The Nation November 05, 2014

Newspaper of the Year

Fayemi dares Fayose: probe me NEWS

Page 9

•‘Stop cheap blackmail’

News Four die in Kwara tanker fire P57 Sports Keshi seeks sack of Garba Lawal P24 Business Govt to review airport charges P53

•Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

VOL. 9, NO. 3023 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

•www.thenationonlineng.net

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

•INSIDE: GOVT CONFIRMS ABBA IG P5 COURT DECLINES TO STOP SYNAGOGUE INQUEST P7

?

PDP crises: Senators revolt against Jonathan WHEN WILL THE CHIBOK GIRLS KIDNAPPED ON APRIL 15 BE FREED?

Lawmakers angry as governors hijack congresses

F

ROM the wards and party offices, the crises sparked by last Saturday’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ward congresses have spread to the Senate.

Scores of PDP senators revolted yesterday against President Goodluck Jonathan and the party’s leadership, alleging that they were being schemed out of the 2015 elections.

The senators took exception to what they described as a deliberate plan by the Presidency and the party to leave their fate in the hands of governors.

‘

The PDP is already gone. We are not doing the job of governors but the governors want to do our job.

So we have decided to shut down the government From Onyedi Ojiabor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

The lawmakers particularly kicked against their inability to secure delegates that would guarantee their re-election tickets.

Senate plenary was abruptly adjourned. The aggrieved senators converged at the office of the Senate President, David Mark, for what one of them described as a “last ditch meeting to take our destiny in

our hands”.

The closed door meeting did not last long when it was learnt that the lawmakers had decided to frustrate all legislative businesses as to express their anger over the outcome of the congresses.

The senators were angry that the congresses were allegedly skewed in favour of governors.

The governors were, however, said to be adamant in

’

their resolve to “deal with the senators for alleged non performance”.

The governors are said to have lined up their loyalists to take over the seats of the incumbent legislators.

At the Senate yesterday, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, had hardly announced that the PDP Senate Caucus would meet after the sitting, when a Continued on page 4

•Mr. Nda-Isaiah...yesterday

PDP has failed, says APC aspirant Nda-Isaiah From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

A •A BLOODY DAY: An injured Shiite member sits on the ground after a suicide blast in Potiskum, Yobe State...on Monday.

PHOTO: AFP

Boko Haram kills cleric, 10 others

ORIES ON •STORIES Sect seizes cement firm, renames Mubi •ST PAGES 2-4

NEWSPAPER man joined the presidential race yesterday. Leadership publisher Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, who is seeking the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), made his intention known in Minna, Niger State.

He plans to address the colossal failure which the ruling Peoples Democratic Party has plunged Nigeria into since 1999.

Addressing a large crowd of APC supporters and other citizens, the aspirant said: “The misfortune of this country obviously accelerated from the time the PDP came to power in 1999.”

Party leaders, presidential aspirants and governors were among the crowd at the rally.

Nda-Isaiah said the PDP government had failed and the country is gradually decaying into one in which people are now afraid to carry on their lives as ordinary citiContinued on page 4

•POLITICS P15 •SPORTS P24 •MONEY P26 •INVESTORS P28 •LIFE P43 •FOREIGN P59

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

2

NEWS

BBOG de T

• From left: Acting Registrar, Chartered Institute Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Mr. Seye Awojobi, Executive Director, Ivory Banking, Heritage Bank Limited, Mrs. Mary Akpobome, President, CIBN and Chairman in Council, Mrs. Debola Osibogun in handshake with Managing Director, Heritage Bank Limited, Ifie Sekibo and 2nd Vice-President, CIBN, Mr. Uche Olowu during the CIBN)Stakeholder Engagement visit to Heritage Bank, Head Office in Lagos.

• From left: Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Clement Ugorji; Director, Center for Competitiveness and Strategy, Lagos Business School, Tunji Adegbesan and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Overland ? Airways?, Captain Edward Boyo during a session at the Women in Management, Business & Public Services (WimBiz) 13th Annual Conference co-sponsored by Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited in Lagos.

HE group championing the call for the rescue April 14, abducted girls in Chibok, #Bringbackourgirls have called on President Goodluck Jonathan to take immediate actions to end terrorism in the country.

It also demanded immediate rescue of the 219ý kidnapped students of the Government Girls College, Chibok, who have spent over 200 days in the den of the extremist sect, Boko Haram.

Commiserating with families who lost their loved ones in the recent Mubi and Gombe attacks, the group said the President must move to protect and restore the nation’s territorial integrity.

“We are extremely shocked and gravely perturbed that the insurgency seems to be engulfing more cities within the North-East zone even at a time the federal government confidently announced a ceasefire of its counter terrorism war.

“Let no one pretend that we are not facing the most substantial threat to the integrity and existence of our country.

“We cannot but remind our federal government that time is running out and that these endangered daughters of our nation have been in travails for too longý. “yFollowing the high hopes and anxiety that emanated from the federal government’s announcement that our girls would be brought back within days, a number of their agonising parents have been hospitalised for hypertension.

“What this means is that our government must urgently avoid a situation that would be fatal for these long suffering families of our Chibok girls.

“Mr. President, it is time to end all distractions that evidently stand in the way of Nigeria winning this counter insurgency war under ýyour leadership.

“The only venture worthy of our

• Shiite community members gathered for the funeral rites of members killed on November 3 during a procession at a Shiite festival in Potiskum, Yobe state.

PHOTO: AFP

By Precious Igbonwelundu

Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces at this critical time that portends danger for the future of our country; is to unflaggingly concenýtrate on the security and welfare of the people of Nigeria,” the group said.

The group’s statement, which was endorsed by former Minister of Education Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and 13 others, reads: “We wish to commiserate with all Nigerians who lost loved ones in Mubi Local Government Area of Adamawa State and neighbouring communities as the towns and villages came under heavy and horrendous assaults

IGP has no right to withdraw Tambuwal’s security, says Tinubu

A

•From left: Head Department of Food Technology Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, Mr. Olu Malomo, MD/ CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelds, Vice-Chancellor, University of Otellenbeach, Cafe Town, South Africa, Prof. Kole Omotoso and Senior Strategy Manager, NB Plc., Mr. Tony Agenmonen at the Beer and Health Symposium PHOTO: JOHN EBHOTA in Lagos...yesterday.

• Executive Director, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Hewett Benson; Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Services, Mrs. Mofoluke Dosunmu; Managing Director, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi and Executive Director, Credit, Mr. Abass Jega during the presentation of AMCON series V Bonds Completion meeting in Lagos…yesterday.

LL Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu queried yesterday the power of InspectorGeneral of Police Suleiman Abba to withdraw the security detail of House of Representatives’ Speaker Aminu Tambuwal .

To him, the police chief’s withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security aides is illegal.

Tinubu spoke when a group, the Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs, gave him a Honorary Achievement Award and made him its Chief Patron.

Tinubu urged the House of Representatives members to obey the judgment on the House.

“The lawmakers should not be law breakers. They make laws for the good of the country and for good governance. There is also separation of powers and the presidency must not intervene.

“Here, it is the right of an individual that is involved and the president must not get involved,” Tinubu said.

Tinubu said Abba lacks the constitutional authority to withdraw Tambuwal’s security aides.

“Here again, we must interrogate

By Nneka Nwaneri

carefully. As the Inspector-General, does he have the constitutional authority to even withdraw the police of the occupant of the Office of the Speaker? He has no such powers.

“And that brings me to the IGP himself. There is a section of the Constitution that states that before an IGP is appointed or nominated, there is the Nigerian Police Council, which must convene to review the qualification and background of those who have been qualified and trained to do the job.

“When was that conducted?

Therefore, the IGP’s appointment, whether acting or not is unconstitutional. He has no right to issue that order. The act of the president is unconstitutional because we have no acting IGP right now according to the Constitution.

“Nigerians should go check that section of the Constitution. The Nigerian Police Council held no meeting to determine his competence. He didn’t follow the dictates and the man is therefore issuing an illegal order.

“Since we were told not to des-

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

3

NEWS

G demands end to terrorism ‘ Mr. President, it is time to end all distractions that evidently stand in the way of Nigeria winning this counter insurgency war under your leadership

from the Boko Haram insurgents in the last few days. We also condole families of the victims of the Gombe bomb blast.

“We are extremely shocked and gravely perturbed that the insurgency seems to be engulfing more cities within the North-East zone even at a time the Federal Government confidently announced a ceasefire of its counter terrorism war. Let no one pretend that we are not facing the most substantial threat to the integrity and existence of our country. What more extreme manifestations are we waiting for than the evidence of a rampaging group of terrorists carrying out heinous carnage in Mubi in Adamawa,

Borno, Yobe and Gombe barely two weeks after the Chief of Defence Staff publicly conveyed a stand down order to our troops who were in the front prosecuting the war?

“We, like most Nigerians are at a loss on what the latest development means for our counter insurgency war and for the safety of our citizens and territory. Has the purported ‘ceasefire’ failed, in the assessment of our military and the Federal Government? What explains the gruesome reality that after the “ceasefire” announcement of October 17th, the terrorists have been attacking many more communities, especially in Borno and Adamawa states and today, Gombe which

ecrate the office of the president, he must also not desecrate any part of the body of governance and other top holding officers.

“The situation is not about Aminu Tambuwal but about the Office of the Speaker. Until he leaves that office according to the constitutional procedure, he cannot but act. So we should hold the president responsible because the bulk stops on his desk,” Tinubu said.

On the possibility of a MuslimMuslim ticket for the APC’s presidential candidate and his running mate for next year election, Tinubu said the issue should be about competence and not religion.

“I don’t get religion involved in my politics and I can never be part of that. They are only expressing their opinion but the process is about capacity, competency, integrity, character, content, vision and ability of those individuals seeking the office to govern, because they will preside over everyone including the pagans and unbelievers and every believer.

“We are not out there to look out for vicars, cardinal or chief imam, else that will be the subject of a different group. Their vision for the country is what counts and not their religion. Religion is personal when a public office is occupied and that is the way it should go.”

Tinubu praised the group on the gesture, saying: “Initiatives such as yours must be encouraged because there are many unrewarded talents.”

He urged the youth to focus on

education as a means of empowerment.

“Education is an important tool against poverty but it depends on how it is applied. The young ones should persist and believe in themselves. They should persevere and don’t be afraid to lean forward; only then will you be successful.

“How many leaders give few minutes to advice, encourage and put effort to building other leaders?

Because leadership is about building people and other leaders and not about acquiring steel, metal and skyscrapers.

“If Africa must succeed and break away from the trend of the continent, the young ones must copy other honest countries guided by the rule of law.

“The essential ingredient of the rule of law is democracy. You, the young ones are the ones to create the common sense revolution. People make laws and it affects all professionals of life. Thus, intellectual tenacity should be employed and Nigerians should not avoid the opportunity to interrogate and question what is happening in the environment.

“As we study good leadership, we should also study bad leadership so we can conquer the menace quickly. I am not afraid to have slight bruises, what I don’t want is broken bone,” Tinubu said.

The former Lagos State governor gave tips of how to be a successful entrepreneur, among which is time management.

“Time is a precious asset to human-

used to be relatively peaceful? How do we explain the escalating number of innocent citizens being killed or taken hostage after they had been informed by our Government of a negotiated truce and détente? Has our Federal Government through the military given a new and countermanding order to our soldiers to resume the war and protect our citizens and territory?

“We do not speak without factual distressing context on this subject.

Our movement is privy to several on-the-scene reports of the bloody and horrendous attacks on Mubi as told by affected Nigerians. For example, a family of two of our abducted #ChibokGirls was involved

‘

in an accident yesterday in which two of their daughters sustained injuries while fleeing Mubi. Another case concerns a member of our Movement who has lost contact with about thirty members of his nuclear and extended families resident in Mubi until yesterday’s gruesome attack by terrorists. Even more heart wrenching are confirmed reports of Internally Displaced Persons camped in Mubi town who are yet again on the run now, unsure of destinations to find safety. These are just a few of the many dehumanizing experiences our citizens are experiencing without effective support from our authorities.

“While we in #BringBackOur-

Girls movement will continue to fiercely hope for the best outcome despite these troubling developments; “We firmly demand that the Federal Government moves immediately to protect and restore the territorial integrity of Nigeria.

“We also demand that the worsening humanitarian conditions of all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) be immediately addressed and their sufferings ameliorated.

“Lastly, we demand the immediate rescue of our 219 Chibok Girls.

We cannot but remind our Federal Government that time is running out and that these endangered daughter of our nation have been in travail for too long. Today is sadly DAY 200 since their abduction on April 14th, 2014. Following the high hopes and anxiety that emanated from the Federal Government two weeks old announcement that our Girls would be brought back within days, a number of their agonising Parents have been hospitalised for hypertension. What this means is that our Government must urgently avoid a situation that would be fatal for these long suffering families of our Chibok Girls.

“To our President, we have but one message from all the members of our movement as well as Nigerians who share in our cause. It is this: “Mr. President, it is time to end all distractions that evidently stand in the way of Nigeria winning this counter insurgency war under your leadership. The only venture worthy of our Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces at this critical time that portends danger for the future of our country; is to unflaggingly concentrate on the security and welfare of the people of Nigeria. According to our 1999 Constitution, that is besides any other thing, primary purpose of government.

Therefore, nothing else matters to Nigerians during these moments of daily national tragedies, Mr President.”

•Tinubu receiving the award from the President, Africa’sYoung Entrepreneurs,Mr Summy Smart Francis. With them is PHOTO: NIYI ADENIRAN the group’sVice-President, Mrs Ibada Ahmed.

ity. It is with time that we can create perseverance. Though no one can have enough time, we can manage it.

“Doing business in Africa today is like fetching water from a dry well and I commend the effort of the Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs. But you should navigate your way and network from an artificial entity. You must believe in yourself and not define failure. Rather, reject it because nothing comes easy.

“Stay focused and learn from failure. Don’t give up but change the policies inimical to growth. Only then can brain drain be changed to brain gain.

“Africans can compete anywhere, but the question is can our students be a reflection of our tomorrow today? If not, it might come back to haunt us.

“Another aspect is how much of our materials have we exploited? Our

resources are limited and we are the ones to develop it.

“I advice this organisation to have a pressure group that will criticise the policies of government and ask them questions such as why education is falling and why the economy is yet to be domesticated.

“You must network properly to create a common liberation to revolutionise this continent,” Tinubu said.

4

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Here comes executive chauffeur

National Assembly workers demand salary

T

HE staff of the National Assembly yesterday cried out to the management to save them from suffering by paying their October salary.

The National Assembly Chapter of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASSN), in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Comrade Godwin Kyespo, said their members were suffering as a result of non-payment of salaries.

The statement reads: “It has been observed that the salary for the month of October

H

AVE you seen House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal lately?

Still sprightly, confident and jocular.

The broad smiles are still there. So are the white Babanriga, cap and shoes. But, gone are the security personnel, those guys in black suits and dark goggles. Also gone are the policemen, recalled by Police Chief Suleiman Abba – against all legal and democratic norms.

The question many were asking yesterday is: Did Abba also banish Tambuwal’s driver?

Always chauffeur-driven, Tambuwal showed up yesContinued on page 57

Senators revolt against Jonathan Continued from page 1

•SEE WHO IS AT THE WHEELS: Tambuwal...yesterday

PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE

PDP has failed, says Nda-Isaiah Continued from page 1

zens.

His words: “People are afraid of sending their wards to boarding schools in parts of the country because their kids could be burnt alive in their dormitories; they are afraid to send their daughters to school because hundreds of them could be kidnapped at the same time and turned into sex slaves.

“There are many more who are afraid to go to church or mosque because they could be

bombed out of existence.

“Corruption under the PDP government has reached extreme levels, to the extent that the Federal Government is no longer able to pay state governments and other government units their due allocations. As a result, many state governments are now unable to pay salaries.”

Nda-Isaiah went on: “I want to be president. I have come to offer that change that will change Nigeria forever. I do not seek to be president sim-

ply because Jonathan is not a good president. I want to be that president that will change the course of Nigerian history forever.”

Party stalwarts at the rally include another presidential aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Chairman Rotimi Amaechic, former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi and Senate Miniority leader Senator George Akume, who was the chairman of the occasion.

Others are former Minister of Communication Dr. Audu Ogbeh,Senator Aisha Jumai Alhassan, a governorship aspirant from Taraba State, Mohammed Danmole, who represented Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, Mrs. Rachael Akpabio, APC Woman Leader from Southsouth.

Amaechi warned APC members to be prepared to work if the much-desired change is to be achieved.

He noted that President Continued on page 57

Boko Haram kills cleric, 10 others in Gombe

G

UNMEN suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents attacked Gombe State town Nafada, a town 150 kilometres from capital Gombe yesterday.

No fewer than 10 people were believed to have been killed after the gunmen who rode into the town on about 50 motorcycles, sacked the police station, the local government secretariat and the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Last weekend, there was an attack at the main bus park in Gombe, during the rush hour in the morning. Many

2014 has not been paid.

“On consultation, it was found that the problem is associated with the non-release of fund from the Federation Account.

“While we appreciate efforts of management on prompt payment of salaries of past months, we urge management to do all within its powers to pay as staff are suffering.

“We accordingly urge all members of staff to have a little restraint, while the effort to pay very soon is pursued.”

By Vincent Ohonbamu, Gombe

people were killed.

Sources from Nafada told reporters on the telephone that the attackers rode furiously into the town through the Gombe - Potiskum road.

They reportedly fired at soldiers at checkpoint at the town’s entrance.

“They went straight to the police station and opened fire on men on duty. From there, they went to the PDP and the local government secretariats. They fired indiscriminately at both places,” a

source said, adding that the assailants proceeded to the residence of Sheikh Adamu Misira. They killed him and no fewer than 10 others.

The source could not ascertain how many security agents were killed at the check point.

“I cannot tell how any soldiers died, but one of them spoke to me on telephone, saying he escaped but did not comment on the casualty.”

The source said the insurgents told people not to panic or run away.

“They told us that nobody should run; everybody

should stay put and nobody should leave his house and that if we heard of the arrival of security operatives, we should just go, lock ourselves indoors and leave us with them,” the source said.

He added that as at 5pm, security agents had not shown up in the town. But police sources said reinforcements were being sent.

Police spokesman Atajiri Fwaje said: “You can call later for details. We just sent our team there. They are on their way and I don’t want to give you inaccurate information.”

motion for adjournment was raised and unanimously adopted.

Most of the PDP senators believed to have lost out during the ward congresses were visibly angry.

A senator, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because he was not officially authorised to speak to the media on the “vexatious” issue, claimed that “we have been used by the PDP and dumped.”

It was also learnt that most of the PDP senators whose fate has been sealed are already knocking at the doors of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), asking to be allowed to fly the party’s flag in the next election.

The Senate resolved to shut down legislative business because governors have been empowered by the PDP headquarters to deny them re-elec-

tion tickets, the source said.

It was also leant that the Senate would in the next few days show openly its solidarity with House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, whose defection from PDP to the APC has caused a huge row.

The source insisted that they are prepared to fight their battle with any weapon open to them, including shutting legislative business, especially the consideration of the 2015 Appropriation Bill and other pending bills.

He wondered why the President and first-time PDP governors are given automatic tickets and legislators are not.

The source, who was visibly angry, said: “We have shut down all legislative business.

We are already down, so we can as well be out. It is either they give us automatic tickets or nothing.

“They deliberately starved Continued on page 57

Chibok girls: Only US, Britain deploy surveillance aircraft with conditions

I

N spite of many offers by many foreign nations to assist Nigeria to rescue the 219 Chibok girls from the Boko Haram enclave, only the United States and Britain have deployed surveillance aircraft.

The affected nations have however given conditions including non-use of the aircraft to assist the nation to curb insurgency in the North-East; the withdrawal of the surveillance aircraft the day the Chibok

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

girls are found; and no attack of any suspected place unless it has to do with the release of the Chibok girls.

None of the surveillance aircraft had been able to locate where the girls are being held hostage but they have been stumbling on clues, it was learnt.

Also, Service Chiefs have been ordered to deploy only Continued on page 57

Loss of my hometown to Boko Haram no big deal, says CDS

C

HIEF of Defence Staff (CDS) Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh yesterday said it was not relevant whether his hometown in Adamawa State was captured by Boko Haram or not.

Fielding questions from State House correspondents on the Islamic sect’s exploits in his state, Air Chief Marshal Badeh said it was immaterial whether the captured place is his home town or not.

According to him, he is pained by any part of the country that is under attack or captured by the insurgents.

He said: “How can Nigeria be helpless? If CDS loses his hometown, it is the same thing as losing Lagos. Any part of Nigeria that is lost, the CDS carries the weight.

“It is immaterial whether it is my hometown, whether it is my house that is burnt or it is Emeka’s house that is burnt.

Whoever’s house is burnt in Nigeria, the CDS is pained.”

Briefing reporters at the end of the Council of State and Police Council meetings presided

by President Goodluck

Sect takes over cement firm, renames Mubi

T

HERE were also reports that suspected Boko Haram men also yesterday took over the premises of Ashaka Cement factory close to Gombe.

Workers of the firm according to SaFrom Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

Jonathan, Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio said the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), briefed the Council on the security measures taken by the government.

He said that the council praised the President for his efforts to secure every part of the country.

According to him, the negotiation with Boko Haram is yet to be concluded.

Akpabio said: “A major issue discussed today was the issue of the security of the nation. We received a report from the National Security Adviser on the security of the nation. He briefed council on the current war on insurgency and explanations were given on issue of

hara Reporters said the heavily armed militants arrived in a convoy of pick up vans and began shooting indiscriminately at the workers after the security guards had been dislodged.

Chibok girls.

“Council was satisfied that the defence ministry and all the agencies have taken the right steps and the President is on course and sooner or later Nigerians would hear good news, but we urge Nigerians to be patient and that the issues of terrorism are not issues that could be finished within a day of two.

“There are some instances in which countries had to contain with insurgency but in the case of Nigeria, we said we must find practical means of bringing insurgency to an end in the shortest possible time so that Nigerians can sleep with their two eyes closed.

On “agreement” with Boko Haram, Akpabio said: “The NSA was of the opinion that high level contact with the Republic of Chad was made and

Another online medium Premium Times reported that Boko Haram had renamed Adamawa town Mubi as Madinatul Islam (city of Islam) quoting residents of the town.

that some persons who acted on behalf of Boko Haram and who claimed to have authority also had discussions with them and there are some Nigerian officials with them and of course, no agreement has been reached yet, it is just that the press probably misunderstood what was reported, the discussions are on-going.”

He said the President will do everything possible to secure the release of over the 200 secondary school girls abducted in Chibok, Borno State in April.

He said: “What came out of the NSA briefings was that the President will do everything possible to ensure the release of those young girls and to ensure protection of lives and property and that will include dialogue, where you can have the people to dialogue with because you cannot dialogue with

people that are faceless and therefore every opportunity must be explored to ensure peace return to the region.”

He said the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health also briefed the Council on measures taken in the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease.

“Council was very appreciative of the efforts of the President and congratulated Mr. President and appreciated him for his leadership in ensuring that the Ebola disease was rooted out of Nigeria.”

“Council sympathises with the families of the victims of the Ebola disease but thanked the all the health officials and personnel involved in the entire saga.”

“Council noted that out of over 350 people quaratined because of the Ebola virus disease, that not more than 16 to 19 peo-

•Air Chief Marshal Badeh

ple were affected and out of that the survival rate was above 70 per cent.”

“Council was briefed that the WHO had certified the country Ebola-free nation and it is highly commendable and Nigerians Continued on page 57

ADVERT HOTLINES 08023006969, 08052592524

THE NATION WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

5

NEWS Reps’ panel, AGF want Tambuwal, Buhari shun Council Speaker, Audit Bill to tackle corruption of State meeting H T OUSE of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambawal was absent yesterday at the Council of State meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Following his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last week, Tambuwal’s security aides were withdrawn.

Besides, there were moves to impeach him.

Former Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and many of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors were also absent when the meeting started at about 11.35 am.

At the meeting were former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Shehu Shagari, former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon and former Head of the Interim National Government Ernest Shonekan.

Also at the meeting were the Senate President David Mark, former chief justices Idris Kutigi and Mohammadu Uwais as well as the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).

Present also were Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim and Attorney General of the Federation Mohammed Adoke.

The governors at the meeting when it started included those from Abia, Ekiti, Enugu, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Niger, Cross Rivers, Kogi and Ebonyi.

Katsina deputy governor and Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole arrived after the meeting started.

Also yesterday, the Police Council headed by President Goodluck Jonathan con-

•Police Council confirms Abba as IGP

‘We reviewed his CV, his level of competence by those who have worked with him and the council was unanimous that the acting IGP be confirmed as a substantive IG’

‘I must tell you it is a happy moment.

But it is also a moment of sober reflection. Reflection on the responsibilities and expectations.

Certainly, I have to work hard’

- Oshiomhole

- Abba

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

firmed the appointment of Suleiman Abba as the substantive Inspector General of Police (IGP).

He was confirmed at the meeting in the Presidential Villa and thereafter admitted into the council.

Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Oshiomhole said Abba was confirmed after his curriculum vitae was reviewed by the council.

He said: “We reviewed his CV, his level of competence by those who have worked with him and the council was unanimous that the acting IGP be confirmed as a substantive IG and the President was accordingly advised and the President accepted the advice and appointed Mallam Abba as the substantive IG of Police.”

“We also recognised that the police alone won’t be able to secure lives and properties. They will need the cooperation and collaboration

of every Nigerian and when it comes to the issues of security, all of us should be seen as activists - at the community level, state level, local level and of course at the national level.

“We also agreed to do whatever we can to support the police to provide some resources to complement Federal effort to see that the police have all that they need to ensure effective policing of Nigeria, so that they can guarantee and ensure protection of lives and properties.”

On the call for Abba’s sack, Oshiomhole said: “Well, I think the issue is not about the person of Mr. Abba. I think the issue you are referring to is the decision of the IGP to withdraw the security detail of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal. I’m not aware before then that anybody had issues. It is the decision of police which shocked many of us, myself inclusive, that has led to those

sentiments.

“But, incidentally, this issue was not discussed at council because as the President advised, the matter is in court and council could not discuss it.”

Abba, who replaced former IGP Mohammed Abubakar who retired on July 31, said: “I must tell you it is a happy moment. But it is also a moment of sober reflection. Reflection on the responsibilities and expectations. Certainly, I have to work hard to ensure that I meet up with the expectations of the office.”

“Truly, Nigerians and in fact all people in Nigeria deserve the best from us, so that we make the environment safer and secured. I assure you having reflected on all these, we will ensure that we manage all the resources of the police, to ensure they are used judiciously for the safety and security of Nigeria”.

On the heavy criticism that trailed the withdrawal of the police aides of the Speaker and his alleged partisanship, Abba said: “Well, that is a matter before the court and it’s prejudice for me to comment on it. I wouldn’t want to have any problem with the judiciary”.

Asked if he was concerned that the matter was heating up the polity, he said: “Well, it is still a matter before the court and I think whatever consequences it has on the polity we have to wait for the outcome.”

Kogi State governor Idris Wada congratulated Abba.

He said that the president directed Vice President, Namadi Sambo, to take advantage of the National Economic Council to ensure true and adequate security.

•Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ workers protesting non-payment of salaries and allowances of new members in Abuja...yesterday

Air Force’s missing jet’s wreckage sighted in Adamawa

T

HE wreckage of a Nigeria Air Force’s Alpha Jet suspected to be missing in an operation against insurgents in Adamawa State may have been discovered in the River Benue in Demsa Local Government Area.

The Alpha Jet (NAF 466) went missing during routine operations in the northern part of Adamawa State on September 12.

From Barnabas Manyam, Yola

Parts of the plane, according to sources, were spotted when a group of villagers went fishing around Kwaine village near Goron district, in Demsa council.

The local council is about 50 kilometres from Yola.

One of the fishermen, Mr. Audu Vrati, said they discovered objects believed to be parts of the missing aircraft in

the river.

Vrati said when the plane crashed, the level of water in the river was high, occasioned by the rainy season. He said the fishermen found the parts because the volume of water had receded, adding that security operatives had cordoned off the place and were preventing people from visiting the scene.

Boko Haram claimed to have shot the aircraft down in a video in which they appeared

to slaughter one of the pilots of the missing Alpha Jet. Military spokesperson, Maj.Gen. Chris Olukolade, in a statement, after the accident, said the aircraft “left Yola about 10:45a.m on September 12, 2014 on a routine mission and was expected back by noon.

“Since then, all efforts to establish contact with the aircraft have not yielded.”

Olukolade could not be reached for comments.

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

HE Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, has underscored the need for a new Audit Act that would address the challenges of corruption.

While declaring open a public hearing on a bill for an Act to repeal the Audit Act of 1956 and reenact the Audit Act of 2014 yesterday in Abuja, Tambuwal asked his colleagues and stakeholders whether the new bill is capable of addressing the pervasive corruption in the country.

The public hearing was jointly organised by House Committees on Public Accounts and Justice.

His words: “Is the purpose of the bill clearly defined? Is the provision of the bill consistent with the purpose? Is the purpose and the provision consistent with the 1999 Constitution?

“Is the bill in line with international best practices? It is only when these questions were adequately addressed can we say it is valid, legitimate and will stand the test of time”.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Chairman, Committee on Public Accounts, Solomon Adeola, said the extant law was obsolete and grossly inadequate in addressing emerging challenges arising from digitalisation of auditing and accounting systems.

Besides, he noted that the need for a more comprehensive law has become imperative due to the high level of corruption in the country.

The Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF) Samuel Ukuru, however, assured the lawmakers and the international community that the passage of the proposed Audit bill 2014 would boost the fight against corruption.

According to him, the bill seeks to strengthen the power of the office of the Auditor General of the Federation and establish the Audit Service Commission among other innovations He said: “When passed into law, it will place Nigeria among comity of nations that are genuinely fighting corruption. With the coming into force of this Act, the image of the country will be enhanced.

“It will further ensure accountability and transparency in the conduct of government business.

“This is because Nigeria has over the years failed to align with international best practice as the office of the Auditor General for the Federation, which suppose to be a foremost anti-corruption institution in the country, does not have an Audit Act.”

Ex-policemen allege irregularities against PENCOM •‘N4b trapped in pension administrators’ accounts’

R

ETIRED policemen have alleged irregularities against the Pension Commission (PENCOM) over “under-payment of their gratuities and monthly pensions”.

They alleged that they were being paid a step lower rather what they ought to be paid based on their ranks at retirement.

The ex-policemen spoke at a one-day sensitisation workshop held by the Pension Transitional Agreement Directorate (PTAD) in Gombe last Monday.

The pensioners, who registered under PENCOM, further complained about some grey areas the commission’s operations, which they alleged run contrary to the pension guidelines.

They said this was not the case with their colleagues, who registered under PTAD, wondering why the police retirees are not registered under one pension administrator since they belong to one organisation.

Responding, the DirectorGeneral of PTAD, Mrs. Nellie Meshach, who spoke through her Director, Parastatal Pension, Mr. Taiwo Ogundipe, said they would direct questions to PENCOM and feed the retirees back since PTAD had no ground to respond or explain anything regarding PENCOM. But Meshach said PTAD had successfully facilitated the payment of the 33 per cent increase in pension allowance with some pensioners already enjoying it.

She said her organisation was established four years ago with the mandate to correct all irregularities concerning the old pension administration system.

From Vincent Ohonbamu, Gombe

The PTAD chief urged the pensioners to always exercise patience.

Pensioners of Nigeria Police, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) have been taken over by PTAD and payment of pensions was said to be prompt and regular after the integration.

Meanwhile, the PTAD said many pensioners are suffering because over N4 billion belonging to them have been trapped with National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON) and other insurance companies.

Meshach said PTAD came into being in 2013 and found that database for pension was lacking, a situation leading to ghost pensioners on the payroll while some genuine ones did not appear.

She said the department is developing a credible up-todate database that would sift ghost pensioners out of the system and enlist unlisted genuine pensioners.

The director-general said she is also planning a meeting with the insurance companies and BOTs to find means of resolving the matter.

“Majority of the Board of Trustees (BOT) do not have data of their pensions; some of the BOT have funds trapped with the underwriters and from our own analysis, about N4 billion is trapped with NICON and other insurance and they can’t get the money and the pensioners are suffering,” she said.

She said they also inherited over 60,000 unresolved pension cases and received an average of 3,000 to 5,000 fresh cases monthly.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

6

NEWS

Motion for adjournment was a joint decision, says House leader

T

HE crack in the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Caucus of the House of Representatives widened yesterday as the issue of the long adjournment became a subject of controversy.

The House Leader, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, said the adjournment was decided at the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha’s guest house a day prior to the defection of the Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

She also said she was left out of the defection plan, which she said the deputy speaker and the Deputy Leader, Leo Ogor, must have been aware of.

But Ogor, in a separate interview with reporters, debunked the allegation, calling it a “figment of her imagination.”

The guest house was also alleged to be where Ihedioha hosted the Speaker after his defection, though the deputy speaker has since refuted the claim.

At a news conference on the issue yesterday, Akande-Adeola said there was need for her to clarify that the decision to adjourn till December 3 was not unilaterally.

She also stressed that she was not aware of the defection, which she hinted must have been well-planned with the knowledge of other House leadership members, According to her, she was also not aware that Tambuwal was defecting last week Tuesday and hence could not have moved the adjournment to allow the Speaker defect or use it as a cover to forestall any backlash from PDP or other party members.

She, however, said after the Speaker made his statement, she then knew that there was something that must have been planned that she was not aware of.

‘We can reconvene House without Tambuwal’s consent’

T

HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus in the House of Representatives said yesterday that the House could reconvene without the approval of the Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

The Deputy Leader of the House, Leo Ogor, made the declaration yesterday while reacting to the All Progressives Congress (APC) House caucus last Monday’s statement on the alleged plot by the PDP to reconvene the House before December 3.

Ogor said Order 5, Rule 18 of the House Standing Orders bestows the power to reconvene the House on leaders of the political parties in the House.

He added that “Tambuwal cannot be a judge in his own case.”

The deputy leader, whose position was at vari-

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

ance with that of the APC caucus, cautioned that it was wrong for the APC caucus to assume that the PDP and APC are the only parties in the Green Chamber.

The lawmaker said in accordance with House Rules, leaders of political parties in the House could request reopening of the House without Tambuwal’s agreement.

He, however, stated that because the matter was before the court, the House members would wait until the case was concluded.

The lawmaker, who said he has not been served the court order stopping the House from reopening, said: “We can reconvene the House if we so desire. I’ve not been served the court order. So, I’m not aware of it.

Ogor however said the issue to be thrashed when the House reconvenes was not that of impeachment, but defection.

•Akande-Adeola, deputy differ on Tambuwal’s defection From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

Her words: “Just this morning (yesterday), I heard Hon. Osagie saying on NTA that the Leader moved the motion for adjournment and from the way he said, it was like something that was done unilaterally.

“As you all know. It is my job as the Leader of the House to move motions for adjournment. But that adjournment that was moved on that particular day was not a usual adjournment. Why I said this is that because of the number of days for which the House adjourned.”

She explained that prior to this, the leadership met the day before at a meeting in the deputy speaker’s guest house.

“Before we adjourned that Tuesday, they had asked me to liaise with the Senate Leader to find out how long they will be going. That is the Senate. As you know, we always adjourn and come back at the same time. I

liaised with him and the Senate Leader told me they will be adjourning on Tuesday to come back on the 4th of November, which was the following Tuesday ( yesterday).

“So, I said okay. When I got to the meeting, I met all the members of the leadership except for Hon. Leo. And I asked where is my deputy?

They said he was on his way from the airport. And he later joined us.

The only other person who wasn’t there was Hon. Ahmed Murtkar, who sent a text that he wasn’t feeling well.

“So, nine of us were present at the meeting. And the Speaker said this is a one item agenda meeting about the adjournment that we are going to have. He asked: ‘Leader, what did the Senate Leader say when you contacted him? I said the Senate Leader said they would be adjourning for one week from Tuesday till the following Tuesday, which is the 4th of November.

Obasanjo visits Babangida

“At that point, everybody raised different issues why we could not go for only one week; ranging from members have problems in their constituency, such as because of their tickets; because they could not be at two places at the same time; there will be no time and how many members have you seen in the chambers lately.

All sorts of reasons were given.

“At the meeting we had, nothing was mentioned whether he was moving or not, even though it was in the air; in the media. Everybody was talking about it. And since it was not announced at that particular time, I turned to my deputy and I said, Leo, is the Speaker not moving again? And he said, ‘he is not doing it again’. That was what he told me.

And I am saying this without fear of anybody.

“So, after the whole thing, I was hearing from different quarters that it was the Leader, who moved it unilaterally and all that. I thought it was necessary to clear the air on this. I

APC, Wamakko, Okorocha move to change Nigeria’s fortune

•Ex-President, Atiku hug at airport

S

From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

F

ORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has visited former military President Ibrahim Babangida, who just returned from a two month medical treatment in Germany.

Obasanjo also met with his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar, at Minna International Airport, where the two leaders hugged.

It was gathered that Obasanjo was in Minna to visit the recuperating Babangida while Atiku, who had visited the former military president, was in the town to attend the presidential declaration of Sam NdaIsaiah of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Obasanjo, who arrived in a plane with registration No G DOUR with Senator Andy Uba, Chief Ayo Fashawe and an unidentified lady about 4:30pm, was about to be conveyed to IBB house when his attention was drawn to the presence of Atiku at the airport.

The former vice president, who was already seated awaiting clearance for his flight, had to stop the pilot, alighted and headed straight for the waiting car meant to convey Obasanjo out of the airport.

The two leaders met and hugged.

A black BMW car with registration No ABJ 01 RJ then took Obasanjo to the uphill residence of the Babangidas in company of Mohammed Babangida.

At the IBB residence, journalists were barred from entry, but a source within said Obasanjo only came on solidarity visit to IBB.

have integrity and I am a very, very honourable person. And I will not say anything that has not happened.

I don’t fear anybody. I fear only Almighty God. “And at the end of the session, the Speaker said, ‘Leader move for adjournment’. I still turned to the Deputy Speaker and said, is it as agreed? He said yes. And I got up and moved the adjournment. And he said Leo, second and he seconded.

And it was at that point that the Speaker now made the statement about his defection.”

But Ogor, in a separate interview with reporters, dismissed the House Leader’s insinuation that he and the deputy speaker were part of the plan of Tambuwal’s defection or that he kept her in the dark over the defection.

He said: “If I was aware that the Speaker was going to defect, it becomes my responsibility to tell her when she asked. How would she state that I’m aware? Did I discuss it with her? Because she’s saying that I did not discuss it with her, then, how did she know? Because he or she that alleges, must be prepared to prove.

But that is not the subject matter.

“I wasn’t aware of it, and if I was aware of it, I would have mentioned it to her when she asked me. She asked me and I said look, I don’t think so.

“And if you watch me clearly, I’ve always been stating that the Speaker is a member of the PDP and he remains a member of the PDP till he defects.

“But in that day, there was no notion or sign that he was going to defect. So, for anyone to allege that Leo Okuweh Ogor, the deputy leader of the House was aware that the Speaker was going to defect is totally an imagination of that person.”

•President Goodluck Jonathan (left) with former President Olusegun Obasanjo after the Council PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN of State meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja ... yesterday.

OKOTO State Governor Aliyu Wamakko has argued that Nigerians have no business being poor amid of abundance, urging the citizenry to rise up in defence of the country’s path to economic glory.

“We have abundant human and material resource endowments in the country. So why should citizens be poor?” he queried.

Wamakko made the remark in Sokoto yesterday at the Third Progressive Lecture Series organised by the Progressives Governors’ Forum.

The governor said: “Nigeria has been blessed with abundant human and material resources, which need to be fully harnessed and take the nation out of the woods”.

According to him, the country must be collectively rescued, stressing that “Nigeri-

Jonathan rules like Abacha, says Amaechi

R

IVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has likened President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to that of late Military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha.

Amaechi said the use of the military under Jonathan was “alarming”.

He spoke in Abuja on an African Independent Television (AIT) programme, tagged: ‘Focus Nigeria’, which was monitored by The Nation.

Amaechi, who dwelt on the rift between him and Jonathan, said: “The President is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am the Governor of Rivers State. It is

From Gbenga Omokhunu and Grace Obike, Abuja

an issue between the president and the governor. He presides over the country, I govern Rivers State, and he cannot govern Rivers State on my behalf.

“The wife (Patience Goodluck Jonathan) should stop interfering with the governance of Rivers State. Is that a lie? Is that not a problem now in PDP? Oyo complained; Rivers State is complaining; everybody is complaining about that. I complained earlier. I want to be left alone to manage the responsibilities of governance.

“The fact is that you can compare his government to

Abacha’s government; what is the difference? If you compare again the use of military under Abacha and how the President is using the military against the people, can you see the truth?”

On the election of Governors’ Forum, Amaechi explained: “The President has no business interfering with the election of the Chairman of Governor’s Forum and I did advise them to please advice the President not to interfere because I will defeat them”.

On Ogoni, the governor noted: “Nothing has happened as regards the clean-up of Ogoni. What will he tell the Ogoni people when he starts

campaigning? What about trust?

“It is not personal; I respect the President as a person.

There is no morality in governance, and there is no goodness in governance, if you want to be moral or be a good man, go to church.”

From Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

ans must collectively work to harness these abundant human and material resources to make Nigeria better.”

The theme of the lecture was” Dealing with the Challenge of Building a Physically Healthy Nation Through Preventive, Protective and Innovative Medicare.”

He noted that Nigerians in Diaspora were helping other countries to develop, pointing out that” only Nigerians can take the country to greater heights with increased patriotism and the fear of God which were paramount to salvage the nation”, he said.

He said: “The APC forum will brainstorm on how best to achieve the best results and make Nigeria to be in tune with global best practices in all spheres of life.”

Imo State Governor and chairman of the forum, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, stressed on the need to strengthen ways for harnessing of efforts for Nigerians to get qualitative and affordable healthcare.

He was represented by Health Commissioner Dr. Edward Ihejirika.

Dump PDP, Reps’ caucus tells lawmakers From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

T

HE caucus of the new Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives has urged other members to dump the party and join the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The call was contained in a statement by the Chairman of the caucus, Andrew Uchendu, who said the move became necessary as a result of the defection of the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, to the APC.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

7

CITYBEATS

CITYBEATS LINE: 08023247888

Five die in Lagos fire

F

IVE persons were burnt dead at about 10.28 pm on Monday.

It was after a vehicle ran into a packed haulage truck near the Alimosho General Hospital bus stop at Igango, a Lagos suburb.

The packed vehicle, which belongs to a private company, according to an eyewitness, was packed on the expressway indiscriminately.

Rescue operation officer of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Fakolade Olatunbosun said a vehicle coming from Igando, which was being pursued for hitting a car, had turned off his head lamp to escape arrest. In the process, it ran into the stationary truck which was fully-loaded with alcoholic beverages. “Its fuel tank exploded and the vehicle caught fire,” he said.

Olatunbosun said the three occupants of the affected vehicle died, while the Honda Civic car marked Lagos BDG 638 BP, which ran into it as

EX-NANS leader advises youths From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

A

FORMER President of the National Association of Nigerians Students (NANS), Comrade Dare Ogunlana, has told his constituents not to expect motorcycles or sewing machines from him as a form of empowerment. Rather, he pledged to organise a robust empowerment programme that would enhance youth and women development.

Ogunlana, popularly known as Above Jordan, gave the advice while picking his nomination form at the Peoples Democratic Party secretariat in Ibadan, in preparation for his political aspiration.

“By the time you give me your mandate, I will ensure that we move constituents from a pedestrian politics to a world-class trend where all and sundry are not only involved in the process but also enjoy the dividends of democracy,” he said.

“I will work with the government of the state to initiate programmes that will help the youth, focus more on technical education and also establish a youth centre where youth development will be enhanced.

“We cannot afford to remain on the usage of motorcycles, sewing machine and other minute things to empower our people; people deserve better representation which I am determined to offer,” he added.

By Precious Igbonwelundu and Adejo David

one of its two occupants died instantly.

A passerby who was said to be walking along the road during the disaster was also caught by the fire while trying to run for dear life. “The man fell into the nearby drain where he met his untimely death,” a source told The Nation.

The LASEMA officer said two others victims who sustained serious burns were taken to the Gbagada General Hospital since the Alimosho General Hospital lacked the facility to handle their condition.

Hoodlums, it was learnt, took advantage of the accident loot and vandalise property.

The state Director of Fire Service, Mr Rasak Fadipe, said five burnt bodies were recovered, adding that two survivors with burns were taken to the hospital for treatment.

•Scene of the accident ... on Monday

Synagogue: Court declines to stop inquest

T

HE Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday refused to grant an injunction suspending the inquest on the collapse of a building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Ikotun in Lagos.

The collapse, which occurred on September 12, resulted in the death of over 115 people, mostly South Africans.

Justice Ibrahim Buba held that there was no basis to restrain the District Coroner, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, from continuing with the inquest.

A lawyer, Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje is seeking an order stopping further inquest on the incident.

Lagos State the AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice Adeola Ipaye and Mr Komolafe are the respondents.

The inquest was constituted on September 26 under the Coroner’s System Law No. 7 of 2007 to investigate the causes and circumstances surrounding the incident.

The Coroner, who began sitting on October 13, had visited locus in quo (scene of the event) and had summoned the church’s leader, T.B Joshua to appear before him today.

Ogungbeje’s lawyer, Mr Nelson Okedinachi had yesterday prayed Justice Buba to restrain the inquest from holding today, saying “heavens would fall” if the coroner sits, but state counsel, Mr Akinjide

By Joseph Jibueze

Bakare, opposed the application.

Ruling, Justice Buba said: “This court on Friday declined to grant an ex-parte application to restrain the coroner from sitting and directed that the respondents be put on notice and abridged the time for hearing this case. The respondents were indeed served.

“Now, counsel for Lagos State Government has appeared and sought for an adjournment to Thursday this week (tomorrow) to allow the respondents to react.

“However, learned counsel for the applicant wants an interim order restraining the coroner from inviting Prophet T. B. Joshua from appearing before him tomorrow (today).

“This court is not oblivious of the preamble of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules. However, Prophet Joshua is not a party in this application. He is not in detention.

“If someone else chose to fight his cause in the name of public litigation, then the court can only restrain a body on behalf of another on certain principles. Nothing has been said as to what will happen to the applicant tomorrow (today), but rather to Prophet Joshua who will appear before the Coroner.

“This court will always be

guided by what is filed before it. If the application succeeds, the court can undo whatever is done. In this circumstance, the court will not restrain the Coroner’s inquest sitting tomorrow (today).

“The matter is adjourned till 6th of November 2014 for hearing of the fundamental rights enforcement proceedings filed by the applicant.”

Arguing that the inquest be suspended today until their case is heard tomorrow, Okedinachi said the Coroner could deliver his verdict before their suit is heard.

“I will not be surprised if the coroner delivers his verdict tomorrow (today). He is a party in this suit and it is an insult on the court for him to continue sitting. The essence of T.B. Joshua’s appearance is to conclude the inquest,” he said.

But opposed it, saying: “I don’t see how the heavens will fall or how the sitting of the coroner will affect the rights of Mr Ogungbeje.”

But the judge said since the applicant is not directly affected by the inquest, he would not restrain it from sitting.

“Show me what the Coroner wants to do to Ogungbeje….Why is T.B. Joshua not before me as an applicant? Is he detained? You must show me what will happen to Ogungbeje between now and Thursday,” he said.

Okedinachi insisted that in a fundamental rights suit, someone can sue on another

‘My husband married me to make money’

A

27-year-old woman, Folashade Adebayo, has prayed the Customary Court, Alakuko, a Lagos suburb, to dissolve her five-month marriage to Mathew, whom she accused of being fetishistic.

Mrs. Adebayo, an advert manager in a private company, said: “A month after we got married, my husband forced me to swear that I would not tell anyone that he took me to a herbalist. I was given a black soap

PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID

By Basirat Braimah

from a calabash, while my husband’s soap was in a white container. Each time I use the soap as instructed, my late mother is always fighting me in my sleep.

“We were told to slaughter a goat at the end of every month. But when my husband couldn’t afford it, I overheard him telling the herbalist that he would prefer a human being to an animal. I told the head of my family because I was tired

of seeing my mother fighting me. It was then I was told that my husband wanted to use me for money ritual. We are just incompatible. My husband said if I am no longer interested, I should inform the clerics who joined us to dissolve our marriage. It’s been three months since I left his house. I don’t want to remain in this marriage.”

However, 37-year-old Adebayo, who transports charcoal, denied the allegation, saying: “My wife vol-

unteered to follow me; I did not force her. Even when the herbalist wanted to give me the soap, my wife requested hers. Whenever there is lull in my business, my wife threatens to leave the house.

My intentions were misconstrued. I pray my mistakes are corrected because I still love my wife.”

The court’s President, Chief Awos Awosola, advised the couple to maintain peace and be law-abiding. He adjourned the case till November 27.

person’s behalf.

Ogungbeje is contending that the composition of the inquest negates the principle of natural justice and Section 36 of the Constitution, and therefore should be declared unconstitutional and null and void.

He said the inquest started sitting after state agencies had indicted Joshua and his church for wrongdoing and after the officials had blamed the church for adding additional structures on the building without approval.

He argued that if allowed to continue, the inquest proceedings would occasion miscarriage of justice. According to him, the Coroner would base his decision on the testimonies of the same state officials who openly indicted Joshua and his church.

Ogungbeje said for instance, the Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA), the Building Control Agency, the Fire Service, the Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) and others made public and prejudicial statements on the cause of the building’s crash.

He said Joshua’s claim that an aircraft hovered over the building prior to its fall, and that it could have been sabotaged, was ignored.

“The Lagos State Building Control Agency even went ahead to seal up the main building of the church. The General Manager of the agency said in the papers and I quote him as follows: ‘We have investigated and found that they had no approval for the additional structures.

Even the main church which they have added about three floors on was sealed two days ago,’” he said.

The lawyer is seeking an order nullifying the inquest proceedings so far, as well as a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from calling further witnesses.

He wants the court to stop them from sitting, investigating, embarking on fact-finding or taking any untoward action in any manner whatsoever on any facts connected to the case.

2015: Lagos tasks CDAs on security

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro

L

AGOS State Government has said that the leaderships of Community Development Associations (CDAs) in the state have special roles to play in ensuring peace in the forthcoming 2015 election.

Commissioner for Rural Development, Cornelius Ojelabi, made the remark yesterday while addressing reporters on the programme lined up for this year’s Community Day. He said it was important for everyone to join hands with government in order to sustain democracy in the country.

Lamenting the prevailing insecurity situation in the country, Ojelabi disclosed that a community in Igandu area recently notified the government of a letter sent to them by gunmen who threatened to attack the area.

He said the government had taken note of the situation and alerted the police, while urging residents to continue to be vigilant and report abnormal activities, as the job of policing the state cannot be left to the police alone.

The commissioner also stressed that ahead of the distribution of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) in Lagos, Governor Babatunde Fashola would meet with CDA members to explain the importance of the exercise to the 2015 elections.

“Within this week, the state governor will be meeting the CDAs in the state to sensitize on the issue and stress the importance of collecting the card. We are aware that anyone who does not have the PVC will not be allowed to vote in the upcoming election.”

On the Community Day which kicked off yesterday, Ojelabi said its grand finale would hold on November 13, featuring about 14,000 participants, while Fashola will present grants-in-aid to 20 CDAs to enable them complete projects initiated by the communities.

8

THE NATION WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

NEWS Monarch’s son picks form From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

T

HE son of the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oyewole Oyewumi, has declared his interest to represent Ogbomosho North, South and Orire Federal Constituency next year on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Oyewumi and his supporters arrived at the APC secretariat, Yemetu, Ibadan, at 12:15pm to pick up his nomination form.

He said: “I will start from employment generation for youths, because some of them are academically sound and have a great flair for vocational work but they cannot due to lack of funds.

“I will also sponsor laws to encourage investment. I will also look at ways to encourage both the state and Federal Government to bring in companies that can improve the socio-economic condition of Ogbomosho and its environment. I will also encourage agricultural production and infrastructural development.”

Resist federal task force,says Fashola

L

AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has urged residents to resist officials of the Federal Task Force parading as traffic officials on Lagos highways.

Fashola gave the advice yesterday at the fifth anniversary of Uniformed Voluntary Clubs in Lagos State public schools at the Police College, Ikeja.

He said the only agencies recognised by law to manage traffic in the state are the Federal Roads Safety Corps (for federal roads) and the State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), adding that the Federal Task Force was illegally constituted to create confusion in the state.

Fashola said: “In the times of elections all manner of behaviour would be seen. The report got to me and I think they are FERMA men.

“That is what we have done with our SURE-P money. It is now for Nigerians and Lagosians to ask the Federal Government and the President if they had been honest with us on SURE-P savings of over N6 trillion.

“It was a savings to be used to improve our lives. We can

•Lagos APC: Fed Govt launching ‘war’

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro

now see how it has improved our lives; setting up an organisation that has no law two months to the general elections.”

The governor said the money expended on the Sure P Task Force could have been invested on roads, such as Tin Can-Apapa-Oshodi Road, to improve the wellbeing of the people.

“There was an accident on that road on Monday. It is to that kind of routes that SUREP money is supposed to be going, not to dissipate it into political organisations for a very wanton desperation to win election.

“Perpetuation of such illegalities” is not new, citing

that similar attempt was tried in 2006 but did not produce any result “because they were roundly defeated.

“So, if they go back to a method that didn’t work, we will not be provoked. We expect that at some point in time, common sense will prevail.

“They have no right to manage traffic. The only agencies empowered by law to manage traffic in Lagos are LASTMA and FRSC on federal roads. Citizens should just resist them and should not cooperate with them,” he said.

He urged the children to imbibe good character that would make them stand out as good citizens.

Fashola said the government re-launched the school voluntary club to build core

values.

Five thousands Nigerians had been recruited under the SURE-P/FERMA programme, which their National Coordinator, Abdul Razak Rafiu Otto, dissociated from political intent or ploy to disrupt the 2015 elections.

Otto told reporters that the task force was set up in the 36 states.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the Federal Government is bringing hoodlums and thugs to the state.

Its spokesman, Joe Igbokwe, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) plans to cause a breakdown of law and order in Lagos.

"We are at a loss with PDP’s

obsession with this project of sponsoring disruption and mayhem in Lagos.

“We wonder whether Lagos is the only state where there are federal roads in Nigeria.

“We wonder how control of traffic on Lagos roads should be the function and responsibility of the Federal Government even when it is obvious that it has done nothing to repair the worsening state of federal roads in Lagos.

“Nothing adds up here except the burning desire that is ravaging the rank and file of the members of the PDP to set Lagos on fire.

"Lagos APC is calling on all Lagosians, traditional rulers, stakeholders and leaders of thought to stand up against this act of political desperation.”

Budget presentation on Monday

By Oziegbe Okoeki

L

AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola will on Monday present the 2015 budget proposal to the House of Assembly.

Majority Leader Ajibayo Adeyeye made the announcement at plenary yesterday.

This is the governor’s last presentation as he leaves office on May 29, next year.

Don’t leave workers jobless, APC tells Fayose

T

HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has criticised the reduction of the state ministries from 24 to 14 by Governor Ayodele Fayose.

It said such policy would lead to loss of jobs and morale among workers.

In a statement by its spokesman, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party criticised the policy in what it called “systematic disengagement, dislocation and dismantling of the civil service from a functional civil service to a task force civil service”.

Olatunbosun said: “At inauguration, Governor Fayose reversed the appointments of eight permanent secretaries, thus making those who replaced them return to their former lower positions.

“This is an unwarranted demoralisation of the top echelon of the civil service that is central to the faithful implementation of government’s programmes.

“The present reduction in the ministries will create chaos in the civil service top cadre, as many senior officers won’t find spaces in the present arrangement while about 500 workers will lose their jobs.

“Instead of expanding government’s operations to take in more of our jobless youths, Ekiti people are being thrown into the saturated labour market.

“This is a great disservice to the people who were promised life abundant by the governor during his campaign.

“The governor cannot claim that the state does not have money to pay salaries and emoluments.

“Former Governor Kayode Fayemi demonstrated in the last four years that there was no need to downsize the civil service.

“It will be a great disservice to Ekiti people if after deceiving them, they are now being thrown out of their jobs.”

The party lambasted the governor for taking the September federal allocation to pay October salaries.

“We want Ekiti people to know that Fayose is full of deceit.

He has been in the media painting his predecessor black that he owed workers two months’ salary.

“Technically, Dr. Fayemi did not owe any salary. If, as alleged, his administration owed September salary and he left government on October 15 while the allocation for the same September was received by Fayose, then common sense requires that the incumbent pay the workers September salary with September allocation, while anticipating October allocation.

“It is on record that Fayemi, in his four years, didn’t owe any salary until Fayose emerged governor-elect and harassed banks not to transact business with the Fayemi administration.

“Ekiti workers should ask the governor why he now finds it difficult to pay their September salaries, despite having received September’s allocation and over N10 billion owed the state by the Federal Government.”

•From left: Special Asviser to the Lagos State Governor on Rural Development Babatunde Hunpe; Commissioner for Rural Development. Cornelius Oyetolu Ojelabi and Director Finance and Administration, Ministry of Rural Development, Mrs. Elizabeth Ashiru at a briefing on Community Day Celebration in Alausa, Lagos...yesterday.

PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL

Ondo PDP leaders protest power sharing

S

OME aggrieved leaders of the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stormed Abuja yesterday, following a disagreement with Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

The chapter was thrown into crisis after Mimiko’s defection from the Labour Party to the PDP and the subsequent dissolution of the Ebenezer Alabi-led state executive by the party’s national leadership.

It was gathered that the aggrieved members, comprising leaders of the Alabi group, arrived in Abuja on Monday to meet with the party’s leadership.

A meeting was held with the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku, who was said to have brokered peace between the two groups.

Kuku is from Arogbo-Ijaw in Ondo State and is one of the key financiers of the party in the state.

A source said the aggrieved party leaders complained about the lopsided sharing of elective offices, with the Alabi group given nine House of Assembly slots, and Mimiko 17.

•More lawmakers to join APC From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja and Damisi Ojo, Akure

The Alabi group insisted on 10 and 16 for Mimiko.

The group also faulted the formula allocating six House of Representatives slots to Mimiko, against its three.

They are insisting on a fivefour ratio.

“If this anomaly is addressed among others, the dissolution of the state PDP exco and the handing over of the party structure to Mimiko won’t be an issue anymore,” an aggrieved party leader said.

Chairman of the Ondo All Progressives Congress (APC) Isaac Kekemeke has said three PDP House of Representatives lawmakers would join the APC. In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Kekemeke said the APC was ready to do everything morally right to accommodate them.

“Yes, it is true that some lawmakers and the party (APC) are discussing the possibility of their defection to our party. As a party, we will ensure that all new comers

and old members are fairly and equally treated.

“This is the only way we can unite the party and build it in readiness for the task ahead.

“I can assure you that these lawmakers who have approached us will openly declare for the APC next week,” Kekemeke stated.

One of them, Akintoye Albert, who represents Okitipupa/ Irele Constituency, at a briefing with reporters in Akure, attributed his planned defection to the unresolved crisis that trailed the governor’s defection to the PDP. The lawmaker said the PDP had witnessed “political decadence” since Mimiko joined the party a month ago.

He said the governor had not carried members along but he rather adopted a divide-and-rule tactic for his selfish interest.

Akintoye said: “How can you just come into the party and say you want to take over the party at the detriment of the old members and destroy the existing structure?

“Everyone in Ondo State

knows that Mimiko left LP because the party had lost credibility and relevance in the state.

“We expected the PDP leadership to address and handle the issue appropriately but instead, it did otherwise.

The lawmaker, who was a former chairman of Irele Local Government, accused Mimiko of causing disaffection during the party ward congress.

With the party crisis in the state, Akintoye said President Goodluck Jonathan would lose the state in 2015, if the crisis is not resolved.

He said: “How can a governor pick two sisters for House of Assembly and House of Representatives?

“The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Jumoke Akindele and Princess Oladunni Odu are sisters.

“The governor has endorsed Odu for the House of Representatives and her younger sister for the House of Assembly.

“It is against the PDP tradition. PDP is not a father, mother and child party as they did during their days in the Labour Party. I will not tolerate that,” he said.

9

THE NATION WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

NEWS Poultry farmers hail school feeding From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

•Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola; Commissioner for Education Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye (middle) and Head of Service, Mrs Oluseyi Williams at the fifth anniversary of uniformed voluntary clubs in Lagos State public schools in Lagos …yesterday PHOTO: NAN

F

Probe me now, Fayemi dares Fayose

ORMER Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has urged his successor, Ayodele Fayose, to stop his “cheap blackmail and comical acts” and probe his administration’s transactions between October 2010 and October 2014.

Fayose had said the government would probe the previous administration’s financial dealings.

He said: “It would not be wrong to look into its (Fayemi’s administration’s) books and accounts.

“We want to state categorically that all those who have defrauded this state will be made to refund every kobo that they stole. Those who shed the blood of innocent Ekiti sons and daughters will face the wrath of the law.”

Fayemi, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, said the new government should get its act together, have an understanding of the state’s finances and financial regulatory matters.

•Ex-governor asks successor to stop blackmail From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

He said: “Ekiti citizens deserve to know what the administration did with state fund during my tenure and we are prepared to appear at a probe panel (if and when it is set up) within 24 hours of notice.

“Instituting a probe into the financial transactions of the administration, we believe, is a better option for the administration, instead of its recourse to falsehood, cheap blackmail and propaganda as an excuse for its ineptitude and lack of direction.

“We make bold to say that the Fayemi administration took all its decisions in the best interest of the people and followed due process as well as financial regulations in all its dealings.

“It is sad to note that three weeks in the saddle, the Fayose –led administration is

yet to chart a direction for the state or come up with a blueprint for its programmes.

“All that the administration does daily is to invent fresh excuses for its ineptitude.

“Governor Fayose has in the last three weeks put the state’s debt profile at six different figures.

From N89billion to N57billion, to N91 billion, to N69billion, to N82billion and lately N86billion.

“More pathetic is that even mundane issues such as the treasury activities of the Office of the Accountant-General are being arrogated by an idle government as a main focus of a probe.

“Our advice: stop chasing shadows, be mature and concentrate on the onerous task of governance. Institute the probe.”

The governor, who spoke

through the Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said efforts would be made to update the public on the financial dealings of the administration.

Olayinka, at the briefing, alleged that part of the latest discovery was “a N5 billion loan which he said Fayemi obtained from Ecobank barely

Osun Tribunal: PDP, APC reduce witnesses

A

TTORNEYS appearing before the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal have agreed to reduce their number of witnesses.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Iyiola Omisore, are challenging the victory of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The petitioners’ counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), said his clients have agreed to reduce their witnesses from 1,000 to 500.

Aregbesola’s counsel Akin Olujinmi (SAN) said he would trim down his 600 witnesses appropriately.

APC’s counsel Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) said his 605 witnesses would shrink after the close of the petitioners’ case.

Former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola was in the legal team, defending his successor’s victory.

Oyinlola, who wore a black suit and white shirt, arrived at the state High Court, with other attorneys at 8.50 pm.

Unlike other PDP leaders, including the party’s former state Chairman, Sunday Ojo-

•Oyinlola appears for Aregbesola From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

Williams, who greeted the former governor, Omisore tried to avoid Oyinlola.

Entering the venue at 9.15 am, Omisore went to take his seat in the west wing of the court room without exchanging pleasantries with the former governor.

Justice Elizabeth Nkpejomi ruled that the tribunal would not terminate the trial of the petition filed by Omisore, until the substantive matter before it had been heard.

The tribunal chairman ruled on the application by the governor seeking to dismiss Omisore’s petition because the reply to the respondent’s reply and the pre-trial were filed out of the time set by the Electoral Act, 2010.

The panel chairman noted that the application had to do with the jurisdiction.

She said the issue of jurisdiction was fundamental but in cases where time was of the essence, the application to terminate the petition and the main

petition should be heard together.

Justice Nkpejomi said the respondents would not suffer any miscarriage of justice, if the application was heard with the petition.

The tribunal moved quickly to the PreTrial Conference (PTC) immediately after the ruling where parties agreed to file issues distilled for determination today while further proceedings were adjourned till tomorrow.

Attorneys agreed on the documents to be tendered with consent while those that would be disputed were also to be listed with the processes to be filed before the tribunal.

Olujinmi had noted that if the tribunal were to follow Uche’s proposal of five minutes crossexamination for witnesses, not more than one question would be asked from every witness before the time allocated would lapse.

Justice Nkpejomi then adjourned the petition till tomorrow to rule on the various contentions raised during the Pre-Trial Conference.

MACHINE 88 (JOBS)

two weeks to the June 21 election without the approval of the Debt Management Office”.

“As at today after repaying N15 billion from the N25 billion and N922 million from the N5billion taken from Ecobank, the government is still owing N26 billion.

“The N20 billion is with accumulated interest of N13 billion; the N5 billion is with accumulated interest of N3.6 billion.”

THE Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has hailed the Osun and Kano state governments for implementing the school feeding programme in public primary and secondary schools.

PAN said it would ensure that school feeding programme was made a national policy in line with the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme recommendation.

The Director - General of PAN, Onallo Akpa, said this in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at the opening of the Nigeria Poultry Show.

Akpa said the school feeding policy, if implemented, would not only help educational development, but also create more jobs and wealth for farmers.

He urged stakeholders to protest the use of the country as a dumping ground for poultry products.

“We can produce these products at home and provide more healthy vitamins for the citizens.”

He lauded former President Olusegun Obasanjo for his programmes and policies, which, he said, saved the poultry business from collapse.

The National President , Ayoola Oduntan, said the poultry sub-sector provides no fewer than 15millions jobs.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

10

NEWS Anatomical society gets president

T

•Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri (right), addressing participants at a one-day Capacity Building Workshop on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for Officers on Grade level 08 – 10 in Abuja ...yesterday. With him are Director, Procurement, NOA, Mrs. Remi Afolabi (left); Director, Orientation and Peace Education, Mr. David Manya Dogo and Director, Planning, Research and Strategy, Mr. Bonat Tagwai.

By Joseph Jibueze

HE Anatomical Society of Nigeria (ASN) has elected Professor T.W. Jacks of the University of Maiduguri as its president.

He was elected during the society’s 11th Annual Conference and Scientific Meeting held at the College of Health Sciences, University of Abuja, with the theme: “Anatomy and Transformation Agenda”.

A United States-based biomedical scientist and biotechnology expert, Professor R. I. Somiari, who spoke on the role of anatomical sciences in national security, emphasised the importance of DNA banking to medical and security matters.

He urged the government to increase funding and provide facilities for research in anatomical sciences.

Other speakers were Professors E. J. C. Nwana of University of Abuja and P. S. Igbigbi of Delta State University.

Participants praised the Federal Government for its successful fight against the Ebola Virus Disease, which resulted in Nigeria being declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) less than three months from the first index case on July 22.

CAC pastor dead

PDP congress: Lagos group slams Obanikoro

T

HE crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State deepened yesterday as a group within the party chided former Minister of State, Defence Musiliu Obanikoro.

Obanikoro was attacked for criticising another party leader Chief Bode George over the party’s congress.

• ‘His attack on George crude’

The Lagos Integrity Watch told Obanikoro, a governorship aspirant to forget his bid for the party’s ticket.

The Coordinator of the group Olarinde Onitolo, in a statement, said: “We read with alarm and disgust the outrageous claim of Senator Musiliu

PDP chair in battle for life at hospital

T

•Senator: I didn’t attack him

HE Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ezinihite Local Government Area of Imo State, Mr. Chinemerem Enweremadu, who was allegedly beaten up by naval officers attached to the lawmaker representing Imo East, Senator Chris Anyanwu, at the delegates congress, is battling for life at a private hospital in Owerri.

Narrating his ordeal to The Nation on his hospital bed, the victim alleged that he was beaten up by naval men on the order of the senator, who accused him of plotting to work against her interest in the elec-

APGA picks Obiano as leader, BoT chair From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

T

Obanikoro alleging that our National Leader, Chief Olabode George, was somehow partisan in last Saturday’s Ward Congress held in Lagos State.

“This is outright unfair. It is crude, illogical and foul. The fact of the matter is that Obanikoro is a rejected aspirant. The

stakes are too high; the option of a rejected character to fly our party’s flag this time around is quite unforgiving.

“We will not allow anyone to sell and mortgage our destiny to the highest bidder again.

“Obanikoro should apologise immediately to our party and Chief George for this gross indiscretion”.

HE National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has appointed Anambra State Governor Chief Willie Obiano as the leader and the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT).

He replaces former Governor Peter Obi, who has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

NEC also approved guidelines for the conduct of the primaries.

A statement yesterday by APGA’s National Chairman Chief Victor Umeh in Abuja said pursuant to the mandate given on January 18 by NEC to the National Working Committee (NWC) to fill vacant positions, NEC has appointed Mr. Alexander Amujiogu as the acting deputy national secretary.

The statement reads: “At the end of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on November 3, at the national secretariat in Abuja, NEC resolved as follows:

T

•Enweremadu on his hospital bed...yesterday

“Three hooded naval officers descended on me and used the butt of their guns to hit me until I became unconscious. Entreaties by onlookers were rebuffed by the senator, who boasted that she would teach me a lesson. I can’t see clearly now, following the injuries. I can’t even sit properly due to pains.”

Mrs Anyanwu’s Media Consultant, Mr. Everest Ezihe, de-

scribed the allegation as a mischief by desperate politicians, who wanted to tarnish her image.

He said: “Senator Anyanwu did not attack anyone. She is too civilised to be involved in lawlessness. The man was beaten up by a mob after he assaulted a female returning officer posted to his area, who refused to hand over electoral materials to him.”

‘Buharism sweeping through Nigeria’

HE Southwest Coordinator of Buhari Support Group Centre (BSGC), Mr Ayo Fatola, has said the presidential aspiration of former Head of State and All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has become a phenomenon in the political sphere.

He said Gen. Buhari’s pop-

ularity had been growing daily since he declared interest in the Presidency at the Eagle Square in Abuja, last month.

In a statement in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Fatola noted that since Gen. Buhari’s declaration, over 59 voluntary groups and organisations had promised to give him moral and material support to enable

him realise his ambition.

Thecoordinatorsaidthesupport groups had developed and embraced Buharism as a philosophy.

Organisations supporting Buhari’s presidency, he said, are: BSGC, Buhari Campaign Organisation, the Force, GMB Advisory and Buhari Youth Organisation.

‘I ‘ll provide robust legislation, says Adefarati’s son

A

HOUSE of Representatives aspirant for Akoko Southeast/Southwest Federal Constituency in Ondo State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Otunba Adegboyega Adefarati yesterday pledged to provide a proactive legislation that would attract development to his constituency if given the chance.

Besides,the son of the former governor of the state, late Adebayo Adefarati promised to uphold the integrity of his father.

He said the people of Akokoland particularly Akoko

A

CLERIC of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Pastor Michael Olatunde Akinlabi, is dead.

Born at Akeeke village in Lagelu Local Government Area of Oyo State on June 10, 1950, Akinlabi, who died on November 2, completed his primary ed-

A

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

tion.

Enweremadu said: “On Saturday, we were asked by the state leadership of our party to come to the secretariat to accompany the returning officers to our council areas, in order to conduct the delegates congress.

“When I was coming out of the chairman’s office, after I had been shown the returning officers for my local government, I was confronted by Senator Anyanwu, who ordered his security men to beat me up and collect the result sheets from me.

•The late Pastor Akinlabi

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

SouthWest and Akungba community would never forget various contributions made by the former governor to the development of the area and Ondo State in general.

The APC chieftain cited the Adekunle Ajasin University(AAU)AkungbaAkoko as one of the legacies which had lifted the socio-economic lifeline of the community.

The young Adefarati spoke while submitting his nomination form to the APC Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke in Akure,

the Ondo State capital.

The aspirant who is the only one out of the 2011 contestants in Ondo North Senatorial District for the same position said his love for his people prompted him to declare his interest.

Adefarati solicited the support of his constituents and the party delegates to ensure his endorsement as the Party’s flag bearer.

While receiving the form, Kekemeke emphasised that the party leadership in the State has no favourite aspirant, stressing that all of them should go to the field and work.

ucation at Methodist Primary School, Agodi E9, Gate, Ibadan in 1970.

He began as a catechist, later became an evangelist and ended as a prophet/pastor.

The late Akinlabi established his mission under the auspices of Christ Apostolic Church in 1990, called Christ Power Prayer Ministry, Oke Isinmi Koseunti, headquarters, at Atele, Abayomi Layout, Iwo Road, Ibadan, Oyo State. He formed other branches at Obe Quarters, Oki, Iwo Road, Lagun and Elesu via Oyedeji both in Lagelu Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Popularly called Baba Koseunti, he is survived by his wife, children and grandchildren.

Ex-director dies

FORMER Director in the Lagos State Ministry of Information, Pastor Zaccheus Ayo-Vaughan, is dead. He was 87.

The late Ayo-Vaughan was a senior employee of Daily Times, Herald newspaper and Morning Post before he joined the civil service.

He is survived by children, grand children and greatgrand children, including Mrs. Omotunde Somoye, Evang.

Olayinka Ayo-Vaughan, Mrs. Seun Latona, Mrs. Gbemisola Laditan and Mrs. Bukola Omotayo.

A statement by the Chairman, World Christian Council Association, Primate Ayoola Omonigbehin, said the late Ayo-Vaughan also studied at the Cherubim and Seraphim Theology Institution.

“We knew him as a great patriot and a good counsellor.

He was humble and God-fearing. He was respected in journalism and public relations. His life touched many souls.

He was always prepared for sacrifices. May God comfort those he left behind,” the statement added.

Nelson-Williams family loses mum

T

HE family of the late George E. NelsonWilliams has announced the death of their mother, Mrs. Muriel NelsonWilliams. She died on August 14. She was 91.

A distinguished registered midwife and Queens District nurse, she was born on November 3, 1923.

Although of Sierra Leonean heritage, she attended Hope Waddell School in Calabar, before proceeding to England to pursue a career in nursing.

Her late father was an engineer with the UAC-affiliated Palm Line Agency and her deceased Sierra Leonean husband, a lawyer, started his career as a civil servant in the Nigerian civil service before travelling to England to study Law. The late Mrs. Nelson-Williams was a devout Christian.

She served as a class leader at the Wesley Methodist Church in Freetown, Sierra Leone. She was an active member of the Women’s Aglow, both in Sierra Leone and the U.S.A. She was well-known for

•The late Mrs. Nelson-Williams

her passion for children and humanity. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

She is survived by her children – Dr. Amos and Mrs. Gwendoline Akingba and Dr. Alex and Mrs. Femi AnthonyWilliams; grandchildren – Air Commodore Olufemi and Mrs. Ekundayo Olutoye, Mr. Mario Anthony-Williams, Prof. Ajibola and Dr. Danita Akingba, Dr. Martin and Mrs. Mariama AnthonyWilliams, Dr. Adewunmi and Dr. Kemi Ogunseye; Mr. Mark and Mrs. Winifred Anthony-Williams, Mr. Victor and Mrs. Miriam Imevbore and Mr. and Mrs. Monica Boateng; great-grandchildren and extended families.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

11

NEWS

APC zones governorship seat to Rivers Southeast •Wike, Obuah, other PDP leaders scared of APC, says state chair

T

HE Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has zoned its 2015 governorship to the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District.

APC said its standard bearer would come from either the upland or the coastal area of the district.

Its State Chairman Davies Ibiamu Ikanya addressed reporters yesterday at the party’s secretariat on Forces Avenue, old Government Reservation Area (GRA) in Port Harcourt.

Ikanya said former Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike; the Rivers

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah and other PDP leaders were scared of APC. Since the creation of Rivers State from the defunct Eastern Region on May 27, 1967, its Southeast senatorial district has not produced the governor.

The people are agitating to produce Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s successor, to end what they called an injustice, lack of equity and fairness to the area.

Since 1999, Rivers governors were from the two other senatorial districts: Dr. Peter

Odili is from Rivers West; Sir Celestine Omehia and Amaechi are from Rivers East.

Rivers Southeast comprises four Ogoni local government areas: Khana, Gokana, Eleme and Tai, as well as Oyigbo, Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro.

The two main governorship contenders in the APC - Senator Magnus Abe and Dr. Dakuku Peterside - are from the Southeast senatorial district.

Abe is from Bera-Ogoni, in Gokana Local Government Area (upland) and Peterside hails from Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro LGA (riverine).

Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), represents the Rivers Southeast district and chairs the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream).

Peterside, a former Rivers Commissioner for Works, represents Andoni-Opobo/ Nkoro constituency in the House of Representatives.

He also chairs the House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream).

Ikanya said: “Our party has zoned the governorship position to the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, comprising the upland and the riverine areas.

“We (APC’s leaders and members) are talking among ourselves. We are consulting and we are confident that the party will provide a levelplaying field for aspirants to market their credentials before the leadership and members of the party. When the party members vote, the candidate that emerges, whether from upland or riverine, will get the party’s support as its candidate.”

The APC chairman dismissed claims by Wike and Obuah that some foundation members of the PDP, including the aggrieved 16 governorship aspirants, who

formed a coalition against the quest by the former minister of state to succeed Amaechi, were moles working for the APC. Ikanya asked: “Who among the PDP members or its governorship aspirants is Wike or Obuah referring to as moles in the PDP? What they fail to realise is that most of the people they are now calling moles joined the PDP before most of them. Most of the aggrieved persons were leaders in the PDP before Obuah became prominent.

“So, he cannot now refer to them as moles. They are simply scared of the APC.”

Politicians to head Lagos Transition Councils

L

AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola yesterday said the government would soon constitute Transition Councils to manage the local governments following the expiration of the tenure of the former council chairmen.

Fashola spoke with reporters at the Nigeria Police College Parade Ground, Ikeja venue of the fifth Year Anniversary of Uniformed Voluntary Clubs in Lagos State Public Schools. He said the Transition Council, to comprise politicians, would hold forth during the transition period when the process of conducting voter’s registration update and ward delineation would be concluded.

The Governor, who also spoke of the men and women in black uniforms now deployed in the state’s and federal roads reportedly to manage traffic, condemned the creation of what he called a parallel and unlawful traffic agency to manage traffic on State and Federal roads in Lagos, saying such creation amounted to a misuse of the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment (SURE-P) programme funds.

•Sebastian (right) with Rear Admiral Alade.

PHOTO: PRECIOUS IGBONWELUNDU

Spanish envoy to Navy: you’ve conqured piracy

T

HE Nigerian Navy (NN) yesterday received accolades from the government of Spain for reducing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea (GOG).

Ambassador Alfonso Sebastian de Erice, who visited the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command (WNC), Rear Admiral Sanmi Alade lauded the Navy for its recent feat in the region.

He expressed his country’s commitment to continuous collaboration with the Nigerian Navy, noting that the reduced rate of piracy in the GOG was beneficial to the world.

By Precious Igbonwelundu

“I think Nigeria is doing a good against piracy and Spain appreciates what you are doing. You are doing a good job because piracy affects everyone.

“To help sustain the good job you have begun, we are ready to partner with you especially in ship acquisition and technological knowhow,” de Erice said.

Corroborating the Ambassador’s story, Alade said the recent report of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) attested to the reduction in piracy rate in the region.

He said: “Piracy in the GOG has reduced and the IMO recently attested to this in its latest report. This is encouraging to us and we will continue to do our very best so that businesses in the GOG will go unhindered.

“This achievements are in line with the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) zero tolerance for maritime criminalities and piracy in Nigerian waters.”

“We are sustaining the tempo. As I speak, we have 24hours monitoring of the GOG, particularly the Nigerian waters with our costal radars and numerous platforms at sea.”

On the state of the anti-pipeline vandalism operation at Ikorodu, Alade said more people

have been arrested and are being interrogated.

The operation which began in October 6 has seen the navy recovering over 25000 kegs of stolen petroleum products.

“The ongoing operation has been a huge success and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) have attested to it.

“According to the information made available to us by both organisations, with the arrest of the pipeline vandals and curbing of the vandalism, the supply of products up to Ore in Ondo State, has increased,” said Alade.

Agency arrests five for ‘energy theft’

F

IVE suspected energy thieves have been arrested in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED).

The company said it arrested the suspects with the

From Clarice Azuatalam, Port Harcourt

assistance of the police.

Besides the five suspects, the company said it recorded 315 cases of energy theft in the state.

PHED’s Manager, Corpo-

rate Communication, Mr. Jonah Iboma, spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt.

He said the suspects were caught in the 15 business units of its operations.

The spokesman said the company was chasing defaulters, adding that its cus-

tomers should avoid acts that would affect the company’s revenue.

According to him, PHED has 61,858 customers in its database, who have been using energy without paying at any of its outlets.

JTF to kidnappers: no hiding place for you

T

HE Bayelsa State Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has promised to fish out kidnappers, sea robbers and criminals in the Niger Delta region and its environs.

In a statement yesterday in Yenagoa, the state capital, by its Media Coordinator, Lt.Col. Mustapha Anka, the task force warned criminals to look for legitimate jobs or face its wrath.

The warning came few

From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

days after the JTF’s troops rescued Mrs. Osiyo Agama, the younger sister to a minister.

Anka said Mrs Agama was abducted on October 22 in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on her way to a church service.

He said the woman was rescued from her abductors at Buguma forest in Asari Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State on October 28.

According to him, the rescue was in conjunction with the Rivers State command of the Department of State Security (DSS).

Anka said the operation lasted seven days during which there was an exchange of fire with the kidnappers.

He said: “The woman was handed over to the Commander of the JTF, Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Atewe, around 8pm by the Commanding Officer of the 130 Battalion, who led the operation at

8pm at the Buguma water front.

“The commander, while handing the victim to the DSS for onward reunion with her family, hailed the troops for their gallantry in the face of the criminals.”

Quoting the commander, Anka said: “I commend you for this brave display which led to the rescue of the kidnapped victim. We will continue the onslaught against criminalities in this region.”

Bayelsa communities insist on fresh PDP congress From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

M

EMBERS of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Okordia, Biseni and Zarama communities in Constituency III of Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, yesterday called for a fresh ward congress.

They insisted that some high profile politicians, led by a lawmaker, hijacked electoral materials at last Saturday’s congress.

They described the action as undemocratic and a contravention of the rules guiding such exercise in PDP. The members urged the leadership of the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disregard the names of delegates from the constituency.

The PDP Chairman for Ward 12, Mr. Talkwell Zidiga, and a youth leader in the ward told our reporter that electoral materials were not brought to their area.

Zidiga said party members assembled at the headquarters of their wards from 6am to 7pm and waited in vain for party officers and INEC representatives.

He said: “We appeal to Governor Seriake Dickson and the leadership of the PDP not to foist any list of delegates on us ahead of the primary election to decide the flag bearers of our party.”

Forum warns PDP against imposition From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

T

HE Niger Delta Youth Forum (NDYF) has warned the Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to impose candidates on party members.

The forum said its investigation showed that some aspirants had been endorsed by the party’s leadership.

In a petition by its National Coordinator, Mr. Mike Olomu, to Governor Seriake Dickson, NDYF said it learnt that the state PDP had concluded plans to return nine lawmakers to the House of Assembly.

The forum said it was aware of attempts by the party’s leadership to deny aspirants fair play by advocating zoning.

It alleged that the party had concluded arrangement to impose some members of the governor’s State Executive Council (Exco) on other aspirants.

The petition listed a former Commissioner for Education and the Chairman of the state scholarship board as those with guaranteed tickets by the PDP. The group said the Chairman of the Silverbird Group and senatorial aspirant, Ben Murray-Bruce, had been anointed by the party.

It said Dickson would have meant well by pushing for some of his aides to fly the party’s flag in the state and the National Assembly elections.

12

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

NEWS

Zakzaky blames Potiskum bomb blast on military

L

EADER of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, popularly known as 'Shi'ite', Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky has blamed the military for Monday's bomb attack on the Ashura procession in Potiskum, Yobe State.

About 28 people were killed in the attack and 80 injured.

Speaking with reporters yesterday in Zaria, Kaduna State, Sheikh Zakzaky said he, on Sunday, alerted security agencies of a plan to attack the Ashura procession in

From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

Zaria.

He said: "The attack in Potiskum was pre-planned, as they did in Zaria on Quds Day, and the Movement had prior knowledge of the plan to be executed in Zaria, but it was least expected in Potiskum."

The sheikh alleged that the bomb was thrown into the crowd by soldiers, who later came with armoured vehicles and shot at people at the Fudiyyah School.

He alleged that the plan was masterminded by Israel and the United States to clampdown on the Movement, adding: "Part of the plan was to use poisonous gas on the people during the procession from Tudunwada to Kwangila, in addition to a planned bomb attack during the Zaria Ashura procession.

Let them come out and dispute this claim. They are still bent on executing it. But we least expected an attack on the Potiskum procession. These people can do anything to satisfy their masters."

Sheikh Zakzaky said the Potiskum attack was a continuation of the Zaria Quds "massacre", adding: "Security operatives spent five months in Zaria planning the July 25 massacre. The plain clothes security operatives brought to Zaria for the aborted attack on Ashura have been withdrawn from the streets, but are still around contemplating the plan."

He described the Zaria and Potiskum attacks as a shame on a nation, "which engages in a war against its citizens

to satisfy a foreign interest in exchange for worldly pleasure or reward".

The cleric said: "If these people lived in the days of Imam Hussain, they would have done more harm to him than Yazid. There are Hussain and Yazid in every period.

They are the Yazids of our time."

He said: “What we have is a heartless government backed by a military with a licence to kill. They cannot blame this atrocity on any group. We know it is them."

'Nigerians are politically aware' From James Azania, Lokoja

S

ENATOR Smart Adeyemi yesterday said the level of political awareness and participation among Nigerians has appreciated significantly over the last 10 years.

He spoke at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, after submitting his intent and nomination forms to re-contest the Kogi West senatorial seat.

He said democracy had evolved to a level where almost everybody was aware of the importance of having credible representation.

Adeyemi said: "In those days, a leader could dictate and decree who should run, the credibility notwithstanding, but politics has improved.

Everybody is now aware of the importance of having people they are convinced will represent them well", The senator said he accepted to re-contest after seven council chairmen in the district and PDP chairmen bought a form for him.

He said: "I have to wait this far because I wanted to be sure that the people want me.

So, I came to the conclusion that many of my people want me to contest for the third time."

Results of ward congresses delayed From Barnabas Manyam, Yola

T

HE results of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ward congresses in Adamawa State are yet to be released due to what the Chairman of the Ward Congress Electoral Panel, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, described as the "cumbersome nature of the work".

Adamu told reporters at the PDP state secretariat that the results would be release in Abuja in the presence of the party's state Chairman, Chief Joel Madaki.

Adamu, who was in the company of the Secretary, Mrs. Adebola Alabi; Mr. Daniel Goemai and Alhaji Suleiman Isiyaku, said: "The exercise was conducted successfully after the panel embarked on extensive consultation with the governor and other party leaders and major stakeholders. Before and after the exercise, we met with stakeholders, who are very happy with the outcome."

A governorship aspirant, Dr. Dahiru Modibbo, who claimed to be speaking for PDP governorship aspirants, said they were satisfied with the conduct of the congresses.

•Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda being decorated by the Security Adviser to the Kano State governor, Dr Ali Yakasai, during Yuguda’s investiture as a grand patron of the Nigeria Red Cross Society, Bauchi State chapter,...yesterday. With them is the state patron, Justice Suleiman Darazo...yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Kogi jail break: 15 inmates rearrested

F

IFTEEN of the inmates, who escaped from the Koto-Kariffi Federal Medium Security Prison in Kogi State on Sunday, have been rearrested.

Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) spokesman Ope Fatinikun told our correspondent in Abuja that efforts were on to recapture the remaining escapees.

Fatinikun said: "One hundred and forty four inmates were set free. As at this afternoon (yesterday), 15 inmates have been recaptured. One inmate died during the process. We are walking round the clock to get the remaining inmates."

Kogi State residents are liv-

•Residents live in fear From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja and James Azania, Lokoja

ing in fear, as 26 of the escapees are hardened criminals convicted of violent crimes, including murder and armed robbery.

Some residents expressed fear that many of the escapees could be Boko Haram sect members.

A resident, who pleaded for anonymity, said many people now sleep with one eye open, adding: "Everybody here is afraid. Criminals are on the loose and they could be lurking around the corner. The security people

‘Everybody here is afraid.

Criminals are on the loose and they could be lurking around the corner’ are not helping the matter.

No one is telling us whether any of those who escaped have been rearrested, so how can we sleep soundly?"

A resident of Koton-Karfe, who also pleaded for anonymity, said: "I was sound asleep that night. We slept around 8:30pm and it was the next day we heard the news.

It has happened before. We are afraid because once it is dark, you cannot be sure of who is in the bush."

The Comptroller of Prisons, Aminu Suley, blamed the attack on "external forces".

It was learnt that the attackers operated for over three hours unchallenged.

That is the second attack on the prison in two years.

In 2012, about 200 awaiting trial inmates escaped when unidentified men attacked the prison.

Gemade petitions Benue PDP electoral committee

S

ENATOR Barnabas Gemade (Benue Northeast) yesterday petitioned the Benue State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ad-hoc Delegates' Electoral Committee, alleging manipulation of the exercise by Governor Gabriel Suswam.

Gemade alleged that Suswam connived with some state PDP executives to manipulate the exercise.

He wants the results of the election in Benue Northeast Senatorial District, purportedly conducted by Suswam's allies, cancelled.

In a petition titled: "Petition against Undemocratic Practices at the PDP Ward Congresses in the Seven (7) Local Government Areas of Benue Northeast Senatorial District," Gemade said instructions given by the electoral

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

committee were flouted by the returning officers.

He said the returning officers acted a script allegedly written by Suswam.

The former PDP national chairman alleged that some party officials connived with the returning officers in their respective local government areas and diverted election materials to unknown destinations.

He said Konshisha Local Government was an exception because he followed them to deliver the electoral materials.

Gemade said PDP and government officials from Konshisha council, however, frustrated the taking of the electoral materials to wards for

the delegates’ election, as ward electoral officers were "abducted".

He accused Suswam of trying to rig the election to position himself as winner ahead of the primary, in line with their "pre-determined congress, which they held at Suswam's private home in Katsina-Ala on July 30, 2014, in which the state PDP Secretary, Bem Dzoho, announced a mock result of 227 votes for Suswam and three votes for me".

The petition reads: "Following the malpractice in all local government areas of Zone 'A', Senator Gemade is praying the Electoral Committee to receive and approve the results and records conducted by his people as valid documents and election results for the ward congresses in the

seven local governments in the senatorial district.

"He is also praying the committee to invoke Section (46) (a) of the PDP Electoral Guidelines for the 2014 Primary Elections, which stipulates that: 'Any officer or member of the party who fails, refuses or neglects to carry out his duties in relation to these guidelines, or who obstructs, flouts, hinders, impedes or subverts the implementation or success of these guidelines is guilty of gross misconduct and shall be brought before the party's National Disciplinary Committee for sanctions."

Gemade rejected the order for a fresh delegate election in Konshisha Local Government, alleging that it would give the governor an opportunity to "manipulate" the election.

Five Kaduna PDP aspirants reject ward congresses From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

F

IVE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirants in Kaduna State have described last Saturday's ward congresses as "a sham".

Addressing reporters in Kaduna, former Aviation Minister Felix Hyat; Senator Haruna Aziz; Alhaji Lawal Abdullahi; Mr Jimmy Dung and Air Commodore John Ajeye (rtd) rejected the results of the congresses, urging the party's National Working Committee to cancel them and order fresh ones.

Dung, who read their position to reporters, said: "It is with great shock and embarrassment that we read reports in various newspapers suggesting that ward congresses were held in Kaduna State last Saturday.

"The guidelines and time table for the conduct of congresses for the 2015 general elections issued by the NEC stipulate that ward congresses to elect ad-hoc delegates would be held in all wards on November 1.

"Instead, the state PDP chairman, in collusion with the governor, earlier in the week set up committees comprising of commissioners and other government appointees, who sat in Kaduna and drew preferred names of delegates for each ward.

"This action undoubtedly runs contrary to the guidelines and constitution of the party. The party leadership in Kaduna has no power to amend or toy with the directives of the NEC. Therefore, it is our sincere prayer that the purported list of delegates cooked up by the Kaduna State PDP leadership should be set aside."

The state PDP Chairman, Chief Abubakar Haruna, could not be reached at press time.

‘Infrastructural decay in Taraba frightening’ From Fanen Ihyongo, Jalingo

S

ENATOR Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South) has described the infrastructural decay in Taraba State as “frightening”.

Bwacha spoke with reporters after submitting his nomination form for re-election at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Jalingo, the state capital.

He said: “The state of infrastructural decay in Taraba State has assumed a frightening dimension. The Taraba Motel looks like an abandoned place. This is a place where we used to hold government activities. I was almost in tears when I went there.

“The Jalingo Motel is now overgrown with grasses yet, the PDP committee that came from Abuja found the place secure enough to collate the results of ward congresses. I was afraid when I saw the tall grasses there. I was afraid that insurgents were hiding there.”

Bwacha said many things had gone wrong since Governor Danbaba Suntai was involved in a plane crash over two years ago.

“We are praying for Taraba,” he added.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2014

13

14

THE NATION WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2014

POLITICS

15

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

CROSS RIVER POLITICS Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba, who represents Cross River Central District, has been in the Senate since 2003. But, his intention to return to the Upper Chamber next year has polarised the ruling party, pitching him against Governor Liyel Imoke and other stakeholders. NICHOLAS KALU reports.

T

Furore over Ndoma-Egba’s bid for fresh term

HE Central Senatorial District has always been the hotbed of politics in Cross River State. Therefore, that the district is already engaged in a proxy war over who gets the district’s ticket of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to contest next year’s senatorial election.

Cross River State is predominantly a PDP state. The state has been governed by the party since the return to civilian rule in 1999, and with President Goodluck Jonathan, who comes from the Southsouth region re-contesting for the Presidency, Cross River looks set to vote the PDP again. So, anyone who secures the ticket is invariably a Senator-in-waiting.

The issue that is tearing the Central Senatorial district apart is the fate of Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who has occupied the seat since 2003. A heated debate has ensued over the propriety or otherwise of Ndoma-Egba returning to the Upper Chamber. He has risen to the position of Senate Leader. His supporters argue that the vantage position the Senate Leader presently occupies would be lost if new person takes over from him.

Besides, they say he deserves to continue in the Senate beyond 2015, given that it was his excellent performance that earned him his exalted position of the Senate Leader and helped him to attract numerous projects, which have impacted positively on the lives of the populace.

The major plank of their argument is that Ndoma-Egba should stay to sustain the state’s continuous relevance on the national scene.

At the other side of the divide are those who are insisting that the Senate Leader has had a fair chance to serve the people in that capacity and should give way to others.

They are rooting for Mr. John Owan-Enoh, who currently represents the Obubra/Etung Constituency in the House of Representatives, to replace him.

Enoh, who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, has one other thing going for him; he is believed to have the support of Governor Liyel Imoke. This suggests that the relationship between the governor and Ndoma-Egba must have deteriorated. Imoke was the main pillar of support behind the Senate Leader during the 2011 election campaign.

The governor had insisted that state should put its best foot forward to attract benefits to the state.

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how far Imoke’s backing can go in securing the ticket for Enoh. This is because of the calibre of support behind the Senate Leader.

Among those working to ensure that NdomaEgba continues representing his people in the Upper Chamber is Senate President, David Mark, who indicated that the Senate Leader has contributed his quota in stabilising the Senate and the Nigerian polity.

Speaking in Ikom, Cross River State, recently, Mark said, “I have promised Victor that I would be here when he is going to declare. When I come we would campaign together. When you say the Senate is stable, there are two people who make it very stable. They are the Deputy President (Ike Ekweremadu) and Leader of the Senate (Ndoma-Egba). So, you have produced a son who has made a mark in this country. He has helped to stabilise a very important institution of democracy in this country.”

Again, Ikom, the headquarters of the Central Senatorial District, was agog recently, when youths from the six local government areas that make up the district endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan and the Senate Leader ahead of next year’s general election.

The youths, in their thousands, decked in attires that conveyed the messages of support for Jonathan and Ndoma-Egba floated a carnival train through the town.

A representative of the Central Senatorial District in the National Youth Forum (NYF), Prince Ayuk Ojong said: “We know that all of us are in the right direction. Today we have come to witness the youths of central senatorial district un-

• Imoke

• Ndoma-Egba

• Owan-Enoh

‘The issue that is tearing the Central Senatorial District apart is the fate of Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who has occupied the seat since 2003. A heated debate has ensued over the propriety or otherwise of NdomaEgba returning to the Upper Chamber’ der my leadership of the Nigerian youth parliament do the official endorsement of these great persons.

“You are in the right direction, please be alert.

The youths today are endorsing the one we know, the one we all believe in, the one they call the voice of the world, the centenary leader, the centenary lawmaker, the one and only Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba.

“My brothers and sisters, this business of today concerns you and I better than any other person. That is why we have taken the pains to ensure that we make a difference. Leadership remains with us because we will decide. These two leaders have come together and they are making great things happen.”

A youth leader from the area, Prince Eka William, said: ”What I have seen today is a clear demonstration of the feeling of the young people. You have decided to take your destiny in your hands, you have decide to take the driver seat , and I tell you , it is just the best thing you can do and I am sure as you go ahead the Lord God will bless you. Goodluck Jonathan has done very well; I don’t need to reiterate that, Victor Ndoma-Egba has done well too. We are giving them another term.

The Vice-President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Comrade Yusuf Ibrahim, said: “We have endorsed them today and we are saying with all our strength and might that President Goodluck Jonathan and Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba are going back.”

The Director-General of the Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba Campaign Committee, Mr. Ernest Irek, expressed gratitude to the youths from the senatorial district for their endorsements, noting that they would not regret their decision.

Similarly, youths from Obubra Local Government Area held a rally during which they

rooted for President Goodluck Jonathan’s continuity in office as President and described the Senate Leader as a high-ranking Senator with the charisma and intellectual depth to assist the President in consolidating and actualising his agenda for a greater and united Nigeria.

Addressing the youths, the Obubra Local Government Co-ordinator of the campaign organisation, Mr. Egbe Abeng Egbe, said the rally was a warm up exercise ahead of the proper campaign for the PDP to show that Obubra Local Government Area is owned by the Senate Leader.

Egbe said the solidarity march was to affirm that the people of Obubra have adopted the Senate Leader, and no other to represent them in the Senate.

His words: “His contributions cuts across the entire nation and even beyond the shores of Nigeria with over 39 bills sponsored and passed on the floor of the Senate, including the Freedom of Information Bill, to his credit.”

“It is only Senator Ndoma-Egba who has remembered the people of Obubra with his people-oriented projects, as no other politician could remember to include Obubra in the scheme of things after demise our then political Godfather Chief John Oyom Okpa. It has been confirmed that the people of the Southsouth zone and the entire country want him back to the Senate.’’

The former Chairman, Cross River State Public Account Committee, Chief Dan Ewona noted that it would be bad not just against Cross River Central, but, the entire state to bring in a fresher at the expense of an experienced parliamentarian with the status of Leader of the Senate.

Ewona recalled that from 1999 till date, Cross River has produced nine Senators and none had the leverage to climb to status of Senator Ndoma-Egba.

He noted that apart from former Senate President, Dr. Joseph Wayas, Cross River had not gotten near Principal Officers level in the National Assembly in about 30 years.

The PDP leader added thus ‘’the chances are that, if Ndoma-Egba goes back, he would either retain his Senate Leadership or aspire for something higher.

The Obubra Chairman of Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs/Leader of Hausa Community, Alhaji Ibrahim Lawal said that the Moslem Community stand solidly behind the adoption of the Senator Ndoma-Egba who has impacted much on the Hausa Community and also having sponsored Moslems in Obubra for Pilgrimage to Mecca.

Also throwing their weight behind NdomaEgba is a group of professionals and residents of the Central District in Cross River State. They insist that the Senate seat of the district is not vacant for anyone else.

The group said they arrived at their decision after a careful analysis of the performance of the senator who represents the district.

After their meeting in Ugep, Yakurr Local Government Area, the group said the virtues of hard work and good performances associated with Ndoma-Egba were the reason why they are backing him. According to them, the Senate Leader is a very important figure in federal administration and Cross River should not throw that away.

Outlining some his achievements, Dr. Benitrus Okim, who spoke on behalf of the group, said he has sponsored the highest number of bills in the Seventh Senate and that his leadership of the Upper Chamber has contributed immensely to its stability.

Okim added: “He has executed more than 70 viable projects in his constituency. He has awarded more than 500 scholarships to indigenes of the district. He has fought for the territorial integrity of the state.

“He has sponsored over 200 pilgrims to Jerusalem and Saudi Arabia. He has, in line with the Federal Government on agriculture and food supply and sustainability provided large volumes of agricultural inputs to farmers in the district.

“He has trained and empowered about 500 indigenes of the district on small and medium scale enterprises and provided them with startup capital.

“He has vigorously fought for the interest of the state. He has shown total and unalloyed support to the party in the state and at the national. He has facilitated the employment of more than 500 people from the state. He earned the accolade of the governor of the state as they stabilize of the PDP in the state.”

Similarly, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) declared its support for Ndoma-Egba. National Vice-President (Special Duties), Comrade Ufuoma Victor said their decision was informed by the achievements of the Senator.

Ufuoma said the Senate Leader has the interests of students at heart. This, he noted, informed hundreds of scholarships he had given to undergraduate and post graduate students.

Also speaking, Mr. Mathew Achigbe, a political leader in Obubra Local Government Area, said the Senate Leader had promised to ensure the state got a voice in the national scene. “Now we have a voice in Nigeria. Cross River before was so relegated to the background as we did not have people at the top. Now, we have the Senate Leader,” the state law maker said.

The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Wilfred Eko, said the adoption was the beginning of a process to ensure the Senate Leader returns.

“What we are doing will continue until what we want is achieved. What we want is the return of our illustrious son to the Senate. He occupies a mighty position in the Senate. Before he got there were always problems between the senate and the president, always leading to a plethora of senate presidents. Since Ndoma-Egba has been there, there has been stability in the Senate,” he said.

16

THE NATION WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

RACE TO 2015 In this piece, social critic Emeka Attamah examines the politics of succession in Enugu State and the justification for zoning the governorship to Enugu North Senatorial District.

‘Enugu North should produce governor’ S

INCE in 1999, the Peoples Democratic Party took the reins of governance in Enugu State, the good people of Enugu North Senatorial zone (Nsukka zone) have been great adherents of the party. The zone has supported and, in fact, voted for the PDP in all the elections conducted so far.

Apart from their numerical voting strength, they have been known for voting single-mindedly for any candidate vying on the platform of the party, hence, the popular saying;”ayarum onwem ekiri onye?” (Who shall I leave myself and look at?), meaning that they are not ready to leave their own person to vote for another. Considering that most of their people are in the dominant party, the PDP in the state, they only vote for the PDP. Political leaders can vouch for the efficacy of this saying.

The zone boasts of about fifty-two percent of the population of the entire Enugu State. This seeming imbalance arose from the deliberate disadvantage meted out to the people of the zone during the state creation and subsequent delineation of the senatorial zones in 1998 by the military. Because they had no senior military officers who could speak up for them, a weird and extremely unfavorable decision was taken when Abakiliki, the third senatorial zone in the Old Enugu State was carved into Ebonyi State and the remaining two senatorial zones were split into three zones in a manner that politically benefitted the then Enugu Senatorial zone to the discomfort and utter marginalization of the Nsukka zone. The Old Enugu Senatorial zone was split into two while a local government (Isi-Uzo) was excised from Nsukka zone and added to Enugu zone to beef up the new zone of Enugu East.

Expectedly, the people of Nsukka zone made whimpers of protest that were of course subdued by the then more politically privileged people of Enugu zone.

So, what was an advantage to the Old Enugu zone turned into a later advantage for Enugu North zone, which could now muster more voting powers than Enugu East and Enugu West Senatorial zones, put together. The result was that whoever wants to become the governor of Enugu State must, of necessity, have the goodwill and the votes of Enugu North Senatorial zone.

The Peoples Democratic Party in Enugu State, in its desire for justice, equity and fair-play, has ensured that governorship of the state rotates from one zone to another. First, it was Enugu East Senatorial zone, which produced the first PDP governor in Dr Chimaroke Nnamani, followed by the incumbent governor from Enugu West Senatorial zone, Barrister Sullivan Chime. In 2015, it will be the turn of Enugu North Senatorial zone. This is why the PDP in the state have, in their political expediency and wisdom decided, that the next governor after Barrister Chime should be of Enugu North extraction. This subsequently threwup Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who has unanimously been endorsed by all the three zones in Enugu State. In fact, the emergence of Hon. Ugwuanyi as the next governor after Chime has received unprecedented approval and widespread exhilaration that the popular name by which he is known, “GburuGburu”, has become a household name and his popularity already goes ahead of him. He is to all intents and purposes already the people’s governor even before the primaries and the 2015 election. This method of allowing all sections of the State have a feel of governance has ensured palpable peace

• Chime

• Ugwuanyi

‘The Peoples Democratic Party in Enugu State, in its desire for justice, equity and fairplay, has ensured that governorship of the state rotates from one zone to another’ and tranquility in the state since no section is denied of opportunity to govern, making other parties in the State remain satisfied with their opposition role since they have no choice of ever toppling the ruling party in the state. The choice of Honourable Ugwuanyi has brought unprecedented peace amongst some warring political forces in the state.

This is why the recent statement credited to the national leadership of the PDP, that any governor wishing to replace a serving senator at the higher legislative chamber should exchange that with the governorship seat in his state. This means that any sitting governor who has completed his second term and wishes to go to the Senate should allow the current senator he wishes to replace to become governor in his State.

Ordinarily, this would have been a fait accompli, but even if this were to be true of other states, it certainly cannot work in Enugu State for the following reasons. In the first place, such

thinking is outlandish and befuddles any political reasoning as the people, who are the voters and hold the mandate, are in no way represented in this bizarre political gerrymandering. By this, the sovereign right of the people to decide their governor shall be shortchanged and the people disenfranchised.

From the analysis made above, the implication of this in Enugu State will be that as Governor Chime heads to the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu becomes the governor of the state.

However, Senator Ekweremadu, who knows too well the political equation based on triangular equilibrium in Enugu State and that in the spirit of fair-play, equity and rational judgment, it is the turn of Enugu North Senatorial Zone to produce the next governor in the State, has according to him, never nursed the ambition of becoming the governor of the State immediately after Chime. He has said and reiterated this at many fora of political discussion.

Not that he would not like to be, but because it will be unfair to the people of Enugu North Senatorial Zone, since it will run against the grain of natural justice.

Thirdly, for Senator Ekweremadu to become governor of Enugu State now will mean that the old Enugu Zone alone will in an unbroken chain, produce three governors while the Old Nsukka Zone stands by the side playing cymbals for other zones to dance to for twenty-four long years.

Another implication is that the ruling PDP stands the risk of losing Enugu State as there will, certainly, be protest votes from Enugu North Senatorial Zone who have docilely and supportively served the past and present PDP governments in the state as humble deputy governor and loyal Speaker of the House of Assembly respectively. The PDP cannot survive the whirlwind of protest votes as even politicians and people of both Enugu East and Enugu West Senatorial Zones, will be irked by such impudence that they will in sympathy, support any party the people of Enugu North decide to disconsolately pitch their tents. Both Governor Chime and Senator Ekweremadu come from Enugu West Senatorial Zone. The obvious loss of PDP in the state will be the gain of any opposition party they may decide to go to, since the zone, not having produced a governor since the advent of the PDP in the state, cannot concede to such a high degree of negligence and marginalization.

The PDP should, therefore, count Enugu State out, if such an arrangement is contemplated and is ever entered into. The political landscape is so wide and the opportunities therein numerous that political settlements can be brokered in a different manner without toppling the applecart. The 2015 elections are too crucial to the continued existence and dominance of the party for any major jolt as losing Enugu State, the mother of all other South Eastern States. It could signal the demise of the party in the whole Southeast and will result in the clinking of glasses by opposition parties in the area.

This brings to mind another gross injustice to the zone and Enugu State at large, when an illustrious son of the zone (former governor of old Enugu State for eighteen months), Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo ,was unceremoniously yanked off as the National Chairman of the PDP in 2012. While one cannot question the party’s supreme position to decide who should

‘

The 2015 elections are too crucial to the continued existence and dominance of the party for any major jolt as losing Enugu State, the mother of all other South Eastern States. It could signal the demise of the party in the whole Southeast and will result in the clinking of glasses by opposition parties in the area

‘

Why I want to rule Yobe, by former minister

F

From Duku Joel, Damaturu

ORMER minister of State for Finance Dr Yerima Ngama has unfolded his governorship ambition, saying that he will develop the state, if elected in next year’s election.

Speaking with reporters in Damaturu, the state capital, he said he will initiate policies and programmes that will reduce poverty and squalour.

He also promised to work with security agencies to restore security in the troubled state.

“My ambition is not personal, but it is the ambition of every common man that desires change in Yobe. Together, we are going to reverse all the negative developmental indices that have characterised our dear state, since its creation in 1991. In any development statistics taken in the country, you will discover that Yobe is either the second to the last or the last.

“Time has come for our people to live a good life and make healthy children for our future generation and that is exactly what I represent if I am voted to be the governor of this state”, Ngama disclosed.

If voted into power, Ngama said his government will eradicate child killer diseases including polio, and the high maternal mortality.

“We have the worst result in maternal mortality rate; 218 women die at childbirth out of every 1,000. Polio has been eradicated in all of the states in Nigeria except Yobe State. This is unacceptable. For Yobeans to have a better future for their children and in generations to come, these kind of issues must be holistically tackled to say the least”.

He lamented gthat there is no peace in Yobe because of insecurity.

He said: “The only area where Yobe has excelled, in 2008, is the area of peace and stability. If you look at the statistics of crimes being committed across the nation, Yobe has the lowest, but today, even our area of strength has been turned upside-down. Today, if you ask anybody, the single area we were proud of is now lost.”

• Ngama

I ‘ll be Delta governor, says Olejeme

D

ELTA State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant Dr. Ngozi Olejeme has said she will succeed Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in next year’s election.

She spoke in Asaba, the state capital, shortly after the commissioning of the party secretariat by the National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.

Olejeme said she will emerge as the flag bearer because she has a formidable political structure and goodwill among the people.

Olejeme, who is the Chairman of Board of Directors of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NTSIF), said she entered the race to serve the state.

•Olejeme

The aspirant promised to ensure the equitable distribution of social infrastructure, the promotion of industrialization and the implementation of a pan-Delta agenda, if elected as the first woman governor.

Describing Delta as a complex multi-ethnic society, she said the state deserved desire a leader that would promote unity, peace and development.

Olejeme promised to consolidate on Uduaghan’s legacies. She said: “The work of development is continuous. I will take off where the governor is stopping.”

Group backs Olaofe for Senate From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo

A

GROUP, the Oyo Central Elites Assembly, is backing the aspiration of the renowned chartered accountant, Gbenga Olaofe, for the Senate in Oyo Central District.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant from Jabata, Oyo, was endorsed by the group, following consultations with stakeholders.

Olaofe os the former Chairman of the National Accounting Standards Board, the apex accounting regulatory body.

The group’s leader, Mr. Bello Ola-Oluwa, said Olaofe would offer a qualitative representation in the Upper Chamber. He also said that he will attract federal government presence to the district.

He added: “We are deeply concerned about the challenges confronting our district. Olaofe will articulate our interest in the Senate. He is a humanist and a philanthropist. After pleadings and wider consultations, Gbenga Olaofe has succumbed to our wish.

“Our argument is premised on the fact that no Oyo indigene has been elected to represent the district in 15 years. We now concluded that, if credible people could come out from Oyo metropolis, we will be happy and give our total support. Now that olaofe has come out, we will support him.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

17

RACE TO 2015

B

W

• Okoko

way. If water is flowing towards a specific direction, you can say no, let it flow this way and change its cause. I’d like to go into history as the poorest man that left the Akwa Ibom Governor’s Lodge after my tenure as the governor. What does that mean? I will give my own to the service of the people,” he stressed.

Okoko pointed out that, despite Akpabio’s achievements, there is much work to be done by his successor. He said the restoration of security will be his priority. “We always have insecurity, even during the period of the military. There were always cases of uprising here and there. Leadership is supposed to ensure and guarantee the safety of the citizenry.

“In a democracy that is made by politicians and run by politicians, the buck stops on their tables. They take responsibility. If the polity is doing well, the administration gets accolade for it. If they have problems, they get a knock for it. But, I don’t think the political class will deliberately create a situation that will bring the country to insurgency and insecurity that we have today.

‘APC consensus candidate can beat Jonathan’

A

CHIEFTAIN of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Comrade Jackson Ojo, has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has the chance of defeating President Goodluck Jonathan, if it fields a consensus presidential candidate.

He said the ruling party should not underrate the APC in next year’s elections.

Ojo, who spoke with reporters in Osogbo, the state capital, said Southwest may vote against the President in protest against marginalisation.

He said the PDP must to work hard to

By Sina Fadare

renew the mandate of the President.

Ojo said: “Those foot soldiers working for Jonathan’s return are not realistic people, who can see this challenges and take decisive step to counter it. The President is a man of vision and futuristic, but all these people who are parading themselves as crowd puller are mere birds of the passage in the party” Ojo maintained that, if the President relies on these politicians to deliver their various states for him in the next general election, he may be heading for his waterloo.”

‘

Hon. Crosby Eribo is the former Chairman of Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. In this interview with OSAGIE OTABOR, he explains why he is contesting for the House of Representatives in Egor/Ikpoba Okhai Constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Can Okoko get PDP ticket in Akwa Ibom? sion, but the party decided it was Governor Godswill Akpabio that should have the ticket. He got the ticket and ran. In 2011, I didn’t run because I became wiser. I came to understand my party better, knowing that it is not easy to run against the incumbent seeking a second term.

“In 2015, Governor Akpabio is finishing his second ter. So, I feel I have to come out. With the experience I have had in the previous times, I really understand the politics better this time. I am quite optimistic about success this time and four is my lucky number,” he added.

However, there are challenges. In Akwa Ibom PDP, zoning is an issue.

Besides, party chieftains believe that the governor, Godswill Akpabio, is supporting the former Secretary to Government, Udom Emmanuel, for the governorship.

Exuding confidence, Okoko said that he is not bothered by rumours. He said aspirants will test their popularity and strength at the primaries, adding that he will prove his mettle.

Noting that Akpabio has achieved a lot for the state through his “uncommon transformation” agenda, he said he would do more under his “uncommon sacrifice” agenda.

“It has to do with my own value of life. How do I see life? What do I want in life? For me, great societies are built on the sacrifices of people at some points in time, who determine that the cause of history must go this

For me, great societies are built on the sacrifices of people at some points in time, who determine that the cause of history must go this way. If water is flowing towards a specific direction, you can say no, let it flow this way and change its cause

Eribo: PDP can’t defeat APC in Edo

Akwa Ibom State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant Ben Okoko has promised to defend the legacies of the Akpabio Administration, if he succeeds the governor in next years’ election. But, can he get ticket?

Asks Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU.

ENJAMIN Okoko, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom, is eyeing the governorship. “I have what it takes to be the governor. I am a loyal party member; a founding member. The PDP has done well in this state and, if I am elected the governor in 2015, I will continue with the uncommon transformation,” he told reporters in Uyo, the state capital.

Okoko said that he has made sacrifices in the past by stepping down for past governor. Despite the political vicissitudes, he has not given up. Exuding confidence, he said he has a date with history next year. “It is said that greatness is not in how many times you fall, but being able to rise each time you fall,” he said. Inspired by this quotation by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, he said he has put past disappointments behind and resolved to forge ahead with optimism.

“1999 is a story everybody knows.

The 1999 election, basically, was supposed to have been a coronation for me as everything was set. But, some party leaders approached me and prevailed on me to withdraw my candidature for the governorship election.

I accepted it without any condition.

“In 2003, I ran and the party decided that the incumbent, Obong Victor Attah, should have a second term. In 2006, we had a crowd of about 60 aspirants. There was complete confu-

‘

His words: In the history of Nigeria political scheming, the people of Yoruba have not been sidelined like it is now. From number one position to 22 as per political hierarchy, the SouthWest has been shortchanged. Any politician who relegates the zone politically is doing that to his political peril.”

Ojo reflected on national security, saying that it is the collective responsibility of stakeholders.

He said: “The situation can rattle any government, no matter how dedicated and security conscious it is. It should be seen as a crisis that should be tackled collectively.”

HY are you contesting for the House of Representatives?

There is an adage that says you don’t go to the market twice without getting something to buy. The past is the past. We have moved on. I contested three years ago for this seat and was beaten hands down at the primaries. As a team builder, I decided to remain in the ACN, now the APC. I opted for the best candidate to win. We are here to build APC because we see that there is a future, there is change, there is development and infrastructural relationship, there is accountability. That is what matters. I decided to remain in the APC because I have a future and trust in the party. I am contesting again because I believe in serving. I was a local government chairman for three times. Nobody has beaten that record. I need to serve people and prove that I can deliver the goods of democracy from the national level.

What is your perception about lawmaking?

People like us have vast experience as executives. We have awarded contracts, prepared budgets and passed it. If you can manage a local government, there is no way you cannot manage the duty of legislating. There is nothing there. You don’t make promises. What you need to do is to make laws to make sure your people are carried along in a right perspective. Infrastructural development matters, representation of the people matters, projects at different locations matter. We are not only talking of empty promises, we should be there to defend our people. We want to do lawmaking in a different manner. Some of us are not from poor homes. We can add to whatever the constituency projects are bringing. The suffering of the people by now should end. It is not about taking and taking. We want to serve our people. We should be able to represent our people in the right way.

Are you satisfied with the APC’s preparation for the party primaries?

The comrade governor who is the head and leader of the party has said it openly that he has no candidate. He said he will not impose or direct anybody to manipulate the primaries. We want to hold him to his words. He has said so everywhere he went. We e want a free and fair primaries. Let us go to the field to test our popularity. The people should lead. Enough is enough. We are tired of people who lied that the governor has anointed them. Let us all go out and contest. I will be the first to wave an olive branch to whoever wins. We are one party and one system.

Is the popularity of the APC not waning in the state?

That is a black and blatant lie. Development is not slow. Those that left did so because they were leaving and because of selfish interests. If developmental strides were low, why didn’t they leave two or three years ago. Why now?

When people are after some special things and cannot get it, they left. I score Oshiomhole 80 percent. We are not after individual merit. We are after developmental and infrastructural merit. I decided to leave the PDP because I saw the party was not normal. I am now in the APC and I am not leaving. What the governor has brought from the ACN will remain in the APC. Developmental structure and development will remiss within the governor’s caucus. He is working and he will deliver. This is not a personal mortgage. If other governors have done 30 percent of what Oshiomhole did, we will not be where we are.

What is the chance of the APC in next year’s election?

There is no doubt about what will happen about next election. The masses are not blind.

It will be a landslide victory for the APC. The machines will soon roll out and you will see development everywhere. There is no way the PDP will take this state while leaders like us are there as National Assembly members. The PDP is a family and the APC is a family. The President was carried away when he came to Benin. We don’t believe in hired and borrowed crowd.

• Eribo

Aspirant calls for quality representation

By Musa Odoshimokhe

C

• Ondo State Action Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman Hon. Isaac Kekemeke (second right) displaying nomination forms when the Ondo South Senatorial aspirant, Mayowa Lebi (left), visited the party office in Akure, the state capital.

HIEFTAIN of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Kolapomoye Ajibosu has said Lagos State may not achieve a special status, if out standing lawmakers are not elected to the Senate.

Speaking during his declaration for the Senate at the Women Development Centre, Agege, he said, since the federal capital was relocated from Lagos to Abuja, it has been abandoned by the Federal Government.

Ajibose, who wants to represent Lagos West District, noted that Lagos has been grappling with decaying infrastructure, adding that the Federal Government has refused to take responsibility.

He explained that the clamour for special status for the Centre of Excellence is overdue, stressing that the economy of Nigeria is being sustained from the income that accrue from Lagos State.

He said: ‘’We shall push seriously for laws, legislations that will ensure special status for Lagos State. Lagos is our first national capital with decaying infrastructure. ‘’It is our nation’s commercial centre, the hub of economic activities in West Africa. It is the home of all Nigerians, it is special and must be treated as such.’’

The aspirant said, despite its huge population, Lagos has been neglected by the Federal Government. He complained that the state is leaning on the infrastructure that has become the relics of colonialism.

18

THE NATION WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

RACE TO 2015 Hon. Ibrahim Zailani, former House of Representatives member from Toro Constituency and Information Commissioner is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC). He spoke with reporters in Bauchi, the state capital, on his ambition and other issues. AUSTINE TSENZUGHUL was there.

‘My agenda for Bauchi’

Y

OU aré one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants in Bauchi State. What is your programme for the state?

If you look at Bauchi State, we have a population of about five million people and we have a very vast area of land. In fact, we are the seventh most populated state in Nigeria, and all these years, we have been governed the PDP for about 15 years, because Mallam Isa Yuguda was in the ANPP for about a year before he decamped to the PDP. So, we believe that there has been misdirection of priorities in the state. I’m convinced that we need a home boy like me who will change things. I have a five-point agenda that I will pursue.

One, I will ensure the security of lives and property of all the people in Bauchi State. Please note my statement, of all the people, irrespective of who you are or where you came from. Secondly, education is the cornerstone of development everywhere in the world today; without education you go nowhere. So, my second agenda will be education, education and education.

As I said earlier, it is a matter of regret that Bauchi State occupies the 35th position out of the 36 states in the federation, in terms of performance in WAEC examinations. This means that even in our state university, we cannot fill our quota, not to talk of other federal universities. So, this is a matter of serious regret.

Number three, I will pursue the issue of economic empowerment. What do I intent to do? Bauchi State is about 95 per cent agrarian and we have different types of weather conditions. For example, in my village in Toro, I grow apples. I also grow other things. in my house, and honestly from the This implies that with little improvement we can embark on commercial farming of apples in the area. So, I will emphasize on agriculture. I will also embark on youth empowerment.

Number four is the issue of health.

As you know, the Northeastern part of the country has the highest mortal-

• Zailani

ity rate, and Bauchi State is one of them. There are so many issues associated with health; some are cultural, some are based on ignorance and yet some are based on traditional practices. So, we are going revamp our health system. Our greatest problem is water supply. We will make sure that to the best of our ability, everybody should be able to access good and portable drinking water.

Bauchi South has rules the state for 16 years. Given the agitation for power shift, what are your chances of securing your party’s ticket?

The grievances of the people of Bauchi North is genuine. As a democrat, I believe that everybody should be able to express himself in any manner he wishes. But, the beauty of democracy is that it is going to be decided by the majority. The minority would have their say, but the majority would carry the day. So, I believe that we should consider merit, irrespective of wherever somebody comes from; whether he is from the North, Central or South. So, while I sympathise with the people of Bauchi North, I believe we should aspire for good leadership, which is what I represent.

Are you not intimidated by the

number of governorship aspirants?

As far as I’m concern, nobody can intimidate me. I believe I am better than all of them.

How will the APC candidate emerge?

The constitution of the party provides for two processes for the emergence of candidates for elective positions. It can be through consensus, if you cannot agree among yourselves.

You can also decide the matter by voting at the primaries. The essence of a political party is for people to aspire to power through it and to implement the manifesto of the party. If there is one aspirant in a political party, then it is not a political party. It’s just an association. So, I believe it is an indication of the acceptance of the APC that you see many governorship aspirants in the state. But, at the end of the day, only one person will emerge as the candidate.

What are the qualities that distinguish you as the best among the aspirants?

Number one, I’m a honest person.

I’m patriotic, committed and focused.

Aside from that, if you look at my antecedents, I have a very good perspective of Nigeria and what Nigeria is. I started my life in the private sector as a banker, crossed into the political arena, crossed into public service and then back into politics. I was company secretary and legal adviser; I worked in a bank and from the bank, I contested and won elections to represent my people. After that, I came back to my state and served as a commissioner and later Attorney General. I later served as Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters. I also worked in the maritime sector as executive director. So, I have a complete perspective of Nigeria.

Why the choice of the APC as a platform?

The simple reason is that people are tied of the PDP. Eighty per cent of the people in Bauchi State do not want the PDP to continue to govern the state.

But, that is not the major attraction for me. My major attraction is that I believe the party has what it takes to turn Nigeria around.

•Senator Bode Ola (left) obtaining his form to contest Ekiti Central Senatorial District from Mr Gbenga Sako, member, Committee on Disbursement and Submission of Forms in Abuja.

‘

There is no way the PDP will take this state while leaders like us are there as National Assembly members. The PDP is a family and the APC is a family. The President was carried away when he came to Benin. We don’t believe in hired and borrowed crowd

‘

Belgore hails delegates over peaceful congress in Kwara

K

WARA Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant Dele Belgore (SAN) has commended the ‘peaceful and democratic’ conduct of the ward delegates’ congress.

The legal luminary also commended the Senator Iyiola Omisore-led committee that supervised the election. for its transparent supervision of the exercise.

“This is to commend the peaceful and democratic conduct of the ward congress in Kwara State,” Belgore said in a statement creditted to his media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye.

“As could be seen by unbiased observers of the process, the conduct of the congress satisfied the test of electoral integrity, as every party member with requisite accreditation fully participated in the exercise, without let or hindrance. I congratulate all members of our great party for this feat.

“We commend the quality leadership of Senator Iyiola Omisore who led the committee of great party officials who conducted the exercise. The committee’s non-partisanship and maturity served to ensure a generally orderly and representative exercise.

“Stakeholders and members of Kwara PDP family deserve a pat on the back for their patience and commitment which ensured that the delegates’ election was a huge success. This demonstrates our people’s thirst for positive change and people-driven governance in our state.

“Finally, we commend the security agencies for their vigilance and professional handling of the environment which we believe contributed immensely to the success of the exercise.”

Aspirant cautions against unruly behavour

T

From Khadijat Saidu Birnin, Kebbi

HE Special Assistant to Minister of Special Duties and Inter Govern mental Affairs, Aliyu Mohammed Sambo, has picked the House of Representatives nomination form. He is eyeing the Birnin-Kebbi, Bunza, Kalgo Constituency seat.

He urged his supporters to shun unruly behaviour, stressing that politics with bitterness is old fashioned.

Sambo, who spoke with reporters in Birnin-Kebbi, promised to articulate the interest of the constituency in the Lower Chamber. He said the people needs hin in the House, which he described as the centre stage for national politics.

He romised to accomplish his intention through a robust constituency outreach programme, adding that he will never fail the constituency.articulate the yearning and the expectation of his constituency.

The aspirant also promised to attract federal projects to the grassroots to enable people enjoy the dividends of democracy.

“I will also wish to call on all my supporters to be peaceful, orderly and law abiding through out the electioneering process,”he said .

Lagos governorship aspirant Pitan meets artisans

A

GOVERNORSHIP aspirant in Lagos State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Leke Pitan, has promised to accord recognition to “underserved groups and informal sectors.”

He said members of the Lagos State Taxi and Cabs Operators Association are critical to the development of commerce in Lagos.

The former Commissioner for Health spoke in Yaba, shortly before the commencement of the medical outreach sponsored by his supporters under the umbrella of ‘Dr. Leke Pitan Free Medical Mission.”

He said the 7460-member association should be carried along in governance because they play important roles in the life of the state.

Pitan lamented that the groups have been ignored in the past, adding that the time is ripe to tap from their ideas.

He promised to sustain the cordial relations, if elected as the governor.

Pitan said: “We will carry programmes such as this round all the nooks and crannies of the state. We will come to your places of abode or a nearest convenient place for you.

“We know the challenges of the work you do. You leave your house before 5.30am and sometimes do not return back until very late in the night. These do not afford most of you the time to take care of your health. Many of you because of long period of sitting behind the wheels have blood clot in your legs, and if such should travels to the brain, it will definitely result into stroke.”

The aspirant said the chance of a driver having a stroke while driving along the Third Mainland Bridge or anywhere else is high. “We need to help take care of this with minimal costs to your finances,” he added.

The former commissioner enjoined them to always make themselves available for similar health programmes in their own interest.

The first Vice President of the association, Prince Ismail Adewole, and the Public Relations Officer, Elder Ganiyu Alayo Adebayo, praised Pitan and his friends ffor the laudable initiative.

Adebayo said members of the association should be carried along in the formulation and execution of polices, adding that this will make their enforcement easier.

He said the next government should improve on the welfare programmes enjoyed • Pitan by the state.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

19

COMMENTARY EDITORIALS

LETTER

CBN’s costly ranches •We expect to see results for the whopping N100 billion

T

HE recurring conflicts between cattle-rearers and farmers across the country have left in their wake several incidents of avoidable bloodshed.

This should not continue and must be addressed the right way. It seems the government has seen the need for this as the National Economic Council (NEC) has put in motion a machinery to address it.

What we are worried about, however, is the source of funding of the initiative.

The council, through its committee that was set up to assess the issue of grazing reserves in the country at its recent meeting presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, approved 14 out of the 15 recommendations brought before it.

Among the approved recommendations, the NEC wants the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide the sum of N100bn to assist states to establish ‘minimodern ranches’ across the country. This is to stem the tide of struggles for land and water resources by herdsmen and farmers.

The idea, though seemingly noble but suspect in its implementation was arrived at by important stakeholders including Gabriel Suswam, Governor of Benue State, Dr. Suleman Abubakar, Minister of National Planning and Moses Adeyemo, Oyo State Deputy Governor, amongst others, whose spheres of control and leadership thrusts have been turned to battle fields by the cattle-rearers and farmers. They reportedly supported the idea of CBN funding of ranches when Suswam, who spoke for the committee, declared: “Some key recommendations

in the report are: CBN to provide seed funding of N100billion to assist states to establish mini-modern ranches across the federation. All grazing reserves/cattle routes already gazetted and encroached upon should be recovered and improved upon, taking into consideration the present day realities; ranching and modern technologies of livestock production.’’

We appreciate their concerns, especially on the uncontrolled influx of nomadic farmers into Nigeria and the challenging issues of grazing reserves in most states across the country. We want the matter to be resolved as quickly as possible because of its grave implication, especially for human lives and the environment. Also, the initiative, when implemented, should go beyond official mouthing; it must essentially happen across the country since we expect nothing short of empirical result. In the past, we only heard about mere intentions with funds purportedly released without result to show for it. This experience has led to the public impression that the ranches initiative might be a decoy to siphon money for the 2015 elections.

But, must such huge amount of money come through the CBN? Is the apex bank going to accede to this kind of responsibility? How will the bank raise the money? Whose money is it that the CBN is about to throw around? And is this the trend with apex banks from other climes? Sometime ago, the CBN laughably planned to get involved in the printing of election materials. How could this be its duty? Moreover, the executive

had accused the Sanusi Lamido Sanusi era as governor of the apex bank of uncurtailed frivolous spending; now that Lamido is out of the CBN, we want to see a show of circumspection in the manner of spending of the nation’s foremost bank.

We do not subscribe to the immunity of the apex bank from parliamentary financial oversight. Notwithstanding the fact that the CBN has its own Board of Directors that approves its decisions, it is wrong for a topmost institution with a hefty budget larger than what states in the federation control not to be subjected to treasury/legislative accountability. The most important thing to us is to state, without equivocation, that the autonomy of the CBN does not make it a parallel government.

‘But, must such huge amount of money come through the CBN? Is the apex bank going to accede to this kind of responsibility? How will the bank raise the money?

Whose money is it that the CBN is about to throw around? And is this the trend with apex banks from other climes?’

Zimbabwe •Time for Ma Mugabe’s reign!

F

ROM Pa Mugabe, to Ma Mugabe, and finally to Daughter Mugabe — wouldn’t that be a thrilling power profile for Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe?

After old man Bob’s 34 years of uninterrupted rule — and still counting — Grace Mugabe, 49, the Zimbabwe First Lady, does not see why not. Speaking to veterans of the Rhodesia liberation war, at Mazowe, some 40 kilometres north of Harare, Mrs. Mugabe declared her intention to take over from her 90-yearold husband.

Neither does her husband, it appears. If not, why Mrs. Mugabe’s sudden appointment as head of the ruling ZANU-PF’s Women’s Wing? And why Mrs. Mugabe’s blazing attack on Joyce Mujuru, long-running vice-president to Mugabe, both in government and in ZANU-PF, with the First Lady declaring that though many people were qualified to rule Zimbabwe, Mrs. Mujuru was not one of them, so she should resign — Mujuru, whose liberation war years comradely moniker was “Spill Blood”?

‘If the best run of states could descend into the abyss, no thanks to dictatorship and fascism, it behooves Nigerians to be especially vigilant regarding their country and democracy. Anything less could just be a journey to Harare, many years hence. That would be tragic’

Though Mr. Mugabe, in a broadcast, had decried the succession war in his party, lampooning young elements who were in a hurry to take over from him — him, that endured liberation war, prison, torture and colonial rule — he skirted the issue, when he opened parliament on October 28.

But the atmosphere, in and outside parliament, was instructive enough. Outside, ZANU-PF cadres sang the old man’s praise, but also taunted themselves, depending on which side of the post-Mugabe era divide they stood.

Inside, Mrs. Mugabe sat apart, while Vice President Mujuru (the First Lady’s first power target) and Emerson Mnangagwa, justice minister and durable politician, exchanged jokes and chatted away. Incidentally, either of the two is regarded as the likeliest successor to Mr. Mugabe.

Meanwhile, Tendai Biti, an opposition Movement for Democratic Change member and former minister, has dismissed Grace Mugabe’s push for power as “madness”. “That is actually madness. You ruin, you misrun the country for 34 years, and you expect your wife to be the next president?” Mrs Biti thundered. “Now, you are trying to create a dynasty with no value, no claim, so it’s even worse, so Zimbabwe is actually going in a regression.”

Indeed, Zimbabwe after Mr. Mugabe, appears on the path of further regression, towing the path of the infamous Papa Doc, Baby Doc ruinous dynasty in Haiti, the world’s first Black republic. It is another putative disaster from the sit-tight syndrome: Iraq and Saddam Hussein, Libya and Muamar Gaddaffi; and Africa’s other long-running dictatorships: Yoweri Museveni’s Uganda and Blaise Compaore’s Burkina Faso (who was sacked only last week after 27 years in

power), just to mention two.

For Nigeria, the spectre of dictatorship and fascism should hold special interest, no matter the democratic charades of the extant order. Zimbabwe has come to grief because citizens kept mute when Mr. Mugabe and his inner circle were busy personalising the state, subverting state institutions and generally proclaiming themselves above the law that created their respective offices. Now, after 34 years rule by old man Mugabe, 90, he appears to feel acute discomfort at leaving power for anybody except his wife!

Nigeria is a democracy. Even then, there are alarming cases of the powers-that-be personalising the paraphernalia of state, the Presidency subverting the coercive instruments of state for partisan ends, the Parliament keeping mute at executive abuse of power; in the Ekiti case, the police and other security agencies used to subvert court cases, again for partisan purposes, and the First Lady reportedly doing political foxtrots that would appear abominable in more decent climes. All these should alarm any right- thinking Nigerian that wants democracy to blossom.

Once upon a time, Zimbabwe was a proud state. Though as Rhodesia it had the moral albatross of apartheid, it was politically and economically well-run, if a pariah state. After independence and 34 years down the line, Zimbabwe is plumbing all the way down to be a banana republic and, if Grace Mugabe’s power bid succeeds, the Mugabes’ personal trophy.

If the best run of states could descend into the abyss, no thanks to dictatorship and fascism, it behooves Nigerians to be especially vigilant regarding their country and democracy. Anything less could just be a journey to Harare, many years hence.

That would be tragic.

Between truth and lies

S

IR: “I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.” H. L. Mencken.

The above quote best fit our situation in Nigeria. Despite our troubles, we want the truth from our leaders. Are we winning this fight against Boko Haram or are we loosing?

It was everywhere, the report that the Nigerian military had successful killed the leader of the insurgent group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, in what the mouthpieces of the Jonathan administration described as one of the most successful operation by government forces. We heard also that the government had secured a peace deal with the same Boko Haram insurgents, and that soon the over 200 abducted Chibok girls will be released. Going back a little, when Alex Badeh assumed office in April, he promised the whole world that in three months, Boko Haram will kneel before the government and beg for mercy. So many lies and yet so many more to come.

Shekau now holds Mubi, Alex Badeh’s town. Shekau also claimed responsibility for the abduction of additional girls. If nothing is done as fast as possible, Jonathan’s birthplace will be in Shekau’s hand.

In its recent operations, Boko Haram has successfully captured more towns and villages in the north-east. It has intensified operations leading to the killing of thousands of innocent citizens. Mothers have become widows, children have become orphans, places of worship have become grounds for butchering, markets have become graveyards and the number of refugees continues to skyrocket.

How on this earth is it possible to ever imagine Nigerian soldiers fleeing from Boko Haram insurgents?

How is it possible that a great nation like Nigeria should find itself in a situation where a handful of terrorists are able to invade a town as large as Mubi with a population of about 300,000? How could the insurgents have taken the community of that size while the people find themselves defenseless and undefended?

For now, the only concern of the Jonathan government is re-election come 2015.

Despite low or no score at all in almost every sector of the economy, Jonathan wants re-election next year to run the affairs of this country for another four years.

It is now let for citizens to extricate themselves from the claws of this ungodly government.

• Abbas Abubakar Kaduna.

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye •Editor, Online Lekan Otufodunrin •Managing Editor Northern Operation Yusuf Alli •Managing Editor Waheed Odusile

• Executive Director (Finance & Administration) Ade Odunewu

•Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon

•Advert Manager Robinson Osirike

•Deputy Editor (News) Adeniyi Adesina

• Gen. Manager (Training and Development) Soji Omotunde •General Manager (Abuja Press) Kehinde Olowu •AGM (PH Press) Tunde Olasogba

•IT Manager Bolarinwa Meekness •Deputy Editor (Nation’s Capital) •Press Manager Yomi Odunuga Udensi Chikaodi •Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu •Legal Counsel John Unachukwu •Group Business Editor Simeon Ebulu • Manager (Admin) Folake Adeoye •Group Sports Editor Ade Ojeikere •Acting Manager (sales) •Editorial Page Editor Olaribigbe Bello Sanya Oni

THE NATION WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2014

20

CARTOON & LETTERS

IR: Can Nigeria get it right in the next presidential election?

Good political leadership translates to development in any country. And, politics is a component of democracy through which our leaders emerge. Periodic election is central to the sustenance of democratic governance and culture in any country. It offers the hoi polloi and other people in a country the opportunity to elect leaders of their choice. In countries where the votes of the electorate count, bad leaders are voted out, and good ones voted in, during elections.

The development of a country is a function of the leadership obtainable in that country. No country can grow above the visions and abilities of its leaders. African countries are underdeveloped because visionless and selfish leaders are controlling political powers, there. And, they will push for constitutional

S

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

Nigeria’s next presidential election amendments, which will guarantee them limitless terms in office. Africa is teeming with this species of political despots. Think about Paul Biya of Cameroun; Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; and the deposed Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso.

President Good Jonathan has declared his interest to run for the President after keeping us in suspense for a long time as to his next political move. The months leading to his declaration of interest were filled with intense and frenzied political

activities orchestrated by the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria.

Their sycophantic expression and demonstration of support for Jonathan’s candidature bears striking resemblance to Daniel Kanu’s Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha.

President Jonathan is the favourite to win the 2015 presidential election irrespective of his unimpressive and unflattering leadership scorecard and go-slow attitude to issues of leadership. Although his rhetoric and anecdotes of personal privation

will not sway our support to him, he will use the incumbency power to tilt the odds into his favour. He will most probably sweep the votes in the South-east and South-south.

In the South-west, he will keenly battle for the votes with APC. And, there is no monolithic north anymore. So, given this scenario, Jonathan’s foot soldiers and campaigners can make inroads into the core-north.

But, the absence of a strong political opposition in Nigeria will aid

FG’s war on Lagos roads

S

IR: We wish to alert Lagosians and indeed all Nigerians to the sinister plan by the PDP-led federal government to engineer massive breakdown of law and order in Lagos through the deployment of hoodlums and thugs under the guise of SURE-P Federal Task Force. On Monday, we witnessed the complete breakdown of law and order and breakdown of traffic in Lagos when these individuals went on rampage, fighting Lagos Stae Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials with cudgels and inflicting harms on them, all in their bid to take over control of federal roads in Lagos.

We note that these political thugs who are dressed in black uniform and addressed as SURE-P Federal Task Force have recently come up with what they term their duties viz; Protection of federal properties in Lagos; Right of Way; Setback; Traffic Control, and Enforcement.

Even as Lagosians wonder what legal right these individuals are operating with, we ask what properties are they protecting in Lagos and against whom? What regulations are they enforcing? Is the federal government now vested with the control of city and street traffic

when there are so many areas needing the attention of the federal government?

What are the duties of the police, Federal Road Safety Commission and LASTMA that we must create an emergency agency of political thugs and hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons to launch brigandage on Lagos roads?

Is Lagos the only state where there are federal roads in Nigeria?

We wonder how control of traffic on Lagos roads should be the func-

tion and responsibility of the federal government even when it is obvious that this same government has done nothing either to repair the worsening state of federal roads or adding even one kilometre to the existing roads. Nothing adds up here except the burning desire ravaging the rank and file of the members of the PDP to set fire to Lagos for its unprecedented progress and peace in the face of the gross failure of the federal government in nearly every

sector of governance.

Lagos APC is calling on all Lagosians, traditional rulers, stakeholders and leaders of thought to stand up to this act of political desperation. Lagos should not be turned to a theatre of blood by desperate political wayfarers in their bid to realize their selfish ambitions.

• Joe Igbokwe.

Publicity Secretary, Lagos APC

the re-emergence of Jonathan as president.

APC’s presidential candidate in the 2015 presidential election will determine how far the party will go in the next presidential poll. Rtd General Buhari as well as Atiku Abubakar has picked the APC forms for the presidential election. Rabiu Kwakwanso is battling to become the APC’s standard bearer in the 2015 presidential election, too.

Buhari, an old political war horse, seems to be ahead of other politicians fighting for the APC presidential ticket.

The fact is, Nigeria is without a formidable, credible, and vibrant opposition party. The opposition parties should present pragmatic economic and educational polices as alternatives to the government’s ones. And, they should field candidates for elective posts who are with proven probity, integrity, patriotism, vision, and leadership qualities.

Nigeria is practising multi-party system only in name. Some smaller parties may have been collapsed into PDP. Is APGA an appendage of PDP? Nigeria is tending towards a one party state. The boast by a PDP chieftain that PDP will rule Nigeria for 60 years is gradually becoming a reality. To contest a presidential election in Nigeria on the ticket of PDP has become a guarantee of success.

Where are the opposition parties?

???????????????????

• Chiedu Uche Okoye Uruowulu – Obosi, Anambra State

On the Rivers PDP congress

S

IR: To describe what happened at the Rivers PDP Ward Congress as totally shameful may be an understatement. This is happening in a state where PDP is now in opposition. It shows that the National Working Committee, NWC, of the PDP may have been seriously compromised. What could have been the pay from Nyesom Wike to the members of the NWC that made them go so low in morals and honesty? There is no way they would exonerate themselves from this mess. Also, there is no way the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan can be absolved from the shame.

The President should consider his defeat in Rivers State, come 2015 elections as a reality waiting to happen.

Nyesom Wike is the immediate past Minister of State for Education.

Check out the five-man electoral committee chosen by the NWC of the party for Rivers State. The membership is geared towards returning Wike as the PDP governorship candidate during the primaries slated for the later part of this month: Dr. Yakubu Gambo, the committee chairman, is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission

(UBEC); Dr. Olu Ayewoh served as Wike’s Special Assistant (Technical) in the Ministry of Education; Mrs. Uzo Nwandu was appointee of Wike on the board of Federal College of Education, Gombe; Suleiman Lawal Kaura was Wike’s appointee on the governing board of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and finally Mr. Chuks Akwiti, Special Assistant to PDP’s Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, is a known apologist of Wike.

One readily remembers how Wike, as Minister of Education, appointed Dr. Gambo as the Deputy

Secretary (UBEC) and made him more powerful, in flagrant contempt for administrative practice, and related directly with him (Gambo) to the extent that he undermined his boss, the Executive Secretary who is the Chief Executive of UBEC, Dr. Suleiman Dikko to the chagrin of other UBEC top management staff.

PDP is just digging its own grave in Rivers State. Only time shall tell, especially if the party upholds what transpired at the so-called PDP Ward Congress in Rivers State last week.

• Cyril Madueke, Borokiri, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

21

COMMENTS

‘Our Girls’; Mubi; EU ‘Goes Sahara solar’, AU:‘ Take Africa Solar’; ‘Part Time Politics’ ‘

O

UR Girls’ are missing since April 15. They are the main symbol, no longer of themselves alone, but of the wider murderous Boko Haram terrorist tragedy with its Tony thousands of executed Marinho victims and millions of refugees. Last week’s daylight sack of 700,000 population Mubi with huge casualties and the expulsion of the Armed Forces and the bomb in Gombe State motor park killing and injuring long-suffering Fellow Nigerians exemplify the will and power of Boko Haram. Where next? Abuja? The Armed Forces needs new strategic victories, intelligence and defence strategies.

Nigeria is groping with a pitiful 3-5,000Mw in spite of uninterrupted government boastful continuous political or military power since independence confirming a mass failure of understanding of the value of electric power. It is repugnant that a civilian government is only planning 10,000Mw by 2015 and 20,000Mw by 2020 of power when our population would have grown by 18 percent. Do you understand the ridiculousness of explaining to a Nigerian child that Nigeria after 50 years of lucrative oil trade still shamelessly has ONE TENTH OF THE ELECTRIC POWER of the evil anti-Black Apartheid South Africa which has 45,000Mw, WITH A QUARTER OF OUR POPULATION? Apartheid ‘kindly’ provided uninterrupted power supply. Why do Nigerians hate each other so much- ‘Nigerian Electricity Apartheid’?

Incomprehensibly, corrupt and incompetent Nigeria exports crude oil abroad only to re-import refined products due to ‘Serial Killers Of Nigeria’s Refineries’. Do not expect an electric power miracle to silence the deafening cacophony of Nigeria’s new ‘Talking Drum’ the generator. No other African country is as poor power-wise as Nigeria. Nigerians require 150,000Mw recommended by the World Bank and the United Nations as our right.

A

FTER several months of suspense and drama, President Goodluck Jonathan has finally declared his intention to seek re-election next year. And last week Thursday, he made a triumphant-esque appearance at Wadata Plaza, the national headquarters of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, in Abuja, to pick his party’s nomination and intention forms. A day before that, the arch-rival opposition party, the All Progressive Congress, APC, held an Extra-Ordinary National Convention at the Old Parade Ground, also in Abuja. There, the party welcomed into its fold, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives, who had just dumped the PDP to pitch his tent with the APC. With these two events, the campaign trails towards the 2015 general elections seem fully laid out.

However, Jonathan’s formal entry into the race for a second term as President of Nigeria did not come as a surprise. It is coming more than a year since several groups that were daily mushrooming over the country’s political landscape, had been holding rallies complete with all forms of acrobatic display and break dancing, to highlight what they consider to be Jonathan’s unique selling points. But getting the President to pick up his party’s nomination for the Presidential ticket did not come without intrigues. First was a break-away faction of the PDP which initially featured seven sitting PDP governors and some other top officials of the party. Eventually, five of the aggrieved governors defected to the rival APC. On the heels of this, Bamanga Tukur, the then chairman of the party, was

Indeed if all the money that the political and military class stole and steal were used for annual incremental electricity capacity building, we would not have ‘No Electric Power Always’ today and even Boko Haram may have never taken such hold. Instead of power plants which the Minister of Power happily boasts will take three years to plan, fabricate and build, why does Nigeria not provide ‘Emergency Power’ or do what it did with the cellphone – jump landline wahala and go into the future by making everywhere ‘power’-ful by going solar everywhere at once with a $5 billion Solar CBN Fund with low interest loans? Use what God has given usthe sun. There are solar efforts, recently a planned 3,000Mw plant in the South-east and solar-lit major roads. But we need a quantum leap in solar strategies.

If you do not believe that God has given us enough power from the sun and if you do not believe the power of Nigeria’s politicians to willingly and wickedly deprive you even of God’s gift, solar power, then please read these internet quotes found by ‘yahoooing’ or Google-ing ‘France solar power Sahara farms. ‘Instead of looking at the Sahara desert as unusable wasteland, look at it as good as gold! Think... If 0.3% of this desert were covered in solar panels, African solar farms will power all of Europe by 2050.’ ‘One percent of the Sahara Desert covered in solar panels would power the entire world . . . The EU seeks to take 20% of their energy from renewable resources by 2020. The EU will lay cables across the Mediterranean, build solar power plants in the Sahara, and import energy from across the sea - financed by European companies...supported by the EU. The plan is to cover 6,500 square miles of the desert in photovoltaic systems and wind parks’.

And what will be the benefit to Africa of this EU ‘Sun for Europe’ initiative? Beyond the politics of Burkina Faso and the overdue exit of Blaise Campaore who killed Thomas Sankara 27 years ago, what strategies do the AU’s Energy Commission and the African Development Bank have to solarise Africa for Africans? Are they discussing with billionaires like Gates, Mo Ibrahim, Tata and Dangote? Are 100 African universities and businesses being funded for ‘Africa Goes Solar’ mega projects? Let it not be that ‘EU goes solar, Africa remains mumu inside darkness, O!’ Africa was never

the Dark Continent. Africa always had the sun. All we need is a sun-someone with a ‘Presidential Solar Vision’ to light up the day and night with that sun.

Nigeria must go solar in all homes and businesses. The federal government is training 700 solar engineers. Unhappily the training of 400 engineers under FERMA had little effect on potholes, so do not expect much solar power.

Nigeria expects a spiralling fall in naira value and an economic disaster unless we cut the excessive self-allocated political Salaries and Perks and salaries for life for National Assembly (NASS) officials which are a manifestation of a crossparty political greed. For example, consumptive Constitutional Projects are kicking off. Do not be deceived. Every kobo of the ridiculously high political party nomination form fees was got or will be recovered by stealing from the budget.

Nigeria must cut these political budgetary items. And implement strategies to keep political parties away from the LGA, state and national budgets. For self-preservation, Nigeria must urgently cut the number of Special Advisers and their salaries. Make them and NASS and all state and LGA legislatures, all politics, part time. Nigeria cannot bear the financial assault of political Salaries and Perks and corruption–SAPing our budgets nationwide. Politics must go PART TIME.

‘Nigeria expects a spiralling fall in naira value and an economic disaster unless we cut the excessive self-allocated political Salaries and Perks and salaries for life for National Assembly (NASS) officials which are a manifestation of a cross-party political greed... Do not be deceived. Every kobo of the ridiculously high political party nomination form fees was got or will be recovered by stealing from the budget’

The coming North/ South ‘brawl’ unceremoniously eased out of office and compensated with the post of chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation after he refused an offer to be sent to ‘Siberia’ as Nigeria’s Ambassador to China.

Next, the President’s minders turned their attention to Sule Lamido, the Jigawa State governor who, for several months, had put up an uncompromising stance over his 2015 ambition to become President on the platform of the PDP. He was made to recoil into his shell. Of course, we are all aware of the gargantuan harassment that was unleashed on Rotimi Amaechi, the governor of Rivers State, who was initially rumoured to be gunning for the post of Vice-President to Lamido. It was the same tug of war that led to the bastardization and eventual balkanization of the Governor’s Forum into two factions.

The scramble for and partition of the once-stable Governor’s Forum was preceded by the formation of a hitherto non-existent PDP Governor’s Forum headed by the loquacious Godswill Akpabio, governor of Akwa Ibom State and an unapologetic presidential megaphone. Several other acts of cajoling and alliances followed in the bid to clear the way for Jonathan, culminating in the multiple PDP stakeholders’ endorsement of the President as the party’s sole candidate for the election. While all this was going on, the President kept mum on his actual intention even though his body language made it clear that he had made up his mind to run. His strategy to seek re-

‘With the array of political juggernauts in the APC, mostly those who once wined and dined with the PDP and have, therefore, mastered the election ‘winning’ tricks of the PDP, the coming election bears the imprimatur of a keener contest than most previous ones’

election was all-too-clear to see with his foot soldiers orchestrating various forms of it at every forum.

Now, with Jonathan in the fray, the roller coaster for next year’s election is in full swing. That this coincided with the defection of Tambuwal to the APC shows that the two dominant parties, PDP and APC, have unwittingly transformed the country into a two-party state, as they are set to lock horns in the 2015 elections particularly the presidential election. With the array of political juggernauts in the APC, mostly those who once wined and dined with the PDP and have, therefore, mastered the election ‘winning’ tricks of the PDP, the coming election bears the imprimatur of a keener contest than most previous ones. This will be a sharp departure from the elections of previous years, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011, in which the PDP as the outright dominant party, dictated the tune all over. For the first time in the history of elections in this country, the conservative octopus seems vulnerable to defeat at the hands of a seemingly formidable progressive opposition.

However, like most elections, many factors will influence the outcome of next year’s polls. For the presidential election, which will come first and which is the Holy Grail the two mega parties have trained their sights on, Jonathan obviously has an advantage as a sitting President. His party has been in power since the country’s return to democratic governance in 1999, almost 16 years ago. During this period, the party has monopolised power at the centre as well as being in dominant control of nearly twothirds of the 36 states of the federation. Therefore, the party can boast of significant presence all over the country and this will come in handy during election because democracy is a game of numbers.

Also, the party has stupendous financial muscle which gives it a huge war chest for the elections.

Besides, the party has unfettered access to the machinery of government including propaganda machinery and all coercive apparatuses in the security and nonsecurity services.

On the other hand, though the APC parades hordes of tested and influential politicians with huge followership at national, regional, state and local government levels, the party is yet to make up its mind on who to field as its presidential torch-bearer. Right now, those jostling for the party’s ticket are from the npart of the country. In actual fact, whoever finally emerges as APC’s presidential candidate, will determine how far the party can go in its quest to wrest power from the hands of the monopolistic PDP. And except the party has some fast cards in its kitty to play in this high stakes game, the PDP may have built an unassailable head start in the campaigns using its well-oiled propaganda machinery. In this case, the APC must work assiduously to get its message of redemption and national re-birth down to the electorate all over the country with lightning speed.

At no other time since the end of the country’s civil war - 1966 to 1970 - has the country become so much divided, so much polarized, along tribal and religious lines than now.

This is because politicians continue to whip up primordial sentiments all over the place in order to woo supporters for their narrow, selfish interests of winning election at all costs. For Jonathan and his Ijaw ethnic group in the South-south geopolitical zone of the country, winning the forthcoming election is like protecting a finallydiscovered treasure having searched to the end of the world to find it. Much of the oil that is the mainstay of the nation’s economy flows from the creeks of the Southsouth. As a result, the people of the region sees the retention of the Presidency by a son of the region, for another four years, as a

Dele Agekameh legitimate claim having been zoned out of the power equilibrium of the country since independence in 1960.

For the northern part of the country, the region is still brooding from the political ‘calamity’ of losing the presidency in 2010 owing to the untimely demise of President Umaru Yar’Adua, a development that paved way for Jonathan, who was Yar’Adua’s deputy, to assume power. This, perhaps, was one of the remote causes of the widespread violence, arson and brigandage that greeted the presidential election in some parts of the north in 2011. Since the APC is bent on featuring a northerner as its presidential candidate, there is a very good chance that the coming presidential contest will be a North/South and Christian/Muslim affair. In that case, whichever way the pendulum swings, it could trigger some catastrophic consequences for the country. If this happens, it will be the proverbial fight between two elephants in which the ordinary man on the street bears the brunt as the metaphorical grass. The only antidote to this is to ensure free and fair elections next year. But with the type of desperation being exhibited by our politicians, this may appear to be a mere wishful thinking or a tall order. May God help us!

Send reactions to: 08058354382 (SMS only)

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

22

COMMENTS ‘He who lives in a glass house should not even dream of throwing stones because the consequence might be grave. When other party members were decamping to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its members were busy celebrating it, forgetting that he who points a finger at someone, the remaining four are pointing at him. It is very sad that our so-called leaders are lawless leaders. The president and his party men are celebrating arrogance, forgetting that he who arrogates to himself the power that is not his or hers is liable to be disgraced.. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos’

•Tambuwal For Gbenga Omotoso Tambuwal’s defection doesn’t make any difference. As speaker, how many laws did he enact for the benefit of Nigerians? No amount of cross carpeting, blackmail or deceit will make the average Nigerian not to vote whoever he chooses. They are all the same. From Robert, Port Harcourt.

It is when the wind blows that we see the anus of church chicken. Soon PDP shall stand naked. Pity Dog Pity* Anonymous Tambuwal’s defection is part of inevitable change that will happen in 2015 presidential election. No power of incumbency can stop it except APC allow the opportunity to slip.

Anonymous Sir, you have said it all. They PDP were in the Glass house and they throw stones. Nothing disturbs the opponent APC to destroy PDP house. It is if you Tarka me I Daboh you.

Nigerians are no more fools. They have wise up. From Isaiah O. Fakunle A good piece, hope the opposition will put their acts together and win the election at the centre. Anonymous Why some of us do not bother about hon tambuwal is that he is the same hausafulani stock that has ruined this country.this comeback attempt to continue to pillage nigeria after jonathan has repaired our railways will not work. Anonymous I congratulate our (Nigerians) Honorable House Speaker for taking this bold step. It’s now better for the wise to know where the future of this entity called Nigeria is heading for -Definitely Nigeria is sailing to a safe island with this development. From I.O. AJIJOLA, Unilorin.

Honourable Tambuwal’s defection is the genesis of PDP down fall, there is hope for Nigerians. From Dr Maduike, Ideato South, Imo State.

Tambuwa defection is democracy in action and a right step towards rescuing Nigeria from the People Deception’s Party woos and bad leadership inhibiting Nigeria progress.

T

HE institution of prison is not indigenous to Africa. It is a holdover from colonial times, a European import intended to isolate and punish political opponents, exercise racial superiority and administer capital and corporal punishment. In the pre- colonial Africa, criminals, slaves and those defeated in war were subjected to detention of one kind or another.

Detention did not appear to have been regarded as a punishment in itself but a means where offenders would be held for purposes of attending their trial, or awaiting some other form of fine or punishment. Therefore, in precolonial Africa, emphasis was placed on securing compensation for the victim as opposed to punishment of the offender. Wrongdoing was rectified by restitution rather than punishment, while imprisonment and capital punishment were viewed as last resort often for chronic offenders who have repeatedly been warned for upward of three times or more.

Imprisonment as a specific form of punishment, however, is a distinctly modern phenomenon. Thus, in a strict sense, imprisonment in Africa may be said to have begun with the introduction of this ‘modern’ form of punishment to the continent by the colonial powers. Consequently, the beginning of prisons can be traced back to the rise of the state as a form of social organization. Corresponding with the advent of the state was the development of written language, which enabled the creation of formalized legal codes as official guidelines for society.

Ideally, the prison aside from serving as a form of punishment for offenders is also planned to be an agent of reformation and rehabilitation. But sadly, reverse seems to be the case as too many criminal offenders emerge from prisons ready to offend again. This is largely due to the fact that first time offenders are often kept together with hardened criminals and they end

Anonymous If it is truth that President Jonathan belong to the class of the wise leaders in the world as TAN always claimed in there jingles, why then order AIG the withdrawal of Honourable Tambuwal’s security personnel? From Comrade Isola Olamilekan, Area 10 Garki Abuja PDP has again shown its anarchistic nature by using state institutions to fight political opponents. The withdrawal of the security personnel attached to the speaker of the House of Representatives is indeed provocative and an abuse to the collective sensitivity of all Nigerians. Anonymous Mr Omotoso, lf your “Editorial Notebook” isn’t translated into a book. You would have done great injustice to Journalism. Keep it up!

From Abdullahi Ali Mama, Nasarawa State.

For Segun Gbadegesin Reaching a consensus: Vintage press in-house experts. Please expound on these - APC to allow north eight years rule not because they merit it on account of past misadventures but to start a process of redeeming Nigeria now from the present locusts hovering over Nigeria and misappropriating our entire commonwealth.

Remedies can still come from the North taking the following steps: 1. General Buhari to lead an APC government for four years only with ex-governor Dr John K Fayemi Vice President to sanitize the country. 2. Dr Kwankwaso to serve Nigeria next four years president with Comrade Adams Oshiomole as Vice-president to start a building process. 3. Ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar should be appeased not to unleash his wealth on Nigerians to scuttle APC primaries. He has had his opportunities. This appeal is challenge to us all to save Nigeria.

Anonymous The election of governors of the states comes and goes. And no governor remains in office for ever. The election of Fayose instead of Fayemi with his (Fayemi) fine democratic credentials though quite a mystery and unacceptable, shouldn’t be enough to bring d entire Ekiti down to her knee,whatsoever.Let there be more mature in handling of the matter in the interest of all. If Ekiti people have thoughtlessly or erroneously chosen the way of an Esau because of stomach infrastructure, I

think it’s just proper they are allowed to suffer the fate of an Esau for the next four years and learn their lesson. That is if Fayose would still want to remain his old political self come what may, even in this his controversial second coming. From Emmanuel Egwu Sir, you truly expressed the mind of the Almighty God. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan met Nigeria a city of gold and marble but turned it a devastated clime of stones and pebbles. He lacks moral standard to think of seeking another term that has the likelihood of being more painful. The number of lives lost during his senseless reign has surpassed that of the three years of civil war. Let him go and rest and enjoy his loot. From Sola Olagoke, Ibadan.

Segun, I appreciate your piece on practicing progresses.

It is sad that greed and poverty has so closed our part of truth that we have lost the essence of living as a people .I challenge PDP government to tell Nigerians what else it owes Nigerians most if not security. From Mathias Oshie, Calabar I just read your column of October, 28 and I am so shocked by the ‘thoughtless’ reactions of some people. Truth is bound to elicit reactions, negative & positive. The Truth that sets men free is the Truth they don’t want to hear. Anonymous.

For Tunji Adegboyega ‘Tambuwal’s ‘coup’: please tell that … of a man to go and put his house in order first.

From Ali. The PDP should allow Tambuwal to be; after all he is not the first politician to defect.

How is Tambuwal’s defection different and why is it generating this much heat in so many quarters? Time will tell. Part of the beauty of democracy is having strong opposition parties to engage and keep the ruling party on its toes for good governance and leadership. Let us go down memory lane, how many of those who had defected had their security aides withdrawn? We should not do something for which our conscience would judge us tomorrow. I can’t see any crime that Tambuwal has committed for the IGP to withdraw his security details. It is normal in

•Jonathan Nigeria for politicians to cross-carpet to where their interest would be better served. The IGP should use his good office to restore Tambuwal’s security details as our Number Four citizen.

From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

You are a wonderful writer; keep it up, my brother. From James Abeva, Port Harcourt.

Re: Tambuwal’s ‘coup’. To me Tambuwal is unprincipled. He gave two reasons for his defection – the PDP he was a speaker leading all was corrupt for three and a half years and he stayed in such a mess? Then he looks messy by inference. Second, the political climate in his state (now APC) where he realised he couldn’t win governorship under the PDP. Mimiko, when he had problem with OBJ and national PDP, he went to LP, contested and won until he defected. Defend not any unprincipled Nigerian politician. They are birds of the same feather, flocking together. Tomorrow you will see more of the dirty politicians. His defection was with double tongue. Note that Ribadu is waiting for 2015 in Adamawa after Ngilari must have completed Nyako’s term. From Lanre Oseni.

Human life is a network of cobwebs; when it tangles and collapses, redemption is a mirage.

In tandem to the aforesaid, Mr President and his cohorts are bellowing the furnace that would in corollary reduce them into ashes. From Bayo Alimi, Lagos.

He who lives in a glass house should not even dream of throwing stones because the consequence might be grave. When other party members were decamping to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its members were busy celebrating it, forgetting that he who points a fingerer at someone, the remaining four are pointing at him. It is very sad that our so-called leaders are lawless leaders. The president and his party men are celebrating arrogance, forgetting that he who arrogates to himself the power that is not his or hers is liable to be disgraced.. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

Reforming the prison system in Africa

By Bilkis Bakare up being badly influenced by the latter. Consequently, they will not be able to imbibe the right values which their imprisonments were meant to inculcate.

In Africa, prisons face a host of challenges including deficits of good governance, monetary support and other resources. These shortcomings have resulted in overcrowded and abusive prison conditions. Therefore, those incarcerated in African prisons face years of confinement in often cramped and dirty rooms with insufficient food allocations, inadequate minimum standard of basic hygiene and scarcity of decent clothing. Other challenges facing the smooth functioning of the prison system in Africa include, torture, privilege system, juveniles housed with adults and gangsterism.

Gitarama prison located in Rwanda, Africa, top the list of the worst prisons in the world as it does not have enough space to host any more single prisoner at the moment. Originally, the facility was built for 500 prisoners but houses 6,000 inmates. Investigation revealed that the prison has four men per square yard which is literally the worst condition to keep humans in any place.

South Africa is currently ranked number one in Africa and ninth in the world, in terms of prison population with more than 160, 000 inmates. These prisons are places of extreme violence with assaults on prisoners by guards or other prisoners being frequently fatal, situations often seen as reflections of the general society.

Raping is also common as HIV positive inmates rape other inmates.

In Nigeria like in other African countries, the greatest problem facing the prisons institution

today is population explosion and this is central to various other problems of the nation’s penal institution. Investigation reveals that remand population constitutes a greater segment of the prison population. Remand prisoners, according to prison sources, are those awaiting trials; those who have been tried awaiting sentence and those convicted awaiting execution. About 80 per cent of the entire prison population are awaiting trial prisoners.

It was gathered that several factors are responsible for the preponderance of this category of prisoners in Nigeria’s penal institutions and the swelling of the entire population. Prominent among these are rising crime rate and the confused criminal justice system, which manifests in unlawful, incessant and arbitrary arrests by various security agencies, over-use of prison sentences, stringent conditions of bail, delay in administration of justice occasioned by acute, shortage of courts and hands to take on the cases, incessant adjournment, length of time needed to investigate cases such as murder, armed robbery, obtaining by trickery and cases requiring laboratory tests.

Others are lack of co-ordination and communication among the police, prison authorities and the judiciary, inadequate transport facilities to convey the remand population to court, corruption and avarice of police officers who demand money for bail and to take this category or prisoners to court.

Therefore, in order to reduce congestion which is the major problem facing the prisons, it is vital to utilize the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) method. ADR is a term used to describe several different methods of resolving legal disputes without going to court.

These include arbitration and mediation. This method has been utilized successfully in Lagos through the Citizens Mediation Centre. Cases of awaiting trial inmates should be given priorities as was done in Lagos by the former Chief Judge, Justice Ayotunde Philips who ordered the release of 233 awaiting trial inmates, the highest by any Chief Judge in the country.

To further reduce congestion of prison in Lagos, the state Ministry of Justice introduced Community Service Project, an innovation that makes offenders to serve the community in various ways.

Also, well meaning Nigerians, philanthropists, religious bodies and non-governmental organizations as well as corporate bodies should assist the prisons through donation of essential items in order to achieve the goal of reforming the inmates to serve the society when they finish serving their terms. In addition, the prison staff should continuously undergo trainings, particularly in inter-personal relationships and psychology so as to achieve the needed peace in the prisons. Any report by inmates on issues bordering on abuse and maltreatments by either their fellow inmates or prison staff should not be treated with kid’s gloves.

Privilege system, as presently being operated in most prisons in the country, where some inmates are treated differently from others, should be eradicated. Equally, the issue of gangsterism, which makes some inmates subservient to others, should be properly addressed. Juvenile offenders should be housed separately from the adults to forestall undue influences.

If prisoners are to come out good and not be a curse to the country, we need to do much better than we are presently doing.

• Bakare is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

22

COMMENTS ‘He who lives in a glass house should not even dream of throwing stones because the consequence might be grave. When other party members were decamping to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its members were busy celebrating it, forgetting that he who points a finger at someone, the remaining four are pointing at him. It is very sad that our so-called leaders are lawless leaders. The president and his party men are celebrating arrogance, forgetting that he who arrogates to himself the power that is not his or hers is liable to be disgraced. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos’

•Tambuwal For Gbenga Omotoso Tambuwal’s defection doesn’t make any difference.No amount of cross carpeting will make the average Nigerian not to vote whoever he chooses. From Robert, Port Harcourt.

It is when the wind blows that we see the anus of church chicken. Soon PDP shall stand naked. Pity Dog Pity* Anonymous Tambuwal’s defection is part of inevitable change that will happen in 2015 presidential election. No power of incumbency can stop it except APC allows the opportunity to slip.

Anonymous Sir, you have said it all. They PDP were in the Glass house and they threw stones. Nothing disturbs the opponent APC to destroy PDP house. It is If you Tarka me, I Daboh you.

Nigerians are no more fools. From Isaiah O. Fakunle A good piece, hope the opposition will put their acts together and win the election at the centre. Anonymous I congratulate our (Nigerians) Honorable House Speaker for taking this bold step. It’s now better for the wise to know where the future of this entity called Nigeria is heading for -Definitely Nigeria is sailing to a safe island with this development. From I.O. Ajijola, Unilorin.

Honourable Tambuwal’s defection is the genesis of PDP down fall, there is hope for Nigerians. From Dr Maduike, Ideato South, Imo State.

Tambuwal’s defection is democracy in action and a right step towards rescuing Nigeria from the People Deception’s Party woes and bad leadership inhibiting Nigeria progress.

Anonymous If it is true that President Jonathan belongs to the class of the wise leaders in the world as TAN always claimed in there jingles, why then order AIG the withdrawal of Honourable Tambuwal’s security personnel? From Comrade Isola Olamilekan, Area 10 Garki Abuja PDP has again shown its anarchistic nature by using state institutions to fight political opponents. The withdrawal of the security

T

HE institution of prison is not indigenous to Africa. It is a holdover from colonial times, a European import intended to isolate and punish political opponents, exercise racial superiority and administer capital and corporal punishment. In the pre- colonial Africa, criminals, slaves and those defeated in war were subjected to detention of one kind or another.

Detention did not appear to have been regarded as a punishment in itself but a means where offenders would be held for purposes of attending their trial, or awaiting some other form of fine or punishment. Therefore, in precolonial Africa, emphasis was placed on securing compensation for the victim as opposed to punishment of the offender. Wrongdoing was rectified by restitution rather than punishment, while imprisonment and capital punishment were viewed as last resort often for chronic offenders who have repeatedly been warned for upward of three times or more.

Imprisonment as a specific form of punishment, however, is a distinctly modern phenomenon. Thus, in a strict sense, imprisonment in Africa may be said to have begun with the introduction of this ‘modern’ form of punishment to the continent by the colonial powers. Consequently, the beginning of prisons can be traced back to the rise of the state as a form of social organization. Corresponding with the advent of the state was the development of written language, which enabled the creation of formalized legal codes as official guidelines for society.

Ideally, the prison aside from serving as a form of punishment for offenders is also planned to be an agent of reformation and rehabilitation. But sadly, reverse seems to be the case as too many criminal offenders emerge from prisons ready to offend again. This is largely due to the fact that first time offenders are often kept together with hardened criminals and they end

personnel attached to the speaker of the House of Representatives is indeed provocative and an abuse to the collective sensitivity of all Nigerians. Anonymous Mr Omotoso, lf your “Editorial Notebook” isn’t translated into a book. You would have done great injustice to Journalism. Keep it up!

From Abdullahi Ali Mama, Nasarawa State.

For Segun Gbadegesin Reaching a consensus: Vintage press in-house experts. Please expound on these - APC to allow north eight years rule not because they merit it on account of past misadventures but to start a process of redeeming Nigeria now from the present locusts hovering over Nigeria and misappropriating our entire commonwealth.

Remedies can still come from the North taking the following steps: 1. General Buhari to lead an APC government for four years only with ex-governor Dr John K Fayemi Vice President to sanitize the country. 2. Dr Kwankwaso to serve Nigeria next four years president with Comrade Adams Oshiomole as Vice-president to start a building process. 3. Ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar should be appeased not to unleash his wealth on Nigerians to scuttle APC primaries. He has had his opportunities. This appeal is challenge to us all to save Nigeria.

Anonymous The election of state governors comes and goes. And no governor remains in office for ever. The election of Fayose instead of Fayemi with his (Fayemi) fine democratic credentials though quite a mystery and unacceptable, shouldn’t be enough to bring the entire Ekiti down to her knee,whatsoever.Let there be more matured way of handling the matter in the interest of all. If Ekiti people have erroneously chosen the way of an Esau because of stomach infrastructure, I think it’s just proper they are allowed to suffer the fate of an Esau for the next four years and learn their lessons. That is if Fayose would still want to remain his old political self come what may, even in this his controversial second coming. From Emmanuel Egwu Sir, you truly expressed the mind of the Almighty God. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan met Nigeria a city of gold and marble but turned it a devastated clime of stones and

pebbles. He lacks moral standard to think of seeking another term that has the likelihood of being more painful. The number of lives lost during his reign has surpassed that of the three years of civil war. Let him go and rest and enjoy his loot. From Sola Olagoke, Ibadan.

Segun, I appreciate your piece on practising progresses.

It is sad that greed and poverty has so closed our path of truth that we have lost the essence of living as a people. I challenge PDP government to tell Nigerians what else it owes Nigerians most if not security. From Mathias Oshie, Calabar I just read your column of October, 28 and I am so shocked by the ‘thoughtless’ reactions of some people. Truth is bound to elicit reactions, negative and positive. The Truth that sets men free is the truth they don’t want to hear. Anonymous.

For Tunji Adegboyega The PDP should allow Tambuwal to be; after all he is not the first politician to defect. How is Tambuwal’s defection different and why is it generating this much heat in so many quarters? Time will tell. Part of the beauty of democracy is having strong opposition parties to engage and keep the ruling party on its toes for good governance and leadership. Let us go down memory lane, how many of those who had defected had their security aides withdrawn? We should not do something for which our conscience would judge us tomorrow. I can’t see any crime that Tambuwal has committed for the IGP to withdraw his security details. It is normal in Nigeria for politicians to cross-carpet to where their interest would be better served. The IGP should use his good office to restore Tambuwal’s security details as our Number Four citizen. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

You are a wonderful writer; keep it up, my brother. From James Abeva, Port Harcourt.

Human life is a network of cobwebs; when it tangles and collapses, redemption is a mirage. In tandem to the aforesaid, Mr President and his cohorts are bellowing the

•Jonathan furnace that would in corollary reduce them into ashes. From Bayo Alimi, Lagos.

He who lives in a glass house should not even dream of throwing stones because the consequence might be grave. When other party members were decamping to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its members were busy celebrating it, forgetting that he who points a fingerer at someone, the remaining four are pointing at him. It is very sad that our so-called leaders are lawless leaders. The president and his party men are celebrating arrogance, forgetting that he who arrogates to himself the power that is not his or hers is liable to be disgraced.. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

‘The PDP should allow Tambuwal to be; after all he is not the first politician to defect. How is Tambuwal’s defection different and why is it generating this much heat in so many quarters? Time will tell. Part of the beauty of democracy is having strong opposition parties to engage and keep the ruling party on its toes for good governance and leadership. Let us go down memory lane, how many of those who had defected had their security aides withdrawn? We should not do something for which our conscience would judge us tomorrow. I can’t see any crime that Tambuwal has committed for the IGP to withdraw his security details. It is normal in Nigeria for politicians to crosscarpet to where their interest would be better served. The IGP should use his good office to restore Tambuwal’s security details as our Number Four citizen’

Reforming the prison system in Africa

By Bilkis Bakare up being badly influenced by the latter. Consequently, they will not be able to imbibe the right values which their imprisonments were meant to inculcate.

In Africa, prisons face a host of challenges including deficits of good governance, monetary support and other resources. These shortcomings have resulted in overcrowded and abusive prison conditions. Therefore, those incarcerated in African prisons face years of confinement in often cramped and dirty rooms with insufficient food allocations, inadequate minimum standard of basic hygiene and scarcity of decent clothing. Other challenges facing the smooth functioning of the prison system in Africa include, torture, privilege system, juveniles housed with adults and gangsterism.

Gitarama prison located in Rwanda, Africa, top the list of the worst prisons in the world as it does not have enough space to host any more single prisoner at the moment. Originally, the facility was built for 500 prisoners but houses 6,000 inmates. Investigation revealed that the prison has four men per square yard which is literally the worst condition to keep humans in any place.

South Africa is currently ranked number one in Africa and ninth in the world, in terms of prison population with more than 160, 000 inmates. These prisons are places of extreme violence with assaults on prisoners by guards or other prisoners being frequently fatal, situations often seen as reflections of the general society.

Raping is also common as HIV positive inmates rape other inmates.

In Nigeria like in other African countries, the greatest problem facing the prisons institution

today is population explosion and this is central to various other problems of the nation’s penal institution. Investigation reveals that remand population constitutes a greater segment of the prison population. Remand prisoners, according to prison sources, are those awaiting trials; those who have been tried awaiting sentence and those convicted awaiting execution. About 80 per cent of the entire prison population are awaiting trial prisoners.

It was gathered that several factors are responsible for the preponderance of this category of prisoners in Nigeria’s penal institutions and the swelling of the entire population. Prominent among these are rising crime rate and the confused criminal justice system, which manifests in unlawful, incessant and arbitrary arrests by various security agencies, over-use of prison sentences, stringent conditions of bail, delay in administration of justice occasioned by acute, shortage of courts and hands to take on the cases, incessant adjournment, length of time needed to investigate cases such as murder, armed robbery, obtaining by trickery and cases requiring laboratory tests.

Others are lack of co-ordination and communication among the police, prison authorities and the judiciary, inadequate transport facilities to convey the remand population to court, corruption and avarice of police officers who demand money for bail and to take this category or prisoners to court.

Therefore, in order to reduce congestion which is the major problem facing the prisons, it is vital to utilize the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) method. ADR is a term used to describe several different methods of resolving legal disputes without going to court.

These include arbitration and mediation. This method has been utilized successfully in Lagos through the Citizens Mediation Centre. Cases of awaiting trial inmates should be given priorities as was done in Lagos by the former Chief Judge, Justice Ayotunde Philips who ordered the release of 233 awaiting trial inmates, the highest by any Chief Judge in the country.

To further reduce congestion of prison in Lagos, the state Ministry of Justice introduced Community Service Project, an innovation that makes offenders to serve the community in various ways.

Also, well meaning Nigerians, philanthropists, religious bodies and non-governmental organizations as well as corporate bodies should assist the prisons through donation of essential items in order to achieve the goal of reforming the inmates to serve the society when they finish serving their terms. In addition, the prison staff should continuously undergo trainings, particularly in inter-personal relationships and psychology so as to achieve the needed peace in the prisons. Any report by inmates on issues bordering on abuse and maltreatments by either their fellow inmates or prison staff should not be treated with kid’s gloves.

Privilege system, as presently being operated in most prisons in the country, where some inmates are treated differently from others, should be eradicated. Equally, the issue of gangsterism, which makes some inmates subservient to others, should be properly addressed. Juvenile offenders should be housed separately from the adults to forestall undue influences.

If prisoners are to come out good and not be a curse to the country, we need to do much better than we are presently doing.

• Bakare is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2014

23

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

25

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net Stories by Taofik Salako

Nigerian aviation to grow by 5% in 20 years

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

T

THE contribution of the air transport industry in Nigeria is expected to grow by five per cent in the next twenty years with increase in demands that will enable airlines contribute about USD $O.4 billion and 61,000 jobs for emerging Nigerian economy .

The estimated growth is contained in a paper entitled :” Sustainable aircraft maintenance hangar the imperative for the Nigerian aviation industry “, at a seminar organised by aircraft pilots in Uyo .

The paper was presented by Dr Titus Kehinde Olaniyi , a resource person from the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology ( NCAT), Zaria.

Olaniyi said the air transport industry generates and supports 6.7 million jobs in Africa contributing about $67.8 billion to the continent’s gross domestic product .

According to Olaniyi the air transport in the country has been growing since mid 1980’s and 1990’s with deregulation and emergence of domestic airlines in GDP. He regretted that despite the forecasted growth, numbers of airlines in the country depreciated to the extent that most of the early starters no longer existed adding that out of the 30 airlines operating in the 1990’s only about seven schedules flights in 2010.

Olaniyi explained that inconsistent regulatory policies, deteriorating infrastructures with obsolete facilities, negligence and managerial incompetence contributed to the failings.

He noted that airlines negligence of industry best practice in aircraft operations and maintenances has contributed to several aircraft cashes and folding up of the airlines while managerial incompetence led to fund misappropriations, manpower mismanagement and high indebtedness.

According to him, the lack of sustainable aircraft maintenance hangars has negatively impacted on Nigerian airlines and their ability to operate sustainable in an inherently complex and dynamic global air transport industry.

Olaniyi explained that the systematic failure of the airline industry could be traced to unsustainable aircraft maintenance policies resulting from ageing aircraft, lack of appropriate maintenance personnel, non availability of aircraft hangars where proper checks or maintenance can be carried out.

He noted further that the provision for maintenance facility of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) was currently inadequate for the nations needs, tracing the demise of Okada airline to the exorbitant cost of heavy maintenance tasks that could have been avoided assuming the maintenance hangars were present in Nigeria.

T

NLNG is one of the biggest success stories in our country. From what I am told, the company has invested $13 billion so far since inception, and has become a pacesetter in terms of revenue generation for the government.

-Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga

NSE mulls waivers for restructuring firms

HE Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) may consider a bouquet of waivers and incentives for ailing companies that have opted to restructure their operations in order to meet the stringent corporate governance standards required of quoted companies.

Not less than 23 companies have recently indicated that they would be restructuring their operations and management frameworks, including 18 companies that were forced into restructuring by delisting notice by the NSE. In a response to media enquiry by The Nation, the management of the Exchange said that some incentives and waivers might be provided for companies with clear restructuring roadmaps and desired com-

By Taofik Salako

mitments to their restructuring processes.

According to the Exchange, there would be consideration for companies making efforts to comply with the postlisting rules and best practices.

“The Exchange will give due consideration to wellreasoned and supported requests from companies considering restructuring on a case by case basis,” NSE stated.

Although the NSE did not outline the applicable waivers and incentives, sources in the know said the waivers may include the reduction and restructuring of outstanding annual listing fees and penalties for the heavily indebted companies and exemption from further penal-

ties within a given timeframe.

The NSE had in late June issued a three-month notice of compulsory delisting to some 24 companies for various corporate governance and post-listing failures, especially non-release of financial reports and accounts for several years.

The affected companies included Investment and Allied Insurance Plc, Goldlink Insurance, Afroil, Rokana Industry, IPWA, West African Glass Industry, Nigeria Wire and Cable, Starcomms, Daar Communication, Mtech, Big Treat, G.Cappa, FTN Cocoa Processing and UTC Nigeria.

Others included Stockvis, Nigeria Sewing Machine, Jos International Breweries, Capital Oil and Golden

Guinea. The NSE had indicated that while the five of the companies including Stockvis, Nigeria Sewing Machine, Jos International Breweries, Capital Oil and Golden Guinea were penciled for delisting because they failed to regularise their listing status, other companies were being delisted because they have failed to submit requisite financial and operational statements.

The Exchange has confirmed that 14 companies have started some steps to regularise their listing status.

These included Goldlink Insurance, Rokana Industry, IPWA, Daar Communication, G.Cappa, FTN Cocoa Processing, UTC Nigeria, Stockvis, Nigeria Sewing Machine, Capital Oil and Golden Guinea Brewery.

• From left: Executive Director of Convention on Business Integrity (CBi), Mr. Soji Apampa; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema; President, NSE, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and immediate past president, NSE, Alhaji Aliko Dangote at the launch of Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS) by NSE and CBi on Monday

Use pension funds to address infrastructure, Oteh urges

T

HE National Pension C o m m i s s i o n (PenCom), should avail the Federal Government of its N4.5 trillion pension fund to end the current infrastructural deficit estimated at $2.9 trillion (N485 trillion), Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Arunma Oteh, has urged.

Oteh,who described the country’s infrastructure deficit as a national emergency, spoke at the just concluded PenCom conference on Pension Reform Act 2014 in Lagos.

AfDB to invest in peoplecentred innovation - P 26

By Omobola Tolu-Kusimo She however stated that the country also needs a world class, stable and well regulated capital market to safeguard the funds.

She said housing is critical to the nation’s development and the government needs 17 million housing units as against the 50, 000 people that have access to housing, noting that housing is not just about shelter, but creating jobs in the country.

She urges the PenCom Director-General, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu to be creative about how to deploy the fund in

the next 10 years so that it is not business as usual.

She said: “Nigeria’s current challenge include huge infrastructure deficit, homing and jobs. I believe infrastructure is a national emergency for us and we can learn from countries like Ireland, Canada and Australia which have modeled their pension fund on nation’s growth.

“Business owners consistently rack in inadequate infrastructure and that is why fixing infrastructure will spur economic growth. The Federal Government recognises this and recently put together the

Stanbic IBTC Pension exceeds N1t asset - P38

National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) which estimate that we need US$2.9 (N485 trillion) over the next 30 years”.

The SEC boss said this showed that there is a lot of work to be done, noting that this makes a strong case for what the DG PenCom can do.

“I am not saying we should put the entire fund on infrastructure and others but I am saying let us put our money where our mouth and if we do it in a safe and sustainable manner, it will impact on nation’s growth, she said.

‘How Nigeria can become top global brand’ Lucas Ajanaku

Z

INOX Group Chairman and Global Partner Adviser, Microsoft Inc., Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh has said for Nigeria to become a top global brand in the information communication technology (ICT) space, the country needed to have at least one innovative mind such as Bill Gates.

Ekeh, who spoke while engaging Nigerian technology entrepreneurs in London, added that there is need for innovation for the present crop of Nigerian genuine billionaires to become a successful and sustainable global brand.

He said: “I believe that God’s purpose for this technologydriven century is to reduce the inequalities among peoples but only serious nations with highly resourceful citizens and leaders would take advantage of this knowledge century to emerge on the global stage.

How on earth would an Asian or African nation think of competing with any of the developed economies of the world without the power of the brain?”

Ekeh told his audience who were between the ages of 25 and 30, that a lot of them started hearing about Mr. Bill Gates from infancy till date, adding that their sustained wealth from the platform launched by Gates and his friends few years ago could challenge the wealth of Nigeria with a population of 173million.

“Think about the multiplier effect and then you will appreciate why you should dig deeper into different areas of technology to at least brand yourself and your families,” he said.

On infrastructure blamed for the high mortality rate of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), he said Rome was not built in a day, stressing that countries such as the United Kingdom achieved their current level of technological development over time. He said until they come back with world class exposures to make their contribution in different sectors, the nation might continue to struggle. He reassured them that the country is moving in the right direction and that their parents sent them abroad to study so that when they return, they will better the lots of their families and by extension the whole country.

He told the youth that he restricted himself to technology business, adding that it was the duty of every Nigerian to defend the country, urging them to show patriotism by not praying for the fall in the value of the naira so that they could make more money back home.

Entrepreneurship: Failure is recipe for success - P39

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

26

THE NATION

BUSINESS MONEY

e-mail: money@thenationonlineng.net

‘Naira slide could trigger emergency MPC meeting’ T

HE naira which has come under undue pressure in recent months over the sharp fall in Brent oil prices, may cause the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to convene an emergency meeting, analysts have predicted.

Currencies Analyst at Ecobank Nigeria, Olakunle Ezun, said should the naira weaken in the interbank market to N170 or more, and oil prices drop below $80 per barrel, an emergency MPC meeting could raise the Monitory Policy Rate by 50 to 100 basis points and increase the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR).

This, he said, would undermine the naira, given that hydrocarbons account for 98 per cent of export revenues and around 75 per cent of fiscal revenues.

Ezun explained that without a large cushion of foreign exchange reserves, the CBN, would remain

Stories by Collins Nweze

under pressure from the fall in oil prices to tighten policy as a means of underpinning the naira.

“Yields on government securities rose steadily around 100 to 150 basis points since early October. It is clear that a tightening cycle is developing, with a strong possibility of further direct tightening,” he said.

The analyst explained that the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), the benchmark lending rate for banks, could remain above 12 per cent for the weeks ahead, with the possibility of indirect tightening at the next MPC meeting.

“CBN would likely decide to tighten policy in its next meeting.

Although a rise in the MPR is currently unlikely, tightening could be made by raising the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) on private sector deposits. Currently it

stands at 15 per cent (it was last raised from 12 per cent in March),” he said.

He explained that another risk facing the CBN is the possibility of increased government spending in the run-up to the February 2015 election.

“Any injection of liquidity above target would undermine macroeconomic stability by pushing inflation up above the most recent level of 8.3 per cent in September (inflation has been largely stable around this level for more than one year. The CBN considers the inflation outlook is good with single digit inflation likely by yearend,” he predicted.

He said the tight monetary policy stance was adopted in order to ensure exchange rate stability (given the managed float exchange rate regime), and help contain inflationary pressures. Indirectly, the tight

policy has helped underpin real returns on fixed income securities investments by attracting foreign investors into naira denominated assets, thereby helping strengthen demand for the naira.

However, demand for Federal Government bonds issued across all maturities remains strong. Increased supply of securities would help temper some of the high levels of oversubscription, however, demand remains strong despite uncertainties related to inflation, exchange rate risk, and the macroeconomic policy environment.

The authorities, he said, have continued to stimulate interest via liquidity management and indirect monetary tightening to boost confidence in the market and at the same time provide forward guidance on monetary policy directions, which has helped realign the

yield curve with monetary policy expectations.

Meanwhile, the CBN has pledged to keep supporting its currency after the naira approached a record low amid declining oil prices and the end of US monetary stimulus that bolstered emerging-market assets.

“We will continue to defend the naira,” CBN Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr. Sarah Alade said.

Since mid-September, the CBN has used the reserves to sell dollars outside of regular auctions held Mondays and Wednesdays, according to Standard Chartered Plc. It will keep using the auctions and direct dollar sales to banks to preserve the value of the currency, Alade said. The currency strengthened 0.2 per cent to 164.90 per dollar. It earlier weakened as much as 0.8 per cent to 166.42, a record low on a closing basis.

‘Two subsidiaries needed for HoldCo status’

T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines for banks operating the Holding Company (HoldCo) structure, stipulates that each lender in the category must have two subsidiaries within the group.

The guidelines, signed by CBN Director, Financial Policy and Regulations, Kelvin Amugo, said two subsidiaries shall be in the financial services sector.

He said the guidelines, issued in exercise of the powers conferred on the CBN under the CBN Act, 2007 (CBN Act) and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Cap B3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (BOFIA), complement CBN Regulation on the Scope of Banking Activities and Ancillary Matters, No 3, 2010.

According to the guidelines, the apex bank said a financial holding company is permitted to have only two hierarchies (parent and intermediate financial holding companies). Given the permissible level of hierarchies, a Nigerian financial holding company may have a subsidiary which is a parent to another subsidiary (intermediate financial holding company).

According to the guidelines, where such subsidiary is locally based, the relevant regulator shall have responsibility for its supervision. Where the subsidiary is overseas, the relevant regulator shall seek a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the host regulator for its joint supervision.

It said a financial holding company may acquire controlling inter-

est in any permissible financial institution, subject to prior approval of the CBN. Where the target company is outside the supervisory purview of CBN, the prior approval of the relevant regulator will also be required.

Still, where a subsidiary of the financial holding company outside the purview of the CBN is acquiring another subsidiary similarly outside the purview of the CBN, the Holdco shall notify the CBN before the acquisition is consummated. Evidence of prior approval of the relevant sector regulator shall accompany the notification.

Equally, a financial holding company that elects to change to monoline commercial or merchant banking shall seek the prior approval of the CBN. Such financial holding company shall submit along with its request for approval the annual audited financial statements of the immediate past three years under the arrangement/structure it seeks to discontinue; divestment plan from subsidiaries; and any other requirements as may be determined by the CBN from time to time.

The CBN in 2010 introduced a new banking model, which requires banking groups with non-core banking activities to incorporate a holding company (HoldCo) structure. To facilitate the establishment and operation of holding companies, the CBN, in collaboration with stakeholders, developed guidelines for setting up, regulating and supervising financial holding companies in Nigeria.

•From left Admin Officer, Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) , Mr. Degbola Lewis; Chief Executive Officer, LSSTF, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey and Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Jibril Aku, during the presentation of Hilux buses by the bank to LSSTF in Lagos.

AfDB to invest in people-centred innovation

I

NNOVATION and technology can serve as a springboard for economic transformation provided they are driven by people, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said at the ninth Annual African Economic Conference (AEC) which ended in Addis Ababa on Monday.

Decision-makers and business leaders, economists and academics from across the globe, met for the AEC to discuss how to harness

Private equity firms raise $3.3b, says FBN Capital

F

BN Capital has said that management consultants, Ernst & Young estimate that Africa focused Private Equity (PE) firms, raised $3.3 billion in 2013. The investment and research firm said Nigeria will be the leading destination of those funds, adding that the greater opportunities and rewards lie in PE firms FBN Capital said finding of the National Bureau of Statistics, is that the average household has 5.7 people, adding that Nigeria has 23.4 million middle class, equivalent to almost 14 per cent of the population. According to the report, consumption by the households ranges from $23 to $115 per day.

The study reported that the Nigerian middle class population has in-

creased six-fold since 2000, indicating a redistribution of wealth amounting to more than just “trickle-down”.

“Many investors have bought into the story of the emerging middle class. Marriott of the US bought South Africa’s Protea Hospitality Group, which has several properties across Nigeria. Local e-commerce companies such as Jumia and Konga are expanding rapidly on the back of foreign investment.

Shopping malls are the most visible examples of this investment.

Market research for the Jabi Lake mall in Abuja identified 68,000 households within its target consumer area spending at least $150,000 per year on consumables. This would place them well above the middle

class range,” it said.

However, FBN Capital said the story is at odds with the generally disappointing results of listed consumer goods companies in first quarter of and second quarter of 2014.

“Their sales growth has slowed markedly. We have also bought into the story and suggest that the listed companies, unlike the many which are privately owned, may not be targeting the best domestic market. The listed companies account for no more than five per cent of this segment of the economy in sales terms,” it said.

Globally, money committed to private equity funds but as yet uninvested – stands at a record $1.19 trillion, up from $1.08 trillion at the end of 2013 and comfortably above the pre-crisis peak.

knowledge and innovation to boost youth employment, foster the adoption of new technologies, and enhance Africa’s economic transformation.

“Investments in skills, technology, knowledge, and innovation will ensure democratic and responsive governance that can deliver effective public services and facilitate universal access to basic services, such as food and nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter, health and education,” African Union Commission Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said.

Acting Chief Economist and Vice-President of African Development Bank, Steve KayizziMugerwa said innovation is seen as an essential component for the transformation of African economies.

“We need to stop being lazy analysts and take our challenges for ourselves; stop wasting resources and implement our own ideas. Africa must first understand where we are, what brought us here and then try to understand what to do differently to bring different results,” he said.

Beyond technology and technology transfer, the role of innovation was discussed at the conference as a trigger for behaviour and social change. “Innovation is a key determinant of the ability of econo-

mies to sustain growth, and is critical to improving socio-economic conditions. Socio-economic transformation in Africa requires both adaption of existing technologies, and the development of homegrown innovations,” Director, UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, UN Assistant Secretary General, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye said.

The continent can boost its development agenda by using technology and technology transfer creatively, participants argued, creating revenue opportunities for farmers, jobs for youths in urban areas and tackling a wide diversity of challenges, from climate change adaptation to disaster risk reduction.

M-Pesa, an innovative mobilephone payment system, created in Kenya and expanded to Tanzania, South Africa, Afghanistan, India and Eastern Europe, has had great impact on the lives of ordinary Kenyans.

It has increased access to financial services to 19 million Kenyans, created jobs, and positively impacted savings and money transfer patterns. In just five years, MPesa decreased informal savings in the country by 15 per cent, increased the frequency of transfers and remittances by 35 per cent, and increased usage of banking services by 58 per cent beyond the levels of 2006.

27

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

MONEY Customers’ kingship in the marketplace is taken seriously by forward looking organsiations. This year’s International Customer Service Week celebrated by banks, presented opportunity for lenders to show customers how much they cherish them. Sterling Bank used the occasion of the event to tell a story of its continued commitment to its customers, COLLINS NWEZE, writes.

Banking thrives on quality customer services T

HE need to properly address customer’s concern prompted quality conscious organisations across the world to set aside the first week of October, annually, to promote customer service and honour contributors to service excellence.

Nigerian banks have taken steps to demonstrate their commitment to excellent customer services by embracing the 2014 International Customer Service Week was celebrated between October five and 10.

The week-long celebration, is traditionally devoted to recognising the significance of customer service and honour the people who serve and support customers with the highest degree of care and professionalism.

Leading financial, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, hospitality and communications companies as well as other serviceoriented organisations around the world join the celebration.

However, the 2014 Customer Service Week may have come and gone, but the footprints and the glamour added to the celebration

by Sterling Bank Plc will linger in the minds of its customers nationwide especially those who had what could best be described as the ‘One Customer’ experience.

Customers who visited branches of the lender nationwide during the period were excited by the experience they got and the colour added to it. From the decoration of the banking hall to banners with the message: “Enjoy Exceptional Banking Service as We Celebrate You, Our Customers” strategically displayed, the One Customer T-Shirts worn by the staff and the various gift items on offer to customers, the customers of the bank could only wish that the celebrations never end. Better still, they definitely look forward to the celebrations in 2015.

Specifically, the bank rewarded its loyal customers during the week by giving out various gift items such as hand sanitisers, branded phones, petts tablets, pocket cards, TV sets, fridges and other unique gifts. This confirms the stance of the bank as one that appreciates its customers.

“At Sterling Bank, we view

Customer Service Week as prime time to recognise our awesome customers through a week-long celebration with activities every day to give our loyal customers the Sterling Bank customer experience”, the lender said.

A customer with the Kaduna branch of the bank who won a bed side fridge and spoke on condition of anonymity said: “Sterling Bank added a new dimension to the Customer Service Week celebrations as it gave out various gift items to its walk-in customers in all parts of the country and l am a beneficiary of that. This shows the premium that the bank places on its customers and we are really happy about that”. The customer also spoke about how the bank had enhanced customer satisfaction during the customer service week.

“One thing is to provide quality service. It is another for such products to meet the expectation of the customer to ensure they are satisfied. Sterling Bank has in many ways exceeded their customers’ expectationsby providing consumer - centric products and services delivered in a timely manner.

The bank has succeeded in further consolidating its relationship with its customers who are satisfied with its product offerings coupled with what it did during the Customer Service Week”.

Mr. Kingsley Okpara, an Engineer based in Aba explained that customer appreciation the Sterling way is unique as it will have a multiplier effect on the bank. His words: “I was surprised when l came to Port Harcourt to pick up some money at the Rumuola branch of the bank and received a gift for doing so. It is fantastic and will affect how I perceived Sterling Bank henceforth and I will tell the story to other people”.

Mrs. Juliana Adebisi Lamikanra who banks with the Dugbe branch of the bank in Ibadan was surprised when she won a fridge on the last day of the week. She said: “Initially l thought it was a joke when l was asked to take part in the lucky dip. l was expecting to win a pen, pencil or at best a school bag, but l was shocked when they read out what l won and, it was a fridge. It was also presented to me on the spot. This

is great. It is interesting to note that banking is no longer about taking deposit and giving out loans, but that of rewarding and celebrating customers as well.”

A source at the bank who spoke on the basis of anonymity said that the Bank celebrated its customers because “Our success story so far is attributed to the overwhelming support we have received from our customers. This is why we consider them the most important to us and hence the reason for us as a responsible financial institution to celebrate them during the Customer Service Week”.

Over the years, Sterling Bank has remained consistent in the provision of quality customer service across its service points and “we are using the celebration to leverage on our planned enhanced customer service initiatives during the week”, the source said.

Some of these initiatives already put in place by the Bank to make life easy for the banking public include the opening of additional branches to take the Bank’s quality banking products and services to the door steps of its customers, development of additional customer oriented products and services and deployment of additional Automated Teller Machine points to ensure that customers have access to the bank’s delivery channels at no additional cost.

In GT Bank, Guest Tellering, an exercise in which top executives of the bank serve as tellers in various branches was in practice.

Skye Bank has equally inaugurated a public-friendly customer care centre, the ‘Yes Centre’, to enhance customer satisfaction and experience. Other banks have also found their unique way of communicating to customers at such times.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) insists that customers’ expectations have taken a quantum leap in the new global financial landscape. “Financial services no longer involve providing only standard products to customers.

The need for financial products to be personalized and customized to the individual needs of corporate and retail clients is the

‘Customer services transcend the way phone calls are answered or promises are kept. It is even beyond listening effectively, dealing with customers’ complaints or improving on turnaround time.

Good customer services means to personally know the customers and recognise their individual needs. It is doing what you say you will, when you say you will, how you say you will, at the price you promised – plus a little extra tossed in to say - I appreciate your business’

•Sterling Bank CEO, Yemi Adeola

‘CBN insists that customers’ expectations have taken a quantum leap in the new global financial landscape. Financial services no longer involve providing only standard products to customers. The need for financial products to be personalised and customised to the individual needs of corporate and retail clients is the order of the day. Banks would, therefore, need to be more proactive and innovative in packaging and marketing their products’ order of the day. Banks would, therefore, need to be more proactive and innovative in packaging and marketing their products,” it advised.

Experts said that customers’ perception of quality services varies from person to person.

Moses Obinna, a market leader in Balogun Market, Lagos, says he is always excited when his bank calls him or sends birthday message to him on his birthday. “I only want to know that my bank cares for me, my family and business,” he said. Another customer of a new generation bank, Idris Akintola says he is interested is getting a timely statement of account and account balance any time he needs it. But to another motor parts dealer at the Ladipo Market, Lagos, Okeke Okorie, a good customer service simply means giving customers the freedom to choose what they want. “Banks are forcing customers to use ATMs even when there is large scale fraud associated with the product. Anytime I make withdrawals across the counter, my bank charges me N100. It is a sad experience,” he said.

Analysts insist that service-oriented banks should be able to boost staff morale through motivation, reward frontline representatives, promote teamwork among their workforce, raise companywide awareness of the importance of customer service and remind customers of their commitment to their satisfaction.

Achieving this, he added, requires adequate staff training, designed to improve service levels, productivity and performance in the customer contact centres.

Experts say that customer services transcend the way phone calls are answered or promises are kept. It is even beyond listening effectively, dealing with customers’ complaints or improving on turnaround time. Good customer services means to personally know the customers and recognize their individual needs. It is doing what you say you will, when you say you will, how you say you will, at the price you promised – plus a little extra tossed in to say “I appreciate your business.”

Global practice According to reports, the International Customer Service Association customer service week was created in 1988. In 1991, the Customer Service Group became the nationally recognised sponsor, providing employers with celebration materials and how-to information.

Reports have it that the Customer Service Group also serves as a resource for professionals who want to share plans and ideas for the event. In 1992, the congress of United States declared customer service week as a nationally recognized yearly event. Same year, President George H. W. Bush signed the Customer Service Proclamation.

28

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

THE NATION INVESTORS

Chams grows turnover by 83% in Q3 C

HAMS Plc has continued to improve its operations and profitability as latest earnings report showed appreciable improvements in the information and communication technology company's fundamentals.

Key extracts of Chams Plc for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014 showed that group turnover rose by 83 per cent while the company further deepened its bottomline with 227.6 per cent growth in gross profit. Against the loss in the previous year, the group sustained its positive net earnings position.

Group turnover stood at N1.94 billion by September 2014 as against N1.06 billion recorded in comparable period of 2013. Gross profit tripled from N3348.5 million in third quarter 2013 to N1.14 billion in third quarter 2014.

Against the pre and post-tax loss of N614.63 million in third quarter 2013, the group recorded pre and post-tax profit of N86.84 million.

Stories by Taofik Salako

The third quarter report sustained the positive outlook that has shown strong recovery for the transactional technology group. In the first half ended June 30, 2014, Chams had shown a major leap in its growth momentum as turnover rose to N1.415 billion in first half of 2014 as against N509.44 million in corresponding period of 2013.

Gross profit had also increased from N371.69 million to N598.34 million. Against operating loss of N243.28 million in first half of 2013, operating profit stood at N100.69 million in first half of 2014. Profits before and after tax stood at N34.76 million in first half of 2014 compared with loss of N276.21 million in comparable period of 2013.

The interim reports appeared to underline increasing profitability of the company's operations. Audited report and accounts of Chams for the year ended December 31, 2013 had shown that turnover rose

by 21.3 per cent from N2.84 billion in 2012 to N3.44 billion in 2013.

Profit after tax rose by 115.3 per cent to N188.5 million as against N87.5 million in the previous year. The company's net bottom-line was boosted by tax gain of N81.54 million. Total assets grew by 22.9 per cent to N10.7 billion compared to N8.7 billion. Shareholders' funds improved from N4.5 billion to N4.7 billion.

In his recent review, group managing director, Chams Plc, Demola Aladekomo, said the performance of the company confirmed that the various initiatives that had been put in place have started bearing fruit.

"To consolidate on our performance in the last financial year and maintain our profitability is quite commendable and we are confident that things can only become better for us. More gratifying is the fact that we have sustained our topline growth trajectory, an indi-

cation that we have continued to increase our market share and remain competitive. We have entered into some partnership agreements that will have positive impact on our performance in the coming years," Aladekomo said.

According to him, the priorities of the company in 2014 include completion of the ongoing restructuring across the group and dedication of its energy towards delivering value to all stakeholders; upgrading of its card personalisation bureau to EMV-certified standard and fostering strategic alliance with its partners based in South Africa and Israel.

He added that the company would also strive to launch new card products and solutions into the market; sustain growth in its market share; achieve a profit growth of 300 per cent while continuing to engage the investment community and keep them abreast of developments in the company.

In the 2014, Chams will also drive the implementation of the Bank Verification Number project initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers' Committee. It is implementing the one-year project in partnership with Dermalog Identification Systems, a leading global company in the field of bio-payment. Chams and its technical partner, Dermalog, will work for five years on the Bank Biometric Matching Solution Project, which is expected to create 1000 new jobs for young professionals.

Apart from its benefits to the national economy, which is bridging the formal and informal economy, the Bankers Biometric Matching Solution project and the increasing uptake of identity management products and services by private and public enterprises are expected to usher Chams into a new era of strength, financial stability, improved cash flow and profitability beyond the 2014 financial year.

7-Up joins high-priced stocks

S

EVEN-UP Bottling Company (7-Up) Plc on Monday joined the exclusive list of blue chips that are ranked with the highest prices and activities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The admission of 7-Up to the group of "high-priced stocks" will enable the company's share price to change daily with lower volume of shares, providing greater liquidity to investors in the softdrink bottling company.

The "high-priced stocks", according to the NSE categorisation, are stocks with share prices of N100 and above and regular and pre-determined level of activities. In 2012, the NSE had alongside the introduction of market making introduced a pilot programme under which stockbrokers could move prices of "high priced stocks" with 10,000 shares as against the general operating rule of 50,000 shares for the movement of share prices of other stocks.

The inclusion of 7-Up within the high-priced stocks followed a review by the management of the NSE, which shown that 7-Up has

•From Left: Paint art facilitator, Mr. Remi Ogunlade; Brand Manager, Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, Mr. Emonena Kagho; first prize winner, Miss Aisha Umoru and education consultant Amuwo-Odofin LGA, Mrs. Oginni at Berger Paints-sponsored creative & design youth camp organised by New Era Foundation in Lekki, Lagos recently

CWG eyes N16.5b turnover, N300m net profit

C

OMPUTER Warehouse Group Plc plans to grow its turnover to N16.5 billion as the company moves to consolidate the income streams from its traditional business.

In a review of the business outlook of the company, chief executive officer, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) Plc, Mr Austin Okere, said the company plans to optimize and recognise revenues from its traditional brick and mortar business which shall see a 46 per cent increase in revenue in the fourth quarter to close 2014 at about N16.5 billion.

Okere, who founded CWG, said the company could end the year with a net profit of N300 million, some 61 per cent increase on its third quarter performance.

According to him, the group has made great strides in the introduction of its new subscription based business lines and its profit outlook is a reflection of continuing improvement in margins driven by greater efficiency and good focus on the growth of managed services.

“The company is firmly focused on scaling her new subscription businesses, under the CWG 2.0 umbrella, in order to see a change in the profitability

trend by half of 2015,” Okere said.

He outlined that the first among these new businesses is the SMERP, a cloud based ERP product that is ready for roll out and is currently being tested by a few organisations while there are also on-going discussions with multilateral organisations that are focused on SMEs and inclusive growth in Nigeria to collaborate on the roll out of this product.

He added that there is also the flagship e-commerce technology platform, Openshopen.ng, a product, that has been running a beta test with a few organisations, with the plan for a mass rollout in the first quarter of 2015.

“There is also the free to air services which the group will be offering in collaboration with the second largest satellite provider in Europe. This service would launch with 30 TV channels and is planned to be launched in quarter 4, this year. CWG’s smart grid solution to Electricity distribution Companies (DISCOS) is at POC stage with two of the largest Discos in Nigeria and we expect that this new line of business will be at implementation stage by Q3 2015,” Okere said.

According to him, CWG will

continue to focus on growing the brand through initiatives directed towards empowering the African entrepreneur.

“The declining sales is partly reflective of some changes in procurement pattern for ICT goods generally. As part of seeking efficiencies in ICT procurements, users’ procurement processes are increasingly stretched, to find best value from competing offers,” he said.

He said in spite of the challenges, the financial position of the group remains strong with adequate liquidity, leverage and efficiency ratios.

D

met the criteria for the blue chip group. 7-Up is the 13th quoted company to be so designated by the NSE. Other "high-priced stocks" included Dangote Cement Plc, Guinness Plc, Mobil Plc, Nestle Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, SIM Capital Fund, Skye Shelter Fund, Nigerian Energy Sector Fund (NESF), Total Nigeria Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and Forte Oil Plc. Head, market surveillance, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Abimbola Babalola stated that the analysis of the trading activities of 7-Up had indicated that in the last six months the company has met the criteria set by the Exchange for "high priced stocks" category.

According to him, the high priced stocks are securities that have traded an average of N100 or more per share in four out of the last six months period.

He noted that the introduction of the new category was part of the Exchange's commitment to improve liquidity and deepen the market.

Institute offers direct membership

T

HE Institute of Capital Market Analysts has announced the commencement of its direct membership programme designed to admit members into fellows and associates categories.

Speaking to journalists in Lagos, the institute’s Coordinator, Omotayo Gbede explained that qualifications for direct members ship shall be available to professional capital market operators with requisite professional qualification and at least five years relevant experience in the top management cadre of a capital market/financial institution, financial regulator or financial services market firm for associate membership and 10 years of experience for fellows.

Chief executives and senior management of financial institutions are given special consideration based on their years of experience in the financial mar-

ket.

The institute also announced its twoweek accelerated membership programme beginning on November 1st, 2014 and ending 9th November, 2014 for prospective members having a minimum of HND/B.Sc. or equivalent as well as those with finance related professional qualifications.

The institute’s main objective, Gbede stressed, is to accelerate the development of top level capital market professionals equipped with cutting edge skills in financial and capital market analysis.

Approved by the Federal Ministries of Education and Justice, its mission is to deepen the knowledge of financial markets among its members and provide the technical expertise in market analysis, financial modelling, forecasting, financial engineering as well as management of institutional frameworks.

Diamond Bank records marginal growth amidst regulatory constraints

IAMOND Bank Plc recorded marginal growth in its profit in the third quarter as the bank struggled with industry-wide regulatory constraints.

Nine-month report of Diamond Bank for the period ended September 30, 2014 showed that operating profit after tax inched up to N20.18 billion in 2014 as against N20.05 billion in comparable period of 2013. However, the bank grew its asset base by 11 per cent from N1.52 trillion as at December 31, 2013 to N1.68 trillion by the end of September 2014.

Commenting on the report, group managing director, Diamond Bank, Mr. Uzoma Dozie said the bank was pleased to report continued success in implementing its strategy across the group as evidenced by the net profit.

According to him, the performance of Diamond Bank in the last nine months is a testimony to management’s strategic alignment and focus.

He noted that retail infrastructure and innovative strategy have remained strong enablers which are propelling the bank to deliver retail solutions and propositions across all the business and

market segments.

The bank’s deposit base increased from N1.206 trillion as at December 2013 to N1.255 trillion at the end of September 2014, representing a growth of about four per cent, while deposit from other banks grew by 61 per cent, from N54.6 billion in 2013 to N87.7 billion in 2014. It scaled up loan facilities as it grew its cumulative loan portfolio to banks by 43 per cent to N184.7 billion from N129.4 billion, while loans to customers increased to N718.8 billion from N689.2 billion recorded as at December 2013, representing a growth of four per cent.

Newspaper of the Year

AN EIGHT-PAGE PULLOUT ON THE SOUTHWEST STATES

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

PAGE 29

•Coronation ceremony of the Alani of Idoani

Olutoye: From barracks to ancestral throne

Penultimate Monday, all roads to Idoani in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State witnessed a heavy human and vehicular traffic. It was the day Maj-Gen. Olufemi Olutoye was installed as Alani of Idoani. LEKE AKEREDOLU reports.

A

INSIDE

FTER several years of interregnum, the ancient town of Idoani in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State came alive

with the coronation of a retired Army General, Oba Olufemi Olutoye (Oluwatomiloye 1) as the new Alani of Idoani. He was the 21st monarch of

Ondo PDP: One party, two secretariats

PAGE 34

the community to be installed.

As early as 8.00 a.m., eminent dignitaries from all walks of life, especially those who are indigenous to

Over 2,000 dump LP,PDP for APC PAGE 36

Idoani, princes and princesses of the kingdom both at home and in the Diaspora, converged on the temporary palace of the new king. Decked

in various beautiful attires and Aso Ebi uniforms; love, joy and peace enveloped those who came to wit-

FMC Owo: An emerging world-class institution PAGES 32-33

•Continued on page 30

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

30

SOUTHWEST REPORT

T

Lagos’ street lighting projects on the upbeat

S

INCE the inception of his administration in 2007, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has deployed enough resources to ensure that the state tackled security challenges head on.

In the circumstances, the government established the State Security Trust Fund to which funds are donated by well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations to enable government to procure equipment for security agencies in order to combat crimes.

The latest in government’s efforts towards enhancing the security situation in the nation’s commercial capital is the ongoing street lighting projects dotting the nook and cranny of the state.

In the last three years, the state government has installed street light on 410 kilometers of roads in the city.

Governor Fashola, who switched on the 11.8 kilometre stretch of public lighting covering Ikorodu Road to Iddo via Jibowu and Murtala Mohammed Way in Yaba, said it was another fulfilment of some of the promises made to the people during his electioneering campaigns.

He said: “The lighting, I believe, will help this place on a daily basis.

At nights, it will make security better; it will also improve the night economy in this community.”

He further explained that apart from providing jobs for a total of 89 people made up of 56 technicians, 12 painters, 10 welders, eight engineers and three supervisors, the project has increased the amount of functioning public lighting within the state to 410 kilometres while it signifies government’s continued commitment to

•Governor Fashola switching on the 11.8km public lighting project along Murtala Mohammed Way, Yaba.Inset: The luminous street

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro

light up the city, which in turn, will reduce crimes.

Other major highways where public lighting project has been installed in the last three years include Gbagada Expressway, Carter Bridge, Iju Road, Ahmadu Bello Way, Marina Road (Badagry) and Alhaji Masha (Surulere), among others.

He urged member of the various communities to protect the facilities in their areas, even as he appealed to motorists who ply the roads to obey the state’s traffic laws, especially by not driving against traffic. He also said by driving against traffic, they not only endanger their lives, but also those of

other road users.

He also said the switching on ceremony marked the end of the construction work in the area, adding that it also marked the beginning of maintenance works to ensure that the roads are in good state.

He particularly appealed to communities, in which the projects are executed, including churches, schools, railway compound and others who pass through the roads to treat the infrastructure as a public asset, “it belongs to you”.

The General Manager of Lagos State Electricity Board (LSEB), Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi, that supervised the execution of the lighting projects, thanked Governor Fashola and the

Ministry of Works and Infrastructure for their roles in bringing the project to a successful conclusion, adding that the lighting project has connected Ikorodu Road all the way to Iddo.

Some of the dignitaries present at the ceremony were Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Taofeek Tijani and Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi.

Others were Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ganiyu Johnson, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mrs. Iyabo Obasa and a member of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Rotimi Emmanuel Olowo, among others.

HE massive Alhaji Yinusa Akinola Memorial Hall at the headquarters of Oriade Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State was filled to capacity.

Though the sun shone brightly out of the azure sky, exerting discomforting heat on those who converged on the council’s headquarter to witness the inauguration of the APC Women Forum and launch of their 2015 Calendar, the coolness of the hall calmed frayed nerves.

The six giant standing air conditioners and the 14 ceiling fans oscillating at their best aided the comforting state of the hall painted in cream colour and decorated in a most classy manner. But a close look at the ceiling painted in white revealed some huge strands of cobwebs which gave an embarrassing coating to the topmost wall and the ceiling.

Women from all walks of life attended the event coordinated by the Supervisor for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), Hon. Charity Ogbulipetu and the Majority Leader of the Legislative Arm of the council, Hon. Princess Rita Arabome-Odofin.

The women were adorned in allwhite lace attire and blue head gears, which made them look resplendent.

Intermittent chants of their slogan “APC Women, Let’s Lead the Change” inundated the ears.

In her welcome address, Hon. Ogbulipetu expressed her happiness that gone were the days when women were only heard but not seen, even as she said the presence of women in politics has changed the political landscape as they brought vibrancy and equilibrium in the country’s political process.

Noting that over the years, women had been relegated to the background in Nigerian politics, she was quick to add that nowadays, they are participating more actively than in the yesteryear as a result of political re-awakening and awareness, even as she added that the feat has not been without some challenges.

Continuing, Hon. Ogbulipetu said: “Despite the challenges and difficulties experienced by women in politics, they have continued to be forces to reckon with as they refuse

Olutoye: From barracks to ancestral can Diocese, led by Bishop Ezekiel Dahunsi, were also present at the coronation ceremony.

Before the coronation ceremony began, the Ashewa of Idoani, Chief Gideon Adelana had performed some traditional rites on behalf of the new monarch. It was gathered that after the coronation ceremony, the new king and Ashewa would not see each other again.

The journey of the new Alani of Idoani to the throne began on October 10, this year when he was selected by the majority of the kingmakers, even as he received the certificate and staff of office from the Ondo State Government the following day.

The battle for the stool for the 82year-old retired Army General, who hails from Ologbosere lineage, was taxing as he contested for the traditional stool with five other contenders.

Those who were laying claim to the throne were Prince Adeniran Adebiyi, Prince Agunloye Falade and Prince Ademola Falade from Sadibo lineage. Others were Prince Ademola Atewogboye and Prince Samuel Aladesunkanmi from Owusi lineage.

As part of the ploys to discredit the octogenarian so as not to have a shot at the throne, some leaders of the Ruling Houses dubbed him a stranger to the throne. They argued that he was not qualified to contest for the traditional stool. That unnerved him.

But, Olutoye defended himself,

,

Continued from page 29

ness the grand ceremony.

Tagging it a historic eventwould be an understatement. This is because the stool of Alani had become vacant since 2010, following the death of the late Oba Aderemi Atewogboye. It was neither that the community didn’t want the stool to be occupied by another of its illustrious sons nor was it as a result of lack of credible candidates.

Ascendancy to the throne was enmeshed in crisis.

There were series of litigations by several contenders who were laying claim to the throne. The legal tussle lasted for four years. For those years, the community was without a traditional leader; a situation that prevented the community from witnessing tangible development.

In spite that the coronation fell on a working day, many residents of the community, particularly farmers and traders, declared a work-free day for themselves as a way of honouring their new king.

The palatial residence of Oba Olutoye, which now serves as the temporary palace, was filled to its capacity. Under the massive canopies erected for the event, people danced and exchanged pleasantries.

Chiefs of Idoani were handy to pay homage to the new monarch as their culture demands. Religious leaders in the community, particularly, the clergies of Idoani Angli-

It is on record that my coronation will be the first in Idoani where there will be no bloodshed.

There was always bloodshed anytime a new Alani emerges but I believe the Lord is behind me and He had put a stop to bloodshed in Idoani... We want peace, love and unity among our people. Idoani is lagging behind and it is the cooperation of every member of the community that would help in transforming the town

,,

saying he is a direct descendant of Obasunloye, who is the progenitor of the Ruling House.

The new monarch noted that the latest attempt to prevent him from ascending the throne was orchestrated by two sections of the Houses that had been dominating the throne in the past 100 years.

However, the new Alani, who was decked in a full Ofi regalia and accompanied by his wife, Olori Omotayo and his children, Air Commodore Olufemi Olutoye, Dr. Segun and Dr. Funke Olugboje, described his coronation as God’s doing.

Olutoye further noted that in the history of the community, his coronation ceremony as Alani was the first event that did not witness bloodshed, saying it was a sign that he was or-

dained by God. “Before I was appointed as the new Alani, there was exchange of words among the contestants, but we never attacked one another physically or even instigate crisis that could lead to killing or burning of houses and property.

“It is on record that my coronation will be the first in Idoani when there was no bloodshed. There was always bloodshed anytime a new Alani emerges, but I believe the Lord is behind me and He had put a stop to bloodshed in Idoani,” he said.

On some members of the Ruling House who had gone to court to challenge his emergence as the new king of Idoani, the new Alani urged them to join hands with him to develop the community, and for it to witness peace and de-

velopment.

He further said his emergence was not an imposition on the people by the kingmakers but as a result of painstaking selection process.

“Though I am not surprised about some people going to court to challenge my emergence as the Alani of Idoani, however, in everything in life, there must be an opposition.

“We have been on this issue in the past four years; all the contenders were eligible but at the end of the day, one candidate must emerge as the Alani,” Olutoye said.

The monarch said he has numerous plans for the growth and development of the community, even as he lamented that members of the community have always been marginalised.

He said: “Idoani has been marginalised this part of the world. It is not Idoani alone but the whole Ose Local Government Area. We are at the extreme of not just Ondo State but the whole of Southwest.

“So, by the time communities begin to share some benefits of democracy, before it gets to us, the items would finish. But we are going to ensure we benefited from any largesse that comes to the people of the state.”

The wife of the monarch, Olori Omotayo called for unity among women in the community, saying before a king can be successful in his kingdom, there must be unity among his subjects.

“We want peace, love and unity

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

31

SOUTHWEST REPORT

•From left: Mrs Kpodoh, Mr Adams and Hon. Arabome-Odofin unveiling the APC women calendar

•Some of the women at the inauguration.

PHOTO: CHINAKA OKORO

Council inaugurates APC women forum

By Chinaka Okoro to give up their political ambitions.

Hence, women have recorded huge successes in their political pursuits and realised their political objectives with limited support and resources at their disposal.”

She recalled that during the country’s pre-independence era, a couple of women political activists such as Mrs Margaret Ekpo, Mrs Janet Mokelu and Miss Young (all late) were members of the Eastern House of Assembly, adding that Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti though not a fullyfledged politician, was a force to reckon with in the politics of the Western Region while Hajia Gambo Sawaba waged a fierce battle for the political and cultural emancipation of women in the Northern Region.

She revealed that “many countries the world over, are making fre-

netic efforts to bridge the conspicuously yawning gap between men’s and women’s active participation in politics. Though the number of women in government and leadership positions has improved substantially in Nigeria, it is infinitesimal when compared with what obtains in developed democracies.”

Noting with pride that the role of APC women cannot be overemphasised, Hon. Ogbulipetu said women should be celebrated, because, she said, “any society in which women’s voices are stifled always has problems. It must be realised that the roles of women as home makers cannot be disregarded. Women should know their worth and work assiduously towards achieving political success where men have seemingly failed.”

Speaking earlier, the leader of the forum, Mrs Evelyn Kpodoh said nev-

throne among our people. Idoani is lagging behind and it is the co-operation of every member of the community that would help in transforming the community.

“So, we are urging those aggrieved parties to sheathe their swords and support the new king,” she said.

One of the sons of the new king, Dr. Segun Olutoye said his father meant well for the people of Idoani.

He noted that during his father’s active days, he ensured that he was able to attract developmental projects to the community.

On why he decided to hold the coronation ceremony at their father’s compound, Dr. Olutoye said the present palace of the community is not a befitting one for their father.

He added that the children are planning to construct a befitting palace for the new Alani, saying the new king would still be using his residence as a temporary palace for now.

The Bishop of the Idoani Anglican Diocese, Rev. Ezekiel Dahunsi urged the new king to bring every member of the community together so that he would be able to achieve transformation of the community as planned.

The event was attended by some of Alani’s close associates, brothers and sisters such as the Maye of Ibadan Kingdom, Chief Emiola Adesina, a retired Justice of Ondo State, Chief Sidney Adeyemo Afonja, and Prof.

Oluwafemi Balogun, among others.

T

The role of APC women cannot be over-emphasised. Women should be celebrated; because, any society in which women’s voices are stifled always has problems. It must be realised that the role of women as home makers cannot be disregarded. er in the history of Oriade LCDA had an event such as this that witnessed a large convergence of APC women taken place, adding that “as we gath-

er here to launch the first calendar produced by women of Oriade APC. With this, we are sending a strong message and signal to all our women that we monitor and recognise all great women that had contributed immensely to the development of our great party, which is the party to beat. I urge all our women to work harder to ensure that APC wins all elections at all levels in the 2015 general elections.”

In his speech, the chairman on the occasion, Alhaji T.A.B Adams said what Oriade APC women had accomplished was unprecedented, adding that other local government areas will emulate the strides of APC women of Oriade.

He urged the leadership of the forum not to relent in its efforts to make APC the party that will win the 2015 general elections, especially the presidential election.

Some of the dignitaries that attended the event were the Majority Leader of the Legislative Arm of Oriade LCDA, Hon. Princess Rita Arabome-Odofin; the Supervisor for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Charity Ogbulitepu; Senior Lecturer at the Lagos State University, Dr Musa Ajisegiri, Chief of Staff of the LCDA, AdegboyegaBadmus B.K. Supervisor for Agriculture Hon. Bais Balogun; ViceChairman of the council, Hon. Gbolahan Dauda; Secretary to the council, Alhaji Kareem Olabanji Sunmola; the General Secretary Oriade APC, Mr Ambrose Ahmed; representative of Hon. (Mrs.) Akinlola-Hassan Ramotalai of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Tunde Musa and President National Council of Women Society Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area, Mrs E.A. Francis, among others.

Education summit: NGO to mobilise civil society groups

HE Volunteers’ Corps, a nongovernment organisation, has said it would mobilise civil society groups nation-wide towards implementing the recommendation of its stakeholders’ education summit which holds tomorrow at the Eko Hotel and Suites Victoria Island Lagos.

The Executive Director of the NGO, Adeola Awogbemi revealed this while briefing reporters on the activities of the group in Surulere, Lagos.

He lamented that countless education summits had been held in Nigeria, adding that even when recommendations were transmitted to government for implementation, they end up in trashcans.

She said: “When we mooted the idea of the education forum, people were skeptical about what we intended to do. They even queried why we should organise another education forum when recommendations of previous ones had not been implemented by successive administrations?

“But we say ours is going to be different this time because we are not just going to be issuing a communiqué; we are going to mobilise civil society groups that will mount pressure on government to implement the communiqué. This is what I think was lacking in the past.”

The summit whose theme is “Deconstructing the Continuing

By Adegunle Olugbamila

The deplorable state of Nigeria’s education sector calls for serious concern. It becomes more so when you consider the place of education in nation-building. No country seeking to progress will relegate to the background this allimportant sector Crises of Standards and Performance in the Nigerian Secondary School” is against the backdrop of the decline in education, especial at the basic level.

“The deplorable state of Nigeria’s education sector calls for serious concern. It becomes more so when you consider the place of education in nation-building. No country seeking to progress will relegate to the background this all-important sector.

“Education is the instrument for

effecting national development, which must be taken seriously if a country aims at achieving the goals of national development,” she said.

Volunteers’ Corps Programme Manager, Ayodeji Awogbenle, said Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau will chair the event, even as he revealed that invitation to the event had also been extended to all state commissioners of education and other stakeholders nationwide.

Volunteers’ Corps which was established in 1992, implements projects in health, education, environment and volunteerism. Its key philosophy is anchored on free tutoring of pupils in Mathematics, English and Life skills. At present, it has nine tutoring centres, seven in Lagos and two in Ogun state.

•Aare Babalola

32

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

33

SOUTHWEST REPORT

•CT scans machine

•ICT building •Mammogram machine

FMC Owo: An emerging world-class institution Dr. Olufemi Omotoso is the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo, Ondo State, which is located on the ever-busy Lagos-Abuja-Port Harcourt highway. In this interview with DAMISI OJO, he speaks about efforts being made to treat cancer and other deadly diseases in the institution, apart from taking care of victims of road accidents. Excerpts:

,

Y

OU assumed duty as the Chief Medical Director of the hospital in 2009. What would you say are some of the achievements of your administration?

Since 2009 when I assumed duty as the Chief Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owo, we’ve noticed that the number of patients that visit the hospital for medical treatment has been on the increase. There are various aspects to our patient load and different specialties. Since I assumed duty, we have established the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department. We have expanded the scope of our Ophthalmology Department. There was a lot of old equipment before I came on board.

When patients started increasing, we found it difficult to cope. But somehow, we have managed to replace almost all the obsolete equipment in the hospital. We have even added what is called CT scan to our equipment.

That is something that a lot of institutions do not have, even some teaching hospitals don’t have such facility.

We are doing very well in terms of training because the hospital is one of those that train postgraduate medical doctors. All the teaching hospitals and the Federal Medical Centres send candidates to the hospital for the same examination. Our candidates have been doing very well.

In fact, everybody has been wondering how the hospital is performing some feats that others are not able to perform. In medicine, we have house officers. FMC Owo is still the only hospital that is training house officers in dentistry. We’ve some new infrastructure such as the administrative building. We are in the process of building some others.

Since 2009, we’ve completed the intensive care unit. It is one of the best in the country. Soon, we should be able to equip it to world-standard. We are building an accident and emergency unit. Of course that’s something that is very important to us. One of the things we do most here is taking care of accident and emergency victims. We receive accident victims from Lokoja, Kogi, Ekiti and Edo. Because of the efforts by the hospital, the state government had to approve a trauma unit for the institution. We also received a fullyequipped ambulance from the government.

We also started post-graduate medical training in the Department of Paediatrics and in the Department of Orthopaedics.

What do you think informed the increase in the number of patients?

It’s a little bit difficult to account for it. One thing we know is that our charges were low. But at a point, we had to increase them. We make money but we spend so much on maintenance and also procure new equipment. But our internally-generated revenue (IGR) is quite low.

We could not increase our fees too much because we are conscious of the kind of people that are in this area. Relatively speaking, compared with a lot of hospitals in this country, our services are very good. Our members of staff are committed; our doctors and nurses are committed. Because of that, people come here from Lagos for medical treatment. Something that might cost them N200, 000 in Lagos will cost them N50, 000 in Owo. And they know we render good services.

We are trying to look into other areas through which we can generate revenue.

We have been given permission to do public-private partnership. So, we are look•Dr Omotoso ing into how we can partner with some (CMD) people. People prefer to partner with hospitals in metropolitan areas such as Lagos and Ibadan. Some people find it difficult to come to this semi-rural area to provide such amenities. We are also talking with Owo people abroad to assist us to provide more services

People come here from Lagos for medical treatment.

Something that might cost them N200, 000 in Lagos will cost them N50, 000 in Owo. And they know we render good services...We are trying to look into other areas through which we can generate revenue. We have been given permission to do public-private partnership. So, we are looking into how we can partner with some people

,,

for the people.

What about subventions from the Federal Government?

Subventions from the Federal Government are just for capital projects.

And over the years, the money has been reducing. The Federal Government does not release all the money for capital projects. Last year, they released about 60 per cent of the money.

As a result of this, we have to generate money internally so that we will continue to render essential services to the people; since the Federal Government is not providing money for us to buy drugs. What they do essentially is to provide money for payment of salaries and they give us overhead which is not even enough to buy diesel.

Right now, FMC Owo is one of the hospitals that are providing 24-hour electricity.

You provide referrals to other hospitals. Don’t you think it is one of the reasons for the increase in the patient load?

If we are to critically appraise it, sometimes it could be a little difficult to quantify. Initially, we were referring a lot of patients to Ife. But because we have expanded the scope of our services, a lot of people are no longer going on referral. We can now carry out so many functions here.

In fact, the state government sends us so many patients now in spite that they have a specialist hospital. Maybe we are treating people well and people are seeing the result. It is difficult to say this is the reason because it is alarming the way patients visit our hospital. We’ve also procured some machines to do dialysis for patients that have renal problems.

There are so many diseases that were not so prevalent in the society in the past which are more prevalent now; may be because of lifestyle. One of the things that contribute to kidney failure is the kind of creams that people use nowadays. Some of them are quite toxic. Let me give you an exam-

ple, we’ve seen cancer of the breast in an 18-year-old patient. To all intents and purposes, these are some of the reasons for more patients visiting our hospital.

The Ebola virus disease is the most current and deadly health challenge the country has experienced. Is your hospital equipped enough to tackle it?

We are actually in the process of procuring personal protective equipment that each personnel or whoever that handles an Ebola patient can wear.

The Federal Government is trying to build some isolation centres. We are talking with the Federal Government to establish such centre here because we know the kind of people that we serve.

We’ve procured infrared thermometers which our doctors will be using.

We are in the process of procuring personal equipment that each staff who will be handling suspected Ebola cases will wear. We have to suspect first.

We don’t have anything that can give us a full confirmatory diagnosis. If we suspected any patient, we will be sending them to centres such as University College Hospital, Ibadan that have such facility.

How is the institution’s welfare package like?

The current administration has done well in terms of staff welfare.

Generally speaking, our staff cannot complain much about their welfare not being taken seriously. They know that the management is treating them well.

We have all manner of packages we’ve been providing for them which they are happy about.

Could you give an appraisal of the health sector in Nigeria?

The state of the health sector in Nigeria is something that could be improved upon. If you critically look at it, you ask yourself what are the points of first contact of people? Then you look at how they are taken care of at

those points of first contact.

Ideally, in a setting such as Nigeria, you realise that not everybody will come to the hospital here. When I assumed duty and realised that, we had to open up two places for primary health care. The first one is in Ikare Akoko. Before we opened the primary health care centre there, an average of 26 patients used t visit the place in a month. By the time we started there, we were seeing more than 80 patients per day. That proved to us that people don’t want to go too far to receive medical care.

We also opened one in Emure Ile. The place is doing well. Finance and personnel are two most challenging factors we experience. We have an FMC annex in the secretariat and it is connected with the FMC annex at Oda Road, Akure.

As I said, not everybody can come to the hospital. Not everybody will want to go far. So, it is vital for us to take health care services closer to the people. If we can have more places like those that are well staffed, well stocked in terms of drugs and equipment, the health sector will be better in Nigeria.

So, if you look at the health care situation in Nigeria, it could be improved upon. I know the Federal Government has primary health care facilities all over but not all of them are functional. If the Federal Government could do something serious about that, I believe it will help the people so much.

We have to look at the people, what they need, how they can access what will enhance their well-being. That is very important.

What is the rate of prevalence of HIV in Ondo State?

The official figure right now is about 4.5 per cent or thereabout. But unofficial figure is higher than that because there is still a lot of stigmatisation concerning HIV. We have free

treatment for them here, we have free drugs for them but they won’t come because they don’t want to be stigmatised. People even fear Ebola more than HIV now.

It underscores how people look at these diseases. Of course, everybody is afraid to contract HIV although the behaviour of the people do not suggest they are afraid of HIV. People are still more scared of Ebola because of the mortality rate.

Is it ethical for doctors to go on strike?

One thing people don’t understand is that doctors are human beings. It was in those days that people used to look at doctors as gods.

I am a doctor who is at the managerial level. Of course, I don’t want anybody to go on strike because I know the implication for the general public, some people will die.

But it is a two-way thing.

Doctors will have their demands; government is also there to meet doctors’ demands. The question is whether the government is meeting their demands the way it should be.

It is the patients’ lives that we are playing with and it is not too good. If you look into what the doctors are asking for, they have a number of genuine reasons to actually go on strike. We thank God that they are back and I pray that they won’t go on strike again. Even overseas, doctors still go on strike. So, it is not something that is peculiar to Nigeria. It is just that when doctors go on strike abroad, the government strives to ensure that it looks into their demands very quickly and see how they can meet them. But as professionals, we must do our work.

Be that as it may, I believe that doctors in this country are still a very responsible group of people.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

34

SOUTHWEST REPORT

Ondo PDP: One party, two secretariats W

ITHOUT exaggeration, things have gone awry with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State since Governor Olusegun Mimiko officially dumped the Labour Party ((LP) for the PDP three weeks ago.

The major victim of Mimiko’s defection is the party’s state executive committee under the leadership of Mr Ebenezer Alabi who worked hard to strengthen the party that nearly became extinct few years back.

Before the defection of Mimiko, it had been rumoured that the National Working Committee (NWC) would favour him in the distribution of party’s offices.

This forced the state executive to drag the NWC to Federal High Court, Abuja to seek legal redress on the alleged move by Mimiko to hijack the PDP. But, despite the ruling of an Abuja High Court that the status quo should be maintained in the Ondo PDP, Governor Olusegun Mimiko had established a parallel secretariat of the party.

The parallel secretariat is located at No 3, Bishop Fagun Road Alagbaka Akure adjacent to the First City Monument Bank (FCMB).

After Mimiko had defected to the PDP, he allegedly sought the dissolution of the structures of the party in the state.

But, the Ebenezer Alabi-led State Executive Committee approached an Abuja High Court, praying it to stop the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party from dissolving the

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

structures of the party in Ondo State.

The court, presided over by Justice Oriji ruled that the status quo should be maintained and adjourned the case to tomorrow for further hearing.

When contacted on phone for comment on the parallel state secretariat of the party opened by Mimiko, Alabi said it was clear that Mimiko was seeking to destroy the party in the state with the opening of the parallel secretariat.

Describing it as illegal, Alabi called on members of the PDP not to have anything to do with the parallel secretariat.

He said: “It is now clear that Governor Mimiko is seeking to destroy the PDP in Ondo State. We accepted his defection to the party but what we are saying is that due process must be followed in running the affairs of the party.

“The last time we met President Goodluck Jonathan, we were told to go and resolve all the issues brought up by Mimiko’s defection to the PDP. Immediately we left Abuja, Mimiko went to open an illegal secretariat.

“His action has revealed the kind of person he is and how desperate he is to by-pass due process. We are no longer interested in negotiating with him.

“Members of our party should not go to the illegal secretariat. Our secretariat is at No 86, Oyemekun Road, Akure. We have been using the place since 1999 and nobody can change it now.”

As the controversy over the par-

•Old PDP secretariat on Oyemekun Road

•The Mimiko’s new secretariat

allel secretariat raged on, the NWC announced the dissolution of the Ondo State executive and appointed Dare Adeleke as the new chairman of the caretaker committee that will oversee the affairs of the party.

When our correspondent visited the old PDP secretariat, the building was under lock and key. None of the party members was seen around the vicinity.

Fierce-looking mobile police men and some operatives of the Directorate of Security Service (DSS) kept watch on the premises.

However, at the Mimiko’s new PDP secretariat Alagbaka, workers were busy.

hinder all administrative duties.

It called for immediate re-opening of the secretariat to prevent crisis.

However, the chairman of the caretaker committee, Adeleke said the secretariat would remain closed for now.

He said the step was to avoid unauthorised access and possible destruction or pilfering from the secretariat after the dissolution of the state executive by the NWC. Adeleke assured all members of the PDP in the state of its unwavering commitment to the promotion of justice, peace and fair play.

He called on all aggrieved members to remain calm and be

The secretariat was opened to members of the public while one of the members of staff stated that all those aggrieved members of the PDP would soon accept their fate and consult the new secretariat for official matters.

The PDP executive protested the deployment of armed policemen to effect a forcible shutdown of its secretariat along Oyemekun Road, Akure.

They described the development as unnecessary, even as they queried the justification of their action.

The party noted that the dissolution of the PDP executive by NWC did not, in any manner, justify police sealing off its offices and

‘Aregbesola’s model panacea for inse Will Nigerians ever know peace again in view of the incessant killings in the Northeast? Pastor Ladi Thompson, Special Adviser to the President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Conflict Resolution and Security Matters, proffers answers to the poser. He spoke with DADA ALADELOKUN

T

O quite many that are already counting days to the end of the year, it is time they started counting their blessings-by rolling out the drums. But to some, notably Ladi Thompson, a humanist pastor cum activist, this is no moment for any drum to even “whisper!”

“Why must we dance –to celebrate the thousands that have been mowed down by the dreaded insurgents … to celebrate the inexplicable abduction of those 219 innocent girls – the future of our beleaguered nation?

Pastor Thompson’s emotion crumbled pitiably at his Ilupeju, Lagos office, where the encounter with this reporter took place earlier in the week.

“God, please take control,” Thompson, the Special Adviser to the President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Conflict Resolution and Security Matters, pleaded.

But we have cause to heave a sigh of relief, pastor. We heard that our soldiers are rising to the task of containing them (the insurgents)” the reporter cut in, apparently to soothe his frayed nerves.

“We must refuse to be deceived at this point. Our soldiers are getting discouraged. While we

were counselling some of them, we found out that Nigerian Air Force men were “shelling” our soldiers.

Guns supplied to the Nigerian Army were mysteriously found in the hands of the enemies. And sadly, some of our soldiers shoot into the air instead of shooting at the enemies …where are we heading for?

“Many of our men don’t live to collect their first pay. It is obvious that there is infiltration in high levels and it is a clear fact that a house divided against itself would not stand. Our government must know that there is no global definition for terrorism.

Each country defines and tackles insurgency in its own peculiar way to propagate its own existence,” he said.

On the way forward, Pastor Thompson said: “There is the need for us to put together experts that will define terrorism from the Nigerian and African perspectives. We must realise that one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.

“President Goodluck Jonathan needs to recognise that we are in a state of war. We must know that the military is not the main solution to the war. We are dealing with moles in high places and they must be fished out. There must be an empowered bipartisan body of critical thinkers to weed them out. All political activities must be put on hold for now.

“In the interim, President Jonath-

In the interim, President Jonathan should inaugurate an all-inclusive body for governance. We need a platform where President Jonathan and the patriotic few such as the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola would sit on a roundtable to discuss the nation’s future. I mentioned Aregbesola because of the Omoluabi ethos of his government...It is about patriotism, integrity, unconditional love, Godliness, fear of God and fellow-feeling. Since it is working in Osun State, it can work for the entire country an should inaugurate an all-inclusive body for governance, while we sort out the issue of Nigeria’s future and the stability of its territorial integri-

ty.

“We need, for instance, a platform where somebody such as President Jonathan and the patriotic few such as the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola would sit on a roundtable to discuss the nation’s future. I mentioned Aregbesola because of the Omoluabi ethos of his government, which is the key thing needed to turn things around in this country.

“It is about patriotism, integrity, unconditional love, Godliness, fear of God and fellow-feeling. Since it is working wonderfully in Osun State, it can work for the entire country. We must not throw away the golden goose because of tribal sentiments.

On what Aregbesola’s style of governance has to do with the war against insurgency, Pastor Thompson said: “What is happening requires the kind of rare fundamental re-orientation that is happening in Osun State. It is beyond cosmetics.

“We can no longer avoid the issues that should have been handled fundamentally, which were not. Many of us thought the recent national conference would engender the desired solution, but unfortunately, the nogo areas are the issues causing problems in the country. So, we are back to square one.

“Sadly, the constitution of the conference was badly skewed because 95

per cent of those that were out to carve a future for the country belong to the typewriter generation that is still hooked on tribal, ethnic and religious rivalry oiled by corruption.

“So, their results are predictable and totally useless when it comes to forging a way for a digital generation.”

Using findings from various researches as premise for his argument, Pastor Thompson advised that “we must waste no further time in putting in place a regional defence mechanism.”

Continuing, he said: “In the event that we fail to hearken to the voice of wisdom, by refusing to implement all these things because some of us are still blinded by our political ambitions, it is going to be a matter of weeks before we realise that our leaders have slept for too long.”

Noting that the failure of Nigerian leadership has “made us a bitter disappointment to the rest of Africa,” he added that “it will be very unfair to the younger generation because in the event of a meltdown, African youths are not going to find any cushion anywhere in Africa because there is a lot of resentment against Nigeria.”

Pastor Thompson warned that it would be

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

35

SOUTHWEST REPORT Expert advises Fed Govt on Ebola

T

riat

law-abiding.

However, with a strong petition sent to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) through the Ondo State Commissioner of Police, Eke, the State Police Command had no option than to re-open the shut PDP secretariat after 24 hours. The two secretariats are being used simultaneously; the new by Governor Mimiko’s supporters and the old secretariat by the aggrieved members of the PDP. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Wole Ogodo said the police men were drafted to the old PDP secretariat along Oyemekun Road to provide protection since there was a change of baton. They

would be there to maintain peace and orderliness.

Ogodo, however, maintained that their presence was not to intimidate PDP supporters or residents in the area.

The crisis in the Ondo State PDP has remained contentious as its State Executive Committee (SEC) headed by Alabi said the purported dissolution of his committee was only on the pages of newspapers.

He insisted that the committee is in total control of the party and its affairs.

Alabi faulted the recent meeting hosted by Governor Mimiko at the Government House, Alagbaka with few PDP leaders where they agreed

insecurity’ too late for the country if, in the next three months, the Jonathan-led administration fails to declare a state of war against all the secret agents in government as the insurgents continue to advance.

“When history books are written, it will be noted that there were some who belonged to a typewriter generation; people who were so self-centred, greedy and so myopic to the extent that all they planned to do was to steal the tomorrow of the youth to create comfort throughout their own lifetime.

“However, their names will go down in history as belonging to the worst generation in Africa’s history,” the cleric said.

on power sharing between the LP and the PDP. He said: “It is a factional meeting where eminent PDP leaders such as its 2012 governorship candidate, Olusola Oke, former Minister of Defence, Tokunbo Kayode and Jimoh Ibrahim were not invited. Whatever agreement they reached at the meeting was not binding on the state executive.”

The state executive had conducted a successful ward congress.

Both security operatives, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP team from its National Secretariat, Abuja witnessed the exercise.

From Jeremiah Oke, Abeokuta

HE Chairman of Records and Information Management Foundation (RIMA) Lagos, Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole has advised the Federal Ministry of Information to continue the aggressive sensitisation of the public on the deadly Ebola virus disease.

He also urged the Federal Government not to relent on the awareness campaign against the deadly virus until there is remedy for it.

Oyewole, who spoke at a press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of RIMA Foundation in Lagos, said the Federal Government should not stop sensitising Nigerian on healthy lifestyle so as to avoid contracting the virus.

He said information is key in fighting such deadly virus, even as he added that he has written many proposals to Federal Ministry of Information on how to sensitise Nigerians about the dreaded disease. Dr Oyewole maintained that information plays key role in ensuring development in the economic, health and other sectors.

“We need information management in our society. Unfortunately, no institution is offering that course in any of Nigerian universities, but we are ready to partner with the Federal Ministry of Information in order to sensitise the public on the policies of government.

“We have organised a conference to discuss the impact of information management on the Ebola epidemic in Nigeria as part of our efforts to sensitise the public on the disease. Many people, especially in the rural areas, are still in doubt of the deadly virus. The reality of the disease we can communicate to them in their respective languages.

Speaking on lack of proper information in the society, Oyewole said many people still believe the Freedom of Information Bill was meant for the press alone, adding that there is a need to make them understand why it is important for every Nigerians.

“Another area where we want the Federal Ministry of Information to partner with us is the general information management. Some people have still not understood the benefit of the Freedom of Information Bill which is very important for every Nigerians.

“We must manage our information machinery effectively. We need to understand the implications of lack of information and ensure our people rise against ignorance,” he said.

FRSC prosecutes traffic offenders

A

By Olalekan Ayeni

total of 23 traffic offenders were arraigned and prosecuted at Ota Magistrates Court 2, Ogun State for contravening various traffic rules and regulations last month. They were tried at the Joint Mobile Court exercise in Ota, Idiroko and Ifo Unit Commands.

The 22 offenders were convicted with options of fine commensurate with the gravity of their offenses. However, one was cautioned and discharged by the presiding Magistrate A. O. Abimbola.

The prosecutor, Mr Uzoma Enwereuzo, told the court that the offenders were apprehended for breaking traffic rules and regulations ranging from seat belt violation (SBV), non-possession of driver’s licenses, possessing expired tyres or lack of spare tyres, among other offence.

While addressing the offenders in his office before they were taken to court, the Ota Unit Commander, Mr Sunday Omafu, said the primary objective of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) is to ensure full enforcement of traffic rules and regulations and to ensure safety on our roads.

He added that all road users are advised to co-operate with the commission by strictly adhering to its rules and regulations to end the incessant crashes that always occur during and after the ember months.

He urged motorists to imbibe defensive driving culture, avoid dangerous or wrong overtaking, underage driving and drinking and driving.

In a related development, the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), has urged the heavy duty trucks and other articulated vehicles within Ogun State to shun hazardous parking and other illegal operations capable of hindering free-flow of traffic within the state.

The Ota Zone II Commander, Mr Kunle Ajibade, who made the plea at Ojuore, Ado-Odo/Ota, a suburb of Ogun State while on traffic control exercise with his team members, said “illegal parking and trading on highways are some of the causes of traffic jam.

He said Ado-Odo/Ota is an industrial area which attracts high movements of vehicles and individuals.

He, therefore, appealed to drivers of heavy duty trucks to shun the attitude of dangerous parking, driving against traffic, even as he warned traders under the Sango under bridge, Ojuore and Dalemo to leave the area.

APC chieftain submits nomination forms

Thompson

A prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a House of Representatives aspirant, Hon. Morufudeen Adeola Adefolabi, has submitted his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms.

Hon. Adefolabi, who represented the Ifako/Ijaiye/Ojokoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, was accompanied to submit the forms at the party secretariat in Ogba, Lagos by his supporters who all expressed confidence that the exlawmaker would be elected as a member of the House in 2015.

In an interview immediately after the submission, the APC chieftain said: “I am in the race to bring about a change in my constituency. And this change would manifest as the improvement in the living standards of my people, development of my constituency, robust representation, creation of wealth and existence of other good things of life for all the residents of my constituency.

“I gave effective representation in many capacities before. I was a councillor, council executive secretary, local government chairman and the House of Representatives member. I performed with excellence in those offices. The records are there, and my constituents are aware of my great accomplishments. With modesty, I can say that I have a reputation for excellent representation.”

His supporters, namely, Mr. Ayo Alaba-Ogunsanwo, Hon. David Olaniyi, Hon. Musibau Adeniyi and Mrs Mojisola Lawal spoke of Hon. Adefolabi in glowing terms.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

36

SOUTHWEST REPORT ‘No Boko Haram members arrested in Southwest’

Over 2, 000 dump LP, PDP for APC in Ondo

A

S rumours made the rounds that Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko would defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has been gaining more defectors from the ruling party.

Over 2, 000 Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in Ore in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state dumped their parties and pitched their tents with the APC. The aggrieved defectors said they were worried about their political futures since Mimiko was yet to clarify where he will likely be by 2015 elections.

A PDP Chieftain, Akin Akinbodunde said his followers have vowed not to stay in the same party with

N

From Leke Akeredolu, Akure

Mimiko, saying that more members of the PDP across the state would soon dump the.

An LP member, Festus Arakanye said they decided to dump LP because they had vowed not to follow the governor to the PDP. Arakanye said after a wide consultation with his followers, they all agreed that APC remains the best platform for them to continue their political journey.

Receiving the defectors, a Chieftain of APC, Mr Morayo Lebi praised the decamped individual for taking the decision on their political futures.

Lebi, who is eyeing the APC ticket for the Ondo Southern Senatorial District assured them that APC would give them equal treatment.

The APC chieftain, who

S

•Lebi (middle) receiving the defectors

had been touring the six local government areas in his senatorial district, said his intention was to transform the areas if elected in the 2015 general elections.

Lebi added that he is aware of the suffering of his people, even as he promised to give them quality representation.

He also promised that if elected, he would attract Federal

Government projects to his constituency.

He said his focus would be youths’ and women empowerment.

Community relishes free medical services

OT less than 1, 500 residents of the ancient town of Owo in Ondo State have benefited from free medical service courtesy of the family of one-time legislator in Old Western State House of Assembly, the late S. B. Aruwajoye. The free Medicare was provided for the community to mark the 30th anniversary of the late Aruwajoye.

The beneficiaries will receive free treatment for high blood pressure, diabetes and eye problems.

Speaking on behalf of the estate while inaugurating the

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

programme, the newly installed Aruwajoye Ogbeni Oja of Owo Kingdom, Chief Akinboro Aruwajoye, said the gesture aimed at continuing the good works of their late father.

He said the children decided to embark on the mission to further ensure healthy living of the people, even though they had been involved in the development of Owo community in the past.

According to him, the late Aruwajoye, who was noted for his contributions to the development of Owo town, left a legacy

of kindness and service to humanity which the children were trying to sustain.

He said: “Our father left legacies of kindness and service to us as his children and to the community.

“We have enjoyed goodwill from people. We therefore reasoned that it is imperative that we should also give back to the society in order to enhance the welfare of the less-privileged and contribute to the development of our community.

“During the time of our late father, the community lacked water, electricity, telephone services and other amenities.

He worked hard towards providing some of these services which helped in developing the community even from the council level.

“We want to encourage well-meaning sons and daughters of Owo to join hands with others to render services that will impact positively on the lives of the people.”

He, however, said the medical mission was a way of enhancing the health of members of the community, especially the aged.

Aruwajoye said: “We considered those amenities and services which our people lack

and which are essential for their well-being. That informed our choice of high blood pressure as one of the health issues that have caused death of many people in our community.

“We also carry out tests on people to ascertain their diabetes status and eye problems. We are not just carrying out tests on them; we are also providing drugs and eye glasses.”

The Head of the mission, Dr. Tony Olekwu, said the group was impressed with the turnout of people for the medical treatments.

Aspirant promises quality representation

Former Tribune NUJ chair joins politics

alone, I do not know what the problem is everywhere but I have to consult the people to know what they need, because it is the people that will direct me to meet their needs.” He also confessed that even though the road is tough, he is adequately prepared.”

He urged the people to elect credible people as the duty of the governor is so enormous that he needs responsible and capable hands to move the ship of Oyo State forward.

Present at the event were the Chairman, Oyo State APC, Pa Samuel Ogundiran, women and chairmen from the four wards that make up the district, namely Afijio, Atiba, Oyo East and Oyo West Federal Constituency.

HE IMMEDIATE Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Tribune chapel, Oyo State, Deacon Tunde Ogunesan has joined politics. He is aspiring for the House of Assembly seat in the 2015 general elections.

Ogunesan, who hails from Sepeteri, Saki-East Local Government Area, joined the services of the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc in 2007. He later joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ogunesan, who has also picked the party’s nomination form to contest the primaries of the party, is a graduate of Mass Communication from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, and is currently pursuing his Master’s degree programme in Communication at the University of Ibadan.

He had also served as the Welfare Officer, Sports Writers’ Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Oyo State chapter and secretary Tribune NUJ chapel, among others.

In a chat with reporters on Monday, Ogunesan said his joining politics was informed by the desire to serve his people.

“I am the least person my colleagues and friends will ever imagine to join politics, but two things influenced my decision.

First, God ordained it and secondly, it is a call to represent the people of Sepeteri, especially Saki-East Local Government Area.

T

HE dividend of democracy is not stomach infrastructure, but valid representation of the people’s interest. This was the view of Mr Tunde Oyewo while declaring his political interest.

He spoke at the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat in Oyo while revealing his intentions to contest for Oyo Central Senatorial district.

The aspirant, who is currently the Special Assistant to the Governor on Yes O Cadet, revealed that he has been in politics for a long time, even as he said he had served in both the executive and legislative arms of government.

“My combination of executive and legislative knowl-

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

edge has given me the edge above others and also made me the best candidate for the position,” Oyewo said.

He further reiterated that as a legislator, his job is to address the needs of his constituents and represent them equally. “ “The true dividend of democracy is self actualisation, when you create a level playing field for everybody. Welfare and others are basic needs of the people,” he said.

Oyewo said he is interested in meeting the needs of his people, adding that if elected, he will give his constituents quality representation.

Soliciting the support of his people, he said: “I cannot do it

•From left: Former Managing Director, UAC, Dr Ayo Ajayi, former State Co-ordinator, Special Marshal, Aare Bisi Ishola Lawal, Alhaji Alao Adenekan and Engineer Ayoade Lawal at the wedding ceremony of Aare’s son, Temidayo and Ufuoma at Lagos Country Club, Ikeja.

T

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

OME Hausa leaders in Lagos State have denied a report that no less than 1, 000 members of the Boko Haram group were arrested in the Southwest.

The Seriki Hausawa of Ajeromi Ifelodun Ojoraland, Lagos, Alhaji Adamu Abubakar; Seriki Hausawa of Agege, Alhaji Musa DogoKadai and Seriki Hausawa Idi Araba, Alhaji Hassan Aliyu said the report was false and urged Lagosians to debunk it.

Seriki Abubakar said there was no time such an arrest was made and that if it were so, he and his colleagues in the Arewa Council of Chiefs would have known. He added that the mention of Southwest in the report without the mention of a particular town where the purported arrest was carried out made the report more suspicious. He wondered why since the report was made public, Nigerians have not been told where the ‘suspects’ were being kept and the security agency that made the arrests.

During a visit to the Minister of State for Special Duties and Inter-governmental Relations, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), the Chairman, Arewa Council of Chiefs, Lagos, Alhaji Sani Kabiru, said Boko Haram members were arrested. He did not give details.

Abubakar said: “The allegation has affected the good relationship between the Hausa and our host community. Also, our people are accusing us of collecting money from the government. I want to believe that the chairman was misquoted. He does not do anything without consulting us.”

Abubakar said the impression created by the report that Alhaji Kabiru is the Seriki Southwest is false, adding that Alhaji Haruna Maiyasin, who lives in Ibadan, is the Seriki Southwest. He added that Alhaji Kabiru and others who went to see the minister in Abuja were on their own and not representatives of the other Serikis.

He urged his colleagues to desist from statements that were capable of stoking the fire of insecurity in the country.

•From left: Staff Officer, Special Marshals and Partnership, Assistant Route Commander, Ijeoma Ajuzie, the Zonal Head of Operation RS2, Lagos, Mr Charles Aborchi, Zonal Co-ordinator, Special Marshal and Partnership, Alhaji Toyin Kadiku and Lagos State Co-ordinator, Special Marshal, Mr Benson George Babatunde at the presentation of a set of table tennis to Lagos Sector Command in Ojodu, Lagos.

37

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

THE NATION INVESTORS As the news of the full payment for the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank Limited by Skye Bank Plc hit the stock market, share price of Skye Bank raced through the down market to record the highest gain on Monday. Capital Market Editor, TAOFIK SALAKO, reports that the acquisition may be a game-changer for Skye Bank

Skye Bank: Riding the wave of Mainstreet Bank's acquisition

S

KYE Bank was the bestperforming overall stock at the stock market on Monday.

Against the worsening downtrend at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Skye Bank's share price recorded the maximum allowable daily percentage change of 10 per cent. Besides being the highest gain for the day, the significance of the bank's upswing was further impressed by its contrarian nature.

The market opened on Monday with renewed bearishness. With nearly four losers to every gainer, average decline at the NSE was 0.55 per cent, a downturn that accentuated the loss of 3.93 per cent recorded last week.

But Skye Bank rode on the momentum of the news of the completion of the payment for its acquisition of the entire issued shares of Mainstreet Bank, an inspiring news that market pundits believed would continue to leapfrog the performance of the bank in the period ahead.

Skye Bank at the weekend paid the 80 per cent balance for the full acquisition of the entire issued shares of Mainstreet Bank to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), thus making Skye Bank the new owner of Mainstreet Bank. In a confirmation of its often-stated robust balance sheet, Skye Bank was said to have paid some N100 billion to AMCON on Friday October 31 as balance for the acquisition, which was valued at some N120 billion. The deadline for the payment of the balance was November 3, 2014.

Skye Bank had on October 9, 2014 paid the mandatory deposit of 20 per cent for the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank, a deal that was valued at between N120 billion and N126 billion. The differential in the value was due to the variation in exchange rate base used by the different sources for the dollar-based value of the deal. The payment of the 80 per cent balance to AMCON wholly fulfilled the terms of the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement earlier signed by both AMCON and Skye Bank and now put the latter in ownership and control of Mainstreet Bank.

The stock market's response, the gauge to measure investors and stakeholders' perception of a transaction, was driven by pundits' assessments of the transaction process, its potential impact on the performance of Skye Bank and the banking industry generally. The Mainstreet Bank's transaction was a highly competitive sale process, a transaction that was the cynosure of all eyes given the historic importance of Mainstreet Bank, a bridge bank that metamorphosed from the rubbles of Afribank Nigeria Plc, a quoted bank that was once Nigeria's fourth largest bank.

The rigorous and competitive bidding process involved 25 Nigerian and foreign bidders and

• MD, Skye Bank Plc, Mr Timothy Oguntayo

was coordinated for AMCON by Barclays Africa Group Limited and Afrinvest West Africa Limited as Financial Advisers and Banwo & Ighodalo as Legal Advisers. In the end, Skye Bank Plc, Cedar One Investment Partners Limited and Fidelity Bank Plc emerged as preferred bidder, first and second reserve bidders respectively. It was a transaction adjudged by many as transparent and credible.

But even with the payment of the 20 per cent mandatory deposit, totaling some N20 billion, many pundits were still on the sideline playing the waiting game. The proviso, as stated in the purchase agreement, was that in the event that Skye Bank failed to make the balance payment, the deal will automatically move to Cedar One and in the event of the failure of the first reserve bidder, the deal will move to Fidelity Bank, another quoted bank that wanted to leverage growth with acquisition.

Amidst skepticism by some, Skye Bank promised to complete the transaction within the timeline. It kept faith with the weekend payment, sending all the bystanders on the rush for the shares of the bank.

Besides, the acquisition ranked as one of the biggest acquisitions in Nigeria, a deal that confirmed the robustness of the balance

sheet of Skye Bank and the growing depth of the mergers and acquisition market in the country.

But the most important consideration, to most stakeholders, is the potential impact on the operations and performance of Skye Bank. The acquisition leapfrogged Skye Bank as one of the biggest and largest banks in the country in terms of branch network.

Mainstreet Bank has nine subsidiaries and a large distribution network comprised of 201 branches across 35 out of 36 states in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It equally has nine cash centres and 200 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

Skye Bank, with dominant operations in the Southwest, is banking on Mainstreet Bank to deepen its penetration of the South East and South South regions where it is currently less represented. Some 26 per cent or 54 branches of Mainstreet Bank's network are located in the two regions. These two regions also accounted for 28 per cent of Mainstreet Bank's over 1.9 million customers, second only to Lagos with 37 per cent.

"This clearly shows that the integration of Mainstreet Bank will enable us make valuable in-

roads into these two regions without the need to incur huge expenditure had we remained a single entity as Skye Bank", Skye Bank had stated in its preview of the transaction. Besides, Skye Bank expected that the acquisition would bring valuable synergies from the mutual focus areas of commercial and retail banking of the two entities in a larger Skye Bank. Skye Bank focus is on retail and commercial banking, also the main focus areas of Mainstreet Bank.

Latest audited report and accounts of Mainstreet Bank for the year ended December 31, 2013 showed that retail and commercial banking contributed 78 per cent, 36 percent, and 18 per cent of total deposits, total loans and profit before tax respectively.

Also, Mainstreet Bank's savings and demand deposits accounted for 21 per cent and 43 per cent of deposit mix, which also demonstrated its focus on these two segments.

Mainstreet Bank, according to insiders to the deal, has a large pool of very loyal institutional and corporate customers, in spite of its status as an AMCON-owned bank, ascribing customer loyalty to the existence of Mainstreet Bank's current 1.9 million customers, a little less than the pre-AMCON takeover figures.

Also, Mainstreet Bank Limited has a history of successfully managing agricultural loans, with agric loans accounting for 12.6 per cent and 16.9 per cent of its loan portfolio in 2012 and 2013, second only to 'general' sector. Analysts have said Mainstreet Bank's expertise in managing agric loans made its non-performing loan ratio to be very negligible at 0.01 per cent, where Skye Bank saw a significant opportunity to improve its expertise in this area, and therefore raise its market share in the agriculture sector.

The acquisition came as Skye Bank was entering a major recovery phase. The bank recorded a pre-tax profit of N12.3 billion on a top-line of N97.13 billion in the third quarter. Key extracts of the interim report and accounts of the bank for the ninemonth period ended September 30, 2014 showed modest growths in some performance indices. The pre-tax profit of N12.3 billion represented a quarter-on-quarter growth of 33 per cent but a yearon-year decline of 15.3 per cent.

With gross earnings of N97.1billion, the bank was able to reduce its interest expense by 15 per cent year-on-year to close at N30.3 billion compared to N35.7 billion as at September 2013. The bank stated that this was in line with its operational strategy of increasing the volume of low cost funds in its deposit portfolio. The bank closed with a year-to-date net

The acquisition leapfrogged Skye Bank as one of the biggest and largest banks in the country in terms of branch network. Mainstreet Bank has nine subsidiaries and a large distribution network comprised of 201 branches across 35 out of 36 states in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

loans and advances balance of N576 billion, showing a six per cent increase year-on-year.

Similarly, customer deposits grew to N801.7 billion as against N726.8 billion of the previous year while asset size remained strong at N1.1trillion, an increase of three per cent year-on-year growth. , In a statement, the bank noted that it would improve on the growth pattern in the remaining period of the financial year.

"Our loan impairment charge increased by 62 per cent year on year to N7.5 billion, being a deliberate policy of aggressive provisioning early in the year to enable a fairly sustained position and avoid high concentration in the last quarter of the year. Noninterest income improved by 15 per cent year-on-year to N17.6 billion compared to N15.2 billion of the corresponding period in 2013," the bank stated.

According to the bank, the deliberate focus on cost reduction organisation-wide has paid off with a year-on-year reduction of one per cent in operating expenses which closed at N46.9 billion as against N47.2billion in September 2013.

Skye Bank, a leading tier 2 bank that was recently designated among the eight 'systemically important banks', looks to leveraging on the acquisition to enhance its market position and returns to investors.

According to the bank, the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank was part of its strategic plan for growth as it intends to leverage on its wealth of experience from earlier successful mergers and acquisitions to drive efficiency, increase market share and ultimately ramp up stakeholder value from the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank. Skye Bank emerged from the merger and integration of five banks in 2006, following the first phase of the banking industry consolidation.

The management of Skye Bank outlined that the acquisition will avail it of many benefits, including cost leadership, business optimisation, and greater ability to offer business convenience to its teeming retail and commercial customers, with a combined branch network of over 450, across all the states of the Federation.

After the bank distributed N3.96 billion as dividends for the 2013 business year earlier this year, chairman, Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Olatunde Ayeni, had assured shareholders that the bank would continue to add value and make shareholders' investments in the bank worthwhile.

According to him, in 2014, all efforts would continue toward implementing the bank's plans in the medium term and well into the future. The quest to provide the most efficient customer service, as espoused in the service charter, remains unchanged.

Managing director, Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, said the bank's growth in the current year will continue with the implementation of its strategy while increasing its customer base and market share.

As Skye Bank progresses with the integration process, stakeholders, particularly investors, would be looking for the value creation from the deal.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

38

THE NATION

BUSINESS PENSION

Adeola warns on investment of N4.5t fund E

NSURING the safety of pension funds, which has grown to N4.5 trillion in the last 10 years, is more important than releasing it for equity or infrastructural investment, former Managing Director, GT Bank, Fola Adeola has warned.

Adeola, who is also the head of the committee that set up the Pension Reform Act 2004 under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, gave the warning while speaking at the commemorative dinner of the 10th anniversary of the pension reform in Nigeria organised by the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

He cautioned the regulatory body, PenCom, to de-emphasise disclosing the figure of the accumulated funds to the general public so that people do not always think the money belongs to the commission.

He urged PenCom to advise all the people clamouring for investment of the money in the capital market, real sector, among others, including the President Goodluck Jonathan that the security of the fund is paramount.

•It’s era of blissful retirement, says PenCom Stories by Omobola Tolu-Kusimo

He said the money is primarily for people who have worked all their years either in the private or public sector. What would happen to a man who after 35 years of work cannot move or get his benefit, he queried.

He said: “In restructuring the 2004 Pension Reform, what we wanted to achieve was a system that will take money out of the system into private hands and regulated by government.

Today, people are in constant touch with their money. I didn’t mind that there should be no interest but safety.

“Left to people in the capital market, all the money should be in equity; those in infrastructure want it in real sector. The fund was at zero 10 years ago and today it is N4.5 trillion but what will it be in the next 10 years if it is messed up.”

Adeola said some organisations have to opt

out of the scheme because they want to go back to the system they are used to which is open to fraud. “There is no amount of money that cannot finish and it is the way we handle the money that will determine whether it will be there forever.

“For PenCom, the idea is not to be telling people there is N4.5 trillion because it is not their money. They are not a signatory to it either. It is something that PenCom should educate the President and work with him. This is the anchor for my vision for the next 10 years and as we are getting bigger, let’s be careful on how we release money to infrastructure, among others. If you put out 10 per cent of the money and you lose it, you are dead.”

The greatest thing here is trust and when broken, it is an end coming, he said.

PenCom Director-General, Chinelo AnohuAmazu in her address, said the 10th anniversary of the pension reform in Nigeria com-

memorates the milestone of a journey, which sought to break Nigeria away from an endless cycle of despair in its pension sector and launch it into a new era of blissful retirement for all employees.

She stated that the assemblage brought together private sector leaders, the icons of the pension reform and other important stakeholders to celebrate as well as usher in the strategic focus of the reform as it transits into the next decade.

The ring-fencing of pension fund assets and regulatory noninterference, according to her, has resulted in the consistent growth in a large pool of pension assets of over N4.5 trillion, which are invested in structured and safe financial instruments; and a remarkable growth when compared with huge estimated pension liabilities in the public sector prior to the reform in 2004.

The reform has also engendered a regime of regular payment of retirement benefits to all employees who retired under the scheme since 2007 without delays as was the practice in the old system.

‘We ‘ll engage more in long term investment’

W

ITH the 2014 Pension Reform Act, Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) can now engage in long term investment in equity and infrastructure that have more economic impact as opposed to the short term investment, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) Chairman, Misbau Yola, has said.

Yola, who is also the Managing Director of Legacy Pension Limited, said the PFAs will however, need to bring a workable means of channeling pension fund into these areas.

He noted that employees, employers and other stakeholders within and outside the industry now understand that their pension is safe under the supervision of the National Pension Commission and the administration of the PFA along with the Pension Fund Custodian (PFC) who are the custodian of the pension fund.

He stated that this is also because there has been no case of fraud since the inception of the new pension scheme, the Contributory Pension Scheme in 2004. Nigerians are now more comfortable with the scheme and we expect that more people will join the scheme, he added.

PAL Pensions extend financial literacy campaign

P

ENSION Alliance Limited (PAL) has taken its financial literacy campaign to more schools in Lagos and other parts of the country, having successfully completed phase one of the project, which kicked off on Children’s Day. In a statement, the company’s Executive Director Finance and Operations, Godwin Onoro, said the second phase took place at Baptist Academy, Obanikoro, Lagos, Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Lagos Island with 39 other schools across the country, on 30 October 2014. It was attended by pupils and staff of these schools, as well as representatives from PAL. According to him, being a financial institution, the company believes that inculcating the tenets of good financial management into the young generation at an early stage of life would build in them the savings culture that seem to be a problem in this present generation.

Thus, the company takes its experts to primary and secondary schools in Nigeria to give them practical financial and economic information on how to get and use money prudently.

He described financial literacy as one of the most crucial things that young people need to learn and understand. He said: “The organisation is a financial institution and it understands the importance of saving culture, planning and its overall effect on other aspects of life. We encourage them by giving those in primary school piggy banks, which everybody knows as ‘kolo.’ We open their minds to using their piggy banks to save now, and later open an account with the savings with a view to sustaining the saving culture eventually.” He added that they are taught the importance of planning for money and investing.

From left: Chief Executive, Forte Oil Plc., Mr. Femi Otedola; Director General, National Pension Commission, Mrs. ChineloAnohuAmazu and President, Dangote Group, AlhajiAlikoDangote, at a dinner to mark the 10th anniversary of pension reform in Nigeria, held in Lagos.

Stanbic IBTC Pension exceeds N1t asset

S

TANBIC IBTC Pension Managers Limited, one of the biggest Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), has recorded over one million retirement savings account (RSA) holders with assets under management in excess of N1 trillion, Chief Executive Officer, Dr Demola Sogunle, has said.

Sogunle made this known during a conference on pension and corporate governance organised by the company in Lagos. According to him, the company pays approximately N1.8 billion to almost 30,000 retirees monthly. He said over N178 billion has been paid to retirees seamlessly since the PFA began operations in 2006.

Speaking on corporate governance in the pension industry, Sogunle said that against the backdrop of the recently enacted Pension Reform Act of 2014, the industry now stands on a stronger foundation, providing safety for the N4.5 trillion pension assets under management.

He stressed that the new law had expanded the scope of participation in the pension scheme by Nigerians as well as strengthened compliance with its provisions, especially relating to enrolment and remittance of pension contributions.

He said: “The Pension Reform Act of 2014, among its very many laudable provisions, will be instrumental in expanding coverage of the Nigerian pension system and strengthening compliance, while building a vibrant pension industry capable of supporting economic growth and development.

“Private sector organisations with three employees or more are expected to register under the scheme. The law also compels an employer to open a Temporary Retirement Savings Account (TRSA) on behalf of an employee that fails to open a Retirement Savings Account (RSA) within three

months of being employed.”

He added that whatever gaps that existed in the old pension regime had been effectively plugged in the new law, making the incidence of ghost pensioners and widespread mismanagement of pension funds almost impossible. He noted that very stiff penalties for pension funds fraudsters and employers who persistently fail to deduct and or remit pension contributions of their employees within the stipulated time are expected to checkmate abuse.

Sogunle described as erroneous the impression often bandied in the public space that pension funds are left to PFAs, employers, individuals or operators to handle as they wish. Instead, he emphasised that pension fund assets are held by Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) who execute benefit payments and investment instructions from the PFAs and are duly licensed by the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

“The PFAs manage and administer the funds, while the PFCs have custody of the pension fund.

There are sufficient legal and institutional bulwarks to protect pension funds. Funds are directly credited to the RSA of beneficiaries who enjoy unhindered access to any information relating to their pension contributions,” he stated.

The former Nigerian High Commissioner to Britain, Dr Christopher Kolade, who was the guest speaker, highlighted passion for high quality, productivity and integrity as key drivers for success in business. He urged every business to strive to achieve effectiveness through best practice.

The Executive Director, Investment Stanbic IBTC Pension, Eric Fajemisin, said the stakeholders’ forum was specifically designed to appraise recent trends and developments in the industry

as part of a multi-pronged enlightenment campaign to deepen pension practice in Nigeria and to have more people enlist in the Contributory Pension Scheme. The company, he said, would always spearhead the quest for global best practice in the industry.

He said: “Our aim is to continue to set higher standards of service delivery and ensure that our retirement savings account holders have peace of mind and derive maximum value from their investment. We believe that the support, experience and capabilities of the Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC belongs, have been instrumental in enhancing our expertise, resource base and general service delivery. This initiative is part of a long-term commitment that defines Stanbic IBTC Pension’s value proposition to its customers and to the industry in general.

“Innovations introduced by the PFA to enable clients experience excellent and convenient service delivery include the Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers mobile office; the first 24-hour multilingual call centre manned by personnel who speak the three major Nigerian languages - Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa; as well as Pidgin English; a footprint of over 200 branches of Stanbic IBTC Bank where RSA clients can access pension service; Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers’ regional offices; as well as selected branches of Zenith Bank Plc. Other access points include Stanbic IBTC Bank ATMs, online service for RSA holders, email, SMS and the Pension Notes, which accompany hardcopy RSA statements sent to customers quarterly.”

Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a member of Standard Bank Group.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

39

SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Essiet_daniel@yahoo.com 08180714151

A young Canadian-based has Nigerian carved a niche for himself, inscribing designs on backpacks. This has placed him in the league of teenage entrepreneurs, who are gradually seizing the future today, writes DANIEL ESSIET.

E

Here comes a backpack entrepreneur

IGHTEEN-year-old Canadian-based Nigerian, George Oni, is setting the art world on fire. At the age of 17, and barely five months upon entry into the North American country the enterprising Nigerian progidy had won the 2013 Annual Young Entrepreneur Award of Make Your Pitch Competition in Ontario, Canada.

The competition shows the great creative and entrepreneurial strengths of Ontario’s young people.

Oni is the founder of the Kemies Supply Company, maker of the world’s first premium interchangeable and customizable backpacks. The company named Kemies, comes from the yoruba word, “kemi” which translates to “care for me” in English.

True to the word, the company collaborates with illustrators and artists all over the world to make backpacks that stands out and tells a story.

According to him, each

•Oni

Kemies backpack features a stylish infinity sign logo which represents the past, present and future.

He said users have the freedom to incorporate all three on their own personal interchangeable flap designs.

He explained that there are advantages in using a backpack, as opposed to clothing, in order to display these designs.

This is because a backpack is highly visible and the designs stand out immediately.

While the wearer gets recognised for one-of-akind style, the artist gets exposure for this work as well as financial support. Although one may argue that their concept is not uniquethere are plenty of companies selling customized backpacks with a social mission, his company is building its way to the top.

Oni totally in love with backpacks, and so he wears them also, inspiring people from all over the world.

Most of their clients represented

some of the top names in corporate world. As his company grew, these clients sought him out to create, props for promotional displays, etc.

He is gradually re-engineering his company based on market demand. To this end, the company has expanded into government agencies. Like most businesses, there were tough times in the early years. Besides, there is extreme competition for clients. Even generating awareness and reaching potential clients is like hanging a small sign out in a sea of fog.

The major obstacle, to him is competing in an industry that is already saturated. For this reason, Oni is aware that hardwork, networking, building relationships that can endure over time are key ingredients needed to be at the top.

Within one year, he was breaking through and has learnt what makes a successful entrepreneur.

The business has provided him with an incredible quality of life and he is on the way to financial success empire. He has been able to achieve a fairly seamless transition from being a student in Canada to

With many tales of making money, more young people are venturing into self-employment, braving the odds.

The rewards are many but so are the challenges, writes. DANIEL ESSIET writes.

•Abiola

WeCyclers wins award

W

HEN it comes to entrepreneurial success, the best teachers are the people who started with very little, took a leap of faith, and started their own businesses. This is because they persevered through disappointment and failure and ultimately built flourishing businesses.

One of them is Tunde Olubodun-Pastor, EdifyCity Entrepreneurs Church. EdifyCity is in search of young Nigerians who have good ideas, ready to trust their guts and overcome adversity to establish striving enterprises.

His strategy is finding a niche that everyone else has failed to spot and target. Then, staying strong and optimistic despite adversity until success comes.

Though an architect, he is one of those entrepreneurs at work on several fronts. He is credited with so many ventures. Indeed, Olubodun is living out the Nigerian dream. In 1998, Olubodun co-started a construction business.

As a serial entrepreneur, he didn’t stop at just one great business idea.

He has put his stamp on many things.

For him, starting a new business is a lifestyle. The completion of one project usually comes with the thought that, more than anything; they want to get right back into the game. They know that being out there in the thick of the chase and dealing with the uncertainty and challenge is where they have to be.

For Olubodun, entrepreneurship has become something of an addiction. His first experience as an entrepreneur was actually a fail-

becoming a successful business owner.

He is running the business fulltime. To him, it is a business like any other such as retail, aerospace, hospitality, etc. So it requires dedication, flexibility and hard-work.

Although Oni is still trying to grow his business, his philantrophy is laudable.

For instance, he has pledged a donation of $1, 000 to support Ebola treatment in West Africa. Besides, on every kemies backpack sold worldwide, $1 will henceforth go as aid for the treatment of the Ebola Virus Disease.

Oni has been in Canada for two years now. While it’s fair to say that he has had plenty of ups and downs, he feels like he made a great choice by taking a risk to travel to the other side of the world and try his hand at something different.

His goal is to change the backpack industry for kids and teens, to enable them express their unique individuality through their backpacks.

L •Participants at the church entrepreneurship programme in Lagos

Entrepreneurship: Failure is recipe for success ure, but he considered it a success because of how he managed it and who he became because of it. He and his business partners lost money when the construction company failed.

As the business climate supports startups, he keeps building new businesses. His latest venture, a security devices outfit, is making waves. While researching the security equipment industry, he saw opportunities: the industry was becoming attractive due to increased security concerns and increase in the demand for electronic security devices in both residential and commercial environments. He found that he could succeed at it.

He moved quickly to carve out the business. With time, his efforts transformed into increased patronage and better returns.

Seeing further opportunity, he began to work on offering integrated electronic security monitoring platform.

Over the years, he has learnt there is no guarantee of success in building businesses, even with experience. One poor decision can stop the company’s growth in its tracks.

As technology changes rapidly, he tries to keep up with those shifts and

how they will affect the business.

While, it might surprise a lot of non-entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs, he noted that failure is one of the most important parts of the journey toward success. According to him, it’s the path to success and the price entrepreneurs must pay to become successful. He is convinced that majority of people who “fail” do so because they never grasp this simple concept.

Furthermore, many entrepreneurs have suffered flops, but managed to learn from their setbacks, making the experience a positive one. As his faith deepened, he gained a perspective on the struggles he had experienced. Although he didn’t know it at the time, those challenges set him up for success later in life. He believes God was preparing him for future success and his ability to help others.

Now, he’s working hard to launch viable ideas, just as he embraces each failure as it comes.

For him, failure gives one an opportunity to re-evaluate the way one conducts his business. When it was over, they had to decide whether they were going to learn from it and keep

going, or go out and get jobs.” Being an entrepreneur is not easy if you don’t go lean. With over 150 million citizens as your potential clients, launching a new product without thoroughly studying the market needs is not a good idea,” he said.

But Olubodun is not your typical entrepreneur; you wouldn’t necessarily meet him at an entrepreneurship event, or watch him pitch his startups to investors. He is a pastor of a church. He wants to rip Nigerian communities of unemployment through a national entrepreneurship campaign.

He had a great education. Bagged his degree in Architecture and attended Lagos Business School. Despite all the privileges, he wondered about some of the inefficiencies in the education system that is not helping young people to start something on their own with increasing national unemployment rate.

To this end, EdifyCity is promoting the Entrepreneurs Church, it’s outreach arm setup to help new businesses grow and succeed, providing budding entrepreneurs with the necessary and important skills and tools to avoid the pitfalls and traps.

AGOS-based entrepreneur and innovator, Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola has won this year’s Sustainia Award.

The award selected by the Sustainia Award Committee, was chaired by former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It was presented at a ceremony held at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The finalists were from seven different countries, providing solutions covering new ways of making the cities, food, fashion, air conditioners, smart phones and energy consumption more sustainable.

Sustainia Award is an annual international award given to a solution, technology or project with a significant potential to help build a more sustainable future.

Adebiyi-Abiola is CoFounder, WeCyclers, a Lagosbased company that focuses on giving low-income communities a chance to capture value from waste and clean up their neighborhoods through an incentive-based recycling programme.

Wecyclers won this year ‘s Sustainia Award for offering a solution that enables low-income communities to make money from waste piling up in their streets.

By deploying a fleet of cargo bicycles to collect and recycle unmanaged waste, Wecyclers allows families to exchange garbage for consumer goods via an SMS-based point system.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

40

BUSINESS AFRICA BlackBerry launches Passport

G

LOBAL leader in mobile communication, BlackBerry Limited has launched the BlackBerry Passport, a new device it said is purpose-built for productivity with a boundary-breaking design that challenges the status quo,.

Featuering a large square touch screen, new QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard and BlackBerry’s latest 10.3 operating system, the BlackBerry Passport gives users a wider vision to do mobile business without compromising portability.

The BlackBerry Passport encourages productivity with a 4.5’’ square touch screen that optimizes screen real estate to enable users to read 60 characters per line, whereas a typical all-touch device in portrait orientation only displays 40 characters. When you combine this with a revolutionary touchenabled keyboard, you will be able to get more done on your smartphone, without feeling the need to turn to your PC or tablet to read and write emails, view maps, surf the Web or edit documents.

It explained that its key features include its innovative screen which is a 4.5’’ square full high definition (HD) screen and a pixel density of 453ppi, offering the best resolution of any de-

vice in its range including the Galaxy S5 and iPhone 6 Plus; its best-inclass battery power at 3450mAh, makes the device to be able to be alive for up to 30 hours of mixed use.

The BlackBerry Passport’s revolutionary new keyboard brings innovation to input with a responsive touch surface that lets you perform many touch functions directly on the keyboard. You can scroll web pages, flick to type or slide along the keys to move the cursor, leaving the full screen space for viewing while the device is built for the most demanding user using durable materials mixed with top-of-the-line technology, including a Gorilla Glass display with 1440 X 1440 resolution, Quad Core 2.2 GHZ Processor, 3 GB RAM, 13 MP OIS rear Camera and 32 GB memory.

It comes preloaded with the BlackBerry 10.3 operating system, including new features such as BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry Blend and Amazon Appstore. It has a fresh look that incorporates updated icons and an action bar so that each user’s most commonly accessed functions are in the center of their screen.

Phase3 efforts in line with ITU’s, says Capital Finance Int

T

HE efforts of Phase 3 Telecoms, the largest independent aerial optic fibre infrastructure and telecoms services provider, are in line with the Connect Africa initiative of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), UNITED Kingdom (UK)-based resource group, Capital Finance International (CfI.co), has said.

It said connecting the sub-region with efficient and reliable broadband will grow the economy of the subregion.

The group which conferred the award of Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Broadband Services in West Africa, 2014, on Phase 3 Telecoms, said the firm’s activities at simplifying connectivity of businesses in the sub-region is worthy of commendation.

In the citation read during the award, the CFI.co Judging Panel said: “Phase3 Telecom’s efforts represent a highly significant contribution to the Connect Africa initiatives of the

International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The company is helping to create the appropriate infrastructure to improve and develop broadband services along the necessary; bringing broadband services to remote areas of the country. Phase3 has displayed an incredible level of dedication to the task in hand, superb innovation from talented and wellmotivated team and an eagerness to deliver to all West Africans the tools they need for further and sustainable economic progress.”

Its Chief Executive Officer - Stanley Jegede who spoke to reporters in Abuja on the awards, said: “We are incredibly honoured by the outpouring of recognition and support from the region and international community for our modest efforts to ensure the sustainable development of Africa through the provision of the most reliable IP and telecommunications services.

“Speedy broadband penetration is a major focus of what we do and we will

continue to ensure that the region enjoys quality of service and exceptional customer experience as we continue on this journey.”

According to him, the honour is a call to do more to ensure that connectivity is achieved not only in Nigeria but across the West African sub-region.

He said expressed appreciation to the group for the recognition, arguing that it is coinciding with auspicious anniversary of the firm’s 11th year of diligent services to the sub-region.

“Certainly, there can be no doubting the importance of efficient, speedy delivery of trustworthy and affordable broadband services to the support and push for the development of Africa. Phase3 is irrevocably committed to making this happen. We have just concluded our network upgrade to offer seamless communications solutions that allow our all over West Africa to interconnect with their operations in multiple locations over a dedicated link,” he said.

Ethiopian Airline bags awards

E

THIOPIAN airlines has emerged African airline of the year at the Akwaaba African Market in Lagos.

The airline also carted away the best African airline to West Africa.

While the country’s airport, the Bole International airport, Addis Ababa also won the most passenger friendly airport in East Africa.

In other award categories, Arik Air won the best airline in West Africa, while Asky Air took away the award for the best short haul airline in West Africa.

Others include, best tourism marketing company won by South African Tourism, the Best Hotel in West

Africa, won by Four Point Sheraton and Biggest hotel chain in African which was taken home

by Protea Hotel. La Campagne Tropicana, Ikegun emerged the best beach resort in West Africa, Obudu Moutain Resort won the best resort in West Africa, Calabar Festival won the best Carnival, while Mr Adrian Landry won the best hotel manager among others.

At the event, Capt. Irene Koki Mutungi was honoured by Women in Aviation (Nigeria) International-Glowing Wings Chapter in partnership with Akwaaba.

nigeriatravelsmart.com unveiled

A

NEW online publication, www.nigeriatravelsmart.com (NTM) has been launched to serve the aviation and travel industry. NTM will cover the aviation, hospitality and tourism sector of Nigeria.

According to its publishers the platform will bridge the gap in the industry for real-time online publication to cater for stakeholders and key decision makers.

A statement said the mission of the company is to practise responsible journalism, with the aim of shaping a strong virile travel industry for the pride of all stakeholders.

The website, it said will educate readers about the travel industry and the standard expected of stakeholders, especially service providers and policy makers.

It will support those who want to implement responsible and responsive policies to make travel industry a pride for all stakeholders.

It will also unearth policies in line with global standards, and challenge service providers and policy makers to meet these standards.

The statement explained that two unique sections of the site are: the punctuality rating of domestic carriers, which is aimed at making carriers more responsible to their schedules. The iComplain section is for travelers who experience poor customer services to file their complaints to the Consumer Protection Directorate of NCAA through the platform.

Heineken’s @wherenext twitter service thrills customers EQUEL to the successful unveil-

S

ing of Heineken’s “Open Your City” campaign, Nigerian consumers’ have commended the brand for its @wherenext twitter service which has afforded them the opportunity to discover fun spots within their location.

The @wherenext app is a revolutionary digital experience which is part of the fully-integrated global campaign, ‘Cities of the World’ which the world’s leading international premium lager beer is undertaking to allow the “Man of the World” to continue with his fun filled and fast paced life.

The Twitter-based @wherenext service which works across the country, aims to help consumers explore new experiences of their cities, using a brand new and innovative social tool.

The digital experience of the ‘Cities of the World’ campaign marks a milestone in the evolution of Heineken’s digital marketing strategy.

Bosun Olanrewaju, a staff of one of the new generation banks in Victoria Island, Lagos, who has leveraged the @wherenext app on twitter, reveals that he has made it a point of call every weekend to consult the service in order to discover exciting spots around him before he steps out. “Ever since I discovered Heineken @wherenext on Twitter, making a choice as to where to hangout has been very easy for me. I have, through this service, discovered some really cool spots which I wasn’t aware of initially. I commend the initiators.”

In the same vein, John Anakwe, an IT expert who resides in Ikeja, pointed out that the service makes it easier for him to make a choice of where to hangout anytime of the week, especially at weekends.

•From left : Mrs. Margaret E. Eshiett, Deputy Director Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), representing the Director General of SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu; Prince Adeyemi Adefulu, President of Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC); Arc. Emeka Awagu, Immediate Past President of NBCC and Mr. Kayode Falowo, Vice President NBCC at a breakfast meeting in Lagos,

SON seizes N200m sub-standard goods HE enforcement operations of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has paid off as substandard goods valued at N200million were siezed.

The enforcement operations were targeted at major foam dealers, and suspected warehouses where fake Vita Foams and other products valued were hoarded in Onitsha, Anambra State.

The exercise spearheaded by the Inspectorate and Compliance Department (ICD)of the agency which was led by Mr Bede Obayi, and with a combined team of SON workers made the storm in the popular market, as well as other major hide outs, where

T

fake foams are sold to unsuspecting consumers. Apart from the fake foams, other counterfeit products seized during the raid were sub-standard shaving sticks as well as other sundry products.

During the exercise, fake products of various ranges were confiscated while warehouses were sealed and nine trucks suspected to be loaded with counterfeit Vita Foams and unregulated products were equally impounded. The one-day exercise, which took most of the shop owners by surprise coupled with the presence of stern looking security operatives, was a huge success.

Obayi who heads the ICD, said

though it was part of SON’s routine activities to visit markets with a view to ascertaining the level of compliance of the products in circulation, it had become imperative to storm the locations in the fashion his officers did because the surveillance earlier carried out had indicted the places visited. According to him, the dealers in the fake products were operating in a hide out.

He said:“Most of the operators of fake products operate in a hide out, the more we expose them, the better for everyone. We will not handle operators of fake products with kid gloves at all.

We conducted intelligence survey, and the fake products failed test of various parameters. ’’

Glo shines at AFRICTA Awards

W

EST Africa’s major telecoms operator, Globacom and its Chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr. have won five awards at the 2014 African Information and Communications Technology Awards (AFRICTA) held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos over the weekend.

Dr. Adenuga was adjudged the African ICT Man of the Decade for his pan African ICT investment vision, humaneness and unrivalled patriotism.

Globacom bagged four awards including the Broadband Backbone Provider of the year for its Glo 1 infrastructure, Subscriber – Friendly Telecoms Operator of the Year for its commitment to subscriber rewards and sponsorships , Fastest Growing Mobile Operator of the Decade and Best Wholesale Broadband Company of the year.

The awards’ promoters described Dr. Adenuga as a pan-Africanist who has put a human face to wealth creation and an investor whose vision for the ICT industry is founded “...on

•Adenuga emerges Man of Decade a tradition of changing the life of the black man . Hence Globacom has become synonymous with life-transforming investments like the Glo 1 undersea cable which has changed the way West Africans live and do business.”

As the Broadband Backbone provider of the Year, Glo 1 was cited as bringing to West Africa a more flexible and efficient work environment with guaranteed connectivity anywhere, anytime as had never been experienced before.

The telco was singled out for further praise for its promotion of the entertainment industry, sports and sponsorship of cultural festivals across the Nigerian ethnic terrain, hence Globacom was rated the most Subscriber friendly Operator.

“It is beyond any doubt that Globacom may have spent more than any other network in the African continent to support the customer on its

• Dr. Adenuga

network and it is fast becoming a subject of study on how a business can remain n profitable while caring so much for customers,” AFRICTA added .

In giving the Fastest Growing Mobile Operator of the Decade Award to Globacom, the judges of AFRICTA said that Globacom after roll out in 2003 “grew in geometric progression, setting records that are still difficult to equal”.

42

THE NATION WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2014

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Life

43

The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

Text only: 08023058761

•Cast performing

Leading theatre practitioners gathered at the Banquet Hall of the National Theatre, Lagos to chart a new roadmap to reposition the National Troupe of Nigeria, reports Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME.

‘Don’t be a propagandist agency for govt’ T HE hall was silent. All was set for the stakeholders’ forum organised by the National Troupe of Nigeria (NTN). Venue was the Banquet Hall of the National Theatre, Lagos. The focus was how the troupe can become more proactive and productive.

“I hope you will step up efforts at making the National Troupe of Nigeria a bigger success story,” began the Chairman of the Gov-

erning Board of the National Theatre/National Troupe of Nigeria, Chief Markus Ishaya. “And I also hope that you will not betray the confidence repose in you. You need to better the record of the immediate past Artistic Director, Mr Martins Adaji.

Note that you cannot do it alone. Everybody in the troupe has a role to play, and you should take everybody as a stakeholder. Both you and General Man-

INSIDE

Mwalimu Ali Mazrui: A hero in the present tense – Page 44

ager of National Theatre should work together for good.”

That counsel by Chief Ishaya to the new NTN Artistic Director, Mr Akin Adejuwon, set the tone that morning at the forum.

Ishaya recalled that his experience in the public service has shown that inadequate stakeholders’ engagement and involvement is one of the most common reasons programmes and projects fail. “So those who want to succeed always make effort to encourage broad

and active stakeholders’ engagement in the planning, monitoring and evaluation process of their programmes,” he added.

The forum, which attracted leading theatre arts practitioners such as Prof Duro Oni, Sir Peter Badejo, Ben Tomoloju, Ali MahmoudBalogun, Oba Sonuga, Prof. Sunday Ododo, Prof. Gbemi Remi Adeoti, Mrs Bridget Yerima, Larry Williams, Kabir Yusuf, Efe Eboigbe and - CONTINUED ON PAGE 47

– CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

How LIMCAF lifted mother of two – Page 46

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

44

The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

A

LI Mazrui is really a huge tree that prominently occupies a huge forest of equally huge trees.

When such trees are uprooted from the forest, it is a great loss beyond recompense. The Iroko isn’t just any tree; it has a definitive presence. Nelson Mandela just exited the African forest, and that absence troubled our collective conscience as a people; now we lament Mazrui just like we did when Chinua Achebe took a bow. Dare we raise a dirge? What does these departures portends for Africa? This may be a dilemma, but I call to mind a double consolation. In this regard, Henry Vaughan’s poem comes to mind: They are all gone into the world of light, And I alone sit lingering here; Their very memory is fair and bright, And my sad thoughts doth clear.

Mazrui’s influence suffuses my intellectual and personal development as an individual. I am highly favoured to have encountered this great son of Africa, first as a student of politics, and later in discourse, not only in print but also in at least one personal correspondence. In the first place, I count him as one of my intellectual companions through the tough but enlightening maturation of my intellect. These were intellectual forebears who ensured that we didn’t travel alone through the Sisyphean struggles and existential realities of life and career. There are many others, too many to checklist. There were for me, the likes of Martin Luther of the Reformation who gave me in junior secondary the concept of reform as a tool for social reconstruction which defined as intellectual focus so early.

Others would include in no particular order, Thomas More, Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein, Karl Popper, Rudyard Kipling, T. S. Elliot, Mahatma Gandhi, John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, George Bernard Shaw, C. P. Snow, Nelson Mandela, Pandit Nehru, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Thomas Paine, Cervantes, J. J. Rousseau, Francis Bacon, William Shakespeare, Wole Soyinka, Simeon Adebo, Claude Ake and so on.

Prof Mazrui’s triple heritage thesis—as well as Peter Ekeh’s two publics - contributed immensely to my understanding of the convoluted dynamics of the postcolonial African society of which Nigeria is a critical manifestation. The severe dysfunctions of the Nigerian civil service, for instance, are a pointer to how the predicament of an unharnessed triple heritage constitutes a disservice to the progress of the Nigerian state. Thus, I am forced to keep revisiting the thesis over and over again in my position as an expert-insider. In my article ‘Ali Mazrui and the Challenge of Africa’s Triple Heritage,’ I raised fundamental questions arising from the incongruous mix of the three elements of our historical experience: First, why is it impossible for people, otherwise distinguished by ethnic, cultural and religious affiliations, to live peacefully together, in spite of the political motives that is the undercurrent of terrorism?

If it is, in what sense then would that hope not be truncated by an absolute conception of faith that necessarily exclude the others from religious, and national, communion? What role does self-understanding play in our attempts to come to term with our differences and similarities? How does the knowledge of the Infi-

•Mazrui

Mwalimu Ali Mazrui: A hero in the present tense

By Tunji Olaopa

TRIBUTE nite moderate our conscience in the world where other consciences inhabit?

It was therefore a huge surprise to me when I got an unexpected call from the sturdy Iroko himself to commend my little effort at making sense of our collective trouble. Who would have thought that Mwalimu Mazrui, of all people, would notice a Lilliputian me, of all people! I was totally dumbfounded by the admission that he had been following with interest my several narratives on the contributions of intellectual compatriots in Nigeria.

Africa’s future is inextricably tied to its triple historical heritage. Our modern experience must take off from that fundamental core of diversity. For Africa, diversity isn’t just a

slogan; it is a critical reality in terms of cultures, languages, and even colonial experiences. For that diversity to spice up our progressive development as a continent, for us to truly rise beyond our predicament, we urgently need to concoct our otherwise virulent diversity into a serious and aromatic recipe. This is essentially what Prof Mazrui dedicated his entire life and prodigious intellect to doing. Now, that definitive presence on the African and global political science and cultural studies firmament has departed. He fought a good fight of the intellect—he came, he saw and he thought. Prof Ali Al’amin Mazrui – professor, global intellectual, political analyst, and Africana scholar—didn’t just die; he lived!

Our consolation over these mighty iconic figures is that we are permitted to continue speaking about them in the present tense.

‘Now, that definitive presence on the African and global political science and cultural studies firmament has departed. He fought a good fight of the intellect— he came, he saw and he thought. Prof Ali Al’amin Mazrui – professor, global intellectual, political analyst, and Africana scholar—didn’t just die; he lived’

They still have a lot to say to Africa’s present predicament in death as much as they did in life. Nwalimu Mazrui was a prodigious scholar with an equally seminal intellect. And he dedicated everything to Africa; he dedicated everything to an understanding of how Africa can successfully convert its negative inheritance of socio-political and economic anomie to a positive capital of genuine liberation and development. In recent times, there has been a widespread and triumphal exaltation of Africa Rising, especially in terms of economic manifestations which, for the economists, translates into several positive macroeconomic signifiers which supposedly spell a better future for Africa. I wonder what Prof. Mazrui would have thought of ‘Africa Rising.’ I suspect, however, that he would have, on the one hand, been gratified that Africa is coming into reckoning after ages of subjugation and negative global press. But on the other hand, he would have rejected any form of superficial theorising that doesn’t see the wood for the trees. Thabo Mbeki once said that the twenty-first century is Africa’s century; Mazrui disagrees. Why isn’t this our best century in spite of growing and glowing macroeconomic achievements? A simple answer would be that we are still far off from a serious exploitation of Africa’s heritage. Africa has not yet transformed its triple heritage into a platform for continental distinctiveness. All our supposed achievements as a continent has been happening to us rather than as a result of our collective resolve.

A starting point for a genuine liberation of Africa, from Mazrui’s perspective, would be a critical understanding of how this triple heritage past can speak to a modern African future free of ethnic jingoism, gender chauvinism, religious fundamentalism and economic subservience. Mazrui will definitely agree with the US writer, Gayatri Spivak, that ‘If only enlightenment is granted, freedom is almost sure to follow.’ Enlightenment in this context comes from an understanding of our triple heritage but more importantly, how that heritage can fashion an enlarged modern consciousness that could inform Africa’s postcolonial recovery and partnership.

I know what Mazrui is talking about. Like him, I can equally be regarded as a ‘walking triple heritage.’ I grew up at a cultural juncture where the three critical elements of EuroChristian, Islamic and indigenous cultural influences converged. The indigenous cultural space was a moderating influence garnered from its several values that encouraged love and hospitality.

What is the significance of Mazrui in the present tense? We have an entire body of Mazruiana collections that essentially are a legacy to how Africans can begin to redefine themselves in a contemporary world of neoliberal globalisation when they have adequately liberated themselves from colonial and postcolonial mental blocks. Marcus Garvey once proclaimed that all emancipation is from within. Prof Mazrui has left us a legacy that insists that we look deep into our historical reality for the clues to our own liberation.

•Dr Olaopa is a Permanent Secretary with the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology Abuja. Nigeria

Campaigning for peace, transformation

A

ll is now set for the 14th edition of the Miss Niger Delta Beauty Pageant.

With the theme: One Voice for Peace, Empowerment and Transformation, this year’s edition is scheduled to hold in December with much pomp and fanfare in Bayelsa State.

Given the peaceful disposition of the indigenes, Chief Executive Officer of Miss Niger Delta Beauty Pageant International Organisation, Prince Sodin, said the contestants and guests are sure to experience the true hospitality, Bayelsa style, and, by extension, the Niger Delta region.

He said this year’s winner would go home with a cash prize, a brand new car and an allexpense paid trip to Dubai, adding that she would be saddled with the responsibility of building bridges of peace not only in the Niger Delta region, but across the country.

She is also expected to work with other queens from other regions to promote peace, love and socio cultural integration.

According to Sodin, the pageantry, which is expected to attract celebrities within and outside Nigeria’s fashion and entertainment

•Ms Harriet Eddie, 2013 winner of the pageant

industries and beyond, is not all about crowning beauty queens, but is designed to promote socio-cultural integration, tourism,

human capital development, advocacy projects.

“Miss Niger Delta is a cultural pageant that started in 1999. The show has championed diverse campaigns to promote early education for children, with protection of the right of the girl-child right, campaign for re-orientation of values among Niger Delta youths, eradication of violence and cultism, among others. It campaigns against indecent dressing and prostitution, HIV/ AIDS, sickle cell, breast cancer, environmental protection, examination malpractice, cultism and other social vices.

“The pageant has brought dignity and respect to the pageant industry because it promotes the rich cultural heritage and dignity of womanhood hence, contestants do not wear bikini or indecent attires or exposures during the show. It has produced 13 winners namely: Miss Niger Delta Ambassador for Peace and Development, Miss Niger Delta, Face of Beauty, Pride of Niger Delta, Symbol of Talent, Miss Niger Delta in Diaspora and Miss Niger Delta

Model for Change. And they have used their positions to touch the lives of people positively in the region,” he said.

While expressing satisfaction over the policies and achievements of the tourism industry and development in the region, particularly that of the Bayelsa State, he commended Bayelsa State governor and the Director-General of Tourism, Mrs Ebizi Ndiomu Brown, for promoting tourism in the state.

The first runner-up will also go home with a cash prize and a trip to Dubai, while the second runner-up will go home with a cash prize and an all expense trip to Tinapa, Cross Rivers State. Other winners will go home with consolation prizes. It is expected to attract cream-de-la-cream in the society, stakeholders in the beauty pageant and entertainment industry in Nigeria, Africa, those in the Diaspora, Britain, America and Europe. The pageant forms are still on sale and would close at the end of the month.

Sodin said the show is open for sponsorship to individuals and organisations.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

45

The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

‘We ‘re driven by strong passion, professionalism’

T

HE management of Arthouse Contemporary, an auction house, has identified passion and strict adherence to professionalism as the main impetus behind the success story of the outfit established in 2007.

Its Manager, Nana Sonoiki said aside being driven by a strong passion and professionalism, the auction house does not compromise on standard and that the experts work as a team. “Every auction is an improvement of the previous edition and we try to work with the professionals in the sector who are not bias. In fact, we have turned down an art work by Prof Ben Enwonwu at a time because we were not satisfied with the state of the work,” she said during an interactive session with Arts Editors in Lagos last week.

Founder of the auction house, Kavita Chellaram, said the thirteenth edition of the auction of modern and contemporary art will open on Monday, November 3, by 6 pm at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos. It is sponsored by Citibank Nigeria.

The auction, which will be led by notable auctioneer, John Dabney, will from Saturday, November 1, through Monday November 3 afternoon display works at the Wheatbaker Hotel for viewing in anticipation of the auction. The previous auction in May made a sale of N85,334,000 with 75 lots sold.

This edition will include 115 lots of artworks from 1955-2014, spanning the mediums of painting, sculpture, mixed media, and photography. Notable artworks from the modern period to be auctioned include El Antasui’s The Mask (1978), Ben Enwonwu’s Elongated Female Fiture (1978) and Ututu, Morning Meeting of Chiefs at Old Asaba (1970), Yusuf Grillo’s Hawker in Blue (1964), and Bruce Onobrakpeya’s Totems of the Delta (2003).

Contemporary artists featured for the first time include Muri Adejimi, Cyril Omamogho, Tchif, Mohammed AbbaGana, Samuel Ajobiewe, Abiola Idowu, Sam Maduike, Nengi Omuku, Julien Sinzogan(Beninese) and Silas Adeoye.

“The auction house has created the Arthouse Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to encourage the creative development of contemporary art in Nigeria. Through a residency-based programme, the Arthouse Foundation pro-

‘Every auction is an improvement of the previous edition and we try to work with the professionals in the sector who are not bias.

In fact, we have turned down an art work by Prof Ben Enwonwu at a time because we were not satisfied with the state of the work’

•El-Anatsui, (mask) manganese body and clay

By Ozolua Uhakheme Assistant Editor Arts

AUCTION vides a platform for artists to expand their practice and experiment with new art forms and ideas. By establishing a network that supports cross-cultural exchange be-

tween Nigerian and international artists, the Arthouse Foundation embraces contemporary art as an educational model to engage communities, promote social dialogue, and advance the critical discourse of artistic practices,” she added.

According to Chellaram, the Arthouse Foundation has inaugurated its first year by supporting Nigerian artists in their participation in art programs abroad, including Victoria Udondian’s graduate study at Columbia University in New York, residencies for Uchay Joel Chima and Tayo Olayode at the Vermont Studio Center, and Chibuike Uzoma in Vienna, Austria. This auction will include a selection of artworks that have been generously donated to support the Arthouse Foundation from artists including Yetunde AyeniBabaeko, Uchay Joel Chima, Tayo Olayode, and Arthouse Contemporary Limited.

Recalled that Arthouse Contemporary also expanded its scope to include Arthouse-The Space, which organises exhibitions of contemporary art outside of the auction. Arthouse-The Space recently opened an exhibition of Nigerian photographer George Osodi entitled TRANSGREXION, which took place at the Renault Showroom in Victoria Island, September 28 - October 17, 2014. The exhibition was sponsored by Renault Nigeria.

Macmillan literary night focuses on rebirth

By Udemma Chukwuma and Toyin Olasinde

LITERATURE

N

IGERIANS have been blamed for the challenges which the country is currently battling with.

The Chairman, Macmillan Literary Events Committee, Mrs Francesca Emanuel, observed this during a briefing at the Macmillan Publishers Ltd office in Lagos, saying there is a burning need to change the mindset of many Nigerians in order to reinstate the norms, values and tenets, which can have positive impact on the society.

“We amass wealth by hook and crook, stupidly thinking that our wealth will see us, our children, and our children’s children through whatever ills befall our country. All of us, the helpless, the silent, the desperate, the stingy, the greedy all of us are part of the problem. And when religion is used to foist mayhem on the populace, it becomes really frightening. When the society exhibits these symptoms, a REBITH becomes imperative,” she said.

She believes one of the ways to achieve a rebirth is through social activities. This, she said, is why the 12th edition of Macmillan Literary Night, holding tomorrow at the Agip Hall of the MUSON Centre, Onikan by 6pm, will be focusing on the theme: The Rebirth.

The theme, according to her, reflects the characteristic responsiveness of Macmillan Nigeria Publishers Limited, sponsor of the event to the promotion of ennobling and productive values, essential to national development.

She said: “Hence our theme for pointing the direction for us to see, to address, to know and to actualise. Faith, unity, honesty, love justice, honour, these are words entrenched in our motto, our anthem and pledge. Let these words guide our intentions and actions. And as usual, we shall utilise the various genres of arts to sensitise and entertain our audience in a refreshingly different way.”

For the past 11 years, the organisation has been engaging the public through the annual Macmillan Literary Night, which they intend to keep doing as part of social responsibility.

This year’s edition, she said, will feature some Nigerian’s outstanding performers, such as, Joke Sylva, Odia Ofeimum, Taiwo AjaiLycett and the Crown Troupe of Africa.

Temitayo Fadunsin’s name may not ring a bell among top Nollywood movie stars. But, she is a regular face among the Yoruba actors, having acted alongside artistes such as Iya Rainbow, Sola Sobowale, Ayo Badmus and Lere Paimo. The actress, producer and make-up artist is working on her new movie, Asabi Alakada, due for release soon. She speaks with Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME on her passion for acting, her love for stage drama and challenges of producing her new movie, among other issues.

‘Acting is my dream’

T

WELVE years ago, Temitayo Fadunsin encountered Ayo Badmus, a renowned Yoruba actor. That encounter became the turning point in her acting career. Until that encounter in 2002, young Fadunsin had featured in many drama performances at school and at the Methodist Church, Odi-Olowo, in Lagos.

She grew up as a little girl with strong passion for drama, which was also influenced by her love for one of Nigeria’s renowned actresses, Idowu Philips aka Iya Rainbow. Apart from acting, she is also into make-up, head gear tying, among others.

Fadunsin, who studied Business Administration at the Lagos State Polytechnic, Lagos, cut her teeth in acting career during her stint with Amao Ajiboye (Big Abbas) where she learnt the rudiments of acting and make-up.

Recalling her journey into the acting world, she said: “In fact, Ayo Badmus brought me into acting in 2002. I have a strong passion for acting and it is my dream. So, meeting Ayo Badmus was like a dream come true. And when I told him I have interest in acting, he handed me over

• Temitayo

THEATRE to Alaran another notable Yoruba actor. I later went to Big Abbas where I learnt acting and make-up. That was in 2008.

Muftau Oladokun (Alaran) taught me acting for 4 years and during which I featured in Eleko Orun Npolowo by……” she said.

Despite her interest in movie,

Fadunsin’s heart is on the stage because professionally, ‘the stage real platform where acting is rooted and nurtured.’

According to her, the big plus for movie (Nollywood) is that it gives the artistes a window to be known and become popular because of the mass audience appeal.

She also acted in Sisi Nurse produced by Queen Aford, and Abegbepe produced by Olufunmilayo Omiyinka, Peju Ijaya produced by Bola…..

In 2003, Fadunsin produced her first movie Okunrin O jebi marketed by Alleluya Ventures. The movie featured known stars such as Lere Paimo, Sola Sobowale, Yemi Solade, Iya Rainbow, Ogun Majek (Mr. Lecturer), Ayo Badmus among others.

Her new movie, Asabi Alakada, is about a young girl who has nothing but pretends to be a big girl. She is not only arrogant but a liar and she ended up having nothing to show for all the fake life. Among lead actors are Liad Bakare, Funjke Eti, Ayo Badmus, Tayo Durojaiye, Fausat Balogun, and Saheed Osupa, the fuji musician.

On the challenges faced while producing the new movie, she said: “I experienced lots of challenges producing the new movie unlike the first one.

Location choice and supports were among the challenges I faced. But thank God all that have passed and the movie will be ready for release soon.”

• Mrs Emanuel

BRIEF Countdown to LABAF 2014

E

ACH passing day brings down the curtain on 2014. How far have you come from 2013?

The Lagos Arts and Book Festival travelled a thematic journey from Lagos Story in 2013 to Freedom & the Word — the theme for this year’s festival. It is a natural progression, because to tell a story is to gift another with insight, and only in freedom can one truly give or receive.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall; the 20 th anniversary of South African democracy; and the 15 th anniversary of Nigeria’s 4 th Republic. These milestones remind us of paths humanity must never again tread.

Onobrakpaya talk art

P

ROF Bruce Onobrakpaya will give artist’s talk at the African Mosaic Gallery by 4pm, as part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian institution, Washington DC. The talk will be accompanied by his installation work inspired by the muse of hunting and four art pieces.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

46

The Midweek Magazine

E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

How LIMCAF lifted mother of two

M

RS Omeje Ngozi Appolonsa would not forget this year’s Life In My City Art Festival (LIMCAF) in a hurry. She was the last female contestant standing and winner of N500,000 cash prize.

Throughout the final day of LIMCAF, which held at the Nike Lake Resort, Enugu, her eyes were fixed on the screen, watching which work would emerge winner. And suddenly, Placenta, her installation piece, came on screen, emerging the best overall work at the competition.

The mother of two, who is also an art teacher at Nsukka, Enugu State, was full of thanks to God for the award. “God is faithful. I emerged runner up in 2011 and here I am the overall best winner. This year’s feat was the result of the constant push from my husband.

The work was inspired by what I experienced during scanning while I was pregnant. What I saw in the scan was the beginning of my conception of the art work,” she recalled with ecstasy.

Filled with joy, Omeje added: “They are doing good job because I am happy today and I think someone else will work hard so that he/she will win next time.” Her husband and the two children who were in the hall were not left out in the celebration as they rushed to the podium to hug the winner who was all in smile.

The other winners included Brenda Emmanuel Chinonso (Best Painting/Mixed Media/drawing), Mgbeahuru Chiemela Peter (Best Photography/Multimedia/ Video), Okonkwo Onyedika Peter (Best Graphics/Textile) who got 250,000 naira each.

The grand finale of the festival attracted frontline arts patrons such as Nnaemeka Achebe, Agbogidi, the Obi of Onitsha and representative of Diamond Bank PLc, Monsieur Jacques Montourcy, representative of the French Ambassador to Nigeria, former Chairman, Union Bank Plc, Elder Kalu Uke Kalu and wife, founder of LIMCAF, Chief Robert Orji among others.

Chairman of the occasion, Nnaemeka Achebe said it is heart- warming that the festival which debuted eight years ago is getting better every year and that it has extended to eleven states of the federation including Lagos. He noted that the foresight of the initiator is paying off adding that in contemporary time, Nigerian arts is asserting itself in the globe. “Particularly, in visual art, Nigeria is growing well with notable

•From left: Elder Kalu, Nmazili, Obi of Onitsha, winner, Mrs Omeje and family

By Ozolua Uhakheme Assistant Editor (Arts)

FESTIVAL Nigerian artists as curators of world biennales. Basel biennale has George Edozie on its list and the theme is on Africa. We have a duty to appreciate what young artists and LIMCAF are doing. In 2000 years from now, people will remember that there was LIMCAF,” he added.

Elder Kalu said that the festival has remained consistent till date since eight years ago means that the labour of ‘our sponsors and supporters these past years have not been in vain.’

Nmazili said Diamond Bank is pleased to associate with the festival and Nigerian arts.

“With proper supports, the artists can measure up with their peers in other parts of the globe,” she added.

Leader of the five-man jury, Dr Kunle Filani stated that LIMCAF has become the most consistent, the most encompassing and perhaps the most expressive art organisation in Nigeria. “LIMCAF promotes artistic creativity and professionalism among young and burgeoning Nigerian artists. It develops conceptual articulation of the contestants and sensitizes them to generate artistic images that resonates the physical, social and political ambience of their environment. The legacy of LIMCAF Board of Trustees, the organising committee and the various committed sponsors is forever immeasurable,” he noted.

Other members of the jury were Dr. George Odoh, Dr Helen Uhunmwagho, Jacques Montourcy and Dr Ken Okoli.

The jury’s time-tested assessment criteria include formal qualities, thematic interpretation, conceptual depth and

‘The creativity of the younger generation of Nigerian artists has been tested, and again, they have demonstrated they are capable of robust conceptualisation, novel material transmutation and unique and modern stylistic tendencies’ material/ technical proficiency. According to the jury, it is quite rewarding to observe the good quality and high standard of the selected 113 artworks ranging from drawings, paintings, ceramics, graphics, sculptures, textiles, mixed media, photography and newmedia such as video.

“The creativity of the younger generation of Nigerian artists has been tested, and again, they have demonstrated they are capable of robust conceptualisation, novel material transmutation and unique and modern stylistic tendencies.

Difficult as it was to finally select the overall winner due to the numerous outstanding works presented by the artists, a consensus was however reached by the jurors. This was based on the formal virtuosity, conceptual superiority and the possession of consummate skills by the artist who produced the masterly piece.

“In the hands of this artist, ordinary materials were succinctly and technically manipulated to conjure images of memorable visage. Thematic articulation

coupled with formal supremacy of the artist generates infinite illusions in the eyes of the viewers. The art piece is delicate but has a compelling inclusiveness of the audience. The jury is convinced that the artist is indeed outstanding. The winners of other prizes equally displayed in depth creative possibilities with their entries,” the jury said.

Coordinator of the CLAM workshop and France-based Nigerian artist, Mr Andy Amadi Okoroafor said he decided to be part of the festival because it was time to give back to his roots as he has been working around the globe for long. “I have done so much outside. If I change one person at home, I will be fulfilled.

The workshop is top share knowledge, inspire and create platform for LIMCAF to expand its scope. And part of my duties will include to create an on-line magazine for the festival as well as to make impact in Enugu in area of arts.” Okoroafor said.

The grand finale was not all about speeches and awards as African Voices led by Vincent Odo, Sopolu and his guitar thrilled the guests to exciting performances. The festival also featured CLAM workshop/exhibition, Photo Africa exhibition held at the Alliance Franciase and National Gallery of Art, Enugu.

Others winners were Ezennia Onyinye M. (Justice Aniagolu Prize for Originality), Afegbua Ibrahim (CCA Lagos Prize for Best Lagos Entry), Essang Etim Effiong (Mfon Usoro Prize for the Best Entry Uyo/Calabar Entry), Candidus Onyishi (Enugu State Council for Art and Culture Prize) got one hundred thousand naira each while Onadipe Olumide Luke (Art Is Everywhere Prize) and Ideyi Nzubechi (Vin Martin Ilo Prize for the Best Enugu Entry) won fifty thousand naira each.

Fifteen others were given consolation prizes of twenty thousand naira each.

Amidst the Mire recalls fuel subsidy removal

A

FTER two years of hard work, contemporary Nigerian artist, Mavua Lessor, presents Amidst the Mire; a solo art exhibition of mixed media which covers events that happened within 2012 to 2014.

In his exhibition of 40 works, Lessor highlights on the dramas that took place during the fuel subsidy removal era, Boko Haram insurgency, the yet-to-be-rescued kidnapped Chibok school girls and the Ebola crisis. The show held at Alexis Gallery in Victoria Island and was curated by the gallery owner, Mrs Patty Chidiac.

“Amidst the Mire is a theme I chose for this particular show because of the circumstances that occurred while I was doing the works. These works cover a period of 2 years, and if you look around the world a lot has happened within this period. The theme serves as an umbrella for each of these events,” Lessor said.

Despite these disturbing issues, Lessor feels life must go on and this he try to discourse in some of his pieces. “One thing about life is that no matter the problem or trouble; we should concentrate on the positive areas, the things that will keep life going. Some of the works are

By Udemma Chukwuma

EXHIBITION complementary, I trying to document them with more humor. I am not focusing on the problem; I didn’t really put the problems on canvas.

“Most of the works focused more on experimental material in this exhibition,

which is fabric on canvas or fabric on fabric as people will prefer to call it. I am trying to explore fabric as discipline on figures, this is fading away, so I am trying to bring it back, using mix medium,” he said.

In recent times, many artists seem to be exploring the medium of fabric, but to Lessor, “It appears to be a trend but I have been exploring this mix media for as long as my career. In 2008 and 2010 I had this mix media in works With theses disturbing issues, Lessor feels life must go on and this he try to discourse in some of his pieces. “One thing about life is that no matter the problem or trouble; we should concentrate on the positive areas, the things that will keep life going. Some of the works are complementary, I trying to document them with more humor. I am not focusing on the problem; I didn’t really put the problems on canvas,” he asserted.

Most of the works, “focused more on experimental material in this exhibition, which is fabric on canvas or fabric on fabric as people will prefer to call it. I am trying to explore fabric as discipline on figures, this is fading away, so I am trying to bring it back, using mix medium,” he said.

In recent time many artists seem to be exploring the medium of fabric, but to Lessor, “It appears to be a trend but I have been exploring this mix media for as long as my career. In 2008 and 2010 I had this mix media in works,” he explained.

While explaining one of his works Cans of Life, he said, “Cans of Life is a painting that focused on shortages of portable water in our city. What you see are vendors with cans going around hacking priceless commodity (water). We cannot do without water, is something very important. I look at distance and reflection, these are cans of life and that is how life is.”

Lessor was born on 26 November, 1960 in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria. He had his early education in Warri, Delta State and higher education at the Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi. Between 1987 and 1993, Lessor engaged himself as a freelance artist, experimenting with metals and other materials for interior and exterior decorative works. By 1993 he opened his studio and concentrated more on his specialiSed discipline of painting. He has exhibited his works locally and internationally, he is well recognised in the art community due to his consistency.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

47

The Midweek Magazine

E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

‘Don’t be a propagandist agency for govt’ •Continued from Page 15

Steve James had a keynoter, Head, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Maiduguri, Prof Sunday Ododo who spoke on The Performative Expression In A Conflict Environment. The interactive forum was not all about talks as there were drama performances by Crown Troupe of Nigeria, National Troupe of Nigeria (Ajoyo) and the Footprint of Africa.

Prof Ododo said that troupe’s performative expression for conflict resolution and transformation must address the structural injustice and structural oppression that underlie people’s misery and powerlessness in Nigeria. He observed that underlining all these issues are the nagging questions of ethical decay, social injustice, inequality and false sense of nationalism. All these questions, he said, require urgent attention if contemporary Nigeria is to be reoriented with fair sense of socio-political relationships, distribution of national resources and reward system by all levels of government in Nigeria.

He noted that beyond the present stakeholders’ forum, NTN should bring experts in theatre for development and conflict transformation to articulate for NTN a realistic and result-oriented blueprint of action. According to Prof. Ododo, performative expression for conflict resolution is not the conventional type the artistes of NTN are used to because it has its modus operandi. He added that workshops must be organised to train the artists who will act as change agents who must be motivated too and emboldened to key into their new role as change agents.

“For effective result, constitute inter-professional facilitator teams consisting of artists and peace activists or conflict managers. Mixed teams of artists and peace activists offer a lot of potential for generating practices which emphasise reflective, relational and practical knowledge by employing artistic means in their contribution to conflict transformation/ resolution.

Conflict transformation provides a set of modes of conduct, tools and experience based knowledge on how to intervene in a conflict system to calm tensions and create trust and safety. For such inter-professional collaboration, it might be meaningful to conceptualise conflict transformation not simply as particular skills and techniques, but more as an “art of relationship-building”, which can be inserted into the artistic group process and production,” Prof. Ododo said.

•From left: Prof Sunday Ododo, Prof Gbemi Remi Adeoti and Engr Solomon Uwaifo at the forum

On the expected relationship between Nigerians and the troupe, he said that NTN in all her activities should keep faith with the Nigerians and should be careful not to become a propagandist agency for government. ‘Wherever the government is doing well, tell us; wherever they are failing, tell them; if they refuse to listen and change, tell us. NTN should also be run as a laboratory of artistic experimentation that should yield something new for the Nigerian theatre and indeed the world theatre,” he stressed.

He also urged NTN to return to mobile open auditions for the recruitment of artists in order to boost confidence in its recruitment process. “It should maintain linkages with all theatre arts departments in Nigeria; engage staff students in training workshops, internship and also put in place a reward system for deserving student participant annually. Ditto too, for practitioners. NTN should begin to develop performances in Nigerian languages and through them connect with grassroots indigenous artistes. Creative workshops for children should also be developed to competitive level involving schools across the country in order to stimulate and explode the creative potentials of our children. This way, the scope of participation outside Lagos and those who can afford to register for the workshop would have been expanded,” he said.

Prof. Ododo who lamented the pro-government programmes of NTN noted that until the NTN begin to package productions that genuinely interrogate the socio-political system, leadership and followership, national

questions and integration, denied freedom and injustice in the country, and presented to the generality of Nigerians, NTN would be failing in her mandate to ‘ensure that productions of the Troupe are geared towards national aspirations’.

Artistic Director, National Troupe of Nigeria, Mr Akin Adejuwon assured the gathering that his mission at the group is to reinvigorate and reposition the National Troupe for effective and efficient performing arts service delivery.

“We shall intensify efforts aimed at popularising the rich cultural heritage of this great country through performances that are of high artistic standard. We are poised, even though we are often being stretched to the limits due to limited resources, to execute productions as and when due. We are also to be theatrically responsive to pressing national and international issues and to provide a vibrant forum for citizens to brainstorm and re-generate topical issues on the performing arts.

“To this effect, we intend to direct our products towards identifiable major clients, the Federal Government. As Ministries, Departments and Agencies), the private sector, and the general public; an expansion of this dovetails into the key arm of the Federal Government, the Armed Forces. The present security situation in the country brings the import of this arm of government to the fore. We will represent this importance through our performative expressions and promote same. Interestingly, we have just been invited to perform at the Nigerian Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration 2014. I consider this performance by the

Festival of talents, photos

By Chinasa Ekekwe

THEATRE

•This is What Hatred Did by de Middel

L

OVERS of the arts trooped in numbers at the Escalator entrance, Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos to view photography that explored historical and contemporary issues. The month-long celebration of African creativity and photography, LagosPhoto, featured artists and outdoor installations from around the continent. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Lagos photography festival.

With the theme, Staging Reality, Documenting Fiction, the festival was aimed to develop contemporary photography in Africa through mentorships and cross-cultural collaborations. It featured 40 photographers from 21 countries.

It also featured contemporary

photographers working in Africa, who negotiates the boundaries and relationships between photography, beliefs, and truths.

Incorporating conceptual strategies that expand traditional photographic practice, many contemporary artists working on the continent move beyond the confines of the photojournalistic gaze.

This year’s festival was a combination of perspectives and voices to celebrate and stimulate art debates on social issues. “As a photographer, every weekend, I am privileged to take photographs of weddings and they are most of the pictures that I am exhibiting. I am also trying to correct the perspective that Nigerians are poor. In one of the pictures, one could see a man who rented a Limousine and military personnel to protect him when he is not rich just to show off on his wedding day,” according to Jide Odukoya, whose collection was entitled Turn it up.

On his part, Ilan Godfrey (South Africa), one of the winners of POPCAP 2014, an international competition for contemporary African photographers, was overwhelmed by the level of creativity that was on display from various artists across Africa. “Every work here stands out in its own individual way. That’s what the festival is all about,” he said.

Also at the festival were three projects that explore vernacular photography in Africa, an

exhibition of Nollywood/Bollywood images, the Out of Africa project which juxtaposes historical photographs from different eras, and the Studio Cameroon film screening and exhibition that examines the history of the popular photography studio, Photo Jeunesse. They were put together by LagosPhoto with the Archive of Modern Conflict, an independent publisher based in London.

Molue Mobile Museum of Contemporary Art (MMMoCA), in partnership with Goethe-Institute, presented The Molue Mobile Museum of Contemporary Art developed by Emeka Udemba, which aimed at making contemporary art more accessible to the mainstream public through a moveable and transitory exhibition platform.

The participating photographers were, Ade Adekola (Nigeria), Laurence Aëgerter (France), Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou (Benin), Genevieve Aken (Nigeria), Seun Akisanmi (Nigeria), Aisha Augie-Kuta (Nigeria), Ricardo Cases (Spain), Edson Chagas (Angola), Kudzanai Chiurai (Zimbabwe), Pierre-Christophe Gam (France/Cameroon), Angélica Dass (Brazil), Cristina de Middel (Spain), Delphine Fawundu (Sierra Leone/USA), Glenna Gordon (USA), Hassan Hajjaj (Morocco), Jacqueline Hassink (The Netherlands), Nicolas Henry (France), Jan Hoek (The Netherlands), Sam Hopkins (UK/Kenya), Namsa Leuba (Switzerland/Guinea) and Lowe Cape Town (South Africa).

Workshop for hoteliers, caterers

National Troupe a unique one.

Continuing, he said: “Apart from being the first foot forward within my vision of making the Troupe current and relevant in the Nigerian scheme of things, I see the performance which is billed to take place at the Aso Rock, Presidential Villa, Banquet Hall before a select audience of the President, his family and all the Service Chiefs, as a way of deploying “The Performative Expression in a Conflict Environment”, which instructively is the theme of the keynote speech at this stakeholders forum and the broad theme of the National Troupe’s activities for the season.

“We will send out our performing troupes on national tours with educative and entertaining products for efficient governmental advocacy and information dissemination. The aim is also to revive the foundational nucleus of the National Troupe, which is that of a travelling troupe.

We intend to begin this revival project with a three-state tour scheduled for this month.”

He disclosed that NTN would organise two festivals; the Domestic Festival of Performing Arts, and the Abuja International Festival of Performing Arts. The maiden edition of DOFEPA (Domestic Festival of Performing Arts), is planned for 2015 while subsequent editions will be rotated among the states. The Abuja International Festival of Performing Arts (AIFEPA) will have its first outing in Abuja in 2016. According to him, the National Troupe of Nigeria will also sustain the hosting of the Annual Public Lecture and Play Reading Series which has helped to bridge the gap between theatre practice and dialectics.

UNESCO advocates women in politics

By Evelyn Osagie

A

S the 2015 general elections in Nigeria draws near, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Abuja Regional Office, has called for more women in elective and appointive leadership positions in Nigeria.

This, according to the Director, Prof Hassana Alidou, is in continuation of its support to the electoral process.

Speaking at the training of trainers’ workshop on Gender and Transformative Leadership in Nigeria, she observed that the lack of more women in leadership is not only a sign of inequality, but tends to highlight the gender disparity. The disparity, she said, “can be seen through a lack of role models for young women and through the absence of women’s voice and input into the decision-making processes”.

Prof Alidou, who was represented by a UNESCO National Programme Officer, Dr Safiya Muhammad, said: “In the 2007 elections, some 516 women sought political office in elective positions at various levels, while in 2011 more than 900 women contested for elections into the various offices, an increase of about 78 per cent.”

She noted that even with such increase, the percentage of women currently in political offices in Nigeria is estimated to be 8 per cent, an indicator of the high levels of exclusion faced by women in the political arena.

The training, which is aimed at equipping women who intend to go into leadership positions whether appointive or elective, was initiated by UNESCO and Rutgers University in the US ; funded by the European Union (EU), UK AID, the Canada Government and UNDP through the Democratic Governance and Development project, and supported by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

48

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

The Midweek Magazine

E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

A

LTHOUGH it had been published as far back as 2004 by Ibadan University Press, it was only recently that I came across the seminal collection of essays on diverse aspects of Nigeria’s politics, society and economy titled ‘Nigeria’s Struggle For Democracy and Good Governance’, edited by Professors Adigun Agbaje, Larry Diamond and Ebere Onwudiwe’. This 470 page festschrift in honour of the eminent Nigerian political scientist, Professor Oyeleye Oyediran, is a testament to the high esteem in which he is held by his intellectual colleagues both for his immense contributions to scholarship as well as the political development of the country at the practical level through his participation at different times of Nigeria’s constitutional and institutional re-engineering processes.

Among the eminent scholars whose contributions constitute the 26 chapters of this book include Richard Sklar, Peter Ekeh, Ritimi Suberu, Julius Ihonvbere, Darren Kew, Ebenezer Obadare, Adewale Adebanwi, Adele Jinadu, Kayode Soremekun, Adebayo Williams, Cyril Obi, SojiAkinrinmade and Aderemi Ajibewa. Bringing to bear their deep learning and unique insights in their various spheres of specialization, these scholars ruminate in the various chapters on such issues as the foundations of federal government in Nigeria, minorities and the evolution of federalism, the politics of revenue allocation, civil society and democracy, the military and democratisation, political parties and elections, democracy and violence, governance and the development crisis, gender politics and international dimensions of politics and governance in Nigeria. In his examination of the role of ethnic minorities and the evolution of federalism in Nigeria, Professor Peter Ekeh, deplore the perpetuation of a multiplicity of 36 tiny and ineffectual states as an enduring legacy of military rule that continues to haunt the country. According to him, “This design of Nigerian governments appeared deliberately orchestrated by Nigeria’s military rulers to ensure the supremacy of Nigeria’s central government”. The discontent arising from the perceived deficiencies and injustices of this structure, he says, fuelled a resurgence of ethno-regionalism and agitations for the resuscitation of a six-regional federal structure patterned substantially after the first republic. Professor Ekeh rightly notes that the separatist sentiment has been most vehement in the Niger Delta, has felt the most alienated of the ethnic minorities because of the mindless exploitation of its oil and the extensive de-

A

WARD-WINNING poet Chijioke Amu-Nnadi has set a tall ambition for himself.

The author of Pilgrim’s Passage is set to publish seven volumes of poetry in the next few months.

At the same time, in the past few weeks, AmuNnadi has been sharing his poetry experience in the United States where he is on a visit to the Centre for Black Literature at Medgar Eva College, New York, to which he was invited to have an interface with students.

According to the Port-Harcourt, Rivers Statebased poet, the experience has been an interesting romance with poetry.

From classrooms to some cultural joints, Amu-Nnadi, who went to the US through Germany where he attended the Frankfurt Book Fair, has been speaking on his poetry and African literature. According to him, one of the most exciting aspects of his journey is the positive response his works are attracting.

For Amu-Nnadi, who was a finalist at last year’s NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature, the move to publish seven poetry volumes has been rough but satisfying.

“It was tough, putting them together, but the experience has been wholly gratifying. Some friends have asked why I have been quiet, especially on Facebook. I have been quite busy, putting together, for printing, seven books of poetry. Three are old books I am only reprinting, but which needed some retyping and reediting, while three others are a selection of my poems along the themes of love, anguish and travels. And then there is the manuscript for a new book that would formally be published next year,” he said.

He does not see himself as a student of theories in the orthodox sense of it. Interestingly, the first poem he wrote began in his sleep.

Amu-Nnadi said: “Awakening, the threads of the Abiola dirge to Kudirat, came while I was asleep. I write poetry without punctuation and capital, not for any other reason than the fact that “life is a fragile metaphor, told with neither capital nor punctuation.” It is a train of unbreakable and uncontrollable motions and emotions. Its essence is not in the punctuations,

Segun Ayobolu sms to 07032777778 segunayobolu2@yahoo.com

Oyeleye Oyediran and the struggle for democracy and good governance struction of its environment.

It is, however, ironical that the ascendancy to the country’s apex of political power by a Niger Delta Ijaw indigene, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, no concrete step has been taken under his leadership to either restructure the country in favour of the ethnic minorities or indeed meaningfully address the problem of the socio-economic exploitation and marginalisation of the region. Afer an exhaustive examination of the trajectory and travails of federalism in Nigeria, Nuhu U. Yaqub in chapter four advocates the restructuring of the 36 state structure into a six state or regional structure based on the existing zones. In his words “Agreed that certain vested interests are going to be hurt by the proposed arrangement but we may be having a much more viable and a highly ideal federal structure, which, if existed in the First Republic, would have hardly warranted the creation of the current parodies called states”.

But is a return to a regional governance structure in the image of the First Republic a realistic response to the perceived structural deformities of the Nigerian federation? Professor Richard Sklar in the very first chapter of the book does not think so. He reviews the various attempts in the practice of federalism in Nigeria “to reconcile the claim of each nationality to its place in the constitutional sun with the practical necessity of having a reasonable number of viable states as constituent units of the federation”. In his view, “The les-

sons of Nigerian political history teach that political regionalism is not compatible with the empowerment of a multiplicity of politicized ethnic groups. Once regions are established and endowed with political power, ethnic interests are articulated by the leaders of large ethnic groups. Smaller ethnic groups then look to the centre for protection against their overbearing neighbours within the region”.

In the final analysis, therefore, the constitutional formalisation of regional governance may only end up strengthening the pull of centralisation.

In chapter three, Professor Rotimi Suberu exhaustively examines the various stresses and challenges of revenue allocation in Nigeria particularly in this fourth republic and proposes strategies to address identified problems. Two of his innovative suggestions to strengthen Nigeria’s fiscal federalism are to enhance the prominence of Internally Generated Revenue as a criterion for revenue allocation as a way of encouraging component states to tap and develop local revenue sources as well to limit the salaries and emoluments of politicians and civil servants with the exception of teachers to the Internally Generated Revenue of the various states. Suberu also advocates making the submission of audited financial accounts of all levels of government a precondition for the release of fresh funds to them. This latter suggestion may, however, unwittingly strengthen the federal government to the detriment of the other levels of government unless Suberu’s other recommendations

to enhance the autonomy of the Federation Account are implemented.

Professor Larry Diamond in another key chapter of the book dilates on how to build a system of comprehensive accountability – horizontal, vertical and external –to control corruption and promote good governance.

His fundamental premise is that “the deepest root cause of development failure is not a lack of resources or international isolation. Rather, it is a lack of good governance – the inability or unwillingness to apply public resources effectively to generate public goods”. For Professor Julius Ihonvbere in his rumination on constitutionalism and the national question, the resolution of the political question is a necessary condition for the attainment of peace, progress, growth, development and democracy in Nigeria. He advocates radical political restructuring predicated on the active involvement of non-elite groups in the process of evolving a new, people-oriented and inclusive constitution to help reduce conflicts and pressures on the state, its institutions and custodians.

It is the central contention of Professor Adebayo Williams in one of the most exhilarating contributions to the book, ‘The Radiance of the Uncaptured Scholar’ that “the signal importance of Oyediran for a democratic Nigeria does not lie in earthshaking theories or a paradigmatic leap of insight but in his sturdy determination to evade capture by the Nigerian military state unlike many of his equally distinguished colleagues and professional peers”. He was referring to Professor Oyediran’s initial participation in Babangida’s convoluted political engineering project but resolute and risky disengagement from the project when he discovered it was an elaborate farce. And Professor Adele Jinadu offers his interrogation of various dimensions of ‘The Identity of African Political Science’ as a testimonial “to Oyeleye Oyediran’s life-long interest not only in the development of Political Science in Africa but also its relevance to democracy and development in Africa” as attested to by “his persistent advocacy on the point that the association and Nigerian political scientists must uphold the canons of scholarship, insist on standards and play a vanguardist role in advancing democracy and development in Africa”. This book is a veritable goldmine of information and refreshing interpretations of various aspects of the politics of constitutionalism, governance and development in postcolonial Nigeria.

Spreading the gospel of poetry in US

•Amu-Nanadi

By Evelyn Osagie

tive response his works are attracting. He said: “I read at the Celebrate Africa programme of Medgar Evers College last night. It was a surreal experience, especially seeing men and women, young and old, white and black, react with such excitement, joy and love that approached devotion. The experience brought them to laughter and tears. It was scary and uplifting all at once. Sold all the books I took there and they were not enough. Sold even the copies I kept for myself. Now they want me to come back as a solo performer.”

He also recalled an ‘awesome evening, he had at the home of Quincy Troupe, veteran teacher, poet in Harlem. Amu-Nnadi was so awed by Troupe’s personality that he described him as a moving, living library and shrine of poetry.

As part of the Medgar programme, he was also the guest of honour at a fundraiser for ‘a dear new friend’, Becky Seawright, Democratic candidate for the November general elections on Park Avenue, in Manhattan.

BRIEF

LITERATURE but in the story itself that unfolds. I am constantly trying to improve my craft, so I am always looking for new opportunities for interaction, to catch up with what I always feel I have lost. That’s why, when I hold talks in schools, I always ask the children to read and to write.

That’s the best way to grow.”

His vivid imagination as a writer was what earned him a spot at Celebrate Africa in honour of Eric Edwards, a collector of African artefacts, holding at the Medgar Evers College, where he would be giving a lecture on poetry. According to the Chair of the English Department at the Centre for Black Literature, Prof Brenda Greene, Amu-Nnadi’s writing paints an in-depth picture of the complexity of the human existence.

Meanwhile Amu-Nnadi expressed delight over the whole experience, saying one of the most exciting aspects of his journey is the posi-

“I was meant to say a few things. I thought I would be more eloquent speaking through a poem, of which I am more familiar. A truly humbling experience to see how distinguished men and women of American politics honour the words of poetry and having them line up afterwards to have me sign the books was beyond what I’d experienced. Somewhere in there, I wondered when Nigerian politicians would begin to bother,” he recalled. He has written and published several poems, such as The Fire Within (first published in 2002, and won the ANA Poetry Prize that year); Pilgrim’s Passage (published in 2004, and long-listed for the Nigeria Prize for Literature; Through the Window of a Sandcastle (published in 2013 and won the ANA Poetry Prize and was runner up to the Nigeria Prize for Literature; Flames (love poems) and Wild Oaths (travel poems). Others are Ihejuruonu (poems of anguish and lamentations); and A Field of Echoes (new poems written in the last one year or thereabout).

Omenka hosts Power and powers

O

MENKA Gallery Lagos will hold Power and Powers, an exhibition of recent photographs by leading contemporary Nigerian artist, Uche James-Iroha on Saturday. Supported by Nikon, the exhibition calls for a self-examination and invites the audience to an introspective of 54 years of epileptic power supply in Nigeria.

According to the artist, “These are images that explore the dark and unprogressive romance between political power and electrical power distribution in Nigeria. By far the most populous nation in the continent with vast human and material resources and enormous potential, electricity is still a big issue.

Marred by erratic power supply, the nation is caught in the web of deceit where political office seekers clearly use the promise of ‘light’

as the most effective bait. It is interesting to know that tons of white elephant projects which include a cashless economic system and automated rail transport, are in the works gulping mammoth budgets and will all depend on an efficient electrical supply system.”

“The works are largely a critique of a corrupt leadership that proffers cosmetic solutions to the persistent issue of electric power supply and serve as a springboard for confronting issues that continue to face Nigerians today. Perhaps, no singular contemporary Nigerian artist has created a singular body of work that mounts a sustained challenge on such an important issue,” says curator of the exhibition and Director of Omenka Gallery, Oliver Enwonwu. The exhibition will run till 22.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

49

The Midweek Magazine

A

BOUT a decade ago while researching for a class I taught at the University of Colorado, I stumbled on an arresting narrative. A woman had a baby in a stroller at Trafalgar Square in London. She carted the baby around and an onlooker was taken with the charms of the little one.

“Your baby is very beautiful,” remarked the onlooker.

“You haven’t seen anything, yet” replied the mother. “Wait until you see her pictures.”

The mother had imposed a new reality on her baby. The baby was not what you saw in flesh and blood, but what technology had wrought.

What the dark room had configured, what the click and flash and the angles of the camera had brought to life. We now have two eyes. The one that sees everyone without the mediation of the machine, and the one that the machine has made.

I could not but wonder at this when I got hold of the book, In Tune with Destiny, Dr Emmanuel EwetaUduaghan. I saw, rather I ogled, from page to page and I started to see whether technology was trying to impose one reality over the one that was there. I mean the truth, unvarnished.

But I saw, too, that though it is described as a pictorial biography of Governor Uduaghan, something else moderated the pictures. Words.

Words are powerful but as the cliché goes, pictures cannot lie. Of course that cliché preceded the technology that distorted pictorial realities.

But the power of words in telling reality, especially the ones that pertain to the clarity of vision, came from the testimonial zeal of one of the greatest craftsmen ever of the English language. Joseph Conrad, author of Heart of Darkness and Nostromo, spoke about what he did with words.

“My task, which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel – it is, before all, to make you see.”

From going through the pages, I observed that the authors of this package did not only want to make us see, but also to make us feel.

For what is the point of vision without sentiment? How do you see the picture of the governor at two years old, with a small, multicoloured cap, and a pair of eyes of an alarmed and astonished infant and not wonder what he was thinking?

It is not just what we see, but what that sight makes us feel. That is what makes us human.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched,” remarked another writer, Helen Keller, “they must be felt with the heart.”

This is a book of 239 pages that tell the story of one man and his odyssey of six decades.

During this period, he was with the father, was without his father, enjoyed mother for two years and loved his mother. He was raised by a grandmother, a woman with an imperial dignity, in another village called Mosogar. He lived in a village without electricity, roads, pipeborne water. Time was determined not by clock but the cock with three crows in the morning signifying different activities. He tapped rubber, set traps in the bush for game, dipped into the

E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

A humble beginning BOOK REVIEW Title:

In Tune with Destiny

Author: Reviewer: Publisher:

Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan Sam Omatseye Leverage Multi Global Concepts Ltd

Pagination: 239 river to catch fish with bare hands. His right hand could not touch his left ear when his mates went to school. His brilliance, however, beat the rules for him. He wanted to be an accountant but became a doctor. Nobody thought he could be a party nominee for governor, but he won not just the party primaries but the state elections; not once, not twice.

He married his heartthrob who shared the same family background, both fathers in military, both parents separated, both minorities. His heartthrob first thought he was short at first sight because she pictured marrying a tall man. He won the heart of her brother and mother and everyone else in the family circle before Roli Nere Tuoyo. She said she was a female chauvinist, but she thanks God that “God touched me positively and I relaxed to give it (the suitor’s advance) a deeper thought. Then something struck me. I realised he is someone I can truly respect, which is not in my character to do, no matter who he is and what he does.”

The pictures of their wedding, you need to see that. The bridegroom with his long neck and lean face is not the one you see today. The bride, whom he described as usually in trousers and was like a tomboy, looked quite mellow in tranquil elegance in the photos. Marriage had done a miracle. Roli Uduaghan herself says she submits to her husband in all things, according to the prodding of scripture.

What else shall we know? That as a medical doctor he struggled and, as one of Roli’s relatives put it, he packed his Volkswagen Beetle over slope so that folks could help push it to start.

They married, he a doctor and she a teacher, with the beetle as a family story.

Listen to this: “In the course of the courtship, each time they both rode in the Beetle car, there was a usual amusement: Roli would, for reason of the fact that the Beetle had no back door, adjust the front seat backwards and place her legs on its dashboard and, thereafter, adjust the small side window to let in air directly towards her. Shortly afterwards, she would burst into a prayerful song to God to give her and her spouse an airconditioned Mercedes car in place of the Beetle car.” That prayerful song remains a refrain of sentimental gratitude in the family today.

We see pictures about his public life, especially as governor, a lot of it. Is it when the President,Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, hands him the coveted Commander of the Order of the Niger, or when

he crouches before respected H.I.D Awolowo, when he gives a present to Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. We also see pictures of him at work in government, commissioning projects, meeting with political titans like Chief E. K. Clark, or with his fellow governors in the south-south like ebullient Godswill Akpabio. We see him with southeast governors like Theodore Orji, the Ochendo. With traditional rulers like the Olu of Warri and the Ooni of Ife. The pictures show him in tune with all, those in his state, those in his ethnic group, and those outside. The pictures show a man at peace in his skin.

In spite of the plenitude of pictures, there are two things that the pictures cannot carry. One of them are the key moments of his childhood in the village. I remember conducting an interview with Governor Uduaghan barely a year after he became governor and I asked him his favorite viewing delights. He pointed out Nollywood movies and the reason was that the settings often reminded him of his childhood. But we do not have the picture of him trying in vain to let his right hand touch his left ear, although we see a picture of an adult Uduaghan in the book performing the feat perfectly. We do not have the picture of him tapping rubber, catching fish in the river, playing soccer with his sisters looking with admiration. We do not see him in class.

Recently, when Brigadier BenjamenAdekunle died, we learnt that he polished the general’s shoe during the civil war in Sapele. Since then when I saw him, I looked over at his shoes to see how they shone and whether he still did it

himself. But we don’t have the picture of him and the general who always insisted that the young Emmanuel should shine his shoes. We see him paddling a canoe as governor but one would have loved to see him do that as a young villager.

In a wonderful forward from President OlusegunObasanjo, GCFR, he described Governor Uduaghan as “not only calm and indomitable; he is also firm and indomitable – he is indomitably firm.” Testimonials came from almost everywhere about his sense of calm and serenity, from his wife, his daughter Orode, and his colleagues and fellow governors. But no picture can capture such temperament. Only words did. That is one of the weaknesses of pictures.

Words collide with pictures in this package.

In some instances, the picture tells nothing until the words intervene. For instance, I tried to study the countenance of his mother, Cecilia and had a clue when she is described as calm.

His father, Edmund was a polygamist and at one time he visited his frustration outside on Cecilia and she discovered that it was because a woman had turned down his advances. Cecilia went to beg the woman to accept so she could have peace at home. The story does not tell whether Edmund had his wish and Cecilia her peace.

The preponderance of pictures and the attempts to match words to vision is one of the delicate assignments undertaken in this book.

It succeeds in some areas. Where it has challenges is whether it tries to delve into the areas of policy and governance. The words try and the pictures say a few things but it can never serve as a substitute for a cerebral undertaking.

But the pictures have told many stories that have saved the imagination. Readers will pick their favorites. Is it two-year-old with alarmed eyes, or Roli and Emmanuel Uduaghan face to face, eye to eye, forehead to forehead? Or the wedding photos, or the Beetle car impression?

There are many.

The package in a variety of colours keeps interest alive and we also see the quotes and interviews presented with aesthetic dexterity.

But quite a few errors can be sighted. The first quote in the book and the first sentence of President Obasanjo’s forward could have been better read. In one of the pages, Governor Uduaghan’s father was called Desmond instead of Edmund.

As a work of six decades, more than half of the photos took place in his years as governor, a lopsidedness that may arise from an absence of either research or paucity of photos. If he grew up in a village without electricity and pipe-borne water, then we know why pictures could not be in abundance. If he grew up in an age of internet and selfies, there would have been a suffusion of pictures telling perhaps too much detail.

In all, this is a wonderful effort to document a life, in pictures backed by words. I therefore recommend this book as a story of a man who transcended the odds and has lived an exemplary life. The story continues. I, therefore, present this book to you all.

Benefits, prospects of Cash-less Nigeria BOOK REVIEW Title: Cash-less Nigeria: Benefits, opportunities and challenges Author: Sunday Olowoyobiojo Reviewer: Andy Titus Okwu

S

UNDAY Olowoyobiojo’s Cash-Less Nigeria: Benefits, Opportunities and Challenges published in 2014 is undoubtedly an epoch-making, innovative, cutting-edge and most likely, pioneer textbook on the cash-less experience in Nigeria. In all ramifications, it espouses the essence of cash-less policy in Nigeria in terms of benefits, opportunities

and challenges. Written by a Banking and Finance graduate (from University of Ado-Ekiti now Ekiti State University) with half a decade experience in the financial sector, the book is enormous in its attention to details in terms of retrospection, currency and futurity. Thus, the material content of the book effectively flows from the past to the present and then projects the future for the now nation-wide cash-less policy in Nigeria. The book, handy and portable, covers such relevant areas as the justification for cash-less society, genesis of money and banking, the relatively new cash-less era in Nigeria, alternative banking channels, e-branch and ATM gallery, agent banking, strategic approach to cashless transactions, benefits, opportunities and challenges of the policy, as well as galvanizing action for a cash-less society.

The book has provided practical

insights on the cash-less initiative, addressed salient issues, examined legal and regulatory frameworks, identified challenges and benefits, and proffered suggestions on how to deploy technology toward building a better Nigeria via cashlesspolicy-driven financial inclusion.

Thus, the book is a veritable source of financial literacy as it contains relevant materials on the ongoing transformation of the Nigerian financial system, especially the banking industry.

This innovative piece of work is indeed unique and the author tried to present this apparently wide range of issues of financial relevance within the ambit of cash-less Nigeria as an insightful gateway to advancing the legal-regulatory, socio-political, economic and finance experience of Nigeria in particular and other developing countries in general. This is further enhanced by the simplicity of the language in which the author has organized and presented the material contents of the book thereby making it possible for even non finance experts and professionals to be able to read, understand and apply in their daily finance decisions.

The book will be useful to policy

makers, regulators, financial analysts, investors, entrepreneurs, professionals, instructors, students, the banking public and others who desire unbridled access to banking services and payments facilitation, especially in today’s transactions and payment system in which physical presence in a bank or market place, is no longer a necessary condition for exchange relations. Also, its usefulness comes to the fore when one considers the evolving paradigm shift of emphasis from the regulatory end towards consumer protection that has made the banks to provide significantly many more convenience banking service options driven by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and now being fostered by the cash-less policy; the harmony, synthesis and futurity of which is the essence of this book.

Chapter one extols the need for the Nigerian nation to go cash-less. In the chapter, the author identified technology and globalisation as the key drivers of banking system reforms that have orchestrated the need for cash-less society in different parts of the world. As a member of the global village, there is the need for Nigeria to key into the

trend. Therefore, the cash-less Nigeria initiative is a move in the right direction because its benefits cut across all social classes and critical sectors of the economy. Moreover, the initiative has the potential to enhance the country’s aspiration for, and achievement of, financial inclusion for sustainable development, and modernize and develop the payment system in line with the Vision 20:2020 agenda among others. Chapter two traces the genesis of money and Banking. By way of introduction, the author considers both money and banking as veritable tools for progress and development of humanity, nothing, however, that while the former facilitates the acquisition of good things of life, the later guarantees the safety of funds and facilitates the financing of personal, investment, infrastructural development and other needs as well as businesses. The author traced the evolution of money from the barter system through metallic money, cowries, beads, manila brass, tobacco and paper money to the modern forms of money. He also traced the origin of banking to goldsmith’s receipt issued to gold depositors, which was subsequently used to foster transactions.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

50

The Midweek Magazine

E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

Joseph Agbakoba doubles as a professor of philosophy at the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka and National President, Nigerian Philosophical Association (NPA). When Assistant Editor DADA ALADELOKUN met him, he spoke about the fundamental problems of Nigeria, 100 years after amalgamation, and other issues.

‘Our culture hasn’t helped Nigeria’

A

FOOL at 40, it is often said, is a fool forever. At 100, Nigeria as an entity is yet to crawl. What has been wrong with the parent, guardian or the post-natal circumstances of this “child?”

Unknotting this riddle, according to Agbakoba, was the thrust of an international jaw-jaw recently spear-headed by his association. It was held at the University of Lagos.

Seething with an amalgam of rage and palpable concern, the varsity don told this reporter: “As stakeholders, we can’t but be worried to the marrow. Our nation has remained plagued by issues of culture, value systems, political structure and ideology.

There is also the issue of the justification of the economic model we are running - capitalism - and our traditional culture. We also have issues surrounding revenue allocation.

Nigeria was borne out of the 1914 amalgamation because of the budget surplus in the South and the deficit in the North. And since then, the South has been paying the bills of the country in terms of the extra money needed to balance the budget and pay for infrastructural development. The outstanding foreign exchange earners in this regard have been first, palm oil, then, cocoa and now, crude oil. This is not to say that the North has had no money at all; we must not forget the tin in the Jos area and the groundnuts pyramids, but they were not enough to gain budgetary surpluses. The conference looked at all these issues and examined them from various philosophical standpoints.”

“So an academic group like the NPA could be concerned about the nation’s stunted growth …” The reporter cut in. His emphatic response unveiled the raison-d’être of the birth in the 1970/80s, of the association and its relevance in nation building.

“This association was born to bring Nigerian philosophers together to discuss philosophy and explore its relevance to our lives as a people and as a country. Philosophy as an academic discipline is largely misunderstood by the public. Most people in this country see it as an abstract academic discipline that has no place in today’s world, whereas it is the foundation of all learning in the past as well as the present; virtually

‘Sadly, we don’t have the values that drive science here. So, when people talk about funding and infrastructure as the bane of innovation and research in Nigeria, I don’t fully agree; the values are not there too.

Some scientists have been known to embezzle the funds meant for the equipment of their laboratories and spend such money on some luxury items. So, scientists in countries like India with similar experiences of poverty have performed generally better.’

•Agbakoba

CULTURE all branches of knowledge have their roots in philosophy. Since its birth, its different leaderships have worked to move it forward and the tradition continues. Members of the association in Nigeria meet biennially to discuss philosophical issues in the search for new knowledge, to address the interests of the association and deliberate on the state of affairs of the association vis-à-vis the study of philosophy and the society generally.

“Usually, our meetings go along with a national academic conference. This time, it was international. Some of our colleagues from outside of Nigeria attended. We had participants from universities in Ghana, Cameroun, Ethiopia and South Africa. The theme of the conference was: “Nigeria: 100 years After Amalgamation: Philosophical Issues and Perspectives.” The conference was motivated by the need to look at Nigeria after 100 years of our amalgamation by Lord Lugard in 1914. We can all agree that in Ni-

geria today, there are fundamental issues of justice for the minority and majority groups,” Agbakoba explained.

Another poser for him: “It is said that in the last 30 years, by available records, no scientist in Nigeria has patent right to any innovation that is really commercially viable. Is it because Nigerian scientists are not qualified?” His response: “What do you think accounts for this poor situation? We have found ourselves in this situation because our scientists do not largely appreciate the philosophical underpinnings of their work. When a man or woman gets a PhD, he or she is an expert in a given branch of knowledge or area of specialisation and he/she ought to be imbued with the philosophical underpinnings of the field and philosophy generally. And by this I mean the metaphysical, epistemological, logical and axiological underpinnings as well as the concomitant habits of mind, dispositions and actions that make it possible for one to generate new knowledge and technology in a given area.

“To be a scientist or philosopher is to be a

Evolution of Ije Uwa runs in Quintessence

L

AST Saturday, Quintessence Gallery, Park View Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, hosted an arts exhibition of works by contemporary Nigerian artist Promise O’Nali. It was an event of mix medium, entitled: Ije Uwa (Life’s Trajectory).

According to the curator of the exhibition, Moses Ohiomokhare, the show will run for two weeks. “Quintessence is delighted to show works of this promising artist. They are works that one characterises as contemporary or avant-garde art and will be a delight for collectors and art lovers,” he said.

O’Nali, said: “Life is a journey, but one constant thing in life is change. Ije Uwa is an Igbo title, it demystifies the kind of person I am. My art has gone through a lot of processes in terms of evolution to the state where it is now and it may not be the end point because I am still revolving, searching and experimenting.”

After graduating in 2007, “I have been pushing my frontiers, exploring, experimenting; trying to see how far I can go with my expression. I was always driven by the brutal force of visual reality and communication,” and this according to him inspired Ije Uwa. “A phrase that means a lot to people, it could mean: science, faith, life, evolution or change. There is a lot of drama going on around the Ije Uwa phrase, which is why I fell in Love with it.

On his works, technique and style, he stated that he is a versatile artist, which is why he described himself as an experimental artist.

“I don’t like terming or tagging myself because it kind of put a hold on me as far as I am concerned. But I can call myself a contemporary experimental artist. I try to

•Ego vs Self (DNA series) on canvas

By Udemma Chukwuma

VISUAL ART stay grounded with contemporary trend in my discipline; I am not like a stagnant artist who is always exploring one theme. That is why I read a lot.”

Among the over 30 works that will be on display for the viewing is: Gaia’s Dilemm.

“This piece is about the earth being able to harness poisonous situations and turning it into friendly ally. With all the pollution and unwanted things thrown into the atmosphere to the biopsy, somehow the earth has been

able to use all these things to its advantage.

The Dilemma is being able to take positive and negative and make something worthwhile,” intimated.

Ayakalunka Mana Obu Ogodo Ayi Kaluka, which he said means: “We are not old but is our clothes (body) that is old. “The piece was inspired by the atoms of our body. The atoms are billion years old, the genetic makeup of our bodies is very old, but we don’t look it,” he explained.

Recently many artistes are shifting a bit from their usual medium, style and technique, exploring other areas. O’Nali has also joined this league in the area of colour; you can call his a colour shift. “Before now I used to be a colour freak, and it reflected in my works then. This exhibition is quite a discipline to play down on colours and it bit my palate,” he said.

The paintings are based on the evolution of man to the present state of man from O’Nali perspective as an artist. He explored black, white and earth tone colours to communication his view. “I was looking at evolution from the state of energy to matter and to self reflective consciousness.

“The black colour in the paintings represents energy, the earth tone basically represents matter; the geology, how land came to be. I can’t actually put a colour to consciousness, so I explored white in that regard to represent consciousness. That is why most of the paintings for this show are have white background,” he narrated, pointing at the works. “It is basically white, black and the earth tone colours for this exhibition,” he hinted.

Other beautiful pieces which will also be on display are: Ego vs Self, Schism, Noogeneses; and they depict evolution.

seeker after truth and knowledge. And one needs the appropriate values and attitude to life to succeed. Such includes among other things, a detachment from crass materialism that is the order of the day today; otherwise, one may sacrifice truth and knowledge on the altar of self aggrandizement and other passions. Further, one cannot for instance be crassly materialistic, seeking immoral and illegal gains and advantages and at the same time spewing novel scientific and technological theories and innovations. This is because one’s life negates order and truth which are crucial to the generation of new scientific and technological ideas in and about the real world.”

Maintaining that to be a scientist is to have a profession, he explained that it is also a vocation, but insisted that only those who take it as a vocation often make the breakthrough. “In Nigeria, it is mostly a profession which is supposed to pay the certificate holder. The idea that it is a vocation for which the certificate holder should make sacrifices in order to gain and propagate truth and knowledge is not appreciated readily.

And for this, the values of our society are largely culpable. Our society is very vulgarly showy and grossly materialistic.

“Sadly, we don’t have the values that drive science here. So, when people talk about funding and infrastructure as the bane of innovation and research in Nigeria, I don’t fully agree; the values are not there too.

Some scientists have been known to embezzle the funds meant for the equipment of their laboratories and spend such money on some luxury items. So, scientists in countries like India with similar experiences of poverty have performed generally better.

You can link the development going on in such countries to the outcome of the work of their scientists and other researchers,” he said.

Then his admonition: “No tangible innovation can ever come out of a very hedonistic and materialistic culture like ours. It is for this reason that a scientist who wants a high post in government or even in a university could run to a native doctor for assistance, thereby showing that he/she is not convinced about and committed to the fundamental rationality that governs the universe, which is one of the metaphysical assumptions of his/her profession. We do not have a culture that promotes science here.

This has to change as quickly as possible!”

UNILAG Creative Arts Dept hosts workshop

By Toyin Olasinde

T

HE Department of Creative Arts of the University of Lagos, in collaboration with Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shilon Arts Foundation, has organised an entrepreneur workshop to encourage youths to sharpen their skills.

According to the coordinator of the workshop, Akinwale Onipede, the forum should be seen as a great opportunity for participants to interact with professionals in their fields of learning.

He said the workshop was to impact knowledge and to prepare the participant on how to be self-employed and believe in themselves that they can become employer of labour instead of looking for jobs.

Onipede said: “At the end of this exercise, participants will be productive to the economy and will also put Nigeria on the better pedestral.

Also, a lecturer at the Department of Creative Arts, Ogunwo Bolaji, said “the workshop is the third edition of its kind which is aimed at improving capacity of artists to enhance their in-built talent rather than waiting for white collar jobs before getting foods on their table.

“One’s palm can never, in life deceive, one if every other thing does.”

He further advised the participants “to be good ambassadors after the training and be ready to add value to the country with the skills acquired from the workshop. They should also make good impact on others.

One of the participants, Folami Raski praised the organisers for making valuable impacts on the youth.

He added that ‘’Being a partaker is a great opportunity for me to excel in my hand work and to be more creative in my field of learning,and inother to impact to other peoples life.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

51

SHOWBIZ

BBA 9: Sunday’s eviction show consumes three •As Nigeria escapes sack ‘threat’ again

A

S Ghana’s Kacey Moore, Namibia’s Luis and Rwanda’s Arthur were sent packing from the ongoing Big Brother Africa reality show during last Sunday’s live show, Nigeria’s chance got another boost, as representative Tayo escaped yet another round of nomination for possible eviction next week.

His group, Downtown Beats, won last week’s task, earning them immunity for the next two weeks.

It was an emotional moment for the new evictees, as Biggie ordered them to vacate the house within 30 seconds. It got even more emotional as they stole some hugs, kisses in haste, as Biggie did the countdown to their exit. Ellah, who had been linked to Kacey Moore in some romance tales, wept the most.

While they made their way across to the live studio, Nigeria’s dancehall sensation, Patoranking, wowed the crowd with his hit song, Girlie O. Obviously one of Africa’s biggest artistes at

By Victor Akande

the moment, Patoranking showed his star quality on stage, with the crowd dancing and singing along.

Doing a brief recap of the highlight of each evictee in the house, IK asked Kacey Moore about him breaking down in the house. “I am the happiest man in the world right now,” he said, adding that he is having an early Christmas as he is now going to see his wife and child.

For Luis, it was mainly about Mira, the Kenyan lady who was evicted in the first week of the show. Luis said that he has to go and find her, as he has “not been in love for a long time.”

Luis thinks that either Idris or Tayo will win the show, while Kacey Moore wants Ellah to win, saying she is his best friend in the house. And as for whom they would want out, Kacey Moore, after a little hesitation, chose Frankie, but Luis was quick to mention Mr.265, “because he is playing mind games.”

Arthur did not show sign

•Colleagues hug Luis as he leaves the BBA house

of disappointment over his eviction. He said his focus was never on the USD300, 000 prize money but for an opportunity to get more exposure for his comedy business. He noted that he prefers “to go for what will give him fish, than to go for the fish itself,” referring to the platform offered by BBA.

On the other hand, the result of last week’s Star Meter question was announced.

The question was, “Who is the sneakiest housemate?” It was the first time someone other than Tayo has won the fans “appreciation” award.

The winner, Macky2 seems to be playing his game under the radar and quietly

manipulating his way towards his ultimate goal of winning the coveted prize of USD300 000. He beat off stiff competition from Frankie and Tayo, who also garnered a lot of airtime across social networks. Macky2 will surely enjoy his fans prize; however, it will also bring him and his strategy

into focus.

This week’s Star Meter question is, “Which Big Brother Hotshots housemate is the laziest?” One person who was not allowed to be lazy during this week was Idris, who was punished by Biggie for destroying a door.

He did all the house chores throughout the week.

KOK, Rita Dominic, others win at GIAMA 2014 I

•L-R. Kennis Music star, Joe El; female rapper, Weird MC, tion, Malaika

KSB and Fuji music sensa-

Group endorses KSB for 2015 election

G

OSPEL music artiste, Kenny St. Best (KSB) has received the support of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) for her political aspiration.

COSON announced on Wednesday that it is throwing its weight behind KSB, a frontline member of the royalty collecting society, who is vying for a seat in the Lagos State House of Assembly to represent Ikeja 1 Constituency under the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Chairman of COSON, Tony Okoroji, said during a press conference held in honour of KSB’s aspiration that although the society does not support any particular political party, COSON is fully supporting those candidates who, regardless of party, show that they are conscious of the desires and aspirations of the Nigerian creative community.

He said: “With the rebasing of the Nigerian economy, it has finally been acknowledged that entertainment is adding meaningfully to Nigeria’s GDP. What we have seen so far however

By Victor Akande

is the tip of the iceberg. One of our key objectives is to make Lagos the entertainment capital of Africa with a bustling 24 hour a day economy with active nightclubs, restaurants, concert venues, carnivals, production centers, fashion shows, gaming establishments, etc. This will fuel a travel and tourism boom never seen in this region and create enormous jobs and wealth for our citizens.”

He noted that it is for this reason that, “COSON is fully supporting the candidacy of Desmond Eliot, 9ice, Tony Tetuila, Kate Henshaw, Bob Manuel Udokwu, Julius Agwu and others with entertainment backgrounds. They understand our aspirations for the Nigerian nation and speak our language. They will join the likes of Richard Mofe Damijo and Tony One Week who have served in political positions without blemish.”

Also speaking at the event, frontline actor and broadcaster, Mr. Patrick

Doyle said, “we are supporting our colleagues in the industry irrespective of the political party they belong to. Today, we are here to publicly endorse our sister and colleague, Kenny St. Best popularly known as KSB, as she is set to contest the 2015 polls. I have personally known KSB for years and I can confidently tell you that she is a woman of great convictions. She is a woman who sees to the fulfillment of her words. What better character do we need in political offices than one whose words you can take to the bank?”

On her plans for her constituency, KSB said she will work tirelessly to ensure that the dream of Lagos State becoming the entertainment capital of Africa is realized, adding that she will also address issues concerning women, children, education and the less privileged.

Other artistes who sang praises of KSB at the event are female rapper, Weird MC, Fuji music sensation, Malaika and Kennis Music star, Joe El.

T was a convergence of Africans and AfricanAmericans on Saturday, October 25 at the Stafford Centre, Houston Texas, as the third edition of the Golden Icon Academy Movie Awards (GIAMA) held.

Hosted by comedy merchant, Julius Agwu, the event began with a red carpet, which had some of the biggest Africa’s TV networks in the United States beaming the ceremony live to their audiences.

The Awards also featured performances from comedians, dancers and musicians who took turns to rock the GIAMA stage. Among them were Seyi Brown, MCPC, Jedi and Mayowa among others.

Nigerian movies had the highest number of nominations, followed by movies from Ghana. There were also films from South Africa and the Caribbean. Among the Nigerian movies that won laurels at the event are, Iyore with 10 nominations, 30 Days in Atlanta and A Mile from Home with nine nominations each.

The big winners at this year’s GIAMA are, Eric Aghimien who won Best Director for the movie, A Mile from Home. Rita Dominic and

By Mercy Michael

Kanayo O Kanayo (K.O.K) also clinched the Best Actress and Best Actor awards for the movie Iyore and Apaye respectively. Emem Isong, who picked up the plaque on behalf of K.O.K, revealed that Apaye has been the most challenging movie of her career as a producer.

Other winners at the event include, Ivie Okujaye, Tope Tedela, Tonto Dikeh, Uti Nwachukwu, Robert Peters, Ayo Maku, Ramsey Nouah, Raz Adoti and Paula Obaseki.

Also, an honorary grand recognition award was pre-

sented to Captain Dr. Hosa Wells Okunbo for what organisers described as his unflinching support for African cinema. Represented by Mr. Robert Oyiwa, Okunbo pledged to continually support Africa while also announcing the kick-off of the first 24-hour African TV channel in Canada.

Other African stars who graced the event were Stella Damasus, Ini Edo, Majid Michel, Juliet Ibrahim, Susan Peters, Lancelot Imaseun, Daniel Ademinokan, Morris K. Sesay, Belinda Effah, Frank Rajah and Alex Ekubo.

•Ivie Okujaye receiving her award at GIAMA

All set for A Place in the Stars premiere

F

OLLOWING months of preparation, producers of the much-anticipated feature film, A Place in the Stars have announced that it will premiere on Friday, November 7. Produced

by Native Filmworks Limited, a film & TV production company, the premiere takes place at the Landmark Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to the producers, the movie premiere will feature live music performance by musician and multiinstrumentalist, Jeremiah Gyang, and the crème de le

crème of the entertainment, corporate, media and movie industries.

Directed by the internationally renowned filmmaker, Steve Gukas, A Place in the Stars is a riveting story of illicit drug trafficking, violence, turf wars and conscientious dilemmas. The movie gives an account of a man’s choice between conscience and the pull to get rich or die trying.

Set in 2006 Nigeria, A Place in the Stars tells the story of Kim Dakim (Gideon Okeke), a young lawyer with a case and a client that leaves him

professionally conflicted.

Kim is in possession of information that could save lives, if he would only pass it on. Faced with the deathly consequences of crossing ‘industry’ kingpins, including the toughest of them all, Diokpa Okonwo (Segun Arinze); and with millions to earn if he would only turn a blind eye, Kim battles conscience and professional responsibility as he determines which way to turn.

Producers also announces that the movie will hit the cinemas on Friday, November 14.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

52

PHOTO NEWS •Former President Olusegun Obasanjo being assisted by an official of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mrs. Ame Udobong to activate his electronic identification card in Abeokuta... on Monday.

•Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola flanked by Founder/Conference Chairperson, Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), Mrs. Leila Fowler (left) and President of WIMBIZ, Ms. Osayi Alile at the opening of the 13th Annual WIMBIZ Conference with the theme: “Nigeria Rising… Accelerating Transformation”, at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos... on Monday.

•Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar (right); Senators Danjuma Goje and Aisha Al-hassan at a World News Conference on Security in the Northeast in Abuja... on Monday.

•Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu (left) receiving Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) materials from the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos State, Mr Adekunle Ogunmola, when he visited the Palace... on Monday.

Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed (left) addressing the not yet absorbed casual workers during the Interactive session with civil servants at the Kwara State Banquet Hall, Ilorin...

Monday.

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabiri Erewa(fourth right), Founder,Youngstars Foundation, Mr Kingsley Bangwell(fifth right) with participants at the Youngstars foundation youth leadership programme in Lagos.

•Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State signing the condolence register when he visited the home of the late Hon Peter Aliu, member, Edo State House of Assembly... on Monday.

•Abia State Governor Theordore Orji (third right) cutting the Igbo Youth Congress anniversary cake at the Nike-Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu. With him are members of the executive of Igbo Leaders of Thought.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

53

BUSINESS EXTRA

T

AMCON redeems N976b bonds

HE Asset Management Corporation of Ni geria (AMCON) yesterday announced the completion of scheduled redemption of the AMCON Series V N976.042 billion Zero Coupon Bonds due October 2014.

The redemption was done at par.

AMCON had last December redeemed its issued series I, II, III and IV bonds.

AMCON has now fully retired a total of about N1.87 trillion of all bonds issued since inception.

By Collins Nweze

It’s Head, Strategy & Communication, Kayode Lambo, said the step puts it ahead of its planned redemption schedule, as all its publicly held bonds have been redeemed before the end of its fourth full year of operations.

AMCON had issued zero coupon bonds with a face value of N5.67 trillion as series I, II, III, IV and V, between December 2010 and December 2011.

The Series V redemption was financed utilising AMCON’s internally generated cash flows and the Banking Sector Resolution Trust Fund (the Sinking Fund).

The Sinking Fund is funded by annual contributions from Nigerian Deposit Money Banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Lambo noted that the collaboration and support of the CBN was critical in ensuring the success of the process.

AMCON’s Executive Director, Finance & Corporate

Services/CFO, Mrs. Mofoluke Dosumu said the redemption represented a major milestone in the reduction of AMCON’s obligations, as it signifies the retirement of all AMCON bonds held by the public markets.

“We will continue to make good progress with respect to our obligations to the Central Bank of Nigeria, presently the sole holder of AMCON’s outstanding debt obligations,” Dosumu said.

• From left: General Manager, Sales and Distribution, Smile Communications, Mr Kenneth Esenwah, Chief Marketing Officer, Mrs Alero Ladipo and Head, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Mr Gbolahan Thomas, during Smile Communications Limited Media Roundtable Talk held at Ikeja, Lagos.

PHOTO: JOHN EBHOTA

Rice, maize, others contribute N778b to revenue N

IGERIA realised N778 billion as revenue from five crops under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, the Federal Government has said.

It listed the crops as maize, rice, cassava, sorghum and soya bean. The ATA was inaugurated in 2012 by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, broke the news in Abuja during a public affairs forum organized by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs.

He said the country made

T

From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

N259 billion from the production of maize, N407 billion from rice, N94 billion from cassava, N5 billion from sorghum and N13 billion from soya bean.

Adesina said the government was able to put an end to 40 years of corruption in the fertilizer sector.

This, he said, was a development that impacted positively in the production of various agricultural crops.

Dr. Adesina said: “The old system of government direct

procurement and distribution of fertilizer was corrupt.

Between 1980 and 2010, over N873bn ($5.4bn) was spent on fertilizer subsidies. No more than 11 per cent of farmers received these fertilizers.

“Over N776bn ($4.8bn) was estimated to have been lost to corruption or an average of N26bn ($162.5m) annually.

The system displaced the private sector and Nigerian farmers lost dignity.”

He said the government built a national database of 10.5 million farmers with participation in every state of the

federation.

Adesina observed that the Growth Enhancement Scheme initiative for Nigerian farmers had increased the number of farmers who get fertilizers from 11 per cent before the programme to 92 per cent.

“1.3 million metric tons of fertilizer has been delivered to farmers. 55,000 metric tons of improved seeds have been delivered to farmers. Nigeria is the first in Africa to deliver inputs to farmers in a large scale through e-wallet.

“Also, food imports declined by 38 per cent from N1.1tn in 2009 to N635bn in 2013,” he added.

Fed Govt to review airport charges

HE Federal Govern ment has inaugurated a committee to ascertain the charges charged airport passengers.

It also inaugurated a committee to ascertain the level of aircraft accidents in Nigeria since 2000 till date, with a view to averting such incidents.

The Committees are: ‘Nigerian Aircraft Industry Aircraft Accident Report Status and Nigerian Aviation Industry Aeronautical Charges was set up by the Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka in Abuja yesterday.

The Minister revealed that plans are on to certify Lagos and Abuja airport in order for them to be up to international standard.

Speaking about the committee, Chidoka said: “This is designed to give us independent and honest evaluation of where we stand. I consider my job as the aviation minister as the ability to

From Faith Yahaya, Abuja

make sure that all those who trusted us and bought plane ticket and entered the plane, as they go up 30,000 feet above sea level, that they come down safely. Every other thing is auxiliary.

“We will like to focus on the safety issues, system issues, human angle issues, infrastructural issues and process issues to ensure that Nigeria Civil Aviation become a world class. We also hope that it becomes the hub in West Africa and we hope to meet up with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standard and even beyond the standards.

On Lagos and Abuja airports, he said: “The process of certifying Lagos and Abuja airports is on and that the certification of the airport is a compulsory item for me.

I believe Nigeria airport need to be certified to ICAO

standards and as the work is going on, i will give it all the necessary push.

Highlighting the responsibility of both committees, the Minister said: “To determine the status of all Nigerian Aviation Industry aircraft accident reports from the year 2000 till date. Do a gap analysis, with a view to determining the extent of compliance with all approved recommendations.

“To ensure that all users of our airport facilities are paying charges that are comparable with what is obtainable across the world and in our neighbouring countries.

Speaking on why the committee was set up, Chidoka said: “Customers have largely complained and I have listened to them on charges and we decided to investigate and find out what the charges are, why they are paying and then compare it with other countries because my job as the minister is to

measure and improve and if we do not measure, we cannot improve.

“So, we are seeking that the committee review all Nigeria Aviation and Aeronautical and Passenger Charges.

We will like to know if all the fees that passengers pay from the toll gate to hiring of cars to convey them, we want to determine the factors behind the charges and we want to know if the charges is the same with other countries.

“To determine the factors responsible for the disparity (if any) between the charges and those of other countries with similar regional conditions. Also determine why some of the neighbouring West African countries are customers of choice to international airlines and aviation companies.

The minister said the committees are expected to submit the report of their findings in four weeks time.

T

‘Why Diezani, NNPC are evading probe’

HE House of Repre sentatives yesterday explained why Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani AlisonMadueke and the NIgerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have refused to honour invitations to them to appear before the House.

The House, in a notice of preliminary objection it filed in a suit by the Minister and NNPC, alleged that the plaintiffs were avoiding being asked to account to the people.

It argued that the suit was merely intended to shield the applicants from public scrutiny by bodies constitutionally empowered to scrutinise public officials and ensure that they are accountable to the public.

The House accused AlisonMadueke and the NNPC of working to frustrate its planned probe of the N10 billion chartered jet scandal in which the Minister featured prominently, and a $1.5 suspicious loan involving the NNPC. “The minor material leading to the suit is to prevent the investigation by the committee of the 2nd defendant (House of Representatives) into the alleged $1.5 billion loan.

“It was also filed to stop the 2nd defendant from investigating the charter of private aircraft for alleged non-official use by the plaintiffs.

“The major fact leading to the suit is that the plaintiff, who

T

From Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

are in the executive branch do not want to be accountable to the people through their representatives in the National Assembly.

“The plaintiffs are seeking to cut off the investigatory powers of the National Assembly,” the House said in its written address filed with the objection by its lawyer, Aminu Sadauki.

The House asked the court to dismiss the suit by the two plaintiffs, on the grounds that it amounted to an abuse of court process.

It also argued that the suit was premature and nonjusticiable, adding that the plaintiffs had similar suit “between the same parties and on substantially the same ground”, pending before Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The House in a supporting affidavit, argued that the invitations sent to the plaintiffs, which they failed to honour, were in furtherance of the legitimate responsibilities House Committee on Petroleum (Upstream).

At the proceedings yesterday before Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja Sadauki (representing the House) informed the court that his client has filed objection and served the defendants.

The judge adjourned to the case to January 26 next year for mention, before which the plaintiffs and 2nd defendant (the Senate) to respond to the objection by the House.

Lagos urges reliance on science, technology

HE Lagos State govern ment has urged the people of the state to consider relying more on science and technology in accessing goods and services even as the state government steps up its infrastructural transformation to make living and doing business in the state easier for all.

Speaking yesterday during the flag off of this year’s edition of Lagos State Science and Technology Week (LASSTECH) at Alausa, Ikeja, the state Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Adebiyi Mabadaje said the emphasis on science and technology is a global phenomenon, adding a nation that fails to toe the line will not be competitive at the global stage.

He said: “In line with global best practices, the state is determined to continue to deploy science and technology in de-

By Lucas Ajanaku

livering world class services to a multi-faceted and increasingly sophisticated commercial community in the capital of Africa’s leading economy.”

He said the week long programme was put together by the state government to promote the use of science and technology as tools for strengthening creativity, innovation, capacity development, infrastructure and institutional building.

This, he said are geared towards the realisation of good governance and efficient service delivery to the people of the state.

The commissioner said it was only the deployment of science and technology that could confront the huge challenges presented by the rapid rural-urban migration into the Lagos in order not to compromise the quality of the life of the inhabitants.

BoI suppots backward integration efforts of rice millers

E

FFORTS to scale up cur rent rice paddy produc tion capacity has been boosted by the Bank of Industry (BoI).

Managing Director of BoI, Rasheed Olaoluwa expressed the bank’s commitment to the project after an inspection tour of the 42,000 capacity Tara Rice Mill and its subsidiary 1,200 hectares of rice farm in Adani, Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu state.

He said with support for rice millers and sustained investments in rice backward integration programme; Nigeria will attain a net exporter status in the short to medium term.

Olaoluwa said Nigeria had embarked on a revolution in terms of rice production especially with the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which centred on the development of 10 medium sized mills with the capacity of 36,000 metric tonnes each and six high quality cassava flour mills across the country.

He stated that the visit to Ndani, Enugu state was part of Federal Government’s effort to ensure that the objective of turning Nigeria from a major importer into a net exporter of rice was achieved.

54

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

25-07-14 DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 04-11-14

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 04-11-14

Omoluabi Savings lists 5b shares

O

MOLUABI Savings and Loans Plc, a primary mortgage institution promoted by the State of Osun, yesterday listed its entire issued share capital of five billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The listing, at 0.55 per share, added N2.75 billion to the market capitalisation of the NSE. The listing was a milestone for state-promoted primary mortgage institutions and breathed a new life into NSE’s Alternative Securities Market (ASeM), the second tier board for the stock market.

Omoluabi Savings is a state primary mortgage institution conceptualised and promoted by the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola-led government of State of Osun, Nigeria. The company converted to a public liability company in May, 2013 in line with its vision to broaden its shareholder-base and get listed on ASeM. Omoluabi Savings is the first listing on ASeM after the second tier board was restructured.

Chief executive officer, Omoluabi Savings and Loans Plc, Mr Babatunde Alao said the listing marked the successful transition of the mortgage company which had

By Taofik Salako Capital Market Editor

floated its initial public offering (IPO) in December 2013.

According to him, the listing would give the company more visibility and assist it to achieve its vision of being the number one savings and loan company listed on the ASeM. Chairman, Omoluabi Savings and Loans Plc, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro said the listing is another landmark achievement for the shareholders of the company, who on a yearly basis will now collect dividends, and also have opportunity to trade and widen their investments.

“We believe in fundamentals of the company, we will strive hard to sustain our performance. The belief is that the company will now have more capital to trade and lend to clients, who are the recipient of mortgage services. Omoluabi will now have the capacity to lend to people who want 10, 20 years mortgage to buy a house from four to ten million naira. So, think of a multiplier effect of increasing the shareholders’ fund, which enables you to do more business in terms of capacity as a bank; it will also enable you

to attract more deposits because there is always ratio between your shareholders fund and your deposit. Now, it can take more deposit and it can also do more business,” Bolorunduro said.

He added that the net proceeds of the IPO were used for business branch network and information and communication infrastructure noting that Omoluabi was one of the 33 mortgage banks that scaled the recapitalisation deadline of December 31, 2013.

He said the company would in the near future obtain a national licence as it plans to increase its share capital to N5 billion, pointing out that national licence would enable the company to tap into the opportunities in the South West and across Nigeria.

“The mortgage industry is expected to experience a major boost in activity as a result of the ongoing reforms of the federal government in mortgage delivery services and monetization of major personnel costs. The bank is expected to witness a turnaround in its activities in the light of the prevailing position environment of its catchment area of the Osun State,” Bolorunduro said.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

55

MONEYLINK

FCMB, Dana Motors take auto loan to North

CBN alerts on fraudsters over N220b MSME fund

T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday advised entrepreneurs applying for the N220 billion, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) loan to beware of fraudsters.

The apex bank in a statement, said some unscrupulous persons are defrauding unsuspecting members of the public by selling application forms purportedly from the CBN for the purpose of accessing the loans.

“Reports reaching the bank indicate that these dishonest elements extort between N2,000 and N40,000 from their victims by asking them to pay the said sums for forms as a pre-condition and/or guarantee for securing loans from the Fund,” the statement said.

The fraudsters, it said, are also re-

F

Stories by Collins Nweze

ported to be asking would-be borrowers to contribute into a dedicated account certain sums as percentages of the loan they intend to access.

The CBN said at no time did it authorise or appoint any agent to sell forms or collect any fee to access the fund.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the only form available under the fund is the form to be filled by the participating financial institutions (PFIs) Microfinance Banks, Non-Bank Microfinance Institutions, Financial Cooperatives, Finance Companies, Commercial Banks, Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture - to enable them access the Fund and it is free,” it said.

The regulator advised the public to

•CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele beware of the activities of fraudsters and report anyone that approaches them with the fake forms to law enforcement agencies. The MSMEs fund was launched to support entrepreneurs and the loans are given at single interest rate.

Fidelity, MoneyGram partner on transfers

F

IDELITY Bank Plc has partnered MoneyGram on outbound remittance services. Speaking at a media parley in Lagos, Managing Director/ Chief Executive officer, Fidelity Bank Plc , Nnamdi Okonkwo said the initiative is part of the bank’s deliberate resolve to make financial services easy and accessible to customers.

He explained that the “Naija sends” initiative is yet another testimony to the innovative, customer-centric disposition of both Fidelity Bank and MoneyGram.

Okonkwo added that the bank is willing to enter into strategic partnership with credible investors to deepen the market. The bank chief praised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its foresight as this will be another source of revenue for the government.

By Alvin Afadama

Also, customers no longer have to risk losing money using shady characters for fund transfers. By this, Fidelity Bank customers and non customers will be able to use MoneyGram’s new outbound service offering through the bank’s many branches to send funds to more than two hundred countries and territories across the globe.

Currently, over 65 Fidelity Bank branches spread across some regions of the country have successfully recorded the MoneyGram outbound transfers.

MoneyGram Regional Manager for Anglophone West Africa, Mrs. Kemi Okusanya, said the launch of “Naija Sends” has further deepened the brands reach and service in Nigeria.

“Over the last two decades

Name

Offer Price

AFRINVEST W. A. EQUITY FUND ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH BGL NUBIAN FUND BGL SAPPHIRE FUND CANARY GROWTH FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CORAL INCOME FUND FBN FIXED INCOME FUND FBN HERITAGE FUND FBN MONEY MARKET FUND

168.45 9.17 1.12 1.19 0.69 1.39 1,676.09 1,118.84 121.30 121.16 1,117.51 1.2241 1.2855 0.8238 1.0941

• UBA BALANCED FUND • UBA BOND FUND • UBA EQUITY FUND • UBA MONEY MARKET FUND

MoneyGram has facilitated over 15 million transactions in Nigeria, enabling safe, convenient and reliable transfer of funds from the Nigerians in Diaspora to their loved ones. As Africa’s largest economy, with over 10 million migrants, we are glad we are able to offer this service in Nigeria today,”shesaid.

She explained that since money transfer began in the country since 1998, consumers have only been able to receive funds via MoneyGram’s money transfer services. In her view, the launch represents a significant milestone in the history of the remittance market in the country.

This product will enable customers to sends funds to family and friends around the world in naira which can then be picked up in the currency of the receiving country where available.

IRST City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, in partnership with Dana Motors, has launched an auto loan scheme in the northern region. Under the scheme, qualified customers of the bank would be able to own a brand new KIA car for a low as N47,400 monthly repayment plan.

Speaking at the launch of the alliance in Abuja, FCMB’s Executive Director, Abuja/Northern Region, Mr. Adam Nuru, described the partnership with Dana Motors as another way of demonstrating the bank’s commitment to offering unique consumer products to the market. He said the scheme will enable Nigerians buy cars at affordable rates.

He said since FCMB has been acclaimed an industry leader in consumer loan offering and that the new package is a viable alliance aimed at furthering the frontiers of delivering an exceptional cus-

NDIC bags IADI award

T

HE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has won the 2014 International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) award as the Best Deposit Insurance Organisation of the Year. The award comes under Category Two of the IADI Core Principles on Compliance and International Collaboration.

Established in May 2002 with the vision of “sharing deposit insurance expertise”, IADI is a standard setting organisation which amongst others, issues guidance on international best practices in deposit insurance and fosters collaboration among deposit insurance institutions in the

world.

The association (IADI) has over the years been promoting international collaboration among deposit insurance organisations and recognises commitment to excellence through the presentation of annual wards to deserving member institutions in specific categories.

The NDIC, being one of the founding members of IADI, identifies strongly with the ideals of the association and is therefore deeply honoured by the award out of 77 member institutions across the globe. The Corporation is also the first to win the award in Africa since the association initiated such awards five years ago.

DATA BANK

Bid Price 167.01 9.08 1.12 1.19 0.69 1.33 1,676.09 1,118.03 120.45 120.30 1,116.70 1.2163 1.2855 0.8089 1.0941

tomer experience. Mr. Nuru therefore charged the bank employees to go all out and ensure that the alliance achieves its objectives.

Specifically, he advised the workers of the bank that in line with the region’s well acclaimed good performance over the years, they should adopt the necessary proactive strategies that will enable the region sell at least 1,000 Kia cars before the end of the year.

“Today, our guests and customers are presented with unique consumer offering and how they can benefit from it. The auto loan is another way of identifying with customer aspirations and delivering on our brand promise to our customers. Throughout the period of this offer, our customers who will sign on the scheme will not have to worry about releasing bulk cash to acquire a brand new vehicle, meaning that they will be able to meet at the same time,” Nuru assured.

RETAIL DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM (RDAS) Transaction Dates 20/10/2014 15/10/2014 13/10/2014 ECONOMIC INDICATORS

GAINERS AS AT 04-11-14

Inflation: September

8.3%

Monetary Policy Rate

12.0%

Amount Offered in ($) 500m 350m 350m

Amount Sold in ($) 499.93m 349.97m 349.96m

CBN EXCHANGE RATES November 3, 2014

Currency

Buying (N)

Selling (N)

154.76

155.76

Foreign Reserves

$39b

US Dollar

0.07

Oil Price (Bonny Light/b)

$97.9

Pounds Sterling

249.6279

251.2409

0.94

0.04

Money Supply (M2)

Euro

197.6595

198.9367

0.92

0.96

0.04

IKEJAHOTEL

2.70

2.78

0.08

Swiss Franc

163.8365

164.8952

SKYEBANK

2.64

2.70

0.06

Yen

1.4481

1.4575

INTENEGINS

0.50

0.51

0.01

CFA

0.2835

0.3035

230.5372

232.0268

Yuan/Renminbi

25.271

25.4352

Riyal

41.255

41.5216

SDR

230.9483

232.4406

SYMBOL

O/PRICE

C/PRICE

CUTIX

1.52

1.59

COSTAIN

0.90

NPFMCRFBK

ACCESS

CHANGE

8.40

8.50

0.10

INTBREW

31.30

31.51

0.21

GUARANTY

25.20

25.31

0.11

LOSERS AS AT 04-11-14

SYMBOL

O/PRICE

C/PRICE

ASHAKACEM

30.40

28.88

-1.52

104.50

99.28

-5.22

UAC-PROP

14.00

13.30

-0.70

PRESCO

28.93

27.49

-1.44

WAPCO

PZ

CHANGE

N16.42 trillion.

Credit to private Sector (CPS)

N17.2 trillion

Primary Lending Rate (PLR)

16.5%

NIGERIAN INTER-BANK OFFERED RATES (NIBOR)

Tenor

15-10-14 Rate (%) Rate (%) 17-10-14

Overnight (O/N)

11.00

10.917

1M

12.464

12.393

3M

13.281

13.201

6M

14.205

14.110

FOREX RATES

21.52

20.45

-1.07

UBCAP

1.82

1.73

-0.09

R-DAS ($/N)

157.29

157.29

NASCON

8.10

7.70

-0.40

Interbank ($/N)

162.75

162.75

54.00

51.35

-2.65

FCMB

3.88

3.69

-0.19

Parallel ($/N)

167.50

167.50

RTBRISCOE

0.82

0.78

-0.04

GLAXOSMITH

WAUA

GOVT. SECURITIES YIELD – SECONDARY MARKET

Tenor

Oct. 28, 2014

Rates

T-bills - 91

10.10

T-bills - 182

10.22

T-bills - 364

10.30

Bond - 3yrs

11.52

Bond - 5yrs

11.55

Bond - 7yrs

12.13

56

THE NATION WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2014

57

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

NEWS ‘No big deal to lose my hometown to Boko Haram’ Continued from page 4

should be well vigilant and the borders should be well monitored to ensure that we do not have a second Sawyer visiting Nigeria and causing havoc in the entire nation.”

“For Mr. president, the Federal Ministry of Health and all the states of the Federation, in-

cluding Rivers, Lagos and Enugu states involved in the entire Ebola saga, were commended for the vigilance and all Nigerians for the unity of purpose, for standing behind the President and for cooperating and collaborating with health officials to ensure that that scourge was immediately arrested and

stamped out of Nigeria.

According to him, the Council also looked at the issue of discrimination in the country.

He said: “The Council looked at the issue of discrimination. There was a committee that was set up, headed by Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, and he presented the re-

port and the council condemned all acts of discrimination across board whether it was gender discrimination, tribalistic discrimination or whether it was discrimination on account of height, weight or state of origin or religion. It was totally condemned in its totality.”

PDP crises: Senators revolt against Jonathan Continued from page 4

us of funds to render us powerless. We have not received allowances for the past three months. After all we have done to protect Mr. President in the Senate, he decided to leave us in the hands of rapacious governors.

“The PDP is already gone.

We are not doing the job of governors but the governors want to do our job. So we have decided to shut down the government. We are not going to approve the Medium Term

Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF. We are not going to consider the budget. Beginning from today, we will come like this and adjourn.

“We have decided to adjourn and do no business and the APC senators are in solidarity with us. As it is, Jonathan has lost the Senate.

By denying us tickets the PDP has deliberately played into the hands of the APC because the reality is that most us will seek their party’s tickets to re-

turn to the Senate.”

In most states especially in the South South and the Southeast, senators and governors are at daggers drawn.

Governors are scheming to move to the senate while trying to also install their successors.

They are blocking sitting senators from returning.

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu is battling with Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime.

Senate leader Victor Ndo-

ma-Egba and Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke do not see eye to eye.

Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswil Akpabio has schemed out Senator Aloysius Etok in Akwa Ibom. Senators Enyinaya Abaribe and Chris Anyanwu, who are bidding to be governor are not having things rosy due to the excessive influence of the governors.

In Bayelsa, Governor Seriake Dickson has edged out all the three senators.

Chibok girls: Only US, Britain deploy aircraft Continued from page 4

operational officers to flashpoints in the North-East instead of commanding officers who are merely interested in appointments without leading by example.

According to a reliable source, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, most foreign nations have not sent military equipment to assist in securing freedom for the girls.

The source said: “Only the US and Britain have deployed in surveillance aircraft to locate the whereabouts of the Chibok girls.

Australia, Israel, France, Canada and others have no assets deployed in the country. ”Even as for the US and Britain, especially the US, they are not ready to use the surveillance aircraft for any other purpose in the North-East than the Chibok girls.

“For instance, when the Emir of Gwoza, Idrissa Timta was killed, the surveillance aircraft was not within where the incident took place.

As long as it had nothing to

do with the Chibok girls, they do not bother.

“At worst we compare notes and share intelligence with these nations. Of course, France did a lot to bring Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger Republic and Chad together in Paris.

Responding to a question, the source said none of the foreign powers is ready to come up with military assistance to check the Boko Haram menace in the North-East.

He added: “In 2012, we have tried our best to ask the US to assist us. We wanted a surveillance aircraft. In March 2013, we wrote a reminder but they didn’t respond to our demand for the aircraft for the NorthEast.

“Now, they are giving us conditions tying to the Chibok girls. They said they will pack and go the day the girls were freed.

“What they have done is that they offered to come but they are tying our hands.

“So, right from the word go, the Federal Government had suspected that these foreign nations will not come to our aid to curtail the insurgents in the

North-East.

“But because of domestic pressure, we have to accept their offers. If we do not accept, Nigerians will say, the government does not want the insurgency to end.

“This is why it has become necessary for us to confront the sect and draw the battle line once and for all. We cannot sit by and watch towns and villages being occupied by the insurgents.

“We have reached a level that we must take our destiny in our hands.”

Meanwhile, in preparation for the fresh offensive against Boko Haram, the military hierarchy has directed Service Chiefs to deploy only operational officers in flashpoints in the North-East.

The Service Chiefs are to ensure that commanding officers, who will be appointed, are those willing to fight and live up to their oath of protecting the nation’s integrity.

Another source said: “We are set for the battle against Boko Haram in the North-East. The sect will be checked in the zone.

Here comes executive chauffeur Continued from page 4

terday at a public hearing in Abuja, driving a black Range Rover Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).

The Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), acting through the police, last week withdrew Tambuwal’s security detail, thus turning the country’s number four citizen into an

ordinary Nigerian. His sin: he dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Until his defection, sirens announced Tambuwal’s arrival and departure from events. A police orderly sat with him in the car. Not anymore. But the Speaker carried on with the mien of one not bothered by such privileges.

But the point is: Many insist

Tambuwal deserves all the privileges of his office as Nigeria’s number four citizen.

His assignment yesterday was to open public hearings by two committees of the House – Public Account and Justice.

Tambuwal carried out the assignment dutifully, shielded by APC lawmakers. He thereafter moved into his office.

PDP has failed Nigeria, says Nda-Isaiah Continued from page 4

Jonathan and the ruling PDP would not allow the yearning for change to be actualised as they are not willing to relinquish power.

“If you think the President and the PDP will just leave office, you are joking. We all have to ensure that we work and vote them out. We should be ready to demand and ensure the change, even at a point of death.”

The NGF chairman said the desperation of the PDP government not to allow change has manifested in the abitirary use of the Police and the Department of State Security Service (DSSS).

Citing the withdrawal of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal’s

security detail on the orders of the PDP government, Amaechi said the action of the security agencies gave them out as appendages of the PDP. “It is a known fact that it is only the National Assembly and the court that can determine who is the Speaker and not the Police and SSS, so we must all rise and vote the PDP out,” Amaechi advised.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said any of the party’s presidential aspirants is better than President Jonathan.

Atiku, who addressed the rally in Hausa, said: “Any of the APC aspirants is better than Jonathan. Whoever wins the party primary is better than President Jonathan.”

The aspirant who described Nda-Isaiah as a personal

friend said all the aspirants in the APC had resolved to support whoever emerges. “We (APC aspirants) are united. We have resolved to support whoever emerges. We are not fighting each other; that is why I am here today. Our target is to rescue the country from the misrule of the PDP. “It is a known fact that we don’t have function hospitals, no good schools for our children, no electricity and no good road; that is why we must change the PDP government and rescue the country from further harm.”

Atiku advised party members, especially those seeking elective offices, to go back to their wards and constituencies to effect the change at all levels of the country.

“Service Chiefs have been asked to review how they select their commanding officers.

Operational officer will be holding commanding positions. We will no longer give commanding appointments for the wrong reasons.

“Recently we had a case of a commanding officer who burnt his equipment, including armoured cars, to pretend that troops were attacked by Boko Haram. He was running away from encounters with the sect.

“The era of indiscipline is gone to win this battle against Boko Haram.”

Four die in Kwara tanker fire

F

OUR people were killed on Monday in a tanker fire in Bode-Saadu, Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Four others were injured.

It was gathered that the accident occurred about 9:30pm.

Sources said a petrol-laden truck fell while the driver was trying to avoid a bad portion of the road. It spilled its content and burst into flames.

Although residents said 20 people were feared dead, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander Mary Wakawa said four people died.

Wakawa said: “Last night, a tanker caught fire at Bode Saadu about 9:30pm. Eight people were affected. Four of them died and four sustained

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

serious injuries. It was a lone accident and we have been there since yesterday. The fire was still on this morning but it has come down. We have sent our men to the site to clear the road for traffic.”

University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) spokesman Oba Hassan Kadiri said four people with 85 degrees burns were brought to the hospital.

Kadiri said they were transferred to some clinics after treatment at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit.

He said the Commissioner for Health, Kayode Issa, was around when the victims were brought in and pledged, on behalf of the government, to pick up their bills.

‘Recover Gwoza from Boko Haram’

T

HE Emir of Gwoza in Borno State, Alhaji Muhammadu Timta, yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to recover his kingdom from Boko Haram.

Gwoza was seized by Boko Haram on August 6. Leader of the terrorist group Abubakar Shekau declared the town the headquarters of his “Islamic Caliphate”.

The monarch, who narrowly escaped being captured by the insurgents, had been staying in Maiduguri, the state capital.

Addressing reporter in Maiduguri, the emir said: “It is unfortunate that I have been disconnected with

From Duku Joel, Maiduguri

many of my people, who are suffering in different parts of the country. I feel so sad that I cannot reach out to them.

“I urge the Federal Government to come to their aid. As I am talking to you, many of them are trapped in Cameroon and many are taking refuge in various places in Nigeria.

“We appreciate the efforts of both the Federal Government and the Borno State government, but a lot needs to be done so that our people can go back home.”

He urged his people to thank God for life and pray for peace.

58

THE NATION WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

NEWS

Protest in Port Harcourt as towing vehicle kills hawker

Edo APC dazed by lawmaker’s death From Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

E

DO State All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders are “dazed” by the death of the lawmaker representing Etsako East in the House of Assembly, Peter Aliu.

They described the lawmaker’s death as a great loss to the party and the people of the state.

House of Assembly Speaker Uyi Igbe said the late Aliu was a titan of principle who exhibited an unwavering loyalty to APC. APC State Chairman Anselm Ojezua, who led the party’s executive members on a condolence visit to the family of the deceased yesterday, said the late Aliu was a pillar and a stabilising force in the Assembly and APC in Etsako East.

The chairman said: “We are weeping because we have lost one of the most dedicated party members.”

Addressing the family, Ojezua said: “I want to condole with the House of Assembly, Speaker Igbe and other House members on the death of Aliu.

We know that Mr Speaker will be most affected by the demise because of what the late member represented in the House and the politics of the state.

Painful as the death is to all of us, we pray God to grant us the fortitude to bear the loss.”

To Mrs Aliu, he said: “The death of our brother was a major loss to the party, just as it is to the family. The late member was focused, godly and patriotic in all that he did.

We pray God to grant him the true place in heaven while we condole with his family.

“I want to assure you that APC will stand by the family at this time of grief and always.”

Petitions flood Edo PDP secretariat over ward congress From Osagie Otabor, Benin

GGRIEVED members of the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have flooded the party’s secretariat with petitions over last Saturday’s congresses.

They alleged manipulation of the list of delegates.

An aspirant from Edo North was heard complaining that the delegates’ list was written in the bush.

He said he had no input in the three-man delegates elected from his ward.

The PDP Congress Appeal Committee Chairman, Gbenga Oduwaiye, said the secretariat had received over 22 petitions from the three senatorial districts.

He said the committee was mandated to receive petitions from aggrieved party members and listen to their complaints.

The chairman said the committee would forward its reports to the National Working Committee (MWC) of the party for appropriate actions.

A

A

TOWING vehicle killed a youth, said to be a hawker, yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The vehicle was towing a trailer’s broken down part when it had a brake failure at the Waterlines Junction.

The towing vehicle was said to have run into the hawker, killing him instantly.

The police command confirmed the incident.

There was a protest among the residents who witnessed the accident.

They vandalised the towing vehicle.

Eyewitnesses said the victim, simply identified as Uche, was attending to a customer at the lower concrete slab demarcating the outlet wing of the busy Port Harcourt-Aba

•Another in critical condition From Rosemary Nwisi, Port Harcourt

Expressway, when the driver of the tipper, marked XA 608 AGU, attempted to climb the slab to move from the slow lane to the service lane to avoid a traffic jam.

But he lost control of the vehicle and killed the boy.

The woman was reportedly injured and was rushed to a hospital.

Uche’s body was removed by the police to the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital Mortuary.

It was learnt that the driver attempted to escape but was caught and handed over to the police.

Eyewitnesses said two hawkers and the woman were

involved in the accident. But the police said they found one body.

In a phone interview last night, police spokesman Ahmad Mohammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said: “I can confirm to you that there was an accident at the outlet wing of the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway today (yesterday) involving a towing vehicle. One person died.

“When our men got to the scene, they saw only one body on the ground, which they picked and deposited at a mortuary.

“The driver of the vehicle has been apprehended and detained at the station. Investigations have begun.”

On the woman’s condition,

Mohammed said he was not aware that another person was involved in the accident.

A colleague to the deceased, who was found crying at the scene, identified the victims as Uche.

He regretted the youth’s death.

The distraught man said the deceased was plannign to travel for the first time to Owerri, the Imo State capital, his home town at Christmas, after staying in Port Harcourt for two years.

He said: “The boy was standing on the slab on the road when the man just came and killed him. I just came newly to Port Harcourt; I met the boy here.

He is from Owerri. He told me recently of his plan to travel home this Christmas; that he had not gone home since two years he came here. But see it now, he has died, just like that.”

302 Edo aspirants jostle for 36 seats From Osagie Otabor, Benin

T

HREE hundred and two aspirants in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are jostling for the 36 seats in the National Assembly and the Edo State House of Assembly. For the three senatorial seats, nine aspirants picked APC forms while 11 picked PDP forms.

Thirty contenders from the APC are vying for the nine House of Representatives seats and 41 other aspirants on the platform of the PDP. One hundred and seventeen aspirants picked APC nominations forms for the 24 Assembly seats and 94 contenders picked PDP forms.

Kabo conveys 8,326 pilgrims From Kolade Adeyemi,Kano

K

ABO Air has said it carried 8,326 Muslim pilgrims from Saudi Arabia back to Nigeria, following this year’s Hajj.

Kabo Managing Director/ Cheif Executive, Captain Saidu Muhammad, addressed reporters yesterday on the airline’s activities with Muslim pilgrims.

He described this year’s Hajj operation as another success story in the company’s more than three decades.

According to him, Kabo’s passengers for the Hajj were mainly from Adamawa, Kaduna, Kano and Kwara states. Muhammad said the last flight arrived in Nigeria through the Ilorin International Airport with 500 passengers, comprising 412 pilgrims and 88 officials.

Akpabio urges PSN to build factory in Akwa Ibom •From left: Representative of Osun State governor, Dr Adeleke Ipaye; the celebrant and President, Deaf Supporters Group (DSG), Mr Afolabi Dahunsi; his wife, Bose and Lagos State representative of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr Adeoti Tele Isaac, during the golden jubilee celebration of Dahunsi, at Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

Urhobo draw battle line with Jonathan, Uduaghan

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will lose over 80 per cent of the votes from Delta State in next year’s elections, if the party fails to field an Urhobo as its governorship candidate.

This was part of the resolutions in the communiqué issued yesterday by the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), the umbrella body of the largest ethnic group in the state.

The communiqué, which followed the union’s congress at the Urhobo Cultural Centre in Warri, was signed by UPU’s President-General, Chief Joe Omene.

It criticised Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for taking what they called a stance against the interest of the Urhobo.

The communiqué also accused the governor of disrespecting his deputy, Prof Amos Utuama, an Urhobo.

UPU accused some politicians of working against the interest of Urhobo, especially those working with Uduaghan.

The union threatened to sanction them until they turn a new leaf.

No zoning in Delta PDP, says Utuama From Bolaji Ogubdele, Warri

DELTA State Deputy Governor Amos Utuama has said there is no zoning arrangement in the state chapter of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Prof Utuama spoke yesterday in his Otu-Jeremi home in Ughelli South Local Government Area on the development in the PPD. The deputy governor said he had accepted to join the race to succeed Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan.

Utuama said he accepted the PDP governorship expression of intent and nomination forms bought for him by a group, People’s Network for Utuama (PNU).

He said Uduaghan had not endorsed any aspirant for the governorship race.

Utuama said: “He has not endorsed anybody. The governor has not said, ‘This is the preferred aspirant.’ He has not said so.

My message to Deltans is that they should vote for competence, for capacity, for character, for credibility and for experience. I have all that.”

On the alleged zoning in Delta PDP, he said: “There’s no zoning. I don’t know of any zoning. There’s no zoning that I know of.”

•Ethnic nation threatens to deny President 1m votes From Bolaji Ogundele, Warri

It also said the union would soon take a stand on its relationship with Uduaghan, especially because, according to it, his position against the political interests

of the Urhobo.

The communiqué, which Omene read yesterday at the congress, said: “It would be recalled that in March 2014, the Urhobo nation, under the auspices of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), took

a position and stated that all registered political parties, including the PDP, the ruling party in Delta State, should pick their governorship flag bearers/ candidates from the Urhobo nation. This was duly condensed into the ‘Uvwiamughe Declaration’.

“In the 2011 general elections, for instance, the average numerical votes delivered by the Urhobo people for the President (Goodluck Jonathan) was well above 820,000. This figure is almost comparatively double of the votes realised from the North and South senatorial districts of the state put together, which were hardly up to 500,000 votes. In fact, that of Delta North, to be more specific, was 149,000 votes only. It must be emphasised here that ‘democracy is a game of number’.

“Consequent upon the above undisputed facts, the Urhobo, resident within the shores of Delta State and beyond, still insist on the Uvwiamughe Declaration that ‘we will vote for any political party that gives its governorship ticket to an Urhobo person’. This we will do in the various elections, including the presidential.”

From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

A

KWA Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio has urged the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) to consider building a drug manufacturing industry in the state.

Akpabio spoke yesterday when executive members of the society, led by its National President, Olumide Akintayo, visited him at the Governor’s Office in Uyo. Akpabio said: “I want to urge you - because you are investors - this is a place you can build your factory to manufacture drugs. The ambience is right; there is peace. We have prepared the place for you by putting the requisite infrastructure in place. We have a large customer-base and you have opportunity to export because of the upcoming seaport.”

The governor urged PSN to rid the profession of unqualified personnel.

He said: “We depend so much on you. You can do more for Nigeria; I urge you to do more. Help us to remove quacks from your profession by setting up a monitoring unit. You must set up a robust monitoring team to monitor what you are doing.

“For you to be successful, you must monitor even the curriculum of the various universities so that they don’t end up producing graduates that do not know anything about Pharmacy.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2014

59

FOREIGN NEWS

Thousands break Ebola quarantine to find food in S’Leone

T

HOUSANDS of people in Sierra Leone are being forced to violate Ebola quarantines to find food because deliveries are not reaching them, aid agencies said.

Large swaths of the West African country have been sealed off to prevent the spread of Ebola, and within those areas many people have been ordered to stay in their homes. The government, with help from the U.N.’s World Food Program, is tasked with delivering food and other services to those people. But there are

many “nooks and crannies” in the country that are being missed, Jeanne Kamara, Christian Aid’s Sierra Leone representative, said Tuesday.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed nearly 5,000 people and authorities have gone to extreme lengths to bring it under control, like the quarantines in Sierra Leone. The country said Tuesday that it would keep a state of emergency, which includes restrictions on large gatherings, in place for a full year.

Similar measures have also been used in Liberia and Guinea, the two other coun-

tries hardest hit by the epidemic.

While public health authorities have said such measures may be necessary to bring under control an Ebola outbreak unlike any other, the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella organization for aid organizations, warned on Monday that they were cutting off food to thousands of people.

“The quarantine of Kenema, the third largest town in Sierra Leone, is having a devastating impact on trade - travel is restricted so trucks carrying food cannot freely drive around,” the commit-

tee said in a statement. “Food is becoming scarce, which has led to prices increasing beyond the reach of ordinary people.”

Because services are not reaching them, people who are being monitored for signs of Ebola — and should be staying at home — are venturing out to markets to look for food, potentially contaminating many others, said Kamara.

When houses are put under quarantine, teams are supposed to go to them to list all their needs, she said: How many people are living there? Are there pregnant

women or sick people with special needs? But Kamara said that with the infections still increasing quickly, it was difficult for the government to keep up with the number of people being monitored for the disease.

“The number is just rising exponentially,” she said.

“The speed with which we have to have such a robust system of planning and coordination” is too fast.

In October, the World Food Program fed more than 450,000 people in Sierra Leone, including people who are under quarantine or being treated for Ebola, said Alex-

is Masciarelli, a spokesman for the agency in Dakar, Senegal. The distribution of food has been difficult, he said, since it has required bringing food to remote areas by poor roads. Pick-up trucks have driven around some communities to do door-todoor handouts.

He acknowledged that getting good information about where people need help is difficult, but he said WFP asks smaller organizations, with deep connections to the communities, to help them keep track of a fastmoving situation.

AU envoy meets Burkina Faso opposition

I

INTERNATIONAL envoys tried yesterday to resolve Burkina Faso’s political crisis, with the spectre of a power vacuum looming after the country’s longtime president fled last week.

Opposition protesters — who said 27 years in power was enough for one man — forced President Blaise Compaore to resign last week and flee to Ivory Coast. Confusion ensued, with different factions of the military and the civilian opposition all vying for control.

Order has been restored in Ouagadougou, the capital, with business appearing to return to normal and no unusual presence of police or military on the streets.

For now, the military appears to be in charge and has designated Lt. Col. Isaac Yacouba Zida as the transitional leader.

The opposition has dropped its demands that the military immediately surrender power and is instead calling for talks to work out a solution.

But the African Union and others in the international community have held a firmer line. The African Union, which represents 53 countries on the continent, gave the West African country two weeks to return to constitutional rule or face sanctions.

Its envoy, former Togolese Prime Minister Edem Kodjo, met Tuesday with leaders of the opposition.

Mexico mayor, wife detained in case of 43 missing students

F

EDERAL police early yesterday detained the former mayor of the southern Mexican city of Iguala and his wife, who are accused of ordering the Sept. 26 attacks on teachers’ college students that left six dead and 43 still missing.Jose Luis Abarca and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, were arrested in Ixtapalapa, a working-class borough in eastern Mexico City, according to the Federal Police Twitter account.

They were hiding out in a house, according to a federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.They were taken in an early morning raid without a shot to the Attorney General’s Office, where they were giving statements.

At least 56 other people have been arrested so far in the case, and the Iguala police chief is still a fugitive.

The couple’s detention could shed light on disappearances, which have prompted outraged demonstrations across the country and abroad to demand the students be found.Before he went into hiding, Abarca told news media that he ordered police to leave the students alone, that they were just passing through.But since Abarca requested a leave of absence and fled days after the incident, authorities have identified the couple as ordering the attack.

They say the couple ran Iguala like a fiefdom in cooperation with the local cartel, Guerreros Unidos.Abarca received payments of 2 million to 3 million pesos ($150,000$220,000) every few weeks, as a bribe and to pay off his corrupt police force, according to Attorney General Jose Murillo Karam, who gave a detailed account Oct. 22 of the couple’s collusion with organized crime.

Ukraine orders troops to key cities

U

KRAINIAN troops in Mariupol will be among those reinforced Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has ordered army reinforcements to key southern and eastern cities in case of a new rebel offensive.

Mr Poroshenko said the units were to protect Mariupol, Berdyansk, Kharkiv and the north of Luhansk region.

He spoke after meeting security chiefs in the wake of elections in rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

He said he was committed to the current peace process but has proposed cancelling a key plank of the plan.

The peace process was laid out in a 5 September ceasefire deal.

Mr Poroshenko has proposed scrapping a law that gives special status to Donetsk and Luhansk.

Both regions staged swearing-in ceremonies for their proRussian leaders on Tuesday.

Alexander Zakharchenko was inaugurated president of the Donetsk People’s Republic while Igor Plotnitsky was sworn in as president of the Luhansk People’s Republic.

•Residents of the town of Vienna, Virginia, queued up early in the morning to cast their votes.

PHOTO: EPA

Peshmerga fighters ‘heavily shelling’ IS in Kobane

I

RAQI Kurdish peshmerga fighters who joined the battle for the Syrian border town of Kobane have been heavily shelling Islamic State group jihadists, a commander told AFP. Speaking to AFP by telephone from inside Kobane, the commander said the peshmerga were manning artillery in support of local Syrian Kurd-

ish militia fighters, who have been battling the jihadists for nearly seven weeks.

“We have been heavily shelling Islamic State positions in Kobane, which has helped the (Syrian Kurdish) People’s Protection Units (YPG),” the commander said.

The peshmerga crossed the Turkish border into Kobane at the weekend after travelling

across Turkey from Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region.

IS has seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq and the Iraqi Kurds have been a key fighting force in preventing the group’s further advance in Iraq.

Kurdish refugees who fled the Syrian town of Kobane receive towels at a refugee camp

in the southeas …

Up to 4,000 jihadists are fighting some 1,500 to 2,000 members of the YPG in Kobane, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.

The town has become a highly visible symbol of the international campaign against the jihadist group.

Zambian President sacks defence chief

Z

•Scott

AMBIA’s interim President Guy Scott has sacked defence minister and presidential hopeful, Edgar Lungu, to a powerful governing party post.

Mr Lungu had said his sacking was illegal and highly provocative at a time of mourning for President Michael Sata, who died last week.

Correspondents say a power struggle has been un-

folding in the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) over the succession.

Mr Scott said all campaigning was banned until after Mr Sata’s burial.

Egar Lungu is a powerful figure within the Patriotic Front party Mr Scott became acting leader - Zambia’s first white head of state - in accordance with the country’s constitution, which requires the vicepresident to assume presiden-

tial duties until elections take place within 90 days.

As the constitution stands, he is ineligible to run for president in the elections because it bars candidates whose parents were not born in Zambia.

The BBC’s Meluse Kapatamoyo in the capital, Lusaka, says the initial sacking surprised many people as Mr Scott himself had urged people not to play politics while the nation mourns Mr Sata.

Oscar Pistorius prosecutors appeal against jail term

O

SCAR Pistorius’s fiveyear prison term for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was “shockingly light, inappropriate and would not have been imposed by any reasonable court”, according to prosecutors who have filed for leave to appeal against the sentence and conviction.

In September, Masipa acquitted Pistorius of murder but found him guilty of culpable homicide, the South African equivalent of manslaughter, in a judgment criticised by some legal experts.

Last month, at the end of an eight-month trial televised

worldwide, she jailed the Paralympian for five years, though this could potentially become house arrest in less than a year.

The application, addressed to the high court registrar in Pretoria and Pistorius’s defence team, notes that the sprinter knew there was a person behind the toilet door and chose to use a firearm, firing not one but four shots, and there was no room for escape for the person behind the door.

Pistorius has always maintained that he mistook Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate, for an intruder and feared for his life.

But the papers note that the court correctly found that he presented a “plethora of defences” and argue that these were “mutually destructive and irreconcilable”. They also quote the court’s finding that Pistorius was “a very poor witness”.

“The honourable judge erred in not appropriately taking into account the consequences of the accused’s actions.

Not enough emphasis was placed on the horrendous manner in which the deceased died, coupled with the gruesome injuries she sustained when the accused shot and killed her.”

Masipa also erred in overemphasising the purpose of rehabilitation and reformation at the cost of retribution, the prosecutors contend. “We will argue that the sentence is inappropriate and shockingly light for someone that killed an innocent person with gross negligence where his conduct bordered on dolus eventualis.”

They note that, under the criminal procedure act, Pistorius will qualify to be released from prison under correctional supervision after serving “a mere 10 months”. There is a reasonable prospect that another court may come to a different finding, they say.

60

THE NATION WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2014

THE NATION WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 5, 2014

61

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

62

SPORT EXTRA

Toure to answer abuse on the pitch M

AN CITY boss Manuel Pellegrini claims Yaya Toure's performance will not be affected by the racial abuse he has received on Twitter.

Police are investigating after the City midfielder was sent abusive tweets within hours of reactivating his Twitter account on Monday.

Ivory Coast international Toure withdrew from the social media site five months ago to focus on the World Cup but returned after City's derby victory over Manchester United at the weekend.

Some of the responses he received to the first message he posted were of an offensive racial nature, prompting antidiscriminatiry body Kick It Out to make an official complaint to police.

Pellegrini is confident Toure, 31, will be able to handle the situation.

The Chilean said: "I think Yaya is an experienced player. He is always trying to fight against those things but I don't think he will have any problem about that, to play in the way he knows (how) to do it.

"I read the news about what happened but I think the people in charge will do the right things."

Greater Manchester Police have yet to issue a formal statement regarding the latest Toure matter but a tweet in response to a query about the matter confirmed the matter was under investigation.

It read: "Thank you - we are aware if (sic) this and are investigating."

•Toure

Sunderland poised to restore confidence'

B

EING thrashed 8-0 at Southampton shocked Sunderland to the core and rebuilding confidence will take time but Monday's 3-1 win at Crystal Palace was a good start, assistant head coach Mauricio Taricco said.

Taricco told Reuters that luck had also played a part on Monday with Sunderland surviving a strong penalty appeal from Palace in the first minute after Santiago Vergini appeared to bring down Frazier Campbell.

"The last two results, the manner in which we lost hit us all pretty hard and it shows a bit," manager Gus Poyet's right-hand man said of the rout at

Tottenham set to extend Ryan Mason's contract

R

YAN Mason has been nothing short of a revelation for Tottenham Hotspur this season, and now according to one English newspaper, he's set to be rewarded for his efforts this season.

The London Evening Standard reports that Spurs are expected to invoke a clause in Ryan Mason's contract that will extend his stay with Spurs until 2018, and give him a salary raise as well. Mason's contract reportedly expires at the end of next season, but Spurs have the option to keep him for another two years if they wish.

We always take stories like this with a healthy dose of skepticism until it's announced by the club, but this would make sense if it's true.

Mason has been fantastic since breaking into the Spurs first team in the North London Derby in September. He's a Spurs academy player who's risen up through the ranks and has broken into the first team. He appears now to be a lock-down starter in the center of midfield for Mauricio Pochettino. Why wouldn't the club want to keep him around?

The article doesn't indicate anything about what his new salary would be if he agrees to the new contract, but whatever it is, based on his performances thus far this season, he's earned it.

•Mason

Southampton two weeks ago followed by a 2-0 defeat at home to Arsenal.

"We had been playing a bit better even than today but it really shocked us all."

The win with two goals from striker Steven Fletcher and one by midfielder Jordi Gomez was a tonic.

Confidence building was now a big a part of the job former Tottenham Hotspur teammates Poyet and Taricco needed to do to move Sunderland further into Premier League mid-table territory.

"It's our task, to get back to the way we were playing at the beginning (of the season) because, without playing very well, without being extraordinary we were always in the game, we didn't give away many goals until the match against Southampton destabilised us," Taricco said.

"No-one expected it, neither the players nor us because we were defending well, giving very little away."

It was Sunderland's second win in 10 league matches but they had only conceded seven goals in seven before the Southampton debacle.

The win at Palace put them 15th with 11 points.

"Let's hope that after this (Palace) result, the normality we had before returns and the players can play more serenely, more tidy as the English say," Taricco said.

Sandro: Redknapp can reverse QPR fortunes

S

ANDRO has thrown his support behind Harry Redknapp and backed his manager to reverse QPR's Premier League fortunes.

QPR have found the going tough since returning to the top flight, winning just twice in 10 league games - a return that leaves them 19th in the table.

However, there have been signs of improvement in recent weeks, as spirited performances in losses to Liverpool and Chelsea sandwiched a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa.

And Sandro, who also played under Redknapp at previous club Tottenham, believes the experienced manager is the right man to take QPR up the league.

•Redknapp "Harry is a good manager and everybody knows his qualities as he showed them also in other clubs, like at Tottenham," he told Perform.

63

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014

SPORT EXTRA

Mikel eyes comeback against Liverpool • Out of Maribor clash today

S

L10.NG has been informed that John Obi Mikel is targeting a return to action this weekend, having been omitted from the Chelsea squad that traveled to Slovenia for the Champions League clash with Maribor.

The Nigeria international has said that he would have made the trip to Slovenia if he had participated in full training, prior to the team's departure to Slovenia on Tuesday afternoon.

A representative of Mikel told SL10.ng: '' Mikel went to training today, but he didn't train fully with the rest of the team, he only had a light workout. '' ''He has a knock on his knee and he has told me he would be ready and be fit to play this weekend.''

The 27-year-old is now eligible for a British passport, having played nonstop in England for eight years, and his representative has provided an update on his client's application for UK citizenship. ''They have not issued him the passport yet. He was supposed to get it by the end of October. But he is in contact with the authorities and he is expecting the document any moment from now,'' he added.

Mikel's comeback could be against Liverpool on November 8, a week before the Super Eagles square off against Congo in an African Cup of Nations qualifying fixture.

He has six Premier League games under his belt in the current campaign.

Enyeama linked to Liverpool, Sunderland

N

IGERIA international goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, is attracting interests from two Barclays Premier League clubs, Liverpool and Sunderland.

According to reports in France, the 32-year-old goalkeeper is believed to on the watch list of the two English clubs ahead of the January transfer window.

Sunderland's reportedly link to the Nigerian comes on the heels of dreadful goalkeeping performance by their Italian shot-stopper, Vito Mannone, in recent matches that saw the Black Cats ship in 10 goals in two games against Southampton and Arsenal.

RESULTS

• Enyeama

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Juventus 3 - 2 Olympiakos Malmo FF 0 - 2 A. Madrid Basel 4 - 0 Ludogorets R. Madrid 1 - 0 Liverpool Zenit 1 - 2 Leverkusen Benfica 1 - 0 Monaco Arsenal 3 - 3 Anderlecht Dortmund 4 - 1 Galatasaray

• Mikel in training

Ideye in trouble at WBA

T

HESE are not the best of times for Nigerian striker, Brown Ideye at Barclays English Premier League club, West Bromwich Albion.

The 25-year-old has yet to score a league goal this season despite being the club’s record signing (he joined for £10 million from Dynamo Kiev in July).

Authoritative British newspaper, the Telegraph reports that Albion are growing increasingly concerned with Ideye’s struggles since his arrival in July and management staff are understood to be “exasperated” with his lack of impact.

Ideye was signed for a record fee from Dynamo Kiev but has made only two league starts and was not even in the match day squad for the game at Leicester City on Saturday.

Alan Irvine, the head coach, admitted shortly after the signing was confirmed that he had never seen Ideye play live, trusting the judgement of the

club’s scouting and recruitment department.

But Albion have been left stunned by how far the forward appears off the pace since his introduction to the Premier League.

“I haven’t had a chat with (Ideye about why he wasn’t in the squad). We pick the team carefully and even if it’s the same team it’s still chosen with a lot of thought and care – that applies to the subs as well.

“The way that we do it is I say to any player, ‘If you want to come in on Monday, come in on Monday’. But when the team’s named and the subs are named accept that, respect the rest of the players and then come back in later if you want to have a chat. I might have a chat with him on Monday if he feels he needs to have a chat but if he doesn’t I won’t be calling him in,” Irvine explained.

Albion, however, have dismissed suggestons that they would consider loaning out Ideye in January.

Benzema's strike nails Liverpool at Bernabeu

P

REDICTIONS of a rout proved to be well wide off the mark as Liverpool's weakened side produced a disciplined if not ultimately successful performance at the Bernabeu.

Manager Brendan Rodgers' gamble of leaving captain Steven Gerrard, vice-skipper Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling, among others, on the bench was considered bold by some and foolish by others.

Having been out-played at Anfield a fortnight ago in the 3-0 defeat, Rodgers felt it was prescient to hold back his key men for the weekend's visit of unbeaten Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea and made eight changes for what turned out to be a 1-0 loss.

Saturday's match now becomes a must-win one otherwise the Reds boss will expose himself to even more criticism but, in terms of this night, his second-string can

probably claim a moral victory, having kept the damage below what the first-choice side did in the previous meeting with Karim Benzema's 26th-minute strike decisive.

In his pre-match comments, Rodgers rejected the assumption that his side's Group B hopes - they are third but only three points behind Basle - rested on the final two matches against Ludogorets and the Swiss, but that is what it has boiled down to.

Getting their league campaign back on track is the priority, hence the controversial decision to rest his captain and other notableplayers.

Out of the 180 minutes Liverpool have now played at the Bernabeu, Gerrard has been involved for just 22, having been restricted to only two minutes as a substitute in 2009 because of a hamstring problem, after coming off the bench midway through the second half.

Femi Hamzat Cup final holds Sunday

T

HE maiden edition of the Under 15 Femi Hamzat Cup 2014 will hold on Sunday, 9th of November at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

The competition which is organised for Under 15 male youth clubs in Lagos State, will see Smart Strikers of Oke-Aro taking on St. Michael FC of Iyana Ipaja in the final by 4 pm, while the 3rd place match will between B- Unit of Surulere and Double Star of Ijora by 1pm.

Sponsor of the competition, Lagos State Commissioner for Works, Hon. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat said the aim of sponsoring the event is to engage the

By Bowale Odukale youths positively.

“The essence of the competition is very straight forward, it is a youth competition for kids, the young people and it is very clear that sport is one area where you can actually integrate youth. The reality is that when you engage your energy in sports, you don’t have time to do evil things and that is the essence of this.

“I’ve been encouraging young people that are involved to know that it is important to win, but it is more important to win very fairly. That people should not cheat, it is not about winning at all cost, it’s about winning the right way.”

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL.9 NO. 3,023

TODAY IN THE NATION ‘With the array of political juggernauts in the APC, mostly those who once wined and dined with the PDP and have, therefore, mastered the election ‘winning’ tricks of the PDP, the coming election bears the imprimatur of a keener contest than most previous ones’ DELE AGEKAMEH

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

H

IS handlers have tried to cast him in the image of a meek lamb with little, if any, discouragement from the man himself.

But, as many of those who have crossed his path would testify, he is as tough as nails. Ask former President Olusegun Obasanjo, his estranged godfather, who brought him to political limelight to begin with. Ask former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor and now Emir of Kano Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Ask the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi.

These three must have since come to feature prominently in what, metaphorically speaking at least, must be President Goodluck Jonathan’s Black Book, tucked away somewhere in the inner recesses of the Presidential Villa. The first for openly writing a letter to his erstwhile godson, which dripped with so much vitriol; the second for accusing the untouchable Minister of Petroleum and, by extension, the man himself, of incredible venality in the management of the country’s oil wealth; and the third for cultivating the cheeky habit of tweaking the president’s nose every now and then.

All three - and more – must have rued the day they may have thought the man would, meek as a lamb, simply roll over and absorb their punches, or even turn the other cheek.

Instead, he has responded each time with as much vicious counter upper-cut as the former heavy weight champion, Mike Tyson, could land on an opponent.

And now, to this list of those who have been at the receiving end of the president’s unsparing anger, must be added the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

His own offence? On October 28, the man finally confirmed speculations that he had for long harboured the treasonable intention of defecting from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) when he announced his defection on the floor of the House and then adjourned its sitting to December 3 – long enough to escape immediate impeachment.

The presidency’s response was swift even if predictable; the speaker’s security details were withdrawn by the Inspector General of Police two days after, apparently on orders from “oga at the top”. Not only that, it seemed the leadership of the PDP in the House got their marching orders to defy the House rules and reconvene immediately in order to remove the speaker, come hell, come high water. The party had, of course, asked him to step aside but he had dutifully declined.

Both moves have now become bones of contention, with both the Speaker and his new party heading for the courts to plead that PDP be stopped from reconvening the House before December 3. On Monday, Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed, sitting in a Federal High Court in Abuja, granted them temporary respite when he ruled for the status quo to remain until the substantive hearing of the case on November 7.

The swift withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security details and the moves by the authorities to remove him would not be the first time the speaker would be the object of presidential ire.

On June 22, he suffered an even more personal humiliation at the hands of soldiers when they insisted on searching his vehicle before he

RIPPLES FED GOVT TO RETURN SANUSI’S

PASSPORT AND SEIZED SALARIES–News

RIPPLES

Yes, SALARIES...and I guess, plus INTEREST

People and Politics By

MOHAMMED HARUNA ndajika@yahoo.com

Tambuwal’s defection

•Tambuwal

would be allowed into the venue of an international conference on the security and challenges of pastoralism held in Kaduna and organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

Tambuwal was a special guest and speaker at the conference. Other VIPs arriving for the conference, governors especially, had been allowed into the venue without search. The insistent soldiers said they were acting on “orders from above”. In anger the Speaker disembarked from his vehicle and walked into the venue. His apparent offence at the time was that he had already been seen to be hobnobbing with key figures in the opposition party, not least of who was the governor of his state, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko.

The Speaker’s defection raises both moral and legal questions about his holding on to his position as the country’s No. 4 Citizen. Only the courts can decide on the legal question. However, on this count, in withdrawing his security details so fast and moving just as fast to try and remove him as Speaker, the presidency and the PDP have, once again, demonstrated their impatience with, and total disregard for, the law as long as it does not accord with their whims and caprices.

On the moral question, it is pretty obvious

I

that the positions of both sides rest on very shaky grounds, to put it mildly. Defections have been a two-way affair in this country, going all the way back to even before the Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, defected from the opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), on whose platform he had won the election for his first term in 2007, to the ruling PDP in 2009.

In all cases, whereas the authorities sought to punish defectors to the opposition party, they have amply rewarded those who defected to it.

This is clearly a classic case of double standards.

In more civilised climes politicians accept the fact that defections, like all decisions, have personal consequences, and therefore think twice before they defect. Take for example, the case of one, Douglas Carswell, a Conservative member of the British Parliament. Dissatisfied with the politics of his party he first resigned his seat in August which he had won in 2010 by a handy 53 per cent and then joined the new United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) which, right now, is looking like the nemesis of the Conservative Party and, to a lesser extent, the Labour Party.

His resignation triggered a by-election, which was held on October 1. He then contested the election as UKIP’s candidate. This time, he won even more handily than in 2010 by almost 60 per cent of the votes, beating the Conservative candidate to a distant second place with 24.6 per cent and Labour to third place, with an even more miserable 11 per cent. Carswell has now made history as the first UKIP member of Parliament.

In Nigeria, it’s almost impossible to contemplate a Carswell’s honourable conduct, whatever party he would have belonged to. Sadly, Tambuwal himself, with all the public sympathy he is likely to get because of PDP’s blatant inconsistency, is no exemplar. A 1991 law graduate of the University of Sokoto, his home state, his first taste of national politics was in 1999 when he worked as a legislative aide of Senator Abdullahi Wali from Sokoto, then Senate leader.

In 2003 he contested and won the House seat for Kebbe/Tambuwal on the ticket of the ANPP, one of APC’s three major legacy parties. He then defected to the DPP, founded by the state

HARDBALL

T may qualify as the most systematically planned and methodically controlled pursuit of power in the country’s history of democratic politics, speaking of President Goodluck Jonathan’s choreographic approach to next year’s presidential election. However, this should not be seen in positive terms.

Consider his unprecedented exclusive endorsement for re-election by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors, Board of Trustees and National Executive Committee, which practically foreclosed the conventional presidential primary to choose a candidate.

Add to this picture the reinforcing activities of the obsessive self-defined non-governmental organisation known as Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), which insists on an incomprehensible objective: “the continuation of transformation by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ).” What the group makes of the concept of “transformational government” remains a puzzle because the Jonathan administration has been anything but that.

Also in the picture is the screening and evaluation of the various Jonathan support bodies for the battle ahead. It was instructive that Jonathan’s Political Adviser, Prof. Rufai Alkali, who coordinated the activities, said: “As 2015 approaches, we note that the circumstances and fundamentals facing us are somewhat different. The opposition is different; the political

governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, ahead of the 2007 elections when the governor left ANPP due to disagreements within the party’s leadership.

However, when DPP denied ANPP defectors automatic tickets, he returned to his old party.

He then moved once again to PDP when the ANPP governorship candidate, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, who had been Bafarawa’s deputy on the ANPP ticket, was persuaded by the PDP through some intricate manoeuvres to defect to it, ahead of the 2007 elections. The future speaker won again on PDP ticket in the last elections in 2011.

His defection to the APC last month would not be the first time he would poke his finger in PDP’s eyes; he became speaker in June, 2011, by defying the party’s zoning arrangement in the House when he contested and walloped the party’s candidate for the job, Mulikat AdeolaAkande, by 252 votes to 90 of the 350 members that voted. Ten abstained from voting and another 10 were absent.

Used to double standards, the same party, which actively supported President Goodluck Jonathan to make nonsense of its zoning formula in the year’s presidential elections, never forgave the speaker for defying its zoning arrangement.

On one or two occasions, it even tried to impeach him but failed because of his firm grip of the House.

His October 28 defection to the enemy camp must be the last straw for the PDP. It would be surprising if the presidency and the party do not pull every string possible to remove him as speaker ahead of next year’s general elections.

The APC House Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has been boasting that no one, except the speaker, can reconvene the House, presumably as the prelude to removing him.

“The President,” he is quoted as saying, “cannot do it, the deputy speaker lacks the powers and indeed it is beyond the signatures of 120, 150, 250 or 350 members. That power resides solely and exclusively with Mr. Speaker. We had hoped that the PDP and the Executive would at least this one time be decorous in their conduct and respect the rule of law and the legislature but we were wrong.”

On the other hand the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor, apparently speaking for the PDP, has, in effect, been threatening to bring down the whole House on everybody’s head if that is what it would take to remove Tambuwal.

“I expect Gbajabiamila,” Ogor said, “to learn to use his head, else if heavens fall, all of us will bear the consequences.”

The consequences of removing the speaker because of his defection could indeed be dire for Nigeria. But then, unfortunately for Nigerians, dire consequences have never been known to stop your typical Nigerian politician from using all means, fair and foul, to grab power and hang on to it for as long as he is alive.

•For comments, send SMS to 08059100107

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Jonathan’s hunger

landscape is different; the players are different and the issues are different.” Alkali continued: “To address these issues, the reorganisation of the Goodluck Support Group (GSG) has become imperative. I have, therefore, decided to set up a special GSG reorganisation committee to study all issues concerning the organisation and propose a reorganisation structure that will allow us position for 2015.”

The long-running entertainment show featured enthusiastic sycophants begging Jonathan to agree to be the PDP presidential candidate in the 2015 general elections. Among the amazing array of Jonathan backers, apart from the highly visible TAN, were Team Goodluck, Presidential View and Endorsement Platform, PDP Women Support Group for GEJ 2015, Youth Coalition for Goodluck, Goodluck Jonathan 2015 Online Group and Light Network for Jonathan 2015. What about The Jonathanians? What a fascinating coinage!

Possibly the most strikingly intriguing backing was by a certain Ezemagu Sunday Nnamadi, said to be a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who reportedly donated N10, 000 in support of Jonathan’s campaign even when he was yet to express any

interest in re-election. A statement on the gift issued by Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said: “Your gracious gesture is particularly gratifying.” It would appear that the suspicious donation further exposed the capacity for creative orchestration in the presidential corridor.

Jonathan’s ultimate joke concerning his open concealment of his presidential ambition must be his performance at his party’s September 20 “Southwest sensitisation rally.” He could not resist wearing that familiar mask of deception.

In his speech on the occasion, he referred to the various endorsements and introduced a calculated complication. He said: “I also have the right of refusal and I thank the party for giving me the opportunity.”

Whoever thought he might exercise this “right of refusal” must be living on another planet. So, news that he had set up a Presidential Declaration Committee to work towards a November date when he would formally declare his presidential ambition was unsurprising.

Given the antecedent events, it would be a dim triumph of reptilian sneakiness when Jonathan eventually pronounces his hunger for power.

Published and printed by Vintage Press Limited. Corporate Office: 27B Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Lagos. P.M.B. 1025,Oshodi, Lagos. Telephone: Switch Board: 08034505516.

Editor Daily:08099365644, Marketing: 01-8155547 . Abuja Office: Plot 5, Nanka Close AMAC Commercial Complex, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja. Tel: 07028105302. Port Harcourt Office: 12/14, Njemanze Street, Mile 1, Diobu, PH. 08023595790. WEBSITE: www.thenationonlineng.net E-mail: info@thenationonlineng.net ISSN: 115-5302 Editor: GBENGA OMOTOSO