deals 7 35 126 120 59 32 19 25 29 6 8 16 482

Quotation(N) 46.00 22.00 18.50 15.00 88.00 4.65 5.49 37.50 395.00 30.73 0.52 0.64

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 54,100 102,790.00 2,600 1,300.00 56,700 104,090.00

No of Deals 1 8 11 14 27 1

Quotation(N) 5.31 1.27 2.13 25.93 4.10 10.02

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 87,600 48,180.00 31,959 179,443.26 16 48.48 119,575 227,671.74 Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 18,348,767 9,174,383.50 500 1,335.00 179,966 136,573.48 18,529,233 9,312,291.98

Quotation(N) 0.90 0.61 1.03 0.50 3.05 0.50 0.50 1.62 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.55 0.50 0.50 0.55 0.74 0.50 2.03 0.50 0.51 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.51

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 3,216,840 2,793,695.88 77,000 46,970.00 610,000 652,300.00 149,266 74,633.00 463,885 1,412,389.50 116,060 58,030.00 1,222,724 619,362.00 279,320 460,605.96 84,000 42,000.00 100,100 50,050.00 3,016 1,508.00 105,399 52,699.50 55,414 30,477.70 91,034 45,517.00 592,773 296,386.50 938,179 515,673.45 174 130.50 63,458 31,729.00 106,000 215,490.00 82,483 41,241.50 615,800 315,334.00 62,419 31,209.50 44,000 22,000.00 4,000 2,000.00 251,745 125,872.50 1,590,620 806,108.20 10,925,709 8,743,413.69

No of Deals Quotation(N) 7 1.21 7

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 269,000 332,570.00 269,000 332,570.00

LEASING

MARITIME Company Name JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals Quotation(N) 111 1.42 111

Company Name AFROMEDIA PLC DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals Quotation(N) 1 0.51 5 0.50 6

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 3,290,828 4,578,318.49 3,290,828 4,578,318.49 Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,000 510.00 40,663 20,331.50 41,663 20,841.50

MORTGAGE COMPANIES Company Name ASO SAVINGS AND LOAND PLC RESORT SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1 27 29

Quotation(N) 0.50 0.50 0.66

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 10,000 5,000.00 20,000,000 10,000,000.00 794,384 531,414.18 20,804,384 10,536,414.18

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS Company Name CRUSADER NIGERIA PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals Quotation(N) 3 0.50 13 0.50 16

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 28,135 14,067.50 333,997 167,558.00 362,132 181,625.50

PACKAGING Company Name NIGERIAN BAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC BETA GLASS CO. PLC NAMPAK NIGERIA PLC POLY PRODUCTS (NIGERIA) PLC. Sector Totals

No of Deals 130 1 5 3 139

Quotation(N) 2.50 14.07 3.60 1.46

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 481,675 1,189,772.25 150 2,005.50 2,203 7,534.26 9,506 13,213.34 493,534 1,212,525.35

PETROLEUM(MARKETING) Company Name AFRICAN PETROLEUM PLC. BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC CONOIL PLC ETERNA OIL & GAS PLC. MOBIL OIL NIGERIA PLC. OANDO PLC TOTAL NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 42 9 13 17 23 15 151 11 281

Quotation(N) 20.10 0.50 72.00 34.30 5.12 152.00 54.96 195.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 257,583 5,180,837.20 364,400 182,200.00 81,466 5,866,555.00 14,853 497,918.10 552,100 2,822,971.00 5,040 774,902.00 1,196,228 65,612,104.72 16,626 3,315,620.03 2,488,296 84,253,108.05

PRINTING & PUBLISHING Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 52,760 2,421,617.25 1,052,082 23,138,716.36 2,084,063 38,629,811.28 4,403,996 64,309,555.65 168,785 14,861,748.71 910,301 4,166,180.85 391,400 2,151,448.00 200,127 7,486,880.96 48,936 19,432,809.84 39,764 1,221,927.72 347,500 179,570.00 550,341 343,446.29 10,250,055 178,343,712.91

HEALTHCARE Company Name EKOCORP PLC EVANS MEDICALPLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXOSMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC.

Quotation(N) 0.55 5.70 3.18

Quotation(N) 0.50 2.81 0.76

No of Deals 53 1 19 5 12 4 12 10 1 3 2 6 4 5 2 11 2 2 5 2 7 4 2 1 9 13 197

Company Name C&I LEASING PLC Sector Totals

FOOD/BEVERAGES & TOBACCO Company Name 7-UP BOTTLING CO. PLC CADBURY NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIGERIA PLC HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT COMPANY NIGERIA PLC NIGERIAN BOTTLING COMPANY PLC NESTLE NIGERIA PLC NORTHERN NIGERIA FLOUR MILLS PLC TANTALIZERS PLC UTC NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 190,200 597,004.00 720,500 1,086,851.00 910,700 1,683,855.00

MEDIA Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 196,153 2,386,588.42 396 9,159.48 91,250 160,600.00 47 470.47 11,147 115,817.33 298,993 2,672,635.70

COMMERCIAL/SERVICES Company Name COURTVILLE INVESTMENTS PLC RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC Sector Totals

774.00 106,911,236.92

INSURANCE Company Name AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONFIDENCE INSURANCE PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE CO. PLC. CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INSURANCE PLC EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC GUARANTY TRUST ASSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSU COMPANY PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INSURANCE PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC N.E.M. INSURANCE CO. (NIG.) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. OASIS INSURANCE PLC PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC. REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC STACO INSURANCE PLC STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC UNIC INSURANCE PLC. UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Sector Totals

CHEMICAL & PAINTS Company Name BERGER PAINTS NIGERIA PLC CHEMICAL AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PLC DN MEYER PLC NIGERIAN-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC PREMIER PAINTS PLC. Sector Totals

567,900

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 106,955 53,477.50 250,850 627,137.65 357,805 680,615.15

BANKING Company Name ACCESS BANK PLC AFRIBANK NIGERIA PLC DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK NIGERIA PLC FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC FIDELITY BANK PLC FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC FINBANK PLC GTBANK PLC STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC INTERCONTINENTAL BANK PLC. OCEANIC BANK INTERNATIONAL PLC BANK PHB PLC SKYE BANK PLC. SPRING BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC. UNION BANK OF NIGERIA PLC UNITYBANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC ZENITH BANK PLC Sector Totals

200 48,497,435

INDUSTRIAL/DOMESTIC PRODUCTS

No of Deals Quotation(N) 4 2.11 68 9.00 72

Company Name DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC R. T. BRISCOE (NIGERIA) PLC Sector Totals

1.96

HOTEL & TOURISM

AIR SERVICES Company Name AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

16 4.07

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 100 530.00 559,870 701,040.10 46,231,684 98,474,332.31 90,933 2,332,876.29 1,044,765 4,317,892.30 1,983 18,878.16

Company Name ACADEMY PRESS PLC. UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals Quotation(N) 2 3.68 10 5.05 12

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 8,500 29,750.00 76,300 385,480.85 84,800 415,230.85

REAL ESTATE No of Deals Quotation(N) 28 16.95 28

Company Name UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. PLC Sector Totals

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,514,442 25,882,077.66 1,514,442 25,882,077.66

ROAD TRANSPORTATION Company Name ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals Quotation(N) 10 0.58 10

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 643,036 374,054.03 643,036 374,054.03

THE FOREIGN LISTINGS Company Name ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED Sector Totals

No of Deals Quotation(N) 15 15.97 15

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 331,377 5,270,945.19 331,377 5,270,945.19

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

48

CAPITAL MARKET

NSE: ASI closes on bullish note T

HE capital market sustained the bullish rally that crept in on Tuesday to close the week on a high side.

Sustained investors’enthusiasm on blue chip stocks, especially those that have made their recent earnings available in the market appeared a major catalyst to the ride.

As investors consolidate their equity stakes, the All-Share-Index of the NSE rode to 77.34 basis points gain, representing 0.30 per cent growth to close at 25,813.71.

In the same vein, the Market Capitalisation of 194 first-tier listed equities raked in N24.71 billion to close at N8.25 trillion.

The following blue chip stocks, Dangote Sugar, Cadbury, First Bank, GSK, United Bank for Africa, UACN, Lafarge WAPCO as well as HoneyWell Flour recorded significant gains on Friday to boost the market growth.

Stories by Tonia Osundolire

Volume of transaction dropped to 341.01 million, worth N2.42 billion in 5,497 deals from 335.55 million valued at N3.08 billion in 6,533 deals recorded on Thursday.

The market closed with mixed performance with 29 gaining stocks while 32 declined.

However, on the weekly performances, the market recorded a turnover of 1.62 billion shares worth N13.81 billion in 29,796 deals, in contrast to a total of 1.11 billion shares valued at N8.87 billion exchanged the previous week in 22,024 deals.

The Banking sub-sector was the most active during the week with 968.73 million shares worth N8.5 billion exchanged by investors in 16,809 deals. Volume in the Banking subsector was largely driven by activity in the shares of Zenith Bank Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc,

United Bank for Africa Plc and First City Monument Bank Plc. Trading in the shares of the four banks, accounted for 496.99 million shares, representing 51.30 per cent and 30.74 per cent of the subsector’s turnover and total volume traded during the week.

The Conglomerate sub-sector, boosted by activity in the shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc followed on the week’s activity chart with a subsector turnover of 125.23 million shares valued at N580.6 million in 1,806 deals.

Trading on Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc accounted for 89.94 per cent of the Conglomerate sub-group.

For price movement, the Index appreciated by 513.25 points or 2.02 per cent, while the market capitalization increased to N8.248 trillion. The NSE-30 Index appreciated by 17.71 points or 1.56 per

cent to close at 1,148.77.

All of the four sectorial indices appreciated during the week compared with the preceding week.

The NSE Food & Beverage Index appreciated by 21.64 points or 2.56 per cent to close at 858.75, the NSE Banking Index appreciated by 2.86 points or 0.73 per cent to close at 408.93, the NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 0.24 points or 0.15 per cent to close at 171.60 and the NSE Oil/Gas Index appreciated by 2.64 points or 0.81 per cent to close at 329.15.

In the last five trading days of the just concluded week, 47 stocks appreciated in price, lower than the 47 of the preceding week.

Dangote Cement Plc led on the gainers’ table with a gain of N6.06 or (five per cent) to close at N127.32 while MRS Oil Nigeria Plc followed with a gain of N5.44 or (8.17 per cent) to close at N72.00 per share.

Other price gainers’ in the top 10 category include: Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc - N3.80 (2.56 per cent) Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc - N3.74 (9.29 per cent) Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc - N2.90 (3.41 per cent), PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc - N2.05 (6.32 per cent), UAC of Nigeria Plc - N2.00 (5.13 per cent), Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc N1.70 (12.78 per cent), Julius Berger Nigeria Plc - N1.60 (3.18 per cent) and International Breweries Plc - N1.42 (27.15 per cent).

On the slip side 43 stocks depreciated in price during the week, higher than the 32 of the preceding week.

Total Nigeria Plc led on the price losers’ table, dropping by N6 or (2.98 per cent) to close at N195.50 per share while Northern Nigerian Flour Mills Plc followed with a loss of N1.61 or (4.98 per cent) to close at N30.73 per share.

Juli Pharmacy to diversify

T

•From left: CEO, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc,Mrs Sola David-Borha; CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange,Oscar Onyema; ED, Market Operations and Information Technology (MOIT), NSE,Adebajomo Adeolu and Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Senator Udo Udoma Udo, at the send off dinner party for the former Interim Administrator of NSE, Mr Emmanuel Ikhazoboh, in Lagos.

Onyema pledges to improve on Ikhazoboh's achievements

T

HE Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Ex change (NSE), Oscar Onyema, along with its management team, has pledged to move the Exchange forward.

Speaking at the dinner party organised by the Exchange in honour of former Interim Administrator of the exchange, Mr Emmanuel Ikhazoboh, Onyema said he would achieve this with the support of stakeholders.

While commending the courage, commitment and dedication of Ikhazoboh, he said accepted to lead the exchange at the trying period in the history of the Exchange, and that it has witnessed a tremendous transformation during his (Ikhazaboh’s) tenure from August 5, 2010 to April 30, 2011.

"You have succeeded in kicking off the repositioning agenda of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and you have given us a solid foundation to build upon. And we shall build a befitting structure," he promised.

He added that soon, the NSE would become the gateway to Africa’s frontier markets.

He noted that the new Manage-

ment of the Exchange knows the enormity of expectations of marker stakeholders from them.

He explained that they don’t need to be told that they are faced with the daunting task of bringing back investor confidence, to convince them that their investment is safe in the market.

He emphasised that they would do all these and more, with the support and co-operation of market stakeholders. "We may have to take some decisions that may look harsh, but if these are necessary to further reposition our market and place it where it should be, we will not be afraid to take them."

Ikhazoboh, it will be recalled, was appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 5 to stabilise the market which was riddled by a N11 billion fraud allegedly perpetuated by the erstwhile Director-General of the Exchange, Prof. Ndi OkerekeOnyuike.

Also, part of the eight-month tenure of Ikhazoboh was geared towards restoring investor confidence as it related to poor adherence to sound corporate govern-

ance as well as correcting the leakage in the accounting system in the market.

Earlier, the duo of the Chairman of SEC, Senator Udo Udoma and the President of Chartered of Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr Michael Itegboje, said investor confidence was at its lowest ebb when Ikhazoboh took over at the stock market, but that he was able to turn things around within a short time.

According to Udoma, “SEC was troubled with what was going on at the NSE, but would have intervened earlier. But it was careful and determined to take the bull by the horn. We were careful in choosing who will do the job. He did better than we expected. He was courageous, determined and dispassionate with the way he carried out his duty.”

Also, Itegboje said Ikhazoboh, who came to the market when confidence in it was at its lowest ebb and operators were worried on the future of the market, did well. He said: “The market now has a future and people now have confidence.

Ikhazoboh was the bridge between the market and how the regulators understood the market.”

HE first indigenous com pany to be listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Juli Pharmacy Plc, has concluded plans to diversify its operations, as it joins other table water manufacturers.

Enamoured by a facility it recently secured, it is diversifying its operations to include wholesale of pharmaceutical products while also going into manufacturing.

Addressing shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting at its headquarters in Ikeja, the Chairman, Price Julius AdelusiAdeluyi, said the acquired facility was the product of efforts of a drive by the board and management to expand its financial base.

“This is the best time to look at another direction after 40 years of existence. This year, our financial consultants that worked for us have been able to secure the facility, that if well-managed, will set your company in a new direction,” he said.

The 40-year-old company listed on the exchange 25 years ago, had a rough time in the past six years and so was unable to pay dividend.

His words: “Most small and medium scale firms are now moribund. The few left are only trying to stay in the stock exchange orbit.

So, we have called you to see the state of affairs and look into the future, with the reality that we need to be creative. This is the best time to look at another direction after 40 years of existence,” he noted.

The company declared a turnover of N248.54 million for the year ended December 2010, representing a decrease of 14 per cent, compared to N288.7 million recorded in 2009.

Adelusi-Adeluyi, said: “Within the same period, gross profit stood at N80. 93 million, representing a decrease of 11.61 per

cent, compared to the figure for 2009. It has a loss before tax of N36.78 million as against the N25.98 million for 2009 was recorded.”

He explained that the performance was as a result of lack of funds for the company’s operations, adding that the situation has improved following the input of Wema Advisory Services Group it engaged.

“You will recall that the Board was given the mandate at the last AGM to raise funds through the issue of bond. Events after the meeting showed that there were many of such issues floated by banks, companies, state and the Federal Government, which would have made it difficult to succeed.

"Your board, therefore, resorted to other means to achieve the objectives the bond was to serve. I am happy to report that just recently, the company was able to secure a reasonable facility through our bankers.

The facility will be utilised to meet branch and infrastructural development, augment working capital, boost our manufacturing efforts and consolidate the importation and marketing of two of the company’s branded products,” the chairman explained.

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director, Dare Olubamise, said the company has evolved new plans aimed at bringing development to the firm. The crises that rocked the capital market and the fact that the loan had yet to materialise delayed the moves.

Among other stakeholders who offered suggestions on the way forward for the company, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Sir Remi Omotoso, assured that the way the fund would be spent has been carefully thought out.

Firm to hold customer service award

A

CONSULTANCY firm, Silk Consulting Limited, would hold a customers voice conference award in June.

It is aimed at creating awareness on the importance of customer service and rewarding the most customer friendly firm in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Mr Kanayo Onyekwere, at a briefing in Lagos, said Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, would be awarded the Customer Service Man of the

By Ajose Sehindemi

Year at the event.

Onyekwere said customers are not accorded the respect they deserve, as such, there is a need to emphasise the importance of customers as the drivers of any business.

He said Prof. Pat Utomi would deliver a paper on Customer Service - the key to a successful business, while Dr. Chris Ogbechie would speak on New generation customer service.

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

49

CAPITAL MARKET

Banking sector leads with N4.7b

C

APITALISATION at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose to N8.22 trillion last week, up from N8.01 trillion a fortnight ago.

The All Share Index also increased from 25,072.92 to 25,736.37, representing a 1.73 per cent appreciation on weekly assessment.

Last week, investors staked only N6.84 billion on shares as against N7.07 billion a fortnight ago.

Transactions of the Banking subsector, which led activity, stood at 0.56 billion units worth N4.70 billion in 9,995 deals.

The sub-sector’s stake represented 68.51 per cent of the overall activity and translated to an improvement on the 60.4 per cent a fortnight ago.

The Insurance sub-sector followed with 92.41 million units worth N82.83 million in 661 deals.

On average evaluation, the Insurance sub-sector accounted for approximately 11.47 per cent of the total activity and 1.20 per cent of the total fund invested at the Exchange during the week under review.

Last week, shares of Diamond Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Zenith Bank Plc were the toast of investors as they were actively traded in terms of volume and total investment.

But unlike the penultimate week when investors parted with N7.07 billion for 1.51 billion shares, they spent N6.86 billion on 0.81 billion shares last week.

In terms of transactional volume, the Insurance sub-sector’s performance represented an improvement of about 6.14 per cent on the week before. The total weekly value of stocks in this sub-sector stood at N 0.82 billion.

The braIndex® rose by 1.90 per cent compared with the previous week while the NSE All-Share Index slipped trivially by 1.73 per cent on the Index points.

The returns of both benchmarks were less than two index points and attributable to the introduction of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) activities and the recent statutory allocations on the Exchange.

On a year-to-date basis, both benchmarks - the NSE All-Share Index and the braIndex® - showed gains of 3.91 per cent and 4.17 per cent.

Stock Market Sectoral Performance Investors in the shares of Diamond Bank Plc exchanged 106.42 million units in 272 deals worth N776.41 million. The average number of deals remained well over 54 deals per day during the week. United Bank for Africa Plc was second with 78.94 million shares worth N471.81 million.

In the Insurance sub-sector, Lasaco Assurance Plc led with 24.98 million shares worth N12.49 million. The sectoral volume amounted to almost 92.41 million units and constituted over 11.47 per cent of the sector’s trading volume.

Companies Appraisal The most active company in the Banking sub-sector was Diamond Bank Plc with 106.42 million shares worth N776.41 million in 272 deals, followed by the United Bank for Africa Plc with units of shares amounting to 78.94 million. The company closed the week at N471.81 million in 975 deals.

Among the most active companies in the Insurance sub-sector were Lasaco Assurance Plc, Universal Insurance Plc, N.E.M Insurance Co. (Nig.) Plc, AIICO Insurance Plc and Goldlink Insurance Plc. In the Conglomerate industry, apart from Transnational Corporation Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc was very active in terms of trading. The total companies’worth stood at N125.1million.

Table 1: A Five-Day Moving Average Data of the Market Indices Change(%) Average Weekly Depth

Market Capitalisation (%) 0.86

Year To Date (YTD)

3.90

3.91

4.17

Month To Date (MTD)

1.71

1.74

1.88

Week To Date(WTD) Values

1.75 All-Share Index

1.73

1.90

braIndex®

8.22

25,736.37

Market Cap(trillion Naira)

As of closing on May 12, 2011

All-Share Index(%) 0.85

Average Weekly 1.21

17.43

Source: NSE & bra Limited Table 2: Stock Market Summary Statistics for the week ending May 12, 2011 Period Market Capitalization (Trillion) 05/05/2011 8.05 06/05/2011 8.08 09/05/2011 8.07 10/05/2011 8.12 11/05/2011 8.17 12/05/2011 8.22 Source: NSE & Bra Limited

All-Share Index (Base Points) 25,219.69 25,300.46 25,262.50 25,432.93 25,478.17 25,736.37

braIndex® (Base Points) 17.13 16.95 16.98 17.32 17.35 17.43

Table 3: Statistics on Weekly Sectoral Contribution Sectors Banking Conglomerates Telecommunication Food Beverages and Tobacco Insurance Source: bra Limited

% of Total Trading Net Worth 68.51% 2.98% 0.19% 9.99% 1.20%

Trading Net Worth(in Naira Millions ) 4,709.80 205.10 13.34 686.15 82.83

Figure 1a: The All Share Index and braIndex® Performance at a Glance

Source: BRA Computation

Source: BRA Computation

The Food, Beverages and Tobacco industry was also active in terms of the market value of trading activity.

Dangote Flour Mills Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Tantalizers Plc and National Salt Co. Plc were some of the most active stocks in the sub-sector.

Last week, shareholders of Dangote Cement Company Plc, Mobil Nigeria Plc, PZ Cussons Plc and CAP Plc saw the value of their investments’ earning profit by almost five per cent while investors

in the UAC of Nigeria Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc and Cadbury Nigeria Plc made less than five per cent loss on a daily basis.

Points to note: The weekly stock market analysis reports the current position of the outlook of the stock of the companies listed on the Exchange and the aggregate market.

The NSE closed the 19th trading week on an undulating note. Further improvement is expected in the coming week as the feedback on the

recent injections of Statutory Allocations and AMCON stocks impact positively on overall performance.

The expected improvement may, however, be small. Historical analysis of trading volume shows that in the new week, the Banking, Insurance and Conglomerates stocks are likely to continue to be the toast of investors.

Disclaimer This report has been prepared for information purposes only and for private use. Whilst reasonable care had been

taken in its production, bra Limited does not guarantee the correctness of its contents nor does the company accept liability for any loss arising from a reliance on its contents.

Kindly note that our suggested recommendations and other tactical actions are based on bra Limited best estimates which are guided by generally available information and our Proprietary Tools.

This is not an invitation or a solicitation to deal in any stocks and we do not guarantee the future outcome of such recommendation.

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THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

CAPITAL MARKET Bond and Money Market Review

T

REASURY bills (TBs) worth N215 billion were issued last month as against the N284 billion introduced into the market in March, representing a 24 per cent decline on a monthly basis.

The yield on the new TBs ranged from 9.62 per cent on the three-month TBs to 12.34 per cent on the one-year bill.

This is up from 7.09 per cent for the three-month and from 9.59 per cent for the one-year NTBs issued in March.

Last month, the Nigerian Treasury also issued N70 billion worth of Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds compared with N60 billion in March.

The yield on the three-year FGN bond increased to 12.14 per cent from 10.1 per cent in March while the yield on the five-year FGN bond was 13.19 per cent up from 12 per cent a month ago. Figure 23 shows the volume of the NTB and FGN Auctions in the Primary Market.

Figure 24 illustrates the yearto-date change in the FGN Index.

Although the index remained flat during most of January and February, the FGN bond market’s performance recorded a sharp drop in March as investors’ outlook turned negative in the bond market in anticipation of elections.

The FGN index fell 108 points in March, losing roughly 7 per cent of its value. The index closed flat at the end of the month.

At the OMO market, there were only four auctions in the first two weeks of the month where the Treasury offered new issues of NTBs worth N120 billion with a maximum maturity of 45 days.

All four auctions saw an average subscription of over N30 billion yet, the successful bid volume stood at N 23.4 billion with an average yield of 9.27 per cent.

The short end of the Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills, True Fixing Yield (NITTY) curve fell in April; the yield on the 30-day T-bill fell to 5.25 per cent from 8.03 per cent in March.

The yield on the one-year T-bill stood at 11.74 per cent, slightly down from 11.83 per cent a month earlier.

This is substantially higher than the yields seen at the end of February when the one-year NITT Yield stood at 8.98 per cent.

Figure 25 shows the NITT Yield curves for the last three months.

Treasury Bills issue declines by N69b Table 4: Key Statistics of Market’s Stock Performance as at May 12, 2011 S/N Company Name TOP FIVE GAINERS BY PRICE 01 Dangote Cement Plc 02 Mobil Plc 03 Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc 04 PZ Cussons Plc 05 CAP Plc TOP FIVE LOSERS BY PRICE 01 UAC of Nigeria Plc 02 Cadbury Nigeria Plc 03 UAC Prop Plc 04 First Bank of Nigeria Plc 05 Presco Plc Source: NSE and bra Limited Indicator Turnover Value Deals FGN Bond Index Market Capitalization Index Weekly Returns (%) Index Year-to-Date Returns (%) 1-Month Returns (%) 3-Month Returns (%) 12-Month Returns (%)

CurrentWeek 197.8 million N160.43 billion 1,301 1,439.39 N1.75 trillion 1.20 8.24 0.24 3.25 18.42

Share Price Gain (‘N)

% of Shares’ Gain by Investors

127.32 152.00 88.00 34.50 22.03

4.76% 2.50% 1.14% 4.49% 4.72%

40.01 21.60 17.00 13.51 7.35

-3.75% -1.85% -2.91% -3.63% -5.00% PreviousWeek 192.8 million N157.84 billion 1,296 1,429.06 N1.73 trillion 1.15 8.21 0.22 3.22 18.40

Source: BRA Figure 2. FGN Bond Index (Year-to-Date)

Source: FMDA Primary Market Auction

Figure 25: Nigerian Interbank T-bill True Fixing Yields

% Change 2.59 1.64 0.72 1.15 4.34 0.36 9.09 0.93 0.10

THE NATION MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

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LABOUR

• Participants at the Reuters training.

• White

Journalists appreciate Reuters’ capacity building training “I HOPE all the journalists here will come out with lots of ideas for strong stories and will be more confident about the reporting they do.”

That was David White’s response to participants’ appreciation of the just-concluded Thompson Reuters Foundation’s capacity building workshop held in Lagos.

The workshop, organised for business journalists, opened practitioners eyes to basic business reporting with special classes in stock markets, budget reporting, markets and investors, investigative journalism among others. It was attended by journalists from various West African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Liberia.

The journalists expressed their appreciation to the media trainer, Reuters Foundation for the free tutorials that lasted one week. White, who came from the United

Stories by Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu

Kingdom for the purpose of the workshop, said he was really happy to find so much active interest in covering the topics.

Samuel Hinneh, a participant from Ghana, said the course was magnificent, and that the training provided will enhance financial and business reportage. “On personal term, the calculation involved in inflation as well as the mechanism companies apply to avoid payment of tax has broaden my knowledge on new story ideas, which would go a long way to educate the general public.

Sola Alabadan of Daily Independent, Lagos said: “When I was applying to participate at

this training, I almost complained that the requirements for selection were too many.

However, I can confirm that the training has been worth the while. Rather than making it the usual boring lectures, it has been very interactive and highly rewarding.”

Chima Nwakwo works with West Africa Democracy Radio, he said it was a very interesting course, particularly with the revelations about money laundering , reading and making sense of financial statements and understanding the budget.

“It has been worthwhile and practical. It will enable journalists to live up to their constitutional responsibility of monitoring governance and holding leadership accountable.”

The next to appreciate the course is Doris Okenwa. She came from Channels Television, Abuja.

She described the course as very enlightening. “It was a very enlightening exercise. The benefits of training can never be over-emphasised . You just can’t have enough training. It was particularly interesting, seeing how little attention we pay to details as journalists. This has sharpened my intellect and braces me to be more detailed, precise and accurate. Never to assume or take anything for granted while writing my stories.”

In his own view, James Emejo of This Day Newspaper, said the course was an excellent training programme for effective economic and financial reporting. “It serves to bridge the gap in watery business reporting. This is a great idea from Reuters. “ Emejo also commended the programmes organisers.

Scrap National Housing Fund, TUC urges govt

T

HE Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, (TUC) is seeking the transfer of accrued funds of National Housing Fund (NHF) to Federal Government Staff Housing Loans.

The Congress said the fund should be scrapped because it has not served the purpose for which it was initiated. Failure to comply with either of these demands, TUC said will ignite workers’ wrath.

The President General, Comrade Peter Esele told The Nation that Federal civil servants who contributed to the fund could not access mortgage loans. They were allegedly denied loans by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN). He said in the alternative, an agreement should be reached with the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board and the laws amended accordingly.

He explained that TUC suggested that because the Loans Board has demonstrated its capability to “effectively and efficiently manage similar fund. For instance, from 1974 to 2008, the Board granted loans to about 10,094 public officers to purchase or build their own property in different parts of the country. “ Lamenting the workers’ fate, Esele said: “The major contributors to the NHF have been Federal Civil Servants. Sadly, sometime ago, the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on Alienation of Federal Government Property decided to sell Federal Government quarters in Abuja and in

parts of the states of the Federation.

“Thousands of civil servants eventually applied to the FMBN statutorily empowered to administer the Fund, for loans to enable them pay the mandatory 10 per cent initial deposit of the total value of the houses as demanded by the committee. Regrettably no credit facility was granted to any of them.

This compelled the civil servants to go to other banks to obtain loans at very high interest rates. The TUC, therefore, wishes to request for presidential intervention to ensure that all contributions so far made by the Federal civil servants into the NHF are retrieved from the FMBN and payment of 2.5 per cent made voluntary.

“It is for this reason that we demand that the Fund should be scrapped or the contributions so far made, which runs into billions of naira, transferred to the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board.”

Esele recalled that since 1992 when Nigerian workers were compelled through Decree No. 3 of 1992 now an Act, to start paying 2.5 per cent of their basic salary into the NHF to enable them buy or build their own houses, no single contributor has benefited from the scheme almost 20 years after it began.

He noted that the scheme, which was initially intended for all Nigerian worker was not endorsed by the private sector. Esele, however, added that a few state governments are trying to key into the programme.

“We advice the government to take a cue

‘The TUC, therefore, wishes to request for presidential intervention to ensure that all contributions so far made by the Federal civil servants into the NHF are retrieved from the FMBN and payment of 2.5 per cent made voluntary’ • Esele

from the housing programme of Turkey which, through Toki, an equivalent of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria or Federal Housing Authority (FHA) recently delivered 500,000 housing units for workers and has embarked on the construction of other estates of 500,000 houses each.

“It is instructive to note that Turkey lowincome groups are not required to deposit any amount whatsoever before the houses are allocated to them after, which they start the repayment process of about N10,000 per month. Why can’t we replicate the Turkey example here? This is very important be-

cause under the current National Housing Fund scheme in Nigeria, no civil servant below the Directorate cadre can afford to buy or build his or her own house.

“It is for this reason that we demand that the Fund should be scrapped or the contributions so far made, which runs into billions of naira, transferred to the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board.”

He said the government should not wait until the trade unions in the public sector resort to disruptive union actions to stop the operations of the Fund. If it happens, he said TUC shall support them.

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MOTORING

GW Florid: A car with a difference

F

OR the past decade, China’s GreatWall Motors (the most dynamic and fast growing Chinese Vehicle Manufacturers) has been known mainly as a manufacturer of pickup trucks and utility vehicles.

In recent years, it has also gained a reputation as a maker of small passenger cars among which is GreatWall Florid. Recently, GreatWall flexed its design muscles a bit more, displaying a rapidly expanding portfolio of products. If the Toyota Yaris had a long lost Chinese cousin, it would be the GreatWall Florid. It performs to par with its rivals.

The ingredients are getting better including a Euro IV spec 1.3 litre engine as well as commendable design and an interestingly stylish cabin. Fit and finish pars with the level of the Koreans.

It is a five-door compact hatchback with two rows of seats and the rear row has foldaway seats which can give the interior a feel of larger space.

The exterior of this dynamic hatchback looks gorgeous and splendid like its name.

The GW Florid appears to be jam packed with technology not usually found on cars at its price range, which might actually be its best selling point in a country

By Tajudeen Adebanjo where the people are starting to really love technology. The Florid comes with dual Front Airbags and ABS (not usually seen on some brands in its segment), anti-theft devices as standard as well as full electric windows, smart key entry, remote boot unlocking, LED fog lights (front and rear), Child seat stays, child locks, reversing radars, leather steering wheel, automatic air con, sunroof, DVD player and a GPS system.

Great Wall Florid is a masterpiece and it is targeted to challenge the same kind of cars with joint venture brands making use of its comprehensive quality price ratio. In a statement by Cica Nigeria Limited, authorised marketer of all Greatwall products “Every sedan with independent brand has its own development road. Our idea on car making is very clear. Our products must have high starting point, global edition and must meet the international standards.

Greatwall makes high quality cars with the target to cross 1 million units before the end of 2nd quarter next year. We will change the opinion of consumers on independent brands with elaborate products which are made through innovative technology.”

•GW Florid

Lamborghini to build world’s most expensive car

I

TALIAN supercar maker Lamborghini is almost certain to put the sensational Sesto Elemento concept car into production with a whopping two million euro (£1.77 million) price tag.

That will make it more expensive than any version of

the Bugatti Veyron, including the 1.6 million pounds Super Sport - officially the fastest production car in the world.

Reports suggest that Lamborghini will build just 20 Sesto Elementos, and company sources say it is already well into

development.

The carbon fibre body and chassis will make it one of the lightest and most trackfocussed supercars ever made. In fact, it is so extreme that it would not be road legal anywhere in the world.

Using the 5.2-litre V10 engine

‘Jet powered Jaguar will be built’

J

AGUAR has sensationally announced that it will put the jet powered C-X75 supercar into production.

The Jag will be made in partnership with the Williams F1 team, and will boast performance to beat the revered Bugatti Veyron.

It will use a hybrid drivetrain combining a small turbo petrol engine with two electric plug-in motors. The combination will produce up

to 1,000bhp, yet emissions will be under 99g/km, meaning UK owners will pay nothing in VED. Only 250 will be made, with a price tag ‘from £700,000 depending on local market and taxes,’ says a Jaguar statement.

The C-X75 will be four-wheel drive and use a lightweight chassis made from carbon fibre.

Already Jaguar is claiming a 060mph time of less than three seconds, a 0-100mph time of less

than six, and a top speed in excess of 200mph.

Despite that, it will be capable of electric-only drive of around 30 miles, during which time it will emit no harmful tailpipe emissions.

Jaguar Brand Director, Adrian Hallmark said: “The C-X75 received an incredible reception as a concept car. No other vehicle will better signify Jaguar’s renewed confidence and excellence in technological innovation than this.”

from the Gallardo, the Sesto Elemento will hit 62mph in under 2.5 seconds, making it quicker than the Veyron.

However, its circa-200mph top speed will be nowhere near the Bugatti’s.

Lamborghini engineering boss, Maurizio Reggianiln said the Sesto Elemento “represents a revolutionary way of building a car. This method is a true breakthrough, and we are extremely excited about what it means for our future.”

The car might be the most extreme and expensive model ever made by Lamborghini, but it will serve as a reference point for all of the company’s future models - including the next Gallardo.

The tailpipes are made of a glassceramic composite material called Pyrosic, which can withstand much higher temperatures than traditional metal exhausts.

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FOREIGN NEWS

NATO must step up pace in Libya, says British official

N

ATO must broaden the range of targets it is bombing in Libya or risk failing to remove Muammar Gaddafi from power, Britain’s most senior military officer was quoted as saying yesterday.

NATO warplanes, acting under a United Nations mandate to protect civilians, have stopped government troops advancing on rebel strongholds but the collapse of Gaddafi’s rule, which many Western governments seek, has not materialized.

After a fresh series of air strikes on his Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli, Gaddafi taunted the West-

ern military alliance, saying in an audio recording aired on Friday that he was in a place where NATO could not reach him.

General David Richards, Britain’s chief of defense staff, said the military campaign to date had been a “significant success” for NATO, but it needed to do more.

“If we do not up the ante now there is a risk that the conflict could result in Gaddafi clinging to power,” he was quoted in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper as saying.

“At present, NATO is not attacking infrastructure targets in Libya. But if we

want to increase the pressure on Gaddafi’s regime then we need to give serious consideration to increasing the range of targets we can hit,” he told the paper.

The rebel-held city of Misrata, scene of some of the fiercest fighting in the conflict, was calm but rebels said they were braced for renewed attacks by forces loyal to Gaddafi.

Nearly three months after a revolt began against Gaddafi’s four-decade rule, fighting between rebels and government forces on several fronts has come to a nearstandstill and Gaddafi is refusing to bow to efforts to force him from power.

Haiti’s new President Martelly plans ‘major changes’

N

EWLY sworn-in President Michel Martelly vowed yesterday to “change Haiti,” promising to restore order and confidence in a country struggling to emerge from one of the most destructive earthquakes of modern times.

“This is a new Haiti, open for business now,” Mr Martelly declared, standing before the ruins of the country’s presidential palace as thousands outside its wrought iron gates cheered him on.

Speaking in French and Creole, he pledged to restore

security for investors, end political instability, and foster development “so we can emerge from our misery.”

“We are going to change Haiti,” he promised.

As a reminder of the monumental task ahead of Mr Martelly, the toppled white dome of the presidential palace could be seen peeping over the grandstand from which he addressed foreign and Haitian dignitaries, and the many poor, young Haitians who elected him March 20.

Much of the capital was

•Martelly

levelled in a 7.0 magnitude quake in January 2010 that killed more than 225,000 people and left one in seven Haitians homeless, a devastating disaster for a country was already the poorest in the Americas.

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SPORT EXTRA

Utaka returns from injury O

•Utaka

UT of favour Nigerian international, John Chukwudi Utaka yesterday shook off his injury worries to feature for his French League 1 club, Montpellier in an away duel and lost 0-2 to Caen in the weekend's fixtures .

The former Nigerian striker, who moved from relegated England side Portsmouth to France, last transfer window was in action for his side in a keenly contested match.

The Nigerian international, who was missing in the previous weekend's tie against Auxerre did little to help his team escape the wrath as goals from Caen's R. Hamouma in the 27 minutes and K. Traoré in the 69' guaranteed a 2-0 victory for the homeside.

Meanwhile, his compatriot Lukman Haruna alongside his side Monaco further consigned Lens to the relegation waters with a slim 1-0 scoreline to earn the maximum points at stake.

With this victory, Monaco ended Lens' hopes of staying in the top flight by inflicting

•Features in Montpellier 0-2 loss •Haruna adds to Lens’ woes a deadly blow on their ambition, thanks to a superlative

strike from Benjamin Moukandjo in the 14th

minute - in the kill-or-bekilled relegation dogfight.

No 23 is my favourite—Ameobi IGERIA's Newcastle forward, Shola Ameobi has admitted that his ‘lucky’ squad number is 23 and not 9, even as he was quick to add that anyone eyeing Newcastle United’s famous No 9 jersey: “Don’t take it on lightly”.

And having graduated from the StJames’Parkschoolofhardknocks, Ameobi knows better than most.

Boss Alan Pardew is casting the net far and wide in a bid to bring in Andy Carroll’s successor but Ameobi – who has withdrawn himself from the race for Newcastle’s most revered number – says character is the main consideration.

Content to persevere with his ‘lucky’ squad number of 23, the homegrown striking ace says nine

N

By Uchenna Ajah is just not the number for him.

History, heritage and a hunch tell him he would be better off sticking with what he’s got.

Unitedprobablyneedanewface, someone with that elusive star quality to get the Toon Army off their feet.

Whoever it is, Ameobi is happy to hand out some lessons to the new man to make sure they’re more Alan Shearer than Obafemi Martins in possession of Newcastle’s most famous jersey.

“To be honest, I chose No 23 when I first came in and that’s my favourite number, so that’s why I’ve kept it.

“No 9 is a fantastic number to have here, but 23 is my favourite.

As long as you are producing

performances on the pitch, regardless of what number you have on it will be appreciated.

“But yes, what goes with the No 9 is great.

“Obviously Andy took it on and it was fantastic for him and led to his move to Liverpool, and he’s done well.

“Hopefully the next No 9 can help us improve and get us to the next level.”

Newcastle are looking at Ligue 1 pair Kevin Gameiro, of Lorient, and Lille’s Gervinho – as well as Bordeaux forward Cheikh Diabate.

But that Continental trio would be unlikely to be handed the No 9 shirt, with Pardew only ready to dole it out if the player is “big enough” to handle it.

TOMORROW IN THE NATION

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

‘Will the younger Saraki win the peace as he has gloriously won the war? That is in the belly of time.

But one thing is sure: there will be seldom any quiet OLAKUNLE ABIMBOLA on the Kwara front!’

VOL. 6, NO. 1,761

C OMMENT & D EB ATE EBA

I

T was in Wudil, a village outside of Kano, and my National Youth Service Corps programme had just begun. I was glad to be posted to Kano. I had never inhaled the northern air, having read and heard much about the region. My education would be limp and sour without such an experience.

Wudil hosted the NYSC camp, and all of us, the corps members, thrilled to all the activities, the mock military air with the drills, early morning bugles, the uniforms and uniform meals, the games, the makeshift theatres.

We began to learn a smattering of Hausa, the young men immersing themselves in the register of love and erotica. I had a bout of malaria a few days in, and I needed help. Easily, I saw a few boys around, most of them could not understand a smattering of English. Except one, though.

Sprightly, squat with an eternal cheer on his face, he understood me, and I him. His English was imperfect but useful. He also exercised a lot of curiosity. Other than going to a pharmacy to obtain some drugs and buy me some basic amenity, he engaged me. He wanted to know if I was a medical doctor, if I was Igbo or Yoruba, if I knew how to play soccer.

A few days later, IBB knocked off Buhari from Dodan Barracks, and he asked me what was the meaning of revolution. I wanted to know how he came upon such a big word even though he pronounced it as though a lump was in his throat. He said he heard one of the soldiers in the camp intersperse a Hausa conversation with that language of turbulence. When I told him I was neither Igbo nor Yoruba, he was amazed that there was such an ethnic group called Itsekiri, a word he pronounced with stunning sonority.

He was probably 13 or 14 years old, and I am guessing. He was an almajiri. I could not help focusing on that youth of vitality and curiosity when the news of post-election butchery scarred the North. If it happened in our days at Wudil, would that young man have participated and come after me with clubs and rage? Would I have been the butt of a revolution? Somebody up North told me he could have.

It is still hard for me to contemplate the seat of such distemper fueled by what Jean Paul Sartre called “other people.” The famous existentialist novelist and essayist said “hell is other people.”

Other people who do not speak like you, sing like you, eat like you, clothe like you. Other people who worship in a different shrine.

Was this young man capable of such barbarity? I still cannot answer. But since my years in the NYSC I have been fascinated with the breed of the young known as the almajiris.

This is the story of innocence gone awry. A few years ago, I went to Kaduna to pursue this curiosity. I wanted to know if there was anything anyone was doing to redeem them.

I learned that the wife of former governor, Ahmed Makarfi, had an NGO that established

SAM OMATSEYE

IN TOUCH

samo@thenationonlineng.net 08054501081(sms only) •Winner, Informed Commentary 2009 (D.A.M.E) •Columnist of the Year 2009 (NMMA)

The almajiris ‘Educated youth would not go on the streets and embark on mindless slaughter. They don’t kill spontaneously as some people said. They are often incited by their leaders, who are usually the mallams or the political leaders. Those who claim the recent riots in the North were spontaneous are reprobate liars’ •Gen. Muhammadu Buhari

a school for the boys. The then Governor Namadi Sambo was floating a programme to send the young boys to school. The idea was to strike a balance between Islamic schooling and western education. I have no idea how this has gone. As I wrote recently, what this programme needs is a sweeping, if revolutionary, vision of education for the lads. It is an emergency.

The lads are subjected to the life of the PostUthman Dan Fodio era, where children were attached to teachers or mallams, and the mallams were paid. These child apprentices would grow up to become literate in Arabic and Islamic studies and spread the joy of knowledge around.

Now, this system has been abused. The mallams depend on these lads for survival. So the lads go about, bowl in hand, and chant beggarly words from street to street and house to house, and they must bring some of their winnings, whether food or money, to the

RIPPLES N5M for murdered corps members, an insult– NBA

It shows how CHEAP life is...in NIGERIA

mallam. The mallam tends to take care of himself and family first. The boys learn the Arabic lessons, and that is all the skills they acquire.

When they grow up to teenage years, they cannot be doctors, or teachers or journalists or engineers. They are without skills for a modern world. Those who are desperate learn some trades, become tailors or shoe makers, or some other menial engagements. Most live on the grace and bounty of the few feudal rich. They become hangers-on. Some migrate and become security men elsewhere or day labourers.

This is an example of wasted youth. “He who neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead forever.” Playwright Euripides might have been referring to such youths.

Educated youth, who have read wide and understand the virtues and peccadilloes of humans, would not go on the streets and embark on mindless slaughter. They don’t kill

HARDBALL

O

NCE upon a time, Chief Rochas Okorocha flitted across the country, pretending to be a presidential aspirant. After he downsized his dreams to gubernatorial proportions he not only became a credible challenger for public office, as we have now seen, he’s barely a fortnight away from exercising real power as the next governor of Imo State.

Clearly, all those years roaming the political wilderness dreaming of laying his hands on the controls have bred in the man an impatience to get cracking. He’s in such an almighty rush that without waiting for his inaugural he issued a decree several days ago “freezing” all accounts of the state government.

You could split hairs over the word “freeze”, but his warning to commercial banks operating in Imo State not to honour any cheques issued by the lame duck Ikedi Ohakim administration has had the exact effect as a legally ordered freeze. Suddenly, government officials and institutions find that access to cash which, hitherto, was smooth is now sputtering.

Not surprisingly, the action has drawn howls of protest with many arguing, quite rightly, that it had no legal basis. But even as

A train called Rochas the excitable Okorocha gets bashed over the head for his dramatics, the more you examine the matter the more it looks like there might be method to what appears on the surface an act of sheer madness.

Everyone knows that most incumbents went into the April polls with sufficient confidence that they would remain in office for four more years. Those who suffered shock defeats now have to contend with the reality that they only have four weeks to do as they please with public funds.

This makes the four-week transition period between the polls and the inauguration of new administrations a time when state treasuries suffer massive financial haemorrhaging.

There is very little that can be done to checkmate criminal incumbents who are bent on cleaning out the coffers before they handover because legally they can still sign cheques, and make financial commitments on behalf of their states.

spontaneously as some people said. They are often incited by their leaders, who are usually the mallams or the political leaders. Those who claim the recent riots in the North were spontaneous are insincere. They are reprobate liars.

If we think we can, by mere panels as panegyrics of our intentions, stop these young men from preying on others in the North, we deceive ourselves. The matter ought to be a national emergency, jointly pursued by all the northern governments with federal assistance.

The greatest assets a nation possesses are its young. We have seen the story of the area boys in Lagos, and the militants in the Niger Delta.

It is gratifying that the issue of amnesty has gone a long way to pare down violence in the Niger Delta. Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State was the inspiration for amnesty, and Yar’Adua and the Federal Government ran faithfully with the idea. Good deal, but the Federal Government ought to follow the idea to its full implementation, especially with regards to integration. It is work in progress.

In the Southwest, Awo’s free education policy created a generation of big ideas and stellar men, and his ideas were imitated in the Eastern region and selectively in the North. The Western region has witnessed a decline in the past decade as documented by a recent book

by Professors Ropo Sekoni and Segun Gbadegesin. With a new birth of progressive governors, the issue is on the rebound.

Recently, Governor Kayode Fayemi organised an education summit in Ekiti State, with big names attending, and ideas were floated to revive the state of PHDs – Fayemi is one of them- from the image of ragtag politicians, distortions and Ido-Osi. Ogbeni Aregbesola had earlier held one in Osun State, a fitting idea to wake up the state where education was becoming an elite obsession under Oyinlola.

“The greatness of a country consists not in the number but in the quality of its citizens,” said Abraham Lincoln, who suffered personally to educate himself. He could not afford to attend a big university. He studied at home to become a lawyer. He is arguably America’s greatest president ever. He knew what the mind does to a nation. A nation without natural resources but an intelligent people will prosper far more than a nation with natural resources but shallow minds.

I was able to interact with some of the almajiris who were retrieved from the streets, and were given board and classrooms in Kaduna. The school is the baby of Hajia Makarfi. I recall some of them, still in the beginning of literacy, dreaming of the professions. I want to be a pilot, said one of them. I want to be a teacher, mouthed a girl. A few of them wanted to be medical doctors. That is the way to go.

Darkness is not an option.

That is the challenge of today. Let us free our young into the burst of light that education brings.

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above Going the unorthodox Rochas route affords the banks room to give the lame ducks the run around – knowing that in two weeks there would be a new sheriff in town.

Obviously, it makes more sense to pander to the wishes of the chap you would be dealing with in the foreseeable future than pleasing a man from whom power is ebbing by the day.

That said, the recourse to unorthodoxy by Okorocha is a warning signal that Imo indigenes should get ready for a bumpy, unpredictable ride with the new man in the saddle.

In the course of his political career, the Governor-elect through his actions and utterances, has built up something of a reputation as a maverick who many never took serious. Now that he would be exercising gubernatorial authority even those who once derided him as a joke would be forced to sit up and take notice.

Only time will tell though whether he would be a wild horse that can be tamed by the responsibility that power brings, or whether he would be a runaway train rampaging through, and obliterating every semblance of normalcy in governance in Imo State.

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