The Nation May 27, 2012

2015: Performance will earn Jonathan second term –Clark –PAGE 4

• Clark

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.06, No. 2135

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

N200.00

MAY 27, 2012

No compensation for Boko Haram victims –FG Rejects transfer of 61 sect members to Maiduguri Snooping CBN, NNPC, others to get anti–IED devices Around United States debates sanctions against sect –PAGE 2

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CHILDREN’S DAY

ONE YEAR OF JONATHAN PRESIDENCY A BAPTISM OF FIRE

IG warns over kidnapping, terror attacks

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SACKED DOCTORS

Lagos slams NUPENG strike threat

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Northern Senators angry over projects, committee assignments

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NEWS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

•River State Governor Rotimi Amaechi with his wife Dame Judith during the commissioning of the Empowerment Support Initiative(ESI) Bus Transport Scheme and Model Nursery School in Igwuruta-Ali, Rivers State at the weekend. ESI is the pet project of Mrs. Amaechi

Children’s Day: IG issues security alert over kidnapping, terrorist attacks HE Police are on red alert across the country today on the occasion of the Children’s Day celebration.

The security measure, ordered by Acting Inspector General Mohammed Abubakar , is to check any attempt by terrorists to cash in on the celebration to kidnap or attack innocent children.

The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Frank Mba, said yesterday in Abuja that the IG directed all Zonal AIGs and Command Commissioners of Police to “ensure that adequate security is provided at all venues of the Children’s Day Celebration across the country”.

He added: “The Commissioners of Police and other heads of Police formations are further directed to collaborate with all relevant government agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders to ensure that the kids enjoy their day without any hitch”.

The IGP wished every Nigerian child “wonderful celebration” but advised them to use the celebration to reflect on what they can contribute positively to their fatherland.

He urged them to shun cultism, drug abuse, examination malpractices, violence and crimes in all forms and learn to live in peace with one another.

He stressed the importance of hard-work, discipline, selflessness and obedience to laws as the spring boards to their dreams and aspirations.

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• Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi (second left), his deputy, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo (left), Anthony Ossai, CEO Hometel Developers Ltd (third left), Chinwe Odife of Hometel (second right) and Alexander Gassauel (right) when Ajimobi unveiled a 150-room Five Star Hotel being built by the state government and Hometel in Ibadan, at the weekend.

No compensation for Boko Haram victims T

HE Federal Government has rejected a recommendation by the Presidential Committee on the Security Challenges in the North-East to pay compensation to victims of the Boko Haram insurgency.

It also turned down another recommendation by the panel to transfer about 61 detained Boko Haram members to Maiduguri.

However, government will offer victims unspecified assistance.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade said recently that 308 people were killed in 118 gun and bomb attacks by the sect across Abuja and six Northern states of Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Niger, Yobe and Plateau.

The Borno State Government in January paid N100million as compensation to the family of the late Alhaji Baba Fugu Mohammed, father in-law to Mr. Mohammed Yusuf, the late leader of Boko Haram Islamic sect.

The Borno State government said the payment was in obedience to a court order.

The Commissioner for Information, Inuwa Bwala said: “The family of the inlaws of the late Mohammed Yusuf took the previous government in the state to court and the court awarded them N100 million damages.

“The present government was magnanimous enough to pay the judgement sum because we do not want to continue to drag this matter while the people are suffering.”

In recommending the transfer of the 61 detainees to Maiduguri, the Usman Galtimari Panel hoped it would douse the tension

From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

generated by suspicion that the detainees have been killed.

The Federal Government, in the gazetted White Paper on the panel’s report just released in Abuja, however, agreed to install counter-Improvised Explosive Devices equipment in the Central Bank (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other sensitive agencies and areas in the country to check terror attacks.

The committee called for the transfer of the 61 detained Boko Haram suspects to Maiduguri with much publicity to prove that they have not been killed.

It was gathered that the recommendation would encourage the sect to dialogue with government and clear misgivings about government’s commitment to a peace deal.

There were speculations recently that the 61 suspects had been relocated to a secret detention camp in Lagos.

But the State Security Services denied the allegation.

Sources said in Abuja that government prefers to keep the detainees until the proposed dialogue reached an acceptable level.

The report said: “It was alleged that the 61 Boko Haram members who are in detention have been killed.

The Federal Government should arrange the transfer of the 61 Boko Haram members detained that were alleged to have been killed back to Maiduguri with adequate publicity.

“Government rejects this recommendation.”

On the victims of the

spate of crises in the NorthEast, the panel recommended compensation for them but it was also rejected by government.

The government only promised to assist victims of past crises and attacks in the country.

The report said: “The Federal Government and Borno State Government should ensure that human and organizational victims of the crisis most especially churches, mosques and schools are compensated monetarily to enable them resuscitate and reconstruct their property.

“Relations of the deceased victims should also be compensated after a proper evaluation and assessment of the value and cost of their property have been carried out.

“The Borno State Government should respect the judgment of a High Court in the case of Baba Fugu.

“Government accepts these recommendations but notes that it will only assist victims but not pay compensation.”

Government endorsed the recommendation of the panel to revisit and implement reports of past probes into similar crises in the country.

The report added: “The committee was inundated with series of complaints that the increasing state of insecurity in the country is due to the failure of the Federal Government and some state governments to implement White Paper reports of various committees that were constituted and had submitted useful recommendations in the past “The Federal and some state governments should as

a matter of urgency consider the numerous views and complaints expressed by many Nigerians including some at higher levels, the increasing state of insecurity in the country and the imperative of implementing White Paper Reports of various committees that were constituted and had submitted useful recommendations in the past but are yet to be acted upon.

“Government accepts this recommendation.”

The panel observed that lack of synergy among security agencies had affected counter-terrorism operations in the country.

It called for a central clearing system for security agencies.

It said: “On the part of the security forces, the Report observed that there are palpable operational lapses, service rivalry, under-funding, under-equipment and lack of collaboration. Proper financing and standards should be maintained.

“There is failure to establish a central clearing institution with one line budgeting and reporting system for all intelligence security agencies as it obtains in some advanced countries. That would avoid inter-agency rivalry and conflict.

“It was observed that in Nigeria various security intelligence agencies operate different independent budgets and have or compete for direct access to Mr. President.

“The Federal Government should establish a central clearing institution with one line budget and reporting system for all the intelligence security agencies as it obtains in some advanced countries.

The panel offered fresh suggestions on how to strengthen the capacity of security agents and protect key installations like CBN, NNPC among others: “ It was further recommended that security personnel (Police, Army etc) should be sensitized in the use and control of IEDs as most appropriate.

“A case was also made for sensitive government installations and establishments such as the NNPC, CBN to have counter-IEDs support installed for effective security cover.

“Technical sweeping of sensitive establishments and installations by combined force of Police Bomb Squad and Military should be carried out regularly.

“Government accepts this recommendation.”

The Presidential Committee was inaugurated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim on August 2, 2011.

Members of the committee are: Amb. Usman G. Galtimari(Chairman); Senator Ali Ndume; Chief JoeKyeri Gadzama(SAN); Col. Musa Shehu(Rtd); Senator Bala Mohammed; Dr. Bello Mohammed; Chief Emeka Wogu; and Alhaji A.B. Shehu.

Following the submission of a final report by the panel in September 2011, the SGF raised a seven-man White Paper Drafting Committee which was headed by Comrade A. Mora.

The rest are: Alh. Bukar Tijani; Engr. Esther G. Gonda; Alh. Abdullahi Yola; Mr. Usman Abubakar; Mr. Jubril Adeniji; Mr. L.E. Njoku; and Mr. U. Onwuanuokwu.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

News

Police announce postings for AIGs

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EW postings for have been announced for senior police officers.

In a statement last night by the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, the Acting Inspector General has approved the posting of 11 Assistan Inspectors General.

Those posted are Solomon Olusegun, AIG Zone 9 Umuahia (Comprising of Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Imo States) Michael Zuokumor, AIG Zone 4 Makurdi (Comprising of Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau States), Orubebe Gandhi Ebikeme, AIG Zone 11 Osogbo(Comprising of Ondo, Osun and Oyo States) and Philemon I. Leha, AIG Zone 1 Kano (Comprising of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa States) Others are Johnathan Johnson, AIG Zone 8 Lokoja (Comprising of Ekiti, Kogi and Kwara States), Dan’Azumi Job Doma, AIG Force Secretary and Muktari Ibrahim, AIG Zone 10 Sokoto.

Suleiman A. Abba, is to head Zone 7 Abuja (FCT Abuja, Kaduna and Niger States), Mamman Ibrahim Tsafe, Zone 2 Lagos (Comprising of Lagos and Ogun States) while Saliu Argungu Hashimu, is for Zone 5 Benin (Comprising of Bayelsa, Delta and Edo States) and Solomon E. Arase, AIG Criminal Intelligence.

Mohammed asked the newly posted AIGs, to rededicate themselves to the service of their fatherland, adding that as the Zonal AIGs, they are the supervising authority for all Police administrative and operational matters within their areas of jurisdiction.

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan’s performance will earn him a second term in 2015, Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, said yesterday The former Federal Commissioner for Information in the Yakubu Gowon cabinet insisted in an interview with The Nation in Abuja, that the president is eminently qualified to contest again.

He was optimistic that the North would vote for Jonathan based on his performance.

Northern governors, at their last meeting in Kaduna, said the presidency should return to the North in 2015.

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State said in an interview published by The Nation yesterday that the North would prefer, in the next election, a development-oriented president who would make the generality of Nigerians happy and

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From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

contended.

However, Clark, arguably President Jonathan’s number one fan, said Section 137 of the 1999 Constitution is explicit on the eligibility of Jonathan for the 2015 poll.

The section reads in part: “A person shall not be qualified for election to the Office of President if- (a) subject to the provisions of Section 28 of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National As-

sembly, he has made a declaration of allegiance to such other country; or “(b) he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections…”

Clark, who turned 85 on Friday, said the issue of qualification of Jonathan for the 2015 poll is not in doubt.

According to him, “The President is eminently qualified because the Constitution allows him to contest twice. The swearing of Jonathan does not amount to contesting presidential election twice. In fact the Supreme Court has settled this in its judgments on some governors.

• Matawalen Dawakin Bauchi, Alhaji Kabiru Ahmed, leading a mini durbar, after his turbaning in Bauchi yesterday Photo: NAN

“Since he is qualified, Nigerians will be free to vote for Jonathan based on performance in 2015. I have said it that the President should perform. Nigerians voted for him irrespective of religious and ethnic differences and they will be willing to do so in 2015 if he performs to their expectation.

“I am not talking of force; it is not a matter of force at all. Nigerians have the right to vote or not for President Jonathan in 2015 based on performance. But I am very sure that within the next three years, he will perform to the satisfaction of all Nigerians to earn a second term ticket.”

Asked if he thought the North would back Jonathan, Clark said: “Jonathan is the president of Nigeria. The North voted for him massively in 2011; he got more than 25 per cent of the total votes cast in many of the states in the North except in Kano and Katsina.

“As far as I am concerned, the Northerners are with the President except a few professional presidential aspirants. After all, he is spending about N5billion to build schools for Almajiri among other infrastructure he is putting in place in the North.”

But a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome said it is too early for politicians to be talking about 2015.

In a text message to media houses entitled, “My reflections on Nigeria at 51”, Ozekhome said: “The country is tottering on a dangerous journey to no identifi-

able destination, held in the excruciating grip of terrorists, political buccaneers, historical revisionists, unrepentant 419ners, insatiable petroleum subsidy racketeers, blood thirsty ethnic militia, warlords and tribal jingoists, extreme religious bigots, economic vampires and imperious social misfits.

“I am very sad at the mountainous layers of abject penury and socio-economic deprivation currently ravaging the average Nigerian.

“The leadership of the country should urgently wake up to the reality that some Nigerians are hell-bent on breaking the country up into smithereens on the altar of political jobbery and power inebriation. They must be stopped dead on their track.

“The anti-corruption crusade must be reinvented and re-energized. Corruption has since assumed a frightening monstrous dimension where billions of Naira are now freely stolen in broad daylight to the amazement of Nigerians.”

He recalled that a few years ago some ministers and a senate president were “were removed from office over corruption allegations involving less than N50million each. Today, inconsequential public officers fleece the country billions of Naira without qualms, without being brought to book.”

He regretted that the leadership of the country seems not ready to fight the sleaze in the system.

Northern Senators angry over projects, committee assignments N

ORTHERN senators are kicking over alleged lopsidedness in the composition of the Senate standing committees and allocation of projects in the 2012 budget.

The North, in their view, has been short-changed and

APGA stakeholders seek restructuring of party TAKEHOLDERS of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have resolved to restructure all organs of the party.

The move was the major plank of the decisions taken at a meeting at the Enugu residence of the late Dim Chukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu.

In a communiqué read by the National Vice Chairman of the party South East, Chief Morgan Anyalechi, the stakeholders called for the restructuring of the Board of Trustees, National Caucus, National Executive Council and National Working Committee, among others.

Besides, they asked the party’s National Executive Committee to organize a national convention without further delay and arrange for proper congresses throughout

Jonathan’s performance will earn him second term, says Clark

the federation in line with the constitution of the party.

They stressed the need to build and strengthen party structures at all levels in a manner that will reflect the core values and strength of the party.

The APGA members affirmed that Dim Ojukwu remains the supreme leader of the party even in death.

His widow, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu supported the resolution of the party and called on the National Chairman to commence the process of restructuring without further delay, stressing that no singular individual is bigger than the party. She said the party’s national chairman, Chief Victor Umeh should desist from actions and utterances capable of destabilizing the party, noting that his present disposition could harm the party.

From: Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor

the situation has to be redressed urgently.

They cite, in particular, several health projects originally earmarked for the North but which ended up being sited in the South East.

They blamed the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, for allegedly denying the North its dues.

In the vanguard of the protest are: Senators Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West); Nenadi Esther Usman (Kaduna South); Mohammed Ali Ndume (Borno South); Gyang Dalyop Dantong (Plateau North); Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South); and Abdulkadir Jajere (Yobe South).

A worried Senate President David Mark on Tuesday convened a closed door session of the Senate to “create room for aggrieved Senators to express their grievances.”

A source said Mark did not want a situation where “the anger of the Senators might boil over.”

Soon after the Senate Executive Session Northern Senators held another closed door session at Hearing Room 1 Senate wing, according to one source.

Discussion during the Senate Executive Session was said to have centered on the composition of Standing Committees and distribution of projects in the budget It was gathered that while some Northern Senators insisted on “total overhaul of the committees to address alleged marginalisation others sued for caution.”

The position of the Northern lawmakers was said to have inspired the appointment of Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi (Kaduna North) as Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance.

Makarfi held the same position in the Sixth Senate. He replaced Senator Bassey Otu (Cross River South).

Otu was moved to the Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions formerly chaired by Senator Ayo

Adeseun.

Adeseun (Oyo Central) was moved to the Committee on Capital Market.

One of the lawmakers reportedly said at the Northern Senators meeting that “the North will not rest until Ekweremadu is removed.”

The source said the South South has accepted the replacement of Otu as a price to be paid for “peace and tranquillity in the Senate.”

The source said some Senators at the Northern Senators meeting claimed that the Chairman, Committee on Appropriation, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Maccido (Sokoto North), was lobbied by Ekweremadu to site projects in the South East at the expense of the North.

But a source close to Senator Ekweremadu expressed surprise that some Northern senators were directing their anger at him when, in fact, he is not the Chairman of the Selection Committee of the Senate.”.

C o n t a c t e d , Ekweremadu’s Special Ad-

viser (Media), Mr. Uche Anichukwu, said he was not aware of any complaint about his principal.

But another Senate source said Mark could be the real target “because of the growing perception in some quarters that he might be a stumbling block to the presidential aspiration of the core North in 2015.”

The source said the Senate in Executive Session directed the arrow-heads of the protest to go and conduct an audit of projects in the 2012 budget and report back to the Senate.

He said that majority of Senators including some from the North believe “Ekweremadu has been transparent in handling affairs in the Senate.”

In an apparent reaction to the Northern Senators’ meeting, their Southern counterparts also met last Thursday in Senate Hearing Room 2 with Senator James Manager presiding.

A reliable source at the meeting told our correspondent that “we deliberated on latest development in the Senate.”

Asked to be specific the source said “we are watching unfolding issues.”

Column

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Looking back before looking forward

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ENERAL Muhammadu Buhari is in the news again.

This time around, there is a national uproar over his apparent call for bloodshed and mayhem should the 2015 elections be summarily rigged by what the late Adeniran Ogunsanya once memorably described as the National Riggers’ Theatre. While many have called for his head , others have warmly endorsed his vision of an apocalyptic meltdown as the dire tonic Nigeria needs to move forward. The nation is split down the middle.

Yet 2015 appears so far away, particularly for a Nigerian state mired in an unprecedented crisis of

legitimacy and authority. Even architects of our current woes are beginning to disown their own misbegotten baby. But power and its naked pursuit are all that matter.

The state is no longer an arbiter of the competing and mutually conflicting interests of the factions and fractions of the ruling class but a self-demystifying party and partisan to the dispute Danger lurks.

The lean and spare-framed general has been a subject of endless fascination for this column. We had wanted to take a prospective look at the chances of the nation, but we feel that sometimes it is better to look back before looking forward. By looking back, a col-

umnist discovers a proper sense of perspective, shocked by how wrong one can be and surprised by how subsequent events have proved one right. The columnist is not and should not try to play god. There is often a thin line between sheer idiocy and prophetic insight. You must not laugh at others if you cannot laugh at yourself.

This morning, snooper republishes an op-ed piece on General Buhari. First published in January 2007 shortly before the advent of this column, it is a good way to situate the Buhari phenomenon and the political difficulties still confronting the nation.

General Buhari and the open sore of a nation A

LMOST twenty five years after leading a coup that terminated democratic governance in Nigeria, General Mohammadu Buhari has found himself at the vanguard of democratic redemption of the same country. As far as apostolic conversions go, this one is surely of Pauline proportions. What a country!— one might be tempted to ask in exasperation and wonderment. Twenty five years ago, a novelist plotting this kind of magical yarn would have been censored for his irresponsible imagination. But here we are, and as they say, actual reality has become unrealistic in Nigeria.

If there is a sense, then, in which Buhari’s spectacular ascendancy underscores the man’s steely resilience and the continuing stranglehold of the old military establishment on the nation’s political jugular, there is another sense in which it is a reflection of elite failure and the poverty of politics in post-military Nigeria. With its shambolic parties, their perverse and pilfering politicians, the fluid and flux principles with which they crisscross carpets and switch allegiances, Nigeria’s current democratic experiment is a very poor copy indeed.

A quarter of a century after Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s assertion that this generation may never know real democracy, this grim prognosis has all but come to pass. It is therefore a remarkable irony of history that his last apostles should be caught in the current controversy about General Buhari. Whether Awolowo’s assertion is a parting curse to a nation that had betrayed him and wasted his outstanding talents or a piece of remarkable clairvoyance, we may never know. What we know is that broken and dismayed by the turn of events, the old man retreated into gloomy solitude only to be translated into eternal glory shortly thereafter.

But there appears to be a fate worse than death. In 1993, only six years after the old man departed, his followers were forced by military machinations to group behind a reconstructed renegade. Miraculously, the heroic apostate prevailed only to be systematically taken apart by the feudal-military complex. Ten years later in 2003, they were forced again to line behind an unreconstructed heretic who had been forced on the country by their old nemesis and who quickly rubbed their nose in the sand. Now in 2007, twenty years after the departure of their beloved leader, Awolowo’s surviving disciples have been forced to line behind an old enemy and avid tormentor: General Mohammadu Buhari.

When the issue is posed from this

•Buhari

historical angle, and given the constellation of contradictory forces, it may be seen that the problem is not General Buhari as such but the dramatic contraction of radical space and possibilities in a neo-military state and the continuing shrinkage of opportunities for progressive politics and its standard-bearers in the Nigerian polity. Every struggle in the last thirty years in Nigeria has ended in the consolidation of oligarchic rule; every stirring revolt against the status quo has brought in a worse version of the status quo through the back door.

Is it any wonder then that after the magical debris has cleared from the illusionist fantasia that was the party primaries, the two leading democratic exemplars and stars of our democratic eclipse are two retired generals: The one an aging autocrat and militant apostle of a strange oxymoron that we propose as command democracy; and the other a seemingly reformed military oligarch haunted by the demons of his autocratic past.

There is an easy solution to this problem, this grand chicanery and perpetual conspiracy against the manumission and democratic emancipation of Nigerians from their modern slave-masters. One can throw up one’s arms in despair and frustration and then go home to await divine intervention ; or one can sit back and wait for the system to collapse from the weight of its own internal contradictions. But political revolutions do not occur overnight and history is a furtive tiger which often steals upon the

scene without much funfair On the other hand, since hope springs eternally in the Nigerian breast, and since no ruling group can be eternally cohesive and coherent, one can explore the fissures and crevices constantly thrown up by the movement of history in the political space until these develop into a capillary network with momentous possibilities. With great optimism of the political will coupled with an abiding pessimism of the critical intellect one can make a reasoned and measured choice within the contradictory amalgam of Nigerian politics and personalities.

It is this maddening constellation of contradictory forces that has thrown up General Mohammadu Buhari as the beautiful bride of the current political scene. Let it not be denied that the general is widely admired by many; openly courted by significant sectors of the society and fanatically worshipped by the teeming multitude across national divide who see him as the only politician with the integrity and the strength of character to confront the PDP behemoth. If this were due to a staggering case of historical amnesia, then we can agree with our Nobel laureate that our leaders have gone mad again. But embedded in the Buhari ascendancy are harsh political realities which we can only ignore at our own peril.

Yet it is also true that Buhari is haunted by ghosts from his autocratic and anti-democratic past.

There is a powerful local lobby with phenomenal global reach which sees Buhari’s attempted return as an affront to common sense and natural justice and unless Buhari wants to rule Nigeria as a pariah and neoIslamic state, he can only ignore this elite sector at his own political peril.

In a worst case scenario, this significant sector can scuttle the intricate broad-based alliances Buhari must forge in order to have national acceptance.

It is these demons from the past that have brought Soyinka and Ebenezer Babatope ,a.k.a Ebino Topsy, railing at the gates of Buhari in significant interventions in the past one week. Both men have per-

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu sonal and political reasons to be disturbed by the seeming national amnesia behind Buhari’s return. While Babatope’s contribution is muted and measured, perhaps a reflection of his awareness of how much social and political capital he has frittered away in recent times, Soyinka’s piece is a grand philippic dripping with venom and vitriol.

As usual, Soyinka does not intend to take hostages. His epic outburst speaks to the open sore of the nation and the failure of national reconciliation which ought to have been a cardinal pursuit of the Obasanjo regime. Rather than hide the festering suppurating wounds in a diseased purulent bandage, the Nobel laureate has chosen to pour acid on the open sore. The result is a messy maw of mangled flesh and scalded tendons.

But while Babatope’s piece is ultimately a backhanded campaign manual for Umar Y’Ardua by a man who is comfortable among political predators despite his heroic antecedents, Soyinka’s intervention is an injured outburst from an illustrious patriot who has fought on the side of justice for close to fifty years. The danger, however, is that the two can be used for the same purpose. It is significant that in his piece, Babatope, in anticipatory approval and without being aware of Soyinka’s approaching intervention, quotes with joyous relish Soyinka’s earlier strictures against Buhari.

Soyinka’s strictures are harsh and perhaps justly so. As a matter of fact one must expand and deepen his critique of Buhari in order to arrive at political equity. Indeed within six months of its existence, the Buhari administration was widely derided and reviled as the military wing of the ousted NPN. It was widely speculated that the main reason for its existence was to forestall a more revolutionary bloodbath by disaffected junior officers.

If this was arguably a piece of slanderous speculation, the Buhari government soon lived up to its reactionary billing. The ousted president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, reportedly aborted his flight to safety upon hearing the leadership composition of the new government. He was‘kept in plush comfort where he reputedly increased his brood while his deputy, Alex Ekwueme, was thrown into the harsh privation of Kirikiri where he developed a beard of apostolic proportions.

General Gowon who was returning from exile for the first time miraculously slipped across the border while Emeka Ojukwu was hauled into jail where he spent almost a year in a hail of bilious smoke and selfpity. There was also the dramatic daylight disappearance of Uba Ahmed after he was captured by junior officers who thought it was a new dawn for the nation. After his house was‘burglarized and his passport seized, it was Chief Awolowo again who prophetically cautioned that the omens were still not clear.

We can go on ad nauseam. The families of those unjustly incarcerated and those sent to their premature deaths will never forget. The point to be made is that the Buhari administration did not just commit horrendous human rights abuses, it was‘also rabidly partisan and militantly contemptuous of the ethnic and regional sensitivities of the nation. Such was the danger it represented that towards the end, two civil war heroes, Generals Benjamin Adekunle and Akinrinade, were openly advocating a confederation

for the nation.

It is therefore a typical Nigerian paradox that a government so harshly reactionary in its driving ethos, a government reeking with ethnophobic malice could also be militantly patriotic on several scores. The Buhari administration made Nigerians proud in several respects: its puritanical prudence, its ascetic frugality, its stout refusal to devalue the naira, its nationalist rebuff of western interlopers, its economic offensive as seen in the counter trade, its stirring and soulful rhetoric against indiscipline, national self-abasement and the forlorn cravenness of our elite ,and, above all, its heroic attempt to recreate the momentum of the golden mid-seventies.

If it is these memorable virtues that many of our compatriots choose to remember about Buhari rather than the harsh restrictions, the draconian infractions, Wole Soyinka must not blame them. Neither must he view it as a descent into definitive dementia. As Kafka would say, it is not that what you say is false but it is so hostile. The politics of memory, of remembering in a post-colonial nation is a complex, overdetermined affair.

Too much memory, particularly negative memory, often leads to an awareness overloading which compels the mind to downsize negativities as a strategy of containment against unremitting hostility and persistent betrayal particularly in a post-colonial polity permanently rigged against rationality.

Soyinka should take pity on his beleaguered compatriots. The lightheadedness often associated with Nigerians these days, the strange happiness and loss of memory is a form of auto-therapy; an antidote against real madness in a nation of self-surpassing calamities. Having been subject to serial betrayal by their leaders, they have opened a new chapter in the annals of laughing and forgetting, and in the unnerving grin of the serially violated. The danger in a reflex rejection of Buhari is that it could split the progressive collective. There is an ideological, regional and generational dimension to this.

There are progressive colleagues from the south who have never seen anything amiss in whatever Buhari did. There are radical compatriots from the north who believe he is a victim of a Southwest intellectual conspiracy. There are some of Soyinka’s younger colleagues and admirers who will be forced to align with Buhari going by the logic of current party affiliations. And there are those much younger progressive elements who cannot give a damn about what Buhari did to some old men a long time ago. What should now be done is to sit Buhari down and extract from him every ounce of commitment to the progressive ideal.

As for General Mohammadu Buhari , perhaps history beckons.

Cashing in opportunistically on anti-Obasanjo sentiments and the nation-wide revulsion with the ruling party is not the same thing as coming up with a comprehensive blueprint which will mark him out as a truly visionary leader. If he intends to serve as a true national leader, and having disavowed the Oputa panel, this is the right moment to climb down from the high horse of bland refutal and level with the injured of the land. That is the only way he can help to heal the open sore of an unfortunate nation.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

News

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HE United States State Department is debating the wisdom of designating the Islamist group Boko Haram a “foreign terrorist organization” despite entreaties from lawmakers and the Justice Department to do so.

U.S. diplomats are giving serious consideration to the arguments of a group of academics who sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week urging her department not to apply the “terrorist” label to the al Qaeda-linked group.

The professors said Boko Haram’s violent tactics have “turned most Nigerians against them,” and their reputation among other militants might be enhanced by a “terrorist” designation.

U.S. action might also validate the position of more radical elements of Boko Haram, the professors said.

The academics also argued that any U.S. move to label Boko Haram as a terrorist group would “effectively endorse excessive use of force” against the group

by Nigerian security forces “at a time when the rule of law in Nigeria is in the balance.”

Alleged abuses by Nigerian security forces already have “facilitated radical recruitment,” the professors said.

A group of Republican senators led by Scott Brown of Massachusetts introduced legislation on Thursday that would require the State Department to determine whether Boko Haram should be formally labelled a “foreign terrorist” group.

The designation would subject it to economic sanctions, including the freezing of U.S. bank accounts, and would make it illegal for anyone in the United States to provide support to the group.

Brown said the group had allegedly been responsible for more than 700 deaths in the last 18 months.

Senator Saxby Chambliss, vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the group had been improving the design of its homemade bombs,

US lawmakers favour ‘terrorist’ sanctions for Boko Haram • Diplomats, professors have reservations about listing group • State Department denies it is stalling on decision which constitute a “serious threat to international and U.S. interests.”

In the House of Representatives, Republican Patrick Meehan, who chairs a subcommittee on homeland security, has introduced an amendment that would force the administration to add Boko Haram to the terrorism list or explain why it was not doing so.

A congressional source said State Department representatives are lobbying Congress to stop such legislation.

U.S. government sources confirmed that the academics’ arguments are being taken seriously at the State Department, where they have featured in internal discussions about the “terrorist” designation.

Penultimate week, a senior State Department official told Reuters the department

was “very concerned about violence in Nigeria” and added that it was “looking at this very carefully.”

The official said the department was “not stalling or dragging our feet.” But he noted that adding a group to the sanctions list is a “rigorous process which has to stand up in a court of law.”

A. Carl Levan, an American University scholar who helped organize the letter to the State Department, said human rights groups had called attention to alleged “excesses” by Nigerian security forces, and said future abuses might only be encouraged if the United States puts a “terrorist” label on Boko Haram.

He also said that the principal legal consequence of an FTO designation -- giving U.S. authorities the ability to freeze the group’s assets and take legal action against peo-

ple who support it — would have little effect, since “when they need money they rob a bank.”

Officially, the State Department will only say that it is considering all the options.

“Working with the Nigerian government to address the growing threat of violent extremism in Nigeria is a top priority for the administration,” said a spokeswoman for the department’s Africa bureau.

The official added: “On the question of designating Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)...the Department does not comment in advance on such decisions. I can assure you, however, that the Department is reviewing all options with regards to Boko Haram, including designation as an FTO.” In January, the top coun-

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Low key celebration as Aregbesola clocks 55 • Gov absent at event, in Germany for bilateral talks

I • Director General, National Commission for Museums and Monument (NCMM), Yusuf Abdallah Usman, Republic of China Cultural Counsellor in Nigeria, Jin Hongyue (left) and his predecessor Mr Shan Baoxiang during the farewell programme for Shan in Abuja, yesterday.

Photo: Abayomi Fayese

Reps summon CBN, AMCON, NDIC over sacked bank workers HE House of Representatives has summoned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) over the sack of 41 union leaders at Mainstreet Bank (formerly Afribank) in 1999.

The House Committee on Legislative Compliance headed by Marouf Akinderu-Fatai invited the managements of the institutions as part of the effort to resolve the dispute.

The House on Thursday 21st March, 2002 had deliberated on the report by its committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity on the petition by the 41 union officials and rec-

ter-terrorism official at the Justice Department weighed in with the State Department in favour of an early move to impose U.S. sanctions on the group.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a letter to the State Department’s counter-terrorism chief that Boko Haram met the criteria for a “foreign terrorist” listing because it either engages in terrorism which threatens the United States or has a capability or intent to do so.

Monaco said that although Boko Haram attacks until now have occurred only within Nigeria, the United States should not underestimate the threat the group poses to U.S. interests. Reuters reported earlier this month on her letter, which was not released to the public.

From: Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

ommended that the Afribank Management reabsorb the sacked workers.

The issue was recommitted to the House Committee on Legislative Compliance last year.

But the management of Mainstreet Bank on Wednesday told the House committee that it had no power to re-absorb the sacked workers.

Speaking during an interactive session at the National Assembly, Mr. Ano Anyawu, Executive Director, Operations and Information Technology, who led the team, told the committee that unless they received express permission from the NDIC and

AMCON, there was little or nothing they could do.

Anyawu, who came in company of Mr. Dauda Momodu, Head, Abuja Branch of Mainstreet Bank, said the bank’s management has changed four times since 1999 when the workers were sacked and that the bank has now been acquired by the Federal Government through the Central Bank (CBN).

The leader of the Afribank workers union at the time, Kelvin Umeh said the long delay in rendering justice to the sacked workers caused the death of four members.

He said: “It’s unfortunate that the management of Mainstreet Bank is trying to introduce civil service procedure into this mat-

ter. Justice delayed is justice denied. We’ve lost four members because of this issue. In one of the incidents a member and his wife perished. The antics of capitalists is to frustrate issues like this. The National Assembly has given an order and someone is still prevaricating.”

The chairman of the committee, Akinderu-Fatai said it was important to resolve the issue once and for all, adding that the stalemate has lasted for too long.

The committee members thereafter decided that it was expedient to invite the CBN, AMCON and the NDIC before the committee with a view to getting them to obey the House resolution on the issue.

T was a low key celebration in Osogbo at the weekend as Islamic clerics gathered to offer prayers for Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State who clocked 55.

Aregbesola was absent at the Government House open field venue of the prayers as he is currently in Germany on a working visit to agricultural institutes and training centres in that country as part of his initiative to boost food production.

The Deputy Governor, Mrs. Grace Titi LaoyeTomori, called on the people of the state to continue praying for the administration to achieve its objectives.

She said their past prayers have brought the state to its present enviable position.

Deputy Governor LaoyeTomori described Aregbesola as a modest individual, who does not believe in flamboyance saying this explains why his birthday was low keyed.

Governor Aregbesola had earlier urged friends and the people of the state to redirect all intended finances earmarked for the celebration of his birthday anniversary to assisting the less privileged in the society.

Sheikh Mustapha Ajisafe, who led other members of the League of Imams and Alfas at the prayer session, called on Allah to give the Governor more strength to carry on with his development agenda.

Lagos condemns NUPENG’s solidarity strike • Restates warning against intimidation of doctors

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HE Lagos State Government, yesterday, dismissed as blackmail and arm twisting the threat by the Nigeria Medical Association and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers Union (NUPENG) to call out its members on strike over the recent sack f medical doctors sacked in the state.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Lateef Ibirogba, said in a statement that it would soon be clear to the people that it is NUPENG, that is seeking to inflict more pains on the people through its sympathy strike and not the State Government that has taken decisive steps to restore normalcy in the health sector in Lagos State.

He said NUPENG has “shown clearly by its rash ultimatum that it had a clear political agenda,” adding that it was unfortunate that NUPENG’s voice was not raised in defence of doctors in Military hospitals who have not been paid for nine whole months only to call a strike in support of doctors who “ are well paid up to date but who chose to abandon their patients with many avoidable deaths recorded.”

He reiterated Government’s warning against the continued intimidation of old and newly employed doctors who have decided to work in the state hospitals to save lives by the Nigeria Medical Association.

The commissioner warned NUPENG against using the doctors’ strike as “ a subterfuge to get back at the Lagos State Government for spearheading the much needed clearing of Apapa which has become a nightmare to lawful residents and businesses in the area due to indiscriminate parking and blockade of the roads by tanker drivers.”

He described the medical profession as one that has always been a refined profession guided by decorum from its members “as distinct from the present set of political jobbers who are masquerading as medical doctors and issuing unguarded statements like the ones from the leadership of the NMA in the Federal Capital Territory and Oyo State.”

The Commissioner vowed that the State Government would not be “stampeded or intimidated by the antics of politically sponsored unions into abdicating its responsibilities to the citizenry and the rest of its workforce, adding that the dictatorship of a union to the detriment of the well being of the society will not stand.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27 , 2012

CAN showers encomiums on Okogie

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ATIONAL President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has described Retired Bishop of Lagos Catholic Diocese, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, as a colossus.

Okogie, the CAN helmsman said, made invaluable contributions to the development of the nation and the church.

Oritsejafor wished the cardinal a successful retirement and long life, saying that the nation and the Church will still depend on his prayers and counsel at any time.

For the incoming archbishop, the CAN president prayed for God’s coverage and special grace “because the task ahead is enormous especially as he is stepping into very mighty shoes at a time when the nation is passing through serious security challenges.”

LSBAA’s presidential dinner holds

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AGOS Business School Alumni Association (LBSAA) is set to host this year’s president’s dinner next Saturday at Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island.

President of LBSAA, Mr. Udeme Ufot, said top government functionaries and professionals are expected at the event.

According to him, ‘’over 20 corporate organisations are supporting the dinner by means of sponsorship and corporate tables.’’

Director of Alumni Relations, Mr. Henry Onukwuba, said the Abuja edition comes up on July 5th while that of Port Harcourt is scheduled for October 12.

News

Why Africa is poor, by Obasanjo F

ORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has blamed the prevalence of poverty in Africa on bad governance.

He spoke at the launching of 2012 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report titled: “Africa Human Development Report 2012, Towards a Food Secure Future” in Abuja.

The report revealed that about 218 million Africans are malnourished and over 55 million children are suffering from nutritional deficiency in the continent.

Obasanjo disclosed that

From Olugbenga Adanikin and Adeola Adeyoye, Abuja

food insecurity is the greatest Africa’s solvable problem.

He said it was regrettable that despite the continent’s abundant agricultural resources, it lacks food security because of absence of quality political leadership.

According to him: “This report is a damning condemnation of governance in Africa. It tells us what we know that the poverty of Africa is the making of African leaders over the years. African

leaders have taken us together along the route of this shame.

“It is an indictment of African leadership particularly in the area of food production. Africa has the knowledge, technology and means to end undernourishment and food insecurity.”

Africa, Obasanjo said, must match political will with its abundant agricultural resources.

“To make desirable progress in food and nutritional security, the process must be spearheaded by good political will,” he

Nigeria must stop importing wheat, says Minister

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IGERIA loses N635 billion every year on importation of wheat for bread-making, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has disclosed.

He said the importation is at the expense of local farmers and the nation’s economic growth.

The minister spoke at the weekend during a briefing on

From Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

the implementation of high quality cassava bread derivatives in Abuja.

He also debunked the insinuation that the Executive initiated a bill seeking for 40 percent cassava inclusion in bread-making, which was rejected by the National Assembly last Thursday.

Adesina accused flour mill firms of misinforming Nigerians on the policy to ‘’protect their super normal profits they siphon out of Nigeria.”

The Minister said: “The issue of use of cassava bread is also an economic decision.

Nigeria spends N635 billion importing wheat and keeping farmers of wheat exporting countries employed, exporting jobs, while displacing jobs

Bi-Courtney celebrates MMA2 at five

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HE fifth anniversary of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Ikeja, Lagos, begins tomorrow.

A statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of BiCourtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of the MMA2, Steve OmolaleAjulo, saidthe celebration is in realisation of the fact that the terminal is the first successful Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the country.

The anniversary will be flagged off with a “Fly and Win” promo on Monday, which will last for the one month duration of the celebration.

Other activities during the month-long event include product exhibition, inauguration of the Cargo Shed and appreciation of the customers and passengers using the terminal.

Stolen car

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WINE Honda Accord 90 model with registration number CW262AB2 Abuja was stolen last Friday where it was parked in Abuja.

The chasis no is JHMCB352000C015923 while Engine number is 1003646.

If found please contact Tayo Agbaje on 08056373583

stressed.

He expressed optimism on the fulfillment of the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) aimed at creating 3.5 million jobs and ensuring food sufficiency by 2015.

If the plan succeeds, Obasanjo said, Nigeria would have developed.

The UNDP Country Director, Mr. Daouda Toure, said the report was aimed at achieving timely, peopleoriented and comprehensive approaches to food security.

•Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN (middle), Commissioner for Works & Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat (1st right) and Home Affairs & Culture counterpart, Hon. Oyinlomo Danmole (3rd left) during a prayer session in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of Lagos State at the Central Mosque, Alausa, Ikeja… last week

NUT gives MDGs, NTI 21 days to pay HE crisis rocking the MDG programmes if they allowance ture 2011 Millennium Develare not reimbursed.

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opment Goals (MDGs) and National Teachers Institute (NTI) deepened yesterday as the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) accused MDGs and NTI of short-changing the union.

NUT’s President, Comrade Michael Olukoya, told newsmen in Abuja that the NTI paid teachers N2, 500 each as against the N14, 000 allowance approved for the six-day training programme organised by the NTI with the support of the 2011 MDGs. This, Olukoya said, is a slap on the sensibilities of teachers in the country.

He said: “In the modern day Nigeria socio-economic predicament, the NTI is offering N416 daily to a teacher in Nigeria to cater for his transport and accommodation. ‘’The question here is,

From Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

what has happened to the balance of N11,500 per participant amounting to a total of N1,437,500,000 for the 125,000 participants?

“As the umbrella Union for all the teachers of Nigeria, the NUT, on behalf of the participants have not only rejected this slave pay but also condemned the action of the NTI, which grossly underrated the worth and integrity of the teachers.”

While noting that it is impossible for teachers to get transportation and accommodation at the projected N416.00, Olukoya demanded for immediate payment of the balance of N11, 500 to each participant of the programme.

He warned teachers will no longer participate in any fu-

The NUT chief gave the MDGs 21 days to redeem outstanding pledges and pay the balance of 11,500 to each participant to avoid crisis.

While warning government officials to stop making fortunes at the detriment of teachers, the NUT boss said: ”until these issues are addressed, the teachers of Nigeria have resolved to boycott all NTI/MDG programmes until otherwise directed by the Union.’’

He also called on Nigerians to prevail on the state governments to implement the 27.5% Teachers Peculiar Allowance (TPA) which the Governors’ Forum signed with the Union in 2008.

He also kicked against the use of casual teachers in any part of the nation in private or public schools.

at home.

“Cassava, for which Nigeria is the largest producer in the world, is being used to produce high quality cassava flour to replace some of the wheat.’’

He added: ‘’The flour mills and their surrogates are doing all they can to produce misinformed Nigerians and protect their super normal profits they siphon out of Nigeria’’.

He noted that the private sector has expressed readiness to substitute cassava flour for wheat flour, citing UTC Plc and Food Concepts as few of the bread and confectionaries companies.

On the rejection of the bill last week, Adesina said the NASS could not have rejected a bill that did not exist.

Adesina said : “Firstly, let me state that there was no such bill from the Executive and therefore no decision can be taken by the NASS on an executive bill that does not exist. This was a figment of imagination.”

He dismissed the notion that cassava consumption is bad for diabetic patients, saying it is scientifically baseless.

In his words: ‘’The statement credited to some that cassava consumption is not good for those with diabetes is wholesomely untrue. Scientifically baseless and it is a deliberate attempt to misinform Nigerians.’’

While noting that UTC has volunteered to train more bakers on the new trend, Adesina maintained that cassava flour has low glycemic indices of 59.34 percent compared to wheat flour having 70.10 percent.

He restated that local foods are much healthier than imported over- processed foods “that cause cancer and aggravate diabetes, such as white wheat flour.”

UNICAL post graduate students elect new executives From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

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HE Post Graduate Students Government (PGSG) of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) has elected new executives for the next academic session.

Austeen Aju emerged as president while Kenyon Abam is the new vice president.

Ohakwe John emerged as the general secretary.

Aju expressed gratitude for the opportunity given him to serve.

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Sacked doctors: Group warns NUPENG against sympathy strike

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GROUP, The Coalition of Yoruba Self Determination Group (COSEG), has warned the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) to shelve the idea of embarking on a strike in sympathy with sacked medical doctors in Lagos State.

The group at a press conference yesterday in Lagos jointly addressed by Dayo Ogunlana and Razaq OlokoOba, Chairman and Secretary respectively, said such an action could be interpreted to mean hitting back at the state government that ordered their tankers off the Apapa expressway.

While asserting that “such blackmail cannot work in Lagos State,” COSEG was of the opinion that “NUPENG should have been an arbiter and mediator rather than take side with any of the parties in the dispute.”

The group wondered why NUPENG that refused to partake in the January protest against removal of subsidy that affected it directly now suddenly found its voice in supporting the sacked doctors.

It then appealed to Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), to, “in his noble characteristic temper justice” with mercy and urged the doctors to sheath their swords.

Adeseun greets Soun

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HE Senator representing Oyo Central, Ayoade Adeseun, has lauded the Soun of Ogbomosholand, Oba Jimoh Oladunni Ajagungbade III on his 86th birthday.

Adeseun of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) described the monarch as the pride of all Ogbomoso indigenes at home and abroad, saying his reign has brought a high dimension of development and advancement to the town.

In his birthday message to the royal father, Adeseun noted that the life of the monarch is worthy of emulation by all and sundry.

“He is a thoroughbred leader and a caring father. He is both straightforward and trustworthy.

“He has been a constant source of joy and respect to all of us from Ogbomoso. I am proud to be associated with him and to be one of his subjects.”

Conference for waiting mothers

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HRISTIAN Women Fellowship International (CWFI) will hold a talk shop for expectant women on Tuesday, June 5.

The conference with the theme ‘’ladies in waiting’’ holds at the Civic Centre, Lagos by 5pm.

CWFI’s President, Archbishop Margaret Idahosa, will speak at the occasion.

A statement said the conference is aimed ‘’at addressing challenges facing women when there is delay in their hearts.’’

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Balance power generation with conservation -Fashola

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AGOS State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Friday, advocated that power generation in Nigeria must be balanced with conservation if the nation intends to meet her power needs.

The governor, who spoke at the Lantana Hall, Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, venue of a Town Hall Meeting with the theme, “Attaining Sustainable and Reliable Power Supply,” organised by the Federal Ministry of Power, said it is doubtful if any country has met her power needs by generation alone.

He explained that Nigerians must imbibe the culture of using electricity prudently, adding that although there is a shortage of power but the question is, “Are we using what is available optimally?

Speaking earlier, the Governor of Niger State, Dr Aliyu Muazu Babangida, who spoke on the ongoing dispute between the Lagos State Government and the Medical Guild in the state, said Fashola should not be disillusioned by the situation because it will definitely pass.

The Minister for Power, Dr Barth Nnaji in his presentation, said the Federal Government is committed to transforming the transmission sector of the power sector, adding that by July, submission of bids by the private sector will end while by October, there would be declaration of winners for transmission licenses.

2015 polls: Northern group decries Buhari’s statement From Olugbenga Adaniki

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

News

group, Northern Youth Movement for Positive Change (NYMPC), has condemned the statement of the former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari(retd), warning of bloodshed if the 2015 general elections are rigged.

The group has also slated 1st to 14th June, 2012 as a days to “purge corrupt judges” in the judicial arm of government.

In a communiqué issued in Abuja and jointly signed by NYMPC National President, Alhaji Isiaka Babanagode alongside other members, the group announced its plan to launch an advocacy campaign against the incessant delay of high profile cases in the country.

While commending President Goodluck Jonathan for the launch of the Almajiri model boarding schools in the North and the youth empowerment scheme, “You Win,” the group said it will sensitise entrepreneurs on the benefits of Islamic banking model.

The group also urged Buhari to leave politics for the younger generation, who are looking up to him.

NYMPC also resolved to mobilise parents and guardians to send their children and wards to schools throughout the northern states.

Cocaine FG provides N12.4b for ingestion kills danfo driver laboratories in 51 polytechnics T T Tunde Busari and Kelvin Osa- Okunbo

HE Minister of Education, Prof.

Ruqqayatu Ahmed Rufa’I, has said the Federal Government has provided

Obi donates buses, computers to schools

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HE Anambra State governor, Mr. Peter Obi said provision of computers to schools in the state would encourage students to key into the global trend of Information Communication Technology.

The governor made the remark while presenting a new 18-seater bus and ten sets of computers with accessories to Holy Child Convent, Amichi.

Also extending the same gesture to St. Michaels Boys Secondary School, Eziora Ozubulu and Mother of Mercy Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, Obi disclosed that the computers were part of the birthday gifts presented to him by well-wishers last year, adding that he decided to share it among schools in Anambra State since he had no need for the items.

Responding to the governor’s gesture, the Bishop of Amichi Anglican Diocese, owners of Holy Child Convent, Right Reverend Ephraim Ikeakor, thanked the Governor for his empowerment of schools in the state and determination to make a difference in governance.

From: Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

N12.4 Billion for equipping laboratories in all the 51 Federal and State Polytechnics with a view to enhancing the skills of youths and adults, as well as achieving the goals of a four-year strategic plan mapped out by the ministry.

The minister, who stated this during the public presentation of the 4-year

•Obi addressing the students

June LG election: Akwa Ibom dissolves youth executive

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OLLOWING last Friday’s attack on the Chairman of Mbo Local Government Transition Committee, Evangelist Okpo Ekere, the Akwa Ibom State Government has ordered the dissolution of the youth executive at the centre of the crisis in Ebughu Community in Mbo Local Government Area.

This is coming barely a week before the June 6 local government election in the state. Already, political watchers have described the move as timely as stakeholders and citizens are conscious of the need to ensure a peaceful local government elections in the state.

The Nation learnt that the Deputy Governor, Mr. Nsima Ekere, who gave the order shortly after visiting the LG chairman at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, where he was receiving medical attention, on Saturday, asked the State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Pastor Ita Umo-Udo, to immediately implement the dissolution.

He also directed the State Commissioner for Police, Mr. Umar Gwadabe to fish out the culprits and bring them to justice.

Mr. Ekere condemned the attack, describing it as callous, irresponsible, dastardly and despicable, wondering why the Chairman, who only waded in to ensure peace between the two contending

By Sam Egburonu

parties in the communal conflict should be made a victim.

He admonished youths in the state to desist from taking laws into their hands no matter the provocation, assuring that government was ever willing to address their genuine grievances.

The Deputy Governor expressed delight that the Chairman’s condition was stable and commended the Chief Medical Director and the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital for promptly carrying out a surgical intervention on the wounded Chairman.

It would be recalled that Ekere was shot by irate youths while he was on his way to Ewang to settle a communal dispute between Ebughu and Effiat communities. The two communities reportedly engaged in bloody and reprisal attacks before Ekere was caught in the crossfire. Some reports said the attackers also inflicted head injuries on the transition chairman.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Umar Gbadabe after confirming the attack, said 12 youths involved in the attack had been arrested.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ekere has called for prayers to ensure a peaceful local government elections in the state on June 9.

Strategic Plan for the Development of Education Sector and the inauguration of the Committees for the Development of National Systems Education said Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) is a key area the ministry is targeting towards enhancing skills of both youths and adults.

She said a total of N2.6 billion has also been provided for the rehabilitation of

laboratories in the same institutions while Federal Unity Colleges now receive the equivalence of 250.000 dollars for the same purpose.

Raqqayatu also said that nine new universities that are due to start academic activities have been provided with N1.5 billion for facilities at their take-off sites, while a further N18 billion has been provided for works at their permanent sites.

EN wraps of cocaine allegedly ingested by a drug suspect, Ozoani Edwin has turned suicidal.

The suspect, aged 34, was a commercial bus driver until March this year.

According to sources, Edwin was returning into the country aboard a South African Airline from Brazil when a team of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives arrested him at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja.

Investigations revealed that during screening, Edwin allegedly tested positive to drug ingestion and was placed on observation. The suspect later excreted 10 wraps of substances suspected to be cocaine, which weighed about 180grammes.

Sources disclosed that some minutes later, the suspect complained of stomach pain and was rushed to the hospital where he eventually died. A postmortem examination revealed the ruptured drug in his system.

Apparently disturbed by the sudden turn of the event coupled with other Nigerians on death roll in foreign countries over drug related offences, the Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade, reiterated his call for stiffer penalties for drug trafficking.

NEWS REVIEW

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Tomorrow, the duo of Heman Hembe and Chris Azubogu, the chairman and deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market, will return to court over allegations of corruption.

OLUKOREDE YISHAU examines the controversy generated by the probe of the capital market crash

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HE former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and Other Institutions, Mr. Herman Hembe, and his deputy, Chris Azubogu, are to have their day in court tomorrow. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), according to its charge says “That you Iorwase Herman Hembe sometime in October 2011 in Abuja within the Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of $4095 (Four thousand, Ninety Five Dollars) being money given to you by the Securities and Exchange Commission as your travelling allowance to PUNCTA CANA, Dominican Republic to attend a conference which you did not attend and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 308 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 2004 and punishable under section 309 of the same code.”

It also says “That you Azubogu Chris Emeka Ifeanyi sometime in October, 2011 in Abuja within the Judicial division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of $4095 (Four thousand, Ninety Five Dollars) being money given to you by the Securities and Exchange Commission as your travelling allowance to PUNCTA CANA, Dominican Republic to attend a conference which you did not attend and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 308 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 2004 and punishable under section 309 of the same code.”

The two-count charge were first made public on May 17 when the EFCC dragged Hembe to court. On that day, the lawmaker declined to either mount the dock or enter his plea to a charge he said was grossly incompetent. His argument: the trial court lacked the jurisdiction to okay him for trial.

He added that the proof of evidence tendered against him by the commission failed to disclose a prima-facie case against him. He urged the court to first determine the legal propriety of the leave it

Back in the dock granted to the EFCC on May 10 to try him and Azubogu, bearing in mind the provision of section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, CPC. Hembe’s counsel, Mr. Jibrin Kutekpa (SAN) told the court that his client appeared in court as a show of respect to the judiciary.

Azubogu’s lawyer, Mr Emeka Etiaba, told the court that his client was unable to appear for trial because he had to travel to his village in Nnewi, Anambra State, after he got a call that a member of his family was kidnapped.

Justice Abubakar Ishaq Bello, who tried to go on with the case, had to suspend it when the EFCC lawyer, Mr O. Uket, asked for more time to study the preliminary objection of the accused persons, which he was just served.

Justice Bello said he would consolidate the objections of the accused persons for hearing and concluded that the objections were not ripe for hearing. He announced an adjournment till Monday.

A matter of jurisdiction Justice Bello said: “It is in the interest of justice to determine the issue of jurisdiction the accused persons have raised. The accused persons are to appear on the next adjourned date, they are to remain on EFCC bail pending the determination of their objections to the trial.”

Azubogu, on May 22, filed a motion on notice asking a Federal High Court in Abuja to discharge the leave granted to EFCC to bring charges against him. He described the charge as an abuse of process as no complaint or investigation report was made indicting him for committing any offence.

His lawyer, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), said based on all documents filed by the EFCC, there was nothing capable of sustaining the charge of converting to his own use the $4,095.

As the case returns to court, interesting issues are being thrown up by both sides. While the EFCC claims it has evidence to prove that the accused persons, while presiding over the House committee probing alleged irregularities in the Capital Market, demanded bribe to the tune of N44million, a group, the Transparency, Integrity and Truth Network (TITN) wants the commission to discontinue the trial of Hembe and Azubuogu. Their reason: It will be unfair for it to adjudicate in a matter that it has interest since the Director-General of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a member of the EFCC board.

Chapter E1 of the EFCC Act stipulates that the EFCC board shall consist of the following: “ A chairman who shall be the chief executive and accounting officer of the commission…and governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria or its representative; and a representative each of the Ministries of Finance, Justice, Foreign Affairs; the chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency or his representatives; the Department of State Security Service or its representative, the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission or his representative; the Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission or his representative…”

The group, in a statement in Abuja by its co-ordinator, Abiodun Olawale, argued that being on the board of the EFCC will give the SEC DG an advan-

tage over Hembe and Azubuogu who are being accused of fraudulent conversion of the travelling allowance they received from SEC. The group said: “The neutrality of the EFCC in the matter will be questionable, especially as the case in question involves the allegations of a powerful member of the board of the anti-graft agency.”

Interestingly too, the DirectorGeneral of the Ethics & Corporate Compliance Institute of Nigeria, Sir Agabaidu Jideani, has berated the EFCC for wasting public funds in prosecuting the duo. According to him, the allegation against the duo does not reveal any criminal activity.

He told reporters: “The National Assembly as well as other public service institutions has a policy on retirement of allowances, cash advances and other disbursement of funds. Even in EFCC and the SEC, the non retirement of advanced cash for a trip or any activity by an official is not treated as a crime and nobody has ever been dragged to court in Nigeria or anywhere in the world for non retirement of unutilised travel allowance.

“What obtains is that the public official involved is communicated to by the office or organisation that advanced the cash and requested to refund the unutilised portion of the cash advance or allowance. Where the public official involved remains recalcitrant, the next step is to have such money deducted from their salaries. It is never a criminal matter that would warrant expending tax payers’ funds to prosecute.”

Jideani said it would amount to a waste of tax payers’ fund for the EFCC to concentrate its efforts

to prosecute the duo over the recovery of about N600,000.

He added: “It is ridiculous and smacks of fraud for the EFCC to brazenly attempt to investigate and prosecute the members of the legislature, when the main actors mentioned or targeted by the probe initiated by Hembe and Azubogu are members of the Board or governing authority in EFCC; it may interest you to note that the probe involved the activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) all of which were accused or alleged to have taken actions that negatively impacted on the investment of Nigerians in the Banking Sector, some of which Banks have been taken over by the CBN and sold with the consent of the SEC. “Unknown to Nigerians the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is a member of the EFCC Board or governing authority; the Director General of the SEC is member of the EFCC Board or governing authority; the Managing Director of NDIC is member of the EFCC. No right thinking person would expect the EFCC not to be biased in favour of members of its board or governing authority.

The right thing to do is for the EFCC to hands off this prosecution and refuse to be dragged into it to preserve its independence and integrity; since justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done…”

Throwing stones The whole scandal had started when the Hembe Committee accused Oteh of lavishing N30million on hotel bills alone.

Oteh, in the heat of the probe into the stock market, insisted that Hembe was “unfit” to head the investigative panel, saying he was corrupt.

The SEC DG alleged that SEC gave Hembe estacode and a first class ticket to attend a capital market conference in the Dominican Republic but he failed to attend and did not refund the money.

Hembe, who disqualified himself from heading the probe panel on the basis of the allegations, presented documents to the lower legislative chamber to prove that it was SEC, with Oteh’s approval, that offered N30m to the committee, contrary to her allegation that the lawmakers demanded bribe.

His claim made Oteh release a letter detailing requests she said was sent to the commission by the Hembe committee. She claimed the commission was already processing the payment until a day to the hearing, another N5m cash request was made for Hembe as Chairman of the probe panel.

The development made the House of Representatives order the Committee on Ethics and Privileges to investigate the allegations. It mandated Hembe to submit himself for investigation by the EFCC and constituted an eight-member panel to re-start the capital market probe.

As the duo return to court tomorrow, the question many will like to find answer to is will the EFCC be able to prove the case against the duo? Nigerians are waiting and watching with bated breath?

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

COMMENT and ANALYSIS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Festus Eriye efestus2003@yahoo.com 08052135878 (SMS only)

E

VER since the Federal Government made up its mind to head full tilt into negotiations with the extremist Islamist Boko Haram sect, strange things have been happening. A subtle, but unmistakable, effort to dress up the murderous group in more presentable borrowed robes has been unleashed by different elements of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Take the newly-elected chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who is road-testing his theory as to why the insurgency has been raging in the north-east. “Boko Haram is fighting for justice. Boko Haram is another name for justice. People feel aggrieved.

They are angry because they are hungry.”

Clearly, Tukur is a graduate of the school that holds that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. We will not dwell too much on the PDP boss’ curious thesis. We can only assume that the 40-odd worshippers – adults and children – murdered at the Catholic Church, Madalla, Abuja are part of the oppressors Boko Haram is fighting.

We must also assume that these fellows were ‘fighting for justice’ when they stormed a lecture hall in Bayero University, Kano and began shooting unarmed Christian worshippers on a Sunday morning a few weeks ago.

Burning down primary schools so that little children in Borno State cannot go to school is also part of the fight against injustice.

If anything the present leaders of the sect have refused to acknowledge every effort of the authorities to do justice over the extra-judicial killing by security forces in 2009 of their erstwhile leader, Mohammed Yusuf.

At some point, the group made pointed demands which the government bent over backwards to accommodate. They demanded that those responsible for the killing be tried. Presently, several senior police officers are facing trial for the execution – much to the chagrin of their colleagues.

Last week, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mohammed Adoke, confirmed that the government shelled out a tidy N100 million to the family of Yusuf as compensation for his killing, and as a gesture of reconciliation.

Last year, several serving and former governors of North-eastern state issued craven public apologies for their official actions against the sect.

None of these things have placated the sect.

Rather they keep changing their demands and agenda with each passing day. Rage over the murder of Yusuf has since given way to provocative killings of unarmed Christians – something those who want to make the Boko Haram insurgency out to be an economic uprising would be hard put to explain.

Tukur is not alone in the attempts at creating an enabling environment for talks with a group whose last communiqué disavowed any further dialogue with the Nigerian government. At different fora in the last few days both the Minister of Defence, Bello Haliru and National Security Adviser, Andrew Azazi, have trumpeted the administration’s strong opposition to efforts to label Boko Haram a terrorist organisation.

Trouble started after officials of the United States’ Justice Department began pressuring their State Department colleagues to allow them proceed with branding the sect a “foreign terrorist organisation.”

Nigeria’s Ambassador in the US, Prof.

Adebowale Adefuye, says the administration’s opposition to the labeling is because it could cause our citizens to be subjected to intensive body searches and scrutiny around the world.

But the truth is Nigerians have come under unfriendly spotlight at major Western airports after Farouk Abdulmutallab showed up at Detroit airport on Christmas Day 2009 wearing a

The rehabilitation of Boko Haram

The best efforts of the most unlikely of image launderers cannot change the fact that the sect is deploying inhuman terrorist tactics in pursuit of an amorphous agenda

•Azazi

•Tukur

bomb in his underpants. That insane stunt ensured that this nation joined the ranks of exporters of terror to the West.

That is why there’s such a false ring to our sniveling about intrusive frisking while travelling overseas. Back home we face equally uncomfortable body searches and pat-downs.

We are required to take off our shoes for scanning – little inconveniences that we have accepted with equanimity as the new reality in the age of terror.

The ambassador’s explanations are just a red-herring. Anyone who has followed Boko Haram knows that in a rather interesting paradox, a group that committed some of the most heinous crimes possible is very touchy about the way it is perceived. Apparently, Nigerian officials alarmed that the American action could torpedo tentative steps towards negotiations has been aggressively lobbying US diplomats with a view to blocking the Boko Haram naming ceremony.

So what the US Justice Department is seeking to do will not make the experience of the average traveler considerably worse. If anything, it will increase global pressure and sharpen scrutiny of the brutal sect and its methods. And that would not be such a bad thing after all - given that the likes of Azazi have

acknowledged in times past that the sect had links with the so-called Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Frankly, what the Americans are seeking to do is merely stating the obvious. What do you call a bunch of people who hurl bombs into a church on Sunday morning, or shoot innocent worshippers in the back? Terrorists!

What do you call a man who drives a bombladen car into police headquarters or a newspaper house? Terrorist!

Mike Rogers, Chairman of the United States House of Representative’s Intelligence Committee, had this to say about the whole debate: “Boko Haram claimed credit for the suicide bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, killing 23 people and injuring more than 80 others. That meets my definition of a terrorist group.”

The government may have allowed itself to be seduced or blackmailed by talk about all conflict ending on the negotiating table - but having done that the first order of business is not to rush off to foreign capitals to stop them from slapping embarrassing labels on Boko Haram.

The first thing to do is ask what the government is getting in return for agreeing to talk.

These sorts of concessions are not just made on a platter: the other side has to offer something in return. The way the Jonathan administration is carrying on gives the impression that it is on its knees willing to do anything to appease the sect.

In other countries which have been confronted with similar challenges, the cessation of violent attacks is usually the minimum condition for committing to talks. Back in the days when the Africa National Congress (ANC) was fighting South Africa’s Apartheid regime, it had to renounce violence at some point as a precondition for negotiations.

Even the different panels set up by the government have recommended talks only if Boko Haram renounces violence. That is what Azazi and company should be pressing for – not worrying about what other countries are doing to protect their own citizens from being harmed

by Boko Haram.

By choosing to sit down with the sect unconditionally, government should know that it is not only setting a very dangerous precedent, it is projecting itself as weak and helpless.

Similar groups that may rise up in future now know that terror pays in Nigeria because it gets you quick attention and delivers a potentially hefty pay day.

“In other countries which have been confronted with similar challenges, the cessation of violent attacks is usually the minimum condition for committing to talks. Back in the days when the Africa National Congress (ANC) was fighting South Africa’s Apartheid regime, it had to renounce violence at some point as a precondition for negotiations”

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

Okada menace

I

HAVE tried hard to restrain myself from writing about commercial motorcyclists popularly known as Okada riders to avoid being misunderstood but I can no longer hold back my views on them.

I count myself lucky that I no longer have cause to take Okada but I know that it is what many rely on to move around across the country. But for Okada and tricycles, it is difficult to imagine how many Nigerians would have been able to transport themselves daily to work and generally move from one point to another considering the inadequate transport facilities in the country.

Some neighborhoods are simply inaccessible for vehicles due to bad roads ,and residents would have to trek long distances if there were no Okada to ply such areas. Even where commercial vehicles are available, they are not enough to cope with the teaming crowd at bus stops.

The point must be made that having crowd of motor cyclists which keeps growing all over our cities, towns and villages is nothing to be proud of and is indeed a sign of how our standard of living is deteriorating.

However, while the commercial cyclists should be commended for providing alternate means of transportation, which is even regarded as faster than other vehicles and earning a living from it instead of taking to crime, I am worried that most of the riders are very reckless and have the least regard for traffic regulations.

They endanger the lives of not only their helpless passengers but other road users. It is not surprising that the accident rate of motorcycles is very high with many dead and others maimed for life.

I don’t understand why motorcyclists prefer to violate traffic laws as if they are not supposed to obey it.

They refuse to obey traffic lights when other vehicles wait for the green light to come on. Drivers who have the right of way usually have to watch out for lawless Okada riders who don’t hesitate to get unruly even when they are at fault.

They also drive against traffic even on major highways as if their lives and that of their passengers don’t matter. Most times riding Okada is sometimes tantamount to wanting to commit suicide but I know many don’t have a choice if they must move around.

Okada riders can be so impatient that they don’t mind squeezing themselves into any available space no matter how bad the traffic jam is . Last week I noticed that Okada riders along the Ikeja- Oshodi end of the Lagos/ Abeokuta Road now ride on the walkway provided for pedestrians all in their desperation to make more trips and earn more money.

For the sake of their lives, their passengers and other road users, Okada riders have to realise that they have become a menace on our roads and have to abide with traffic regulations. I perfectly understand why some state governments have banned the Okada operators from some major roads and I support any move by law enforcement agencies to force the riders to obey traffic regulations.

It is bad enough that Okada has become a major means of transportation in Nigeria. My dream is that someday government will provide enough transportation and good roads that we will in some years to come be remembering of the bad old days of Okada.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Comment & Analysis

Ajimobi’s tortuous road to restoration in Oyo I

BADAN, which can be used interchangeably as the capital of Oyo State, the state itself and the capital of Yorubaland, has a renown which predates its present political gladiators. Let us for now abstain from recollecting the internecine wars between it and the Egba/Ijebus, the wars that threw up Ibadan generalissimos like Bashorun Ogunmola, Oluyole, Lagelu and sundry other generals renowned for their war prowess. Ibadan also prides itself as possessing of a self-purifying mechanism. Recall the lacerating memory of Iyalode Efunsetan, the Ibadan woman traditional ruling cabinet member, renowned for her remarkable despotism. Efunsetan’s tyranny was eventually brought to its kneels by Ibadan traditional mystique. This recollection is necessary to situate Ibadan, Oyo State, as a hotbed of intra-city crisis and the thermometer for measuring group dissent.

By the 20th century, on the political turf, Ibadan merely transmuted its earlier centuries’ renown to the field of politics. About then came into politics that young Ijebu boystenographer. He had witnessed a major financial crisis earlier. Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo came into Ibadan politics at a time when Ibadan/Ijebu mistrust reeked unpleasantly. Gradually, he transformed Ibadan, nay Western Region, into a place of reckoning, a land of firsts, but actually not succeeding in purifying it of its incendiary politics and, if you like, cynical people whom you could please seldom.

Since that horn-rimmed spectacle politician departed Agodi Government House, the state has witnessed several mutations from the good, the bad to the ugly. While some military men acquitted themselves very well as administrators of the state, some civilian governors merely went on governmental saturnalia, leaving Ibadan as poor imitation of the vision of the Ikenne-born statesman.

In the spectacle of the last referent was

• Ajimobi

By Festus Adedayo

the immediate past administration of the state. While some administrators of states in Nigeria inherited templates of good governance which they are bettering, Abiola Ajimobi, the current Governor of Oyo State, inherited a dysfunctional state. From the basic to the essential, Oyo occupied the proverbial Ground Zero. Let us begin from the intangibles. If you assume that indeed, Awolowo sat at Agodi to administer the whole of Western Region, by May 2011, it would be safe to conclude that some locusts had invaded the forest of Ibadan governance. In renown, Ajimobi inherited a state with a remarkable typecast as hotbed of violence of NURTW kingpins, ably abetted by the state. Recall the Eleweomo-Tokyo-Auxiliary saga. And the seemingly insignificant:

the inherited offices of the governor and his aides were comparable to a motor park executive’s waiting room and needed to be urgently rehabilitated.

The tangibles were no less decrepit. N24 billion had been spent building a hospital that COREN adjudged an engineering disaster. You do not have to be an architect to see its architectural illiteracy. Virtually everything that makes a hospital worthy of its name were absent in Adebayo Alao-Akala’s LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, which had set the state account balance back by an amount which could build twice the Africarenowned UCH, Ibadan but with less finesse, less sophistication, less architectural sense and much more of greed and egotistic drive to show that the Ogbomosho boy (PSC, please!) had surpassed his late kinsman, S.L.A.Akintola’s contribution to the lot of his townsfolk. In the area of roads, the state inherited a governmental renown for road construction that lasted about six months before caving in to the hammer of potholes.

Indeed, generally, the morale of the state was at its nadir. The above, akin to academics’ mantra – Statement of Problem – is necessary to understand where the Ajimobi government was coming from.

Ajimobi was aware of overwhelming public expectations from him and his government. His highly cerebral disposition, education and pedigree convinced the electorate that his would be a discontinuation of the yeleyele brass-tack governance of the past. This apparently translated into impatience from a people who, for decades, smelled governmental performance in foreign lands, heard of it like a fable and were thirsty for good governance in their clime.

By May 2011, virtually all roads that were hitherto constructed with billions of Oyo money had begun to go bad again, including one that Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was dragged by the nape of his trousers to commission at New Garage. So the gover-

nor began to ginger his local governments on the need to construct roads that would endure. Their specialties were roads that had been abandoned and ones badly constructed. Ajimobi’s sworn avowal was to construct roads that would endure like those of Awolowo, whom he had admired right from his youthful days. Never, he ordered his Works Commissioner and all local councils, will his government tread a recent road trodden by immediate past government where substandard roads were constructed with building blocks as drainages. Indeed, he ordered that for any road to pass his litmus test, it must be COREN-certified. That effort is now yielding fruits. Till date, the state has constructed/is constructing 192 roads within the period of one year. This is not to talk of a N2.1 billion overhead bridge it is constructing at the Mokola area of the state capital, the first by any civilian government in the state and about eight major bridges washed away by flood which are being reconstructed.

One unpleasant fart left by Ajimobi’s predecessor was the typecast of government as peopled by leeches and scoundrels. Ajimobi chose his team, made up of professionals, across board. He also underscored the need to leave an identity of excellence and for his aides to key into a philosophy of transparency and accountability in governance. At various fora, Ajimobi impacts into his team, whom he likens to the American marines, an identity of qualitative discharge of responsibilities.

In the area of health, a few months into his administration, Ajimobi began a free healthcare programme which, so far, has catered for about 300,000 people of the state.

They were provided with free health screening, drugs and minor operations like hernia etc. Today, beneficiaries of that scheme are lauding this health intervention that has saved thousands from the jaws of death.

Continued on page 67

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Comment & Analysis

15

A serious breach President Jonathan is an ominous busybody over non reinstatement of Salami

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to frustrate the constitutional prerogative of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to recall Justice Ayo Salami as President of the Court of Appeal (PCA) should be condemned by all wellmeaning Nigerians. The president’s preference for the jejune opinion of the Attorney General of the Federation as against the clear and unequivocal provisions of the 1999 constitution which the president swore to uphold and defend must be appreciated for what it is: a gross abuse of the constitution. To restore the presidential dignity, we urge the president to ponder on the provisions of section 1, that the constitution is supreme.

Upon reflection, President Jonathan will appreciate that his refusal to allow the judicial arm, headed by the NJC, an unfettered exercise of her constitutional powers amounts to gross misconduct. While the president should have the latitude to play politics, such must not be allowed to undermine the very foundations upon which our democratic enterprise is built. We therefore urge him to read the provisions of the Third Schedule paragraph I section 21(b) of the 1999 constitution which provides: “the National Judicial Council shall have power to: recommend to the President the removal from office of the judicial officers specified in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph, and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers”.

A careful reading will help the president to appreciate that the NJC is the sole authority as to the second part of the above provision, to wit: “and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers”. There, the role of the president is merely to obey the provisions of section 5(1) and (2) (b) of the constitution to wit: “subject to the provisions of this constitution, the executive powers of the federation shall be

T

HE attention of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has been drawn to a libellous, malicious, obnoxious and inaccurate feature article in The Nation on Sunday of May 20, 2012 titled “The whistle blowers in the dock” which made several unsubstantiated allegations against BPE. The story is premised on the allegation that save for some whistle blowers, the BPE would have defrauded the Federal Government of billions of naira through some phony contract payments. And that it was the intervention of the Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Vice President Namadi Sambo that stopped the alleged scam.

It is lamentable that the reporter, Gbade Ogunwale, dragged my name into the spurious story to give credence that he spoke to the Bureau. I have not spoken to Mr. Ogunwale in the past three months and I remember that the time we spoke on the phone, it was in respect of the creditors threatening to picket the premises of the BPE in order for the privatisation agency to pay the creditors. The issue of fraud was never put across to me to address.

Nonetheless, the article which was a hatchet job was based solely on the hallucinations of the creditors of Mtel.

The Bureau restates for the umpteenth time that payments to creditors are addressed only after an enterprise is privatised.

As is well known, NITEL and

vested in the President and … shall extend to the execution and maintenance of this constitution ….”

To conclusively appreciate that it is unconstitutional to continue to derogate the powers of the NJC with respect to the recall of Justice Salami to his duties, the president should further read the provisions of section 158 of the constitution, which provides that: “in exercising its power to make appointments or to exercise disciplinary control over persons, the National Judicial Council (among other listed bodies) shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person”.

We also advise President Jonathan to note that a plethora of law suits does not amount to a stay of action. While parties are enjoined to obey the doctrine of lis pendis, the pendency of a court action without an order of court cannot operate to stop the exercise of a constitutional mandate.

To hold otherwise will ensure that the business of governance is stultified. In the exercise of his constitutional responsibility, the president can only be accountable to an order of court, which is quite different from the filing of an action in court, in which no pronouncement has been made by the court.

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

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

President Jonathan should also appreciate the advice from critical stakeholders like the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Uwais and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), urging him to obey the provisions of the constitution and not to undermine another arm of government. It will be a huge constitutional tragedy if the President would rather rely on his political party hawks and their interests to violate the provisions of the constitution, which he has sworn to uphold.

The continued delay, we must inform President Jonathan, lends credence to the argument that Justice Salami has become a victim of political intrigues. As has been stated by the opposition parties and supported by non partisans alike, Justice Salami’s problem started following the Appeal Court’s judgments nullifying the Peoples Democratic Party’s elections in some states of the federation. The candidates whose elections were nullified by competent appeal tribunals turned the issue to a personal affront and started maligning the integrity of the learned Justice. As if on cue, a crisis of confidence broke out between Justice Salami and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, resulting in the latter’s orchestrated suspension.

With the latest decision of the NJC to rescind its decision that Justice Salami has any misconduct to answer for, it was only expected that the president would have acted with the same dispatch as he did, when he suspended Justice Salami from his duty. Then the president claimed to have acted in respect of the doctrine of separation of powers, noting that the NJC is the constitutional body having powers to discipline a judge. To the surprise of many Nigerians, the same president is now willing to ignore the same body and over the same issue, on the premise that some busy bodies have gone to court. What a contradiction!

LETTERS

Re: Whistle blowers in the dock its mobile subsidiary, Mtel, have not been privatised. The last attempt to privatise, which had New Generation Consortium and Omen International as preferred and reserve bidders, was not successful.

In other words, that source of funding was not available to the privatisation agency to pay the alleged creditors. All

I

F one of the cardinal purpose of the government is to manage our collective resources to reduce social conflict, entrench harmony and thus promote welfare, then a failure by government to curb encroachment on Orisumbare Forest Reserve, Lipanu Ile-Oluji is bad.

It is an inescapable fact that Orisumbare Forest Reserve in Ile-Oluji, belongs to the Ondo-State. We observe with surprise as the vast forest has been invaded and depleted. The forest is going and no one cares. Teaks, the economic trees planted and conserved over many decades as raw materials to local industries/firms had been absolutely-destroyed. They have been allocated to individuals at certain rates for cultivation with the support of classified faceless few that comprises traditional rulers, politicians, ethnic group leaders, govern-

the Bureau had done was to undertake verification of the debts owed by NITEL and Mtel pending when funds would be available to pay off the creditors from proceeds of sale. The Office of the Accountant General is in a better position to comment on whether the Bureau forwarded any list to it to effect

payment. May we ask: why did the reporter not seek to speak to the Accountant General of the Federation?

Perhaps, the reporter knows better than the Bureau about funding sources available to address the creditors’ claims. We await enlightenment from him.

The reporter based his story on the allegations of the so-

called representatives of the creditors, Messrs Kabiru Musa and Sylvester Onwuna, who have spun a story that would make Chinua Achebe reassess his craft.

The so-called creditors’ representatives are challenged to make available to the public the list that the BPE compiled that would have

Let us preserve our forests ment officials and security agents who corruptly-enrich themselves at the expense of the state. Resources that would have been used judiciously to transform the society; build infrastructures, amenities, pipe-borne water

et cetera is now at the hand of a few.

Worst still, despite our serial complaints about the environmental degradation, economic offences, rights violations at the Government Quarters, security operatives desk,

the crime remain unabated.

Their nonchalant posture: neglect, dereliction of duty and responsibilities by the concerned authorities have all led to the subversion of due process, transparency and accountability. What ef-

Is Dame Patience Jonathan not a mother to Urhobo too?

T

HE First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan was in Warri on May 14 to commission a health and beauty shop. The shop is named Tamatare Health and Beauty shop situated along the Effurun-Sapele Road. The shop is owned by an Ijaw judging by its name, Tamatare, which is Ijaw compound word for ‘God’s love’. (‘Tamara’ means ‘God’ and ‘Tare’ Love’ in Ijaw.). It gladdens Deltans that the

First Lady would have the time to visit our humble, Big Heart State.

However, this writer is sad that the mother of the nation would not accord a similar honour to the Urhobo when she was invited to the state to the launch of the genealogy book, Urhobo Roots and the Gods eleven months ago. Although the First Lady was sent invitation twice, delivered by courier, she did not acknowlege it.

She should realise that Mr.

President’s vision to “Bring back the Book” in Nigeria needs writers to succeed, necessitating her support - not necessarily financially, but morally.

At no times than these do the First Lady, as the mother of the nation, needs to carry every Nigerian ethnic group along, as one big, united family.

By Emmanuel Orerhime Ifie, Warri, Delta State.

been used to defraud the government. The Bureau affirms that it procured the services of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to pay the entitlements of the former workers of NITEL and Mtel. But the BPE has not done so in respect of Mtel creditors.

It is the hope of the Bureau that reporters get all sides of a story and not write fiction based on the myths being spun by one party.

Thanks.

Chukwuma Nwokoh Head, Public Communications fort had the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ondo-State Boundary Commission and other departments done so far to conserve the resources?

Ile-Oluji people have been sleeping with one eye closed now.

We are weary of these unwarranted circumstances that militate against our socio-economic advancement where huge revenue that would have accrued for development is secretly-frittered away into private pockets by saboteurs. Going beyond the encroachment and usurpation it is a threat to our lives.

The government must wake up to its responsibilities and fight this menace without parochial considerations.

By Akingbola Temidayo Ile-Oluji Boundaries Association Ile-Oluji, Ondo State.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Comment & Analysis

Notes towards constitutional amendment (1) Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

I

T is not surprising that many Nigerians are not paying the Senate noticeable attention on its announcement of intent to amend the 1999 Constitution.

Such people believe that the best way to produce a people’s constitution is through a constitutional conference that prepares a draft constitution for a referendum.

They believe that the current crop of legislators came into power under an imposed constitution that truncated the struggle to democracy in 1998, and that such lawmakers are likely to be too partisan to re-shape the 1999 Constitution to reflect the wishes of majority of the citizens.

Philosophically, this column identifies with such stance. But nothing is likely to be lost by giving the Senate a chance to demonstrate its sincerity in its bid to amend a constitution which Nigerians have labeled a military document designed to create a political structure that makes some sections of the country overlords to others. Nothing should stop federalists from providing

It is time to move back to the federal experiment the Senate with facts that can guide it in the task it is giving the impression it can accomplish, to make constitutional conference unnecessary.

Most Nigerians that call for a new constitution do so in the belief that the 1999 Constitution has thrown the country back to the kind of unitary government that was in vogue under the Clifford Constitution of 1922. They believe that if the Clifford Constitution was not conducive to peace, progress, and development in 1922, what appears to be its clone in 1999 is not likely to be capable of enabling the country to join the ranks of peaceful, stable, and upward-bound countries in the modern world.

The second constitution, the Richards Constitution of 1946, tried to create three regions with some measure of recognition of the special needs of each of the three regions.

Governor Arthur Richards said in favour of a new constitution to temper Clifford’s unitary constitution of 1922 that the best way to strengthen the unity of the country was to “encourage the regions to develop each along its characteristic lines.” Richards’ statement then amplifies today’s call for a federal system that empowers each federating unit to develop at its own pace and in consonance with its

values.

Richards’ romance with regionalism and federalism was later built upon by the Macpherson Constitution of 1951.

This constitution gave more legislative and executive responsibilities to the three regions, while still giving more concessions to the North that was given 45 seats at the Central Council while Eastern Region and Western Region each got 33 seats, as a compromise on the initial demand by Northern Emirs for 50 seats, to complement 25 seats each from the two southern regions. The consequence of this thought on Richards’ part is an implicit recognition of the failure of the Lugardian principle of centralism or unitarism and the need to replace this with a federal type of constitution for the country. It was the Macpherson Constitution that grew later into the Lyttleton Constitution of 1954 which assuaged the fear of leaders of the North about possible domination by the South, by providing greater regional autonomy for each of the three regions to remove the fear of domination of one region by another. The Lyttleton Constitution was the one polished to create what later became the Independence Constitution of 1960.

Towards the end of

Obasanjo’s regime, a decision was taken by the federal military government to write a new constitution, instead of removing the suspension placed on federal and regional constitutions by the first military dictatorship in 1966. It was the constitution that was moderated by the Obasanjo regime that first changed the ratio between items on the Exclusive and Concurrent Lists.

For example, the 1960 Constitution had 44 items on the Exclusive List and 28 on the Concurrent. The Republican Constitution of 1963 had 45 items on the Exclusive List and 29 on the Concurrent. In 1963, the ratio between federal and regional responsibilities was 3:2. The 1979 Constitution that transferred power from the military to civilians had 66 items on the Exclusive List and 30 on the Concurrent with a ratio of federal/state responsibilities being 2:1. Worse still, the 1999 Constitution has 68 items on the Exclusive List and 30 on the Concurrent. Since the 1999 Constitution was also midwifed by military dictators: Sani Abacha and Abdusalaam Abubakar, like the 1979 version moderated by another military dictator, Olusegun Obasanjo, one does not need a soothsayer to confirm that the movement of Nigeria from regional autonomy back to

Lugardian-type of unitary governance came from military dictatorships between 1979 and 1999.

The truth is that at the 502nd anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from Lugard’s Great Britain, Nigeria’s constitution is nearly as unitary as the favoured arrangement under Frederick Lugard between 1914 and 1922. The gains made for federalism, especially removal of fear of domination of one part of the country by other parts and recognition of the potential of its cultural diversity for peace and stability under Richards, Macpherson, and Robertson between 1946 and 1960 and of Tafawa Balewa between 1960 and 1966 had been wiped out between 1979 and 1999. It is the product of efforts by military dictators to create a constitution that gave advantage to some section of the country over others that is now before the Senate for retouch.

What is the way forward?

Forty-six years should be enough to run a political experiment. The political experiment since 1966 that has eroded the country’s legacy of federalism has failed palpably. The Senate should note that it is time to move back to the federal experiment that worked until 1966 or think about new ones. The first point of call is to transfer many responsibilities currently on the Exclusive List to the Concurrent one.

To be continued next week.

Without a doubt this president is overwhelmed Femi Orebe femi.orebe @thenationonlineng.net 08056504626 (sms only)

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N the article: ‘Nigeria accelerating towards insolvency, Nasir El-Rufai, former Minister of the Federal Republic during the Obasanjo administration, wrote as follows: ‘The Yar’ Adua-Jonathan administration inherited about US $50 billion in foreign reserves, $ 27 billion in the excess crude account, and only $3 billion in foreign debt. Yar’ Adua-Jonathan inherited a country that was liquid and had a strong balance sheet, with BB- sovereign credit rating by rating agencies. The economic prospects were bright if the political economy was managed well. The twin deficits of electricity and rail transport were being addressed through the award of contracts to build seven new power stations and the Lagos-Kano dual-track, standard gauge railway line. Over the ensuing four years, the federation earned another $180 billion from oil and gas, import duties and taxes. By 2011, all these resources had been wasted with little to show for it. The excess crude account had been run down to less than $1 billion, the reserves drawn down to about $35 billion and none of the rail and power infrastructure projects completed. What is significant is that since February 2010 when he be-

President Jonathan should limit himself to one term came acting president, Mr. Jonathan has been borrowing an average of $1 billion monthly, mostly by issuing bonds, thereby doubling our total debt levels to nearly $42 billion and counting.

The federal government is fast accelerating towards insolvency!’

Promote a man beyond his ken as President and see, not only him, but the entire polity at the lowest ebb. In the course of the 2011 presidential electioneering campaigns, I made the point that though Dr Goodluck Jonathan may have been this and that, namely, Deputy Governor, Acting and later state governor, Vice President, Acting and later President, he remained largely an untested quantity who had not stood for, nor won a single election on his own mettle. He had been largely no more than a ‘spare tyre’ and at the highest of those positions, as acting President, Madam Turai, late Yar’ ‘Adua’s wife, ensured that now jailed Ibori had greater access to power, authority and responsibility than the then Acting President.

The consequences of that obvious shortcoming, as evidenced in the myriad problems confronting the country today, with none nearing a resolution, must have weighed so heavily on Mallam El Rufai that he could not help holding the man of God, Pastor Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, vicariously responsible for the country’s current hopeless situation, no matter which way

you turn. Without a doubt, the sight of a pious- looking candidate Jonathan kneeling supinely before a highly regarded man of God, few weeks before the last elections, gave the candidate tremendous political mileage over and above his more deserving lead opponent.

In a very deep interrogation of Senator Femi Ojudu’s suggested prescription of the death sentence as penalty for corruption on Panupo, the Ekiti intellectual roundtable this past week, I had written as follows: …’in particular is the level of mediocrity we now see at the federal level where, truth be told, Nigerians with any semblance of conscience, and irrespective of party affiliation, must have been truly scandalized concerning the obvious inability of President Jonathan to rein in corruption.

What exactly is likely to spur our president to any meaningful, head-on confrontation with corruption? Where exactly do we go from here?

More than the above, however, it is the response of Dr Ade Ojo, a highly regarded Professor of French, that I would love to serve my readers today.

I quote him, mutatis mutandis: “Where exactly do we go from here”?

‘Good question, which should be dispassionately and objectively addressed by all Nigerians who are truly angry, disgusted, scandalized and genuinely tired of watching the cancerous corruption which is daily

being fed by the rapacious greed, selfishness and scandalous materialism of most of our professional politicians, government appointees, elected representatives , civil servants, uniformed officers and company executives among the many beneficiaries and sustainers of corruption in our country. If we are serious and sincerely wish to put an end to this embarrassing national malaise, beneficiaries of corruption must be forced to be at the forefront of our anti-corruption efforts simply by making them guinea pigs of anti-corruption.

The system must be such that would compel them to live a corrupt-free life style. If this entails the state seizing their ill-gotten wealth, amongst other punishments, so be it because for as long as politicians live their usual profligate lifestyle which is in sharp contrast to their visible earnings, any anti-corruption campaign will tantamount to mere noise making and an hypocritical insult on the intelligence of the average Nigerian.

One ascertainable anti-corruption measure that should be boldly enforced is the institution of an equitable taxation system.

Both the federal and state tax authorities should make taxes payable by these corrupt individuals to reflect their level of profligacy and ostentatious living. I have often wondered, for instance, whether any tax authority has ever drawn a correlation between taxes paid and the declared assets of our public officers whether at the point of

entry or as they leave office. They should, henceforth do this and any unpaid sums should not only be repaid with interest but such defaulting individuals must be made to face the music. Also in this regard, one wonders how much tax is paid by our oil magnates especially those who have recently fleeced us all via the bogus oil subsidy. Taxation is one measure that has been positively used in organized societies to curb corruption and God help you if you evade tax or cooked the books in order to pay a lower tax’.

In addition to these, there must be put in place a carefully structured and appropriately staffed system to put the judiciary, especially the senior bar and the bench, the police, the legislature, federal and state and even the EFCC itself under close scrutiny.

Until these institutions which abet, sustain and oil the all-pervading corruption in the country are properly monitored and tamed, we would merely be scratching corruption at the surface. Those found guilty must then be publicly disgraced and sent to long jail terms, not hanged, but certainly not given a slap on the wrist via the ludicrous plea bargain through which the likes of Igbinedion literally escaped justice. For Nigeria to survive beyond the year 2015, corruption must be totally exorcised because it is evil.

But nothing in my view speaks to President Jonathan’s cluelessness than his refusal to Continued on page 67

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Comment & Analysis

17

Tunji

Playing God with Salami’s job

tunjade@yahoo.co.uk

ria mandate has turned awry so soon and he appears not perturbed to shore up his sagging image! This is not about being populist or taking decisions based on sentiment; no, rather, it is about towing the path of rectitude and at least prove cynics wrong.

This may not be popular with his party hawks though; but there are times a leader takes such decision, even in spite of his party.

One would be tempted to laud the government for respecting the rule of law when its attorney general gave the impression that Justice Salami’s fate hangs on the judiciary. Unfortunately, this is not exactly the case. The president chooses when to respect the rule of law and when to ignore it. It is unfortunate that many of our government officials see the rest of us as fools.

When President Jonathan ratified the suspension of Justice Salami, it was not subjudice then, in spite of the fact that there was at least a suit pending on the matter. He ratified the suspension with the speed of light because he and his party had partisan interest in Salami’s case, and it was in their interest to approve the suspension at the time.

For years, Nigeria has been unfortunate to have very terrible ministers of justice and attorneys-general.

It is not that many of them are not

Adegboyega 08054503906 (sms only)

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NE thing about most of our governments is the relative predictability of their action, especially when the issue is mischief or intrigue. Many people had predicted the outcome long before Tuesday when President Goodluck Jonathan finally made his mind known on the issue of the suspended President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Ayo Salami. President Jonathan’s attorney-general and minister of justice, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, said that the president was not considering the reinstatement of Justice Salami now. Adoke, who spoke at the ministerial press briefing marking the first anniversary of the Jonathan administration, said Justice Salami cannot return to his post until all pending suits on the matter are disposed of.

“As it is today, the matter is subjudice. The matter is in court and no responsible government will try to overreach the court. No responsible government will act on it in the present circumstances of the case. The matter is subjudice. As soon as the judiciary puts its house in order, the Federal Government will make its position on the matter known,” Mr Adoke said. As usual with President Jonathan, instead of seizing a unique opportunity of his government’s first anniversary to right a contrived wrong, he wasted the opportunity.

Even some of our military dictators knew how to seize such opportunities to raise their popularity rating.

This is a president whose pan-Nige-

Postscript, Unlimited!

By

Oyinkan Medubi 08187172799 (SMS only) puchuckles7@gmail.com

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EAR reader, I have brought a sad and sour note to this page this week, occasioned by the sad exit from this world of people close and dear to me. The note I sound therefore, concerns the tenor of the life we live. If anything, indeed, experiences in the recent times seem to be urging us to a more vigorous appreciation of that life. Life, someone once said, is an egg.

Once broken, it cannot be put together again. So, one needs to make sure one’s own egg is either hard boiled or one gets a good sweeper. Accidents, tornadoes, earthquakes, plane disasters, wars, you name it, all conspire to teach us that life is that precious. It is so precious that the rest of us, you and I that is, must begin now, if we didn’t before, to hold it with a great deal of care, caution and critical awareness. Seriously.

Listen to this. I believe most people who have had to depart this world fall into several categories. The first consists of those who actually do not really want to go, but

The president hides behind a finger to stall the jurist’s resumption brilliant; the problem is that their brilliance is usually diverted to dysfunctional purposes. That is why we have always had attorneys-general who would do anything to please their master, including the absurd and unthinkable. Except that the former attorney-general, Michael Aondoakaa, was part of the Yar’Adua kitchen cabinet, the only difference between him and the incumbent is like that between six and half a dozen. Just as Aondoakaa would have done, Mr Adoke too attempted to make the government smell like a rose when he said that it would have retired Justice Salami outright if it were to follow strictly the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) when the matter was referred to the president in August last year but, in its magnanimity, chose not to. Again, hear him: “The Federal Government approved his suspension and put on hold the issue of retirement and appointed an Acting President of the Court of Appeal. On 11th May, 2012.

NJC recalled the suspended President of the Court of Appeal and forwarded its recommendation to the president.

There are several litigations by way

“What has become clear is that whatever most of our politicians touch, they corrupt. Although the courts could in all honesty not have laid any claim to the innocence of a virgin even before now, the fact is that whatever corruption therein was tolerable until the politicians came with their election petitions and their ill-gotten wealth”

of processes served on the president on the issue and until these are resolved, he cannot act. This government will do the right thing as soon as the judiciary puts its acts together.”

The judiciary, as it were, carries the can now. The implication of the government’s stance however is that the battle for the reinstatement of Justice Salami is long drawn. And the president and his party deliberately made it so because of the political reverses they suffered at the court of appeal headed by Justice Salami, where most of their electoral fortunes were turned to misfortunes by the court, which took the stolen mandate from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) predators and handed them over to the rightful owners.

With a party that specialises in election rigging, the presence of a man like Justice Salami as head of the court of appeal is discomfiting. As a matter of fact, this was the real reason why the ruling party had to amend the electoral act to ensure that governorship election petitions no longer end at the court of appeal but at the Supreme Court. Those of us who do not understand the difference between what the law was and what they amended it to would be wondering what difference it makes. But those of them who amended the law understood perfectly why. As the saying goes,”it is only the person who understands its essence that spits on the ground and quickly rubs the spittle with his foot”.

However, now that Mr Adoke and the government he is advising have put the ball in the court of the judi-

ciary, it is up to the courts to disentangle themselves from the apron strings of the government. What has become clear is that whatever most of our politicians touch, they corrupt.

Although the courts could in all honesty not have laid any claim to the innocence of a virgin even before now, the fact is that whatever corruption therein was tolerable until the politicians came with their election petitions and their ill-gotten wealth.

They then ‘captured’ the judiciary as it were (to use the expression of the ruling party) and our courts were overtaken by their corruptive influence. That is why today, we hear of ‘billionaire judges’, a thing hitherto unknown despite the mind-boggling corruption in the land.

The point is that those manipulating the process could not have imagined that this is where all their efforts would end. They probably anticipated a damning verdict from the NJC that they would then hold to humiliate the jurist who is due for retirement next year. It was when all their efforts had failed that they thought of involving some meddlers who should have no locus to go to court and stand between Justice Salami and his return to his office. They forgot they are only in power; that does not make them God. All said, it is better for the courts to see that what is at play in the Salami saga is high wire politics and also that the judiciary is the only arm of government that has always survived, irrespective of the system of government we are operating. So, government comes, government goes, the courts have always remained, ouster clause or no ouster clause. In the same vein, the present politicians’ tide shall come and go, but the courts will always remain.

Of life and death...

whom nature somehow calls.

Of recent, I have found myself saying goodbye to several well-beloved friends, relatives and associates who have had to depart this world, without their consent, rather suddenly and at different times. Like one musician said a long time ago, everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die. I believe none of my loved ones wanted to go, if they had a choice, but no choice was given them. They were very close to me, and if love alone could have prevented their departure, well, they would have lived several times over.

Then of course there are those who hold life too dear for their own good. Someone, somewhere, once offered himself to be frozen in a freezing time machine in order to preserve his life so that he would not die and he could even be woken up again many decades later and he could live forever. Ha, ha! He was not alone. Well, he had the honour of dispatching himself sooner than his maker planned for him. The preoccupation of many scientists and hopeful money bags has been to find the elixir for life eternal; perhaps, so they could continue spending their money into eternity.

How else can one justify how an individual just does not get it that pocketing billions of

public money is not holding life too preciously?! It is playing roulette with life.

Anyway, yet another category are those of us who are sometimes consigned, unwillingly, to a sudden departure. They are those that are hit by runaway hit and run (a.k.a. mad drivers), shoot and run (a.k.a. police stray bullets), pick and run (a.k.a. Okada riders), and so on. Within this category too fall those that the state itself sacrifices to its justice and ‘injustice’ system, making them fall as it were on the platform of the social moral system.

Then, of course, there are those who are consigned to the earth on religious grounds, victims of those who have apparently hijacked God’s will and testament on who lives and who dies. Obviously, such hijackers not only know the mind of God on such matters, they also seem to know what the Almighty has planned for them. Imitators of God, they do not see anything wrong in sending others to an unplanned exit, quite forgetting that there is no disturbance of nature that goes unrequited. Nature takes back whatever is taken from it.

Lastly, there is the category of those who are consigned to mother earth on

the orders of a political figure.

Now, this is a disturbing one as it is now possible, for political reasons, to actually dispatch someone out of this earth. For what reason? Often because such victims stand in the political way of the brainiac whose life source is threatened. And here I am, thinking that what matters most in this world is what one is only actually able to put in one’s mouth, which, by God’s own clever design, is really not much. Try and open your mouth wide and shove in a plate of rice at once, then guess who will laugh. So, massing up millions and billions of other people’s money in order to cater for one’s future plates of rice is to me so fruitless and silly as to make God laugh. Worse is actually killing someone for political reasons.

Recently, some notable political figures cried out in fear of their lives, you guessed it, for political reasons. Now, it is possible that those cries were for a fake wolf, but there have been so many summary dispatches of upstanding citizens in this country into the beyond before sighting the wolf that no cry should actually be taken lying low. It is baffling that anyone would think that he/she holds the power of life and death over

another and exercise such without fearing the ensuing consequences.

Anyway, I have asked myself over and over again: what has politics got to do with ordering someone to be killed? Is death part of the political discourse? I ask, because I really don’t know whether it is political to order someone’s death because there is a disagreement or because political parties differ or because access to someone’s means of ‘chopping’ has been blocked.

I don’t know how someone can sit down somewhere and place such an order as if one were, you know, ordering a plate of something. Yeah, you got it; there are so many things I don’t understand. For instance, I cannot for the life of me understand why rats, ants and snakes were created.

Perhaps ants and snakes can be explained, but rats? I ask you!

Anyway, I move for the protection of the sanctity of life. At the early times, when the world first began, I believe that the first murder must have cost the murderer more than a pang of regret.

Not so these days; wining and dining just seem to go on uninterrupted when the foul thing occurs. This must change. Life is sacred; we must protect it with our lives.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

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COVER THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27 , 2012

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Nigeria’s unending democratic paradox

HE Fourth Republic is not Nigeria’s first attempt at democracy. But none of the four republics has violated the underpinnings of real democracy as viciously as the fourth. For instance, start with this day in May, this public holiday of May 29 set aside as a permanent consecration of the new experiment of an old concept. It speaks volumes of organised and official betrayal that neither October 1, the inviolate anniversary of our independence, nor June 12, that sacrosanct day in 1993 when old barricades of religion and ethnic bigotry were subdued thus revealing fascinatingly new vistas and frontiers, was chosen to serve as Democracy Day by the men who took power in 1999. And what probably stands as a classic refutation of the rubrics of democracy, not even the death on July 7, 1998 of Chief MKO Abiola, the man at the centre of the cataclysmic events of those years, could persuade the Class of ’99 to dedicate the day to his honour.

Yet, many centuries before, and without the benefit of long and illustrious histories to nudge them into the noble and lofty task of honouring the dead with all the poetry, grace and power at their command, Pericles, the Athenian politician, and Abraham Lincoln, President of the US during the Civil War years, gave intuitive recognition to the need to ennoble the sacrifices of past heroes. Churchill, in one stirring moment during the Battle of Britain in World War II, made the memorable statement in 1940 which is still quoted with passion today: “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.” Also, take this poignant message etched on a plaque in the wall of a military facility in Verdun, France dedicated to the memory of soldiers who lost their lives in WWI: “To my son: Since your eyes closed in sleep, mine have not ceased to weep.” Where are the memorials to the beginnings of the Fourth Republic? Where are its heroes?

Men must not lose the import of the occasion, whether private or national.

Thucydides, in his History of the Peloponnesian War, gave the account of Pericles, a famous Athenian politician, who penned a funeral oration during the Peloponnesian War (432-404 BC), as part of the annual public funeral for the war dead. The oration was a masterpiece of logic, inventiveness, originality and emotions. Though not acknowledged, it is thought to have inspired Lincoln many centuries later at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The oration vividly captured the mood of the occasion, spoke to the Athenian present, their feats of valour, the greatness of their nation, and the noble democratic cause for which, both rich and poor, sacrificed their lives.

Hear Pericles: “If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences...if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life.

There, far from exercising a jealous surveillance over one another, we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbor for

PROLOGUE

By Kunle Fagbemi doing what he likes… Athens that I have celebrated is only what the heroism of these and their like have made her...none of these men allowed either wealth with its prospect of future enjoyment to unnerve his spirit, or poverty with its hope of a day of freedom and riches to tempt him to shrink from danger. No, holding that vengeance upon their enemies was more to be desired than any personal blessings, and reckoning this to be the most glorious of hazards, they joyfully determined to accept the risk... Thus, choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting, they fled only from dishonour.”

Lincoln at Gettysburg in November 1863 made these memorable remarks about sacrifice and democracy: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure …

“But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. … It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion— that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Before Abiola died, and while Gen Sani Abacha yet lived, the winner of the

June 12, 1993 presidential election faced three options: first was to submit to military tyranny by negotiating away his mandate in exchange for huge contracts and accepting the inevitability of military takeover; second was to enter into a diarchical arrangement with the military, and in fact he nearly did, albeit unwittingly; and third was to refuse to negotiate or compromise. In the end, as if living true to the words of Pericles, he pointedly refused the dishonour of fleeing danger and instead fled dishonour itself by facing and enduring the risk of privation, or worse, death.

His death was not just a private and family tragedy, as events have shown since 1999, it has sadly snowballed into a national tragedy. Abiola understood the reasons he chose to face danger, the honour of meeting his fate without equivocation, and appreciated the eternal shame of negotiating away the mandate of millions of Nigerians. But those who have benefited from the supreme price he paid some 14 years ago neither understood the principles that impelled Abiola to a noble death nor had any idea of the sense of history that has driven many nations and great leaders into watering the tree of democracy and nurturing the glory of their nations with their blood. This, therefore, is the crux of the matter, the bane of Nigeria’s rudderless politics, and the paradox of its democracy. They can be excused who, lacking a sense of history and, worse, without a sense of their country’s manifest destiny, can neither consecrate nor ennoble the sacrifices of their past heroes.

Indeed, the Class of ’99 secretly resented Abiola, but coveted the benefits that sprouted from his sacrifice. This resentment has manifested in a deliberate

“They can be excused who, lacking a sense of history and, worse, without a sense of their country’s manifest destiny, can neither consecrate nor ennoble the sacrifices of their past heroes. Indeed, the Class of ’99 secretly resented Abiola, but coveted the benefits that sprouted from his sacrifice. This resentment has manifested in a deliberate refusal to acknowledge and honour him for the prime role he played in triggering the events that midwifed the Fourth Republic. Both Pericles and Lincoln drew a metaphysical connection between the sacrifices made by heroes and the greatness of nations. Sacrifices are acknowledged and heroes honoured. That intricate process links the present and the past, the heroes and their survivors, and both, as Thucydides showed, are ennobled by an intriguing and complex phenomenon of mutuality that has stupefied historians for centuries.”

refusal to acknowledge and honour him for the prime role he played in triggering the events that midwifed the Fourth Republic. Both Pericles and Lincoln drew a metaphysical connection between the sacrifices made by heroes and the greatness of nations. Sacrifices are acknowledged and heroes honoured.

That intricate process links the present and the past, the heroes and their survivors, and both, as Thucydides showed, are ennobled by an intriguing and complex phenomenon of mutuality that has stupefied historians for centuries.

Aside the general lack of a sense of history, there are perhaps no men of stature who have risen to power in the past four republics to help harness and harvest the visions of the founding fathers and the demands and ambitions of the present and future. The problem is even much worse today, as emblematised by the brazen war being waged against the virtues of equity, fairness, liberty and justice by the Fourth Republic leaders at state and national levels. It is impossible to get it right simply by willing or wishing it, or by fostering economic growth, or by initiating constitutional reform. The key ingredients necessary to sustain democracy and engender peace and stability require Nigerian leaders to understand and canonise their country’s manifest destiny, inspire and imbue the populace with a sense of mission, and establish a long bridge between the noble past, a great present and a lofty future.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo did not understand these requirements; the late Umaru Yar’Adua had only a vague sense of what was required of a leader; and President Goodluck Jonathan has an even poorer understanding of the ingredients for greatness, sadly managing to declare an open war on democracy and the people.

None of them has deemed it fit to honour the memory of Abiola, whose ghost will continue to haunt the nation like a spectre until it is pacified. In the following pages and from today till Tuesday, this newspaper will chronicle these ignoble wars against the people and advertise the relics of our failed democratic experience.

They will not necessarily be interesting or inspiring reading, but they will stir the soul and remind us where we got it wrong, how we can get it right, and why it is urgent to do so. A private analytical group once presented a paper to a think tank in the United States a few years ago, suggesting that Nigeria could become untenable before 2015. Time will tell whether its conclusion was prescient. But what seems increasingly obvious is that 2015 may be the last chance to reclaim the country from the hands of its spoilers and lay a proper foundation on which democracy will flower, and its people blossom. The history of our four republics is one of unmitigated failure. A Fifth Republic with a fresh constitution, new and unencumbered federal structure, and passionate and visionary leaders are required to obviate the looming disaster. Could we manage to pull our chestnuts out of the fire?

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Cover

GOODLUCK JONATHAN:

A

Promises and expectations

LTHOUGH the presidency reportedly accepted the recommendation of the Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the Northeast and is believed to have, this week, directed relevant officials and agencies to act decisively, most Nigerians, who spoke to The Nation during the week, ahead this week’s Democracy Day, insist President Goodluck Jonathan’s government has so far performed abysmally in the area of security.

The report, which traced “the origin of private militias in Borno State, which Boko Haram is an offshoot, to politicians who set them up in the run-up to the 2003 general elections, recommended, amongst others, that the federal government should direct the security agencies to beam their search light on some politicians who sponsored, funded and used the militia groups that later metamorphosed into Boko Haram and bring them to justice.”

Reports confirmed that the government accepted the recommendation and directed the National Security Adviser (NSA) “to co-ordinate the investigation of the kingpins and sponsors to unravel individuals and groups that are involved.”

Way back in 2010, when the Ministry of Power was quoted as saying that Jonathan had directed it to commence full implementation of the Power sector Reform Act in order to create room for private sector participation, the average national power generation, according to the

As Nigeria prepares for this year’s Democracy Day celebrations, on Tuesday, May 29, marking the first year anniversary of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, officials, observers and critics have come up with varying scorecards. In this report, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, recalls the situations before Jonathan’s emergence and the promises he made.

Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), hovered around “3,760 megawatts (Mw) with an off-peak of 3, 250mw.”

The then Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Somo Way, in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Yakubu Lawal, was quoted as saying, “I have clear mandate of Mr. President to break all bottlenecks to private investors’ participation in the power sector. We are ready to encourage you and we will create the enabling environment for you to actively invest in the sector. Our doors are open to all genuine investors.”

With these kinds of promises, the expectation was very high when Jonathan emerged the elected president in the 2011 elections. During his presidential campaign, he had also raised expectations as he placed power reform at the top of his development agenda. Wherever he went to campaign, he reportedly never forgot to talk about his plans for power reforms and security.

In fact, documentation carried out by the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria, in partnership with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, indicated that between February and March, 2011, Jonathan, as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made some specific promises on power. Amongst others, the documentation said, he promised: “To deliver stable, constant supply of electricity; To provide stable power supply by the year 2015 so that small and medium scale industries can thrive again; To ensure that Nigerians do not use generators more than two times in a week; To explore the coal deposits in Benue and Kogi states for improved power supply; To construct more dams to build more hydro-power stations; To reduce the importation of generators at least 90 percent in the next four years; To raise power generation to about 4,747 megawatts by December 2011 and to put an end to epileptic power sup-

ply in the country just as fuel queues at petrol stations were ended.”

Security He similarly made such far-reaching promises on the state of insecurity. According to the IPC documentation, Jonathan promised, amongst others: “To make anyone caught breaching the public peace to face the full wrath of the law; To make sure that no part of the country is allowed to be a sanctuary for criminals anymore be they armed robbers or kidnappers; To make a complete transformation of national security architecture; To confront headlong ethno-religious violence in the country; To ensure there is no sacred cow in the fight against corruption; all crimes will be investigated as security is key; Not to interfere with corruption cases; To strengthen EFCC and ICPC to fight crime; To eradicate kidnappings impeding entrepreneurship in Eastern Zone; To pursue all bombers and terrorists and to adopt modern method to tackle the problem of political violence.”

These promises notwithstanding, Boko Haram’s incessant attacks have worsened, as stories of bombings and killings have become a daily affair.

As the Jonathan administration celebrates its first year on the stable, Nigerians of different backgrounds have been assessing his performance in view of the laudable promises he made and the resources available to the country.

•Continued on Page 22

Cover

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27 , 2012

M

AY you give us your general assessment of the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government in its first year?

The first year of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been a year of trauma for the people of Nigeria. Never in the history of this country have we had the kind of afflictions we suffered during the year in review. We have the problem of incompetence, the problem of corruption; we have the issue of a regime that is using deliberate division, a regime that is playing up division as a tool to remain in power. This strategy has created a wide gulf between Muslims and Christians, between Southerners and Northerners, even at a local level; between Ijaws and other nationalities in the Niger Delta. This is because we have a president who cannot put a larger screen on the radar. He prefers the small screen in order to sustain himself in power.

Now on the issue of corruption, the scale of corruption that we see under this regime is mind bungling. For instance, we have the unprecedented theft of N3trillion from fuel subsidy in one year alone, whereas, what was appropriated was N245billion for subsidy 2011 and till date, since the House concluded its probe and the rest, not one word has come out from the mouth of the President, except, perhaps his aides and appointees.

Today, under President Jonathan, people no longer blush over corruption. You saw the way the former DG of NSE was boasting, yes, I stole a private company’s money, what is the business of anybody in it? This was possible because we have a president that is user friendly for corruption.

In terms of other indices, for the first time in the history of Nigeria, we have a situation where for two months now, youth corps members’ allowances have not been paid. In some states, the last time workers collected salaries was February. For federal civil servants, they are yet to collect their April salaries.

To put it in a more practical language, one would say the country has moved towards insolvency under President Jonathan. Also, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, told us recently that our excess crude account has depleted from $20billion to about $3billion under President Jonathan. So, either way you look at it, Nigerians are poorer.

Security or insecurity has emerged a major issue, especially because of incessant bombings and killings by Boko Haram terrorists and others. How would you assess Jonathan’s handling of the challenge so far?

The primary duty of any government is to secure the lives and properties of its citizens. But in the last one year of Jonathan’s government, what have we seen? We have seen a government that is largely incompetent, a government that has been accused of complicity in the security challenges facing the country. Let us look at the case of Boko Haram. Yes, terrorism is one of the most difficult wars to fight. But in any serious country, where terrorism has reared its ugly head, we have seen leaders showing capacity to fight it. When 9/11 happened in America, Bush said it; we are going to smoke them out, we will get them wherever they are. It took 10 years but they eventually got Osama Bin Laden. But in our situation, for every terror attack, our president has a standard photocopy response: ‘Yes, we are doing something about it. Don’t worry; we are on top of it. Be calm, be happy. It will soon fizzle out.’

In April last year, soon after the election, the President set up a committee, a panel, to investigate the Boko Haram in the northeast.

That committee submitted its reports. It took the federal government over seven months to produce a white paper on such a fundamental thing. Yet, NJC recommended the removal of Salami on a Friday, by Sunday; the government had already acted on it. That was very suspicious.

Then after the bombing of the UN House in Abuja, the President told Nigerians that ‘we know the sponsors of terror in our land, we would soon get them.’ Eight months after, nobody has been brought to book. In fact, the only high profile suspect, that was arrested, who we could suspect of being a sponsor, was Senator Ndume, a PDP senator. That senator swore an affidavit in court and said, yes, I have some links with Boko Haram but the Vice President is aware of what I am doing with Boko Haram. They granted him bail

‘Jonathan toyed with our lives ’ Yinka Odumakin spoke with Sam Egburonu on Jonathan’s performance so far.

•Odumakin

‘It is unfortunate that the presidency appear rather comfortable playing politics with the lives of Nigerians. Precious lives are being lost daily and our president has become the mourner-in-chief rather than the commanderin-chief.” and since then nothing has happened.

After the bombing of UN building, they said they were looking for one Nor that was the supposed to be the mastermind of the attack. That was as far as they went. Since then, have you heard anybody, police or whatever, saying he is looking for that same mastermind? Kabiru Sokoto escaped from Police custody. It was an embarrassment to them, so they had to find him. But since then, have you heard of Kabiru Sokoto again? We have a case in Bauchi State, where a church was bombed. One of the suspects was arrested but they found State Security Service (SSS) identification card on him. No tangible report of his trial has been heard since then.

The National Security Adviser to the President, General Azazi, went to a SouthSouth economic summit in Asaba and said it was the policy of PDP that caused the incessant bombings in the country. The only thing the president could tell Nigerians thereafter was that they should ask the NSA to make himself clearer. Till date, the NSA is still in office.

When you put all these together, it brings us to Henry Orkah’s allegation. Henry Orkah told a South-African court that he believes strongly that the October 1 Independence parade bombing in Abuja was masterminded by the president and his aides and he gave reasons, names and telephone numbers of presidential aides. Don’t forget that immediately after the bombing and after

MEND has claimed responsibility, Mr. President said MEND was not responsible for the attack. Up till today, he has not told Nigerians who was responsible.

Also AIT’s Raymond Dokpesi, who was working for General Ibrahim Babangida’s presidential campaign, was implicated in the terror attacks when Babangida was seen as a major presidential opponent. But as soon as Babangida dropped‘ out of the race, and Dokpesi joined Mr. President’s election campaign, he stopped being a bomber.

All these suggest that we have a president who is playing politics with the security of the country. So, once you have a compromised authority, it is difficult to fight this kind of war.

That is why, in spite of the fact that they spend N3billion or so a day, this country has never been as unsafe as it is today. It is unfortunate that the presidency appear rather comfortable playing politics with the lives of Nigerians.

Precious lives are being lost daily and our president has become the mourner-in-chief rather than the commander-in-chief.

The second aspect of it is social security; in terms of job creation and things like that.

Look, the minister of youths recently said there are over 60million unemployed youths in Nigeria. In the last one year, how many jobs were created? The President only made many vows and we know that for as long as you have millions of jobless youths roaming the streets, they can become easy tools for

21

violence.

Will you also say he has performed so abysmally in the power sector?

Don’t forget that Jonathan’s presidency is a continuation of the Obasanjo years.

Obasanjo handed over power to the late Yar’Adua and Jonathan. As Vice-President then, Jonathan was supervising the power sector. So, when he became the president, Jonathan said he was going to declare emergency on the power sector. I think today, it is the power sector that has declared emergency on the nation. The power situation has gone worse even as the government continue to pour money upon money.

Under Obasanjo, the House of Representatives did a public hearing on the power probes, Elumelu Committee, where it was declared that $16billion was expended on the power sector. Only God knows how much would have been expended on the sector between the Yar’Adua years and now and yet we are still talking about 3,000mw.

I read a report today, which showed that Spain, with about 16million population, was generating more power for her citizens than all the power generated by all the African countries put together. Nigeria might be the worst in Africa, given that for almost 200million people, we are talking about 3,000mw in spite of the millions of dollars expended. All we can recall are roadmaps upon roadmaps.

So, what do you think Jonathan should have done that he has not done in these two sectors?

The first major problem militating against the referred sectors is corruption. Once the system is corrupt, your process of information gathering is corrupted; the administrative process and the ways the laws are applied are corrupted, it becomes difficult for the government to perform. That is the problem.

So, corruption is the major problem followed by incompetence.

Some people have argued that even if General Muhammadu Buhari, your principal during the April 2011 elections, had won, he probably wouldn’t have performed any magic in these critical sectors within a year? Isn’t that assertion fair?

Well, I am speaking in my private capacity now and on behalf of Save Nigeria Group. I believe that Buhari would have brought the remedy of presence. Remember that in 1999, when Obasanjo came and was making anticorruption rhetoric, everybody sat up for the first few months. But when they saw that there was a gap between what Obasanjo was saying and what he was doing, they relaxed and went back to their ways. That is the remedy of presence that I think Buhari would have brought.

Don’t forget that after the elections and the president came to Lagos to have a dinner with Corporate Nigeria, Mr. Peterside Atedo was the person to respond on behalf of Corporate Nigeria and he said one thing, that they thank God that Jonathan won because if his opponent had won, many of them would have gone to exile by then. I do not think that N3trillion fuel subsidy could have been stolen in a year under a Buhari presidency. What this means is that more resources would have been freed for development.

I am not just talking about Buhari alone now, if Nigeria has a leader, who hates and shuns corruption, Nigeria will develop. Look at what Jonathan has done. Marketers are now in his economic council. Any country you enthrone corruption, its twin cousins will manifest: They are poverty of the common people and violence. Two examples of such countries are Pakistan and Afghanistan.

What advise do you have for Jonathan as his administration enters its second year?

I think he has to sit up. He has to become presidential. In the last one year, he has toyed with the life of the nation. He cannot continue that way. He must show seriousness in tackling the challenges facing this country. When he came to the scene with Yar’Adua, the watchword was Rule of Law. Now, he has discarded it. He has to bring it back.

Talking of transformation, the only transformation we have seen in the last one year is that of Patience Jonathan. She has been transformed into a very beautiful woman. They have done all kinds of things on her face and so on. That’s the only transformation we have seen in the last one year and we are saying: that same transformation on Patience Jonathan; let us see it on other Nigerians in the next year. Let there be such changes on other Nigerians too.

That is the challenge for President Jonathan.

22

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Cover

ACROSS NIGERIA: One ye JONATHAN:

•Continued from Page 20

Some attacks and major events associated with Boko Haram within one year of Jonathan’s Presidency: 18 Jan 2012: A key suspect in the 2011 Christmas Day bombing in Abuja, which killed more than 40 people, escapes police custody.

17 Jan 2012: Two soldiers and four BH gunmen are killed in an attack on a military checkpoint in Maiduguri, Borno State. Soldiers arrest six high-profile BH members in a raid on a sect hideout in the city.

13 Jan 2012: BH kills four and injures two others, including a policeman, in two separate attacks on pubs in Yola (Adawama State) and Gombe city in neighbouring Gombe State.

11 Jan 2012: Four Christians killed by BH gunmen in Potiskum, Yobe State, when gunmen open fire on their car as they stop for fuel. The victims had been fleeing Maiduguri to their home town in eastern Nigeria.

10 Jan 2012: A BH attack on a beer garden kills eight, including five policemen and a teenage girl, in Damaturu, capital of Yobe State.

9 Jan 2012: BH gunmen shoot dead a secret police operative along with his civilian friend as they leave a mosque in Biu, Borno State, 200km south of the state capital, Maiduguri.

The president says BH has infiltrated the executive, parliamentary and judicial wings of government.

7 Jan 2012: Three Christian poker players are killed and seven others wounded by BH gunmen in the town of Biu. 6 Jan 2012: Eight worshippers are killed in a shooting attack on a church in Yola. BH gunmen shoot dead 17 Christian mourners in the town of Mubi in the northeastern state of Adamawa. The victims are friends and relations of one of five people killed in a BH attack on a hotel the previous day.

5 Jan 2012: Six worshippers are killed and 10 others wounded when BH gunmen attack a church in Gombe city.

3 Jan 2012: BH gunmen attack a police station in the town of Birniwa in Jigawa State killing a teenage girl and wounding a police officer.

1 Jan 2012: President Goodluck Jonathan imposes a state of emergency on 15 local government areas hardest-hit by BH attacks, in Borno, Yobe and Plateau states. He orders the closure of Nigerian borders in

Catholic Church, Madalla, Abuja after the bomb attack

the north.

30 Dec 2011: Four Muslim worshippers are killed in a BH bomb and shooting attack targeting a military checkpoint in Maiduguri as worshippers leave a mosque after attending Friday prayers.

28 Dec 2011: A bombing and shooting attack by BH on a beer parlour in the town of Mubi, Adamawa State, wounds 15.

25 Dec 2011: A Christmas Day BH bomb attack on Saint Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla town near Abuja kills 42 worshippers.

Three secret police (SSS) operatives and a BH bomber are killed in a suicide attack when the bomber rams his bomb-laden car into a military convoy at the gates of SSS headquarters in Damaturu. A policeman is killed in a botched BH bomb attack on a church in the Ray Field area of Jos, capital of Plateau State.

22 Dec 2011: BH bombs in parts of Maiduguri kill 20. Four policemen and a civilian are killed in gun and bomb attacks on a police building in Potiskum, Yobe State. Around 100 are killed following multiple bomb and shooting attacks by BH gunmen and ensuing gun battles with troops in the Pompomari outskirts of Damaturu.

19 Dec 2011: One suspected BH member dies and two others wounded in an accidental explosion while assembling a home-made bomb in a hideout in Damaturu.

17 Dec 2011: A shootout between sect members and policemen following a raid on the hideout of a BH sect leader in the Darmanawa area of Kano State kills seven, including three police officers. Police arrest 14 BH suspects and seize large amount of arms and bombs. Three BH members die in an accidental explosion while

assembling home-made bombs in a hideout on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

13 Dec 2011: A bomb attack on a military checkpoint by BH and resulting shooting by soldiers in Maiduguri leaves 10 dead and 30 injured.

7 Dec 2011: An explosion linked to BH kills eight in the Oriyapata district of Kaduna city.

4 Dec 2011: A soldier, a policeman and a civilian are killed in bomb and gun attacks on police buildings and two banks in Azare, Bauchi State. BH open fire at a wedding in Maiduguri, killing the groom and a guest.

27 Nov 2011: A Borno State protocol officer in the office of the governor is shot dead by motorcycle-riding sect members while driving home.

26 Nov 2011: Three policemen and a civilian are wounded in BH

bomb and shooting attacks in Geidam, Yobe State. Six churches, a police station, a beer parlour, a shopping complex, a high court, a local council building and 11 cars are burnt in the attacks.

9 Nov 2011: BH members bomb a police station and the office of Nigeria’s road safety agency in Maina village, Borno State. No one is hurt.

4 Nov 2011: The motorcade of Borno State governor Kashim Shettima comes under BH bomb attack in Maiduguri on its way from the airport to the governor’s residence as he returns from a trip to Abuja.

Around 150 are killed in coordinated BH bombing and shooting attacks on police facilities in Damaturu and Potiskum in Yobe State. Two BH suicide-bombers blow themselves up outside the military Joint Task Force headquarters in Maiduguri in a

One year of dismal failure, says David-West

F

ORMER Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam DavidWest, has described the one year of President Goodluck Jonathan as “virtual nonsense.” The former minister and professor of virology said: “One year of President Jonathan, to me, is one year of virtual nonsense.

I am using this term because scientists don’t use absolute terms. “On security, our constitution is clear that the security of the state and the citizens is one of the prime fundamentals of government. Only a secure people can think of development. Only a secure environment can bring investments into the country. “If people are not secure, they cannot think and produce.

No foreigner, company or individual, will invest in any country if that country is not secure. Security is very paramount. It is a multi-factoral imperative to any state. It is like what the Bible says that one should seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness with the assurance that all other things will follow.

“In terms of security, Jonathan

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

scored less than two percent in my own assessment. Nigeria has the worst security situation now. Nigeria is more insecure today than any other time in our history. Yesterday and today, retired military officers had a conference on the security of the state in Ibadan. It has never happened in this country. They are so worried about the security of the country. So, Jonathan is a dismal failure.”

On power, David-West said: “I have been Minister of Power. I was Minister of Mine, Power and Steel from January to September, 1986. Mamman Tukur was the General Manager of NEPA then. For nine months, he congratulated me that he has achieved so much because of good leadership and understanding of the problem.

“Later, Bola Ige was made Minister of Power under Olusegun Obasanjo and he promised that power shortage would become a thing of the past in six months. But I told him that he could not do it in six years. I knew he meant

well but the problem was enormous.

Egbin Power Station was commissioned during my tenure as Minister of Power. We had a programme to move forward but they were destroyed because the people who came after loved money more than their country.

“Then Jonathan brought Bart Nnaji. I know him. We worked together on Vision 20:10. He is a good, brilliant, man. He had a successful business in the USA. However, I knew that he would not be able to do it and I wrote about it. He started with so much idealism. Ideal is important but in the end, reality wins the day. So Nnaji’s problem is that he has too much idealism and he is out-of-step with reality. He made a lot of fundamental changes. He was destroying most of the structures he met there. The staff members were antagonized but he needs them to succeed. He also suggested many fundamental changes that are out-ofstep with reality. After all these promises, power is still a failure and these are greatest ingredients for

•David-West

development. “A Managing Director of one of the big beverage companies in Lagos told me that the company runs 100 percent on generator. He said they did not believe in NEPA. Their reason is that if power fails for one minute, all

the production line will be disrupted.

That obviously increases its cost of production. That is a good example of what we are talking about. “So, for me, security under Jonathan is less than two percent while power is 10 percent. The totality is dismal failure.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Cover

23

year of blood, sweat and tears

•Maiduguri market bombing

•UNbuilding, Abuja after bombing

•A scene from the massive Boko Haram attack on Kano

botched suicide attack.

2 Nov 2011: A soldier on duty is shot dead by sect members outside Maiduguri’s main market.

November 2011: BH says it will not dialogue with the government until all of its members who have been arrested are released.

29 Oct 2011: BH gunmen shoot dead Muslim cleric Sheikh Ali Jana’a outside his home in the Bulabulin Ngarnam neighbourhood of

“L

ET me begin by congratulating Nigerians for having an uninterrupted democracy since 1999. I also congratulate President Goodluck Jonathan for the journey so far. This is the first era we would have a democratic journey without military intervention. In the light of this, I must also commend the military for having realised the need for a stable democracy in Nigerian. All this point to the fact that there is hope for us, certainly, we are moving forward, regardless of the pace.

On Power As I said and still insist, there is hope for the nation in the sector.

I just read that by December 1,000 megawatt will be added to the one we already have to improve the power generation and reduce the problem arising from power outage. It is painful that Nigerians go through this power problem. It is a problem we need to fix. That is why President Goodluck Jonathan is taking it serious, regardless of how he is perceived in some quarters. He is doing well with the

shot and wounded in an ambush by BH members in Maiduguri shortly after the arrest of 15 sect members in military raids on BH hideouts in the city.

12 September 2011: Seven men, including four policemen, are killed

by BH gunmen in bomb and shooting attacks on a police station and a bank in Misau, Bauchi State. The attackers rob the bank.

4 September 2011: Muslim cleric Malam Dala shot dead by two BH members outside his home in the Zinnari area of Maiduguri.

1 September 2011: A shootout between BH gunmen and soldiers in Song, Adamawa State, kills one sect members while another is injured and captured.

26 August 2011: BH claims responsibility for a suicide bomb blast on the UN compound in Abuja, killing 23 people.

25 August 2011: Gun and bomb attacks by Boko Haram on two police stations and two banks in Gombi, Adamawa State, kill at least 16 people, including seven policemen.

Maiduguri. Jana’a is known to have provided information to security forces regarding the sect.

25 Oct 2011: A policeman is shot dead in his house in a targeted attack

by BH gunmen in Damaturu.

23 Oct 2011: Sect members open fire on a market in the town of Katari in Kaduna State, killing two.

23 Oct 2011: BH members kill a policeman and a bank security guard in bombing and shooting attacks on a police station and two

•Another scene from the Kano bomb blast

banks in Saminaka, Kaduna State.

3 October 2011: Three killed in BH attacks on Baga market in Maiduguri, Borno State. The victims included a tea-seller, a drug store owner and a passer-by.

1 October 2011: A butcher and his assistant are killed by BH gunmen at Baga market in Maiduguri in a targeted killing. In a separate incident, three people are killed in a shoot-out following BH bomb and shooting attacks on a military patrol

vehicle delivering food to soldiers at a checkpoint in Maiduguri. All three victims are civilians.

17 September 2011: Babakura Fugu, brother-in-law to slain BH leader Mohammed Yusuf, is shot dead outside his house in Maiduguri two days after attending a peace meeting with Nigeria’s exPresident Olusegun Obasanjo in the city. BH denies any involvement in the incident.

13 September 2011: Four soldiers

3 August 2011: The government rejects negotiations with Boko Haram.

July 2011: Government says it will open a negotiation panel to initiate negotiations with BH. 27 June 2011: BH’s gun and bomb attack on a beer garden in Maiduguri leaves at least 25 dead and dozens injured.

20 June 2011: Seven people including five policemen killed in gun and bomb attacks on a police station and a bank in Kankara, Katsina State.

16 June 2011: BH targets national police headquarters in Abuja, killing two.

7 June 2011: Attacks on a church and two police posts in Maiduguri, blamed on the sect, leave at least 14 dead.

6 June 2011: Muslim cleric Ibrahim Birkuti, critical of BH, shot dead by two motorcycle-riding BH gunmen outside his house in Biu, 200km from Maiduguri.

29 May 2011: Three bombs rip through a beer garden in a military barracks in the northern city of Bauchi, killing 13 and wounding 33.

BH claims responsibility.

27 May 2011: A group of around 70 suspected BH gunmen kill eight people including four policemen in simultaneous gun and bomb attacks on a police station, a police barracks and a bank in Damboa, Borno State, near the border with Chad.

Source: Local and agency reports

There is hope for Nigeria- Babatope Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Ebenezer Babatope speaks of his optimism in this interview with Tunde Busari determination he has shown so far to fix the problem. I believe he deserves to be trusted on this. We need to commend him for even searching for the current Minister for Power who has an intimidating pedigree in power sector in the US. And the minister himself since he resumed has been doing his best.

Having said this, I must add that the reason the problem must be fixed is the health hazard associated with the mass use of power generators both in the rural and urban areas in the country.

And I am afraid of this because the fume emitted by the generators is destructive to human system.

Environmental pollution is a danger, and can lead to lung cancer. So, the problem must be solved and everybody must cooperate with the president in his

effort to fix it.

On security I think security issue in Nigeria today is synonymous with Boko Haram. Talking of Boko Haram, it is the most unfortunate phenomenon one can think about in the country. There was the Maitatsene which we regarded as the worst the nation could have.

But what we have now is much more frightening. That is why I congratulate General Azazi for speaking out on the matter. He talked sense and hit the nail on the head.

Against that background, I can only appeal to my colleagues in politics. We cannot wash our names clean on the Boko Haram issue as Azazi said. If we cooperate, we are going to get result. We have to be sincere because the way the menace is wreaking havoc on the

nation is too alarming. The way they are throwing bombs everywhere makes is unsettling because we cannot predict where they will strike next. Honestly, Boko Haram escapade should not be divorced from the inner attitude of politicians. So, politicians from the North should cooperate to bring an end to the matter. The Boko Haram should also submit to dialogue while government should also consider the reason their leader, Mohammed Yusuf, gave at the start of the problem. He said no to western education. This must be assessed well to know whether the Almajiris education is what they believe we should offer them or something else. They have become an issue too dangerous to ignore by the government.

But despite these, I see a greater Nigeria as an indivisible, more united country.

•Babatope

24

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Politics

Political

ripples

Unfinished business in Enugu

Between Obi and Umeh

•Obi

•Umeh

Blues over Hembe, Azubogu T

turf

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

Adoke’s gobbledygook IKE most of his recent predecessors, not much was known about Mr. Bello Adoke, the Attorney General of the Federation, before his appointment. Yes, he was a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, but so was Mr. Michael Aondoakaa at the point he was named the AGF. Aondoakaa’s reputation and the information that Adoke was recommended to President Goodluck Jonathan by Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu made many adopt the wait-and-see attitude.

Those of us who felt convinced that President Jonathan was unlikely to appoint the best material for the office have not been disappointed. In a way, there is something intrinsically wrong with the enunciation of the powers and functions of the AGF. The contradictions make occupants of the office fall to the vagaries of the Nigerian social system and the corrosion of values. The AGF is the official leader of the Bar. He is the Chief legal Adviser to the President and the government. He is, however, also as political appointee as a minister. So, he is, on the one hand, expected to act very professionally, but, on the other, he is handed a political prism through which he is told to screen matters before him.

All legal matters instituted by the federal government or any branch thereof must be referred to the office of the AGF and he is a necessary party. Whenever the federal government is sued, he is technically joined. He could also discontinue any pending matter by simply entering a nolle prosequie.

In doing so, he does not have to adduce reasons and no judge could obstruct his performance of that function. He is a powerful official of state. However, he giving such enormous power to one functionary, there are fundamental assumptions. It is believed that no one would be picked for such an important office who has not demonstrated that he is schooled in the best traditions of the Bar. He is assumed to love the legal profession and respect the judiciary.

Herein lies the problem. Nigerian officials lack scruples and believe that they owe their offices to the appointing authority. The Nigerian state and the people do not count. Thus, when there is a conflict between loyalty to the state and the President, an AGF, like any other official, would look and bow in the direction of the Chief Executive. In most recent times, the man who demonstrated this more than others was Aondoakaa.

He was on collision course with the EFCC and any other agency with which the Yar’Adua government was not pleased. He frustrated attempts to prosecute some corrupt officials and gave patently pernicious advice to the government he served. When the country was at the crossroads over the health of the President and the Republic, he chose to be part of the problem than the solution. When he was dropped and Adoke appointed, we said, “not again”. We thought his successor-in-title would have learnt from that experience when consequent upon vacating that exalted office, Aondoakaa was sanctioned by the Bar Association.

But, Adoke has opted to toe the same line. He has chosen to hide behind one finger and play the ostrich in performing the sacred duties assigned him by the constitution. On the raging storm following the suspension of Justice Ayo salami as President of the Court of Appeal, the country looked up to Adoke for correct interpretation of the law. He was expected to guide the President in ensure that justice reigns in the temple of justice. He was expected to fight injustice with the truth.

Even to a layman like me, section 238 (5) of the constitution is unambiguous. It leaves no other authority, including the President, power to extend the appointment of the Acting PCA. The National Judicial Council is the only body that could have extended that appointment. And, the NJC that wrongly suspended Salami in the first instance has realised its mistake and ordered a recall. The President who had said he had no interest in interfering in the internal working of the judiciary suddenly became an activist and unilaterally extended the tenure of the Acting PCA whose mandatory three months had expired.

In assuming that posture on the advice of the AGF, the President said he was bowing to the rule that reinstating Salami would be subjudice. The President must have thought that we all had forgotten that at the time he shoved Salami aside, cases were pending forbidding the act. He assumed the power that he evidently lacks. This is a bad precedence.

In my view, there is an unholy alliance between President Jonathan, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the AGF. Their motive stinks and is threatening the health of a sick country. A President who has always to stand up to be counted in matters of national interest has suddenly woken up to show guile. A man who has no clue to proffering answers to national posers is pretending to knowing what to do in this instance.

Our President and his men are only good at throwing the hard punch at men like General Buhari. Certainly, the cup is threatening to overflow.

Good Lord, deliver us.

L

B

ETWEEN Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and Chief Victor Umeh, the National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), it is becoming increasingly difficult to decide who to blame for the problems of the party in the state.

The erstwhile close political associates, who fell out recently, have been blaming each other for the party’s woes and the continuous widening cracks that are threatening its very existence in the state.

Although the primary issue of contention between the erstwhile friends may not have been laid bare, the disagreement of the two, over continued delay in the conduct of local council polls, has been identified as an important area of friction.

In fact, when on September 6, 2011, Obi suddenly sacked the chairman of Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ASIEC), Professor Titus Ezeh, over allegations of financial impropriety and appointed Chief Sylvester Okonkwo as Acting Chairman, his critics alleged that the sack had more political motive than the alleged financial impropriety. In fact, some said it was another excuse to further delay local government elections in the state.

Of course, Awka Government House sources dismissed such criticism, pointing out that the state government was determined to remove all obstacles militating against local council elections. That claim has since become controversial, especially since Umeh joined PDP and other opposition political parties to flay Obi’s refusal to conduct LG elections.

Today, eight months after Ezeh’s sack, tension has continued to rise, and some people are blaming the governor, alleging that Okonkwo’s acting capacity is one of the legal reasons LG elections cannot be conducted. They point to a legal provision that said only a substantive chairman of an electoral commission can conduct elections. If the problem is actually this legal demand, some are wondering why Obi has not solved it? But given that Obi’s aides have said publicly that the problem of APGA and that of Anambra state today was Umeh, who they said was planning to take over the party and the state by manipulating a fake grassroots elections, one may need to go beyond the rhetoric’s to catch the culprit.

Political Politics

•Chime

T

HE last has not been heard of the labour impasse which led to the arrest and incarceration of the leader of a labour group in the state, Comrade Osmond Ugwu, who has a running battle with the security for deviating from the agreement reached between labour and the Enugu State Government, over the minimum wage.

While the labour leadership, led

by Chukwumaife Nze, accepted the agreement, Ugwu staged an un-relented protest, rejecting the agreement.

He was able to convince a chunk of the work force in the state which joined him in the protest.

In the course of the protests, Ugwu was arrested by the police for allegedly attempting to murder a policeman. He was charged to court and the issue of his bail became a controversial one as most judges in the state allegedly steered clear of the case.

Ripples learnt that each time the matter came up in court, it would be immediately adjourned. It continued like that until Ugwu spent close to six months in prison without proper arraignment.

But then, the failure of his bail was blamed on a particular judge whose wife is a top government official.

But the blame placed on the lapses of the alleged judge was later found to be a hoax as Ugwu himself exonerated the judge from it. In his words: “It is not true that Justice Afam Nwobodo was behind the delay for my bail. The delay is as a result of interest of some top politicians and civil servants in the state. “Leave Justice Nwobodo out of it; I even wished

HURSDAY’S media briefing by the House of Representatives on the embattled Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market, Hon. Herman Hembe and his deputy, Hon. Chris Azubogu, has left tongues wagging.

We recall that the two lawmakers are presently being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of corruption levelled against them by the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma Oteh.

After Oteh’s bombshell, it was reported that the two top legislators were sacked as they had to leave their juicy positions to allow for easy investigation.

But at the latest briefing, the deputy chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Victor Ogene, reportedly said “Hembe and his committee members voluntarily stepped aside from the investigation of the capital market and not from the committee,” a comment that has been interpreted to mean that even before they are found guilty or innocent at the court, the two and other members of the committee on trial are still overseeing the Stock Market!

Tongues are wagging but don’t ask •Azubogu •Hembe too many questions.

that I appeared before him. He would have granted me bail earlier.” The embattled labour leader said.

Ugwu, who lost his job as a result of the protest, is now a full time Chairman of CLO in southeast.

His exoneration of Justice Nwobodo from his detention dilemma has put paid to speculation that the honourable justice was involved in his case and acting the script of the government.

That being the

SUNDAY INTERVIEW

25

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Kwande

YAHAYA KWANDE:

‘Injustice is bane of our democracy’ Ambassador Yahaya Kwande is Nigeria’s former envoy to Switzerland. He holds very strong views about his country and does not shy away from expressing them. Deputy Editor, Olayinka Oyegbile, met him in his residence in Jos recently and spoke to him on a wide range of issues. Excerpts:

I

N a few days time it will be exactly 13 years since Nigeria returned to democracy. What is your assessment of the journey so far?

I would be unfair if I say that we haven’t progressed at all. We have. The numbers of universities have increased within this period; same for our secondary schools. Whether they are producing qualitative graduates I don’t know but at least, infrastructure-wise we have.

The only part that I quarrel with is the political aspect of our life. We have gone back 100 years, even beyond Independence period. I was lucky to have been through it all. I was an administrative officer during colonial days. I was also involved in the First and Second Republics. When Murtala Muhammed came Nigerians praised him because he did some radical things. It was part of his interference into civil service that brought us backwards. In our days, we had what you called Civil Service Procedure. Soon as you are interviewed and appointed by the Civil Service Commission or Public Service Commission, you

are qualified; nobody pulled you out at will. But when Murtala came in with good intentions to sort out the bad eggs, it went into the hands of bad eggs. Some people saw it as an opportunity to flush out their ‘enemies’. To such an extent that you had no service and the only thing you do is to be loyal to the person that appoints you. The governor or president that appoints you can throw you out the following day, no more job security. So, we have no service and that is why people are involved in trying to prepare for their future. Typically, we’ve made it worse when the only way of being rich is to be appointed either as minister, a commissioner, a local government chairman, or a chairman of a board or a member of a board of government parastatal. The ordinary citizens have also made it worse for themselves. They demand too much from elected or appointed officials. For instance, you elected a teacher that was good in your village and after a month, fifty people go to him to get the school fees for their children, what are they encouraging him to go and do?

To sum it up, I am telling you that politically, we’ve gone back. We have made it worse.

The Stephen Oronsaye Panel recently recommended the merger and scrapping of some organs of government. Do you think scrapping of EFCC and ICPC is good?

In our days you were afraid to put on an expensive watch because people would start pestering you. A civil servant or a public officer was not only to be honest, he or she must be seen to be honest. You don’t create a situation where people start doubting you. We have seen public officers and civil servants now getting into service and within a year, excelling. In our days, we used to have what we call Audit Departments that were courageous and up -and-doing. They do not wait for you to steal before they act. As a revenue collector an audit officer is there to check what you collected. If he checks your safe and you have more money than you recorded as collected you’re a thief.

If you have less you are a thief. We don’t need EFCC or ICPC to work and make things better if the various departments are made to work. They’re duplicating service. We don’ need EFCC to be honest in this country. We don’t need the ICPC to be honest. Every ministry has what we call Internal Audit Department. Then at the end of the year, there is the financial statements which details what have been spent. I’m not in support of those who are parading themselves as EFCC or ICPC. They are making it worse because some people are very artful in stealing. You have somebody who cemented and put all his money inside a dug hole in his compound and closed it up.

How do catch such a person? No cash was brought to any bank. You have to start it from the beginning. This EFCC is making corruption worse. We have to go back to the drawing board and start working. As a civil servant I was travelling to my village on holiday. When I reached Jos, I discovered a bridge (an Army bridge) that was placed on a river had collapsed and it is shorter by about 37 miles. I had to divert to take another road through Langtang which is 70 miles. And because I went that way, an auditor picked it up after two years that I was trying to steal. I missed two promotions because of that. My colleagues were promoted ahead of me. It was when a newspaper published news of the broken bridge and I took it to my boss that I regained my promotion.

When was this?

That was in 1959. Also, I went on tour with my car. I was •Continued on Page 26

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012 •Continued from Page 25 passing through Ogbomoso. My money was short. I went into the divisional office treasury. I took in a cheque and was given money. I went to Akure to attend a women’s adult education conference with women from the north. I gave a cheque and it was cashed. Then, again, issued a cheque somewhere in the north. My salary was paid into First Bank. They used to call it Standard Bank of Nigeria. Money was in the account but it wasn’t credited, so my cheque bounced. I was queried. And the boy who took and did not credit my account 24 hours after the cheque was later queried and sanctioned. That was the feeling and thinking of the ordinary civil servant - to be honest.

We were not competing to build beautiful houses; we were not competing to have cars.

There is too much duplication in government. Why do you have a National Re-orientation Agency when you have a Ministry of Information? What information is the ministry passing when you have another orientation agency and it is a separate body? That is why things are confusing. So, to me, to answer your question, the two bodies (EFCC and ICPC) should be scrapped.

Is it healthy for the polity to be hustling for 2015 now, three clear years down the line? Is this not heating up the polity?

We are at the stage in which you have to plan. Some plan party ahead and it is good to do so. You only heat up the polity when you hold rallies.

And for elected officials, it is when you go out and forget what you have to do that it is bad; when you concentrate on scheming for another term than fulfilling your promises. Not all of us are fighting to be president or to be governor but the man who wants to become president, of course, would then have to look at the scenario and then try to plan.

For instance, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State has done well but he has slowed down. Jos used to be a provincial headquarters but he has changed in to a state headquarters, at least in terms of infrastructure. He has, however, slowed down. I don’ know why. He probably must have wanted to impress us during his first term. So, I must tell you, there’s nothing wrong with planning for the next election now provided you don’t go into it campaigning openly. You have to plan, politics is about planning. I read that Gen Muhammadu Buhari has been meeting with my friend Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, it’s a plan. If there’s anything to be planned, it is now. I have no objection.

But should that plan be to the detriment of the business of governance?

You plan because you have to do your work because Part of the planning to be re-elected is the service you will give your people. While you are doing the service, you are planning and organising people that will support you. You can’t leave one for the other.

Let’s come back to the Plateau.

What in your opinion are the causes of the crises?

Injustice! That is what is worrying us on the Plateau. To tell you, a simple thing as of a court case with two citizens of this state, for instance.

One belongs to the government of the day and other belongs to the opposition. A judgment was delivered on their election, institutions (radio and television) that belonged to the state refused to carry the judgment because it was against a candidate backed by the government. If your policy is towards frustrating opponents (I don’t call them enemies, the person is your opponent in the sense that he thinks he has a better idea to help the government and you think you have a better idea). So, you’re only opponents, you’re not enemies. But the way politics is being practised,

Sunday Interview

26

‘Nigeria can’t split’

•Kwande

“This talk they’re talking, if the reality comes to the table they will recoil. They only do it to threaten others. Within they want Nigeria to remain. No. Nigeria should not break.

We need each other.” particularly on the Plateau, is such that the ordinary man knows that there is no justice. In the old Northern Region the late Sir Ahmadu Bello emphasised that you must not persecute your opponent. In fact, his idea is that you must do your politics in such a way that the opposition is happy with your actions whether it’s successful or not. But today, political leaders and government functionaries act towards helping one single human being and that is the reason why there is always conflict. Power is corruptive in our country. The governor appoints commissioners, members of boards, and all traditional rulers are at his mercy. He wakes up tomorrow, the commissioner can be dismissed. One secretary can be moved any moment, and at will. Everybody is at his service.

Well, unless the system corrects autocrats, dictators, and military people in civilian uniform. They are used to dictating, they are used to regimentation by their practices. Believe me, majority are acting as if they are military men.

Are you saying military people should be banned from partisan politics?

If you are saying that I won’t say no.

But in other parts of the world we have military men who have been civilian leaders and things work. Is it a problem with our own institutions?

(Laughs) The difference is that they are not Nigerians. I’m worried that our country is on the verge of collapse. If you sit by the side and look at it, you’ll be surprised. How can somebody own a car and because he is a president, minister, or governor, he is killing someone else and it is not a murder case? He does not obey traffic rules because he is in government and can knock down innocent people at traffic junctions?

Where else can that happen in the world?

Talking about victims, these are the things that are showing that our leaders are really unjust in their dealings with ordinary Nigerians. I have seen potholes in the middle of a road, which one trailer load of sand would fill. It kills about three, four people first until one important man’s child

dies. On that day, it is not sand, they’ll put tar. That’s not the way civilised people look at their citizens. Something happens to one Briton whether he is wrong or right, they’ll come to his aid. Is it what we are doing in Nigeria? I’m a big man, wife of a big man etc.

Let me tell you something that will interest you. I’ve been sitting down here and watching television (seeing) wives of leaders gathering together. You should be afraid because your wife will soon divorce you. They (our leaders’ wives) appear as angels. Leaders’ wives and children are supposed to be models for ordinary man to copy. Obama’s wife or Obama’s children would come in very simple dress so that you and your wife will say that even the First Lady of America looks simple.

The things they wear are just very neat, clean and the design is nice.

But, ours wear jewelleries from their heads to their toes to show that they have arrived. And your wife is sitting down there coming from the farm with her hoe. Seeing this and knowing she is as Nigerian as that other woman is, do you think she’ll happy? It is part of the injustice. As a leader of human beings, and including animals and ants you must be humble.

Let’s come back to Jos. The city is today divided: the Hausa, Berom, Yoruba, Igbo and other ethnic groups don’t live together again. Christians live separate from Muslims, how do we correct this?

There is no city or country that can survive without strangers. London is what it is today because of settlers. America is a great country today because of settlers. There is no reason why Jos can’t be like that. Yes, we know the land here belongs to somebody. The Hausa have got it wrong in one way and the natives have got it wrong in another way.

Hausa got it wrong when they said that they are indigenes. If you check the meaning of the word ‘indigene’ in Oxford Dictionary, it describes that word as something in a particular place that cannot be found anywhere else in the world! ... The natives are as wrong because if you look into the Jos City, there is no one street that

you can find more than one or two Berom.

Historically, many ethnic groups- Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo etc- you will find have contributed to the development of the city. You cannot wish them away and say they never even existed. That is why they have refused to choose district heads in areas around Jos. If you want to choose one he must be Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba. But they won’t allow that because they are afraid of other people ruling themselves. They only allow Mai Anguwa (hamlet heads) and these hamlet heads are sitting in the traditional council. You cannot stop them, they can contest election and win. And what is a man representing you at the federal level and he can’t even represent you at the local level? Langtang South with about 60, 000 human beings have nine districts and Jos with almost a million people has none. Is that justice?

You are a Muslim married to a Christian. How do you manage your home without any crisis?

It depends on the individual. My orientation is such that you can’t compare me with others because I was brought up by the Roman Catholics. As a Muslim, I attended Roman Catholic School. Indoctrination at that time was such that I was a Christian and Muslim. The third one was that I belonged to a royal family. And annually, we were taken to a place by the traditional worshippers. So, I would tell you that I am broadminded because of my upbringing and orientation. So, I had three religions at that time. A Christian in school; a Muslim at home, and a traditional worshipper during the annual festival of my ethnic group.

That aside, my orientation is such that you cannot afford not to be liberal. My wife’s mother is pure Hausa/Fulani married to a Christian and converted to Christianity.

Her grandfather was a Muslim in the Igala land and she came with missionaries in 1901 to establish a bookshop here. She became a Christian. All her other families were Muslims. So, you could see how mixed up we were. We have to be liberal and that is how we live here because along the line, you have fun. In fact,

our faith is a subject of fun between us. She usually ask me ‘Have you prayed, I want to bring food?’ ‘Have you made your Salat yet?’ She would remind me. During my fasting period, she would wake up at dawn to cook for me. I sent her to Jerusalem with my money. I would take her and drop her at the church and she would ask me to come back one hour later and pick her. We joke when something happens. For instance, if they say one Alhaji has been caught raping a 12-year old child, she would turn to me and say ,Alhaji, Ahaji, perhaps to show that Muslims are all bad.’ I do the same to her when she says ‘Jesus has resurrected and is now sitting on the right side of His Father. Then, I say, ‘Has he got another father So, he is no more God as you used to say? If he has a father to sit on his right hand side, then, there must be two of them. So, he cannot be God as you always say., Then she would reply ‘But, you will not understand, the spirit has not gotten into you. Therefore, we make it something of fun and we live happily with each other’s faith. It was not her fault when one of our children was converted into Christianity. She was prematurely born and went to Netherlands to stay with her aunt who was a Christian. It’s not anybody’s fault. We live like that. We celebrate Christmas together; we celebrate Sallah together. I still go to Church when a close relation is dead or marrying. I go into the church and sit by his side and watch the ceremony with my cap in my hand. I respect the institution. I expect a Christian coming into the mosque to do same. That is why I respect a Yoruba man, I always say it. A Yoruba man would elect somebody.

He doesn’t ask whether he is a Muslim or a Christian. The only part of this country where you can be a Muslim or a Christian and nobody cares is the South West. I don’t know where it is in the Koran or in the Bible that if you kill the opposite religion, you will have salvation!

Do you have any fear of Nigeria disintegrating?

Honestly, Nigerians should realise this is a blessed country. You don’t lie down thinking that by the time you wake up in the morning, snow would have covered your house. During the civil war, a Briton met me in London at the airport. He asked ‘what are you fighting for my brother?’ It’s only in Nigeria that you can cut an iron and stick it into the ground and the following morning, you’ll find fungus around it trying to grow. What don’t you have?’

Then, he told me that he visited Jos once and the taste of the tomatoes on the Plateau and the look of it were special. Why are you talking about this your oil? Don’t kill yourself. The man asked me, ‘do you know Nigeria is a paradise?’ I want Nigerians to look at Nigeria and appreciate it. I was a member of the Constitutional Conference Commission set up by Abacha. We were 19 selected all over the country to prepare a discussion by conferees. When we were listing the agenda, we were afraid to put as an item too early the item of corporate existence of Nigeria. We thought when people come to this it will be hot. And we ended up discussing whether there was necessity for the corporate existence of Nigeria. When we started discussing, it was the least discussed. This talk they’re talking, if the reality comes to the table they will recoil. They only do it to threaten others. Within their they want Nigeria to remain. No. Nigeria should not break. We need each other. That’s how we went on and concluded the conference. So, this question of wanting Nigeria to break in 2015 and all this noise... they’re lying.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

TOLANI ONAJIDE I am influenced by architecture –PAGE 42

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Glamour

Kehinde Falode Tel: 08023689894 (sms)

E-mail: kehinde.falode@thenationonlineng.net

‘My shyness gives me cause ’ n r e c n o c r fo Mariam Alao is the young, beautiful designer behind Alaari Collection. She reveals more about her career and very private life in this chat with Remi Adelowo

My background ’m a young woman in my mid-30's, single, born and bred in Ibadan, Oyo State. I started out my career as a fashion designer while I was a student at the University of Ibadan. Back then, I was m a k i n g clothes and sandals for my friends.

After I left U I , I worked at t h e Adebowale

I

Industries for three years before I travelled to London during which I worked with Bid UP Television. I returned to Nigeria in2006 and floated my fashion outfit, Alaari Collection.

My challenges as a designer The biggest challenge is getting good and loyal tailors and training your staff on excellent customer relations, which is a key factor to succeed in any business.

My niche What I have going for me is making clothes for every man and woman who has got taste for class; who wants to look simple and yet make lasting impression.

Role models I have a lot of respect for Deola Sagoe. She is a phenomenal woman who has done so well for herself in the fashion business.

She's been in the business for many years and is still waxing strong. Mrs. Maureen Onigbanjo (Maufechi) is another woman I admire so much. I have been hearing about her for ages, yet she remains relevant on the scene. I like Mudi too.

My style My mood largely determines what I wear. My fashion fetish is bags, big bags and I have lots of them.

Worst experience I lost my mum about seven years ago and that remains my saddest day in life. She was ill for two years and eventually died. I was in London when she passed

on and I returned home to give her my last respect. She was a woman in a million; a real gem.

For my most memorable experience, it was the day I saw my works on television.

My weakness I'm just too shy and to be honest. It is giving me a cause for concern. In recent past, I've made attempts to organise fashion exhibition but the major challenge I have is facing hundreds of people staring at me.

My love life I believe in love because love makes the world an easier place to live. I also believe in the marriage institution. My kind of man must be God-fearing. That is the most important virtue any human being can have. I don't believe in this talk that an ideal man should be tall, dark and handsome. However, my man must not be short. I hope to get married at God's own time and I believe I'm ready to face the challenges that come with it. If you take your partner as a brother or sister, you resolve your misunderstandings easily. After all, you can't disown your blood sibling. The only thing I can't tolerate is physical or emotional abuse from a man.

My future dreams I want to see my designs in major stores all over the world. I want to see my creations on every fashion conscious man and woman. I strongly believe this dream is achievable.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

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•Lancôme’s Rénergie Yeux Multi-Lift offers youngerlooking eyes w i t h rejuvenating cream and brightening eye care. In six easy rejuvenating actions, dark circles and bags a p p e a r reduced, eye contour looks more luminous and even with fine lines appearing smoother.

• This advanced RevitaLash formula contains a proprietary blend of proven functional cosmetic ingredients pioneered

by Athena, combined with an infusion of powerful peptides and soothing botanicals, designed to both beautify and nourish the eyelashes.

Make yourself youthful super serum

• REN Photoactive sun veil SPF 15 is a triple action micromineral sunscreen that delivers broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection. It fights free radicals and harnesses beneficial light energy for a laser effect that gives the complexion an even appearance.

• Rejuvenating lip balm with Açaí Berry-Nourish your lips with Burt’s Bees 100% naturally formulated lip balm.

With a hint of açaí berry, it provides free radical fighting antioxidants and vitamins A, C, D and E, as well as healthy Omega oils, giving y o u r l i p s a rejuvenating experience with a rich, sweet flavour.

•Red carpet manicure Violetta darling LED Gel polishLook lovely in this luscious soft lilac shade. Applies like polish, with twist cap and applicator, but cures in a LED light in 45 seconds or in 3 minutes in traditional UV lamps, just like gels. Weeks and weeks of long lasting colour. No Chipping or peeling! And, soak completely off in 10 - 15 minutes.

Stila smudge pots -This unique gel eye liner and shadow is an innovative alternative to traditional powder and liquid formulas. This clever little gel has an inky intensity that leaves powder shadows in the dust. A favourite for the sultry, smoky eye.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

It’s rare for style consultant Ndidi Obioha to make a fashion misstep.

Kudos!

Glamour Isioma Onochie-Aihie and Terae Onyeje formally launched their fashion retail boutique,Grey Velvet recently at the Ikeja City Mall, Lagos. The exclusive black carpet event was a gathering of the crème de la crème in the Nigerian fashion industry. The occasion was graced by celebrities and Nollywood's finest all dressed in their glam attires, reports Kehinde Falode The Ankara colour choice was daring and divine, and the jacket fits her body like a glove. Kudos to TONIA IYADI

TERAE ONYEJE'S dress was an elegant and inspired choice for the red carpet. Kudos!

ABBY IKOMU looked whimsically chic! Kudos!

The custard colour is so perfect on RONKE SANYAOLU. Kudos!

NONI ST. CLAIRE'S pose may be a bit stiff, but few women could march around in a simple piece like this and make it look so effortless, Kudos!

Kudos goes to fashion designer LANRE DASILVAAJAYI (LDA) for designing and adorning such a standout and knockout shirt.

She looked perfectly pretty in this softly floral piece.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Glamour

•D&G Dolce & Gabbana Multicolor Printed Silk Halter Gown •Bracelet

•Blue bijoux cocktail ring

•Ifeoma Williams •Sam Ubhi-Silver vintage clutch bag

•Carat diamond sterling silver hoop earrings

•Bohemian multi-color printed polyester v-neck loose batwing sleeve women's

Steal her style I

FEOMA Williams looks chic in this great number. Ifeoma continued her fabulous fashionrun at the launched of Grey Boutique fortnight ago in a stunning creation that showed off her fabulous fair skin tone perfectly, and silver heels.

But Ifeoma’s cute frame means this actually works in her favour and accentuates her figure.

She favoured simple accessories, adding a pretty clutch and silver earrings.

Meanwhile her infectious smile provided the real wow factor.

•Christian Louboutin 2010 Poseidon silver peep toe pumps

THEATRE

With VICTOR AKANDE

t

BIGSCREEN

Tel: 08077408676

For LaDonna Gainnes

SOUND TRACK

plus

mer Tribute to Donna Sum

•(Donna Summer, 1948 - 2012)

GISTS

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e-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com

9ice stars in new movie

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FTER a cameo in a Yoruba movie entitled 'Oluwajomiloju', as a hotel attendant, popular singer, Abolore Akande otherwise called 9ice has accepted to take up another script.

Report has it that the Gongo Aso crooner would be playing the lead role in a movie called 'Jejere', produced by Laide Bakare and featuring Fathia Balogun, Akin Lewis, Ebun Oloyede, and Emeka Ike among others. The film is said to centre on corruption, unemployment, robbery and kidnapping.

•9ice

Timi Dakolo drops new video

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had many disadvantages All Night Long and Michael Jackson growing up on the streets of mega monster; Thriller, Donna Lagos. Chief among these was Summer was there fiercely my facial marks which competing with Marvin Gaye's immediately marked me out as a Sexual Healing with her song, She rustic from the hinterland! The Works Hard For Money which the Lagos of my adolescent years was feminists then used as their a city patterned after the legendary anthem. The album featured English class system. One's golden hits like Unconditional Love, pedigree determined where one Stop Look & Listen and the duet can stay; who one can interact with with Omardian; Love Has A Mind and the extent one could hope to Of Its Own! go in life. However, since my early Addiction is a terrible affliction! education had exposed me to My search for love was Western culture and habits, a major unconsciously guided by my need weapon I used to neutralise my for a Nigerian equivalent of Donna handicap was my investments in Summer! Ironically when I met her, the collection of vintage music, the it was our shared interest in Don dominatrix of which were those of Williams's music that bound us.

LaDonna Gainnes, musically However whenever we had our known as Donna Summer. regular tiff, LaDonna music never I was inducted into the failed to send me hallowed chambers of Donna's hankering after her! music with the release in The ladies of my 1975 of her runaway hit; growing up years Love-To-Love You, Baby were which then and quite a intellectually while after, was a solid, ably status symbol among matching the connoisseurs. their male 1976 brought counterparts another monster in hit; Love Trilogy discussing which featured serious the evergreen, issues like Try me and good Baby We Can music and Make It. Bad books. Of Girls course, followed in they liked 1979 and money too contained (which hits like Love Will generation of Find You and Walk women Away. In 1983 doesn't?), in before the arrivals their favour, of Lionel Ritchie's •Donna Summer however, to

initiate and sustain a lasting relationship, a man must have other things beyond just money power! The ladies of those days went with their choicest collection of vintage music in their bags. It was not enough for a man to have a car, there must be a selection of good music to enjoy during the ride but if a man was unlucky not to have the right type of music, the ladies will oblige with theirs but the infraction was certain to feature in ladies' discussion oops I almost say gossip afterwards!

To tame an intransigent lady of that time, what was needed was an appeal to her intellectual taste; invite her home or give her a long ride in the car. Use Donna Summer Love-to-Love you to thaw the ice and Try me Baby, We Can Make It to seal the pact of a long lasting relationship. In 1987, Summer released All Systems To Go! which featured Dinner with Gherswin, a track so popular; Geffen Records had to re-release it as a speciallyprized maxi-single. In 1989, a friend who is now a socialite in Lagos political circles gave me Donna Summer's latest; Another Place, Another Time. I had finally found a soul mate with a shared interest in LaDonna music! The two outstanding tracks of the album were the title track, Another Time, Another Place (which I still use in my training to induct ladies on how to politely turn down unwanted amorous offers) and Breakaway which I used as the climax music for my national telemovie in 1990. May the soul of LaDonna Gainnes, aka Donna Summer rest in perfect peace.

—Tribute by Yinka Ogundaisi

ARELY three months after the release of his thought-provoking and timely single, 'Great Nation', the winner of the maiden edition of West African Idols reality TV show, Timi Dakolo recently dropped another touching and inspiring music gift for his fans worldwide.

The husky-voice artiste has released the video for his track titled 'Love Song'.

The love ballad is one of the tracks from the Beautiful Noise album, released in July 2011 with major production input from the talented Cobhams Asuquo, Choc

Boyz- Jesse Jagz and Mr. Incredible (M.I).

‘Love Song' is the fifth video by Timi since he teamed up with the foremost management and entertainment solutions outfit of Now Muzik.

According to Now Muzik, the video was released into the market a fortnight ago and as it is coming on the heels of the release of 'Let it Shine', 'Heaven Please', 'There's a cry' and 'So Beautiful'.

Directed by award winning Clarence Peters, the video is already making waves as it is enjoying airplay and followership on the internet.

Davido kisses fan

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AST-RISING artiste, Davido is really feeling the vibe of his increasing horde of female fans. Just weeks after he was rumoured to be in sizzling romance with a Nollywood actress, the hot-in-demand musician was recently pictured getting really romantic with a female fan.

Davido was reported to have kissed a female who came close to the stage while he was performing abroad. While the incident came to many as a surprise, tongues went wagging as fans variously summed up that the girl might be his girlfriend, an Ex or probably a fan who fell crazily in love with him.

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Entertainment

Young and talented actress, Chelsea Ada Ezerioha, fondly referred to as Miss Chelsea is gradually making a name for herself as a burgeoning actress. The award-winning thespian revealed a whole lot about herself and other issues in this no-holds-barred interview with AHMED BOULOR.

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OULD you let us into your background?

My name is Miss Chelsea; I am 24 years old. I was born into a family of four and I am also the first child. I am a graduate of Linguistics/English from the University of Maiduguri. I am an actress and also a model.

How did your journey into Nollywood begin?

I started acting in 2009 but prior to that, I had auditioned in 2007 but I really couldn't do anything then because of school. But in 2009, Vivian Ejike called me for an audition when she was about to shoot her movie entitled Silent Night. I attended and I got the role. Since then, it has been success all the way.

I started modeling in 2007, but since I got into the movie world, I had to slow down with my modeling career to gain footing in acting. I still model a bit and for now acting and modeling go hand- inhand.

It is interesting to note that you have also won some awards too …

Yeah, I won three awards two years ago, thanks to Almighty God. Last year, I was nominated by BON for best supporting actress for the movie titled, Two Brides and a Baby.

Although, I didn't eventually win the award but being nominated alone is a great honour. It goes a long way to show that my efforts are being recognized.

Has the acting terrain been challenging?

Yes, it has been quite challenging; moving from one place or set to another, then from one location to the other and putting all efforts to bring different characters to life. Also, being away from family, friends and loved ones for a while is another factor that I have to contend with. But honestly in all, it's been worth it because I love my job; I have a passion for what I do and it makes all the stress and inconveniences worth it.

What are the major films you have featured in?

I have featured in quite a number of movies like Silent Scandal, Timeless Passion, Twist, Hood Rush, Two Brides and a

I can beat my chest to that. In fact, I am romantic to a fault. Some friends have said that I have been cocooned in love. When I love, I love with all my heart Miss Chelsea Eze

Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

I'm not so particular about where a guy is from. All that matters, is his personality and his feelings towards me. My man doesn't have to be perfect. For me, it's all about loving the imperfect perfectly.

Having said that, he would also be God fearing (and I mean a practising Christian), respectful and romantic

I am romantic to a fault —Chelsea Eze

Baby and some other movies that are yet to be released.

What was growing up like for you as a child in the North?

It was fun; I grew up amidst so much love, peace and unity. But it breaks my heart to witness that so much chaos and evil has taken over what used to be a very beautiful place. It is so sad and I hope the spate of bombings in the North becomes a thing of the past very soon.

Did you encounter any difficulty in convincing your parents about your mission to become an actress?

My dad wanted me to work in a

bank; he wanted me to take after him. He wasn't exactly pleased at my choice, but with time he got to understand and accepted it. Right now, my parents are my biggest fans; in fact, my whole family is and I'm so grateful. I guess, I really impressed them with my hard work and the outcome of the movies I featured in.

An apple doesn't fall far from its tree.

As a young and strikingly beautiful actress, have you ever been sexually harassed at any point in your career?

I don't have any idea about that and I haven't experienced any of such

at all. On a very serious note, I have never come across such an experience. But of course, I know it does exist just like it does in every other sector, be it banking, media and what have you.

What kind of roles are you not comfortable with?

As an actress, I should be versatile and be ready to play any role but I will not do pornography. I never will; I am supposed to be an actress in the 'movie industry' not in the 'adult movie industry'. My dear, I won't take a role that wouldn't affect my career positively. There must be a

good story line.

Do you subscribe to revealing your cleavage while on set?

Yes! That is allowed. Sometimes, I wear clothes that have low neck lines, so I see no big deal in showing off a bit of what you've got.

What could be described as your dream man?

Well, I'm not so particular about where a guy is from. All that matters, is his personality and his feelings towards me. My man doesn't have to be perfect. For me, it's all about loving the imperfect perfectly.

Having said that, he would also be God-fearing (and I mean a practising Christian), respectful and romantic.

Do you have a man in your life?

Yeah! Just like every other lively lady out there, I have a man in my life. And he's also in support of my chosen career. As for marriage, I can't say for now. But trust me, when we are set, you will be the first to know.

How do you contain your male fans?

It's a common thing for one to have admirers, whether as an actress or not. As for me, I treat everyone of them with respect to avoid a clash of understanding.

What do you consider your most embarrassing moment?

I bought a particular dress and forgot to detach the price tag before wearing it to an event. I was already so much into the event, when a total stranger walked up and tapped me.

She took me aside and gently helped me to remove the tag. I was so embarrassed and ashamed of myself. It was an awkward night afterwards. Since then, I became cautious and mindful of my new dresses. I make sure I take off the price tag to avoid another night of embarrassment.

What turns you on?

Well, considering the fact that I am a

sucker for love, I would say it is true love which comprises of elements such as honesty, patience and all. On the other hand, I detest lies and deceit. Let the truth be your watch word; no matter how hard the situation seems to be.

What part of your body do you consider as the sexiest?

I cherish all parts of my body but as for my face, I don't joke with it. That's because it is my selling point.

What part of your body would you like to change?

Maybe my legs, I feel like they are too skinny. It's funny though, but if I was given a second chance; I would like my legs to be fleshy.

Are you romantic?

Yeah! I am. I can beat my chest to that. In fact, I am romantic to a fault.

Some friends have said that I have been cocooned in love. When I love, I love with all my heart.

Do you have any role models?

In Nollywood, I look up to the likes of Genevieve Nnaji, Bimbo Akintola, Kate Henshaw, Stella Damascus and Richard Mofe-Damijo. On the international stage, I like Hollywood actors such as Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie and Al Pacino.

What would you say inspires you in doing what you do?

There are three things that inspire me a lot.

They are God, love and hard work.

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Double offer from Kennis Music

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CCENTRIC artiste and Nigeria's representative in the ongoing Big Brother StarGame, Goldie, has released her hot single entitled 'I Don't Wanna Leave'. The pop star who is turning out to be the centre of attraction at the ongoing reality TV show, stunned many viewers when she performed the hot single to her fellow Kenyan Housemate. The young man was swept off his feet as the Nigerian sang.

Incidentally, Kennis Music has shot the video of

another of its star artiste known as Jaywon. Directed

by Mr Skills, the video for the song 'Why We Are Here' was shot last week at the Nigezie studio in Lagos.

“It's a double offering from Kennis Music this time around as we also plan to start airing 'Why We Are Here' video on Kennis Music TV as well as Primetime Africa programmes on all TV stations in Nigeria and Star Times digital TV,” Mr. Kenny Ogungbe, Chief Executive Officer, Kennis Music said.

Rising Star: E-Treasure

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ORN Adeniyi Oluwaseun to a humble background, Afro hip hop artiste E-Treasure has always wanted to hug the limelight as an accomplished musician. The Kwara State indigene has written and recorded many songs but he is currently promoting one of them.

Though yet to pen a record deal E-Treasure sees himself ruling the local music scene in time soon to come. “I am planning to release my album sometime this year; I love singing because it is what I love doing and what I have a passion for. I see myself at the top winning lots of awards in Nigeria and beyond.” He said.

The artiste has been doing music for over five years but he took a break sometime ago to in a bid to finish school.

He recently had a collaboration with Jaywon and Rocksteady;

he has also had collaborations with Konga and a handful of other artistes on his forthcoming album which he says will be a 10 track compilation.

Transformer 3 actress gets $18m payout

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ABRIELLA Cedillo has received $18.5million settlement after suffering a brain injury after suffering a permanent brain injury while working as an extra on the movie Transformers 3 received.

Then 24, Gabriella was airlifted to hospital after being hit in the head as she drove a car during a stunt in September 2010.

A cable under tension snapped and smashed through the windshield of the Toyota driven by Miss

Cedillo on location in Hammond, Indiana.

The young woman was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital and underwent emergency surgery for serious head injuries. The 26-year-old suffered irreversible damage following the incident.

Her attorneys said a 'completely inadequate superficial weld had been applied in a failed effort to secure the bracket to the [stunt] car' according to reports.

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Entertainment

D'banj gears up for new record label

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Big Brother Africa 7

•Ola and Chris

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N a contentious move, Nigerian contestant in the Big Brother House, OLLOWING the breakup of one "For me it's not about the record Ola Bakare backed out of of Africa's most celebrated record label, it's about the success story of the game, creating a void labels, Mo'hits Records, selfthe whole movement. It is about and changing the tempo of styled entertainer, D'banj, is set to bringing the structure that has made the game. This come step up his game. The 32 year-old music what music is in global world barely two weeks into the artiste who has been scarce for a while and bringing it to Africa," he added. competition, as he credited in Nigeria is about to unveil his label.

Meanwhile, report has it that the "My new record label is being Kokomaster has also signed one of the his untimely exit to an structured. What I have right now and most promising Nigerian music acts, escalating, life-threatening I can tell you is that my new record David 'Davido' Adeleke to his yet-tomedical condition. label has worldwide distribution with be-named label. The signing, Keeping to the rules Universal Music Group," D'banj according to reports took place on governing the contestants revealed.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at Davido's in the DownVille House, The energetic performer and coLekki residence and was witnessed by his partner, Chris, had to founder of the defunct Mo'hits label D'banj, his manager Abisagboola also leave the series. whose Oliver Twist song was ranked 'Bankulli' Oluseun, Davido, his According to M-Net and manager Asa Asika and the father, 8th on UK's music chart says that he Endemol, while they are Deji Adeleke. would rather see his label as a deeply saddened to see The 19 year-old Davido now joins movement. He also made known of these two very the company of D'banj's brother, Khis plans of bringing Def Jam entertaining Housemates switch in the label.

Universal Music Group to Africa. leave the game, they remain committed to ensuring the health and safety of the contestants and therefore understand and respect the Housemates' decision to HE death of the great songwriter, Mr Robin back out.

Gibb was greeted with shock by the Arriving the country, the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON). Mr duo was hosted to a press Gibb, the late member of the celebrated pop conference where Ola had group, the Bee Gees and President of International a chance to reveal that Confederation of Societies of Authors and while in the House, he Composers (CISAC) died on Sunday, May 20, suddenly became 2012 at the age of 62 after a long battle with cancer hypertensive, a condition and intestinal surgery. he didn't have before.

Until his death Robin Gibb served as the According to the President of CISAC for the past five years. He has been described by CISAC as a tireless, committed contestant, attempts were defender of copyright who provided a public made to curtail it to no voice for three million creators around the world, avail. as represented by CISAC's 232 authors' societies in “Even after I was placed 121 countries. on medication, my blood Reacting to the death of Mr. Robin Gibb, pressure was still a bit Chairman of COSON, Chief Tony Okoroji who is high. I voluntarily pulled currently on an international mission to Ghana out of the game because I expressed sadness at the passing on of Robin just had to choose. For Gibb, describing him as one who impacted the me, it was wealth over world not only with his music but with his huge health. What if I won 9Robin Gibb contributions to the global creative community. the money and I slumped on national TV. The story would have been different.

Because of the kind of game we were playing, we always had tasks to TAR actress, Funke Akindele has opened complete. We up on criticism following her choice of were always on husband to -be, Alhaji Kehinde Oloyede each other's popularly called Almaroof or Kenny Doo, a politician and socialite who's married with kids. neck. We get excited. It “I am no longer a kid and I know what it wasn't means to be in love. I am in love and I am not calculated, it ashamed to say so. This is not a feeling you wasn't a contrive, it comes naturally. This is true love. plan. Trust And I have found it. Just be happy for me, I me, for have found true love,” she stated.

Critics, now you've heard it from d horse's $300,000, if mouth. This isn't a script she's handling, it's real to say I stay, and is her life. She says that her decision should I for die there. be respected as she is responsible for her own I just had to •Funke happiness. be smart,

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COSON mourns Robin Gibb

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Funke Akindele professes love

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Nigeria’s untimely exit

By Ovwe Medeme

that is why I chose health instead of wealth,” he said.

He is not put down by the situation as he says; “I am happy I now know because I want to do more research on this thing to know how to help other people.”

Beneath the sudden pullout of the duo also lies a tight conspiracy theory bordering on the issues of Nigeria winning the competition three consecutive times.

Contestants from Nigeria hold the bragging rights to clinching the competition.

From Kevin Pam, Uti Nwachukwu to Karen Igho, winning the contest now seems to come to Nigeria easily. With this thought at the back of their minds, viewers have been quick to come up with the conjecture that the exit of the duo is a ploy to scheme the country out of the competition.

Segun Fayose of Multichoice dispels this notion. “The first time we did the Big Brother Africa reality TV Show, a Nigerian did not win.

The same thing happened in the years to follow.

After some time, Nigerians said there was a conspiracy to ensure that the country does not win. Subsequently, Nigeria won the competition three consecutive times and the rest of Africa said that there must be a conspiracy to ensure

•Goldie

that only Nigerians win.

Today, we are not surprised that everybody is now saying that there is another conspiracy to ensure that Nigeria does not win again,” he explained Many will expect Ola's partner, Chris to feel shortchanged but he says that is not the case.

“Honestly I don't feel that way. I just think sometimes, things happen.

If it happens this way, it is fine. If it doesn't happen this way, it is all good. If I felt cheated, I probably would have fought for it, you probably would have heard my voice. He is my guy from way back, so it was an issue of 'if he goes, I go'. The future is bright.

With the exit of the duo, the onus of bringing glory to the country now lies on light-skinned entertainer, Goldie. Opinions are rife as to whether she has the clout to bring home the trophy but the odds appear to swing in her favour.

Goldie appears to be pulling her weight especially with her famous, or infamous as the case may be, relationship with Kenya's Prezzo, earning the duo the coinage, Goldezzo.

Recently, after their routine morning exercises in the garden where both of them could be seen exercising close to each other, Goldie and Prezzo headed to the kitchen to fix themselves something but while having a chat in there, Goldie confessed to having thought about him a bit before she slept the previous night.

She also pulled a fast one on the African viewers with the release of a hot new single entitled I Don't Wanna Leave from the stable of Kennis Music.

The new song is already getting a lot of reactions from her fans in Nigeria and across Africa.

Entertainment

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

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O’jez fetes Sikiratu Sindodo

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HE monthly O'jez Entertainment Forum awards series which has been on for over a decade now will this Sunday, May 27 play host to top Yoruba actress, Tayo Odueke popularly called Sikiratu Sindodo.

O'jez's choice of Sindodo, who was bedridden for over a year, may not be unconnected with the fact that aside being one of the leading female stars in the Yoruba movie genre, she has shown the world how to cheat death through her resolve to live. “The lady is an example of doggedness, many people would have given up and we would have lost a rare talent again but not Sikiratu Sindodo.

She fought hard and cheated death and so we are celebrating her life and talent on Sunday, May 27,” Chairman/C.E.O, O'jez restaurant, Chief Joseph Odobeatu said.

Odobeatu noted that a lot of activities have been lined up to

Adewole Adeyinka returns to alma mater

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•Sindodo

make the evening a memorable one. “We will ensure that Sikiratu Sindodo and her expected large entourage will be treated to a rain of highlife music by veteran Fatai Rolling Dollars and Alaba Pedro backed by the O'jez band.

Comedians Plenty Mouth,

T was a shocking but rather amusing sight when Adewole Adeyinka, the host of the popular TV programme ‘Owuro Lawa’ on LTV 8 returned to his alma mater, Fazil-I-Omar Primary School, Lagos clad in the schools uniform with a school bag and shorts to match.

The TV host took time-out to Akpororo, MC Shakara and visit his old school while also Elenu will all be in the house to contributing to the schools area heat things up. The presentation of need. The TV presenter of the award plaque has been revealed that coming to the aid planned to be another ceremony and seeking new ways to help on its own and his alma mater is his main top Nollywood stars are in priority for the time being. charge of that aspect,” Joining Oba Adeyinka Odobeatu said.

Adewole the Kabiyesi of ‘Owuro Lawa’ on his visit to the primary school he attended years back were the executive secretary of the Lagos State

Project Fame audition commences

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OLLOWING the City will be the first venue June Arena while Port Harcourt will completion of a successful 2nd while the auditions will be host the train 16th June at fourth edition, organisers held at Calabar on the 9th of June Krisdera Hotel. Last season of talent hunt show, MTN Project at Marian Hotel, Marian Road. winner of the MTN sponsored Fame say that all is set to audition music TV reality show was At Ibadan, on the 9th of June; intending musicians for the fifth Monica Ogah, who recently the auditions will be held at Tafo edition for talented youths across released her singles Tomorrow, major Nigerian and West African Below and I wish say. cities.

According to information released by the organisers, the auditions will first hit Sierra Leone on Friday 25th May 2012 at the British Council Hall, Tower Hill, Freetown. On the 26th of May 2012, Musicians Union Head Office, Near Independence Square, Accra played host to the auditions.

Next in line will be Liberia CCLAIMED where the auditions will hold on king of comedy, the 2nd of June, at the Samuel Ali Baba, is set to K. Doe Sports Complex, stage an emphatic return to the comedy Paynesville, Monrovia. scene in a show tagged 'Helen Paul & Finally, the audition train Tatafo Live'. will berth in Nigeria Scheduled to take place on Sunday May 27, 2012 where it will be held in at the MUSON Centre, Lagos, the show is expected to seven different venues. parade an array of showbiz stars. Billed for performance Constantial Hotel, at the show are Ali Baba, AY, Gbenga Adeyinka, Bovi, situated at Airport Koffi, Owen Gee, Sound Sultan, Bash, Princess and Road, GRA, Benin

A-list comedia for ‘Helen Pau ns l& Tatafo Live’

Mimmy Tea hosts colleagues on birthday

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Mandy among others.

According to Helen Paul-Bamisile, who is organising her own comedy show for the first time, the event is tagged 'Helen Paul and Tatafo Live' because it is a time when her fans will have the privilege to see the versatility in Helen and Tatafo.

“They are both different characters. The only similarity is that both of them are outstanding entertainers. And on that day, people will see both of them on stage at the same time. Besides, the show is also part of my efforts at giving back to the society in my own little way,” She said.

The comedienne is also expected to unveil her debut music album, during the show. The album, she said, is being produced by Bunmi Davies.

•Monica

government, Mr. Adewole Elesho and actress Lizzy Anjorin.

•Helen Paul

FRO hip-hop artiste, Olawole Oyetunji otherwise called Mimmy Tea was a year older recently, and in celebration, the burgeoning artiste gathered friends and well-wishers to a lavish party at Club Royale, Oba-Akran, Ikeja, Lagos.

Present at the event were artistes including Terry G, DJ Zeez, Bigiano, Klever J, Zee World, Skally Mental and LKT among others.

Speaking after the shindig, the elated birthday boy told newsmen how great he felt.

“As you can see, this love is great.

You can feel the love from my other colleagues; this is what we've been missing for long because of our busy schedules. I'm happy that everyone came to celebrate with me. God bless you all,” he said.

There were lots of victuals and music performances on the night.

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Entertainment

BIG

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

CINEMA GUIDE LAGOS

PICTURE Supported by: SILVERBIRD CINEMAS

Movies in competition at film festivals are tailored towards global issues. VICTOR AKANDE who is attending the 65th edition of Cannes International Film Festival takes a look at two out of the lots which centers on the future of America and Britain.

Killing them softly

Invasion of America's future

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US release of 2012, this new effort featuring Brad Pitt is in official selection at the Cannes Film Festival which winds up today. A 104minutes flick, it is a stylish hard-boiled crime drama by Andrew Dominik. A violent and bleakly funny film, Killing Them Softly is

a memorable crime film, with Brad Pitt reinforcing his acting reputation as a commanding screen presence.

Based on George V Higgins' 2002 Boston-set crime novel Cogan's Trade, the movie is set against the backdrop of a country in the midst of its election in 2008. The scenes of gunplay and tough conversations between violence suggests political argument about the future of the USA. You would find this line interesting …: “America isn't a

country it's a business”, says Brad Pitt's leather-jacketed enforcer, Jackie Cogan, when demanding his payment.

Two petty thieves, Frankie and Russell are recruited to knock off a poker game run by Markie Trattman (Liotta). A mob linkman brings in enforcer Jackie Cogan who is asked to sort out two thieves, the man who hired them and Markie Trattman.

Speaking at the screening of the film in Cannes, Pitt noted that the flick isn't an attack on Obama.

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HEN despair and amusement meet, the former becomes less critical. This is the dosage being offered in The Angel's Share. The film presents a cheering, feel good ray of hope from what often seem like the bleakest of lives.

The unimaginable number of unemployed and unemployable young people in Britain is in mockery. A highly critical sociopolitical film, The Angel's Share is persuasive of the government, using the filmmaker's fairy-tale style to appeal to Britain's global followers.

Robbie, played by avant garde Paul Brannigan, after escaping a prison sentence for a vicious assault, is sentenced to 300 hours of community service where he meets sympathetic social worker, Harry (John Henshaw). Robbie is devoted to his girlfriend Leonie (Siobhan Reilly) and his newborn son Luke, vowing to renounce his violent ways and make a fresh start.

But despite the birth of his son which is expected to inspire a complete transformation in his character, Robbie unites with his

Titanic Featured Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Billy Zane Genre: Drama Running Time194 min Trespass Featured Actors: Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman and Cam Gigandet Genre: Comedy Running Time: 91 min Dr Seuss'- The Lorax 3D Featured Actors: Zac Efron, Taylor Swift and Danny DeVito Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time86 min 21 Jump Street Featured Actors: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube Genre: Comedy and Sequel Running Time109 Mins Machine Gun Preacher Featured Actors: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time129 min Phone Swap Featured Actors: Wale Ojo, Nse Etim Ikpe, and Ghanaian Superstar, Lydia Forson Genre: Comedy Running Time Wrath of the Titans Featured Actors: Sam

Worthington, Liam Neeson and Rosamund Pike Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 99 min Best Exortic Marigold Hotel Genre: Action/Adventure Contraband Genre: Action/Adventure John Carter Featured Actors: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and Willem Dafoe Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time132 min Man on a Ledge Featured Actors: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks and Jamie Bell Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time102 min

ABUJA Genre: Action/Adventure Dr Seuss' the Lorax Featured Actors: Zac Efron, Taylor Swift and Danny DeVito Genre: Drama Running Time: 86 min Wrath of the Titans Featured Actors: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Rosamund Pike Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 99 min The Scores Featured Actors: Aremu Afolayan, saheed balogun ,Eniola olaniyan , Olumide Trespass Bakare,sunkanmi omobolanle Featured Actors: Nicolas Cage, Genre: Drama Nicole Kidman and Cam Phone Swap Gigandet Featured Actors: Wale Ojo, Genre: Drama Nse Etim Ikpe, and Ghanaian Running Time: 91 min Superstar, Lydia Forson True Citizens Genre: Comedy Featured Actors: Uti Man on a Ledge Nwachukwu, Alex Usifo, Featured Actors: Sam Brian Okwara, Clareth Worthington, Elizabeth Banks Onukogu, Keneth Okolie, and Jamie Bell Clara Iweh, and Melvin Odua. Genre: Action/Adventure

PORT HARCOURT

The Angels' Share

Britain’s ‘lost generation’ in view new community service mates Rhino (William Ruane), Albert (Gary Maitland) and Mo (Jasmin Riggins) to plot a daring raid on a Highland distillery.

Their humour is enough to last a life time. But the reality of a bleak

generation of unemployed and unemployable youths is not lost in the drama. This film, which is in Cannes competition premiere, is expected to raise its profile before the UK release billed for June 1 via Entertainment One.

The Ides of March Featured Actors: Paul Giamatti, George Clooney and Philip Seymour Hoffman Genre: Drama Running Time: 101 Mins True Citizen Genre: Drama Running Time: 97 Mins 21 Jump Street Featured Actors: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube Genre: Comedy and Sequel Running Time: 109 Mins Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Featured Actors: Zac Efron, Taylor Swift and Danny DeVito Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 86 Mins Trespass Featured Actors: Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman and Cam Gigandet Genre: Action/Adventure Running Time: 91 Mins Wrath of the Titans Featured Actors: Sam

Worthington, Liam Neeson and Rosamund Pike Genre: Action/Adventure Phone Swap Genre: Drama Running Time: 70 Mins Machine Gun Preacher Featured Actors: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon Genre: Action/Adventure

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Glamour

41

Actress, Jada Pinkett Smith, is famously married to the superstar Will Smith.

For some she's a beacon of progressive parenting but for others, her decisions around her kids, particularly 11year-old daughter Willow are questionable. Never one to be swayed by public opinion Pinkett-Smith sat with Melanie Yvette Martin to talk parenting, Willow's dramatic hair cut and why she stands by it 100% because at the end of the day, “it's just hair.”

JADA PINKETT-SMITH

Will, my kids and I

H

AIR is always such a touchy topic for Black women and after the pictures of Willow's newly shaved head went up, there was a lot of reaction against her assumed freedom regarding her hair. As a Black mother, how did you feel about this?

Let me tell you something…this is really important. Let me tell you what I was proud of with my daughter. She knows that her hair is not her identity. And she knows that she's beautiful and [she is] everything that she needs to be with or without hair; that hair can't make or break a woman. The other thing I was proud of is that she didn't give two hootie who's about who thought what about it. She really didn't and then turned around and dyed it green! I call her my 'little miss radical'. She's truly my child.

So you weren't at all upset or in any shock when she decided to cut her hair off?

I can't even be upset in any form but I want to tell you what I feel we, as women in general, must do. We have to understand that we should at all times; have the right and the power to make decisions about our bodies.

And that is an idea that must be taught at a young age. You can't wait until a person is 18 years old and say 'now you have the right'.

You have to start that form the gate. So what I am trying to show Willow, is that it's her hair.

I might not want her to cut it, but guess what?

It's not mine. And at the end of the day it's not for me to make that choice for her. So I need her to be empowered now, with that. At the end of the day, it's hair.

It's been said that she actually wanted that style because her Grandmother had it.

Is that true?

Will's mother's hair is the same way as well as my mother's hair and I'll tell you what's interesting. When she first got her hair cut, she wanted that style. She said to me, 'I want my hair like Gammy's!' So we went step by step by step, till we got to the day, three years later, when she said, “I told you, I want my hair like Gammy's'.

It's amazing that a young teen her age could be so forward and confident with her appearance.

She wanted that style. And it took everything I had. I was like okay, why don't we start with one side. She was like “okay!”

Then she was like mom, I really want to cut more, so I said okay let's do the other side.

She's like “okay!” So she rocked that for a little while till finally we got down to that little strand. And she still landed on what she had wanted from the beginning! I had to give her props on the fact that she ain't let it go, and she knew what she wanted. And after she did the BET Honors, she looked at me and she was like 'Mom I'm sick of it! I want to cut

it off! I was like, all right. When she saw that hair fall to the ground she was like “Yes, now I am going to bleach it and make it pink!” So there you go.

Young Black men can learn a thing or two from her confidence!

Here's the thing, men have to also mature in how they see women too. Because they need to understand that it's not just about how we look, it's about who we are. And I am going to tell you like this if you can't love me with short hair, and you telling me I got to have long hair to be loved, guess what, I ain't the one for you.

And women have to learn to raise their young girls to think the same way.

And you know I just think as women, we have to give ourselves room to be individuals.

So when a woman makes a decision for herself, we as women shouldn't set those hardcore boundaries for another woman. Just like we don't want men setting hardcore boundaries for us. We as individuals should be able to say if we want to keep our husbands [last] name and also say we don't, and hifive on that.

Do you feel like women are harder on women?

I think what we have to do in o u r womanhood, is if we're asking for certain freedoms from other people, we have to learn to: (A): give those freedoms to ourselves, and (B): give those freedoms to one another because if we can't do it, if we're going to sit up here and slam 11 year old

child for wanting to cut her hair, how we going to ask these men to back off these issues dealing with our bodies? I believe that we want to take a stand to be individuals, that has be across the board and we have to give it to one another and it can't be “we can have freedom there, but we can't have freedom there”. And I think you have to be responsible about it. A lot of people don't understand the process that we went through with Willow. It wasn't that Willow just decided this in one day, that was a threeyear process. Because from day one she said, “I want my hair like Gammy's”.

You both are so alike in your personalities and confidence. What would a Willow and Jada musical collaboration sound like?

That's so crazy because she and I have been talking about that. She loves music and I have expanded a little bit more from the Burn thing that I did for Will into like an R&B rock thing, into more edgier rock stuff.

[I'm] not doing the metal stuff, I'm a little too old for that! So you know we've kind of evolved into something else. But we [Willow and I] actually have been talking about that.

With the evolution of your family and all of your successes, especially Willow, are you anxious to see what's going to come next?

I'm very excited, you still have a little anxiety, because I'm still a mother, and these are my most vigilant years with these kids. Willow is on my hip, I'm watching every step. Willow's going through womanhood training right now, you know what I mean, so it's that balance between giving her enough room, but also staying right by her side so when she bumps a little it's like, okay I'm there.

And being there but not dictating and it's scary because, let's keep it real, we know that the best lessons we've ever learned is when we fell on our ass.

You learn m o r e f r o m y o u r failures.

Y o u r mother could sit here all day and tell you "baby don't do that, I can tell you right now what that's going to look like". So you kind of have to, without judgment, and without guilt, kind of have to step back.

And when your baby falls down, you just got to be there. That's it. That's all it is.

Courtesy: Ebony.com

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Glamour

Tolani Onajide is a young Nigerian designer who is blazing the trail in the fashion world. She has achieved so much within a short time thanks to the Scottish government, which created a platform for less fortunate young people in the city of Dundee regarded as one of the poorest cities in Scotland.

She braved the odds and won awards and support from business organisations notably the Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust and Cultural Enterprise Award, which afforded her a grant worth 25,000 pounds and other benefits to launch her clothing line, NKILI in February 2012. The trained Architect from the University of Dundee in Scotland, in this interview with KEHINDE FALODE, talks about how her journey to fame started

H

OW did your journey into stardom begin?

I am Tolu Nkili Onajide. I started Nkili in 2011 after attending Arts school for a year in London at the Architectural Association School and later at the University of Dundee, School of Architecture. I was in my second year at the University of Dundee where I entered for the business plan competition. We needed to develop business ideas about opening a people-friendly business shop in Dundee. This inspired me to start something on my own. With the help of the Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust funded by Prince Charles of England, I developed a business plan. The whole idea of the trust was that they develop young entrepreneurs. I was given business advice and went for classes for a few months and then got a grant in October 2011. I got my final award which was financial and this helped me to start the business. I also got another grant from my university which was a six-month lease in an office space using all their facilities to do my business. So, I started Nkili in January 2012 when I got the full funding with my online website Nkili.com. I started with seven shirts and three scarfs. Nkili is just focussed on making beautiful hand-printed shirts with my own unique designs. So, I design prints and shapes for shirts. By February, I got a lot of support from the Scottish media. I was in the Skinny Magazine, an arts and entertainment magazine in Scotland and the Evening Telegraph.

‘I love classic shapes and colours’

There is no comparison between the fashion industry in Scotland and Nigeria. There is so much diversity over there. The fashion industry in Nigeria pales in comparison to that of Scotland and largely the United Kingdom.

What kind of upbringing did you have?

I spent most of my life in Oxford and London. But then I moved to Scotland in 2009. I was born in Lagos and spent my first eight years in Nigeria. I come to Nigeria almost three times in a year. My parents live here.

The one year course I did helped me because of the artistic view to Architecture as it entailed fashion and textile, photography and painting. It was intensive and this has shaped my fashion sense. Before I left school and presented my final work, the comment that was made about my work pointed out that my strength was in fashion and textile and I knew that as well. So that gave me the confidence, but I knew I would study Architecture and be an architect in the long term.

Why did you go into shirt making alone?

I decided to go into shirt making in particular because first of all, I wear silk shirts all the time. I decided not to use generic prints for my shirts. I wanted to design my own shirts and make it to look like something differ-

ent. Everything in my collections, you would see something different. The next Autumn/Summer collection which comes out later on in the summer, you would see something different in both contrasts and materials.

What has been the challenges faced so far?

If I say this, you won't believe me. I have had no challenges so far. I happened to be in the right place at the right time. The Scottish government is investing in the young ones between eighteen and twenty-six years old.

After spending a year in London, which was the foundation because the Arts School refined me for the textile and fashion industry, I moved to Scotland in 2009 and the platform of the Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust created by Prince Charles for young and underprivileged people was what I used to set-up my clothing line while still in my second year at the University of Dundee School of Architecture, Scotland. That is the kind of incentive every government should have for her youth.

Who are your role models?

Stella McCartney is one of the designers I consider my role models.

She is probably the richest fashion designer in the world. She wears the confidence; her fashion is very minimal. In Nigeria, I admire Deola Sagoe's Oodua Creations.

What are your future plans for Nkili?

I want my designs accessible to my clients in Nigeria. To achieve that, I already have two stockists in Lagos namely Les Spaces and Deola Sagoe's flagship stores both on Victoria Island. I deal with an online store called Asos.com. They have an independent store for young designers where you have your own boutique. In the future, I intend to go into other fabrics outside silk. I want to go back and practice my discipline side by side with my passion which is fashion.

Can you make a comparison between the fashion industry in Scotland and Nigeria?

There is no comparison between the fashion industry in Scotland and Nigeria. There is so much diversity over there. The fashion industry in Nigeria pales in comparison to that of Scotland and largely the United Kingdom. There were a lot of incentives which I took advantage of in Scotland; I have two years of aftercare support for Nkili. I have a financial adviser who I go to from time to time for my clothing line; I have a legal adviser who takes care of other things so that I can face the design proper. I sometimes wish there was a trust like this for young designers and entrepreneurs in Nigeria. It could go a long way in empowering young people. Apart from the grant from Prince's Business Trust which I could access for Nkili, there were other incentives like the Enterprise Gem business incubator from the University of Dundee, which offers me 1,200 pounds to invest in my business.

What does fashion mean to you?

Fashion is beyond just putting on clothes; fashion is an expression. I love classic things, classic shapes and colours. I believe less is more which is a philosophy I adopted from being an architect. So, Nkili is influenced by one of the leaders of modern architecture, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and his minimalist design style. My ethic drives Nkili. I want people to be able to buy Nkili not just because of the price but because of the elegance.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Glamour

43

Social KAYODE ALFRED

(E-mail: kayflex2@yahoo.com, Tel: 08035733605, 08099400057)

Barrister Ngozi Ekeoma th celebrates 40 birthday

M

ANAGING Director and CEO, Nepal Oil & Gas Limited, Barrister Ngozi Ekeoma turned 40 two weeks ago. A lawyer by professional training, the stylish woman is also a director of Southglobe Limited, a financial outfit in Lagos. On the th occasion of her 40 birthday ceremony, her success story was confirmed by the number of advertorials and congratulatory messages that poured in. But not one to indulge in wanton extravagance, the 'birthday girl' simply marked the momentous occasion in a low-key way at her Ikoyi residence in the company of friends, family members and business associates.

Sola Onyekwele goes into event business

Ekeoma

S

OLA Onyekwele, the beautiful wife of retired General Onyekweli is currently brimming with joy and happiness. The vivacious young woman, who runs Elizabeth Phillip Bridals in Lagos, has diversified into a new line of business.

Just recently, she imported a magnificent tent named Princess Stella, which is capable of accommodating 2000 guests. With distinctive style and setting, Princess Stella is about 100metres in length with 20metres breadth, and is reputed to be the first of its kind in this part of the world. Also boasting an in-built photo studio, Sola's marquee has since hosted A-class events in the last few months.

Suswam

Yemisi Suswam th celebrates 45 birthday, dedicates church

W

ITH a presence and infectious aura that is hard to ignore, Yemisi Suswam is, arguably, Nigeria's most stylish first lady. Some days ago, the wife of Governor Gabriel Torwua Suswam turned 45. And rather than roll out the drums like most of her peers are wont to do, the brilliant architect opted to thank God for His mercies and grace upon her life by donating a gigantic church edifice to the Redeemed Christian Church of God in her husband's hometown in Benue State.

Aftermath of crashed marriage, How A-Bar Uju Murphy opens lost its shine fashion house

M

ANY years ago, the Atlantic Bar on Adeola Hopewell Street on Victoria Island was the place to be for the happening big boys, who dictate the pulse of social scene. Boasting an ambience that titillates the sensories to no end, coupled with the quality crowd that throng the spot on a daily basis, A-Bar never seemed capable of losing its shine at least for many years to come.

But lose its shine, the bar has, at least if happenings at the hangout in the last few years are anything to go by. Owned and run by three close friends-Yusuf Hamman, Marshal Onwuama and Osa Asemota, the bar's profile has not only waned considerably, there are even unconfirmed reports that the bar now runs skeletal services. SC findings revealed A-Bar's troubles may not be unconnected to the new business interests of the co-owners, who are busy with their individual projects, thus relegating A-Bar to the backwaters.

Yinka Akande back in the news

A Akande

PIONEER staff of Etisalat Nigeria, Yinka Akande had everything going for him in the telecoms company until he, surprisingly, called it quits about a year ago leaving his colleagues in a state of flux. As Etisalat's Director of Communications and Brands, Akande set new standards, drawing applause and wide acclaim in the process.

While many pondered what could have led to his sudden decision, insiders disclosed that he had decided to be his own boss. However, less than a few months after he floated his personal business project and getting used to life outside paid employment, the former Director of Communications at Globacom got a mouth watering offer as the new Director General/CEO of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria(MAN).

F

OR those on the social scene, the name Uju Murphy is one that does not fail to make a resounding ding in the ears. She ascended the ladder of social relevance so fast that it gave society watchers dizzy spells just watching her attending society parties, and hobnobbing and rubbing shoulders with those who make things happen.

Suddenly, she disappeared from the social radar, and the reason was no secret. The boss of Exquisite Bath had a lot to contend with. First, is the crash of her marriage to her Japanbased husband, Murphy Usuhe.

So devastated was Uju that she resorted Murphy to a lowprofile lifestyle in order to c o n c e ntrate more on other things that interests h e r .

Determine d to forge ahead and forget about the past, Uju Murphy, SC can reveal, has also opened a new fashion outfit in Lekki, a project which seems to be taking all her time.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

47

VOL 1 NO. 037

Models and brands management T

HIS article is focused on putting in the right perspective, the person and role of an advertising model, and their importance as agents of brand establishment, building and growth, from the perspective of advertising. We also like to bring to focus, that advertising is all about adding to the bottom-line: positive Return on Investment - ROI. This article is also meant to be a reference material for students in advertising and prospective practitioners who may have need for a proper understanding of the role of models in brands management.

Models and modeling is not frontally considered very important element in brands management among many practitioners in our local environment.

At best it comes as a creative necessity (if the creative concept or designs requires), in creating advertising material. So we often see the creative personnel choose from available options to determine who comes on set as the model for the assignment at hand. Very little is considered of the appropriateness of such chosen model to the overall person of the brand, the competition and the underlining marketing objective.

Top of mind, the ideal creative process for developing campaign materials starts with the client's identification of a marketing problem or need to achieve setmarketing objective. This is closely followed by the need to know; what should be done for or with the brand in question, to either solve the identified problem or achieve setmarketing objective.

Then the client's brief to the advertising agency. The Agency's challenge then becomes meeting the client's needs. Ideally, answers are provided to every question relevant to the assignment at hand at this point. It is at this stage all strategic options are considered in charting the way forward for the brand/client, in relation to the assignment at hand.

Questions to include the brand/client's present market performance, competitive analysis versus competition, the trade and consumer traits and habit, prevalent market variables such as activities of completion, price movement and even efficiency of brand's shelf presence are all thrown up at this stage.

Then-on, scientific interpretation is put to findings following from the question and answers, preparatory to developing creative materials for client's consideration. Production of creative materials follows the client's approval swiftly, then-on.

From experience, the issues considered most important within the creative team in the most professional agency setting in this market are figures pertaining to the brand's market performance in volume and value terms, consumer engagement and shelf offtake. The issue concerning PERCEPTION in relation to brand's market performance hardly comes to consideration among the strategic and creative workers.

It is often times left at the whims of the visual artist to create an idea of the ideal model for the assignment and the traffic or creative services team takes it on from

there, in search of the person so-envisioned by the visual artist.

Now, the above is the grade 'A' performance of the top-end creative teams I have witnessed in this market.

Over 78% of advertising agencies in this market do not think so deep in their creative process. So as we go forward in this consideration we are looking at the ideal creative process.

In most cases, the issue of PERCEPTION is left out in the consideration of those variables crucial to the helping a brand succeed. It is considered so insignificant, after those very demanding analysis of research figures.

Each time research figures are thrown at me for interpretation, it's always war. So one can understand why issues of perception measurement are often less considered at strategic sessions.

But there-in lays the problem. Because not sufficient attention is paid to PERCEPTION, the issue of models and modeling is not treated rightly, to sufficiently benefit the brand. We mentioned in our article on ADVERTISING: A PARADIGM SHIFT last week that no element worthy of consideration in brand building is of less importance to another. If the act as seemingly negligible as scenting the aircraft cabin is a strong branding tool, then we must be careful how we consider all other such important strategic input.

So, the question is how many of us really pay attention to the importance of models as brand building tools? We must put models and modeling in the right perspective if the brand must earn its take of the contribution of models for market gains. To begin with, modeling is a profession, modeling is perception.

Moving forward on this, let us look at perception as a performance driver for brands growth. It is common saying that perception is key whether in the mind's eye, touch or feel, and that is what sells the brand. That which is perceived of the brand on offer by the target consumer determines the target audience's ACTION. Often times, that which is called value-essence is all about perception. It is perception in terms of cost benefit

that will guide the prudent consumer in deciding for a choice among competing brands in terms of pricing. In same manner, it is perception in terms of smell appeal that will form the basis of a given consumer's choice of perfume brand among competition.

It is the effective deployment of this all-important element of perception that models and modeling is all about. A model is seen as somebody with a particular set of attributes that will perfectly connect with the given brand in making the desired statement towards achieving the desired brand image; the image that should sell the brand. A model is that face representing the brand (the face of the brand), the one person, character that represents the brand in a very distinct way, with direct implication on the bottom line in volume and value terms. The model must complement every other of the brand's offer components to drive target market engagement. It must sell the brand, big idea or opinion.

Perhaps we should recall the issue of a brand's equity at this point. If a brand's equity is the total sum of the brand's associates that makes up its person, then we must appreciate the place of models in the vanguard of perception. The model is the true ambassador of the brand. We must therefore be clear on who is a model, from the perspective of the attributes tied to a model.

There are two broad classes of models the Run-way model (fashion models) and models for advertising. For the purpose here, we shall concern ourselves with models for advertising. The ideal models are not defined primarily by beauty as manifest to the ordinary eye, but by character. It is so functional that an advertising message may require the use of a 'not too beautiful' person to pass its message across. The emerging trend among some brands is engaging popular actors as brand ambassadors. However, to the extent that this does not sell the brand in actual sense, it is a clear misplacement of functions and a not-too smart strategic move. A brand ambassador is that character that actually sells the brand in quantifiable terms. That is why you often hear of some brands sacking their ambassadors without care.

It is because the engagement of such people as brand ambassadors is more of social engagement rather than a profitable business decision.

The true brand ambassadors are the models. Brand managers and the agency's creative process must begin to take a proper look at the use of models in brand building and market success. To the extent that the role of models are yet to be optimally considered, advertising creative process must be challenged in the direction of proper handling. Strategic planners must begin to pay attention to use of models, for the good of all. Finally, brands owners must also begin to listen more to the professionals in the use of models. The brand is the ultimate winner in it all.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

'Being a female mechanic comes with responsibilities’ Engineer Sandra Aguebor-Ekperuoh is known as the first female mechanic in Nigeria. She is the Managing Director of Sandex Car Care, an auto-mobile servicing and sales workshops as well as the Executive Director of the Lady Mechanic Initiative which trains prospective female auto-mechanics and offers their services to individuals and major corporate organisations. In this interview with Rita Ohai, she reveals her key to success in this profession generally seen as the exclusive reserve of men.

W

HY did you decide to become a mechanic?

I was divinely inspired. When I was about 13 or 14 years old, I dreamt that I was a mechanic and I knew that it was a calling. I started in 1986, I have been doing this for the past 26 years and I will be a mechanic for the rest of my life.

How are you able to handle the pressure of working in a maledominated field?

The ability to withstand the heat is in-built. Because I was called to be a mechanic, God had already blessed me with the shock absorber and perseverance to succeed. The challenges became my stepping stone for opportunities.

The men in the profession knew that I had a direction and I knew what I was doing so they had no choice but to accept me.

How were you able to convince customers to look beyond your gender and focus on the quality of your work?

In this business, they come in to test you and check out what you can do.

They try to find out if you have t h e com

munication skill to explain the problems their vehicles have. Are you as a professional giving them peace of mind or are they leaving with the problems they came with?

Once they saw that they were leaving with peace of mind, we were giving them schedules to service their cars and they were satisfied with the work we were doing, they began to tell others and my clientele started growing.

What were the necessary skills you had to learn to become a qualified mechanic?

I went through t h e apprenticeship stage for six years. During that period, I had to learn the basics on how to fix cars. I then moved to the theoretical part by going to school. I was the only woman in my class at that time and because I already

had field knowledge, it to a garage and I started was easy for me to grasp Most of the It was a big taboo learning. what was being taught. people I have as friends when I started. I did right now are those big It is generally believed women that I try to learn that 'tom-boys' are not have friends. I difficult women, how are from. They are people still do not have you able to socially relate who I can brainstorm with the opposite sex? many friends but I with and try to move my Being the first female have fans. My mother business forward mechanic in the country Being a mother who did not support me c o m e s w i t h has teenage children, responsibilities. As a initially. My father w h a t d o y o u t h i n k women can do to woman, when you are also refused to give improve the relationship involved in a maleme support but they have with their dominated profession, there are things you do eventually he took me teens?

Start from watching not subscribe to. It is not to a garage and I your own character as a that you are being difficult started learning. parent. Since I gave birth rather you are just setting to my kids, they have standards on what is been seeing me wearing acceptable and what is mechanic overall, even not. I am not tough but I my baby who is almost two years old can like things done the right way.

As a woman executive, how do you identify the colour. So, my kids know that their parents are hard-working. They hear ensure your employees work efficiently?

I always tell them that to apply team us talking about millions of naira and they work. A girl is not different from a guy. If a know that we work for it. So they will know guy can handle that laptop, then you as a that if they also want to make that kind of woman should know how to use it. It money, they must work hard.

When your children are entering their depends on their mind-set and determination. I also encourage my trainees teenage years, you should be able to sit with them and figure out the kind of career they to give their best.

Since you work with cars, what do you would want to engage in. Each time my think can be done to reduce the number of children are on vacation, I do not allow them watch cartoons or run around the dilapidated cars on Nigerian highways?

That can only be solved through place with friends. My daughter says she government policies. My own is just to wants to be a doctor and I made sure I sent work with the cars when they have her to volunteer with Lagoon Hospital so problems so that they do not block the roads that she can start learning the basics of being a doctor. I did the same thing with my son. and cause traffic congestion.

Can you shed some light on your five Knowing that being a female mechanic in African is unusual, did you face any year plan?

Right now, we are in Benin City, Kaduna cultural and family pressure?

It was a big taboo when I started. I and Abuja. We want to expand the business did not have friends. I still do not and spread to each state in the country and have many friends but I have fans. then West Africa. We have a letter from the My mother did not support me President of Liberia inviting us to come to initially. My father also their country, so we are making progress. refused to give me support As long as car manufacturers keep but eventually he took me producing cars, there would be business for the trainees.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

New WOMAN

49

Should widows re-marry?

A

family is usually thrown into a state of mourning with the death of a spouse. While children, parents and siblings wail in anguish, nothing compares to the degree of pain and grief the deceased's wife feels.

In the twinkle of an eye, she is forced to trade her colourful dresses for eerie dark robes, her symbol of mourning. Against her wish, she is crowned with a new title: ‘Widow’.

The need to bring some succor to some of these women recently led the Kano State government to sponsor the marriage ceremony of 100 widows and divorcees in the State. However, the need for women to engage in romantic relationships or marriage after their significant other passeson is either frowned upon or encouraged by a large number of Nigerians.

Airing her opinion, Grace Ediri, a secretary at a government parastatal expressed, “Just because your spouse has died, does not mean you should quit living. I married a widower and we are living happily. I see no reason whatsoever why someone should remain in bondage to a person who is no longer existing. That is not to say that the woman will start dating immediately after her husband's death but once she is through with her mourning period and she finds a man who is ready to love and take her for who she is, then she can go ahead.”

Although some members of society believe that women reserve the right to remarry, Bukky Williams, an artist, holds a different view: “Personally I would not remarry. There is nothing new that the fresh husband will offer me that I have not seen before. Another aspect is that my family will not be happy about it. My culture does not even support that kind of life. And before you know it, everybody will start calling you a lose woman. And it will be hard to start afresh with building new memories when you still remember your former husband.”

Sharing a similar outlook, Innocent Okoroafor, a motor-parts dealer in Ladipo, Oshodi stated, “As a mother, your primary focus should be your children! It is a dishonour to your husband's memory when you start gallivanting about with other men.

By Rita Ohai

Today, you jump on-top of Mr. A, next tomorrow, you follow Mr.B and you want to open your mouth as a respectable woman.What is the assurance that a man will marry you? And even if he marries you, do you think he will want to bring another man's children into his home? As a woman, you should comport yourself and make sure that you are there for your kids instead of competiting with your children on who will

marry first.”

When asked if he would recommend a widower (man whose wife is dead) to remarry, he said, “My dear, this is Africa. You cannot expect a man to just stay like that without a woman. As he is getting older, he will need a wife to be with him and take care of him. So a man's case is different.”

For widows who are willing to wade through the waters of marriage a second time, Veronica Illoegbuna, a business woman said, “I think that if someone wants to remarry they should but it is important for women to protect their assets. In our society, if anything goes wrong in a family, it is the women and children who pay the price. If you are not careful, you can lose all the things you have worked for by marrying the wrong person. There are many stories of

Improve your marriage in 5 seconds Continued from last week

Y

ou need to get your marriage soaring by using your five seconds wisely. Many marriages do not end at the divorce courts, it ended when they made the discovery that changed their perception of their spouse.

There are certain things your spouse discovers about you that brings about sudden relationship transforming decisions.

Your partner may not consider divorce, but s/he redefines the relationship. When she discovers that your mother is the next of kin. You buy your first property solely in your name. You lie about your pay.Your spouse discovered you lied to him/her about your age.

You say you will remarry if your spouse dies, especially if your spouse will not

remarry. Perhaps you are even foolish enough to say whom you will marry at the demise of your spouse. It is better to avoid this discussion or at best say that you do not know what you will do, because you will be completely devastated.

You threaten divorce. Why should your spouse be fully committed to you if he or she is not sure you are staying? It is frustrating to put your best into a marriage when you are not sure your spouse will be there forever. You commit adultery or attempt to commit adultery but you got caught. You say, you will never forgive your spouse for a past mistake.

You do not forget. Your spouse discovers that you have a child out of wedlock. Bigamy.

Whether deliberate or accidental. For instance, you got married but it did not work out so you separated after three months and assumed you were divorced. Three years later you met and married your spouse without mentioning your earlier marriage. Then your

men who have dated divorced women or widows and at the end of the day, they drain all of her money and run away. In that kind of situation, the woman has no body to run to. Society will mock her for playing the fool and her children will never forgive her for leading them into a life of suffering. So, if your husband is dead and you want to remarry, you have to be smart about it.

“Another thing the lady should do is to introduce her spouse to your children as early as possible. If the children do not like the man that marriage will never be happy.

She also needs to ask about his financial standing and make sure the two of them have the same religious beliefs. It will not be sensible to carry the same mistakes she made in her first marriage into her next one,” she concluded.

first spouse shows up out of the blues. All these things will impact your marriage negatively, but the amazing thing is the decision your spouse makes within five seconds of making these discoveries. Some people close their heart permanently, others decide to give their spouse the benefit of another chance. Most spouses will immediately decide if they will leave or stay, but most importantly how the relationship will be from that point onwards. Within five seconds, the marriage has been permanently altered. The five seconds that alter the marriage will take place twice when a spouse makes a negative discovery. Suppose you make a marriage trasforming discovery and within five seconds, you decide to give your spouse the benefit of a second chance. You have already used your first five seconds wisely. The next five seconds comes up when your spouse discovers that you now know what s/he has been hiding. "I was planing to forgive her, but the way she reacted when I confronted her altered everything. Relationships are built in five second sequels. Some things require more than five seconds. Spending Quality t i m e t o g e t h e r, h a v i n g m e a n i n g f u l Communication, Romance and buying and giving of Gifts will need more than five seconds. While there are so many things that we need to do to improve our relationship, the decision to do these things and the first step taken towards that decision will only require five seconds. Our day is split into five second intervals. The most important five seconds, is the one you spend praying for your spouse.

"God, bless my spouse today, uphold her in Jesus name." Next time you want to react negatively, just remember it only takes five seconds. Just 5!

50

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Arts & Life

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

Skewed country •Or ‘Your fiend in black’

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

FOR no obvious misdemeanour, Pierre Michaud was forcibly picked up by the police two streets from his Lagos home one night in January, tossed into the back of a patrol van, and driven straight to the area police station with others in similar quandary.

The 25 year-old had earlier returned to Nigeria to pursue the immediate ambition of creating artistic concepts and turning them into money-spinning ventures after studying for a degree in Engineering at a Canadian university.

Part French, Pierre thought the more rudimentary condition of his mother’s country ideal for exploitation of ideas cultivated abroad.

He looked forward, as well, to some soul-searching before possibly returning to school for higher qualification. Instead, he found his patriotic outlook rudely reshaped by the police two months into his stay. So soon, he had cause to question his citizenship.

At the police station, he watched as ‘offenders’ acquitted themselves with sums from 2, 500 to 5, 000 naira upon compelling interrogation. Where any pleaded insufficient funds, the policemen allowed requests to concerned and willing relatives via the telephone. A few lacked both escape routes and were swiftly consigned to cramped holding cells.

Pierre shuddered. He had only a 100 naira note on him and wouldn’t dare ‘insult’ the policemen with the money in the circumstances. Fresh from the developed world, he was unnerved by the predicament, yet overwhelmed by his motherland’s fixation with open sleaze.

It was soon his turn to speak with the policeman at the counter. “So who you wan call? You fit make one call only!” gruffly announced a diminutive corporal with stony features. His father was out of the country on a business trip so young Michaud exploited the option of calling a business associate of the elder Michaud, Mr Kamu. While he expected the contact’s arrival, Pierre contemplated events since his arrival in the country.

Following some tense waiting, Mr Kamu eventually walked in. “My son!” he exclaimed with a nod towards the policemen and a wink in Pierre’s direction. With his short, rotund form decked in flowing agbada and a tribalmarked face, he looked anything but the father of the tall, handsome halfcaste who stood dejected before him. Allowing that the man could indeed by the boy’s dad, the policemen elected to deal with him.

But they didn’t allow the request for release on the basis of innocence or the subsequent plea for mercy once they doubted ancestral link. “Go away!” said one. “Tell the boy’s father to come and get his son.” Then they pushed the hapless youth towards the dark, dingy cells.

At first, Pierre stood as the policemen completed their task of sorting the arrivals. “Sit down all of you!” said another once the policemen were through with the assignment.

There was just space for everyone. The floor was cracked in many places with traces of urine and faecal matter all over. Here and there darted a cockroach or some other unidentified insect. Many of the men squirmed to avoid the dark-coloured fiends.

With his back to the wall, Pierre was similarly engaged. The fear of cockroaches was evidently more widespread than he thought, or could these ones be a more vicious variety, considering their unforgiving circumstances?

Grasping the tragicomedy in his situation, Pierre sighed: “Na waoh!”

“Who is that?” said a policeman with undisguised menace as he approached with torchlight. “So all this is funny to you, abi?”

To Pierre’s eternal relief, a detainee apparently familiar with procedure contrived a cover-up, clearing his throat and pretending to cough. “Thank you,” said Pierre quietly to his helper after the policeman turned away.

Pierre managed a few winks before he was roughly woken up early the next morning by ‘stony-face’. He was led out to the counter where Mr Kamu sat waiting for him. Pierre wondered who looked worse: he with the puffy, sleep-deprived eyes or Mr Kamu with the sorry look of one forced to ditch principle.

Glad, nonetheless, to survive the ordeal at minimal physical expense as he left with his adopted father, Pierre pondered the real cost of freedom in a clearly wayward country.

QUOTE The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.

—William Shakespeare, Othello

Jokes Humour The Burden TWO monks were returning to the monastery in the evening. It had rained and there were puddles of water on the roadside.

At one place a beautiful young woman stood unable to walk accross because of a puddle of water.

The elder of the two monks went up to her, lifted her and left her on the other side of the road, and continued his walk to the monastery.

In the evening the younger monk came to the elder monk and said, “Sir, as monks, we cannot touch a woman?”

The elder monk answered “yes, brother.”

Then the younger monk asks again, “But then Sir, how is that you lifted that woman on the roadside?”

The elder monk smiled at him and said, “I left her on the other side of the road, but you are still carrying her.”

Extreme Hypnotism IT WAS opening night at the theatre and the Amazing Claude was topping the bill.

People came from miles around to see the famed hypnotist do his stuff.

As Claude took to the stage, he announced, “Unlike most stage hypnotists who invite two or three people up onto the stage to be put into a trance, I intend to hypnotise each and every member of the audience.”

The excitement was almost electric as Claude withdrew a beautiful antique pocket watch from his coat. “I want you each to keep your eye on this antique watch. It’s a very special watch. It’s been in my family for six generations.”

He began to swing the watch gently back and forth while quietly chanting, “Watch the watch, watch the watch, watch the watch ...”

The crowd became mesmerised as the watch swayed back and forth, light gleaming off its polished surface.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes followed the swaying watch, until suddenly it slipped from the hypnotist’s fingers and fell to the floor, breaking into a hundred pieces. “S**t!” said the hypnotist.

It took three weeks to clean up the theatre.

•Culled from the Internet

S

HORT story Writer’s Fountain structure: The focus of the story may be on building up consider John August’s appraised work, ‘The the main character which develops and becomes Variant’, in which he skillfully combines all the stronger as the story progresses or it could be four aspects of the story in just a short span of 23 the tight plot which starts and ends pages and yet manages to deliver a compact and entertaining piece of craftsmanship. meaningfully or naturally develops.

No wonder, the review from Amazon reads, In other cases, the author could choose to blend in Character, Plot, Theme and Genre, “5 pages of on-your-edge-can’t-wait-to-readskillfully laying equal stress to each part and next-line thriller. At the end you’re left with the creating something which provides a glimpse feeling of more, I want more. Give me more of something greater just beyond. For example, John”.

You want the whole story, what happens next.

Never any slow moving pieces to the story it all Word power: flows together seamlessly, a straight read through, •The word “umbrella” is derived from the you never want to put it down and come back to Latin root word “umbra”, which means shade it, just keep going from page 1 to 25.” or shadow.

To conclude, the secret of the success behind •The study of the iris of the eye is called successful short stories lies in the skill to relate iridology. with the audience, and to bind them with expert •The word witch comes from the word craftsmanship. “wicca” which translates to the “wise one”.

The story should be built up in such a way •The words moron, imbecile, and idiot are that each move fits one piece of a jigsaw puzzle not interchangeable. The one with the highest leaving the readers with a desire for more and level of intelligence is a moron, followed by the yearning to complete the puzzle. Audiences an imbecile, and then idiot. crave meaning. And a successful author can only •The only 15 letter word that can be spelled be the one who adheres to the human mind’s without repeating a letter is problem-solving process through Character, Plot, “uncopyrightable”.

Theme and Genre.

THE ARTS

51

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Our talent hunt is to promote children art Ekene Okoroma is the curator and head of the Lagos office of the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Iganmu, Lagos. In this encounter with Edozie Udeze, she explains why NGA has chosen to conduct talent hunt in the area of painting and drawing for children on May 27th every year, among other issues

•2012 winning work by Wilson

“ B u t again,” she continued, “al•Okoroma though we were set up for the promotion of modern art in NiVERY year children gather geria, on May 27th, we try to do together from different pri- something very different for the mary and secondary schools kids. While others call children in Lagos. Those who are in the together, cook food for them, build states where the National Gallery up bouncing castles and all sorts of Art (NGA) has its offices also for them, and then children dance participate in the art painting and go home happy, we try to crecompetition. “This trend has been ate something very unique and a yearly ritual since fifteen years alluring for the children. This is ago”, so began Ekene Okoroma, so because we are here to promote the curator of the Gallery in and project the visual art sector Lagos. “It is part of the mandate and we need to begin on time to from UNICEF that children encourage, discover and develop should be well celebrated on May those talents in the kids.”

27th every year.”

And so given that a lot of chil-

E

W

ITH the theme, togetherness, the art exhibition mounted by some renowned artists of the Niger Delta extraction during the just concluded South-South Economic Summit, held in Asaba, Delta State brought to the fore the fundamental values of arts in the aesthetical beautification of a state. Most of the works drew attention to nature, environment, landscapes, beautification and why the state and the artist must work hand-inhand to encourage the protection, and preservation of the ecosystem.

In curating the works, Abraham Uyoubisere, one of the foremost Niger Delta artists, advised artists to always bring out the best ideas to help sustain the people and the environment. For him, art cannot be totally divorced from the scheme of things in the society. “Our works need to add value to the environment”, he said.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Evelyn Oputu of the Bank of Industry, said that art is one of the forces that drives and provides man with hours of blissful relaxation. In a speech entitled Beauty through function and as function,

dren do not have the necessary foundation and wherewithal to exhibit their talents, it becomes somewhat binding on NGA to play a vital role in this regard.

“Yes, in most families you see kids being forced or told to study what they are not best suited for. A lot of kids have the flair to be artists, without their knowing it. This is where we come in and the programme on May 27 th has helped us a great deal to show the way forward for a lot of talented kid artists,” she explained.

In tapping the talents young, NGA has succeeded in encouraging many schools to inculcate and establish fine arts department in their schools.

Okoroma stated: “First of all, for any school to participate, they

must have a department of fine arts with well trained teachers to teach and guide the students.

What we do is that six months to the day of competition, we give out the theme of the painting to the schools to guide the students on what to paint or draw. And you are required to express yourself in any media you feel is the best for you.”

For this year’s theme, the competition is concentrating essentially on the social and political insecurity in the country so as to encourage the participants realise and appreciate the gravity of the Nigerian situation.

“Yes the theme is: ‘One Nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.’ A lot of things are happening. The Boko Haram people are trying to create a lot of disunity in the system. So, we need to take the children back to the foundation that brought us together.

Thereafter, we select judges who go through the works based on the different categories to pick out winners. The categories include senior and junior secondary schools and then the primary school category,” Okoroma stated.

In order to make the children and their parents be part of the celebration, the winners are usually announced on the 27th May and winners are given prizes.

“Not only that”, Okoroma, said, “we display all the works for the

people to view. This is to make all the participants feel a sense of pride and recognition for the three weeks or so the works will be on display.”

She drew attention to the over all winner of last year’s painting who was given a flight ticket to Cairo, Egypt. “He was in Cairo for five days, having been properly taken care of by the Egypt Air. Even then, other leading participants got air tickets to any part of the world based on very low rebate. As it is, we have see a couple of our students graduate from tertiary institutions and are doing well for themselves. What the talent hunt has succeeded in doing so far is to expose our kids and their parents to the fact that art is a very lucrative profession.

Artists make it big everywhere in the world today and it is one profession that can make you big if you pay enough attention to it.”

Beyond the competition, NGA also organizes Saturday Art Club where little children are guided on how to mix colours, select their drawing and painting materials and so on. Okoroma said: “This way too, we have been able to widen the scope and attract a lot of attention to the issue of talent hunt. The schools include private and public and we extend this invitation to all parts of the state. But then, we organise the competitions simultaneously in the states so that no state will feel left out.”

To date, all the winning works have been properly preserved in the custody of the NGA, probably for a bigger exhibition in the future. “Oh, I feel quite emotional when I see some of the paintings of these kids because you imagine the level of professionalism in what they do. One or two of the works we have taken abroad for exhibition equally did well. For instance, this year’s overall winner, Abisoye Wilson of Vivian Fowler Memorial School, Ikeja, Lagos, is a fantastic artist any time, any day. And she is just 14 years old”, the curator said heartily, pointing out that time has come when arts should be given its proper place in the scheme of things.

Celebrating horns of freedom Oputu reminded artists of the need to be conscious of their works as therapeutic elements in the society. “People speak of aesthetic function,” she said. “Every work therefore has to provide that beauty bound to draw man out of his reverie.”

“Even then, our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance. Our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft.

But arts has to be used properly to build and focus on those positive things to make Nigeria great,” Oputu said.

In his work at the outing, Professor Bruce Onobrakpeya, one of Nigeria’s greatest contemporary artists drew what he termed Horns of Freedom, to depict a society in need of progress and peace.

Onobrakpeya’s work is characteristic of a master who has a lot of advice for his children. If freedom is given free by nature and by God himself, why must man go about in chains? And

•Horns of freedom by Onobrakpeya

•Midnight dance by Nzekwe

so, this chain has to be dismantled and thrown into the abyss.

Philips Nzekwe dwelt on midnight dance to recapture a se-

rene village setting where peace is in abundance. But will that sort of setting be possible in a society as worrisome as we have it today?

Nzekwe’s wood work is a replica

of promises not kept, due to greed and apathy. Peace and freedom go together and this is what Nigeria needs to forge ahead. So lets the dance come back and let the people begin to breath fresh air of freedom.

Other artists involved in the exhibition included Tony Okujeni, Egonwa Osa, Sam Ovraiti, Sam Ebohon, Segun Adejumo and lots of others.

52

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Arts/Reviews

Aran'bada dazzles them all With Aran’bada as the driving force, the Theatre Centrick and the students of Creative Arts Department, University of Lagos, last weekend thrilled audience to a one – day coterie of dance – dramas to celebrate this year’s dance season. Edozie Udeze was there

•The maiden dances of Efik.

T

HE Creative Arts Department of the University of Lagos, was agog with festivities last weekend when Theatre Centrik gathered people from far and near to celebrate this year’s dance – drama festival entitled Aran’bada. With the collaboration of the student’s of the department, the dance festival which had just entered its fifth edition was celebrated to remind dancers, students and the Nigerian public that dance as a culture is the pride and heritage of the people and therefore should be preserved.

Written by Lekan Balogun and directed by Tony Boyede, the dances ranged from salsa, to bata, atilogwu, choreography, R and B, to urban contemporary. The dancers, comprising mainly of students and members of the Theatre Centrik, proved that dance can always be used not only to thrill and entertain the people, but to also showcase the rich cultural heritage of a people.

The maiden dance of the Efiks and the Ibibios which the dancers displayed with total grace and dexterity on stage, attracted the attention of the audience more. With the unique traditional costumes of the Efiks magnifying in deep colours and embellishments, the dancers showed how the maidens are prepared in the Efik and Ibibio traditions before they are given out in marriage. As they swayed their hips and graced the stage with wellmeasured dance steps, the drummers beat away with maddening frenzy.

The Efik dances also came with the display of farming and fishing festivals notably in the rural ar-

PHOTO: EDOZIE UDEZE

eas of Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom States. As they danced they were able to bring out the peculiarity of the people in their graceful artisanship. After farming and fishing, came folkloric moments when stories were told to relax the nerves. With different displays of dance patterns, members of the audience were truly taken into the inner workings of the cultures of these two traditions where the people work hard and also enjoy hard.

With the fluidity of their legs, the bata dancers invoked the spirit of their ancestors to give vent to their mesmerisation and eccentricism on stage.

Bata dance which has now gone global, is noted as the beehive of a people who use incantations to seek the faces of their ancestors.

It is the climax of the Yoruba dance pattern, completely embedded in evocative and deep percussive recourse to a rich culture and heritage.

The dances were used essentially to demonstrate all aspects of life and to also remonstrate with those who are yet to come to grips with the fact that dance is a profession that

“With the fluidity of their legs, the bata dancers invoked the spirit of their ancestors to give vent to their mesmerisation and eccentricism on stage”

has come to stay. In the words of Balogun, “You see, if I fail to dance, my legs will not forgive me. If I also fail to sing, my voice will always weep for me. And if I fail to stand on stage to deliver my lines in drama, what else will I do?

Aran’bada, what will I do?

This is the break light of this event. Aran’bada is Theatre Centrik’s annual event in celebrating culture and creativity.”

For the greater part of the one-day festival, dancers used the occasion to draw attention to the different aspects of issues that can be patterned into dance. These issues include tradition, marriage, politics, economy, social and religious matters.

In the end, what came out of the shows were good lessons for those who saw in the dancers the future and the present of this nation and its teeming youths.

Oyindamola Balogun, a student of the Creative Arts Department who did one of the most moving solo scenes, appealed to the audience to look profoundly into the culture of the people. “We need to refocus attention on what is ours,” she sang and then danced to the heavy beatings of the drums. “Life is rich in appreciating what you’ve got”, she delivered with her legs carrying her far into the foyers of the stage.

When the Zulu dancers eventually emerged with their war costumes, the hall erupted into life. The Zulu dancers are widely known for their unique way of using spears and arrow shields with leopard skins to dazzle and frighten their audience.

And that was exactly what the dancers did as they rendered the songs in Zulu language and pranced from one end of the stage to the other with vigour.

Books

A lugubrious woman

M

EMA is the story of a very stubborn Gabonese woman who married into a different village for reason of love. Her troublesome nature did not, however, allow her to be obedient to her man and to the entire village as stipulated by the law of the land. In as much as the people tried to make her soft-pedal on her hard stance on certain issues in the land, the woman named, Ntsame Minlame remained adamant, headstrong and unapproachable.

Daniel Mengara, the author of the book is a Gabonese scholar who took his time to tell the story in a first person narrative. His concern primarily is to use this singular case to examine the marriage institution as it obtains in various cultures in Gabon. The book insists that traditional marriage until the time when the white man arrived to disrupt it, was a very important institution contracted between families, involving the villages where the man and the woman came from.

It is indeed the tale of a woman struggling against the constraints of her community. Yet the story, in a very dramatic way, proves to be a multi-layered novel exploring and deepening a culture that is in transition.

Since Mema means Mama, (mother), we could see the woman in a lugubrious form, imploring the people to let her be.

In the beginning, she could not have children on

By Edozie Udeze

time and so they began to brand her a witch; a barren woman made into the form she was to torment her people.

Mengara takes the story layer by layer, exploring the depth of womanhood, depicting Mema as not only tough, but difficult to handle. His exploits as a novelist could be seen from the way he takes the character away from the people, then pits her against the centrifugal forces of the community. She is made to pay the prize of her sins.

“People would know for certain, who Ntsame Minlame is, when things happened the right way”, the author wrote. In other words, the woman seemed unpredictable; she often found so-

lace and consolation in her cutlass, which she used to keep perceived enemies away from her.

When her man died after a protracted illness, Mema was terribly hit that the people began to insinuate that she had a hand in it.

Together, with the death of her two daughters, Minlame decided to toughen herself the more. “But then, my father’s family blamed my mother for the crimes. It was not as she said, they argued. They had nothing to do with it. Had they not warned their brother that this woman was full of witch craft?,” Mengara wrote on page 63.

Deploring the images of flashbacks and moonlight tale, the author gives a complete glimpse into the old traditions of the African people. In sequence, he tries to make the world realise that marriage pattern in Gabon and most other African communities were almost the same. He shows in very clear ways that marriage was used to cement love, curry for communal favour and relationship in those days. Now, what can be done to ameliorate the situation?

But then what has Western contradiction done to it?

Mema is used to look at the past and then bridge the gap with the future.

Published by Heinemann Africa, it is a book to read to acquaint one with the true values of womanhood in Africa.

Geraldine Brooks’s Pilgrims and Indians

G

ERALDINE Brooks’s new novel, “Caleb’s Crossing,” her fourth in a decade, is a short and seemingly modest historical work — no kings, no famous events — told by an equally modest narrator who does not go on to become acquainted with, say, the infant Benjamin Franklin.

Bethia Mayfield’s given name means “servant of Jehovah,” and Bethia means to abide by the rules of her family and her Puritan religious affiliation. But even as she begins writing her confession on precious scraps of scavenged paper, she is transgressing the boundaries her father and older brother consider appropriate for a woman — and they have God’s word on this.

It is 1660. Bethia is part of a community that has broken away from John Winthrop’s colony in Massachusetts Bay and settled on Martha’s Vineyard. Her father is the village “liberal” who doesn’t believe in stealing from or slaughtering the local Indians, but he faces tensions from both sides.

Some of the Wampanoag are distrustful, and another influential family, the Aldens, would like to get rid of the indigenous population altogether.

Bethia’s concerns are at

first domestic ones: her beloved mother has died in childbirth, leaving Bethia in charge of the baby and the household. Her father is burdened with farm work, with missionary work and with preparing his son, Makepeace, for matriculation on the mainland, at Harvard.

Bethia knows she is likely destined for an arranged marriage to a good-natured local fellow, Noah Merry. Given her upbringing, she is not entirely in touch with her feelings, but she does recognize that she is quite fond of an

Indian boy she meets and talks to from time to time, Cheeshahteaumauck, the nephew of the most powerful (and suspicious) local pawaaw, or priesthealer.

Bethia thinks it may be this friendship, and the Wampanoag rituals she has allowed herself to witness out of curiosity (or what we may call intelligence and a sense of adventure), that has caused God to punish her by killing her mother.

In “Caleb’s Crossing,” Brooks returns to the time period and some of the issues she explored in “Year of Wonders,” a novel that takes place in a 17th-century English town ravaged by the plague, told in the first person by a young servant girl. The setting of this new novel is, however, not an earthly hell but a version of paradise, fertile and beautiful. For most of the narrative, Bethia’s conflicts are internal: how can she teach herself to exist within the narrow confines of the lives women in her world are expected to lead?

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

53

‘How tobacco firms are hurting our health system’ —PAGE 56

A world of forgeries I

N most towns and cities in Nigeria today, you don’t need to see a medical doctor to obtain a sick report to be presented to your boss! In fact, you do not need a physician to examine a dead body or give you a letter before you get a death certificate! All you need to get any or all of this is –money.

To get a death certificate walk to the nearest court with the deceased’s names, address, and nature of the disease that killed him or her! Before you count from one to three, the task is accomplished. A tout is around the corner to get it for you! You get a death certificate without entering a hospital and without a medical doctor examining the ‘corpse’! Not only that, you can consummate a wedding without going to a Marriage Registry.

A world of possibilities Welcome to the world of possibilities where everything is possible and nothing is impossible. For the appropriate fees you can purchase certificate for any level of education: from the lowest to the highest point of qualifications.

At the gate of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital [LASUTH] and under the Ikeja overhead bridge are males and

There is a belief that there is hardly anything you need that you can’t get in Nigeria, from degree to death certificates. Most of these are obtained by dubious means. Taiwo Abiodun investigates females of different age grade who are either sitting or standing by demanding for the attention of passersby. To attract attention they beckon, whistle or heckle at you, some in hushed tones others full of confidence.

They approach you saying: “Oga, affidavit!, Oga, affidavit!!, birth certificate! My own na genuine”, literally translated to “Do you need an affidavit, or birth certificate?

Mine is genuine.” They literally grab at you while seeking potential clients in need of sworn affidavits, birth or death certificates or any documents.

They are ubiquitous and daring. Even at the gate of the ‘Area F’ Police Station and within the precincts of the High and Magistrate Courts, they are there hanging around gesticulating and calling potential ‘customers’, pleading for patronage. Some of these touts are old while some are young. Their mobile ‘offices’ are scattered around the premises of

•Abubakar, Police IG

the courts and outside the police station under improvised sheds or umbrellas to shield them away from the scorching sun or rain.

They approach anybody irrespective of the stranger’s status. To demonstrate their daring they don’t mind whether you are a law enforcement officer or a private man, all what they want is to do their business – selling their affidavits and all.

They possess state of the arts machines and even outdated typewriters, which of these they use depends on the age of the document you need. If you need a 1950 certificate, the old and archaic looking typewriter is there to give the effect and make the document look as if it was gotten before the advent of computers!

Supply all the needed information and the tout sneaks behind the typewriter, banging on the rusty keyboard which sounds ta…ta…ta… like that of a policeman’s riffle. They know the format by rote because most of them have been doing this for ages. They tell you that they have been in the business for years and

have used the proceeds to send many of their children to schools both at home and abroad in various professions.

The octopus empire Investigation reveals that these touts practise their ‘profession’ without fear and have successfully integrated themselves into all walks of life and branches of professions and institutions – courts, palaces, sports authorities, medical institutions, schools, among others. They are unofficial staff of all the institutions they work for; they know all the procedures and who is authorised to sign any document.

For instance, this reporter was accosted at the gate of LASUTH by a woman [name withheld]. He was asked whether he needed documents such as birth certificates or whatever. He (the reporter) requested for a death certificate adding that the said corpse would be taken from Lagos to Owo, Ondo State, the hometown of the deceased. The negotiation then started. The reporter was charged N4, 500.

The reporter negotiated to pay less but the woman insisted that any document obtained from her was “genuine” and that since she •Continue on Page 54

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Life

Merchants of scam

•Continued from Page 53

would need to ‘settle’ some medical officers she would not be able to give further discount. She pleaded with the reporter to accept the price as a fair bargain. Then she added, “Out of pity I will do it for you. I know how painful it is to lose a dear one’’. She then beat the price down to N2,500. Quickly the money exchanged hands and she dashed into the hospital and a while later she brought the death certificate! To the reporter’s consternation, it was duly signed by a medical doctor and bears the hospital seal.

Asked if it was authentic, she swore and said “Me I no dey do fake thing o. Dis one na original, den no go disturb you for road as you dey carry your papa home to your village in Owo.” She prayed for the dead and for the repose of his soul.

In the death certificate bearing the stamp of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, was written: ‘’I HEREBY CERTIFY that I have medically attended Joshua Adepoju Abiodun Of 13 , Sadiku Street, Shogunle , who was apparently or stated to be aged 58 years , that I last saw him on the 15 April, 2012 that he was then suffering from severe hypertension that he died as I am aware or informed on the 15 April day of 2012 at 2.00pm and that the cause of death was to the best of my knowledge and belief and herein states viz:Primary cause; Severe Hypertension Secondary Cause Cardio Pulmonary failure That the disease had continued TILL DEATH Witness my hand this 16TH April 2012 Dying twice The above affidavit was given to the reporter in April 2012 for a man who actually died on December 31, 1985 in Owo, in Ondo State! He was buried in March, 1986 at St Patrick’s Anglican Church Cemetery, Owo, aged 96.

Again, on the marriage affidavit

sworn to, the name, Joshua Adepoju Abiodun is the same person above [with his death certificate]. His supposed wife, Caroline Oladoyin Elerewe, died about five years ago, and was also buried at the St. Patrick’s Anglican Church cemetery.

The couple are both deceased! Yet they are getting married.

Apart from the couple being deceased the address on the affidavit reads that they reside at 27 Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Ladipo, Lagos. The address is the corporate head office of The Nation Newspapers, published by Vintage Press.

According to the touts, the price tags for documents varies. For a hospital certified birth certificate it costs N2,500, while an affidavit goes for between N500 to N800. Marriage certificate costs N8,000. To obtain any of these documents what you only need to bring along is a passport photograph.

All these forgeries and issuance of fake certificates are done right under the nose of law enforcement agents. These so called touts are seen loitering within the police, court and hospital premises daily without being challenged.

The place that used to be known as Oluwole [which was notorious for all forms of forgeries) had been bulldozed by the Lagos state government and a shopping complex is currently under construction there). However, with the demolition of that notorious enclave many of the operators have moved to Somolu, which is the home of printers on the mainland and set up shops there.

According to Mr. Lasisi, a printer, “Somolu is where you can get any certificate you need whatever the qualification. If you want a primary six, secondary or university certificate you will easily get it if you have your money.

It is a matter of cash.’’ Investigations reveal that most of those with forged certificates go to private organisations to

look for employment instead of being in the government employ. This they use as a cover up since most companies don’t bother to check out from the schools or institutions the job seekers claim to have graduated from.

A printer who confided in this reporter said, “One needs an original certificate to produce many. There is nothing like fake, it is the original one that is reproduced to bring out other copies. Before, it was a little bit hard and rigorous but nowadays, with the invention of computer and coloured printers, you can reproduce original copy of anything !’’ He added, “If you get a blank certificate, then what one needs further to do is just to produce it and for the signature to be signed and make it authentic, that is left for some experts who within two or three days would get the right signature of the man who is supposed to sign for the certificate and the seal. In other words, the moment one gets the original you are through. But the only problem is when going to the institution to verify the names on the school list.”

It’s a network Another printer told the reporter, “If it is for other documents, it is the same thing and same method. In fact, it is computermade- easy. Nowadays, you don’t even need to forge the signature of anybody, there is a way you will do it that it will be the handwriting of the owner without stress. There are experts for this.”

But can it continue like this? Another printer responded, “It will continue until the state and federal governments learn how to conduct themselves. For example where an affidavit is requested from a bachelor he would want to do all what he can do to get one, or where he needs to provide tax clearance before he could be given a contract, and he needs the contract to survive he would do everything to obtain it. The ports authority’s documents are is the easiest to forge. They are called genje. Some of the Customs officers too are involved. They even teach us how to do it.

The moment you have your money you are through my brother.”

He added that the ECOWAS passport introduced will will soon fall a victim of forgery. “Let me tell you when we are talking about fake passports; there are insiders who would bring out all these original materials and they are paid for.

But now, it is difficult to tinker with the present passports now because of its features and its national data. No matter how brilliant you are they will catch you if you try it but you can use other names and other methods to still purchase another one and it is the officials that will teach you how to go about it. There are always insiders in all these fake things’’.

A legal consultant, Yinka Oyetunde, said both the hospital and the courts who signed documents without seeing the patients or the deponents are guilty. He said “It is the normal thing for the Commissioner for Oath/ Notary Public to see the person- that is the deponent of the affidavit. And not only that, he also needs to confirm the identity to really know the right person that is before him by way of demanding for his identification such as National Identity card, driver’s license or international passport. Just to confirm the identity of the man swearing the oath. If all these procedures are followed then the document can be deemed genuine and binding.”

He continued “But what obtains nowadays is there are many touts all over the place because people are not ready to go through the necessary procedures and that is why they patronise touts. The punishment for all this is clear, once you are caught, it is a criminal offence. But the surprising thing is that these touts are doing the dirty job with the connivance of the police. Where they operate is where laws are supposed to be enforced. These people operate within the courts’ premises and police stations, so who will now arrest these people and before which court?

Life

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

A

WKA North Local Government Area of Anambra State is a metaphor of neglect. The 10 communities that make up the council Achalla (the capital), Amansea, Amanuke, AwbaOfemili, Ebenebe, Isu-Aniocha, Mgbakwu, Ugbene, Ugbenu, and Urum are seen as backward due to lack of roads and other basic amenities despite the fact that they are all very close to Awka, the capital.

However, things are changing and the fortunes of the communities are getting brighter as the government has turned its attention there so as to remedy the numerous injustices by the previous administrations.

A time to smile The Ebenebe/Amansea Bridge which had been bad for years has been fixed at the cost of N800 million, while the 32 kilometres road has been awarded to a construction firm.

It is to cost N1.6 billion. Not only that, the Obibia Bridge has been fixed. The delay in the completion of the 32 kilometre road was necessitated by the collapse of the Amansea/Ebenebe Ezu Bridge two years ago.

The repair of this bridge and the start of construction work on these projects have opened up these communities and made movement easier and fast. The Amanuke Cottage Hospital (also known as Amanuke General Hospital) was established in 1975. Hitherto, it had fallen into a bad state of disrepair.

But today, the story has changed as it is undergoing massive rehabilitation.

All the dilapidated facilities have been replaced and are to be touched with new coat of paints and new

T

HE names: Nwakudu Uchechi and Rachael Ifeanyi Ogbolu, would for a long time to come remain in the memories of some residents of Oyo-East Local Government Area of Oyo State, especially for some nine convicts who were saved by their intervention in their cases.

Uchechi and Ogbolu are lawyers participating in the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC). Worried that many people were in prison and serving terms for minor offences the two female lawyers decided to take their cases up.

With the cooperation of the NYSC Inspector for Oyo-East Local Government Area, Mr. Wasiu Adebayo some inmates, who had been convicted for minor criminal offences, but could not regain freedom because of their inabilities to pay the fines attached have been freed through the efforts of the duo.

In the process, the nine were assisted to pay N150, 000 fines. To ensure that freedom comes the way of the inmates, among who is a polytechnic graduate, 225 corps members in the local government and volunteered and contributed to pay the cost of the fines.

At the event held inside the 160bed medium security prisons, Abolongo, along Oyo/Ogbomoso Road, the Assistant Comptroller of Prisons, Oyo, represented by the Administrative Officer, Mr. Tayo Ojo, commended the corps members for their care of the inmates, saying such gesture was “unprecedented” From their widow’s mite According to Ojo, “there are many wealthy individuals, and organisations that care less about the well-being of the inmates. But your gesture is heart-warming, commendable and first of its kind.

Not all the inmates are criminals, some got here by circumstances.

These hands of fellowship being shown by the corps members will

55

Touching lives in Amanuke Communities in Awka North area of Anambra State have reasons to smile, Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, who recently visited the communities, writes

•Bungalow is the Health Center, Amanuke

roofs to give them a new lease of life and new sets of equipment and drugs.

The former President General of Amanuke Development Union, who also doubles as the Medical Director of Amanuke Cottage Hospital, Dr Okoye said the electrification of the city and the rehabilitation of the roads and bridge have opened up the communities. He lauded the administration of Governor Peter Obi for its efforts in the local government area.

A few months ago the entire roof of the hospital were blown off by rain storm leading to the destruction of drugs worth several millions of naira. The operating theatre and beds, as well as beds in patients’ wards and other hospital documents were destroyed.

Chief Benjamin Nnanwube, a community leader, decried what he described as the neglect of Amanuke community by previous governments. He lauded the governor for heeding their call for

assistance and he also thanked the Commissioner for Health for making sure the hospital was rehabilitated.

Mrs. Nwando Okolo, who spoke on behalf of the women, expressed the joy of the women folk to the governor for the job done at the community. She asked the Commissioner for Health, Prof.

Amobi Ilika, who represented Governor Obi to convey their gratitude to him for fulfilling his promise of turning the hospital around.

She said, “We thank God that Governor Peter Obi’s government has blessed us. We thank him for rehabilitating our main hospital block. This is the nearest General Hospital to the people but it had been abandoned by the government for so long. We hope by Obi’s action, our hospital will be turned around’’.

The commissioner advised the communities to patronise the hospital and maintain the premises and keep it in good condition. He promised to be sending mobile clinic team once or twice a week to assist the doctors in the discharge of their duties.

The foundation for the main building of the hospital was laid in 1979 by the then commissioner for Health in Old Anambra State, Dr Nelson Esimie. The roof was blown off during the administration of Governor Chris Ngige after it was abandoned by Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju’s government.

How youth corps’ members saved nine from gallows in Oyo They were sent to Oyo State to serve their father land. In doing these they decided to lead a crusade to save convicts. Bode Durojaiye reports on the activities of these youngsters

•The youth corps members with some of the convicts

not only rekindle hopes of the inmates, but give them sense of belonging”.

He disclosed that there are 207 inmates, both convicted and awaiting trial in the prisons.

Adebayo said prisons should not only be seen to keep in custody deviants, and correcting them for eventual release, but it should help in their integration back into the society.

He noted that after their incarceration, those charged are

not expected to return to the society the same way they came in. “We are burdened with the need to see that they fit into normal life after their sentences.”

Both Uchechi and Ogbolu expressed dismay at the deplorable conditions in many prisons across the country, saying “they lack toilet facilities; cells lack water, medical facilities are severely limited, while food, which represented 80 percent of annual prison expenditures, is

inadequate.”

They urged the government to see the need to champion prisoner’s rights in its totality, including the right to decent food, a hygienic and healthy environment with good toilet facilities, as well as access to medical facilities.

“There should be a right to sleep on a mattress. A situation whereby inmates sleep in turns on the bare floor is cruel. Crowding of inmates like sardines and animals meant

The Awka North Leaders of Thought led by Prof. Ephraim Aniebonam, also lauded Obi for remembering Awka North, noting that the completion of UgbeneAchalla-Amanuke-Ezu River Bridge and Obibia Bridge, Okpuno linking Awka and Isu-Aniocha into other communities to Awka North has stood Obi’s administration eternally out in the minds of Awka North people.

The governor has subsequently directed the Ministry of Works to advise him on the Ezu Bridge that connects Ugbene and Amanuke in five minutes to Achalla to see how his government can tackle it. If the bridge is connected, it means one can move from Amansea to Onitsha through Achalla or Igbariam or Enugu through Olo or Umurum with ease.

He said a day is coming when the sorrows of the people of Awka North will be over as every effort is being put in place to build and connect more road networks before the end of his administration.

Commissioner for Works , Calistus Ilozumba confirmed that plans exists to also construct another road through Isu-Aniocha to EnuguAgidi through the Awka-Okpuno Road as well as another from IsuAniocha-Urum-Amanuke-Achalla inner road.

It is the hope of the communities that all these projects will soon the light of the day. for slaughter is a disgrace to humanity. Incarceration should not be a route to the death chamber.

Prisoners should have a right not to be assaulted by either fellow inmates or prison officers.”

They further asserted that, “the point must be made that time has come when our government should be made to realize that confinement in prison is in itself a punishment, inflicting further punishment by way on in-human conditions in penal institutions is cruel, especially when it is realised that keeping these inmates are expensive in terms of cost. The side effects are devastating, so a conscious effort should be made to enact acceptable alternatives like suspended and partly suspended sentences, community service orders, and the generous use of a parole system, especially for nonviolent offenders.”

Drugs and toiletries were also donated to the prisons clinic, while a paltry a monetary token was also given to each of the freed convicts whose age ranges between 21 to 31 years.

They included Akinbode Ismaila, Abdulateef Suleiman, Mohammed Suleiman, Jewola, Toyin, Nurudeen Shittu, Oladimeji Babatunde, Kofi Bataki, Oyebolu Moses, and Adigun Timothy.

Speaking with reporters, one of the freed convicts, a mass communication graduate from the Federal Polytechnic, Kazaure, Jigawa State, Oladimeji Babatunde, said, “I found myself in this unfortunate situation because I wanted to survive. I searched for jobs for years but I couldn’t get. I also appealed for financial assistance to establish menial jobs, still that was not forth coming.”

He advised the government to address growing unemployment, as one of the vital ways to check criminal upsurge in the country.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

Life

‘How tobacco firms are hurting our health system’ Ahead of this year’s World No Tobacco Day which is marked every May 31, Akinbode Oluwafemi, director of Administration and Corporate Accountability at the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), sheds lights on the strong lobby of tobacco companies and the need to have the National Tobacco Control Bill signed into law in this encounter with Joe Agbro Jr.

A

MEETING with Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi of the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) is filled with excitement. He talks with so much conviction and knowledge about the dangers of smoking that you are held captive and cannot help but listen and reason along with him.

Asked why he is so concerned about the battle against tobacco in the country, he says it is because tobacco kills about half of its consumers. But regrettably, policies in the country do not address this development.

According to him, “when you look at smoking in Nigeria, you’ll think smoking is not a big problem. But, I’ must tell you that it’s a very big problem.

And this problem has a link with how the tobacco industry is being regulated in the west.

You know, most western governments have put in very stringent measures to regulate the practice of tobacco industry and to ensure that smoking rate is decreasing. And because of those measures and litigation, tobacco companies started looking elsewhere.

The developing countries, of which Nigeria belongs, becomes a very prime target.”

Growing epidemic He is afraid that this smoking epidemic is very real here. According to a survey conducted in Adamawa, as much as 29percent of the youths in that are smokers, while a survey in 11 Lagos hospitals showed that “at least one person dies a day in each of those hospitals as a result of smoking.”

In the absence of a national statistics on smoking, a 2011 survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows

that there is actually rising smoking among Nigerian girls rising up to the level of 3% a year. “That is alarming and extremely disturbing,” Oluwafemi says.

In the overall picture of insufficient healthcare infrastructure, diseases such as “heart disease, cancers of different types, impotence, heart condition, low birth rate, and loss of man hours at work places” are of serious challenge to the health care sector.

According to WHO, tobacco currently kills over 5.4 million people yearly, with about 70percent of casualty occurring in developing countries like Nigeria, adding that every stick of cigarette contains over 4, 000 dangerous chemicals with over 40 of them being carcinogenic.

To combat this disturbing outcome, Senator Olorunnibe Mamora sponsored the National Tobacco Bill which was eventually passed by the National Assembly on May 31st, 2011, a year ago. This Bill, Oluwafemi says, was “happily supported by Environmental Rights Action (ERA), it seeks to domesticate the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control, a global treaty, about the minimum standards that countries must adhere to in terms of legislating about tobacco.

“Nigeria is a signatory as well as a party. And since we are a party to that treaty, we are under obligation to implement the provision of that international treaty. The Bill seeks to end advertisement, sponsorship, and promotion, it prohibits the sale of cigarettes to minors, it recommended pictorial warnings on cigarette packs, and it bans smoking in public places.

More

importantly, that Bill seeks to create a committee, National Tobacco Control Committee which will serve as an advisory role in terms of reviewing the policy. That essentially is what that Bill is all about. I have heard people say that the Bill wants to close tobacco companies in Nigeria.

I don’t know whether they have a separate Bill. This Bill has been passed and we are waiting for the presidential assent so that the Bill can become enforceable in Nigeria.

We are worried that the presidential assent is taking too long. And we are very suspicious that some people somewhere may want to compromise public health and we’re calling on the president to see this Bill as an obligation to protect the health of the Nigerian people.”

He faulted the idea of mixing sponsorship with corporate social responsibility (CSR), Oluwafemi said, “Tobacco companies are inflicting monumental health impact on our nation. How do you mitigate that by buying computers or drilling boreholes? Can computers and boreholes make up for the lives of our brothers and sisters dying as a result of smoking?

No. So, what we are saying is that let government impose appropriate taxes on those products. Why is it that a pack of cigarettes is about six pounds (N1, 500) in London, seven dollars (N1, 300) in the US, and the same pack is selling for N200 in Nigeria? Other governments have moved ahead to impose appropriate taxes on tobacco products.

Then, you can use those taxes to build the schools and to buy the computers. And this time around, even the way they have conducted themselves with the

• Oluwafemi

CSR, it is only another form of advertisement. They only practically move their advert budget into CSR so that they can always call government people to sit on the table and they can win public sympathy.”

He blames the non-passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill on the interference of the tobacco companies. “In fact, we have it on authority that they have started calling reporters not to run stories on World No Tobacco Day and stories around the Bill. They know that if this Bill is signed they would not be able to do those things that bring in more consumers the way they’ve always been doing. So, when this is dragging for too long, our suspicion would certainly be that the tobacco industry has been moving underground as they’ve always been doing, not only in Nigeria, but all around the world to undermine public health and to ensure that legislation that are for public health are never enacted.” He punched holes in the industry’s argument that it has a large work force in the country, saying, “the tobacco companies are not employing

up to 1, 000 people. That is the reality,” he said.

He believes that the true nature of the industry is hidden from most Nigerians because “their business thrives on deception. They make people to think that when you smoke, it’s good. And they will never tell you the health implications. So, those deceptions were the basis of their objections which were completely irrelevant because whatever section that you have in this Bill are provisions that are just the basic in NTC Bill.

Take for instance, in our Bill, we are seeking 50percent pictures on cigarette packs. A country as close as Mauritius is already enforcing 70percent. Ghana is already thinking of about 60 percent. In fact, some countries like Australia has even gone beyond the pictures and talk about plain packaging. They know it that they cannot debate this because the international community have moved way beyond what is even in this Bill as at today.”

He appealed to the president to sign the bill and save Nigerian youths from the looming tobacco epidemic.

45 years after, Biafran war veterans get succour F

OUR and a half decades after the declaration of a ceasefire and end of hostilities, many of those who fought during the Nigeria civil war from 1967-70 have remained homeless.

However, this has come to an end as they have been relocated from Orji River where they begged for alms by the road side. They have become proud owners of befitting bungalows in a sprawling new settlement.

The new war veterans’ settlement built by the leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, in Okwe, Imo State, has 20 flats of detached bungalows.

Before the conception of the new settlement, the old war veterans had lived their lives with their families at the mercy of travellers who randomly part with gifts when they are on transit. Their presence along the ever busy Enugu-Onitsha

From Okodili Ndidi, Onitsha

Road, was often a sad reminder of the pains, agonies and dashed hopes of the struggle for self actualization by Ndigbo, they were seen as the scar of the civil war.

Victims of exploitation In the past their plight had been exploited by groups of zealots who had turned their sufferings into instruments of instigating hatred and strife. Several organisations had promised to assist them by raising funds both at home and abroad.

However, most of the funds realised from such have been diverted to other uses than helping the war victims.

Various governments in the South East prefer to treat them with disdain, treating them as outlaws who must be kept away from the society. However, this has changed as Uwazuruike, the new Ezeigbo, has secured over 5000 acres of land and began the construction of a new

village for the unsung heroes.

According to Uwazurike, the idea was conceived to give a meaningful life and commensurate compensation to the people that fought for the emancipation of the Igbo race, “We cannot abandon them after what they did, they are in (these) wheel chairs because they signed up to defend Ndigbo from oppression, intimidation and ethnic cleansing.

They suffered during the civil war and it is just proper that we take up the burden to fend for them and their families”.

According to him, the leadership of MASSOB, has taken up the training of the children of the disabled veterans, aside from paying them monthly salaries and other remunerations running into millions of naira, “It is a standing instruction here that no expenditure is done until the veterans are paid their monthly entitlements because they are so dear to us and they signify our struggle, we draw strength from

their sacrifice and fate”.

Also commending the initiative, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, Ogirishi Igbo and Uwazuruike’s second in command, said the disabled veterans who were abandoned for too long can now be happy again, instead of bemoaning their fate over their choice to fight for their fatherland, “to be sincere, Ndigbo on whose behalf these compatriots risked their lives did not show them love apart from throwing N20 notes at them and if not for MASSOB they will still be at Orji River at the mercy of alms givers”.

He said a new chapter has been opened in the lives of the disabled veterans and the struggle for the Igbo agenda as those that began the struggle by resisting the total annihilation of Ndigbo are properly resettled.

Responding on behalf of the veterans, their president, Lawrence Akpu, said that they lacked words to convey their feelings and gratitude

to the leadership of MASSOB for putting an end to their suffering and reproach.

“We had resigned to fate and taken life the way we saw it. We never dreamt of leaving Orji River where we were seen and treated as beggars, not to talk of owning a house or receiving monthly salaries, today our children now go to good schools and we are treated as kings here, we can’t thank Uwazurike enough, now we know our struggles were not vain.”

Festus Mba Onu, the secretary of the group, could not hide his joy, he exclaimed that when the news of their new home was broken to them, it sounded too good to be true, “but when the Ezeigbo came to see us and personally announced it, we thank God that we were alive to see this day.”

It was a dream come true as many of the veterans smiled and walked like kings into their new found homes.

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BUSINESS

‘The only time I rest is when I’m on bed’

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

60 days in cashless Lagos

• Lamido Sanusi

T

WO months have passed since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex bank introduced the cashless policy. But beyond the euphoria, not a few people are upbeat about the policy initiative any more than they are willing to admit.

Interestingly, bookmakers who expressed mute indifference and paid scant regard to the policy initiative few months ago may have been proved right, what with the legion of problems that have dogged the implementation of the much hyped policy.

Indications are that not many people out there feel the initiative was well-thought out, judging by the many hiccups that have come to be associated with it.

Investigation by The Nation revealed that most bank transactions, post-cashless policy, have been fraught with different problems.

In an interview with a cross section of respondents in different parts of Lagos, they expressed mixed feelings over the workability of the policy.

Speaking with The Nation, Mr. Olawale Fadeyi, an upwardly mobile executive in one of the new generation banks recalled his experience as he went shopping at the popular Shoprite Mall on Ikeja axis of Lagos few weeks ago.

Most of the Point of Sales (PoS) terminals were out of service the very minute he finished making his purchases, he recalls.

“Incidentally, this fateful day was the same day the so-called cashless policy was supposed to have kicked off officially. But there I was at the Shoprite Mall on this fateful day going from one PoS to another just to pay for my purchase all to no

avail.

“I had to visit the bank outside the mall to use my Automated Teller Machine (ATM) before I could take delivery of my purchases. It was a pretty awful experience for me that day”, he stressed.

Fadeyi was not alone. Many shoppers like him, who came to the mall, were also forced to go out and use their ATM’s in order to pay for their purchases.

Others who were not so lucky with their ATM’s were forced to cancel their purchase outright, Fadeyi recalled.

Findings by The Nation further revealed that Lagosians still have the cash-and-carry mentality mainly because of their distrust of the electronic payment system in the country.

The fear of many who avoid the ATMs like a plague, is based the high incidence of fraud and indiscriminate deductions from people’s accounts, coupled with inefficient service provision.

Some skeptics also point to inadequate ATMs and PoS terminals to drive the cashless policy scheme, aside from poor Internet connectivity, which leads to downtime in most cases and the ATMs unable to dispense cash or process other transactions.

It is instructive to note that the idea of a cashless society was first conceived in the early 1950. It was promoted by a financial consultant called John Diebold, who popularised the term “automation.”

His consulting company, the Diebold Group, constructed several network computer systems for commercial banks in the early 1960s.

Briefs Nigerian professionals earn UK certification

Almost 60 days after the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) formally took off in Lagos, the views of many Nigerians out there is that the policy leaves nothing to cheer about, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf. With additional report by Gbenga Oyebanji

Diebold wrote in business journals of an impending “transaction overload” cautioning that the “cashless society “is no longer an option but a necessity.

Interestingly, as back as the 60’s the western economies had a proposition for cashless society.

But many analysts think it’s very premature to rush the policy on Nigerians, considering the fact that the foundation that can enable the policy work is infrastructure, which they argued is lacking in the country currently.

Already, most small business owners feel disenfranchised by this policy.

In the view of a school owner in Egbeda axis of Lagos, Mrs. Mary Ibu,”I don’t even understand what the CBN hope to achieve. Most of our parents don’t understand normal banking transactions, and as such the introduction is going to affect our business.”

In the opinion of a public commentator, Gbenga Emmanuel, the mission should not be defeated by “policy arrogance” on the part of the policy formulators.

“There must be proper communication at the grassroots, the business people must accept it, it must be digested by the politicians, they must understand it, and it must be owned by Nigerians not a CBN project, because the benefits outweighs the consequences, but infrastructure and communication must be the essence.

“The convenience it brings can’t be underestimated; cashless is good if done properly. The banking consolidations became counter-productive because of infrastructure and communication deficit, we should reflect on the benefits and consequences, the policy can still be reformulated and re-introduced.”

CBN’s verdict Despite the seeming dissatisfaction with the policy by many

-- Page 59

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Lagosians, the CBN, however, believes that all is well.

The CBN and Bankers Committee hold the view and very strongly too that the scheme has recorded tremendous success so far.

This was the verdict of the CBN governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi and banks’ chief executives who spoke at different fora in Lagos recently.

According to the CBN Governor, “available statistics have shown that the cash-less Lagos, which commenced since January 2012, has recorded overwhelming success.”

Sanusi, who spoke at the Cashless Lagos Fair 2012, disclosed that the banks had deployed a total of 70,000 Point of Sales (PoS) terminals to merchant locations in Lagos, stressing that their target was to deploy over 150,000 PoS terminals by the end of the year.

Expatiating, he said the banks had so far deployed over 9,000 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) both within and outside of the bank branches, adding that the ATMs had the capability to enable bill payment, funds transfer and virtual top up, among others.

“It is also worthy of mention to state that since the commencement of the project till date, we have been receiving positive feedbacks from different quarters. Indeed, some merchants especially the petrol stations have joined the league of enthusiasts by now encouraging their customers to use cards for payments,” he said.

He was optimistic that the licensing of about 15 mobile payment operators to offer payment services via the mobile phone that over 80 million Nigerians are carrying would also help promote financial inclusion and by extension, make the nation a cashless one.

CBN’s optimism notwithstanding, the view of many out there is that the policy requires a lot of makeover.

EADMODE Resource Centre, a foremost international supported distance learning organisation in West Africa, in alliance with its UK partner Universities held its 38th induction with over 34 Nigerians earning certification.

The induction programme, a professional-focused event, had professionals inducted into various UK Universities. It was designed to give the new students the best start to an international standard of knowledge acquisition. They were professionals from different sectors of the economy-banking, insurance, telecoms, maritime, human resources units, to list a few.

The new inductees received hard copies of study materials to guide their academic pursuit.

Whilst on the programme, they will enjoy the academic support provided through their various universities and participate in the workshops organized by Leadmode in its various offices (Lagos, Abuja & Port Harcourt) from time-to-time. This encourages networking amongst the students and creates a platform upon which issues can be clarified.

Leadmode Resource Centre in partnership with its UK Universities has successful deployed this model for capacity building. Several professional who have graduated from the programme admit that with better insight of how management and theory operates, their job functions have being better optimized with measurable outcomes and outputs.

Airtel leads MTN, others in global ranking

B

HARTI AIRTEL, leading global telecommunications company and owners of Airtel network, has been ranked ahead of top global brands such as Citi, Sony, MTN, China Telecom, and Volkswagen.

Tagged: “The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands”, the ranking was the outcome of a survey conducted by the leading global research firm, Millward Brown.

Airtel’s overall ranking was 71 and brand value of $11.5 billion, ahead of top global brands such as Citi (82), Sony (86), MTN (88), China Telecom (90), and Volkswagen (96).

The study by the research firm is the only brand valuation that takes into account what people think about the brands they buy alongside rigorous analysis of financial data, market valuations, analyst reports and risk profiles.

The ranking is arrived through a continuous in-depth quantitative research on a category-by-category and a country-by-country basis. The research covers some 2 million consumers and more than 50,000 brands in over 30 countries.

58

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

Business News

PHOTO SHOP

Learn Africa grows N3.4bn shareholders’ fund

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•From left: Gen. Yakubu Gowon, former Head of State, Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Head of State; Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, Group Chief Executive Officer, Standard Alliance Group and Chief Kingsley Ozobia, Chairman, T3 Communications Ltd at the 4th Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies(AES) National Conference held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, recently

OR shareholders of Learn African Plc, here is some cheery news: their funds rose marginally from the previous year by I percent to N3.435 billion in 2011.

Disclosing this over the weekend was the chairman of the company, Emeka Iwerebon.

The event was at the preAnnual General Meeting press briefing which held at the company’s corporate headquarters.

While announcing the audited results of company’s operations for the year ended 31st December 2011, he said the company posted a turnover of N2.923 billion, representing an 18 percent decrease from the results recorded in the previous year.

Citing the global credit crunch, he said the financial crisis that began in 2008 continued to impacted on the operating environment.

“With the increasing demand for foreign exchange, the value of the naira peaked at

Stories by Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

about N165 to $1, resulting in increased production and overhead costs for our company particularly as it related to the importation of books and raw materials,” he said.

He said further: “In addition, 2011, being an election year, witnessed prolonged delay in the implementation of the 2011 Federal Government Budget and the attendant piecemeal disbursements of funds to all the other tiers of government. The effect of this was that funds meant for bulk purchases could not easily be assessed in a timely fashion. We still, nevertheless, made appreciable sales during what was considered a very difficult year.”

He was however, quick to add that the company still achieved a moderate increase of 16 percent in its profit before tax of N382.79 million in 2011, from N328.78 million in 2010 even as shareholders’ funds also increased marginally from the previous year by 1 percent to N3.435 billion in 2011 reflect-

ing enhanced efficient management and better allocation of the company’s resources.

The Board of Directors, he said, has recommended for the consideration and approval of the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting holding on 31st May 2012, a dividend of 25 kobo per 50 kobo ordinary share payable on the 4th of June 2012.

Also speaking at the press briefing, the Managing Director, Fred Ijewere said, it is the company’s desire to become a global learning resource company.

On compliance with the International Finance reporting standards (IFRS), he said the company is geared to meeting the targets of reporting by January for 2013.

“We are building capacity in house and in conjunction with our consultants, Ernst and Young will have met IFRS standards by due date.

The accounts for 2012 will be in compliance with the international finance reporting standards,” he said.

Lubricant manufacturers kick over substandard IFFED by what it deprotect local producers as products scribed as the indiswell as remain competitive

M •From left: Dr. J.O Onuora, President, Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, Olotu Ibru, Corporate Affairs Manager, UTC Nigeria Plc and Prof. Isaac Olaoluwa Akinyele, Head, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan, at a seminar on "High Quality, Cost-Effective Food Products for Private and Public Sectors in Lagos recently

•From left: MD/CEO, Learn Africa Plc, Mr Fred Ijewere, Chairman of the company, Chief Emeke Iwerebon, and Finance Director, Mr Peter Nosike, during the Pre-AGM media briefing by Learn Africa Plc at the company head office, Ikeja, Lagos. PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

criminate importation of oil lubricants resulting in cheap, poor quality and substandard products, as well as the unwholesome activities of producers of fake and adulterated lubricants in Nigerian market, chief executives of oil lubricant manufacturing firms under the auspices of Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria (LUPAN) have called on the Federal Government and Standard Organization of Nigeria to take steps aimed protecting the industry as well as safeguarding millions of jobs across the country.

They made this appeal during a sensitisation forum in Lagos over the weekend.

At the forum, the lubricant manufacturers, while assuring that their lubricants are produced in strict compliance to regulatory standards locally (by SON and Department of Petroleum Resources) and internationally (by SAE, API & ACEA), however, expressed

dismay that most lubricants imported into the country do not comply with these regulatory standards and that some of them actually import substandard lubricants and understandably, sells at cheaper price than genuine products.

Besides, they lamented that the import duty tariff of 10 percent was the same for imported lubricants and for base oil which is the major raw material used by lubricant producers in the country, stressing that it was a disincentive to business.

In a communiqué signed

by LUPAN Executive Secretary, Mr. Emeka Obidike C., the Association urged the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency review downwards to 5 percent the import duty tariff on base oil which is the chief raw material that is used in producing their lubricants.

They further sought a higher tariff regime for imported lubricants in order to

in the market, even as they impressed on the regulatory bodies, SON and DPR, the need to ensure compliance with standards by these imported lubricants, in order to check the influx of poor quality and substandard lubricants and also to protect consumers.

At separate interviews, the chairman of the groups Chief Anthony Enukeme, called on the Federal Government to accede to their demands in order to boost local production capacities, enhances employment generation and earn foreign exchange when they export lubricants produced in Nigeria to other countries in Africa.

Also speaking at the event, the Vice Chairman Alhaji Ado Mustapha noted that LUPAN members are major employers of labour in their various states where they operate, hence he appealed to the Federal Government to urgently address their concerns in the interest of the public.

MARBLE AND GRANITE CARE Office building – make it M a rock solid investment AKING a ‘Rock Investment” is all about using marble and other stones to beautify your building exterior. As a construction material, marble fits in perfectly in modern building designs due to its clean ascetically pleasing architectonic style. It combines well with ceramics, wood and other common construction materials. Marble is very durable, and can be used in high traffic areas like staircases and hallways.

In fact, typically marble products come with a 20 year guarantee…and that’s

some investment for you.

As a construction material, marble is easy to use, clean and maintain. Marble tiles can be applied over almost any surface. They can be cut to fit specific measurements and if well applied are perfectly adaptable to humid environments.

Famous monuments all over the world like the Taj Majal and el Alhambra have been built with marble

and as you know, TheTag Mahal has generated so much tourism which in itself makes it such a huge investment!

And although perhaps the greatest architectural innovation of the ancient Romans was the systematic use of concrete, marble still formed the foundation of all of the most relevant Greek and Roman buildings.

When used in interiors, the elegance and durability of marble make it a perfect choice for kitchens, bathrooms and staircases. Often, marble is used to form beautifully complex tile mosaics by combining stones of different classes and colors. Art! (And guess what …that’s INVESTMENT). Marble flooring lends a sophisticated and elegant look to any room.

For more information on Marble/Granite Care, Sales and Delivery contact: Mike Anazodo – Email: info@maldinimarbles.com, Tel: 01-8934967 . Maldini Marble and Granite Company

59

Business

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

‘The only time I rest is when I’m on bed’ H

OW do you relax when you’re not at work?

Well, relaxation takes many forms because as somebody quite active, I try to sectionalise the various aspects of my life. I work hard when I am at work and when I am off, I’m really off because I have responsibility towards my family, which is extremely key to me.

I’ve responsibility towards my God. I want to believe I’m a man of faith. So I believe out of 24 hours in a day, the onus lies on me to ensure that I take care of my spiritual aspects too.

And then when you talk in terms of hobby, I do that. And I’m responsible towards the community. So, the thing is to find a balance.

A typical working day for me is between Monday and Friday. And weekend is weekend for me. So, first and foremost, I don’t take work home. When I close, about 5.30 pm, that’s it. So, when I get home, all my attention is at home to face domestic and family matters.

In terms of relaxation, I watch TV for averagely an hour or so. But I can assure you that if there’s a sport competition, I can watch it for up to four hours in an evening.

Let’s say there is a tennis tournament going on, may be one of these grand slam events, I watch that. I watch a lot of football too.

What football club fan are you Arsenal or Barca?

(Laughs)… Well my family members will say they don’t know where daddy stands.

They are solidly Arsenal fans. But I don’t know whether I’m really into that. But I’ve a lot of sympathy for Chelsea, let’s put it that way. (Laughs)…

Can you expatiate more on your hobbies?

Occasionally, I watch movies, but usually when I watch movies they are usually of the oldies, all these movies that we watched when we were young. I do learn a lot from some of these movies. It helps me to put so many things in life into perspective.

Likewise, I read a lot of novels to keep track and have a broader view about life. At the same time, I study the scriptures, especially towards my bedtime for about 30 minutes or so.

So when I put all these things together, that’s how I relax. During the day, I take a walk to any of my neighbours I feel like having a talk with because I live on the University of Lagos campus. So, life is a bit on the slow side and the environment is relaxed.

You say you also read books. What was the last title you read?

I read books. That’s what I’ve done almost all my life. That’s the way we were brought up; my father was a civil servant.

So, as youths, he introduced us into reading. I read lots of magazines, comics and novels. If anything, that’s what we took from our father. Our father was ever reading one thing or the other, light reading that is, not serious ones. And he encouraged us to study

“As a rule, I don’t travel when I’m on vacation.

Once you see me at the airport, it strictly has to do with the job. I don’t consider travelling as a hobby. I don’t consider myself a traveller. I don’t enjoy travelling. I’m not one of those curious about knowing places. I won’t just sit down and start dreaming of places and say, maybe I can take a trip to the Caribbean to go and do what?”

Dr. Dele Makanjuola, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Vitafoam Plc, who is expected to retire later this September has put in a record 22 years in the service of the company. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf he speaks on his private life

INTERVIEW the Bible too. So, these are the routines that have been part of my life and to a large extent, I have not deviated from it.

Do you have any particular regimen you follow for your exercise?

I know that exercise is good for the body but I’m not as faithful as I should be. In the morning, I cycle. I have this stationary cycle I use in my room. A few occasions, I tried jogging but it conflicted with my morning schedules because I found out that each time I have to wake up as early as five in the morning. I tend to sleep late and therefore wake up late. Besides, I’m very conscious when it comes to safety. So jogging at 5.30 in the morning I believe is not safe, even on the campus. So, that’s one of the things that discourages me because if I need to get to work at 7.30am, if I go jogging at 5.30am, then I should be back by say by quarter past 6am take my bath and also have my breakfast.

Therefore for the simple reason that I’m not ready to jog when it’s dark, I just resort to doing some cycling in the room. But I feel that, that’s not it really, one should be able to do more.

So, it’s when I’m on leave that I do it.

When I’m on leave I go to the University of Lagos Sports Centre at 5.30 in the morning.

I will be there for about one and hour. But when I’m at work I just do cycling for about 20 minutes and take my bath.

In the evening, I have not been faithful enough to it. Ordinarily, I think that when I come back in the evening I should spend another 30 minutes on the cycle, but I usually don’t do that.

But now that I’m going in to retirement, I think I’m going to take my exercise much more seriously. That’s one of the things I have programmed for my retirement.

Do you go on vacation?

Where is your destination of choice?

As a rule, I don’t travel when I’m on vacation. Once you see me at the airport, it strictly has to do with the job. I don’t consider travelling as a hobby. I don’t consider myself a traveler. I don’t enjoy travelling. I’m not one of those curious about know-

ing places. I won’t just sit down and start dreaming of places and say, maybe I can take a trip to the Caribbean to go and do what?

But I found out that most people love travelling. I think that’s the awkward side of me.

I hardly dream of places. People say they want to travel to USA, Canada, UK to go and rest, and I’m like what for?

The only time I rest is when I’m on my bed. I don’t rest when I’m in the hotel. No. I’m always stressed whenever I’m not going to sleep on my own personal bed.

So, if I’m on leave for four weeks, you can be sure that I’m going to be in my house for the four weeks.

Maybe what will take me out is when I go and visit friends occasionally and I go for mid-week service.

For a man of your status who has risen in the corporate social ladder, it is only expected that you should be a member of so many social clubs around. Which of these do you belong to?

There are no hard and fast rules about these things.

So many people compartmentalise their lives unduly. There is no rule in my own opinion that says that when you are a top executive you must do this or that because my private life is my private life. As a person, I don’t like to be dictated to and I’ve set values. I know the things that make me tick and happy, I know them.

So because I’m the CEO I don’t see why I should change that.

If I don’t enjoy sitting around those who drink, why should I now force myself to do that because I’m the CEO? So, to a large extent, I’ve never considered myself a socialite as such, I don’t do night crawling.

There are some who feel because of the dynamism of life, because of their supposedly exalted position in life they have to change

• Makanjuola

their pattern of doing things…

A sane man, like my dad would say, should try all he can to be in his house latest by 7.pm. So, if I‘m outside where I live by half past 7pm, I ‘m not comfortable even till this day. It happens from time to time. Sometimes you have to go for a social function somewhere but those who know me will know that I’ll not really be part of that gathering simply because my background has a lot of influence in me. So, I have never really felt comfortable where I live after 7pm. So, for that reason, that more or less cut me off from socializing.

Yes, there are official functions I have to attend but you can be sure that I will get out of there at the slightest opportunity because I ‘m not comfortable being outside. So, for that reason the issue of clubbing doesn’t arise.

The only club you can say indirectly I ever belong to which is official to a large extent, is The Business Club, Ikeja. But all the activities are usually a day affair and essentially a business gathering.

You mentioned in passing earlier that you have some set of values. What are these values?

My values are simple and direct. I think I’m simple enough to the extent that well the few things that I hold dear, I hold dear to them and that’s it. So, to a large extent I could say I could be rigid with that. I totally uphold Christian values. What Christian values means is that anything I do, I’m always conscious that Christ must be happy with it.

If I’m tempted, I pray fervently to the Lord to safe me out of that.

So, the simple values that are Christbased are the same thing that matter to me, they are the guiding light to me and I always say that most of the Christian values are summarised in the sermon of the Mount, it is as simple as that. And the interesting thing about all these Christian values is that virtually all of them are what every right-thinking person can or should subscribe to.

If a Christian value says you should not steal, there is no long story about that really.

But now, where the challenges are is that as human beings, we like to compromise, we try to rationalise. Because I’m the CEO, there are quite a number of things I can possibly do that are borderline cases. Nobody will stop me because I’m the boss. The only time they would open their mouth is when there is crisis and it is then they would go to the tribunal to rubbish you as we have seen in recent times with some heads of agencies.

What I mean by that is that if my Bible says that I should not steal, so that means that everything I do at work would everybody agree that this thing I’m doing is above board?

If I go to the petrol station and I buy petrol N3, 000,and I tell the petrol attendant to write N4, 000 and I bring the receipt, they would pay me or if I didn’t buy petrol when I come back and fill a form that I bought petrol at Igbara Oke, nobody will stop me. But now, that’s exactly where the values now come to play.

But even if nobody stops me, is it right?

Or there are many things you can do and you call it executive privilege. I’m very careful about that. Will it make your colleagues comfortable that the boss is just doing this? So, that’s why I said that the values that I hold are not esoteric as such, it is not that they are out of this world. They are the simple values. So I prayerfully try to make sure that I keep to these values.

I would not say it is that easy I must say because there is no pretense about these things. We have our challenges and there are all sorts of voices that are trying to lead us astray. So, you struggle to come back to the right path all the time. And that’s why I said prayerfully you have to be in touch with your God.

60

Business

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

MARK ZUCKERBERG

On the spot over Facebook IPO fiasco T

HIS is certainly not the best of times for Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook co-founder, who is currently in a horns of a dilemma on account of alleged infractions involving the listing of his company in the stock exchange.

Zuckerberg developed Facebook from his bedroom at Harvard University in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in two weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network.

Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks.

Thus, he became one of the richest people on the planet.

Although he left Facebook in 2008 but still controls 8.5 per cent of it.

Shareholders filed a lawsuit Wednesday in New York against Zuckerberg, claiming that the 28 year-old chief executive of the social networking giant, along with some banks, failed to disclose information in the lead-up to Friday’s mega IPO of the stock on the Nasdaq.

Shares last Friday spiked after the flotation, which had been priced at US$38 a share, valuing the company at US$104 billion, but it quickly gave back the gains made and the stock closed up just 23 cents.

The lawsuit was made in the US District Court in Manhattan.

Facebook investors rage at 18 per cent fall after some were not told of last-minute change to key projections Facebook’s $104bn stock market flotation descended into anger and recrimination last night, as shares in the social network slumped further in value and regulators investigated whether important information was kept hidden from some investors.

The company’s market value had fallen to $85bn by the end of trading yesterday, reducing founder Mark Zuckerberg’s stake from $19.1bn to $15.6bn and creating huge losses for investors who bought in when the stock started trading last Friday.

Adding to the debacle, Nasdaq, the stock exchange which listed Facebook shares, was slapped with a class action lawsuit last night on behalf of investors whose trades were not properly processed because of a software glitch.

The company’s bankers launched a massive share-buying operation that kept the shares from an embarrassing fall below their offer price of $38, but that firepower was quickly exhausted in the teeth of intense selling pressure from investors worried about Facebook’s long-term prospects.

In a little-noticed amendment to the company’s share prospectus before the initial public offering (IPO), Facebook said that revenues were unlikely to keep pace with the growth in its user numbers, be-

•Zuckerberg

BUSINESS PROFILE

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf with agency report

cause many new users were coming to the social network via smartphones, whose screens have little space for it to sell adverts.

The potential financial implications of that disclosure were only revealed to professional investors with access to professional research that included forecasts for Facebook’s future ad sales. Morgan Stanley, which was the chief underwriter of the flotation, slashed its forecasts, along with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, according to a report from Reuters.

Mary Schapiro, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street’s regulator, said her agency would “need to look at” concerns surrounding the flotation, as did the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

He reportedly sold $1.1bn of shares (worth $19bn on Friday) in the flotation to pay his tax bill.

According to people close to the deal, lead IPO underwriter Morgan Stanley (MS) and fellow underwriter Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) updated their financial projections for the Facebook after the company earlier this month added warnings to its IPO prospectus about how its mobile user base is increasing faster than the amount of advertising it delivers.

Underwriters are barred

by Securities and Exchange Commission rules from publicly issuing research on the IPOs in which they are involved, but analysts are allowed to discuss their views with clients during IPO road shows. The analyst revisions

were previously reported by Reuters, which also cited underwriter J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) as having revised its estimates.

It would be recalled that on May 15, Facebook’s offer price was raised to between $34 and $38 a share before eventually pricing at the high end of that range.

Meanwhile, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) Chief Executive Bob Greifeld on Tuesday acknowledged “mistakes” made by the exchange in its handling of the Facebook IPO. He reminded investors that the deal was the largest ever in terms of valuation at the time of an IPO and that the opening trade in Facebook’s stock was the largest Nasdaq OMX had ever managed.

After initial delays in the opening of the stock, a flood of canceled orders for the stock and changes to pre- existing trades interfered with Nasdaq OMX’s process of matching up buy and sell orders to form the first trade, executives have said.

Confusion over the size of investors’ positions is said to have contributed to Facebook’s selloff Monday as some shareholders realized they had larger stakes than they wanted.

“Nasdaq failed to process some trade orders for hours on end, and failed to cancel other orders despite customer requests to do so,” according to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Separately, a Los Angelesbased law firm filed a lawsuit against Facebook and the IPO’s underwriters. The suit seeks class-action status on behalf of investors who suffered losses in connection with the IPO. The firm, Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP, alleges— among other things—that the offering materials provided to potential investors were negligently prepared and failed to

disclose material information about Facebook’s business, operations and prospects. A Facebook representative wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Also adding to the stock’s volatility is a push by some investors to short the stock.

When investors short stock, they borrow shares and then sell them. Shorting is a bet that share prices will fall, allowing the stocks to be repurchased and replaced later at a lower price for a profit.

The Secretary of State for Massachusetts also sent a subpoena late Tuesday to lead underwriter Morgan Stanley (MS) following accusations of alleged selective disclosure.

Several other plaintiffs’ lawyers have said they filed suits over the offering in other courts throughout the country, seeking class-action status.

The firm said the massive amount of time users spend on the network is key to valuing the company, because “money follows time.”

Facebook “has already solved the two hardest execution risks,” namely establishing a brand and becoming relevant online, Needham’s Laura Martin said. “The biggest execution risk that remains is monetization.”

S&P Capital IQ meanwhile slapped a sell recommendation on Facebook’s stock, saying the company’s “notable margins” and “considerable competitive advantages in the social media segment” pale in comparison to risks concerning the effectiveness of its advertising platform.

Expectedly, the U.S. House and Senate committees that oversee financial sector matters are planning to look into the issues surrounding Facebook Inc’s initial public offering, aides to both committees.

Sean Oblack, a spokesman to the Senate Banking Committee, said the review will focus on “issues raised in the news” and that staff will be conducting briefings with “Facebook, regulators and other stakeholders.”

Marisol Garibay, a spokeswoman for the House Financial Services Committee, said staff there is also receiving briefings on the issue and “gathering information and facts.”

“While no hearings specifically focused on this IPO are planned at this time, the Committee will have hearings over the coming weeks where this topic is likely to be raised,” she said in a statement.

The announcements by the committees come on the heels of reports by Reuters that an analyst for lead underwriter Morgan Stanley cut his revenue forecasts for Facebook in the days before the offering.

It is unclear whether Morgan Stanley only told its top clients about the revised view or spread the word more broadly.

Zuck, as he is fondly called has wriggled his way out of many pitfalls, but pray, can he survive this one?

Time will tell.

Beyond Talent

By Adetayo Okusanya Email: adetayookusanya@hotmail.com

Career development plans: Necessity or nuisance?

I

N life, there are some people who are born with silver spoons in their mouths and others who have the Midas touch. For the rest of us, we need career development plans. If self awareness tells us the “WHY” that drives us, and ambition shows us the “WHAT” we desire to become, then it is our career development plans that give us the “HOW” of bridging the gap between “WHAT” we are today and “WHAT” we desire to be tomorrow. A career development plan, therefore, is a blueprint that shows us the specifications to which we ought to build our careers. It is a roadmap that exists to guide us as we make decisions every day about how and where to spend our time.

Thefreedictionary.com defines the word “career” as a profession or occupation chosen as one’s life’s work.

Businessdictionary.com defines it as the progress and actions taken by a person throughout a lifetime, especially those related to that person’s occupations. Both definitions show clearly the intimate relationship between one’s career and one’s life. Your career is not the job or position you have today. It spans the job functions that you will perform and the roles that you will play within and between organizations, over a long period of time.

You can either let this progression/development happen “By Default”, following the path of least resistance, or “By Design” following specifications which have been carefully engineered to maximize your career success.

Career development is the planned process of acquiring the right skills, knowledge, work experience and track record required to perform at higher levels in your career. It has both an organizational and a personal perspective. For organizations, the objective of career development is to ensure that the employee’s career goals and development plan are aligned with the current and future needs of the business. From a personal development perspective, the focus of career development is to ensure that the individual is pursuing development opportunities and work experiences that are aligned with his career goals. Sometimes an employee’s career goals coincide with the needs of the business, sometimes they do not. The beauty of a well crafted career development plan is that it lets you know when you are not building to “The Plan”.

Your career development plan is a living document that harmonizes your purpose, goals and planned actions. It is your personal accountability tool, because it entails making a personal commitment to your own success. When creating your career development plan, you must clearly and objectively assess the gaps between the current levels of your knowledge, skills, abilities, experiences, accomplishments, etc., and the levels you need to be operating at to achieve your career goals.

Once you have identified these gaps, the next step is to develop strategies for closing them. You must ask yourself, “What is required for my success at different stages of my career? Do I need an advanced degree, a certification, a professional affiliation, international work experience, enterprise-wide experience, people management experience, a change in career/industry/ employer/job, etc?”

Think of your career strategies as your “Big Bets” or “Major Focus Areas” or “Priorities”. Set goals, milestones and target dates for each of them and break them down into smaller, more manageable tasks and next actions to be taken. One of my career strategies was to work internationally and I was able to accomplish this by studying for the General Management Aptitude Test (GMAT), registering for the test, completing the test, applying to business schools, applying for a student visa, completing an MBA program in a reputable school and applying to work for a global organization. What do you need to do today to move you further along in accomplishing your career goals?

A career development plan is nothing but wishful thinking until you follow-through daily, weekly and monthly. Only then does it become a powerful driving force and motivator.

You create success energy when you plan your career development, work your plan, review your progress periodically and course-correct. You lose the opportunity for timely coursecorrection, when you do not know that you are “Off-Course”.

Success is created through team effort. Seek the input of others such as your manager, mentor, coach, career counselor, family members etc. when creating your career development plan.

They will enrich and broaden your growth perspective in ways that you cannot achieve “flying solo”.

This concludes the Beyond Talent series on career development. The next time you find yourself grumbling or complaining about preparing or updating your career development plan, remember that you are in essence planning your life’s success. A carefully crafted and executed career development plan can be a demonstration of your commitment to lifelong learning, a catalyst for career growth and a force that elevates you to higher levels of performance.

• Okusanya is CEO of ReadinessEdge

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

EBERE WABARA

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WORDSWORTH 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

PDP reclaim Lagos?

T

HE GUARDIAN of May 24 n u r t u r e d confusion: “Move to reduce new plate number, driver’s licence prices fail (sic)” A rewrite: Move to reduce new number plate, driver’s licence prices fails.

“Towards making Nigeria a malaria free nation” (DAILY INDEPENDENT Life, May 24) Get it right: malaria-free nation D A I L Y INDEPENDENT of May 23 committed three infelicities: “Al-Makura flags-off (flags up/ launches) N58m drug revolving loan scheme” ‘Flag off’ is a Nigerian corruption of formal English language phraseology!

“Aliyu: Securing Niger with vigilante (vigilance) group” There is a difference between ‘vigilance’ and ‘vigilante’ which consequently also affects their application.

“It is this remarkable principle of honour that makes him enjoy a mutual relationship with horde of aspirants….” Comment: a horde of aspirants or hordes of aspirants….”

Comment: a horde of aspirants or hordes of aspirants, depending on context.

“This government will do the right thing as soon as the judiciary puts its acts (act) together.” (Quote by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, NIGERIAN Tribune Front Page, 23 May) “Man arraigned in court over N2.4m fraud” (Source: as above) Where else would he have been arraigned?

Let us take the next three improprieties from THE NATION of May 23: “…and most times, access on (to) the Internet are (is) not readily available….” “…he said he has (had) not seen any evil signal.”

THISDAY of May 23 offered readers these vacuous lines: “PDP will reclaim Lagos” According to the 7 th Edition of Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, ‘reclaim’ means ‘to get something back or to ask to have it back after it has been lost, taken away, etc.’

Whoever cast this jaundiced headline must have been thoughtlessly busy: how can the roguish, murderous and visionless party reclaim what it never had and will never have? There is

what is known as i n t e r p r e t a t i v e reporting—it is not rehash journalism: whatever anyone says must be edited for clarity, brevity, good public health and sensible readership. Advertorials can be tolerated— certainly not news items.

“Playing ostrich as another oil-fuelled banking crises brews” (Full-page Advert by OTL Africa Downstream, THISDAY, May 23) Singular: crisis; plural: crises. The decision is theirs!

“The establishment of a polytechnic will c o m p l i m e n t (complement) the two existing universities….”

(THE GUARDIAN, May 23) “Navy arrests ship over (for) illegal bunkering” (Source: as above) THE PUNCH of May 23 was also rounded up by my lexical court marshals on three occasions: “Police arrest two students over (for) colleague’s death” “What Harvard has joined together…” Must we stick to biblical grammatical standards (what God has joined together) and outdated dictionaries? Formal: What Harvard has joined…(without the ‘together’ stuff which is implied)! As we all should know, languages, especially English, are dynamic.

“200 masquerades for Igbo Ukwu” For the widest audience: masqueraders.

Vanguard Front Page of May 22 deserves to be sanctioned: “IGP threatens to sanction policemen who harrass journalists” Spell-check: harass/embarrass.

“G8 endorse (endorses) Anan peace mission in Syria” (Source: as above) THE NATION COMMENT of May 22 was devoid of scholarship: “This is what the Parents/ Teachers Association (PTA) of Queen’s College, Lagos….” Stock expression; ParentTeacher Association of….

Next on the line-up is TRIBUNE EDITORIAL of 22 May which could not make a morphological distinction: “…the Nigerian state was literarily (literally) on a tailspin.”

D A I L Y INDEPENDENT Politics and Editorial of May 22 disseminated four blunders: “…the greed of those who by do or die (do-or-die) processes found themselves in the corridor (corridors) of power….” “…the ruling party or

be a presidential bootleaker (bootlicker).”

“It is the failure of governance that has resulted to (in) the lack of electric power supply….”

“Our grouse with SWF, by Fashola” (THISDAY Front Page Window, May 17) My grouse about (not with) poor English usage by colleagues of mine.

“The deluge of encomium (encomiums) that have continued to trail….”

(TRIBUNE EDITORIAL, May 17) National Mirror of May 17 circulated three i m p r o p r i e t i e s : “”Anyaoku proffers solution to Nigeria’s stability (instability)” “Man arrested over (for) death threats” “A student that cannot meet up with a set standard won’t be promoted into (to) the next class and if….”

“Odubela tasks teachers on frequent trainings” (THISDAY, May 24) Education Today: ‘training’ is uncountable.

“More grease to your elbow.” (Radio Nigeria News Analysis, May 24) More power (not grease!) to all readers of this column.

“Incidences of conjoined twins are not new....” (NTA A.M. Express, May 24) We now know how they come about: incidents, not incidences, please.

“8 policemen arrested over extortion” (Daily Trust, May 24) When will police criminality stop going the rounds? They will always be arrested for (not over) extortion and banditry!

“But even at that, labour was not overtly involved in the arrests and detentions that followed.” (Leadership, May 24) ‘Detention’ is uncountable.

“In fact, it looks like increase in the prices of petroleum products has (have) became (sic) an annual ritual.” (DAILY Sun, May 24) “Female lawmakers angry over treatment meted to them by their male colleagues.” (The Moment, May 24) No chauvinism: meted out to. “…until 1998 when individuals and groups converged in (on) Italy.…”

(The Pilot, May 24) “I throdded that strange land and it took the grace of God to survive.” (Newsstar, May 23) What is going on?

‘Throdded?

Vide a standard dictionary.

“Unfortunately for the US government, majority (a majority) of the UN members were….”

(Source:asabove) Next week: Feedback from Sunny Agbontaen and other readers.

I

T is a universal phenomenon that any nation or state that cannot feed itself is no doubt heading for a doom. Food security has always been a serious concern to average Nigerian and the shortage of food has been sending bad signal that the country is heading towards crisis if drastic measure is not taken.

It is disheartening to know that no serious attention is paid to agricultural development, as virtually all the food consumed in country today has been found to be imported. Despite predictions that crude oil, upon which our financial capacity is based in Nigeria might dry up one day, much reliance is still being place on oil, just as agriculture of which the country was renowned for and used for the series of developmental projects soon after independence has now been jettisoned.

This is not due to lack of availability of fertile land in the country nor absence of manpower, but of lack of commitment on the part of our leaders, who believe in acquiring cheap oil money at the detriment of a sector that was responsible for the larger percentage of our economic growth before the advent of oil boom.

Agriculture is not only a means of providing food, it is also a viable sector for the manufacturing industry, yet it has been found to be the largest employer of labour in Africa. So if properly planned, the sector has the capacity to solve many of the country’s problem simultaneously and effectively.

Conscious of this fact and the need to take proactive measure to avert the looming food crisis, the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in the State of Osun immediately after its inauguration left no one in doubt about his commitment to develop the state through vigorous agricultural policy, by putting in place series of agricultural intervention programmes that can assist in exploring the agricultural potentials of the state to ensure massive food production and boost its economy. Osun Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Programme (OREAP) by design, is meant to drive the agricultural ministry and to serve as an interface among three ministries, which are the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Commerce and Empowerment and the Ministry of Finance for the development of the economy of the state, empowerment of the youths and ensuring massive food production.

OREAP within a short term was able to prepare a vast farm land of about 2,474.17 hectares last year and allocated same for the use of prospective farmers across the state. The intention is to promoting a private sector led market for agricultural inputs such as equipment services, Agro input dealers and seed companies/shops. Also the state government launched the Quick Impact Intervention Programme (QIIP) with a view to reaching the real farmers and provide them with necessary facilities.

Through this alone, a sum of N153,265,000 was provided for 75 cooperative farmers groups that were spread all over the state as loans. Other support covers the planting of maize, cassava, poultry, fishing and those in vegetable and fruit planting, while support was also given to farmers, who specialized in processing Garri and flours.

Revamping Osun’s economy through agriculture

•Aregbesola

By Oyintiloye Olatunbosun Apart from the N153,265,000 loan to farmers under QIIP, the government was able to give another N500 million loan through the Bank of Agriculture, of which each farmer had access to the sum of N250,000 maximally and minimum of N100,000. The beneficiaries of the loan were about 4,000 prospective farmers, duly screened.

Besides financial supports, the government was able to render several other assistance to farmers; among these are provision of farm inputs in terms of seeds, chemicals, and fertilisers which was highly subsidised. It also procured fertilizers outside the federal government scheme, because it was discovered that the ones from the Federal Government are always being delayed till after the planting season.

Meanwhile, the state government has now expanded its horizon and QIIP is leading a manual land clearing for a 1,500 hectares, which is about 3,750 acres, targeted for clearing this year. So far, a sum of N120 million has expended on clearing about 1,600 hectare of land,roads upgrade, creating access road to farmlands and layouts.

Through this land clearing, more cluster farming is being encouraged, and there are now four farm clusters handled by QIIP this year at Ife-Odan (1,600 acres), Osuntedo (946 acres), Songbe (400 acres), and Kuta (500 acres). For the cluster farm in Ife-Odan, the target to plant yams, but now, maize are being planted to preserve the already cleared land; at Osuntedo, Cassava and rice would be planted; at Songbe, low land rice would be planted, while in Kuta, vegetable and some other arable crops would be planted.

Aregbesola in his quest to realise the objective of the massive food production it has engaged the service of leading foreign expert in beef production training interested farmer on how to produce beef in a project “ O Beef “aimed at ensuring high income from the venture.

Also, because of lack of maintenance culture, the state government has been able to key-in into the Federal Government Tractors Acquisition Scheme, under a private sector operating arrangement whereby the Federal Government would give a subsidy of 25 per cent and the state give a subsidy of 15 per cent and the farmers which drop down payment of 10 per cent.

The remaining balance

would be paid over the period of 36 months by the farmers, and the farmers own the tractors. The government of the state of Osun has paid a sum of N104 million as subsidy for 100 units of tractors and the tractors are now being expected anytime from now.

On poultry farming, a total sum of N340 million have been injected under a private scheme arrangement through Poultry Association of Nigeria. Under the arrangement, the private manager that was engaged moved round the poultry farms facilities and gave them all the necessary supports required, including maintenance fees. In that scheme alone, within the first to second circle, farmers have testified to have gain between N400,000 and N500,000.

To facilitate accessibility of farmers to their various farmlands, the government was able to open up 49 kilometres road last year, and this year, it has paid the sum of N200 million counterpart fund on RAMP through the partnership with the World Bank on Rural Access Mobility Project (RAMP), to increase rural road network to 500 kilometers.

On the market, the state government target supply of its farm produce into the Lagos state food market, aiming 10 percent of the over N3 billion daily food exchange value. To this end, a free rail service has been offered for farmers to transport their farm produce to Lagos free of charge and this is quite a feat that has never been achieved by any government, even in advanced country. Meeting the target of Lagos market would definitely and greatly improve the economy of the state.

In its bid to minimize waste of surplus farm produce, a network of 500 metric tonnes storage facilities is being put in place in Oyan and Osogbo while 120 metric tonne were been built in Iwo, Ede, Esa-Oke, Ilesa and Ife respectively.

The state government believed that by the time all of its efforts in the sector begin to yield, Osun would not only be able to feed itself, it would be the food basket of the nation and posses the capability to offer it teeming unemployed population a gainful means of livelihood.

Olatunbosun, Assistant Director, (Community Forum) Bureau of Communication and Strategy, office of the Governor, Osun state.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

66 CHANGE OF NAME PHILIPS I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Philips Glory, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sholadoye Glory. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

AIKPEOKHAI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Gloria Joseph Aikpeokhai, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Gloria Onigele Shuaibu. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

AJANI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajani Victoria Tosin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Alao Victoria Tosin. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

ODU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Odu Neji Egbe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ojong Neji Ayiba-Ayiba. All former documents remain valid.

Cross River government and general public should take note.

CHIBUZOR

I, formerly known and addressed as Chibuzor Ekeleonyeonwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Ekileonyeonwu Chibuzor. All former documents remain valid.

Federal polytechnic, Nekede and general public should take note.

ABIODUN

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Abiodun Olusola Beatrice, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Mogbojuri Oyebowale Olusola Beatrice. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and general public should take note.

ORIGBO

CHANGE OF NAME OLOGUNDUDU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ologundudu Adetutu Adebisi Mariam, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bankole Adetutu Adebisi Mariam. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

OKETADE

I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Olaniyonu Janet Adejoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Omodojo Janet Adejoke. All former documents remain valid. Lagos State Ministry of Education, Alausa, SUBEB and general public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oresanya Kemisola Kehinde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Roy-Layinde Kemisola Kehinde. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

OLANIYONU

AKINBOLA I, formerly known and addressed as Akinbola Michael, now wish to be known and addressed as Akinbola Michael Akinyemi. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

AKILAIYA

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Akilaiya Abiodun Mobolaji, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ayodele Mobolaji Abiodun. All former documents remain valid. NYSC, JABU and general public should take note. AKINOLA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinola Modupe Victoria, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Modupe Victoria Adekunle. All former documents remain valid. Zenith Bank Plc. and general public should take note.

ANASO

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ashogbon Abiodun Eunice, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odeyemi Abiodun Eunice. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Osuya Linda, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olie Linda. All former documents remain valid. Department of State Services, Abuja and general public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oni Yejide Abidemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sokemi Yejide Abidemi. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Oni Heekmat Oluwabunmi, now wish to be known and addressed as Oni-Lawal Heekmat Oluwabunmi.

All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ADEGOKE

OSUYA

ONI

INYENE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adegoke Theresa Adenihun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Amuda Theresa Adenihun. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Inyene Okon Ekarika, now wish to be known and addressed as Treasure Okon Ekarika. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

DANLADI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyesiji Oyenike Tosin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Salami Oyenike Tosin. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Grace Danladi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Grace Charles Boniface. All former documents remain valid. The Nigeria Police and general public should take note.

OLAWUMI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olawumi Abimbola Lola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeniyi Abimbola Elizabeth. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should take note.

MOHAMMED

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Mohammed Mujidat Olaide, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lawal Mujidat Olaide. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

OLASUPO

I, formerly known and addressed as Mustapha Abdulkamarul Olasupo, now wish to be known and addressed as Olaribigbe Olasupo Joseph. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

EPPIE

I, formerly known and addressed as Eppie Paul Friday, now wish to be known and addressed as Eppie Osaoada. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

AKPA I, formerly known and addressed as Akpa Eucharia Nnenna, now wish to be known and addressed as Igwe Eucharia Nnenna. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

CALABAR I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Calabar Tarelade Precious, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ndiwari Tarelade Precious. All former documents remain valid. School of Nursing Tombia Bayelsa and general public should take note.

MIKE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Mike Ogorchukwu Grace now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Great Ogorchukwu Grace. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ADIORU

I, formerly known and addressed as Oketade Olukayode Peter, now wish to be known and addressed as Pastor Peter Peters. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Anaso Chinenye Peace, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Udeh Chinenye Peace. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ONI

AJIBADE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajibade Suliat Folashade, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Ishola Suliat Folashade. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onokerhoraye Mary Adioru, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onokerhoraye Mary Nwabuzor. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onajite Origbo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onajite Esharegharan. All former documents remain valid. Delta State University, Ecobank Plc. and general public should take note.

ASHOGBON

CHANGE OF NAME

OYESIJI

OKWEDADI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nkeiruka Lilian Okwedadi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lilian Nkeiruka Emmanuel Efiong Umoren. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

DANITA

I, formerly known and addressed as Danita Ime Chukwuamaka Umoren Efiong, now wish to be known and addressed as Danita Ime Chukwuamaka Efiong Umoren. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Derek Onyekachukwu Ekeminiabasi Emmanuel Efiong Umoren is the same person as Derek Onyekachukwu Ekeminiabari Emmanuel Efiong now to be known as Derek Onyekachukwu Ekeminiabasi Efiong.

All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Emmanuel Effiong Umoren and Emmanuel Efiong Umoren are same person now to be known as Emmanuel Efiong Umoren. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should take note.

ONYEUKWU

l, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onyeukwu Immaculeta Ngozi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Uchenna Immaculeta Ngozi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

EWA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Glory Ofem Ewa now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Glory Ojeje Eteng. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

BALOGUN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Balogun Kudirat Adeola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Salami Kudirat Adeola. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ORESANYA

TAIWO

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Taiwo Olukemi Olajumoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aromolaran Olukemi Olajumoke. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

AJIBOLA

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajibola Bukola Comfort, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. OlusegunAjibola Bukola Comfort. All former documents remain valid.

NYSC, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba and general public should take note.

ADEBOYE

CHANGE OF NAME IKUEBOLATI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ikuebolati Gloria Ojuotimi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Benjamin Gloria Ojuotimi. All former documents remain valid.University of Lagos and general public should take note.

FAMUYIDE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Famuyide Olabisi Ajoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akinola Olabisi Ajoke. All former documents remain valid. First Bank of Nigeria Plc. and general public should take note.

TIJANI

I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Tijani Morenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Tijani Morenikeji Adekilekun. All former documents remain valid.

Ede North LG and general public should take note.

ADARIJO

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adarijo Fausat Oluwatosin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olojede Fausat Oluwatosin. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

SANUSI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Sanusi Noyimot Omobolanle, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Yekeen Noyimot Omobolanle. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

OKEWU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Okewu Rose, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Pius Rose. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ONI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oni Olasunmbo Comfort, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adebayo Olasunmbo Comfort. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should take note.

ONIWINDE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyindamola Oniwinde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyindamola Sheriff-Oluwo. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

SANYAOLU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Sanyaolu Victoria Ibukunoluwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adesanya Victoria Ibukunoluwa.

All former documents remain valid. Justice Development and Peace Commission, Centre for Grassroots Economic Empowerment, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and general public should take note.

OGEDENGBE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogedengbe Taiwo Olumide, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Omodara Taiwo Olumide. All former documents remain valid. GTBank Plc. AdoEkiti and general public should take note.

CORRECTION OF NAMES I, Adebayo Grace Adebola my name was erronuslly arrange as Adebayo Adebola Grace by NECO June/July 2011 Exam no. 21434306db Centre no 0250245. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public should take note.

DAN I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Dan Uduakobong Isaac, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ifreke Uduakobong Itina. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should take note.

OMOYENI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Omoyeni Opeyemi Bukola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ade-Obayemi Opeyemi Bukola. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, NYSC and general public should take note.

SODEKE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Kafayat Folake Buhari, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kafayat Folake Ojekale. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Okereke Fayokemi Comfort, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Leonard Fayokemi Comfort. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Police Force and general public should take note.

This is to inform the general public that Chukwuma Livinus and Chukwuma Livinus is the same and one person now wish to be known and addressed as Chukwuma Livnus Chukwuma. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should take note.

AJAGBE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajagbe Ganiyat Adeola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adejumo Ganiyat Adeola. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should take note.

OKEREKE

EWUOKUN

OGUNTOYINBO

BELLO

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Bello Latifat O., now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abdulganiyu Latifat Olatokunbo.

All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Sodeke Abigail Aduralere, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aladejare Abigail Aduralere. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Ilesanmi Richmond Ayodeji, now wish to be known and addressed as Richmond Ayo Aguda. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oguntoyinbo Titilayo Olabisi Precious, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ojo Titilayo Olabisi Precious. All former documents remain valid.

Skye Bank Plc. and general public should take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME

AKINSOLA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinsola Taiye Ruth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Obafemi Taiye Ruth. All former documents remain valid.

General public should take note.

ILESANMI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeboye Bolanle Adenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adekunle Bolanle Adenike. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Immigration Service and general public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ewuokun Tithlayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Folarin Titilayo. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Immigration Service and general public should take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

NDAH

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Idara Joy Ndah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Idara Anietie Udosen. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

OJI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Janet Oji, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Janet Emmanuel Awoji. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

ESHEMOGIE

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JOHN

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CHIBUZOR I, formerly known and addressed as Chibuzor Ekeleonyeonwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Ekileonyeonwu Chibuzor Festus.

All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnic, Nekede and general public should take note.

IWUALA Formerly known and addressed as IWUALA FAMILY, now wish to be known and addressed as IKECHUKWU FAMILY. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

NZE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nze Chinyere Assmpa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Cyracus Chinyere Alaezechukwu. All former documents remain valid.

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AJIMAJASAN

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajimajasan Titilope Kemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. AdesanwoAjimajasan Titilope Kemi. All former documents remain valid.

UNILAG and general public should take note.

ILORI

BUHARI

ADEWUMI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adewumi Folasade Mary, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Idowu Folasade Mary. All former documents remain valid. SUBEB, Ondo State and general public should take note.

OFOKANSI

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IHEDI

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EKPO

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OSONDU

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DIMKPA I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. DIMKPA , SHALOM PEACE , now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. SAMUEL, SHALOM PEACE. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

ONWUKWE

TAIWO

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UZOR

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NYSC and general public should please take note.

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PHCN and general public should please take note.

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OKPANACHI

I formerly known and addressed as MISS. FAITH OJOMA OKPANACHI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. FAITH OJOMA UBAH. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

MESERE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajimajasan Titilope Kemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. AdesanwoAjimajasan Titilope Kemi. All former documents remain valid.

UNILAG and general public should take note.

AKUCHIE

OJI

OGUNBIYI

I formerly known and addressed as MISS. MONICA OKOH now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. MONICA EKWUBIRI. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunbiyi Abiola Oluranti now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lawal Abiola Faridat. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Keke Ngozi Blessing now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Eze Ngozi Blessing. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

KEKE

IGBANI

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CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, EMMANUEL EBIMABOWIE TURIMA and EMMANUEL TOLUKORIE RUKARI are one and same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as EMMANUEL EBIMABOWIE TURIMA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, MRS. FLORENCE TAMUNOTONYE, TURIMA-NEE JUMBO and MRS. TAMUNOTONYE FLORENCE RUKARI-Nee JUMBO are one and same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. FLORENCE TAMUNOTONYE TURIMA-Nee JUMBO . All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, UKOIMA SALOME HUDSON and UKOIMA SALOME are one and same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as UKOIMA SALOME HUDSON . All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. AKUCHIE PEACE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS.PEACE OBILOR. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MR. IBRAHIM SALIU now wish to be known and addressed as MR. MOHAMMED E. SALIU. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

SALIU

OKPALAEZE

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General public please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. OJI EZINNE EMMANUELLA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. EZINNE EMMANUELLA OJI OBISESAN. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ONI

CHANGE OF NAME

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I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ilori Olanike Julianah(Alasanmi), now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Gbadebo Adenike Julianah. All former documents remain valid.

Law enforcement Agent and general public should take note.

l, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oni Funmilayo Funke now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Dapoewa Funmilayo Funke.

All former documents remain valid.

UNN, FGGC and general public should take note.

LOSS OF DOCUMENT The general public is hereby inform of the loss of Certificate of occupancy of the property situated and lying at block 7 plot 1 in the Isheri North Residential Scheme in Kosofe Local govt., dated 27th March, 2007 and Reg. as No. 12 page12 Volume 2007L in the Lagos State Land Registry, Alausa Belonging to Mr. Micheal Gbola Adepoju. Lagos State Lands Registry and general public should take note.

OKOH

NWACHUKWU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwachukwu Ozor Theresa now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ofili Ozor Theresa. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AJIMAJASAN

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

News

67

Youth group berates Jonathan over Salami T

HE leadership and members of the Congress of South West Youths (COSWY) have expressed displeasure over the delay and “sheer insincerity” of the Federal Government in reinstating Justice Ayo Salami, President of the Court of Appeal as recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Their position was contained in a press statement signed by Comrades Taiwo Ayedun, Ahmed Shomoye and Seyi Olubanjo, the group’s president, Secretary and Public Relations Officer respectively.

The group said: “We strongly hold the view that the nonchalant attitude of President Goodluck Jonathan towards the recommendation of the NJC, the same judicial institution which recommended Salami’s suspension upon which President Jonathan acted

By Oziegbe Okoeki without any iota of delay, smacks of utter disregard to the dictates of rule of law’’.

COSWY further berated the “triviality with which the President has handled the matter, more so when the

Judiciary as a sacred institution and the hope of common man should be devoid of the dirty politics that have bedeviled the nation’s political landscape over the years, which has resulted in lack of developmental growth in the real sense of it”.

The group wondered why the recommendation

Perhaps what can be termed the most instructive of the Ajimobi government achievements is the advent of peace in the state. By May 2011, the impression all over the world was that anyone from Oyo was inherently violent and possessing sanguinary affiliation with Eleweomo, the late NURTW kingpin. This conclusion was based on the incessant bloodshed in the state in which the past government featured as a prominent cast. When he came on board, Ajimobi was persuaded that the only way peace could be restored into the seeming internecine among drivers’ union was to be impartial. This nonaligned statesman role, combined with a Daniel-like sagacity, has weaned Oyo of rascally and periodic bloodthirsty hooligans, making the state safe for investors.

This paid off a few months ago when the prestigious Financial Times ranked OyoState, which had hitherto been literally delinked from civilization, as one of the 10 investment destinations in the world.

What won Oyo this remarkable feat?

A few weeks after he was sworn in, Ajimobi began a conscious meeting with development partners in and outside the state, giving power-point presentations on the deplorable state of the state, where he hopes to take the state to at the end of his first tenure and his aggressive developmental drive.

This has taken him toSouth Africa, Australia, Chicago, the World Bank, UN bodies in Nigeria like UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNIDO,

“It is evident that this is a calculated ploy to ensure that Justice Salami is not reinstated as the President of the Court of Appeal. It is apparent that president Jonathan and his marauding party

men and zealot have reached their wit’s end.

And we therefore challenge them to convince Nigerians on the reasons for their continued obduracy against the rule of law. ‘’

Kano to review laws on animal movement

K

ANO State is set to review existing edict banning animals from roaming the streets, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso has said.

He spoke yesterday while receiving executives of the state branch of Commercial Agriculture Development Association.

Kwankwaso pointed out that the move became necessary, as the law has not been modified since the first republic.

He told the delegation

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

that his government accords top priority to all aspects of agriculture in view of its importance to s o c i o - e c o n o m i c advancement.

Of the 20 new institutions created by the administration, six are agriculture based, he stated.

Kwankwaso appealed to Kano people to embrace commercial agriculture to guarantee food security.

Ajimobi’s tortuous road to restoration in Oyo Continued fron page 14

was delayed in arriving at the president’s table until the day a suit was instituted by one Noah Ajare seeking to restrain the President from implementing the NJC recommendation.

WHO and 10 others; EU ambassador, the German Technical Cooperation, African Capacity Building Foundation and National Planning Commission, among others.

The tireless driver that Ajimobiis, has also secured the promise of investors like Agra Africa and DSC International of India to help develop his state. Right now, he has lined up meetings with five other development partners.

Ajimobi also inherited a very filthy state, literally and metaphorically. Ibadan, over the years, became typecast as one of the dirtiest cities in the country. Amidst the daunting challenge of a resignation to a life of filth, Ajimobi has begun an aggressive clean-up of the state through the introduction of a weekly environmental sanitation exercise, aside the traditional monthly exercise. It is the first time in the history of the state that waste disposal agency collects dirt at night with a systematic waste collection strategy that is gradually yielding dividends.

In spite of the Oliver Twist disposition of workers all over the world, Ajimobi has sought to satisfy Oyo workers. His administration has offered N19,100 as minimum wage, one of the few states in the nation to so do, pays salaries before 25th of every month and is the first government in the state to pay full 13 th month salary to workers, aside the periodic overseas training of civil servants that he has been facilitating.

One other major fart that his government inherited was the parlous state of education in the state. At the last examination, Oyo came 34th out of 36 states of the federa-

tion. For a state which, less than six years earlier in 2004, came 4th in same exam in the country, the aggressiveness with which the Ajimobi government is facing the exercise of an all-round restoration of the glory of the state in education is understandable. He reduced tuition payable in the state tertiary institutions and has embarked on an aggressive renovation of 235 dilapidated schools in the state, among other efforts.

One very uniquely instructive bit about his administration is that it is arguably the only in Nigeria that is political party-blind. His party, ACN, PDP, AAA and others find refuge therein. This has been held as consequent on his exposure as an oil industry czar for over thirty years.

The above are just a minuscule of Ajimobi’s strides in 365 days, ably spiked by space constraints. But don’t go to Ajimobi and tell him he has done anything for the state yet. He tells anyone that he has not begun. His target is to build a 108-km ring road round the capital city of Ibadan in the next three years, commence, in the next few months, the construction of the first phase of 62 new Primary Health Centres in sixty wards in the state, construct durable roads across the state, build a new GRA at Elenusoso in Ibadan through Public/Private partnership, beautify major cities and towns in the state, create an enabling environment for his people to achieve their potentials, turn Oyo into an investors’ harbour and earn a life-long place in the minds of his people.

Dr. Adedayo is Governor Ajimobi’s Special Adviser on Media.

• Wife of the Editor of Sunday Punch, Ifeoma; Editor, Sunday Punch, Mr. Casmir Igbokwe and his younger brother, Chidi.

P

RESIDENT of the United Kingdom Supreme Court, Lord Philips, is to deliver a lecturer at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Monthly Law Report (NMLR) lecture billed for Abuja.

Chief Registrar of the Nigeria’s Supreme Court, Mr. Sunday Olorundahunsi, Philips will be addressing issues bordering on controversies in the nation’s judicial precedents.

The event organised by the Optimum Law Publishers Ltd, the publishers of the NMLR, will be

UK Supreme Court’s president for law report lecture From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Dahiru Musdapher.

Managing Editor of the group, Mobolaji Kuti said the effort will bring back memories of the link between the two countries’ judicial system.

He disclosed Justice Philip has agreed to send a Justice of the UK’s Supreme Court, Lord Robert Carnwarth as representative.

Kuti explained that Carnwath is renowned “for his pedigree as a brilliant jurist as well as being well versed in the topic judicial precedent.’’

Without a doubt this president is overwhelmed Continued fron page 16

promptly reinstate suspended Justice Salami whose suspension, on the recommendation of the same NJC he had robotically approved last year even with cases pending in court , by now citing some spurious sub judice doctrine. It becomes more bewildering when the views of the first and longest serving NJC Chairman, Justice Mohammed Uwais , is factored into this presidential charade. Said the respected jurist who was chairman of the 29member committee that recommended Justice Salami’s reinstatement: “By virtue of Sections 20 and 21 (b) of part I of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, the President has no say in the suspension and reinstatement of any judge. It is the responsibility of the NJC to reinstate Salami. The NJC, therefore, does not need to seek the permission of the

President to return Salami to office’. The Nigerian Bar Association has since confirmed the position and lent its weight to the recall but not a President who habitually plays partisan politics with every given issue in the polity and, increasingly, one gets the impression that every lawyer taking up the position of Attorney-General of this country promptly loses his professional integrity as a lawyer.

In two companion articles on this page in the past, I have had cause to draw attention to what things should concentrate the mind and attention of the President if he is keen about leaving behind a lofty legacy but the more I see his wife embark on those social, effete and thoroughly meaningless, state visits during which state capitals are completely locked down, the more I realize I had probably been talking to the marines. But that notwithstanding, if

this President truly means well for Nigeria, he should be content with serving only one term and should recuse himself from contesting the next presidential election.

He should, instead, throw all caution to the winds and run aground all the economic and security vampires that have succeeded in making a complete mess of his administration. President Jonathan will have most Nigerians rooting for him, as a statesman, if he would elect to deal squarely with those leaders, wherever they are, backing Boko Haram to the hilt, just as he should go after, and uproot the entrenched cabals which continually make a mess of the country’s economy and security.

To insist on contesting the next elections, which he will not win, is to compromise with evil doers to the detriment, if not the destruction, of Nigeria as we know it.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY MAY 27, 2012

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QUOTABLE "What we have are more rogues and armed robbers in the state Houses of Assemblies and National Assemblies.

What sorts of law will they make?"

SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 6, NO. 2138

— Former President Olusegun Obasanjo commenting on Nigerian politicians

I

N the first part of this piece, I suggested that Awo did not need anyone to defend him or keep his memory alive. He wrote his way into history by the force of his personality with a magisterial piquancy that no mortal could promote or vitiate, and achieved fame with a transcendentalism that still intrigues his supporters, confuses his relations and dismays his opponents. His relations still erroneously think they have the mandate or responsibility to defend and promote his image and legacy. His supporters, though sometimes apologetic because they are stigmatised as driven by ethnic interests, believe they own his ideological legacy and must periodically worship at his shrine to the exclusion of those they describe as heretics. And since his contemporaneous enemies, by some quirk of biology and time warp, have spawned fresh opponents to the philosophy and politics of Awo, the new enemies see themselves duty bound to sustain the denunciation of the sage, lest he should, as ultimate nemesis, continue to loom larger in death than he did in life thereby proving his dead enemies to be grossly mistaken or, worse, fools.

But how does someone begin to defend one whose fame is written in abstract cuneiforms in the hearts of men and in the impalpable, supernatural atmosphere where great people and their memories live? Who is competent to defend Churchill, whose prescient action in World War II gave Britain the focus, drive and courage to fight and defeat fascism? As Chancellor of the Exchequer, some of his policies, such as returning the pound sterling in 1925 to the gold standard, were controversial. And when he was First Lord of the Admiralty in WWI, he thought up crazy schemes like the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.

And even as Prime Minister in WWII, some of his military strategies, including the Greek campaign and opening of the Italian front were, to put it mildly, sensationally garish. He had his faults, but granted state funeral by Queen Elizabeth II, he is widely considered the greatest Briton of all time, not because of the structures he put on the ground or his pursuit of economic power for Britain, but because of the lasting structures he built in the hearts of his countrymen and the rest of the world.

I have sometimes been amused by disputations over who can or cannot succeed Awo, with some saying his shoes are too large for an aspiring successor, and that he was too disciplined for anyone today to contemplate inheriting his leadership mantle. These suppositions are not only incorrect; they are based on a gross misreading of history and a poor understanding of the attributes of great leaders. What sets great leaders apart from ordinary leaders is not so much their idiosyncrasy as the components of their minds. Refer again to the definition of character in the second part of this trilogy. Awo was extraordinarily disciplined in terms of women, wine and carousing, and he was so stiff and aloof that you could not catch him dead letting his hair down in a social gathering.

Indeed, Awo was a carbon copy of de Gaulle, a Frenchman so extraordinarily disciplined that he was known to be economical with words in private and public speeches.

Now, for someone to be so personally disciplined as to bring it to bear on his elocution, we must concede, takes discipline to another level. Yet, Napoleon Bonaparte, one of de Gaulle’s heroes, achieved greatness and secured his global, European, and French fame in spite of being loose with women. He was a thinker and administrator par excellence, and he entered my Valhalla on the basis of his conflation of unprecedented military genius and unprecedented administrative acumen.

Churchill’s joie de vivre was unmistakeable.

He loved the good life and had a reputation for vivaciousness unique to connoisseurs of choice wines. But let me not bore you with stories of his interactions with women who thought him drunk several times, or of how he described champagne as the only wine that left a woman beautiful after drinking it, or of how he contrasted French arms in 1870, after the defeat to Prussia, with French wine.

What is indisputable to analysts and historians is that leadership styles defer, while different eras in the life of a people throw up leaders with different attributes and endowments. There was a time in French history that

25th Anniversary: What made, and still makes, Awo tick (3)

•Awolowo

•Gowon

the country required the talents of Charlemagne, and another period when it desired St Joan of Arc, and yet another, Napoleon; then de Gaulle. Nobody could have played Churchill for Britain and Europe as exquisitely as he did in WWII. No one could have played the irredentist role needed to unify the Yoruba and expand their worldview and lebensraum as Oduduwa, not even Awo. Awo’s talents and endowments were suited to a different time in the life of the Yoruba. Awo did not succeed Oduduwa; time and events only threw up another leader in the shape, stature and character of Awo. Events in Yorubaland and the country will throw up another leader built differently and suited to the demands of the time. The main qualification is not to try to be like Awo or Oduduwa, both of whom responded idiosyncratically to the different challenges of their different eras, but to have the character of a great leader capable of responding to the challenges of, and seizing, the moment.

We must also remember that Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire achieved fame not simply because of his conquests, but because of the character he brought to his conquests. Christian Europe feared him, but because of his love for learning, particularly the arts (he was also an excellent poet), his liberalism, which made him refuse to interfere with the religions of his dominions, and his unparalleled administrative innovation, he secured a place in the history of his people and those of his far-flung subjects and unyielding enemies.

Awo’s opponents and enemies respected his achievements in education, infrastructure and administration of both the Western Region and the Action Group, but these were nothing to them compared to his mystique. That mystique was built on his fearlessness, his determination to take the fight to his enemies, his selfconfidence, his refusal to shrink from confrontation, and his adamantine belief that it was infra dig to negotiate away great principles. That mystique was built on his character, and it was

mystique built not as an expedient tool to achieve desired private end, but as an instrument designed to swaddle his politics and public face and to ennoble both the object (the desired end) and the subject (Awo himself).

In the first part of this trilogy, I argued that while buildings and infrastructure helped to establish Awo’s greatness, they were only a by-product of his character. I also argued that greatness had metaphysical properties that linked the people to their hero in such a way that physical achievements only serve as bridges. I then indicated that character would not show except in times of crisis, when a great leader would be tested by the grave and conflicting issues of the day. This, indeed, is why historians have difficulty in judging a leader’s greatness, for character sometimes shows more poignantly, or sometimes only, during wars and crisis. If there was no Coker Commission in 1962, and there were no rigged elections and 1963 treasonable felony trial, and Awo did not face incredible privation, including prison sentence, it would have been difficult to get the measure of the great man or understand why a former British prime minister, Harold Wilson, described him as competent to rule Britain and the United States.

How many Americans remember the structures erected by their first president, George Washington? But they remember for all time the resolve with which he faced the British colonialists, his inspirational leadership when his largely volunteer army faced the prospect of defeat in various battles, and the philosophic principles upon which he based the anti-colonial war. They remember that after the Revolutionary War in 1783, he resigned rather than seize power, underscoring his commitment to American republicanism. Americans remember what amounted to the intangibles about Gen Washington, not simply the mere fact that he led the rebellion. In the same way, Abraham Lincoln claimed his place in history, not with buildings and structures, but with the seeming

“Awo was a carbon copy of de Gaulle, a Frenchman so extraordinarily disciplined that he was known to be economical with words in private and public speeches.

Now, for someone to be so personally disciplined as to bring it to bear on his elocution, we must concede, takes the word to another level. Yet, Napoleon Bonaparte, one of de Gaulle’s heroes, achieved greatness and secured his global, European, and French fame in spite of being loose with women. He was a thinker and administrator par excellence, and he entered my Valhalla on the basis of his conflation of unprecedented military genius and unprecedented administrative acumen. Churchill’s joie de vivre was unmistakeable. He loved the good life and had a reputation for vivaciousness unique to connoisseurs of choice wines. There are stories of his interactions with women who thought him drunk several times, of how he described champagne as the only wine that left a woman beautiful after drinking it, and of how he contrasted French arms in 1870, after the defeat to Prussia, with French wine”

intangibles of defending the American union and abolishing slavery, point of views that scared many politicians of the day. In fact he is ranked as one of the three greatest American presidents.

But it is not enough that a leader confronts crisis or war; the times, place and other ancillary issues must simply be right for greatness to be endorsed upon him. Gen Yakubu Gowon was a wartime leader. Had he handed over power to an elected government as he originally promised shortly after the civil war, his reputation would probably have been established. At the crucial moment when history was prepared to canonise him, his character failed him. On the other hand, Awo, who was vice chairman of the federal executive council in the Gowon years, timed his exit from that government and based the decision on his aversion to undemocratic rule. Character makes the whole difference in everything, from the minutest issues of life to the great national exigencies of the day. If character does not show in the small things of life, it will not show in the big things. A leader instinctively recognises that he must make the right choice at crucial moments when history stands in the corner waiting, irrespective of the smallness or bigness of the issues, to confer honours or to demonise mercilessly.

I rate Awo, Sir Ahmadu Bello (the Sardauna of Sokoto), and Emeka Ojukwu as the men who have impacted Nigeria the most. All three had chutzpah. Awo and the Sardauna had the detached and quiet dignity of aristocrats, and a gravitas that seemed at once unapproachable and immensely reassuring. It was not surprising that they exuded such administrative competence that made them run their regions with an inclusiveness that was total and which current Nigerian leaders can only dream of.

Ojukwu was the approachable, boisterously charismatic war leader whose style and talents I suspect might have been quite unsuited to peace. But whether the country is dismembered or not, the fame of all three leaders is certain to endure for a very long time.

Awo’s life and leadership teach two main things, among many others. First is that without character a leader is unlikely to get very far, either in developing the vision to build his society, or in correctly judging issues in such a way as to secure his present fame and future glory. Second is that every aspiring leader will meet his moment; how he responds to that moment will define him, his leadership, and his place or otherwise in history. Nelson Mandela, it will be recalled, recognised that after meeting his moment with great character and aplomb in 1962 and after assuming the presidency of South Africa between 1994 and 1999, his place in history no longer depended on how long he stayed in office. In fact, if anything, he knew the longer he stayed, the more likely his mystique would be diminished by his constant interactions with policymakers, by unmet economic expectations of his countrymen newly emerged from the withering years of apartheid, and possibly by critical reviews of some of his unworkable public policies.

Mr Ebenezar Babatope, former Minister of Transport under the Gen Sani Abacha regime, and onetime Director of Publicity of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the Awo years, recently recalled the warning the sage gave him and others against fomenting trouble over the anticipated unfavourable decision of the Supreme Court in the case filed by UPN to overturn Shagari’s victory in the Second Republic.

He would send Babatope and others’ names and addresses to the police, he recalled Awo as threatening. I have also read some of the comments written by the Sardauna on individuals and policies during his years in power.

I was struck by the fair-mindedness and firmness of both leaders, and I suspect that those who impatiently dismiss the leadership of both Obasanjo and Jonathan as mediocre recall the leadership of Awo and Sardauna – how neither of the two departed leaders could have attempted to subvert the National Assembly as Obasanjo repeatedly did, intrigued for more time in office as many past heads of state did, or endorsed any senseless plot, as Jonathan is doing, to deny anyone, let alone a jurist, justice on political grounds.

Concluded

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