The Nation November 09,2014 by The Nation

Newspaper of the Year

2015: Ex-leaders to meet Obasanjo, IBB over President

Governor blows N300m in Bureau De Change in one hour –Page 6

–Page 4

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.09, No. 3027

SUNDAY

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

N200.00

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

PVC: INEC, Presidency planning to rig –Tinubu –Page 5

Amosun in verbal war Don't be frustrated, Why we are experiencing with INEC commissioner Fashola tells Lagosians hitches by Commission

Jonathan’s

Gunmen kill Gov Al-Makura’s driver

2015 roadblocks Tambuwal:

–Page 6

Lagos River Bay Rivers

Ibom

–PAGES 9-11 & 68

Only God can remove me as Speaker –Page 6

GovernorsrejectJonathan,PDPdealwithSenators As party moves presidential, governorship and NASS primaries to December

–Page 4

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

PAGE 2

CAPTURED

Seven killed after Brazil bus forced off bridge

T least seven people are dead in Brazil after a passenger bus was forced off a bridge when another vehicle tried to pass it. Highway police in the northeastern state of Bahia say the bus swerved to avoid being hit by a passing van. The bus then fell about 65 feet (20 meters) into a river below. At least 28 other passengers were injured in the incident. The highway police said yesterday they have arrested the driver of the van that allegedly caused the accident, and are trying to determine if the man had been drinking.

Thousands march for gay pride in Hong Kong

HOUSANDS of people marched through Hong Kong for the city's gay pride parade yesterday, some of them wrapped in rainbow flags or dressed in drag. The mood was festive despite the rain as the colourful procession made its way through the southern Chinese city, with some 3,000 people taking part, an AFP reporter said. Organisers put the numbers for the sixth annual march considerably higher at around 9,000. "Each year more and more people are coming out. They're trying to provide the message that there's nothing inherently wrong with being gay -- it's just two people in love with one another," Alison Yung, a 32-year-old marketing director, told AFP.

NTIL she contested against Hon Aminu Tambuwal for the position of Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon Mulikat Akande-Adeola (PDP, Ogbomosho North, South/Orire) was not famous for anything in spite of being a national lawmaker since 2007. That is surprising, for she is well educated, old enough at 54 to aspire even for the presidency, well spoken and ambitious. We may need to watch her more closely to determine why, her qualifications notwithstanding, she has been unable to achieve great renown: whether indeed the culprit is poor judgement, which is often not mitigated by education, or lack of character, the scaffold upon which many notable public officials have come to grief. But irrespective of her foibles, Hon Akande-Adeola is at least steadily climbing in national recognition, even if not in national reputation. When she vied for the post of Speaker of the lower chamber in 2011, she was the favoured candidate of the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan himself, the party's Southwest caucus, and perhaps former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Her failure led her into an irritability that has dogged her every move since. She bristles at

The more you look... Prospective voters searching desperately for their names in the list published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in their bid to collect permanent voters cards (PVC) yesterday. Photo: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL

BAROMETER sunday@thenationonlineng.net

Akande-Adeola more naive than first thought every perceived slight, keeps the ambition of becoming Speaker alive, and has acquired immoderation in style, politics and ideas. A few months ago, when it became fashionable to endorse President Jonathan's unspoken re-election ambition, she clambered on the bandwagon noisily by herding the House's PDP caucus votes. Shortly after meeting the president in Abuja mid-July, she declared magisterially: "We are PDP caucus of the House of Representatives. A meeting like this is not strange because we met with the President who is our party leader. We deliberated on issues affecting our party. The House caucus on our own decided to pass a vote-of-confidence in Mr. President and also endorse him for second term.â&#x20AC;? In established and even new

democracies, lawmakers recognise the paradox of doing or saying anything that suggests the subordination of the legislature to the executive. But Nigerians love to pick thanks, flattering their way into success and prosperity. President Jonathan should be the one privately and publicly lobbying lawmakers into his camp; and lawmakers should be the ones displaying bashfulness, like a courted woman. But Hon Akande-Adeola took her colleagues grovellingly and unashamedly before the president to pledge their support and egg him on in his public show of dissimulation. Let the judicious and prudent imagine what would have become of Nigerian democracy had the ingratiating Hon Akande-Adeola assumed the office of Speaker, especially with the Senate also held in

thrall by Aso Villa. But in 2011, she did manage to become House Majority Leader, obviously a compensation for her failure to win the coveted position. It is in that position that her true character and worth have become known -- to our relief, it must be added. Having viewed

Okupe's fulminations reflect something worse

OYIN Okupe is Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan. But the medical practitioner actually sees himself as a second presidential spokesman who prefers the manners of an attack dog. Whatever level is too low for the first presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, to descend to, Dr Okupe is too glad to cavort in. He attacks the opposition and its leaders with relish; but in equal measure fawns over the president irrespective of his acute leadership failings. He railed against Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State for suggesting that Boko Haram militants were

better equipped and motivated than our troops, and is unperturbed that the governor has been proved right. He also lampooned impeached Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State for accusing the president of genocide against the North. Though he was hastily and maliciously impeached, Governor Nyako has also been proved right. Now, Dr Okupe has trained his guns on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ladling out spoonfuls of invectives and acidic fulminations. Alhaji Abubakar had sensibly and restrainedly warned that if Boko Haram was allowed to continue its vicious war against the nation, the entire Northeast could be

overrun. Dr Okupe replied that President Jonathan's critics needed their heads examined. Said he: "Atiku says that we have problems with leadership, both political leadership and military leadership. For a former Vice President, I believe the comments passed by Atiku Abubakar, I don't want to use the word 'irresponsible', but I will say it is a little bit out of place." In short, Alhaji Abubakar, in the opinion of Dr Okupe, is irresponsible. We should measure our distaste for Dr Okupe's ways. If his methods and obscenities do not please President Jonathan, he would have replaced him. Worse, employing someone like Dr Okupe is apparently an unflattering reflection of the president's worldview.

all her shenanigans, we simply concluded that she was nothing else but naive, her education failing paradoxically to lure her into great and noble acts of true grit and courage. She was, we believe, not malfeasant; she was only shortsighted. She failed to see that a great future awaited her if she displayed character, steadiness and courage in the face of much executive buffeting and official seduction. But character is neither taught nor acquired, nor even imposed. It is inborn. Hon Akande-Adeola's naivety is however much worse than first imagined. Responding to the defection of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, especially against the accusation that she knowingly and conspiratorially moved the motion for adjournment, she accused the Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha and Deputy House Leader Leo Ogor of conspiring to help the Speaker defect without immediate repercussions. Both gentlemen have denied the accusation, with Hon Ogor even promising to lead the revolt against the Speaker when the House reconvenes. Bitter that Hon Tambuwal outfoxed her and perhaps made her claim to the speakership very fragile, Hon Akande-Adeola agonisingly elaborated on the circumstances that preceded the defection and inadvertently gave an unflattering portrait of snivelling PDP lawmakers caught flatfooted. The country had better prepare for the worst. For when wounded legislators combine with a scorned president, they are more likely to respond absolutely without finesse or restraint, and with a brutality against the law and constitution that is unexampled. Hon Akande-Adeola still nurses the ambition to lead the House; Hon Ogor, previously thought to be a confidant of the Speaker, has wilted under the withering gaze of a truculent President Jonathan, and Hon Ihedioha is torn between loyalty to party and president and loyalty to country and constitution. There is indeed no telling what damage this crowd will do to the House of Representatives when the smoke of battle clears. Only let the patriot beware and prepare.

By ADEKUNLE ADE-ADELEYE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

COLUMN

Caveat emptor……

VEN in deep autumn, the human mind is a deep spring of eternal hope and possibilities. Some of these hopes may turn out to be quite delusional. But that is neither here nor there. It is impossible to get through life without a few illusions. Life itself may yet turn out to be a grand illusion. But you must get on with it, whether you like it or not. It is good to be back to these labours. Like an ageing warrior, snooper often enjoys the din of contention; the agonistic rumble of the intellectual coliseum; the rude and irreverent jabs of mercenary commentators who have found ungainly employment on the internet. While there are blue and black collar jobs, the internet has now introduced the phenomenon of the yellow collar work force. Such are the contradictions of global capitalism. It is meet, then, to report once again that the reports about the death of the column are widely exaggerated. Despite a well-advertised and well-displayed announcement of a richly deserved rest, the rumour mill still went into overdrive gear. Both column and columnist

HERE is a cruel and neat symmetry to events unfolding Burkina Faso. It speaks to the paradoxes of people’s uprising in Africa and elsewhere else, and the virtual impossibility of having a popular revolution in the very society that appears to need it most. In all probability, the more harshly authoritarian a society is the less likely it is to have a revolution leading to immediate and automatic democratic emancipation of the people. In Burkina Faso, it all began in October and has ended in late October. If one were to put a sheen of revolutionary optimism on this, one can as well say that it all cruelly terminated in October 27 years ago but has resumed in another October 27 years after. It was on October 15, 27 years ago that Blaise Compaore cruelly terminated the quaint revolutionary experimentation of his bosom friend, Thomas Sankara, in a broad daylight putsch the like of which had never been seen in Africa. At the end of it all, the Ouagadougou Presidential Palace was a site of Homeric bloodletting. Several officers and many socialist cadres lay dead. Sankara himself, sensing the end, had brushed aside all efforts to shield him and the proud descendant of Mossi warriors had gone out to meet his assailants with service pistol blazing. It is the heroic people of Burkina Faso themselves who have found a name for their revolutionary uprising against a consummate tyrant. They have named their own version of the Arab Spring after a local bird. The Lwili is the common name for bird in the Moore language that is most widely spoken in Burkina Faso. But in the past fortnight, the bird has been invested with the mythical aura of a voice that cannot be caged by a monstrous despot. Maya Angelou would be smiling. Twenty seven years after, the Burkinabes have found their voice again. It is the return of the repressed. But we must caution incurable revolutionary romantics against false hopes and futile optimism. The original Sankara revolution was not the product of a popular uprising. Sankara himself was hardly a natural democrat. Belonging to the most elite and elitist of military formations, he merely enlisted the people in his revolutionary project. It was a drama of military giants; a bye product of an intense power struggle among the old Upper Volta military aristocracy. Once in power, Sankara knew where he wanted to take his people and nation, no matter the objective material and historical circumstances. It would seem in retrospect that Sankara deliberately courted revolutionary martyrdom. There was something about him which hinted at the holy martyr. For him, the life of the

were reported to have folded up, to employ K.O Mbadiwe’s famous fatwa against an offending newspaper and its editor. One report was said to have sighted Snooper in purgatory observing miserable penance. Among these unfounded rumours, Snooper’s favourite was the one which expansively noted that yours sincerely has sneaked out of both The Nation and the nation after a severe power struggle, with his tail between his legs and in fear of dear life. Oh dear!!! When Snooper complained to a friend, he shot back that given the engrossing turn of phrase, the fellow must be one of Snooper’s own boys. He was right. Snooper solemnly apologises for inflicting some of these chaps on the national psyche. You can never predict how some of these things will turn out. When you are training intellectual rottweilers, you never know when one of them will turn round to bite you in gratitude. Some of these boys, having returned from the phoney Jonathan Conference empty-handed but with their pockets fully loaded, have taken

up calumny as intellectual sports. Meanwhile, Jonathan, a master of political ambush and crafty deception, has moved on to the real game in town, leaving them in the lurch. If they care to know, Snooper is acquainted with a veteran tailor in Agege who specialises in the radical restructuring of incontinent pockets. In local parlance, it is known as a double stitch up. Let’s meet at the engagingly named Pen Cinema around Orile. So many things happened while the column was away. As they say, a week is a long time in both local and global politics. This past week, the brave and heroic people of Burkina Faso finally saw off their veteran tyrant, the execrable Blaise Compaore, a.k.a “ Beau Blaise”. After his dismissal, the Frenchpowered convoy was thought to be heading for the famous Po Garrison from whence in 1983 Compaore led his famous match on Ouagadougou to liberate his bosom friend, Thomas Sankara, from state detention. But the convoy made a detour and headed for

nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu Ivory Coast . A drawn , dazed and disoriented Compaore was later seen arriving at a plush hotel in the Ivorian capital as the curtain drew on his inglorious epoch. In Nigeria, Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle, the gifted Civil War commander, passed on. Coming on the heels of his demise in saddening circumstances was the eightieth birthday celebration of his former Commander in Chief, General Yakubu Gowon. Gowon was the federal victor in the Nigerian civil war. But the clinking of champagne glasses had hardly subsided when the Boko Haram insurgents captured Mubi, the second city of Adamawa state and the economic nerve centre of the north east. Forty seven years after

The Twenty Seventh October of Blaise Compaore

•Blaise Compaore

individual leader does not really matter as long as he could cultivate the cult of heroic example. His was a fundamental intellectual assault on the bastion of military reaction and authoritarian privileges; and on the cherished ideals of African post-colonial armies originating from colonial rapine and predation. They all noted. Calm, cool, intensely cerebral and immensely selfpossessed, Sankara was a master of the soaring revolutionary rhetoric which did not take hostages whether old imperialist or new internal colonialist. In a moment of exasperation and frustration, Francois Mitterand, the late French president, wryly described him as a cutting edge that cuts too sharply. Thomas Sankara was arguably the greatest son of Burkina Faso and one of the greatest sons of Africa ever. He gave his people a new name, a new identity and helped them to find their voice. It was too good to be true. The Burkinabe leader became a revolutionary poster boy for good governance and account-

ability all over the continent. Sharp, witty, quick on his feet and eternally swapped in paratroopers’ combat fatigues, Sankara was a walking reproach to the corrupt and dissolute post-colonial military oligarchy that held postcolonial Africa by the jugular. The good people of Africa noted. There was something mesmerising and electrifying about this new type of military rule. On a typical weekend, the Burkinabe leader could be seen in shirt and shorts personally coating the walls of the presidential villa. He had openly boasted that all his worldly possessions, including an old fridge, could be packed into the boot of his old Renault jalopy. Panache and self-assurance, intellectual rigour and revolutionary asceticism is not the kind of combination expected of an African leader, particularly in the nascent epoch of global capitalism. The noose began to tighten round Sankara internationally, continentally and nationally. From Equatorial Guinea to Zaire, military des-

pots dominant on the continent saw him as a dangerous advertisement for a more humane mode of governance and a source of inspiration to revolutionary wannabes in the post-colonial military. It is instructive to note that after Sankara was murdered by his friend, Nigeria openly threw protocol to the dustbin by immediately welcoming Compaore’s envoys, Captain Henri Zongo and Major Boukary Lingani. This was at the same time when the veteran African nationalist, Kenneth Kaunda, was firmly shutting the door of the Zambian nation against the miserable pair. Two years later in a classic instance of poetic justice, Compaore rounded up the two officers and had them summarily executed for plotting against him. With such friends and “revolutionary comrades” as the military bastion of the “revolution”, Sankara needed no enemy outside the national borders. Yet he had plenty of them. It is noteworthy that shortly after the ouster of his friend, “Beautiful Blaise” announced a sweeping programme of “rectification” which was nothing but a sly shorthand for rolling back the populist contents of the Sankara revolution. Yet for about a week after the “rectification” began, Compaore could not face the people he had “rectified” even on television, citing a historic bout of malaria. Some malaria indeed! For Sankara, the last straw was probably the seminal rift with Moamar Ghaddafi, the deposed Libyan despot. Despite his radical posturing, Ghaddafi was a pan-Arabic racist and equal opportunity anarchist who took a petulant childlike delight in destabilising Black African regimes irrespective of ideological colouration. Sankara stoutly refused to allow Charles Taylor, Ghadaffi’s protégé, an access through Burkina Faso to launch his war against his country. Two years after the overthrow of Sankara, Compaore granted Taylor free access through Burkina Faso. The rest is history. But the old native bird of Burkina Faso is not through with us yet. Twenty seven years after Sankara’s assassination and as Compaore fled the capital, the ghost of Sankara returned to the Burkina Faso capital for unfinished business. It was a much storied ghost. Irate protesters against Compaore were seen carrying huge banners bearing the portrait of the noble and iconic paratrooper. It was a historic trope for a return match. Nothing could have been more deeply symbolic of what is known as the cun-

the commencement of the first civil war, a considerable swathe of the nation is now occupied by another rebel army. Each of these momentous occurrences merits a separate column, and they shall be so treated in the coming weeks. Each of the events may appear vastly dissimilar to each other, but they are all profoundly related in a dialectical manner of speaking. They speak to the paradoxes and trajectory of political tyranny in post-colonial Africa and to the final working out of the contradictions of military messianism on the continent. But it is the developments in Burkina Faso that merit primacy of attention for the light they beam on a momentous epoch of traumatic transition for the continent. ning of history. It was also a defining moment in Burkina Faso history. Twenty seven years ago and the very day after the murder of Thomas Sankara, Ouagadougou residents began arriving at the hurried makeshift grave that was fingered as Thomas Sankara’s last resting place, laying wreathes and tearing at their own body in a gesture of profound grief. It soon became a holy site. Soldiers forcibly dispersed them and then hurriedly uprooted Sankara’s remains for forcible relocation to an unknown and unmarked grave. Last week and twenty seven years after, the army in Burkina Faso was still struggling with the ghost of Sankara as they fired shots to prevent the people who have succeeded in banishing a murderous tyrant from entering the premises of the television station. With such a deeply entrenched counter-revolutionary army, a democratic revolution may well be impossible. Who needs a revolution, anyway? Given the recent experience of the so called Arab Spring where a popular revolt has led to the paradoxical consolidation of a counter-revolutionary military oligarchy and Libya’s precipitate lurch into radical anarchy, the civil leaders of Burkina Faso may have to lower their sight and cure themselves of romantic revolutionary delusions. The Burkinabe army is too deeply complicit in the Compaore era to play the role of a change-driven nationalist institution. It is its instincts as a veritable spoiler that will more likely gain ascendancy in the coming weeks and months. It is instructive that the first pretender to the throne that Compaore hurriedly vacated was his former ADC who had risen to become a general. The second was the second in command of his Praetorian guard. But even a badly wounded and badly compromised army knows when it is in need of a signal retreat. What the people of Burkina Faso have gained from their heroic struggle is the right to freely choose their own leaders. Not even the army can stop that. Many of the young people who rose in furious protest had not known any other leader apart from Blaise Compaore. But they know their history, and they know that there was another man called Thomas Sankara. Even more in death, Sankara has turned out to be the greatest nemesis of corrupt oligarchies. As the great man himself would say, not even the mightiest of armies can stop an idea whose time has come. It is that dictum that has just played out in the land of upright people. Thus as Shakespeare would say, the whirligig of time has brought its sweet revenge. On the twenty seventh October of Blaise Compaore, Thomas Sankara can rest in peace. Burkina Faso must now move on.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

NEWS

PDP Govs reject Jonathan’s deal with Senators

•As party moves presidential, governorship and NASS primaries to December

ARELY 48 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reached a pact on automatic return tickets for 40 Senators, some governors and leaders have protested to the party. They vowed to resist the imposition by claiming that some Senators are unproductive and electoral liabilities. They also alleged that the concession will alter zoning formula in some states. Some governors, however, initiated rapprochement with their Senators immediately after the deal was sealed. It was learnt that Governor Sullivan Chime had met with the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, for reconciliation having lost out in his attempts to nullify the ward congresses which favoured Ekweremadu’s group. But the party may not reverse its decision on the Senators to allow “peace to reign” in the party. According to findings by our correspondent, some governors and party leaders were shocked by the ‘unwritten agreement” by the Presidency, the party and the Senators.

FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

It was learnt that there had been protests from some states like Delta, Anambra, Benue, Oyo, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Abia, Cross River, Ondo, among others. A reliable party source said: “Some governors were just unhappy by the decision of the party to retain 40 Senators. They have protested and queried why the party did not ask for their input. “They also complained that some of the Senators given second term tickets were benchwarmers. For instance, in one of the Southern states, the party leaders claimed that a Senator from their state cannot even make a complete sentence not to talk of quality contributions. “Yet in the name of peace, the same Senator will get a second term in the chamber. In another state, a Senator is standing trial for alleged corrupt enrichment while in office but he will now enjoy second tenure in the Upper Chamber.” Another PDP source said some of the governors have vowed to encourage anti-party activities to prove a point that

the presidency and the party were wrong. The source added: “A governor was also said to have told a minister that he would rather encourage protest votes against the re-election of a Senator in his state than allowing the PDP to win the seat. “From what the President and the PDP had done, there will be protest votes in Adamawa State against the returning Senators. I can tell you that APC will gain from this decision. “The case in Delta State is challenging. Leaders are opposed to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan is imposing his successor but they are also denying him the Senatorial ticket. “In Bayelsa State, there is a subsisting agreement that all members of the National Assembly will not come back. The pact with Senators will put Governor Henry Seriake Dickson in a serious dilemma.” A member of the NWC, who spoke in confidence said: “We are aware that the automatic ticket policy for some Senators did not go down well with some PDP governors. “This is a family problem; we will ensure a win-win situation for all. The party will work

out a formula to appease all. “Yet in spite of the situation, some governors have endorsed the return of their Senators.” Meanwhile, Governor Sullivan Chime has met with the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, for reconciliation. Chime has lost the bid to snatch Enugu West Senatorial District ticket from Ekweremadu. Although Chime has anointed a member of the House of Representatives, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as his successor, the outcome of the Ward Congresses last Saturday also favoured Ekweremadu group. A source in the presidency said: “Chime has met with Ekweremadu after failing to nullify the outcome of the ward congresses in Enugu. The two leaders met in Abuja after a long-drawn cold war for the soul of PDP in Enugu. “The two leaders have started talking. The best compromise Chime can get now is to prevail on Ekweremadu to allow him to produce his successor. That will not be a bad idea for PDP’s victory in Enugu. “As it stands, the governor is wrestled to the ground in Enugu by a coalition of forces led by Ekweremadu.”

•L-R: Commissioner for Ministry of Science and Technology, Lagos State, Mr. Adebiyi Mabadeje; Speaker Lagos House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, presenting plaque to Best Student Senior Secondary School Quiz Competition, Master Akachukwu of Badore Model School, Ajah and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Science and Technology, Mrs. Nike Animasahun, during the closing ceremony of Lagos State Science and Technology Week held at Alausa Auditorium, Lagos PHOTO: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL.

PDP reviews timelines for primaries T HE leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reviewed timelines for party primaries across the nation, preparatory to the 2015 general election. Details of the review, as contained in statement yesterday by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha stated as follows: “In exercise of its powers under Section 29 (2) (a) and (b) of the Constitution of our Great Party (2012 as amended), the National Working Committee (NWC) has approved the review of

From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

timelines (Time-table) for the conduct of Congresses/ Primaries preparatory to the 2015 General Elections. The new time-table which supersedes the earlier one is as follows: A. HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY: a. Return of Forms 06/11/14 (Completed) b. Screening - 0 7 - 0 9 / 1 1 / 1 4 (Completed) c. Screening Appeal

- 10/11/14 d. House of Assembly primaries - 29/11/14 e. Appeals - 30/11/14

B. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: a. Return of Forms - 14/11/ 14 b. Screening and Appeals 19-21/11/14 c. House of Representatives Primaries 06/12/14 d. Senate Primaries - 07/ 12/14 e. NASS Appeals - 08/12/ 14

C. Governorship: a. Return of Forms - 14/ 11/14 b. Screening and Appeals 22-25/11/14 c. Governorship Primaries 08/12/14 e. Appeals 09/ 12/14 D. PRESIDENTIAL: a. Return of Forms 15/11/14 b. Screening and Appeals 26/11/14 c. National Convention 10-11/12/14 It is noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been notified of the review.

2015: Ex-Presidents, others to meet Obasanjo, Babangida over Jonathan

HE political intrigues ahead of 2015 general elections continue as the Presidency, in what could be described as a last minute ditch effort to woo aggrieved chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has resolved to send a delegation of former Heads of State and Presidents, amongst others, to meet with exPresidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, over the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan. A very reliable source told The Nation that the move, which also enjoys the backing of the national leadership of the ruling party, was a fall-out of a recent meeting of some elder statesmen with the President few hours after the last Council of State meeting in Abuja. “The move, an attempt to garner vital support for Jonathan, involves begging and seeking the forgiveness of former Presidents Obasanjo and Babangida for President Jonathan. The idea was mooted after some eminent members of the Council of State met and discussed with the President over recent actions and inactions of some Council members ahead of the 2015 general elections. F o l l o w i n g observations that some former leaders, including Obasanjo and Babangida have, in recent times kept their distance from the presidency, it was resolved that a delegation be sent to them to curry their support for the current administration,” our source said. The Nation however, learnt that President Jonathan has approved the setting up of a committee of five, comprising three former leaders; Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Chief Ernest Shonekan; the Senate President, David Mark and the national chairman of the ruling party, Adamu Muazu, to reach out to the two statesmen on his behalf. While Obasanjo was at the last Council of State meeting, Babangida, who returned to the country a few days before the meeting, after months of recuperating abroad, was absent. “Though Obasanjo attended the last meeting, it was obvious to all those present that his presence was out of mere routine.

• Obasanjo By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor

He is known to be very critical of the Jonathan administration. For Babangida, his silence and inaction over matters relating to the current administration is even more worrisome to the presidency.” While the committee is expected to talk Obasanjo into reducing his criticism of Jonathan’s government in the months leading to the next presidential election, it is being hoped that it will succeed in getting Babangida to throw his weight behind the president’s re-election bid. “It is not good for Jonathan’s 2015 ambition that someone of Obasanjo’s calibre is opposed to him. Also, Babangida is not known to have endorsed or support Jonathan’s reelection bid up till now. These are the task being given to the committee in the interest of the country,” our source added. The Nation also learnt that the President was told that some credible reports at the disposal of Council members does not favour his re-election bid largely because of the frosty relationship between him and some prominent party chieftains across the country. Also, findings by our correspondent revealed that the fear of the likes of Obasanjo, Babangida and Danjuma joining forces with the Bola Tinubu, Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC), to confront the ruling PDP in the 2015 presidential election, is top amongst the reasons why the presidency agreed that the delegation should be sent out to make amends.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Amosun tackles INEC commissioner over PVCs

mild drama played out at the Ogun State headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday over the collection of the Permanent Voters Card exercise, which failed to commence on Friday as scheduled. The Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, had engaged INEC federal commissioner in charge of the South West, Prof. Lai Olorede, over the shoddy handling of the exercise by the electoral body resulting in the failure of many people across the state to collect their PVCs. Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) exercise in the state. The governor had visited the INEC office to express his displeasure on the exercise, but was peeved when Olorode gave an assurance that “every registered voter” would get the PVC before the general elections. Amosun asked how that would be possible when two days into the exercise, less that 10 percent of the people of the state have collected their cards so far. He called for the cancellation of the exercise and a new date fixed, stressing that in a place like Ijebu-Ode and other places, only few people have collected the cards while in Imeko - Afon, no single person has collected it. Olorode however disagreed citing Amosun as one of those that have collected their cards. The INEC commissioner added that he lacks the power to start a fresh exercise, saying only the INEC national headquarters in Abuja could make a pronouncement on this. He however assured the governor that his complaints would be officially communicated to the appropriate quarters. Before he stormed the INEC office, the governor has gone to different parts of the state to monitor the exercise. Lamenting that the hitches and irregularities no-

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

ticed on the first day of the exercise worsened on the second day, the governor noted that he was finding it difficult to believe the insinuations making the rounds that the ruling party at the centre is allegedly planning to sabotage the exercise ostensibly to disenfranchise eligible voters in Ogun State, adding, “INEC should take it that the distribution of PVCs has not started in the state.” Speaking at the Sagamu Zonal Office of the INEC while addressing hundreds of protesters who stormed the Commission’s premises to protest over their inability to obtain the PVCs in virtually all the centres in the area, the governor urged the electoral body to commence a fresh exercise in Ogun with effect from Sunday. Amosun said there are about 1.8 million registered voters in the state, but rued that two days into the exercise, less than 200,000 electorates have collected their cards, saying the situation is “terrible, pathetic and worrisome in places like Sagamu, AdoOdo-Ota and Ifo local government areas.” While urging INEC to “redeem its image since the distribution of the PVCs in the state is “reprehensible, disappointing, terrible and unacceptable,” the governor who could not hide his disappointment added, “This exercise has not started in Ogun State. It will start tomorrow, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Anything short of that is not acceptable to us. “If they say it is a threeday exercise, look at the time now in the second day, yet may be only five percent have received their cards out of the 1.8million voters. The best they can do to redeem their image is to cancel this one and extend the exercise. This is disappointing. From reports reaching me, it is the same story everywhere. “If people can’t collect their voters’ cards, how are they going to vote? The bad thing about it is that nobody from INEC is talking to the people to calm them.”

NEWS

PVC: INEC working with Presidency to rig 2015 elections-Tinubu

ORMER Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with the presidency to rig the forthcoming 2015 general elections. The national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) who said this while briefing journalists at the party’s secretariat in Lagos affirmed that the collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) exercise in Lagos has failed. Tinubu who wondered why INEC could not get the process right in four years pointed out that the de- listing of voters in Lagos, hitches and seeming failures were deliberate to pave way for rigging of the election. The APC national leader flanked by the Chairman of APC, Lagos State, Otunba Henry Ajomale and other members of the party in Lagos, said, “This Permanent Voters Collection exercise has failed and it is not acceptable. We will consider it as a rigging exercise practised. INEC has colluded with the presi-

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro, Leke Salaudeen and Musa Odoshimokhe

dency, the opposing party to rig this election from the data to the end.” According to him, “If for four years you are unable to be ready with the permanent voters card for those who are already in record, and you are at this last minute, few months to the election you are still not ready with the voters cards in these 20 local government areas, you have not published the figures of those who were left out of the system as a result of one fault or the other, no disclosures to them. “You have not been able to rectify the anomalies, irregularities that might be involved. You have not been able by now to even start the exercise of those who are 18 years and above that should be captured and be given the right to vote. “And you will have 30 days minimum according to Electoral Act to display the comprehensive voters register. If you have four years for this exercise and four to five months to this

election you are still giving excuses.” Tinubu who queried why INEC reduced the number of registered voters in Lagos to 4.8million challenged the electoral body to publish the names of those who took part in double registration, adding that INEC itself has no right to disqualify anybody on that basis since it is not the court of law. According to him, “INEC must publish names of close to two million voters excluded INEC is not the court of law. You cannot exclude Nigerians from exercising their franchise. You cannot automatically without the court of law disqualify them. If you fail to publish and give reason you are also violating their constitutional rights.” Tinubu who was visibly disturbed by what he described as shoddy handling of the PVC distribution exercise noted that “INEC told us initially that the exercise will cover 20 local governments in the state but 48 hours before exercise started INEC said they are ready for only 11 local governments.”

He added, “Rather than boycott the exercise, we tolerated the frustrations and appeal to our people to go ahead with the 11 local governments. We will protect our rights. We have appealed to our party members to be patient. If we have to hit the streets and complain to INEC, we will let them know. We are making our views known to logical minds. We will report this matter to national headquarters of our party of which I am a member.” He said the one day extension announced by the INEC is inadequate, stressing that the problem is beyond what the Resident Electoral Commission (REC) in Lagos State can cope with. Reading the position of the party, APC publicity secretary Lagos State, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said, “INEC has failed in the ongoing distribution of Permanent Voter Card (PVC).” Also at the press conference were Prince Murphy Adetoro, Abiodun Faleke, Women leader Mrs. Kemi Nelson, Chief Mutiu Are, and State Treasurer Mrs. Olasunbo Ajose.

‘INEC has no ulterior motive’

R. Kayode Idowu, Spokesman to INEC Chairman, when contacted, denied any ulterior motive on the part of the commission. He said, INEC had announced all along that the exercise would only take place in 11 out of the 20 local government areas in Lagos State. This, he said, is because the permanent voter cards were not yet ready for the remaining nine local government areas. He said as a result, the exercise in these nine local government areas has been postponed till towards the end of the month. He attributed the hitches experienced in the 11 local government areas where the exercise was to take place today to technical problems that came about during the

previous data capturing exercise at the polling units whereby most of the eligible voters did not have their fingerprints properly taken. He also said some of the data got missing as a result of the storage disks crashing and some officials not being able to handle the card reader machines properly. Idowu said in order to correct these anomalies, the commission had announced that those affected in these isolated areas should come out on Wednesday to re-register and have their data recaptured. He said in the 11 areas where the PVC exercise is currently taking place, distribution of materials is ongoing and the Resident Electoral Commissioner has announced the extension of the exercise by a day till Monday.

•R-L: Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State, Chief Dele Ajomale; APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Chief Murphy Adetoro; Woman Leader, Chief Kemi Nelson, during a press conference by Tinubu... yesterday. PHOTO Taiwo Okanlawon

PVCs: Don’t be frustrated by INEC’s performance, Fashola urges Lagosians

OLLOWING the failure of the Indepen-

dent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to commence the distribution of Permanent Voters’ Card in Lagos on Friday, the state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has enjoined residents not to be frustrated. The governor, who spoke after an inspection of on-going projects in

Ikorodu and Epe, said the evident lack of preparedness by the Commission should not be allowed to overshadow the love for democracy for which the State is known, saying, “Our love for democracy must be bigger than the dissatisfaction that we are experiencing today. “Our love for democracy is a long and enduring love. Whatever it takes, we must do it now so that

we can get our Permanent Voters’ Card and we are able then, in February, to choose those whom we can entrust to act for us. If you get frustrated now, you go and sit at home; you do so at a risk to your future.” Speaking on why Friday was chosen for the inspection, the governor said it was deliberate as it afforded him and his team the opportunity to inspect on-going projects and

gauge the feelings of the people, as well as find out how the distribution of the Permanent Voters’ Card was going on. He said: “We have been planning this inspection before today, but we just thought it would give us the opportunity to assess our work and see how it is going on and also to see how the Voters’ Card distribution exercise is going on.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

NEWS

Gunmen kill Only God can unseat me Al-Makura's driver as Speaker -Tambuwal T â&#x20AC;˘ With free, fair poll, APC 'll record landslide victory -Buhari

HE embattled House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, yesterday stormed the North-West Zonal Executive Committee meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna, saying only God can remove him as Speaker of the lower chamber of the National Assembly. This is as Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, described the defection of Tambuwal to APC as a sign of good things to come, adding that, with free and fair election, landslide victory in 2015 general elections would be the APC's portion. Tambuwal, who attended the meeting of the APC for the first time, since he defected to the opposition party was in Kaduna without his security aides.

From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

Speaking to newsmen shortly after the meeting which was held behind closed doors, with General Muhammadu Buhari, Deputy Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, APC National Vice Chairman (North-West), Inuwa Abdulkadir and others in attendance, Tambuwal said, PDP cannot remove him as Speaker. The Speaker added that the majority of the House members were behind him and people can go and verify it. He, however, told Nigerians to discard wrong information being circulated around by agents of distraction. Speaking on his defection which is already before the Federal High Court, Tambuwal, who is a lawyer

himself, said his counsel, Lateef Fagebemi (SAN), has explained everything when he said the status quo referred to period before his security details were withdrawn. According to him, "Yes, I am here for the first time to attend the zonal meeting of the North-West of APC, my political party. "As for my fate in the National Assembly and Speaker of House of Representative, it is in the hand of God and members of the house," Tambuwal said. He, however, declined comment over his rumoured Sokoto State governorship aspiration. Meanwhile, former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, said APC would record a landslide victory in 2015 general elections if free and fair election is allowed. Earlier in his welcome re-

marks, the National Vice Chairman (North-West), Inuwa Abdulkadir, said the purpose of the meeting was to address topical issues that are of concern to the party in particular and the nation in general. "Issues that would bring about national harmony and promote national development are what we are here to discuss, among others." Abdulkadir who said his party is waxing stronger by the day and this is evident by the calibre of people joining the party among who is the Speaker House of Representatives, which is a sign that the party is the only political platform that can bring about the change Nigerians desire. He further advised Nigerians to ensure they are armed with their voter cards, cast their votes and ensure their votes count.

â&#x20AC;˘From left: Chief Judge of Ondo State, Justice Oladehinde Kumuyi, Sabiganna of Iganna, Oba Soliu Oyemonla, Ondo State Commissioner for Chieftancy, Bamiduro Dada, Celebrant, Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Obateru Akinruntan, his wife Olori Iyabode, Amapetu of Mahin, Oba Lawrence Omowole and Reref Akugbene- Mein Kingdom, Delta State, Pere Kalanama at the fifth coronation anniversary of Olugbo of Ugbo at Ode - Ugbo, Ondo State at the weekend.

Governor 'storms' Bureau de Change, blows N300m in one hour

SERVING northern governor is under investigation for allegedly changing N300million to dollars and 'blowing' it under one hour. He allegedly exchanged the cash to lobby party leaders for governorship ticket. According to findings, the recklessness of the governor was allegedly spotted through financial intelligence. It was gathered that the governor had approached Bureau De Change in Abuja for the change of Naira for the dollars. It was learnt that he opted for foreign exchange to avoid the movement of the bribe sum being trailed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). According to investigation, it was learnt

FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

that the operators of the Bureau De Change were also shocked by the huge exchange transaction by the governor. A top source, who knew about the sleaze, said: "It is just unfortunate that a serving governor exchanged N300million for dollars in Abuja to lobby some party leaders for governorship ticket. "After getting the dollars, he met with some officials of a party in order to sway the 'final' decision of the party in his favour. After about an hour, the cash was already disbursed. "But he has forgotten that the electorate will determine his fate, not naira or dollars. His predecessor

spent the same way and lost out with the party." Another reliable source added: "Due to the curious nature of the transactions, the Bureau De Change operators became suspicious and raised the alarm. The operators were jittery because they could be held accountable by antigraft commissions if the deal is uncovered." An anti-graft agent said since the transactions were traceable, the allegation against governor was being looked into. The agent said: "The suspicious transactions by the governor are already being looked into. All the processes will be trailed, no hiding place for anyone again. We will also expose the beneficiaries of the illicit transactions to the relevant agencies for probe. So, the

said transaction is certainly under investigation." The Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, had in January at a sensitisation workshop in Abuja, warned Bureau de Change operators against abetting money laundering by desperate politicians seeking election in 2015. He said in part: "You have to realise that the nature of your illicit transactions facilitates money laundering and terrorism financing. "With the situation politically, we have to be very careful with the kind of money that either comes into the country or goes out of the country and the avenue used is mostly the Bureau De Change operators "We believe engaging them is key to what we are doing. Moving forward, they will have to comply with the law. If not, they will be sanctioned or prosecuted."

HE police in Nasarawa State said yesterday that some gunmen assassinated Mr. Abdullahi Mairuwa, the Head Driver of Gov. Umaru Al-Makura of the state. ASP Ismaila Numan, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia. He said the victim was travelling with his wife from Lafia to Keana Local Government Area on yesterday morning when they were attacked by some gunmen at Tudun Adabu village in Obi Local Government Area of the state. "The report we got from the scene indicated that Mairuwa's killers shot him at

close range in the presence of his wife before escaping through a bush path,'' Numan said. He said detectives had been deployed to investigate the killing. Meanwhile, a family source, who preferred anonymity, told NAN that the gun men had told the victim's wife not to panic as they were sent to her husband alone, whom they shot twice in the chest. He said the remains of Mairuwa had been taken to Keana for burial, according to Islamic rites. According to NAN reports, neither Gov. Al-Makura nor his Director of Press, Yakubu Lamai, could be reached for comments as at the time of this report.

Army releases 125 Boko Haram suspects in Borno

HE Nigerian Army yesterday set free another 125 suspects arrested for allegedly having links with Boko Haram activities. The Nation reported that 42 persons were earlier released on Thursday by the army authorities after thorough investigation in Maiduguri. Spokesman of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, Col. Sani Usman, while handing over the new set of 125 persons to Gov. Kashim Shettima, informed that 254 persons were intercepted fleeing from the state after attack on Boko Haram strongholds on September 23 in Biu. He added that after proper investigation, the 125 men have been cleared of any involvement in Boko Haram activities. He, however, disclosed that those who have been investigated and found wanting would be prosecuted in the court of law. "These cleared suspects being presented to you were, however, cleared by the military after a thorough investigations by the military of any alleged involvement or participation in terrorists activities in the recent attacks and killings experienced in Southern Borno state," Col. Usman said. In his response, Gov. Shettima said that the action of the military will build trust

From Duku JOEL, Maiduguri between the army and the civil populace. "It shows that the military are core professionals and know how to go about their duties. This will go a long way in building trust across the local people and the military," Shettima said. He lauded the military for taking good care of the freed suspects, saying they look well treated and they do not show any sign of torture. He advised those released to put behind any feeling of revenge, while calling on them to contribute their quota to nation building especially the return of peace. "Now that you have been absolved from any terror activity by the military, each and every one of you here in this Government House Hall, to exhibit good behaviour in your respective towns and villages; and should also assist the military by giving useful information on how to end this insurgency that has been with us for over five years. "Islam does not condone the killings and destruction of people's property. What is important is that all of you should go home and assist your parents, because most of you are youths that could transform this state into a better place to live in," Shettima advised.

FG more serious about 2015 than Boko Haram, says Maiduguri Bishop

HE Catholic Bishop of Maiduguri Diocese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Oliver Doeme Dashe, has lamented that the federal government is more committed to the 2015 general elections than the fight against Boko Haram. He noted that the action of the government at the centre is risking the spread of the insurgency across all parts of the country, stressing that "government must expedite action towards ending the Boko Haram insurgency or risk its spread across the country." Bishop Dashe, who spoke with our correspondent in

From Duku JOEL, Maiduguri

Maiduguri, observed that Boko Haram is spreading like wild fire in the North East states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe with Gombe and Bauchi gradually being listed in the trail. The bishop who is in charge of Borno, Yobe and some parts of Adamawa states noted that the activities of the insurgents have paralysed economic, social, religious, agricultural, among other activities in all the affected states as people continue to wallow in abject sufferings, adding that, "government seems to be less concern."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

NANS to IG: Reinstate Tambuwal’s security details From: Dele Anofi, Abuja

HE National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has demanded the immediate reinstatement of security personnel attached to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal. The Speaker’s security aides were withdrawn by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Abba Suleiman, after Tambuwal’s defection to the All Progressives Party (APC). In a statement yesterday by its president, Tijani Usman, NANS also noted that a public apology by the IGP is necessary because the police was not constitutional empowered to interpret the law, Besides, the students warned Suleiman not to turn the police to an arm of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The statement reads: “NANS secretariat strongly believes that the action of the presidency against the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, is grossly miscalculated, undemocratic and an affront on the Nigerian people. “Democracy is not worth it when it is turned to victimisation and witch-hunting. The Inspector General of Police, acting under whatever capacity, has no constitutional right to withdraw the security personnel attached to the office of the Speaker because he defected to another party.” “The IGP should not make the police an arm of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because the police have no constitutional right to interpret the law but to enforce it.”

NEWS

INEC plotting twoparty state –PPC

15 passengers drown in N Sokoto River L O fewer than 15 passengers drowned at the weekend when their vehicle plunged into River Rima in Goronyo local government of Sokoto State. The deceased, according to reports, were said to be travelling back to their hometown, Dan-Wauru village, from Takakume village in the same locality. Reports further stated the passengers were returning

From: Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

from a religious ceremony when their driver fell asleep. The spokesman of Sokoto Police command, DSP AlMustapha Sani, confirmed the incident yesterday. Sani said that the ill-fated

Avensis Toyota model vehicle was conveying 17 persons at the time of the accident with only two surviving. He said that the remains of the deceased had been evacuated by the men attached to the Goronyo Police Division.

Sani said that the dead persons had since been buried by their respective families, according to Islamic rites. Governor Aliyu Wamakko condoled with families of the deceased. He urged the bereaved families to regard the incident as an act of God. Wamakko, who was apparently shocked by the incident, prayed God for the repose of their souls.

SSS returns Emir Sanusi’s passports

HE Director General of State Security Services (SSS), Bassey Etang, has handed over the two travelling passports of Kano Emir, Muhammad Sanusi 11. The handing over, which took place at Sanusi’s palace yesterday, signals the end of face-off between President Goodluck Jonathan and the monarch.

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso on Chieftaincy and Emirate Council Affairs, Alhaji Tijjani Mailafiya, told reporters that Emir Sanusi has received his travelling passports. Sanusi’s diplomatic travelling passport was seized at Murtala

Muhammad International Airport Lagos when he returned from Niger Republic. His local passport was seized at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport when he was about boarding Turkish Airline to France. Mailafiya lauded the gesture of the federal government in returning Emir Sanusi’s passports, which

will allow him to continue the good work for his people at home and travel abroad to attend pressing problems that may arise in the Diaspora. The governor’s aide, who expressed happiness, also thanked the Kano State Government for taking a better solution that facilitated the end of the face-off and eventual release of the Emir’s passports.

EADERS of a yet-to-beregistered political party, the Providence Peoples’ Congress (PPC), have accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of planning to foist a two-party system on the country by failing to register associations that have met all constitutional requirements as political parties. The national chairman of the party, B.A Adetona, in a statement, said the commission is intentionally frustrating its registration. The PPC alleged that the commission and its men have acted fraudulently and contrary to the provisions of the constitution in handling its request for registration as a political party. It also accused INEC of partiality in the registration of political parties, citing the prompt registration of some associations that came long after the PPC into political parties by the commission. “INEC is selective in registering political parties. The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) which came to block opposition in the South-West started after us and was quickly registered within three months. the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), which came to split votes in the north, was quickly registered under one month and for the PPC, twenty months are not enough. “This is because we are neutral, credible and pose a real threat to the plot to make Goodluck Ebele Jonathan the sole candidate at the polls,” PPC said.

FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro

By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor

My suspension a huge joke-Jedy Agba

Lagos hands over rural electrification project in two communities AGOS State Government has handed over rural electrification project to two communities in Ikorodu and Imota Local Government areas. Commissioner for Rural Development, Mr. Cornelius Ojelabi, said the government decided to execute the projects because it is committed to addressing challenges facing the people. He therefore enjoined them to reciprocate the kind gesture by taking ownership of the projects and protect them from vandalisation. He charged them to challenge anybody they see tampering with the transformers or the poles under any disguise and report any suspect near the installation to sustain the projects. Ojelabi appreciated the communities for their support and cooperation to the contractors during the installation and construction of the projects. The chairman of the Community Development Committee (CDC), Mr. Rotimi Owolawi, thanked the government on behalf of the 67 Community Development Areas (CDAs) in the area for the developmental projects executed in their area. He assured the government of commitment to protecting and maintaining all projects in their domains.

•Sadiq Adeshina(middle) with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gbenga Adeshina, at his graduation from the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada...recently

We’ve ensured better, safer roads-Onolememen HE Minister of Works,

Mike Onolememen, yesterday, said President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has made roads better and safer. He spoke at the just- concluded Presidential Public Affairs Forum organised by the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs in Abuja. Onolememen said:

From: Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor and Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

“Thus far, we have completed 62 road projects and have recorded impressive progress on many more. “The President Jonathan administration’s intervention in the road sector has improved federal roads from about 4,500km of fair roads in 2011 to about 25,000km

by December 2013, out of the 35,000km of federal highways.” While speaking on the needs to prioritise projects, the minister said the decision has started yielding the desired results on the Asaba-Onitsha-Owerri corridor; Enugu-AbakalikiOgoja-Ikum-Mfum corridor; Lagos-Ibadan-Ilorin corridor; Warri-Benin-AuchiOkene-Lokoja-Abaji-Abuja-

Kaduna-Zaria-Kano corridor; Katsina-Kano-WudilDamaturu-Maiduguri corridor and Otukpa-OtukpoLafia-Jos-Bauchi-KariPotiskum corridor. On roads maintenance, he said the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has maintained a total of 22,500km of road corridor and 80 bridges of different lengths in the past three years.

East-West road: FG awards N43bn to rebuild 12-km road in Rivers T

HE Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs has announced that a fresh contract valued at N43 billion would soon be awarded for the reconstruction of the Eleme Junction to Onne Junction stretch of the East-West road. Disclosing this yesterday during an inspection of the East-West Road project at Akpajo-Eleme, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr Steve Oru, also stated that 79.4 percent of the on-going projects had been completed.

From: Bolaji Ogundele, Warri

The Eleme junction Onne Junction stretch is the most dreaded section of the East-West road. Speaking on the plan to reconstruct the part he identified as Point 00, Oru said the stretch, about 15 kilometres in length, was not part of the original contract of the East-West Road project because it was in good shape then.

The minister identified Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) as the favourite contractors to undertake the proposed project, citing the fact that they are the company working on the section three of the existing project. On why the project, which he said might last 20 months to complete would gulp N43 billion, the minister said factors like the ter-

rain of the area, the bridges and interchanges make it capital-intensive. The minister also inspected other sections of the road such as the ongoing construction of the second Patani Bridge and the Kaiama Bridge. He also stopped over at the Otuoke skills acquisition centre project in Ogbia council area, Gari processing plants in Otusega, Ogbia council area and Odi, Kolokuma/Opokuma council area in Bayelsa state.

governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River State, Prince Jedy Agba, yesterday dismissed his purported suspension by the state’s chapter of the party as a huge joke. He also said there was no petition against him to have warranted his suspension. He said he had been a loyal party member and cautioned against mudslinging by some party leaders in the state. Agba made his position known in a statement in Abuja through his Media Consultant, Phrank Shaibu. The statement said: “We read with suppressed disgust the news of the purported suspension of Prince Goddy Jedy Agba few hours after an unprecedented and record breaking crowd comprising notable sons and daughters of Cross River State including but not limited to the former Governor of the state, Mr. Donald Duke received him at a grand reception in Calabar. “Anyway, we find the purported suspension not only laughable but illegal, evil, insidiously cunning; artfully deceptive and to say the obvious, undemocratic. “The PDP constitution clearly stipulates the procedure for suspending members from the party. The state executives never followed such procedure. “This, for us, clearly represents a new level of illegality and political brigandage by the anti-democratic forces that have hijacked our dear party in Cross River for their own selfish motives.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

NEWS

AFRH organises life awareness programme for Oyo schools

Beware of sycophants, Oyo LG committee members caution Ajimobi

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

O fewer than 133 public secondary schools in Oyo State have benefited from the life planning education programme organised by the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH). Also, 87 schools in Yobe, Borno, Gombe and Kebbi States also benefited from the same programme which intends to serve as a model of national family life, HIV and AIDS education in public secondary schools in the country which has been scaled up by the Federal Ministry of Education. ARFH President, Prof. Oladapo Ladipo, disclosed this while addressing journalists in Ibadan to commemorate the association’s 25th anniversary. According to him, ARFH remains a leading indigenous nongovernmental and non-profit making association committed to an improved quality of life of individuals and families through the promotion of increased access to quality health information and services. Ladipo noted that the rationale for the establishment of the organisation was to address the high burden of diseases among women and children in the country. Among other projects the organisation has carried out over the last 25 years include schoolbased adolescent sexual and reproductive health programme in public secondary schools in Birnin-Kebbi, Owerri, Owerri, Bauchi, Kaduna, and Maiduguri, peer education in adolescent and young people’s sexual and reproductive health, among others.

Returning Jonathan will be suicidal, says aspirant From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

House of Representatives aspirant for Ifelodun/Boripe/OdoOtin federal constituency in Osun State, Mr. Adelani Baderinwa, has warned that voting for President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for another four years term would be suicidal for Nigeria. Speaking in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, Baderinwa said Jonathan’s failure in many sectors has proved that he lacks the capacity to propel the country to greater heights. The aspirant, who is a former media aide to the former interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, said: “It is not possible for Nigerians to take the suicidal option of voting the PDP again, because returning the PDP will further spell doom for the country.” According to him, the 16 years of the PDP’s reign at the federal level would remain a black spot in the history of the country. He added, “There wouldn’t have been any justification for hatred, or if you like, resentment if the PDP-led government had done well in its 16 years of presiding over the affairs of the country. But because they have failed Nigerians in such a glaringly painful manner and do not feel any qualms about it, is enough reason to send them parking.”

From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo

•L-R: Father of the graduands, Mr. Olumuyiwa Hassan of The Nation Newspapers; the graduands, Modupe and Oluwaseun, with their mother, Taiwo Hassan, during the 30th convocation ceremony of University of Ilorin, Kwara State... recently

Terrorism, kidnapping threaten child education in Nigeria, says ex-Army Chief

ORMER Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau (retd), has raised the alarm that the future of education of the Nigerian child is being threatened by terrorism in the Northeast and kidnapping in the Southeast zones of the country. The former Army boss, who said this while delivering the 61st Interdisciplinary discourse organised by the Postgraduate School, University of Ibadan (UI) titled ‘Education, Security and National Development: the case of Nigeria’, revealed that 10 per cent of the world’s out-ofschool children are in Nigeria.

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

According to him, factors such as poverty, socioeconomic constraints, street hawking for family survival, have continued to prevent young children from going to school in the country. The former military chief urged the federal government to commit more resources to public education in order to make public schools which accommodate majority of the Nigerian child qualitative and desirable. Dambazzau said it was ironical that despite being among the biggest oil-producing countries and with the attendant revenue gen-

erated there from, the funding of education by the government has continued to dwindle, thereby affecting its quality and causing brain drain. While lamenting that the nation’s educational policies have suffered series of inconsistency, the retired general lamented that the growth and upsurge of private universities has further deepened inequality in the education system. Lashing out at private universities, who, he alleged, arbitrarily produce First Class graduates in order to attract attention and patronage, Dambazzau said Nigeria’s educational system must produce more

scientists to cope with current demands of modern times. He urged the federal and state governments to commit more funds to education in addition to coming up with policies aimed at meeting the educational demands of the ever increasing population. While noting that Nigerian universities are in crisis, Dambazau said there is a missing link between the universities, the communities and the corporate sector. According to him, universities must go beyond issuing certificates and drive societal development through research relevant to solving the myriad of challenges facing the country.

Ikorodu leaders insist on Lagos governorship slot

HEAD of the 2015 governorship elec-

tion in Lagos State, leaders in Ikorodu division have reiterated their call on political parties to present candidates from the area as their gubernatorial candidates. The leaders, including prominent politicians from the division, gave this charge shortly after a sensitisation rally organised by the Eminent Persons in Ikorodu Division (EPID). Speaking at a press conference after the rally, Chief

By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor

Babatunde Benson, chairman of EPID, explained that political parties must take such a step in the interest of justice and fair play. Benson, who read a communiqué signed by over 60 leaders of the division, insisted that the people of Ikorodu were not interested in the position of the deputy governor. He stated that the people of the division would only support any political party that presents a candidate from the

area in next year’s governorship election. “All political parties seeking to field candidates for the forthcoming governorship election in Lagos State should consider the aspiration of their members from Ikorodu division,” Benson urged. Addressing the mammoth crowd during the rally, former Secretary to the State Government, Princess Adenrele AdeniranOgunsanya, said justice and equity demand that the zone is allowed to produce Governor Babatunde Fashola’s successor since

the area has never produced the state governor. “Lagos has five divisions. They are Lagos, Epe, Badagry, Ikorodu and Ikeja divisions. Only Ikorodu and Badagry have never produced governors. We have many sons and daughters that can run Lagos State. However, we have never produced the governor before and we feel marginalised that presently, we do not hold important positions in the state. Even in the governor’s cabinet, the highest we have is a Special Adviser,” she noted.

Ondo coastal communities marginalised in infrastructural development’

EOPLE of the riverine communities of Ondo State have been urged to elect people that could promote the infrastructural development of the area. A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Ilaje local government area of the state, Lucky Ayedatiwa, said this in Igbokoda, headquarters of the local government during his official declaration for

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

the Ilaje/Ese-Odo federal constituency seat.While lamenting that the communities were lagging behind in terms of provision of amenities despite their contributions to the economy of the state, Ayedatiwa expressed dissatisfaction that past and present governments in the state have failed to proffer lasting so-

lutions to the problems confronting the people of the coastal communities. According to him, it was worrisome that Igbokoda, the seat of government in Ilaje has not enjoyed power supply in the last two years. He added that apart from Igbokoda, other major towns and communities in the coastal area are without basic amenities of life. Ayedatiwa regretted that

despite the fact that majority of the communities in Ilaje and Ese-Odo are on water, the people still do not have access to potable water to drink, blaming successive government for the development. He assured that his party was ready to initiate programs and projects that would give a new lease of life to the people of the coastal areas of the state.

EMBERS of the caretaker committees of the 33 Local Governments in the Oyo State have cautioned the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, to be wary of sycophants and mischief-makers. These people, they warned, pretend to be partners in progress but secretly connive with the opposition to sabotage his administration and truncate his re-election in 2015. They gave the advice at a media briefing held in Okeho, Kajola Local Government area. The briefing was attended by representatives of caretaker committees in all the 33 local governments in the state. The caretaker committee members gave this warning in reaction to moves by former members of the caretaker committees in the state asking the governor to reinstate them back in office. The current caretaker members berated their predecessors for their disloyalty to the governor despite the fact that they served in office for three years. “The former caretaker committee members, rather than being appreciative and remain committed to the success of the present administration, resorted to various untoward acts against their removal and replacement. And when all these failed, they started dishing out lies to members of the public that Abiola Ajimobi is unserious about his transformation agenda,” they alleged.

2015: Lagos Island residentsmove gainst ex-LG boss By Oziegbe Okoeki

ORMER Chairman of Lagos Island Local Government, Wasiu Eshilokun, has a hurdle to cross in his bid to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Lagos Island 2 in the House of Assembly come 2015. Some members of the State House of Assembly from the Lagos Central zone are also spoiling for a battle against the former council boss, who was elected the party’s secretary in the state following the expiration of his tenure in the council. According to the aggrieved residents and lawmakers, Eshilokun has allegedly been going around the Lagos Island area telling the elders and residents that he had been anointed by the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as the next Speaker of the House of Assembly in the next dispensation. The aggrieved group argued that having served as a member of the House of Assembly, a Special Adviser, council boss and party secretary, Eshinlokun should allow younger elements in the party to run for elective positions and contribute their own quota to the development of the area. Kamorudeen Ajani, who claims to be a youth leader in the area, told The Nation that youths in the area were already mobilising against the former chairman’s aspiration and enlightening the people on why he should not be given another chance.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

HINGS are not looking up for President Goodluck Jonathan's reelection bid ahead of the 2015 general election as his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) now battles a fresh wave of intra party crises in some states across the country hitherto considered as the party's strongholds. These crises, given the issues and personalities involved, according to political observers, are capable of making the PDP and President Jonathan to lose much needed votes in the affected states come 2015. This is just as senators are spoiling for a fight with President Goodluck Jonathan for allegedly working to frustrate their re-election bid. The senators, at a recent plenary, accused the president of conniving with PDP governors to undermine their reelection by allowing the states' helmsmen to have their way in the party ward congresses, which held nationwide penultimate Saturday. Some of the senators even threatened to compile impeachable offences against the president. Although the leadership of the Senate has met with the president to table the grievances of the senators who have vowed to shut down the government, party sources said nothing came out of the parley. One of the senators told The Nation that it would be difficult for Jonathan to ride on the back of the senators to victory in 2015 as he did in 2011 following his attitude towards their current plight. "One thing he seems to be forgetting is the fact that we lawmakers are the real grassroots politicians. We are the representatives of our people. The governors rely on us to reach our people. The president would have to find another means of getting votes from the grassroots once we make up our mind to abandon his re-election project. "We threatened to shut down the government by frustrating executive bills pending before the Senate because the President and the party surrendered the party's structures in the states to governors. Majority of use would be denied re-election should the results of the last congress stand. Yet, the President is not worried. He is joking with his reelection too," the senator said. The Nation learnt that discussion between Jonathan and the lawmakers failed because the senators are demanding for automatic return ticket. But with many Governors' eyeing Senate seats in 2015, the President's hands appeared tied. States where the PDP's future is made uncertain as a result of renewed hostilities amongst leading chieftains include Plateau, Cross Rivers, Ondo, Benue, Akwa-Ibom, Enugu, Abia, Jigawa, Oyo, Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta. Plateau In Plateau State, the last congress which held in 15 of the 16 local governments areas while that of Pankshin Local Government Area was postponed upon alleged disagreement among PDP chieftains in the areas. This has thrown up so much bickering within the ruling party. Currently, the outcome of the congress is a subject of many disputes as leaders of the various groups within the party are calling for its cancellation in the interest of the party. "This congress has further divided us. The greed of a few people is threatening the continued existence of our party as a ruling party in Plateau State. Unless this is corrected, I fear for PDP in our state," Abba Gaya, a former state official of the party said. The PDP chieftain added that unless something is done urgently to placate those estranged by the exercise, the PDP will find it difficult to win votes in the state next year. "What we have in our hands is a situation where the likes of Jimmy Cheto, Sir Fidelis Tapgun, Sen. Joshua Dariye, Jonathan Sheni, John Alkali and many others will be up against the PDP and President Jonathan in 2015 here in Plateau State. A situation like that is a threat to Mr. President's re-election bid," he added. The tussle in Plateau State is mainly between the two leading politicians in the

PDP crises dim Jonathan re-election dreams As next year's general elections inch in President Goodluck Jonathan seems to be boxed in by the intrigues in the ruling party. Of recent, there have been policy and summersault of pacts and interests. In this report, Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, examines what all these intrigues imply for the re-election bid of the president. state namely Governor Jonah Jang and his predecessor, Senator Joshua Dariye. The two have been battling for the control of the party in the state for months now. This political struggle has torn the PDP in Plateau State into two. While Dariye and his supporters are insisting they have returned to the PDP from the Labour Party which they defected to years back, the Governor is insisting they are yet to formalize their return. Following alleged sharp practices, party chieftains opposed to the Governor have called for suspension of the state's ward congress, even as they accused Governor Jang of bulk purchase of delegate forms. "There is no way this will stand. PDP belongs to all of us. Jang was in the ANPP when we laboured to build the PDP in the state. He cannot dictate to us simply because he is the Governor. "We are optimistic that the national leadership of the party will wade into the matter and ensure the right thing is done. Failure to do this, I fear that the PDP may lose the next elections here. In the interest of the party, Jang and his gang must be curtailed," Gaya said. Trouble erupted between Jang and Dariye recently following a statement by the state secretary of the PDP, Prince Pam Sale, to the effect that some of the aspirants using the party logo to print campaign materials, to desist, as the party regards them as impostors. According to Sale, "They are those who had left the

party to other parties, fought the party in the last elections and today want to contest without being officially received as returnees." "The likes of Cheto, Tapgun, Dariye, Sheni and Alkali should kindly save themselves from embarrassment by not involving themselves in any of the party's activities in the state for now. They were free to join the party after the PDP primaries in the state," he said. Suspecting that the statement is to prevent him and other returnees from taking part in the primaries, Dariye approached the national leadership of the party and got approval that he and his people enjoy the blanket waiver offered defectors to the party nationwide by the President. That was the beginning of the fresh crisis that is threatening the very existence of PDP in Plateau State. Gyang Goshit, a former lawmaker and House of Representatives aspirant on the platform of the party said there is urgent need for the party to put its house in order if it must win the next elections. "PDP is currently an endangered species here in Plateau. If we must win elections, we must put our house in order. The current face-off among our leaders threatens our chances at the poll. "Already, there are talks of mass defection should a faction have all its way. There are also talks of violent primaries. All these will only pave the way for the opposition to garner votes in the Plateau come 2015," he said.

While chieftains of the troubled party continued to hope for a quick respite, it appears the opposition is waiting in the wings to benefit from the crisis within the PDP. Simon Lalong, the former House of Assembly Speaker, who recently picked the All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination form for 2015 governorship poll in the state, said there is no way the PDP, as divided as it is currently, will not be trounced roundly at the general election in 2015. "There is need for urgent change in the Plateau. The PDP is too divided to win the next election in the state and APC is ready and willing to offer the people the change we all need. "Plateau must change its political leaders if we must move forward. APC is in the best position to bring sanity to the state because of his experience," Lalong, a former member of the PDP, said. Cross River Although thousands of the loyalists of Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State trooped out to major streets on Sunday to celebrate the outcome of the just-concluded ward congress election, there are indications that the celebration is short lived. This followed allegations that a new set of result may have been handed over to the national leadership of the party in Abuja contrary to the wishes of party members in the state. For the governor's loyalists who had seen the earlier outcome of the exercise as

a re-affirmation of Imoke's leadership of the party in the state, the alleged new results is an attempt by some recent entrants into the party, led by former Governor Donald Duke, to use their closeness to some people in government to shortchange the people of the state. The member representing Yakuur/ Abi Federal Constituency, Bassey Ewa, while insisting that the earlier result is the authentic one, said "I can tell you that the PDP members in Abi/Yakurr federal constituency who were given opportunity to file out and queued behind their delegates voted for the our people in spite of moves by non- party members to disrupt the exercise and we were able to control the situation. "Imoke is our leader and we the supporters have demonstrated that by participating actively in the ward congress election and ensured that we emerge victorious in all local government areas." The development, sources within the party in the state said, might not be unconnected with the political struggle between the Governor and some chieftains of the party over the 2015 governorship, senatorial and other tickets of the party. Although Imoke is not vying for any position, his aides say he is "nonetheless determined to ensure that the state get a set of performers to continue after his exit." "Imoke's current struggles with these gladiators have nothing to do about any personal ambition. It is largely about entrusting the state into safe hands as he leaves in 2015," an aide told The Nation. The crisis peaked when the state chapter of the PDP, on Friday evening, suspended frontline governorship aspirant, Goddy-Jeddy Agba, alongside twelve other members of the party.. According to the State Chairman of the party, Ntufam John Okon, the members were suspended because they failed to exhaust all available conflict resolution mechanisms within the party and had gone contrary to the party's constitution by dragging the party to court. He maintained that following the just concluded delegate election, a lot of issues occurred and some members ridiculed the party by dragging the party to court against party rules. He said that the PDP in the state would have suspended Ndoma-Egba and the member representing Ikom in the House of Representatives, Chris Eta, but do not have the power to do so. They have referred their case to the National Assembly. In recent times, there has been no love lost between Imoke and the Senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba over the battle for who controls the central senatorial zone where both hail from. While the Governor's supporters insist he has nothing against the senator or his ambition to return to the senate for a fourth term, there are also complaints from the senator's camp accusing Imoke of attempting to stall the planned return of Ndoma-Egba in 2015. Consequently, the duo had a frosty relationship leading to the last congress. The party also suffered as the loyalists of the two leaders continued to hold separate meetings especially in their native Central senatorial district. The appearance of Duke at the rally held by governorship aspirant, GoddyJeddy Agba in Calabar during the week confirmed his membership of the clan of chieftains up in arms against the Governor. Duke had at the rally made statements that are very critical of Imoke, his erstwhile friend while trying to garner support for Agba. But pundits say should the PDP national leadership sacrifice Imoke's camp for the Duke/ Agba faction, the party may find it difficult to win votes in the state. "Both Duke and Agba cannot deliver votes for Jonathan or PDP in Cross-River State. We all listened to Agba at his rally. The problem now is that our people wanted him to tell them what his agenda will be as Governor. He said nothing of such. All he and his godfather did was to

â&#x20AC;˘Contd. on page 10

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

NEWS REVIEW

2015 ROADBLOCKS

No easy ride in Bayelsa, Bayelsa: A brewing storm

S would be expected, Bayelsa, Mr. President's home state, is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stronghold. So, one would have taken it for granted that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his party, the PDP, would clear the votes in the state in the 2015 elections. But this may not be as simple as that since the current misunderstanding amongst his political sons and other interested stakeholders seems poised to rupture the delicate political balloon in the state. Until last week's PDP ward congresses, which finally exposed the depth of the cracks, the key players had tried hard to hide the frayed relationships amongst PDP leaders and aspirants in the state. But as they openly engaged one another at the congresses, it is no longer a secret that all is not well in Bayelsa PDP and that the prolonged secret reconciliation moves to keep the PDP family in the state intact, at least for the sake of Jonathan's reelection, had failed woefully, creating the possibility of a strong opposition political party sharing votes with PDP in all the elections in the state, including the presidential election. It all started with the crack in the once cozy relationship between President Jonathan's family and his erstwhile political son, Governor Seriake Dickson. Dickson, who emerged the governor of the state in with the strong backing of the Jonathan clan, is today interested in returning to the seat for a second term, but reports say the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, and some other forces in the state are interested in bringing in another aspirant to replace Dickson. All the moves by Dickson to curry the favour of the President, including the appointment of the First Lady as a Permanent Secretary in the state, according to insiders, had not helped matters, as sources who should know linked the aspiration of Dr. Waripomowei Dudafa, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Domestic and Social Events, for Dickson's seat to the support of the President's family. So, Dickson, we learnt, has resolved to fight back in order to ensure his reelection. His first move towards achieving this aim was the alleged resolve to stop all National Assembly and State Assembly members from seeking re-election in 2015. The decision, we gathered, was a desperate move to take full control of the party machinery in the state at all levels. As would be expected, this has sparked off stiff opposition; a development that can be described as a mere rehearsal of what may happen in the forthcoming elections. About a month before the last ward delegates' congress in the state, Dickson's group came up with a creative zoning formula for elective offices in 2015. This scheme effectively shut out all the current National Assembly and majority of the State Assembly members from making a return to their various legislative chambers in 2015 on the party's platform. In the carefully laid out arrangement, only two serving state lawmakers were favoured to re-

Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports on the PDP crisis and the President's chances in the four PDP states of Bayelsa, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi.

• Paulker

contest. They are the Majority Leader, Peter Akpe (Sagbama 2) and Daniel Igali (Southern Ijaw 3). The federal lawmakers affected include Senators Emmanuel Paulker (Bayelsa Central), Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa West) and Clever Ikisikpo (Bayelsa East). At the House of Representatives, affected members are Foingha Jephthah (Nembe/Brass), Henry Ofongo (Southern Ijaw), Warman Ogoriba (Yenegoa/ Kolokuma-Opokuma), Dr Stella Dorgu (Sagbama/Ekeremor) and Nadu Karibo (Ogbia). So, as the party set out for the ward congresses in the state last week Saturday, informed observers knew it would be nothing but a decisive political battle front. It was so, for apart from Dorgu, reports show that all the affected lawmakers conducted parallel congresses as a collective affront against Dickson. Reports had quoted supporters of most of the

•Lokpobiri

affected lawmakers as vowing "to make the state ungovernable if the national leadership of the PDP and President Jonathan in particular fail to intervene." But a source, an insider to the previous reconciliation meetings, told The Nation yesterday that the internal crisis in Bayelsa State PDP can no longer be resolved through negotiation. "All the concerned leaders have resolved to test their political strength. That's where we are. Until we finish with that and know who is really in control, it seems there is nothing anybody can do about it. "You must have learnt that all the federal lawmakers came with their electoral materials, including security from Abuja. What is the result? Nobody is talking about mere verbal negotiations anymore," the source said. Considering the scenario, observers are

wondering what would be the fate of Jonathan at the presidential poll in his home state. One thing seems certain; the political realities that had been thrown up in the course of determining who would fly which flag in the next elections had put a knife in the thing that held PDP together in Bayelsa. Both for Dickson and for Jonathan, there would be nothing like getting 100 percent votes. Protest votes are certain in all the next elections in Bayelsa. For example, Dickson's strategy of weeding out experienced and serving lawmakers and replacing them with his 'new breeds' of loyalists is already backfiring as some of the lawmakers in the state that aided the scheme are already kicking against him on realising they are equally affected by their scheme. For instance, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Kombowei Benson, considered a close ally of the governor and the arrow head of the zoning scheme against the return of Senator Paulker and others, is now, according to reports, against the same scheme as he too has been edged out in the intricate political drama. Things have indeed fallen apart. All that remains for President Jonathan and Governor Dickson is to patch the areas where the huge umbrella is leaking in the state to garner respectable votes in all the elections. For the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), there is the chance of taking advantage of the obvious crisis in PDP not only to secure 25 percent votes at the presidential election in the state but also to win major seats through protest votes in the state elections. If the powerful forces from Abuja crushes Dickson too much, there is the possibility he too can join forces with the opposition fully and that would hurt Aso Rock hard. Abia: Jonathan must soothe frayed nerves or.. Abia State is another traditional Peoples Democratic Party's state, where both the PDP and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan should ordinarily get landslide victory in all the elections. Apart from the later part of the former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu's administration, when explosive power struggle between Abuja power bloc and the home-based culminated in the formation and switch over of the state PDP-led government to Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) as an ad hoc survivalist arrangement, the state has remained a PDP state since the return to democratic rule in 1999. As for Jonathan, whose mother-in-law came from the state, he is expected to take advantage of being a son-in-law to persuade voters in the state that he is a genuine stakeholder in the fortunes of the state. Added to these is the close relationship he has with Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji, who, as the current Chairman of South-East Governors Forum, has played pivotal role in the marketing of President Jonathan's reelection campaign in the zone. These advantages notwithstanding, issues thrown up at the last week's PDP ward congresses in the state show that all is not well in the state PDP anymore.

•Contd. on page 11

PDP crises dim Jonathan’s re-election dream •Contd. from page 9 pour venoms on Imoke for more than two hours. "I don't think our people will follow such people. Our fear now is that Duke's return to the politics of the state from his self imposed exile may also mean the return of violent politics for which we remember his era as Governor. Otherwise, his speech would be full of so much bile against Imoke," a party official said. Ondo Trouble is still brewing in Ondo PDP as two factions conducted separate ward congresses to elect delegates that will participate in the party's primaries. The two groups laying claim to the party structure are the dissolved State executives Committee led by Ebenezer Alabi and the newly constituted Caretaker Committee headed by Dare Adeleke.

The current situation is a fall-out of the lingering crisis between the defected Labour Party (LP) members led by Governor Segun Mimiko and the old PDP members under the watch of former national Legal Adviser of the party, Olusola Oke, over who should be in charge of the party structure. The furore in the party assumed frightening dimension last week as two members of the state House of Assembly defected from the party to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). The two are Gbenga Edema (Ilaje) and Vincent Olaseinde (Ose). The defections were fallout of the dissolution of the state executive committee of the PDP in the state by the National Working Committee, NWC, following the defection of Mimiko from the Labour Party to the PDP. The dissolution was in flagrant disobedience of an Abuja Federal High Court ruling that the status

quo should be maintained in a suit filed by the Ondo State PDP executive committee, seeking to restrain the PDP national leadership from dissolving the Ebenezer Alabi-led state executive committee to pave the way for the total takeover of party apparatus by Mimiko. There is serious tension in the party following the stalemate over congress. The two camps are awaiting the position of the national leadership of the party on the development even as both sides have vowed to resist any attempt by the PDP to recognize the other one. "The situation is that we will not have newcomers placed over and above us in our own home. Rather than suffer such ignominy, we will fight to the very last of our breadth. We urge our leaders not to throw the party in Ondo State into further crisis by recognising newcomers as our leaders," a party chieftain said.

Meanwhile, the old State Secretariat, along Oyemekun road, Akure, the state capital, has again been sealed off and taken over by policemen after two groups of party youths clashed. The building, which had been serving as the State PDP secretariat for the past 16 years was once sealed by the Police immediately the party National Working Committee (NWC) dissolved the State executive and constituted a caretaker committee. Speaking with reporters, Alabi insisted that the congresses conducted by the new PDP were illegal because they were in control of the party. He said the future of the PDP in the state lies in the hands of its original members. But, the caretaker committee chairman, Dare Adeleke, believed to be loyal to Governor Mimiko, said everybody has the right to say anything, but he is very sure that it is their own congress result that would be recognised.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

NEWS REVIEW

2015 ROADBLOCKS

Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi •Contd. from page 10

Although Governor Theodore Orji reportedly hailed the ward congresses in the state, the three serving senators and some of the PDP governorship aspirants openly criticized the congresses in the state alleging that no congress was held in the state since, according to them, there was no membership register. They alleged that the registers were confiscated from the ward chairmen about three weeks before the ward congress by the primaries and congress committee headed by Charles Ogbonna. It would be recalled that the three Abia Senators, all PDP; Uche Chukwumerije, Nkechi Nwaogu and Enyinnaya Abaribe and some aspirants reportedly protested against the handling of the congresses, alleging that non availability of party membership register stalled the congress. Their grouse predates the ward congress and could be traced to the constitution of the ward congress committee as they openly expressed opposition to the process that led to the constitution of the committee and the choice of the chairman. Until then, Abia State is one state where the ruling party has remained very strong and visibly in control. But with the current protests and criticisms, it seems a lot of fence mending must be made both by Orji and Jonathan for Abia to remain an impenetrable PDP stronghold. If nothing concrete is done to soothe frayed nerves and reconcile the family, anything can happen in Abia during the elections although Jonathan still stands the chance of getting majority vote from the state in the 2015 presidential election. Enugu: A house divided Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, Enugu has remained a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state. There is every indication that till date, the party has large followership in the state. These statistics may not however reveal correctly the possible outcome of the presidential election in 2015 as the current division in the state chapter of PDP has become so seemingly irreconcilable that what is today known as PDP in Enugu State may indeed be safely described as two sharply opposed parties. In that sense and unless the PDP managed to resolve the impasse before 2015, one of the two factions, which would lose out in the grim battle still raging, may either join forces with the opposition to avenge perceived wrongs or betrayal or at least refuse to cooperate, thus reducing the fortunes of the party. The irreconcilable state of the raging battle for the soul of PDP in Enugu State between the Governor Sullivan Chime-led faction and the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu- led faction played out at the last ward congress, as

•Ekweremadu

•Elechi

the two factions conducted parallel congresses. After the congress, the battle has continued in various fora as leaders try to resolve the disagreement. Some aggrieved politicians, who lost out in Enugu congress immediately called for outright cancellation of the results and the conduct of a fresh congress. But a court order was served on the party against cancellation of the Enugu State ward congress. Following alleged strong representation by Governor Chime-led faction of the party to cancel the congress at a PDP stakeholder's meeting during the week, there were reports that the Enugu congress had been cancelled by the PDP national leadership. The matter was however further complicated shortly after when the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh, came out to say "No state congress has

been cancelled in Nigeria by the National Working Committee. The NWC has no right to out rightly cancel the ward congresses when it has not received report from the appeal panel. There is an appeal panel, there are guidelines, we expect that people should send their complaints to the panel, it will listen to them and the panel would at the end of the day send the report to the NWC for further action." So, as it stands, the battle in Enugu is still raging, and observers say it may affect the result of both the state and presidential elections. This is because there are unconfirmed allegations that Ekweremadu has immense support from Abuja, where he is expected to use his power and office as the Deputy Senate President to favour the reelection bid of President Jonathan. That being the case,

observers say Abuja is not likely to oppose his being in firm control of Enugu PDP ahead 2015. Also, except the results of the recently held ward congresses remains, Governor Chime, as the leader of the party in the state, will remain a formidable force too dangerous to oppose few months to 2015 elections. Observers say it may be a Herculean task to dislodge him. Even if this happens, it is obvious that if he join forces with the opposition, especially with his decision to zone the governorship seat to a zone that has not governed before, he is likely to have sympathy vote. So, Enugu's politics remains dicey as Jonathan plans to anchor his support base in the South-East in order to win 2015 presidential elections. Ebonyi: Last minutes confusion Ebonyi is another South-East state that has remained a PDP stronghold since the return to democratic rule. No other party has taken over the state affair. Although the current governor of the state, Chief Martin Elechi, is a known supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan's reelection, the crisis that has suddenly erupted in the hitherto quiet state shortly before and since after the PDP ward congresses last week show that all is also no longer at ease in this state. Violence had trailed the ward congress as some thugs reportedly hijacked electoral materials in some areas during the exercise. Trouble was first noticed very early that Saturday morning when the two factional state chairmen of the PDP in the state, Chief Joseph Onwe and Mr. Mike Awo dispatched their separate electoral officials to the same 179 wards across the 13 local government areas. Nobody needed to be told the likely outcome of the scenario, given the show of power between the two in the last two months. The depth of the crisis in Ebonyi PDP was even further revealed few hours after the congress itself, when about three factions suddenly emerged from nowhere to set up parallel executives in all the 13 LGAs. As a result of all these sudden occurrences, all that can be seen today is an ugly picture of an emerging confusion that may not leave the ruling PDP in the state the better for it. For the leading opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, which has strong roots in the state, observers say the party may take advantage of the confusion in the state PDP. The last minute intrigues in the Ebonyi PDP, informed insiders say Jonathan will easily get majority votes during the presidential election, especially with the added support of heavyweights in the state like Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, backing Elechi and Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu.

The president loses foothold in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Benue

In this report, Sunday Oguntola takes a look at the chances of PDP and in three states.

AST Friday, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its National Chairman, Adamu Muazu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognise the results of Akwa Ibom State ward congresses. While granting the order ex-parte, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, agreed with the submission of Mr. Godwin Obla (SAN) Counsel to one of the aggrieved governorship aspirants, Chief Umana Umana, who alleged he and his supporters were prevented from participating in the congresses of the party penultimate Saturday. Justice Ademola also issued an interim injunction restraining PDP from excluding or in any way or manner preventing Umana from participating in the governorship primaries slated for November 29th, 2014 pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed by the aspirant.

• Umana

• Suswam

The court order is the latest of the hullabaloo generated by the ward congresses in Akwa Ibom, which led to the death of three persons with several others injured. The congresses provided a veritable ground for the bottled up agitations in the state chapter of the party to burst out. As expected, Governor Godswill Akpabio succeeded in forcing carefully hand-picked delegates to emerge from the exercise

despite protestations from factions within the PDP. Akpabio had insisted the governorship slot must be zoned to Eket senatorial district, thereby foreclosing the ambition of heavyweights like Umana and former Commissioner of Finance Obong Bassey Albert from Uyo district and more than dozen others outside Eket. The party's National Working Committee (NWC) agrees with him. It issued a directive "that only aspirants from Eket senatorial zone will

present themselves for the governorship primary election in the state. Umana is anchorman of the anti-zoning stakeholders in the state, which include former Governor Victor Attah; former Petroleum Minister, Chief Don Etiebet and former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Ufot Ekaette, among others. These party stalwarts have vowed Akpabio will not succeed his installing his former SSG, Emmanuel Udom, as successor. The internal wrangling has not only torn the party apart but also created feuding factions. Neither of the sides is ready to back down or compromise its demands. The development will certainly affect PDP's chances in the governorship election, particularly the presidential poll. There are indications the factions might hold parallel primaries, which will further widen the gulf. Should Umana's faction lose out, it will surely ask its supporters to vote against PDP, a development that might also affect President Goodluck Jonathan's chances of winning the state. For now, it is a 50-50 situation for the President in the state, which receives the highest federal allocations under his watch. Rivers: A president's disappearing foothold President Goodluck Jonathan could have as well gone to sleep assured votes from the oil-rich state will be delivered to him. But that was then.

•Contd. on page 68

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

•Continued from Page 72

Ropo Sekoni

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Femi Orebe Page 16

HE election is over and results are in. The Democrats suffered a tremendous thumping. To a large extent, the elections were a referendum on President Obama’s leadership. For him, it was a resounding setback on one hand. In a strange way, it may prove to be liberating. The Republican takeover of Congress frees him to pursue the conservative economic agenda that he shares with the Republicans because he will no longer have to worry about carrying along the Democrats in the Congress. The key change brought by the election was the Republican takeover of the Senate. The Republicans gained at least seven seats in the upper chamber, giving them a majority of 52. With three seats still in the air, the majority might increase by like number, giving the Republicans a solid 54-55 member majority against the 45-46 Democratic minority. In the lower House, Republicans gained approximately 20 seats to reach 243 of the 435 seat chamber. Many gubernatorial seats were up for bidding as well. Going into the election, Democrats predicted they would gain in this category. They were wrong. The Republican bonanza engulfed this group as well. Instead of gaining a handful of new governors, the Democrats lost them as well as a couple of incumbent seats. The dimensions of the Republican onslaught transcended the number of seats won. The margins of victory in many races were astonishingly wide. Republican victories generally approached landslide margins while several seats maintained by the Democrats were done so only by the thinnest margins. To a large extent, the lopsided outcome was more a product of who did not vote. The turnout of conservative voters was expected. Fueled to a large extent by an irrational hatred of President Obama and with that animus reinforced by Obama’s fumbling on health care, foreign policy and Ebola, conservative Republicans trooped to the polls to register their disdain for the very idea of having to call Obama their president. The Democrats’ failure was not so much that the electorate jettisoned them. Only thirty percent of the registered electorate voted. The Democrats lost chiefly because much of their part of the electorate stayed home. For them, voting was not worth the effort. One poignant anecdote expresses the election in a nutshell. Months before the election, a Democratic Party pollster wrote President Obama warning him that victory was fast retreating because enthusiasm among Blacks was dismally low. Without a high Black voter turnout, defeat was preordained. Democratic strategists also made the same point, albeit to a lesser extent, regarding the Latino vote. Prompted by these dire warnings, President Obama launched that special appeal to Black voters only he could do or so he thought. He made a series of appearances and radio announcements aimed specifically at Black voters. He also drafted the First Lady to the campaign hustings to deliver the same message. In his otherwise unremarkable radio announcements, the president chided his predominantly Black audience by telling them they have to convince “cousin Pookie” to vote. “We all got a cousin Pookie who is a good person but sometimes is not quite as attentive to his civic responsibilities as he needs to be,” explained the chief executive. This statement drips with hypocrisy. For the entirety of his presidency, when asked why he has rebuffed Black American policy concerns, he has retorted that he was the president of the United States, not the president of Black America. However, when support was needed, he made a special appeal to Black people and did it in a way he dare not have ventured with any other constituency. It worked for him in the past. This time it did not work. I am a Black American. And like most Black Americans, I don’t have a cousin Pookie as President Obama described. Obama thought that he could flippantly say anything to Black people and they would jump through fire for him. In 2008, that was so. In 2012, it was still valid, but less so. Today, it is no longer the case. Enough Blacks have caught a true glimpse of the man. The frustration in a growing segment of the Black community is palpable. Before, Blacks would have gone to war for him. Now many will not venture to the neighborhood polling station. “He has refused to do anything for us so why should we exert ourselves for him” is the growing sentiment.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

American mid term elections: Democrats eat dust A lone slap from a friend stings more than a dozen from an enemy.

•United States President Barack Obama meets with bipartisian congressional leadership in the Old Family Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Friday, November 7, 2014. From left to right: U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Democrat of California), Speaker of the U.S. House John Boehner (Republican of Ohio), President Obama, current U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat of Nevada), future U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican of Kentucky), and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (Democrat of New York). Also visible at left is John Podesta, Counselor to the President.

By Brian Browne The First Lady also tripped over her tongue. Responding to a question from a Black journalist, the health food advocate beamed, “I give everyone full permission to eat some fried chicken after they vote … I think that a good victory for Democrats on Tuesday, you know, should be rewarded with some fried chicken.” Black Americans are fabled as being slave to the taste of fried chicken. Forget the substantive policy issues that face the Black community. Forget that the diminution of economics of the Black community is redolent of the Depression. The First Lady’s implicit message was that you folks don’t understand the important things. Just trust us and allow Barack to handle these matters because he is smarter than the whole lot of you combined. All you need do is vote, eat a few pieces of fried chicken in reward for your obedience then go home and shut up until we need you for the next election. This time, Blacks were not buying the claptrap. They refused to go to the polls. Even among those who refused to vote, a number may have consumed some fried chicken on Election Day notwithstanding the First Lady’s conditional approval. The Obama strategy crashed against the wall of Black disenchantment. The abovementioned juvenile statements show the White House couple embraces the same bundle of prejudices and stereotypes toward the Black community that afflicts most White America and much of the Black elite. The Obamas and the Black political elite look with deep condescension at the very people who constitute their most loyal voting bloc. Shame on President Obama for treating Black people as if we are inherently off cue and lacking in some unidentified quality essential to responsible and productive citizenship. Instead of bringing greater understanding of minorities into mainstream politics, he picked the easier route. He used Blacks to get him into office. Once there, he fed from the same bushel of racial stereotypes as most White politicians. As has been his wont, in the futile attempt to ingratiate himself to Whites, President Obama adheres to sad biases against Black people. As such, it is not cousin Pookie but President Obama and his ilk who are not “quite as attentive to their leadership responsibilities as they need to be.” Fortunately, more Blacks are beginning to pierce his insincerity, seeing him for the conservative elitist he has turned out to be. They now say to him and his party that they will no longer be satisfied with lofty words resulting in empty promises. If the Democrats want the Black voter to act, the Democrats better begin taking action beneficial to the Black voter. In the end, electoral politics is based on reciprocity not of

unrequited affection. This small but growing number of Blacks returning to the reformist tradition of the community will not chain themselves to the Democratic Party. That Party has left its liberal habitation to drift further rightward as the Republican Party also does so. These people seek a progressive alternative. They now organize at the community and grassroots levels, reaching out to progressive elements in wider society. The challenge is steep but the effort is necessary because it represents a revival of the political agenda and mores that historically made the Black community the most political progressive and egalitarian element in national politics. If these progressive forces gain traction, Obama would have suffered a double defeat this election. Not only would the White electorate have rejected him (almost two-thirds of White men voted Republican on Tuesday), Black progressives may have begun to thwart his post-election plans of being the unofficial leader of Black America once his White House tenancy expires. Even facing this prospect of dual defeat, President Obama will salvage something from this electoral debacle. In the privacy of his neoliberal conservative heart, he may welcome the Congressional change. While a liberal on social issues, the President is more Republican than Democratic on economic issues and foreign policy. Now that his party no longer controls any chamber in Congress, he can detach himself from the more liberal Democratic lawmakers. To maintain his liberal patina, he will battle the Republicans on social matters like immigration, gay marriage, and environmental protection. The Republicans will try to deracinate the eponymous health insurance regime, Obamacare. He will fight to retain this part of his diminishing legacy. Without it, his legacy becomes too small for so vain a politician. To enhance that legacy, he will do as he has always done. He will contort himself until his spine snaps in order to show he is bipartisan and that he can accomplish something great despite the political forces stacked against him. To accomplish the great thing, he will not fight the strong Republican hand poised against him. He will join to himself to it. He will work with the Republicans to achieve their great thing. Notwithstanding the dramatic noise circling the contentious social issues, the core objective of the Republicans is an economic one. They seek to disinter the remains of

Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt so that they may bury his memory and the programs of his progressive New Deal even deeper. The Republicans want to privatize Social Security and rollback, if not eliminate, most economic welfare programs. They claim to do this to balance the budget. However, when it comes to increases in military expenditure or in suborning their pet industries, the imperative for budget balancing lapses. They know there is no real need to balance the federal budget. The federal government cannot go bankrupt. However, they exploit this canard to destroy liberal and progressive programs they detest so that they can restructure the nation into the elitist pleasure garden of their dreams. They seek to drive the nation back to a time when income and wealth inequality were stark and the poor and working classes were supine and supplicant. In 2011, President Obama proposed a fiscal “Grand Bargain’ that gave the Republicans these things and more. They did not join him. At that time, their objective was to thwart everything he proposed, even those things they would have done if they held the White House. If he offers a similar deal this time, they will join him as they have now electorally defeated him to the extent possible. With this, we face the prospect of President Obama being the architect of the diminution of the progressive economic justice and welfare structure that has been the central tenet of his own party and of Black support for that party for eighty years. Even with his attempt to appease the Republicans and act like he is of their camp, he is not out of the woods. He still does not fully understand the racial dynamics surrounding his presidency. Roughly 40 percent of White America detests the idea of a Black president even one as milquetoast as he. The majority of Republicans are of this persuasion. No matter what he does, the Republican majority wants his hide. If he does one major thing they don’t like, particularly on immigration, they will initiate impeachment proceedings against him. They will do their best to make his legacy one of rebuke and failure. Ironically, as he cast stereotypes upon the Black masses, the White conservative elite casts the same stereotype on him and it has stuck. He is there cousin Pookie. Thus, while he should vote, there is no way he should be president. The more he estranges himself from Black people because of his elitism, the less support he will have when the time comes that he will need it. In the end, I seek not to reduce the setback the Democrats experienced solely to this one racial factor. The lack of funds, the quality of candidates and the lack of party organization all played roles. However, the critical path of this defeat runs through the White House and the disintegrating relationship between Barack Obama, the Democratic Party and Black America. Beside the Republican Party, the biggest winners in this are the Clintons. Bill Clinton shall keep his title as the official leader of the Democratic Party. The defeat will cause Democrats to play it safe for 2016. They will rally more quickly around Hillary Clinton than if they had won more seats in last Tuesday’s midterm. Neither party has much to offer the poor or working classes. Both parties have been bought and sold. The right side of Wall Street and the corporate war machine own the Republicans. The left side has purchased the Democrats. Those who seek to help the average person must migrate from the two major parties to form something different. Chances are poor for this happening. However, a few seeds of progressive awakening have been planted. While these efforts are far from what is needed, they may shake the Democratic Party and help it return to its liberal ethos. If so, this would be a good thing. But in the meanwhile, the economic agendas of the Democratic President and the Republican Congress dovetail. This spells pain for the majority of people. Despite nominal economic growth in America, 90 percent of the people are worse off now than at the end of the Great Recession of 2008-9. Blacks have suffered doubly worse; their pain is both economic and political. They suffer greater joblessness and loss of wealth. Meanwhile, the man in the White House treats them cavalierly after they placed blind faith in him. They have begun to perform a painful reality check. Many now believe they voted for an impostor. Because of Obama’s social aloofness and economic conservatism that goes against the traditional progressive lean of the community, many have reached the stark conclusion that they have yet to witness the election of America’s first truly Black president. 08060340825 (sms only)

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

COMMENT

The chicken of rentier states coming home to roost? 1 It is salutary that after hedging for a few months, the minister of finance has finally come to terms with the new reality foisted on the country's economy, especially its political economy by the laws of supply and demand in the international energy market.

EWS about petroleum, Nigeria's 'king of crops' is getting worse by the day. Reliable international sources of energy news are warning minute-by-minute that the price of petroleum has entered its downward journey south and may stay south for long. Even the federal government is taking note of the bad news. It just warned or urged states to look for other ways of raising revenue, rather than depending on the funds from fossil energy. What is required at this critical time is more than kneejerk reaction from the federal or other levels of government. We have warned several times in this column in the last two years about the fast-approaching end to easy money from petroleum. Given the alarmist nature of Western media, in particular about matters that can readily unsettle African governments, it is possible for the forecast that the downward spiral in oil price will last long to be an exaggeration. What appears reliable for now is that Nigeria is losing a lot of revenue anticipated from sale of crude oil. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to tell the country's 36 states to get creative about revenue mobilisation and less aggressive about revenue allocation. It is salutary that after hedging for a few months, the minister of finance has finally come to terms with the new reality foisted on the country's economy, especially its political economy by the laws of supply and demand in the international energy market. It is right that the federal government has found the dwindling revenue from crude oil too serious a matter to justify denialist response on the part of its thinkers and handlers. Certainly, it is better to err on the side of pessimism than optimism in such matters. It is encouraging that the federal government has come to terms with the fact that its finance is under stress on account of the fall of oil price. If with over$70 per barrel, and about 80% of the budget coming from revenue from petroleum, the federal government appears to be having difficulty paying states their statutory allocations

on time, then God save every level of government and even citizens when the basic law of economics catches up with all underdeveloped rentier states in 2015 and beyond. Some conservative economic pundits in the service of political partisanship have already started to argue that there is nothing to worry about, arguing that the prices of oil have been fluctuating for decades and that whatever goes up must come down and vice versa, as it has always done with the cost of energy. It is gratifying that the federal government is not depending on the perception of such intellectuals this time. The reality of the moment with respect to the future of fossil energy seems to be starkly different from what it was in 2009 when the price of oil dropped to about $40 per barrel. Too many new discoveries have been made since 2009. The United States had added Fracking to the lexicon of petroleum exploitation. It is the success of this venture, rather than any political change of heart on the part of that one-time regular buyer of Nigeria's Brent crude that has stopped it from being one of our best customers. Fortunately, we still have the East to look up to for customers, especially India and China. The news coming from those countries also indicate that they are moving in the direction of borrowing or imitating the technology that brought shale gas into the energy vocabulary of the decade. Europe is certainly on the way to fracking and even Russia, a large supplier of oil and gas cannot be ruled out of the race for shale gas. The list of seekers of the technology of shale gas is getting longer. Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Estonia are already members of the Fracking Club. Moreover, more countries, hitherto without petroleum, are joining the club of oil exporting countries. Such countries include Nicaragua, and many of Nigeria's neighbours on the continent: Ghana, Ehtiopia, Kenya, and Benin. Similarly, other technologies are emerging to increase production of renewable and clean energy. Even Shell, a long-time king of the energy market, is neck deep in renewable energy research and development. More than ever before, all brands

of locomotive devices already have hybrid brands that combine a little of fossil oil with ethanol from sugar, cassava, or jatropha. Energy science news also indicates that some countries are already working on breeding bacteria that are capable of producing petroleum. It may be too soon to say that the era of glut on the petroleum market has arrived but it is also not unrealistic to say that sooner or later the world will supply more energy than buyers need. One consequence of this may be that prices of all forms of fossil energy will fall to the point of bringing embarrassment to states that have acted for so long to acquire the name of rentier states, i.e. states that depend not on revenue from the productive sector but largely rather from sale of natural resources without any significant value added. But, does or should the nose diving of the price of oil provide a sufficient condition for pessimism on the part of government leaders? It may in the case of a country that has taken the path of profligacy in its political policies over the years, especially one that has become a poster child for political and bureaucratic corruption to the point of having its enemies call it a global center for kleptocracy. However, where leaders are capable of listening to the wisdom of believers in humanism or the infinite capacity of human beings to alter or improve their conditions, there should be no cause for alarm, even if petroleum ceases to exist or advances in technology makes oil redundant. There have been leaders in the past who were indefatigable humanists. In the era of Awolowo, Azikiwe, and Sardauna, revenue from petroleum was so negligible that it was easy for the country's constitution to reserve 50% of such proceeds to regions of derivation. Nigeria was competing neck-to-neck with Ghana then in export of cocoa for foreign exchange. Ivory Coast, today's global leader in cocoa production was not any close to Nigeria in those years. The Northern region was also making huge revenues from growing cotton and groundnut while the Eastern region thrived on palm produce. It was not until the arrival of

military dictators that easy money from petroleum became a source of radical policy changes that disabled the country's three centers of production and balkanized the country into twelve, then 18, then 30, and 36 states, now slated to become 54, should President Jonathan have the means to implement recommendations of the recent national conference. It was well after the characterisation of Nigeria as a country that had problems of spending its petro dollars that military dictators also created a third tier of government and endowed local governments with direct allocation from the petroleum-based Federation account. As of the last count there are 774 of such local governments each with its own bureaucracy, and recently given additional encouragement by the national assembly that finally separated local governments from the 36 states that house them, in order for local government chairmen to have the freedom to use their allocations from the distributable pool. Consequently, for about forty years, Nigeria has not been baking the proverbial national cake; it has been sharing it almost without sense, all in the name of promoting national unity and even development. Once the goose that makes this possible loses its fertility, leaders would have to starting thinking hard like their counterparts in other parts of the world about how to stimulate development and thus make Nigeria attractive to all the nations within it to the extent that unity becomes a given. But calling for devaluation of the naira, as some have already started to do, may not remove most of the problems left by continued drop in the price of petroleum, the backbone of the country's economy and the determiner of what its annual budget looks like. Correspondingly, asking states to look for other sources of revenue is not the way to go, given the size of many of the states and the disempowerment of such states by the federal government which itself receives the lion share of revenue from oil. To be continued

COMMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Bring back our girls campaigners Kudos to the court verdict that legalizes their efforts and condemns the police

HE judgment of an Abuja High Court presided over by Justice Sunday Aladetoyimbo declaring the attempt by the Police to ban the #BringbackOurGirls campaigners from holding their rallies as illegal, unconstitutional, null and void is salutary. For us and we are sure for most Nigerians that attempt by the federal government to use the police to stop the patriotic efforts of the campaigners to keep in the front burner what ordinarily should be the prime interest of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration is reckless. But for the misguided interest of the administration, a government that lacks the capacity to ensure the security of lives and property has no business being in power. As held by the court, the freedom of thought, expression, assembly and association are fundamental rights guaranteed to all Nigerians, in sections 38, 39 and 40 of the 1999 constitution, and the Police has not right to abridge them. These rights are also guaranteed under Articles 10 and 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 2004. But despite these express provisions of the law, AIG Joseph Mbu, then Commissioner of Police, Abuja, now AIG Zone 7, reminiscent of his conduct as Commissioner of Police in Rivers, however declared the assembly of the campaigners unlawful and threatened to ban their peaceful gatherings. It was that brazen violation of the clear provisions of our constitution by AIG Mbu that led the protesters to approach the court for redress. As law abiding citizens the campaigners did the right thing to approach the court for enforcement of their fundamental rights, and it is gratifying that the Honourable High Court declared the action of the police authority and the federal government unlawful. Our hope is

ONALD Duke, a former governor of my dear state, Cross River, has been in political wilderness until last week Thursday. The political organisation of Mr Goddy Agba had organised a reception for their governorship aspirant, which was beamed live on AIT. Always a show man, Duke seized the opportunity in an attempt to launch himself back into reckoning. His speech at the event brought back memories of the bad politics and misadventure that characterised his tenure as governor of the state. Memories that many of us wish would stay buried forever and never to resurrect again. The Donald Duke brand has been one of the most disingenuous marketing feats in the history of our country, exemplified by the long running advert of Tinapa on CNN and NTA, which is now a subject of investigation by the ICPC. The image created by his publicists for the public is completely at variance with what he truly is: a narcissist. Due to his style of governance, Cross River State became a theatre of political violence, polarising the state along ethnic lines, leading to the emergence of groups such as the Atam’s People Congress, with the sole aim of battling the establishment. Of course, the violence that characterised Duke’s re-election in 2003 remains the bloodiest in the annals of the state. There were

that Mr. Mbu and his co-respondents have learnt the limits of their powers in a democracy, unless of course they are outlaws. Notably in making the order, the court granted "an order of perpetual injunctions restraining the respondent, his agents and privies from further preventing the applicants or aggrieved Nigerians from taking part in protests and rallies in exercise of freedom of expression, assembly and association as guaranteed by the constitution and the African Charter." Now that the Court has declared Mr. Mu's gambit as an affront to the Constitution, we hope he can now be called to account. Unfortunately the heart rendering plight of the over 200 students of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, who were apprehended by the criminal elements, better known as Boko Haram since April 15, is yet to come to an end. Ordinarily their cause is such that should worry any sane soul, considering that their continuous detention by the insurgents has caused the deaths of many of their parents, and brought untold hardship to the others. As a nation the successful kidnap and marauding into slavery or forced marriages of the girls, as claimed by the insurgents, constitutes an unprecedented humiliation for our country.

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

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

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

But to the surprise of many Nigerians, the federal government led by President Goodluck Jonathan, has shown the lack of capacity to bring that debacle to an end. Just recently, the government gleefully announced a ceasefire with the insurgents which they claimed would include the unconditional release of the Chibok girls in exchange for some of the Boko Haram criminals captured by the security agencies. Unfortunately that turned a hoax, and now the girls have spent over 200 days in captivity with no hope in sight. It is the self-sacrificing effort of the #BringBackOurGirls group to keep the plight of these girls in public consciousness that Joseph Mbu shamelessly tried to stop. As if to rub salt to the injury and further ridicule Nigeria, the leader of the deadly Islamic sect in contrast to the claim of Nigeria's Chief of Defence staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, came out recently to ridicule the attempted effort by government to make peace with the group. Since that video came out, the Boko Haram appears to have taken an upper hand in the fight to colonize a large chunk of Nigerian territory. So it is now necessary for all well-meaning Nigerians to openly canvass for support for the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners as one major way to keep their plight in public view. After all the Jonathan administration has clearly set its eyes on getting re-elected at all cost, regardless of their performance in office. The side effect of such a major distraction from the primary purpose of a government is that fundamental issues such as the security of lives and property continues to be neglected at a great cost to the nation. But as has been demonstrated by President Jonathan's government, no amount of complaint is enough to redirect their attention in the right direction.

LETTER

No, not Donald Duke again! attendant political killings and disenfranchisement of voters. As an incumbent governor, Duke’s campaign team could not go beyond Akamkpa for days as protesting armed youths engaged his security team in duel

of carnage. There was also his unending battles with local government chairmen, who insisted on asserting their independence. The face-off led to the harassment, arrest and subsequent jail-

ing of some of the chairmen including Hon Daniel Asuquo, now a member of the House of Representatives and late Prince Eyo Okon Eyo, who died few weeks after being released from jail.

Duke’s faceoff with his Deputy, John Okpa further heightened political tension in the state. The governor had his way as Okpa was eventually impeached by the state House of Assembly.

philosopher. In him you would find the echoes of the great playwright Professor J.P Clark, the depth of the Greek philosopher, Aristotle and the communicative imagistic sophistication and the proverbial profundity of Oral literature. One of the greatest messages he has left with us is to render any help we can to our living brothers and sisters while they are still breathing because if they die they "don go o!" Though it is our wish that his "don go" moment were delayed, we must surrender to the will of the Almighty who knows the appointed time for each and every one of us. In his life time, he rekindled an interest in the language and culture of the Izon people and so in death we must pay him back by ensuring that his catalogue of songs are played to our children and their

children so they know we have a culture that educates, entertains and civilizes it adherents. Great minds like him however shame death derisively as there is something in them death can't handle. Long after their remains are committed to mother earth their works continue to keep them alive. For ages to come the voice of Ebizimor will continue to ring loud in millions of ears. He belongs to the tribe of Nigeria's cultural greats of all seasons like, Rex Jim Lawson, Hubert Ogunde, Fela Anikuapo-Kuti, Mamman Shata, Dan Maraya Jos, Victor Osadebe, Oliver de Coque and a host of legends. Good night dear brother! Thank you for your selfless service to our people and our country. Your stay here on earth teaches us to live a life that positively impacts on others. You are a great man! By President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Abuja.

Tribute to King Robert Ebizimor

HAT is mortal of King Robert Ebizimor would be interred but the essence of this great musical maestro of our generation remains imperishable eternally. It is therefore with a heavy heart but great appreciation of a talented life that was fully maximized for impact on humanity that I on behalf of myself, my family and the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria send our deepest of condolences to the family of Ebizimor and all lovers of his music world wide. King Robert Ebizomor by a twist of fate was said to be on his way to his home town Angalatiri in Sagbama local government of Bayelsa State for a "survival party", having survived a cancerous attack on his leg when he was involved in a ghastly accident that he very sadly did not survive. Our consolation lies in the fact that he is survived not only

by good children but his monument of exploits in the Ijaw folk music, "owigiri". He used his many compositions to masterfully capture the stories of his land in very graphic imageries. The dexterity of his musical output earned him a cult like following as he fired the imagination of the people. He was very clearly a true practitioner of relevant art. King Robert Ebizimor brought joy, gladness and good tidings to all who had the good fortune of meeting him, listening to him or watching him perform on stage. He is a folklorist who used his talent to promote the Niger Delta struggle through lyrics and dance. From one lyrical wax to another he sang for justice, peace, fairness, equity, harmony, love and progress in Ijaw Land and Nigeria. In his great artistic life were all the elements rolled: a poet, dramatist, novelist, authority on oral literature and a great

Under Duke’s administration, the civil service withered. For 8 years, there was no single employment into the civil service just as no civil servant got promotion. The education sector was comatose , with the state ranked amongst educationally disadvantaged states. That administration also left behind a suffocating debt burden, which has now become an albatross. So, why this deep reflection? As the sponsored program on AIT fast concluded with remarks by new found ‘faithfuls,’ I was left scratching my head in search of less half-truths and political innuendos. With my mind fed with no clear cut plans on how to move the state to the colloquial sounding ‘next level,’ I had been fed with cheap political pot-shots for close to an hour without fundamental fears and nagging questions addressed, besides mere rhetoric. But then again, I am not a politician in the strict sense of it. I am simply a Cross Riverian, who is simply grateful to God for the semblance of peace, stability and progress we have enjoyed in the state over the last few years. For a neutral with no particular affinity except wanting to see my state progress, I am more worried about what Mr. Duke and his partners again have to offer the state and its people. •Peter Akabom wrote in from Akpabuyo, Cross River State

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Christ School, Ado-Ekiti, 59-63 at 50

In tandem with the School's new development plan, the set had, first of all, contacted the principal to identify its most urgent need which turned out to be a bore hole to serve the kitchen and the school clinic which do not have a running water of their own.

T a glorious 2014 Reunion& Home Coming event hosted by both the 59-63 / 70-74 sets from Friday, 23rd to Sunday, 25th October, 2014, my set (59-63) put together an absolutely unforgettable re-union that will long linger in our memories. It was, first and foremost, an opportunity for massive Thanksgiving to the good Lord who has kept us safe these many years; and having been weaned, from tender ages on Christ, there was no shortage of gratitude to God. And how exhilarating it was, jubilantly singing together again the school song: Christ is our corner stone (Songs of Praise 464) in those, once wondrously sonorous voices, now going croaky. The husky voices were, however, invigorated by those of the much younger 70-74 members and current students. Where I sat, directly in front of Oga Dele Falegan, (Oga being our patented way of addressing seniors no matter the age difference) former Director of Research, Central Bank of Nigeria, it was easy to affirm beautiful singing as one of our major attributes at The School from the beautiful way he sang. It was simply exhilarating and spiritually uplifting. Our own segment of events had kicked off the evening of Friday, 23 October at a sumptuous ASUN (roasted goat meat) night hosted by Dr Oye Adegbite, FCA, and his dazzling wife, at their sprawling country home in the Government Reserved Area of the state capital. What a night of camaraderie and reminiscences! What a night to remember! We were particularly honoured by the presence of two great

icons of The School. First, Chief F. A. Daramola, our highly revered teacher, and father of Hon Bimbo Daramola, who at 87 chooses to personally drive himself around. Be not surprised, he is The School's most venerated games master after the unmatchable Chief R. A Ogunlade of blessed memory. The other was Chief (Dr) JGO Adegbite, School goal keeper, senior prefect and, the first Registrar of the Ekiti State University who, coincidentally, is our host's uterine brother. He was obviously the night's hero as he regaled us with joke after joke. Wande Adebiyi, aka Flamengo, and incidentally another School goal keeper, was, however, not far behind. Yours truly relived the idiosyncrasies of one of our most loved teachers, the late Mr J O Iluku. And, of course, one of our own, the Venerable Jide Iyiola, said the prayers. In the meantime, Biodun Adu, Consultant Gynaecologist, far away from his London base, kept phoning in to share in the joy of the occasion. It was a night to remember. But looking back now, it is funny, if not surprising, that none of us that night remembered to recall that song, weaved around a mythical Asian king, and with which all students of our time, but now unfortunately discontinued, were socially welcomed into the lifelong family of CHRIST'S SCHOOL at an archetypical BULLYING event. Bullying has been described as the use of force, threat, or coercion, to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others, and has occasioned suicides in places like the U.S, but not this

thoroughly enjoyable one which requires some elucidation especially for the sake of readers not already conversant with it. Midway into this unforgettable night, at their very first attendance at a socials event in the school, new students are filed out on the expansive bowel of the QUADRANGLE, to be taught what is simply described as a song. The song, you are told, is about a king named O WATANA, OF SIAM, who is presented in much more mythical terms. You are soon engrossed in this fascinating new song which you soon start singing rather exuberantly, dancing in circles. That, however, is until you see your seniors, now a hilarious audience, singing back and pointing fingers at you. What they are singing now is what you get when you fully spelt out the king's name which is O WHAT AN ASS I AM but which they now pluralise and turn to: O what asses you are, O what asses you are, O what an ass! Boy, you can only imagine the look on the new students' faces but it is a night you will forever remember. The next day's events took off a little behind schedule as a result of the state's environmental exercise. So to the school's Alumni Hall we headed an hour later at 11 am to kick start the 2014 REUNION & HOME COMING EVENT proper with a lecture on MY VISION OF CHRIST'S SCHOOL BY YEAR 2033, the Guest Lecturer being another iconic alumnus, Mr Kehinde Ojo, the immediate past Ekiti State Commissioner of Education who is, unarguably, a man of many firsts. A member of the school football team, he was Senior Prefect and later, principal. A state merit award winner, he was one of the first set of school principals to be appointed Tutor-

General by the Ekiti State government. He was therefore the ideal person to envision The School as it turns 100 in 2033. And didn't he make a wonderful job of it! This, however, was after the Chairman of the event, our teacher and now Acting Vice Chancellor of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Professor Femi Ajisafe, has called for the observation of a minute's silence in memory of our dear classmates who have joined the Saints Triumphant. May the good Lord continue to rest them and uphold those they left behind. Amen. Chief Daramola, Professor Ajisafe and Mr Ojo were later presented with plaques in appreciation of their support. This was followed by the inauguration of projects. In tandem with the School's new development plan, the set had, first of all, contacted the principal to identify its most urgent need which turned out to be a bore hole to serve the kitchen and the school clinic which do not have a running water of their own. This we agreed to do, thus solving a problem that has existed like forever and it was commissioned by Chief Daramola in the presence of the principal, his immediate predecessor, and a rapturous kitchen staff, some students and members of staff. As it turned out, the bore hole will now also serve the school chapel. In addition, we donated 5000 customised exercise books to the students. The last event for the day was the dinner hosted by the 70/74 set to which our set had been graciously invited and what a night of good food, wine and camaraderie, at the Fountain Hotel, Ado-Ekiti. We all punctually assembled the following morning at the School Chapel for the Anniversary Service which, for

us, was a debt repaid us by the school. How so? Way back in December '63, believing that the set was too troublesome, the Principal, Canon L.D Mason, had promptly sent us home directly after our School Certificate exams without allowing us have the luxury of the usual send forth service to which every set looked forward to. This service, therefore, mentally took us back fifty one years; and how throatily we all sang trying to re enact those days of angelic voices. The sermon was taken by one of our most humane and revered teachers, and later university lecturer, The Very Revd John Olu Aina. As we look forward, trusting Christ, whose name we bear, to our 60th anniversary, we all agree that this has turned out to be a wonderful occasion at which many of us were seeing again, for the very first time, since that December day in '63. We therefore thank God for His grace upon our lives as we say the School Prayer again: Grant O Lord That Christ's School may be a Christian School Not in name only But, in deed, and in truth For the sake of Christ Whose name we bear Amen. This short recap will not be complete without expressing the set's deep appreciation to both our Chairman, Adegboyega Adepitan, and our indefatigable Secretary, Oyeniyi Allen Alebiosu, both of who literally abandoned their personal chores to ensure we had a glorious outing. And our hearty appreciation goes to the elders and all who made it a worthwhile outing. Thank you all and God bless.

Nigerian leaders: A commitment to sharing

This democracy has been a godfather-based one because in most states, the godfathers have been having their says and their ways while the people have been watching history being assaulted

LEARLY, there are many students of the Nigerian democratic project who have come to the conclusion that there is nothing wrong with this country's democratic experiment that removing her leadership will not fix. This is really pitiful when you consider that those leaders are actually supposed to drive the democracy project. But, honestly, what can one make of the sudden pronouncement by the president of the Federal (and democratic) Republic of Nigeria that his party's governors could all have a second term, gratis? Seriously? I call it the largesse of good luck. Actually, if the president had been anything like the Ekiti state governor, I would have said, 'hmm, there goes the bar-room talk'. Instead, I just thought, has the president forgotten that this is a democracy and it is not for him to make such decisions by word of mouth? Rather, it should be the group of nitwit, half-wit, impoverished and neglected 'we the people' who get to decide who goes for a second term and who is bombed by word of the election box. Indeed, he himself may even be bombed in that box. Nitwits do have their day, I tell you. Perhaps, the president did not really forget; perhaps he was just acting in the spirit of things. In the spirit of things in Nigeria, it is possible for the president to anoint anyone for anything. Perhaps, he

anointed his governors because he was well pleased with them; perhaps he needed something from them; perhaps he was hoping they would anoint him in return, who knows? It is obvious though that these clever, cunning and extremely intelligent Nigerians called politicians have taken the ancient, time-honoured and world-renowned democratic process and twisted it inside out, turned it upside down and wrung its very soul out to bring forth what is called home-grown democracy. I hate the sound of that; it is when we want to be dubious that we talk of homegrown anything. You and I know that what we have been witnessing since 1999 cannot by any stretch of my feeble imagination be called democracy. It looks more like something brewed in hell's kitchen by Satan and implemented by his faithful ones. My question then is this: if we knew from the beginning that we were going to run a home-grown democracy, why did we bother to send our nation's lawmen across the seas to the Americas to go and learn how they do it there soooooooo many times? This is something that every state and even the central government did. One poverty-ridden state somewhere in the north or centre of this country was said to have sent its lawmen on nothing less than 74 trips! Why did we waste such a colossal amount of money making monkeys of ourselves around the world, parading our behinds for the

world to see, all the while thinking we were learning about the ways of men? Oh, what meritorious goons we have been! I think we all agree, people, there has been very little resembling people-based democracy in what we have been doing since this experiment began again. Take a look. Have we not been witnessing the law being transformed from the people's last defence to the people's nothing? Have we not seen this dispensation blatantly disobey orders issuing forth from our collective common sense in several matters? Well, have we not? Don't let me name names. Problem is, those we have sent to the centre (of states, of the nation, of the universe) to speak for us are largely silent because they are speechless, wordless and voiceless. Reason is simple. We have been having houses of parliament filled with officers who (s)elected (i.e. rigged) themselves or were (s)elected by their godfathers. We have also been having state governors installed by their (you guessed it) godfathers who have hovered over them more closely than their guardian angels. This democracy has been a godfather-based one because in most states, the godfathers have been having their says and their ways while the people have been watching history being assaulted left, right and centre. This is why it is possible for the president of this country to forget the people's will in the matter of who wins or does not win a governorship or senatorial seat election. I hear reps and senators from that party are also demanding that the largesse of

automatic second term be extended to them. That means no election on earth, no people's will on earth, can replace them. Hurray! Frankly, I think we should by-pass these assemblymen and vote in the godfathers. They are more knowing. And while we are on the matter, I would like to also obtain the president's permission to go for a second term as the chief controller of my dog. He is somewhat heady and I am not too popular with him right now mainly because I have not been too kind to him. If he were to choose his controller through an election ... There are results from all these disharmonious and freakish assaults to history. First, there is a strong tendency for 'We the people,' the ordinary Nigerians, to come to truly believe that this is democracy. This is so far from democracy that I cannot begin to measure the distance. We do not know exactly what is prompting Nigerian democracy to go the awkward way it is going. Some have put it down to money. They say things like there is so much money in the country and no one is asking anyone to give account of anything. Maybe. Some have put it down to power. They say things like someone has to decide who is called to 'come and eat' out of that money. Maybe. Some have even put it down to destiny. They say things like Nigeria is not meant to survive because it is actually no man's land. Honestly, I don't know. What I do know is that someone, somewhere, is misdirecting this democracy for reasons best known to him/her and the people are acquiescing. Too many people are

too glad to be invited to come and eat. Heck, half of Nigeria is waiting to be invited. Just look at the list of presidential and governors' aides simply endless; all doing ridiculous things and all earning ridiculous pays! This is the reason many claim that democracy is working. Again, I don't know. Truth is, since the dawn of the country, there has been no leadership group that has not approached, with great gusto, the bungling of things and the deliberate sliding down of the country towards destruction. Truly, it appears clear to me that if the nation's succession of leaders had purposely set out to derail the country, they could not have done it differently. One consequence of this kind of anointing is that Nigeria's leaders are not committed to leadership for the developmental progress of the country. Allegiance to The One who anoints is thus of far more importance than allegiance to the people's progress. After all, the people's progress cannot put food on the table, send one's children overseas or install one's wife/husband in a comfortable flat or house in London. People, this is not the way to give this democracy a chance. This is the way to kill it using all known methods such as violent stabbing, strangulation, murder and poisoning. Oh yes, we are already doing all four. As it is now, our leaders are more committed to sharing posts, money, spoils of office, bank accounts, girlfriends, boyfriends, each other, etc., than in moving this country forward. I think we need to go back to the dictionary.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

COMMENT

(90) American midterm elections, 2014: two-thirds standing beside one-third in the shadow of big capital Where one thing stands, another thing will stand beside it. Chinua Achebe, "The Truth of Fiction" Come and see, American wonder, come and see American wonder!/ Come and see American wonder, come and see American wonder! The single, repeated line of a magicians' song from my childhood

big tidal wave, a tsunami, a landslide, a complete and unmitigated rout: these are some of the metaphors or terms that have been applied to the defeat of the Democratic Party by the Republicans in the just concluded American midterm elections of 2014. The defeat is so thorough, so crushing that you have to go back to almost a half century to see something close to it in modern American political and electoral history. The Republicans not only expanded their control of the House of Representatives and regained control of the Senate, they did so by taking seven senatorial seats away from the Democrats, four of those in so-called "purple or swing states" that had voted for Barrack Obama in the presidential elections of 2012. Moreover, in local and state elections around the country, the Republicans wrested control of governorships from states like Maryland and Massachusetts that are some of the "bluest" states in America where "blue" means heavily Democrat, red means heavily Republican and "purple" means a swing state that could vote Democratic or Republican depending on how successful the party which wins such state is in winning voters away from the other party. As a matter of fact, the thorough defeat of the Democrats was compounded by the fact that many legislatures throughout the length and breadth of the American hinterland are now controlled by the Republicans. This means that with their expanded control of the machinery of local politics and administration across the country, the Republicans can, and will almost certainly, tinker with existing state and local laws so as to redraw the electoral map of the country to tilt things in their favor in future local, state, federal and presidential elections. There is not the slightest doubt about it: this week the Democrats, with their far more progressive positions on internal American and global affairs than the Republicans, suffered an electoral rout greater than any defeat they had experienced in recent memory. With regard to my own emotions as I sat watching television coverage of the elections on Tuesday night, two things stood out above all others in mind. One: I recalled the fa-

â&#x20AC;˘American one dollar bill

mous, tongue-in-cheek observation of the contemporary German philosopher, JĂźrgen Habermas, that because of America's significance for the rest of the world, all other countries on the planet ought to be able to vote in one way or another in American elections. Two: because as I watched and listened to the tidal wave of the rout of the Democrats I did so as a person from the Third World, a person who divides his time between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Ibadan, Nigeria, I was able to see a silver lining of progressive, liberal trends in the dark and ominous clouds of the Republicans' conservative electoral victory that I imagine most Americans are probably not predisposed to perceive. These two observations lie at the root of my reflections in this piece. First of all, let me highlight a few of indications of progressive undercurrents in what otherwise looks like a massive endorsement of the Republicans' conservative politics and policies in the 2014 midterms. Some of these are in fact very pertinent to the state of affairs in the rest of the world, especially in our country and our continent. In this respect, perhaps the single most remarkable feature of these recent American midterm elections is the fact that everywhere in the country in which it was contested as a ballot initiative, an increase in mandatory minimum wage won by huge majorities. This victory for instituting a mandatory minimum wage was all the more remarkable in that it took place in even the "reddest" and most conservative states in the country. This rousing electoral victory for poor and average American working families should be seen against the background of the fact that - again in every part of the country - exit polls of voters indicated that most Americans believe that the American economy is massively rigged to favor the super-rich that constitute less than 2% of the population. To readers who might think that I am placing so much emphasis on these "hidden" aspects of the 2014 midterm American elections only because I tend to see "talakawas" in every part of the world, my response

is that if Americans, since the economic crash of 2008, have been speaking of an ever-widening gap between the few super-rich and the rest of the populace, I can only concur with them, based in part on the evidence of what I see with my own eyes and what I read in mainstream American news media. In this respect, one particularly pertinent thing that I read in virtually all the major news outlets in America is the fact that while these recent elections are by far the costliest in American electoral history, it so happens that these elections also recorded the lowest voter turnout in recent memory. Here are the specifics: the total amount spent was around $3.7 billion and it was financed by 0.2% of America's population of 316 million; the percentage of registered voters that participated in the elections was about 34%. This is a staggering feature of American democracy at the present moment: electoral victories are being "bought" by lesser and lesser percentages of the population; but this is happening because voter apathy is getting higher and higher. This is why, in his first postelection press conference, Barrack Obama stated that he clearly hears both the verdict of the one-third who did vote in the elections and the verdict of the two-thirds of the electorate who did not vote. It is instructive to compare the voter turnout figure of 34% in these recent American midterm elections with the figure of close to 85% of registered voters that participated in the referendum on Scotland's continued membership of the United Kingdom in September. In our own part of the world, the Ekiti State governorship election recorded voter apathy of immense proportions last April. Thus, voter apathy is not a constant and invariant aspect of 21st century democracy in our world. In the first epigraph to this essay, I make an allusion to one of my favorite aphorisms from Chinua Achebe's writings: where one thing stands, another thing will stand beside it. I must add here that I have never thought that Achebe intended in that adage for us to think that the thing that stands beside another thing

does so complacently, lost in confusion or perplexity. Rather, in nature and society, one thing stands beside another as a corrective, an alternative, an indication other choices and directions. The tidal wave of Republican victory in the 2014 midterm elections will be repeated only if the two-thirds continue to stand lamely and ineffectually beside the one-third that is bought and tied up by big capital. American domestic affairs are remarkably similar to the domestic affairs of most of the nations of the planet precisely because in most of the regions and nations of the planet, nearly everyone is in the shadow of big capital. What sets America apart from most of the rest of the world is the fact that its foreign interests and affairs are unlike the foreign affairs and interests of most of the other nations of the world. The Republicans know this and know it well; and they exploit this knowledge to the fullest extent possible. One of the most notable aspects of Obama's presidency has been the attempt to align and bring closer together American domestic and foreign affairs and interests. He and the Democrats will never succeed in this attempt unless and until they make the idle and complacent two-thirds struggle powerfully against the bought and delivered one-third of the American electorate. An atheist obsessed with preaching the gospel of the nonexistence of God When, about four and half decades ago I stopped being a Christian and a religionist, one of the things I decided was that I would never seriously concern myself with questions concerning the existence and non-existence of God. This decision was at first rather subconscious; when people tried to draw me into discussion of the issue, I would simply avoid it without any comment. But by the time that I entered into my forties, the decision became something of a guiding ethical principle of my mental and psychic life. As a consequence, I made a solemn promise to myself that as far as religious beliefs and practices were con-

cerned, I would never strive to change any person's belief in the existence of God and neither would I make it my business to shore up any person's unbelief in God's existence. The issues involved in this resolution are very complex and perhaps in future essays in this column, I may take them up. I make this observation against the background of a response to the recent series in this column on "religion and science, faith and rationality" from one Gilbert Alabi Diche that was titled "Jeyifo, religion and science" and was published last Sunday in this paper on page 15. Before sending this response to the Editor of The Nation on Sunday for publication, Mr. Diche had sent me two long emails in which he argued passionately that I was being too soft, too accommodating to religion in my series. In particular, Mr. Diche argued in his emails to me that I should have kept belief in God completely out of and separate from science and the scientific ethos. In my one response to his two emails, I told Mr. Diche that I had no interest whatsoever in being drawn into the controversy over the existence or nonexistence of God. I went further to inform him that the essential difference for me between human beings was not whether one believed or did not believe in God; the essential difference was between those who used either their belief or unbelief in the service of the human community or against the public good. Apparently, Mr. Diche was not satisfied with my response to his private emails to me and for this reason, he went public and had his rejoinder published last week. Fair enough; that is his right. But he has no right to completely and willfully distort the things I had stated in my series. As a matter of fact, it is extremely damaging to his arguments to resort to deliberate distortions and fabrications of the things I had stated in my series, things that can be very easily shown to be deliberate inventions or fabrications. In most of these fabrications, parts of sentences from diverse parts of the series are brought together through ellipsis to make new sentences or assertions that were not there in my series. The most egregious of these can be found where Mr. Diche writes in his rejoinder last Sunday: "Jeyifo also claims that 'All Nobel laureates in the sciences â&#x20AC;Ś also believe in God'. This is a blatant lie". This is simply beyond belief because there is no such sentence in any of the three articles in my series on religion and science. As I ponder the reason why Mr. Diche HAD to invent this and other fabrications in his rejoinder, I wonder whether or not he has not metamorphosed into the thing about religion that he so passionately opposes: the human transmitter of the gospel of an avatar that has taken complete control of his rationality, this being the deity of unbelief in the existence of God. Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

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APC and its presidential headache T

HE biggest challenge confronting the All Progressives Congress (APC) as it chooses it presidential flagbearer is not the number or quality of those who have put themselves forward. If anything, all with the exception of entrepreneur and newspaper publisher, Sam Nda-Iasiah, have some sort of experience at very high levels of government to brandish as qualification for seeking the top job. The real headache is that everyone of the aspirants has some form of baggage that the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) will gleefully exploit - diverting attention from Jonathan's terrible record in office. Take former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari. He is ordinarily an electoral powerhouse. In 2011, he did the near impossible by garnering 12 million votes on the platform of a political party that was just a few months old. What that proved is that the sheer force of his personality could deliver irrespective of the platform on which he runs. But I have argued in the past that this very strength - in particular his cult-like following in the north, eventually became his Achilles Heel as his strategists were misled into thinking he didn't need an electoral leg down south to help him to power. In the end, he swept the north but was undone in the South-West when Jonathan won the zone with the exception of Osun State taken by Nuhu Ribadu then flying the flag of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Were he to emerge the candidate of APC, he would be running on a better structured platform with strength on both sides of the Niger. A strategy that targets that the votes haul from the North West, North East and South West - with small pickings elsewhere could put him within touching distance of a prize he has coveted all these years. The ruling PDP realise the potency of a Buhari candidacy and have begun undermining it even before it becomes reality - and there's the rub for the APC. With the general on the ticket, the campaign will not be about Jonathan's management of the economy or his failure to combat the raging insurgency in the North-East, it will be turned around to focus on the General's record as a military head of state as well as his position on religious issues. We will be reminded that his regime authored the infamous Decree 4 which the military reined in Nigeria's famously free-wheeling press. It wouldn't matter that in 2015 voters are not being asked to elect a new military junta. The attempt to paint the khaki-clad Buhari of 1984 as the same as the agbada-wearing presidential aspirant of 2014 is one of the enduring lies of the emerging campaign. His opponents will not admit that as president he will not have the same powers he wielded 30 years ago. He cannot pass any budget or bill by fiat and would have to deal with a National Assembly whose complexity we cannot fathom now. As another ex-military ruler, General Olusegun Obasanjo, found out to his chagrin after his Third Term project bit the dust, there are times when this much-maligned body can prove to be an effective bulwark against would-be despots. There's no reason to think that the constitution would be amended in 2015 to accommodate any autocratic streak in Buhari. Even his much-vaunted desire to stop corruption in its tracks could get a reality check in that same National Assembly. People forget that one of the first bills Obasanjo sent to the legislature in 1999 was a stern anti-corruption bill fashioned after similar laws in Singapore. But by the time Abuja lawmakers finished with it what was sent back to the then president was a limp and nearuseless legislation whose impotence is confirmed by the depth of sleaze in the country 15 years after. Other issues that will come to dog a Buhari campaign will include the retroactive execution of the convicted drug pushers, the controversial clearance for 53 suitcases to be allowed into the country at a time when the country's borders were shut to allow for currency reforms. We will be told not to forget that the General

• Buhari

• Atiku

• Kwankwaso

• Nda-Isaiah

once professed a love for Sharia - so much so that he would have loved for it to apply throughout the country. And let's not forget the incendiary comments made by the ex-CPC presidential candidate after it became clear that his ambitions had bitten the dust four years ago. His embittered supporters took to the streets to vent their frustration with fatal consequences for many National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who had serviced as electoral officers for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He may have distanced himself from the acts of violence, but his opponents would still seek to embarrass him and damage his candidacy on the altar of vicarious responsibility. This brings us to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Again, we are confronted with another political giant who through a series of wrong choices undercut his own relevance in national power calculations. We cannot forget in a hurry that at the end of Obasanjo's first term Atiku controlled the PDP and the then president had to virtually go on bended knees to secure his backing and that of governors loyal to the then VP to clear the way for a second tenure. Frustrated out of the ruling party by Obasanjo, his ill-fated presidential run on the ACN ticket and his return to the party he had spurned and excoriated in the bitter days before the 2007 polls, and now his presence in APC, makes it all too easy for those who will paint a caricature of a desperate politician. Many acknowledge his virtues as a mobiliser who understands Nigerian politics. His deep pockets would make him an asset for a party like APC which could find itself challenged in the money

stakes against the ruling party. Interestingly, in his campaigning so far, Atiku has tried to talk about issues and advance policy positions he would like to pursue as president. All that elevated politicking would disappear in a puff of smoke the moment he emerges APC candidate because the PDP, again constrained to shift attention away from Jonathan's record, would dredge up the former Vice President's many controversies. We would be reminded of the American Congressman William Jefferson's saga as well as questions about Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and sundry matters. From now till Election Day, Atiku would be defending and explaining himself against real and imagined charges in the court of public opinion. I will not dwell much on Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Nda-Isaiah because whatever baggage they come with is linked to fact that their appeal is limited across the country. The PDP would be quite happy to dismiss them as provincial - never mind the fact that Jonathan and his erstwhile boss, the late Umaru Yar'Adua, could have been described in those terms at the point they assumed office in Aso Rock. Much of the handwringing within APC has focused on how much ammunition its aspirants have laid out for PDP attack dogs to play with. But this ignores the fact that Jonathan, the ruling party's candidate, has baggage that would finish off any candidate in different clime. Compared to his, United States President Barack Obama's issues were child play, and yet American voters punished him and his party at last Tuesday's congressional elections by handing power to the Republicans.

If APC's candidates have things they have to explain, then Jonathan finds himself in a similar quandary ten times over. On the economic front it is impossible to say that Nigerians are better off economically than they were in 2011. The recent collapse in power generation is an embarrassing enough statistic for a ruling party that has promised light since 1999, but only succeeded in delivering darkness. In the 70s the British Tory Party produced an electoral poster showing a serpentine queue of the unemployed waiting to be interviewed for a few job openings. The pay-off line was 'Labour Isn't Working.' It was devastating. The inimitable Margaret Thatcher was swept into 10 Downing Street on the cusp of the landslide. Today, Jonathan's stewardship in the area of unemployment can be captured just as succinctly with those photographs of an Abuja National Stadium packed to overflowing with desperate applicants seeking employment in the Nigerian Immigration Service. The exercise ultimately ended tragically with over 19 persons killed nationwide. Such is the contempt that the government has for public opinion that those like the Interior Minister, Abba Moro, who presided over that fiasco are sitting comfortably in their offices till date. To say that the administration has been scandal-scarred is to state the obvious. The nation still awaits the results of the forensic audit triggered by allegations made by the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that the NNPC had failed to remit billions of naira to the Federation Account. Petroleum Minister, Diezani AllisonMadueke and erstwhile Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, hugged the headlines for months over allegations of sleaze. While the former continues to fight to stop the House of Representatives from probing allegations that she spent a fortune hiring a private jet, the latter did the 'needful' by throwing in the towel when the heat became too much. But the government's reputation totally went down the tubes with the botched attempt by its agents to smuggle $9.3 million into South Africa in a private jet in a bizarre arms shopping trip. While it was still trying to contain the first mess, it emerged that a second seizure had been made by the South Africans - bringing the total to $15 million. But perhaps the greatest failure of the Jonathan administration is its inability to end the insurgency in the North East. Today, the insurgents have carved out a caliphate the size of three states in that region. Those who predicted that country would break up in 2015 are inching closer to seeing that dire prophecy become reality. A break-up isn't only when we are scattered in many pieces. Today's reality is that unless the gains of the insurgents are quickly reversed the map of Nigeria handed to Jonathan in 2011 would be different from that he would hand to a successor next year. Today, Nigeria is more polarised along sectional and religious lines than at any time in its history. We are seeing a government and ruling party that has shown every readiness to use religion to divide the country in order to rule over it. Tragically, the diabolical efforts of the ruling party's hacks have produced a situation where many voters have already made their decision on who they would vote for simply on account of his religious identification. That shows how much progress we are making. APC should stop searching for the perfect candidate. That creature doesn't exist on the face of the earth. At any given time aspirants come with baggage. The answer is not to flee from a candidate because of baggage, but to see whether what he brings to the table is greater than his negatives. The party must decide whether a Buhari who's a vote magnet up north should be dumped just because of his controversial past. Will it do better with a 'safe' candidate who doesn't offend sensibilities but cannot galvanise the supporter base the way the General can? The same can be said about Atiku. Should he be passed over despite what he brings to the party just because opponents would call him names? It's a no-brainer.

Boko Haram’s ultimate goal 19 is to recreate old Kanem-Bornu Empire’ P22 ‘Lassa Fever similar to Ebola’

P25 THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

•Sylvester Egbogie

•Peter Anieke

•Peter Fregene

PAINFUL WORLD OF EX-FOOTBALLERS •Sylvester Egbogie as a young footballer

20 SUNDAY LIFE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

PAINFUL WORLD OF EX-FOOTBALLERS •Adult austic students being taken through dance sessions to enhance their body coordination and awareness

•PHOTO: Chris Christopher

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SUNDAY LIFE 21

•Ilerika

•Ajide

• Fregene

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

22 SUNDAY LIFE

Living in pain

•Austin Popo

•Tajudeen Disu

Why ex-players fare better abroad Unlike their counterparts in Nigeria, United States based exinternational, Dehinde Akinlotan, advances reasons why ex-players living and working abroad fare better. He speaks with Taiwo Alimi

•Akinlotan

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

SUNDAY LIFE

•Shehu

‘Boko Haram’s ultimate goal is to recreate old Kanem-Bornu Empire’ Abuja-based writer and literary critic, Dr Emman Shehu, is a prominent face of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign which has been pressurising the government for the release of secondary school girls abducted in Chibok, Borno State in May by the religious insurgents Boko Haram. Shehu in this interview with Joe Agbro Jr. reveals the campaign won't stop till the girls are back. Excerpts

“

My greatest fear is that the country will face a crisis it may never be able to control for quite a long time because we are in a scenario where we may get an insurgency that will just keep going on and on if we do not address it now.

“

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

24 SUNDAY LIFE

•Messi

Afolabi Dahunsi , a deaf advocate, speaks on his activities as founder and president of Deaf Supporters Group (DSG), clocking 50 and his recent appointment as Special Adviser by Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola. He spoke to Gboyega Alaka through his interpreter.

•Dahunsi

PHOTOS: MUYIWA HASSAN

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

SUNDAY LIFE 25

•Lassa Rat

Joe Agbro Jr. Highlights the comparisons between two deadly diseases

•Banana

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

26 SUNDAY LIFE

Oba Frederick EnitiOlorunda Akinruntan, the Olugbo of Olugbo is marking his fifth year reign by setting up a Foundation to help his riverine community writes Olayinka Oyegbile

â&#x20AC;˘Akinruntan

A week long activities to mark the celebration of Eko Club were recently held with glitz and glamour. Justice Ilevbare who was at the event, reports that the celebration was a spectacle of some sort and one that would not be forgotten in a hurry.

â&#x20AC;˘Eko Club members

Pages 56 & 57

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

GLAMOUR

Judith Emike Audu-Foght, professionally known as Judith Audu, is a Nigerian film and television actress, presenter, model, blogger and movie producer. Renowned for her role as Mofe in the Nigerian television series Emerald alongside Joseph Benjamin, Carol King, Lilian Esoro and Femi Branch, she tells Adetutu Audu her favourite things.

Favourite fashion designer Isi Atagamen of IAFL 2

Favourite holiday spot Denmark 3

Favourite colour Red 4

Favourite book Who Moved my Cheese? By Spencer Johnson 5

Favourite handbag Louis Vuitton 6

Favourite shoe Converse and Christian Lauboutin 7

p o t

Judithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

0 1

Favourite TV show Ellen Degeneres Show 8

Favourite relaxation spot Beach 9

Favourite hobby Taking Pictures 10

Favourite food Ogbono soup with fufu or amala

POLITICS

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POLITICS

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POLITICS 39

POLITICS

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POLITICS 41

POLITICS

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POLITICS 43

POLITICS

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POLITICS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

IN VOGUE By Kehinde Oluleye

Tel: 08023689894 (sms) E-mail: kehinde.oluleye@thenationonlineng.net

Raising a voice for the Nigerian girl With Temilolu Okeowo temilolu@girlsclub.org.ng 07086620576 (sms only) Please visit my blog www.temiloluokeowo.wordpress.com for more inspiring articles. Twitter@temiloluokeowo

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

ETCETERA

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

Graphite revolution

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

For the benefit of the comics enthusiast runs a personal account of an art event. USING the classic comic book plot of good trouncing evil, Martin Okonkwo, Adeniran Adeniji Jr., Peter Ike Amadi, Sewedo Nupowaku and Adebola Jaiye-Ojo are pushing for the reading culture through art. With conventional tools of ink, paper and graphite – the material used in manufacture of pencils – they evolve a laudable mix of aesthetics and information. Okonkwo, Adeniji Jr. and Amadi produce comics of the superhero genre while Nupowaku’s is Nollywood-themed and Jaiye-Ojo carves a niche through faith-based children’s comic. They cited impressive turnout at the 2014 Comic Conference in Lagos, of recent, as proof of the comic industry’s evolution. Okonkwo started drawing in school exercise books at five, and sustained the pastime through secondary school and university, producing ‘70 to 80 and 100 pages of comics even before the age of computers’. Top honours as a Fine and Applied Arts student didn’t shift his focus. While he works in advertising, extra work with comics have fetched jobs with notable brands, Milo, Etisalat and Indomie. “Comics pay well,” he said. Adeniji Jr., chemical and water corporation materials supplier and creator of the superhero comic, Uhuru, Legend of the Windriders, joined the ‘nascent’ comics industry in 2010 and has been hooked since. The B.Sc. Marketing graduate of the University of Maryland in the United States of America drew comics as a child and honed his creative skills abroad, going ‘from O.K. student in Nigeria to A-student in the U.S. because of teaching aids and interesting learning materials like comics’. Amadi, an artist, book editor and creative director, considered comics profitable. He said: “My brother who is a banker used to think it was nothing serious until I took some of my first comics to Patabah in Surulere and Hub Media at The Palms Shopping Mall in Lekki, and they sold out. He asked for all the figures involved in production, broke everything down and declared that it was profitable. The rest is history, as they say.” But obstacles exist. Beside exorbitant cost of printing, printers tend to work at their pace, said Amadi. Minus the odd disappointment in delivery times though, he has acquired relevant experience as publishing his adventure comic Sheba’s Song in more viable A5 paper format. Confronted by ‘westernised ideals and instability in production costs’, JaiyeOjo, publisher of Bright and Morning Star, remained upbeat. Motivated by the desire to fulfill a societal need, she set about changing the way in which the Bible is presented to children going to church. “I realised the issue of character in the society,” she said. “Children need to develop the right character. What they are exposed to is not for positive character. We feel we can re-orientate them through comics.” Nupowaku, CEO of RevolutionMedia, an entertainment company publishing Nollywood’s finest, would have the challenge of reading culture tackled on multiple fronts. “It’s a chicken-and-egg thing,” said the self-styled ‘labourer in the comic vineyard’. “There will be no funds unless investors get confidence in what you are doing. But printing and distribution are major challenges.” No comic book publisher would beat the odds without passion, said Okonkwo, Creative Director at Epoch Studios which publishes the superhero comic, A.E.G.I.S. “If you don’t have it, you won’t go far.” Counting commercial work for firms through comics among his credits, Adeniji Jr. canvassed greater reading culture beginning with comics for children. “To tackle the low reading culture, let children start with pictures and stories. Comics make learning fun. It can also be community-based.” “Parents don’t teach children to read from an early age,” said Amadi. As children are easily attracted to pictures and fun activities, the comic book is one way to get them interested in reading. “Every child needs to be helped to learn the right thing, especially from the age of five,” said Jaiye-Ojo. “Comics make learning fun and affordable. Once you get it right, people will buy. If you don’t want somebody to take alcohol, give them an alternative.” Nupowaku prescribed digital application as solution. Citing the USA’s use of digital marketing, he and associates came up with ‘The Hyper Drive’, a mobile app cum community which entails distribution of comics via mobile gadgets. Targeting a tenth of Nigeria’s 160 million-plus population, specifically the 13 to 34 year-old segment, the service hopes to reach at least one million users every day. “That is enough to ensure profitability,” he said with conviction. “People will read once they are served great content despite the daily grind of living. Imagine the benefits of reading while rushing through daily tasks. It will be cheaper. There’s a revolution coming.” The revolution may have begun. And it is open season as published and unpublished artists and comic book creators tackle the issue of poor reading culture in an atmosphere less than creative.

Jokes Humour Wanted: Dead or Alive AN OFFICE exec is interviewing a dull-looking girl for an assistant position, and wanted to find out a little about her personality. “If you could have a conversation with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?” “I’d have to say the living one.”

Farmer Mathew FARMER Mathew decided that injuries from his recent accident were serious enough to take the transport company responsible for the accident to court. In court, the truck company’s fancy lawyer questioned farmer Mathew. “Didn’t you say, at the scene of the accident, that you were fine?” ‘’Well, I’ll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favourite donkey into the …” ‘’I didn’t ask for any details,’’ the lawyer said. ‘’Just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, that you were fine?” ‘’Well I had just got my donkey into the trailer and was driving down the road …’’ ‘’Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the police on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to

sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question.’’ By this time the judge was fairly interested in Farmer Mathew’s answer and told the lawyer so. ‘’Well,” said the farmer, “as I was saying, I had just loaded my favourite donkey into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and my donkey was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn’t want to move. “However, I could hear the donkey moaning and groaning. I knew it was in terrible shape just by her groans. Shortly after the accident a policeman came on the scene. He could hear the donkey moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes. Then he came across the road with his gun in his hand and looked at me. “He said, ‘Your donkey was in such bad shape I had to shoot it. How are you feeling?’”

QUOTE

No one wants advice - only corroboration. —John Steinbeck •Adapted from the Internet

Writer ’s Fountain RITING BRIEFS: To achieve that, make every character want Writing 101 — Good writing: Assume something, even if it is only a glass of water or that your reader is a total stranger but do not breath of fresh air. assume that he or she has all the time in the At the same time, every sentence must either world to read your story. Therefore, write in a reveal character or advance the action. Start as way that the reader will not feel time is wasted close to the end as possible. In other words, go reading your piece. straight to the action. But how do you attract the reader and arouse For the purpose of communication, you are interest in your story beyond a catchy title and permitted to be a sadist. No matter how sweet an arresting opening? By creating at least one and innocent your leading characters, they must character the reader can sympathise with and go through awful turns and terrible experiences root for. to reveal their real character to the reader. Word twist: As the practiced writer knows, you can only •Alma mater means bountiful mother. please one person at a time. Write, therefore, to •AM and PM stand for ‘Ante-Meridian’ and please this one person. Identify your target ‘Post-Meridian’. audience and ensure that at least a member of •A “quidnunc” is a person who is eager to know that group is satisfied. the latest news and gossip. After ensuring communication, give room •A palindrome is a sentence or group of for as much information as possible as soon as sentences that reads the same backwards as it possible. What about suspense? It is desirable, does forward: Examples: ‘Red rum, sir, is but present information in logical form so that murder.’ ‘Ma is as selfless as I am.’ ‘Nurse, I spy the reader is quite capable of putting the bits gypsies. Run!’ ‘A man, a plan, a canal – Panama.’ and ends together. ‘He lived as a devil, eh?’ Ultimately, let the reader have a complete •And the only palindromic nationality: a understanding of what, where and why of Nauruan, who is a person from the pacific island proceedings such that the conclusion is not country of Nauru. vague.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Nigeria: Overrun by electric power generators Page 60, 61

Osunkeye: Odds stacked against Nigerian businesses •Osunkeye

Page 62

Cement grade not responsible for building collapse- experts C

ONTRARY to media reports, experts in the construction and built industry in Nigeria has said there is no linkage between the grade of cement used and building collapse currently experienced in the country. Instead, they attributed building collapse to wrong application of cement with other components. The experts noted that the 32.5 grade is good for everyday building and construction just like the 42.5 and the 52.5 grades of cement, adding that even if 100.5 grade of cement is used and wrongly applied, it would lead to building collapse; just the same way it will happen if a lesser grade is used. They cautioned that to avoid

By Sam Egburonu building collapses in the country, the advice of a structural engineer must be sought in any building project. The experts made the statement at the Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos, when they gathered under the aegis of Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers to X-ray the theme, "Effect of cement strength on concrete performance." At the end of the programme, the Institution gave recommendations to the Nigerians, on the rules to follow to avoid building collapse. While delivering a lecture on the topic, "Building collapse and cement grade-any link-

age? Engr. Uzo Nwankwo, a structural engineer and member of the Institution said that "building collapse will continue apace, from time to time, even if we were all made to use 100.5 cement grade, unless something is done to clean up the construction industry." According to him, while it is undisputable that for the same cement sand ratio, grades 42.5 and 52.5 will yield stronger blocks than the 32.5 grade, it is fallacious to assert that blocks made with 32.5 cement cause buildings to collapse. He explained that "structural collapse is caused by a multiplicity of reasons; spanning from faulty design to poor construction practices

(where the majority of the causes are located.) "The most common cause of building collapse in Nigeria is ignorant people playing critical roles in the construction process. Cement blocks properly made from any cement grade will never cause a building to collapse. Listing the methods, President of the Institution, Engr. S.K Ilugbekhai said structural design should only be handled by competent qualified structural engineers and checking and approval of buildings for construction should be done by, or under, the supervision of a competent and qualified structural engineer in the office of the relevant approving authorities."

From left: Managing Director, Mr. Thandalam Dayanand, Chairman, Mr. Edmund Onuzo and Finance Director, Mr. Jonathan Murray,

all of GSK Consumer Nig. Plc at the media parley held at GSK Head Office in Lagos…recently

HE National Identity M a n a g e m e n t Commission (NIMC) has clarified that it is not canvassing the use of the new national electronic identity card as an alternative to the Conventional international passport. The commission said it has become imperative to put the record straight on the heels of misrepresentations in some quarters. The Head, Card Management Service, NIMC, Mr. Tunji Durodola, while fielding questions from journalists said the Commission cannot be canvassing the use of the new national e-ID Card as an alternative to the international passport when that is the exclusive statutory responsibility of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

'National e-ID card, no substitute for international passport' By Kelvin Osa Okunbor According to Durodola, although one of the 13 applets found in the National e-ID Card has travel functionality for certain types of travels, the decision to adopt the e-ID Card and the operational modalities remain the responsibility of the NIS. "If and when it decides on this, the process can then be defined and implemented by the NIS which has the sole responsibility for migration management in Nigeria as the issuing authority for passport and travel documents in line with ICAO regulations." He explained that even where there are regional

requirements in the ECOWAS, which is part of the reasons for the inclusion of the ICAOTravel functionality in the e-ID Card, it can only be adopted and implemented by the NIS which has the responsibility by law to provide international passport and related documents for citizens who wish to travel out of the country. Noting that the Commission is deeply embarrassed by the recent reports, the Head of Card Management clarified that although the applet on the Card issued to Nigerians is a bonafide Machine Readable Travel Document (MRTD), recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),

the NIS has to approve its use before it can become a travel document recognized by NIS and therefore all such institutions with which NIS has bilateral and or collaborating/ reciprocating relationship because travel documents are the sole, statutory and exclusive responsibility of the NIS. He said: "For any country to recognise the use of the National e-ID Card for cross-border travel, its usage must be the product of a bilateral agreement and NIS runs the show in that respect, we have only provided an early and appropriate means of achieving that so we do optimise the resources we have as is done in Europe. That's all we did.”

-- Page 53

'I don't scold my staff in the open' Page 63

•Oyedeji

Lawyer accuses Huawei of anti-labour activities Allegations are spurious--Management By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

HIS is not the best of times for Huawei Technologies Nigeria, a subsidiary of the the ICT giant in South East Asia, which currently faces a suit instituted by human rights activist and lawyer, Gabriel Giwa-Amu, who recently wrote to the Minister of the Interior, Abba Moro, the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Kayode Aderanti, over what he described as "misdemeanour" by Huawei on its local workforce, comprising mainly Nigerians. The lawyer, in the petition, alleged that the company was in the habit of carrying out anti-labour practices that are not only injurious to the well-being of the said Nigerians but also contrary to the standard prescribed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Besides, the petition further noted that a forged document that was sent to the Export- Import Bank of China on behalf of the South Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs opens another chapter in the controversies that the company has been enmeshed in, in recent times. According to the lawyer, Mr. Chen Nan (Sullivan Chen), an employee of the company, had written to the bank asking for postponement of funding for South Sudan's Digital Migration TV Project. South Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, accused the firm of not only forgery, but also hacking of government e-mails, among others. Michael Leuth, head of South Sudan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, had sent a complaint letter to the South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, alleging that, "Huawei attempted to send a forged document to Hon. Li Ruogu, the President of the Export-Import Bank of China, even as he added that, the telecoms giant may have been hacking many government e-mail, falsifying and forging documents on behalf of senior government officials. One Mr. Chen Nan was fingered for the forgeries. The response of the Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan, that the company regrets that Mr. Chen Nan never consulted his superiors over his intention does not however assuage the belief across the globe that Huawei may actually be spying for the Chinese government and using its devices to hack accounts. Controversy has also trailed the company in other areas beyond cybercrimes. It was also fingered in a 2013 bribery scam involving Belgian Telecom Operator, Belgacom. Belgacom is one of Europe's well-run telecoms company. The transaction led to the firing of Mr. Michel Moll, chairman of the Belgian company who was said to have collected the sum of $1million Huawei officials. The company was also engrossed in a similar bribery deal with Ericsson when it was also accused of accepting bribes totalling 36.2 million yuan from companies including Ericsson. Responding on behalf of the management, Mr. Julius Akhalume, General Manager, Business Development Nigeria, described all the allegations as spurious. In a telephone interview with The Nation over the weekend, Akhalume observed as someone who has worked in the company in the last few years he is convinced that the company is a responsible corporate citizen. "The company not only employs over 10, 000 Nigerians. I have worked for the company for over six years and I can tell you Huawei is a very responsible corporate citizen that is law-abiding. In 2012, we paid over N904million as taxes and N960million in 2013 to the Lagos Inland Revenue Service alone. I'm not talking about the FIRS," he began. Pressed further, he said: "I have taken my time to address the so-called petition filed by the lawyer on behalf of some disgruntled staff who were sacked for defrauding the company. As far as I'm concerned, the lawyer is crying wolf where there is none. The former staff were in the Procurement and Supply Chain Department who were fired because of their involvement in one case of fraud or the other. So to now turn around and accuse the company of anti-labour or whatever is wrong. But let them continue we shall meet in court."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

BUSINESS

IGERIA spends an estimated sum of N796.4 billion annually on fuel to power electric generators no thanks to incessant power cuts all year round. This figure is strikingly similar to the federal budget of N796.7 billion for capital expenditure for the current fiscal year. A breakdown shows that N540.9 billion is spent on diesel and N255.5 billion goes into the purchase of petrol annually for power generating sets. According to a study conducted on electricity distribution among the six geo-political zones in late 2009, Nigerians enjoy only four to six hours of power supply; hence many Nigerians have to expend a lot of money to augment the rather poor supply by providing electricity for themselves. Painful reality To many observers, the big expenditure on power generation is perhaps a sad commentary on the low level of infrastructural development in the sector. In the view of Godfrey Ogbemudia, Programme Director, Community Research and Development Centre, the expenditure on power largely due to inadequacy in power supply. Speaking at the official launch of the Nigeria Renewable Energy for All Project in Benin recently, Ogbemudia explained that the figure represented Federal Government's budget of N796.7 billion for the capital expenditure for the 2009 fiscal year for 36 states of the federation. He lamented that in spite of the various government policies to revive the energy sector, many Nigerians still get as low as four hours of electricity supply per day, hence the need for Nigerians to embrace solar as a viable source of power. Ogbemudia said that CREDC had been playing a key role in the deployment of renewable energy to rural communities since 2006, part of which was the installation of stand-alone solar systems for no fewer than 550 households in Edo, explaining that the solar project, also known as Nigeria-REAP, was aimed at improving access to sustainable and interrupted electricity supply using renewable energy in collaboration with Schneider Electric. "A 2009 study on electricity distribution among the six geo-political zones in Nigeria shows that some Nigerians enjoy only four to six hours of power supply. Also Nigerians spend about N796.4 billion on fuelling their electric generators to provide themselves with electric power." The craze for generators Unreliable power supply in the country has seen most households resort to the use of power generating sets as their primary means of electricity, while the state utility company, Power Holding Company of Nigeria, (PHCN), which is essentially a monopoly, hardly meets up to 20 per cent of the nation's demand. It generates between 1,6000mw and 1,500mw. This has led to a situation where power supply from PHCN is viewed as a standby source, to be used when available, while generators are seen as the principal mode of catering for power needs. Industries operating under the aegis of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) spend an estimated N350 billion to fuel their generating sets annually, The Nation learnt. To make PHCN more efficient, it was unbundled into 18 successor companies comprising 11 power generating companies, GenCos, six power distribution companies, DisCos, and one transmission company, Transmission Company of Nigeria. The blame game A former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has blamed his successors for the rot in the power sector. The former President said that the country needed to generate 2,000

Nigeria: Overrun by electric power generators Nigerians expend over N796billion on fuelling electric power generators annually, the highest in the world, a development, some discerning public have argued, is blatantly outrageous. Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf examines the implications for the economy

â&#x20AC;˘A set of electricity generators megawatts every year for the citizens to enjoy stable electricity. Obasanjo, after his second coming as a civilian president, handed over to the late former President Umaru Yar'Adua in 2007 while President Goodluck Jonathan assumed office after the death of Yar'Adua in May, 2010. The former President, spoke at a programme tagged: 'First Green Legacy Moment with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Leadership and Human Security in Africa', which held in Abeokuta. He said subsequent administrations after his reign as military ruler between 1976 and 1979 did nothing on power generation until he returned in 1999. According to him, leaders in the country lack the political will to confront national challenges. He said, "Part of our problems is lack of political will on the part of the leaders. What does a leader understands about development? Any leader worth his salt should know that power is very important. It is the driver of all developments, be it social, economic, and even political. "When I was military head of state, I developed the Jebba Dam, I developed Shiroro, I started Egbin. (ExPresident Shehu)Shagari came and completed Egbin and commissioned Jebba and Shiroro. "Between Shagari in 1983, until I came back in 1999, there was no single dime invested in power generation. If anything, the ones that were there were allowed to go down." Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) came into power on December 31, 1983 after Shagari was overthrown in a military coup. Buhari himself was shoved out in 1985 by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who stepped aside in 1993 following the tension that greeted his annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, won by Bashorun Moshood Abiola. Ernest Shonekan, head of the Interim National Government, and late dictator Sani Abacha followed while power was transferred to Gen.

Abdulsalami Abubaka on the death of Abacha in 1998. It was Abdusalami that handed over again to Obasanjo as a civilian president in 1999. Obasanjo said, "A country like Nigeria must be adding not less than 2,000 megawatts every year if we are to be moving on the path of development. "If you will remember, when I came back in 1999, my first Minister of Power was late Bola Ige. I won't say Bola didn't know what he was doing and he said publicly that he would fix the power problems in six months. "After one year, Bola with his capacity couldn't fathom what was wrong with power. It was riddled with corruption. Then we had no money. People have forgotten that in 1999/ 2000, the price of crude oil was US $9 per barrel. So, I wanted the oil companies, Mobil, Total and they wouldn't go. "When we started having money, we started the National Integrated Power Plant. When we said the money we had should be invested in power, my successor didn't understand; he stopped it. If for almost 20 years we did not achieve anything in power generation, then we may not be able to get it again." Obasanjo, who cited South Africa as an example, said with its population of 55 million people, SA generated 45,000 megawatts, while Nigeria with about 180 million people could not generate 4, 000 megawatts. He said, "For us to say that we are industrialising the country, we must be generating much more than what South Africa is generating, say 100,000 megawatts. "What year will Nigeria get there if we are adding 2,000 megawatts each year? For us to get to 100,000 mega watts, I leave the mathematics to you. It sounds very discouraging but that is the reality." Solar energy to the rescue Although the initial financial outlay in setting up a solar-powered plant is astronomical, it can last for 25 years without fuel other than solar energy which is captured by the solar panel. The government also recently

signed a contract with a French outfit to establish a wind-fuelled plant in Katsina as a mark of its seriousness to diversify public power supply sources from the traditional hydro and thermal to wind, solar and coal, among others. To improve power supply however, it has been realised that the private sector must play a critical role, which has led to NERC licensing about 29 independent power producers, IPPs, which are in various stages of completion. A gas master plan has however been put in place to make gas more readily available to fuel the over 70 per cent of power plants that depend on thermal source of energy. How other Africans are faring In his contribution entitled: 'Resource conflicts: energy worth fighting for?' in the International Handbook of Energy Security', Joshua Olaniyi Alabi said at the centre of the energy crisis bedeviling African countries is the problem of low budgeting. He was however quick to admit that over the years, countries have spent substantial sums on institutional reforms in the power sector, including management training, improved internal accounting and external auditing, improved boards of directors, financial and operational information and reporting systems, and establishment and strengthening of supervisory and regulatory agencies. Whether in South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Togo and the across the continent, there is renewed vigour by the government in those countries to scale up investment in the area of power generation and supply. In Rwanda for instance, there are plans to import 30MW of power from Kenya in a bid to address the energy needs of the growing manufacturing sector and bring down power costs. Rwanda imports a combined total of 17MW from DR Congo and Uganda annually. Importation of power will require Uganda and Rwanda to upgrade the capacity of their power transmission lines from the current 220kV to 400kV

like Kenya's. The two countries have started negotiations that are expected to pave the way for power purchase agreements. Thereafter, Rwanda should start receiving power from Kenya by June 2015. The 30MW will be almost twice what Rwanda imports from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda imports a combined total of 17MW from DR Congo and Uganda annually. The imports could increase further when the country completes its high voltage power projects. However, the importation of power will require Uganda and Rwanda to upgrade the capacity of their power transmission lines from the current 220kV to 400kV like Kenya's. The higher voltage transmission lines, according to analysts, should allow the three countries - which still grapple with energy deficits that have slowed industrial growth in the region - to partly address the problem. "Upgrading the transmission lines to 400kV will allow Rwanda to address the current power shortages but also export when there is excess," said Ntare Karitanyi, chief executive of Energy Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA). Before the transmission lines are upgraded, at least $2 billion (Rwf1.3 trillion) will be spent on feasibility studies in Uganda and Rwanda. The two countries are required to source for the funding. Rwanda has started construction of the interconnection lines with neighbouring countries. There is a line from Birembo in Rwanda to Mirama Hills in Uganda. These lines will increase the country's access to cheaper energy sources from the region. In another project aimed at boosting energy supply, studies for the transmission line with Tanzania are already complete and will be implemented after the environmental impact assessment is carried out. Without its own major power

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

•Obasanjo

•NERC boss, Sam Amadi generation plants, the country spends Rwf190 million monthly on importing power, which translates into Rwf2.8 billion annually. Another Rwf40 billion is spent on running the thermal power plants that produce almost half of the energy needs of the country. The heavy reliance on thermal power pushes up the country's energy costs. In Rwanda, consumers are paying $0.22 per kilowatt-hour (KWh), compared with $0.08 to $0.10 in the rest of the region, according to World Bank figures. The World Bank said Rwanda experiences the highest number of power outages, with an average of 14 blackouts per month, followed by Burundi and Tanzania, both with 12. Ugandans experience 11 blackouts a month. Kenya's power grid is more reliable, but still experiences an average of seven blackouts a month. The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority said that the country exports power valued at Rwf12 million monthly to Uganda through the Cyanika-Gisoto line. The study is also expected to address the power losses in the two countries. Rwanda imports a combined total of 17MW from DR Congo and Uganda annually. Importation of power will require Uganda and Rwanda to upgrade the capacity of their power transmission lines from the current 220kV to 400kV like Kenya's. Like Rwanda, the energy sector in Kenya is largely dominated by petroleum and electricity, with wood fuel providing the basic energy needs of the rural communities, urban poor, and the informal sector. An analysis of the national energy shows heavy dependency on wood fuel and other biomass that account for 68% of the total energy consumption (petroleum 22%, electricity 9%, others account for 1%). Electricity access in Kenya is low despite the government's ambitious target to increase electricity connectivity from the current 15% to at least 65% by the year 2022. Kenya plans to spend as much as $15 billion boosting electricity production fourfold over the next 40 months to help accelerate growth in East Africa's biggest economy, Energy Minister Davis Chirchir said. The country plans to produce an additional 5,500 megawatts, mostly from coal, gas and geothermal sources, by 2017, Chirchir said in an interview yesterday in the capital, Nairobi.

Added to existing capacity of 1,700 megawatts, that would bring total output to 7,200 megawatts, he said. Speaking with Bloomberg recently, Chirchir said needed about $10 billion to $15 billion in investment to reach that target, adding: "We need that power to support double-digit economic growth." In his inaugural speech in office, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, pledged to accelerate annual economic growth to more than 10 percent as part of plan to create more than 1 million jobs a year. The country is preparing to sell its inaugural Eurobond to raise as much as $2 billion by early next year to fund infrastructure development. Kenya is talking to suppliers of coal from South Africa and Zimbabwe to fuel a 900-1,000 megawatt plant at Lamu on the coast, for which they are in the process of procuring a developer. The ministry is also talking to Qatari suppliers of liquified natural gas for a 700-800 megawatt plant at Dongo Kundu in Mombasa, according to Chirchir. The government plans to use competitive bidding tenders to award contracts for power generation to private companies, Chirchir said. "The criteria for selection will mainly be the tariff at which the companies propose to sell us the power they generate," he said. Kenyatta said in September the country plans to become more reliant on coal-fired, geothermal and natural-gas generation to lower costs by as much as six-fold. Of the total 5,500 megawatts that will be added, only 24 megawatts will be sourced from hydropower, according to the Energy Ministry. The state wants to reduce the industrial cost of power to $0.09 per kilowatt hour from the current $0.15, Chirchir said. Currently, Ghana's installed capacity for power generation is estimated at 1,960 megawatts (from hydro and thermal sources) growing at about 10 per cent annually. In the medium to long term, an additional 2000 megawatts will be needed in order to catch up with demand. Unfortunately, efforts to increase supply have been hampered by limited fuel supply due to rising costs of light crude oil and unstable rainfall patterns affecting hydrogeneration. This is further compounded by irregular supply of gas from Nigeria which renders thermal plants such as the Asogli Power Plant - which provides 180 megawatts of gas-run power - non-operational. Ghana is estimated to spend about $1bn annually on light crude oil for power generation, resulting in an uncompetitive private sector characterised by high cost of production, high price of goods and services and low patronage of deliverables. In Botswana, its success story is worth commending, as the stateowned electricity utility Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) formed by government decree in 1970 to expand and develop electrical power potential in the country, has made a good job of it thus far. In the view of Mr. Alero Danjuma, an energy expert, the power crisis is taking a heavy toll on economic growth and productivity across Africa. To mitigate the crisis, Danjuma holds the view and very strongly too that Africa needs to harness larger-scale and more cost-effective energy sources in order to reduce energy system costs by US$2 billion and carbon dioxide emissions by 70 million tons annually. "With increased utility efficiency and regional power trade in play, power costs would fall and full cost recovery tariffs could become affordable in much of Africa. This will make utilities more creditworthy and help sustain the flow of external finance to the sector, which is essential to close the huge financing gap."

BUSINESS 61 How acquisition of Mainstreet Bank will boost Skye Bank's status

Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf in this report takes a look at the economic fundamentals of Skye Bank Plc following its recent acquisition of the Mainstreet Bank, one of the nationalised banks owned by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

OR good measure a lot is bound to change in the banking sector as economic and financial pundits see the current wave of mergers and acquisition in the country as the second round of consolidation especially as banks like Skye, which acquired Mainstreet Bank, has invariably attained the status of mega banks with solid capital base. Road to Mainstreet acquisition Between September 11, 2014 and now, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) announced names of the preferred bidders for two of its three banks penciled down for sale. On September 11, AMCON announced Heritage Bank Limited as the preferred bidder for Enterprise Bank, three weeks after, it named Skye Bank Plc as the preferred bidder for Mainstreet Bank Limited. Skye Bank, a leading tier 2 Bank in Nigeria, was among the eight banks recently designated as 'Systemically Important Banks', which reflects its industry leadership, strong market share, diverse location spread, and strong brand equity. AMCON, in a statement signed by its Head, Corporate Communications Strategy and Research, Mr. Kayode Lambo, announced Cedar One Investment Partners Limited as the first reserve bidder and Fidelity Bank Plc as the second reserve bidder for the acquisition of the entire issued and fully paid up ordinary shares of Mainstreet Bank Limited. The corporation explained that its board of directors had approved the transaction. It, however, pointed out that the completion of the transaction was subject to the fulfillment of the conditions precedent as stated in the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) to be executed with Skye Bank as well as the receipt of all required regulatory approvals from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, within four days of the announcement of Skye Bank as the preferred bidder by AMCON, the bank effected payment of the mandatory 20 per cent before the expiry of the oneweek given. This was on October 9, the same day it signed the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement. And in a rare display of buoyancy, leadership and commitment to see the deal is properly closed, the bank again, on October 31 paid the 80 per cent balance to complete the takeover of Mainstreet with one week to the deadline given by AMCON. Implication for banking landscape In the view of analysts, the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank has launched Skye into the league of the top three banks in Nigeria and with very promising future. It is believed that the bank will leverage on the widespread of Mainstreet branch network to consolidate its calculated advancement thereby giving it a superior place in the league of Nigeria's top three banks. According to Skye Bank, the acquisition will avail it of many

•Oguntayo

Stories by Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf 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. Mainstreet Bank, then AfriBank used to be the fourth biggest bank, after First Bank, Union Bank and UBA. AMCON had announced Skye Bank as the preferred bidder for the acquisition of all its interest in Mainstreet Bank, representing the entire capital of the bridge bank. Skye Bank emerged the preferred bidder after a rigorous bidding exercise that spanned five months, with over 20 bidders contending. Reacting to the development, Skye Bank said the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank was part of its strategic plan for growth. Skye Bank emerged from the very successful merger and integration of five banks in 2006, following the first phase of the banking industry consolidation. The Bank intends to leverage its wealth of experience from the successful integration of five banks to drive efficiency, increase market share and ultimately ramp up stakeholder value from the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank. The bank said the acquisition would help deepen its penetration of the South East and South South regions where it is currently less represented, explaining that out of Mainstreet Bank's 201 branches and nine subsidiaries, 26 per cent or 54 branches 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 inroads into these two regions without the need to incur huge expenditure had we remained a single entity as Skye Bank", the top lender explained. Besides, Skye Bank explained that the acquisition would bring valuable synergies from the mutual focus areas

Legend rewards consumers, others

IGERIAN Breweries has rewarded three Super Falcon players Onome Ebi, Azizat Oshuola and Esther Sunday who for oustanding performance at just concluded African Woman Nation Cup in Namibia. To connect its brand essence with the legendary quality of the players as way of leveraging the Legend Stout brands, the brand handlers celebrated the palyers at the week four of the Legend stout ctivation tagged Legend Taste, Tell and Win in bar promotion.

The event took place at DC bar, Bako Estate, Lagos and De Dems Bar, Akowonjo, Lagos respectively. Other consumers of the brand were also given the opportunity to win prizes ranging from crates of Legend extra stout to refrigerators. Arogundade Rotimi and SK Afolabi emerged the biggest winners in Akowonjo. Oshuola, who emerged the most valuable player at the Namibia tournament, said that they were at the event to unwind and meet their supporters have a highly competitive

of commercial and retail banking of the two entities in a larger Skye Bank. The bank noted that its focus is on retail and commercial banking, which is also the main focus areas of Mainstreet Bank Limited. A flip through Mainstreet Bank Limited's 2013 audited results, put retail and commercial banking contribution at 78 per cent, 36 percent, and 18 per cent of total deposits, total loans and profit before tax. Also, Mainstreet'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's current 1.9 million customers, a little less than the preAMCON takeover figures. Skye Bank's fundamentals Skye Bank Plc has announced its Third Quarter result with moderate growth in some performance indices. It recorded a Profit before tax of N12.3billion during the period which represents a quarter on quarter growth of 33 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 N30.3billion compared to N35.7billion as at September 2013. This is 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 loans and advances balance of N576billion showing a 6% increase Year on year. Similarly, customer deposits grew to N801.7billion as against N726.8billion of the previous year while asset size remained strong at N1.1trillion with a 3 per cent yearon-year growth. The bank said barring any unforeseen circumstances, the growth pattern would be improved on in the remaining period of the financial year. "Our loan impairment charge increased by 62 per cent Year on year to N7.5billion, 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 YoY to N17.6billion compared to N15.2billion of the corresponding period in 2013.” To analysts, combining Mainstreet Bank numerous branches with Skye Bank' the new status may sure give First Bank, Zenith and GT Bank a run for their money. Skye Bank parades Sterling management team. As if they knew they would go this big, there has been continuous restructuring in the last few months, including a new Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, with futuristic outlook working with people of equal strength. event in the South African country. Speaking on the present of the Super Falcon stars, the Marketing Manager Legend, Gulder and Life, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Emmanuel Agu, said the Super Falcon player presence at the event actually confirm the brand as the true Legend since legend can only interact with legend. "The ladies are legend, they have done Nigerians proud and this brand has also done the nation proud by winning Monde awards as the best stout beer in quality and taste. This is a clear indication that the brand is a legend."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

BUSINESS

HAT do you think is lacking in management of public and private institutions? Private institutions are big and small - the big multinational companies, the companies in the list of stock exchange and the small institutions. Those are the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The SMEs should be the bedrock of a nation economically, because we should have thousands and thousands of them, starting with even what I call the corner shop to the artisans and the vocational people. But we don't have enough of that. We have not enabled and empowered them. For the big institutions, there are hosts of corporate governance in place and they are trying in imbibing that code to put them in good steps. Big companies have facilities and the wherewithal - whether it's finance or engaging the best hands and best brains. We should think also more of the small private institutions, which we call the SMEs and the one-man businesses that need to be helped. It has been said that we as a country should build institutions and not personalities. By so doing, institutions can then work on themselves irrespective of who happens to be at the head or an officer at that time. We need a lot of work to do there; to build regulatory authorities and other institutions, which regulate our affairs and which should also help and support other private institutions or even public institutions. We need a lot of capacity-building and that can only come from good education. We need learning and development capacity for people to continue training themselves to improve themselves. Corporate governance, of course, is omnibus; whether it's for public sector or private sector. I am happy to add, too, that a new code of corporate governance will come out hopefully before the end of the year. It will be for the private and the public sector, so that both in the economic and the socio-economic field, we will be talking from the same page. Corporate governance involves good corporate behaviour and good corporate behaviour stems from good private behaviour. In other words, the standard of performance of the individual makes up for the corporate governance of an institution or a company. So, that code will be able to help us move forward. For instance, the public sector is there to assist the private institutions and private sectors. If we also share from the same code of performance of behaviour, then it will help the private sector as well as the public sector and the nation at large. How do you see corporate governance in public and private institutions? Let me go back to education. We have seen deterioration in educational standards over the years; it's getting worse and therefore you can only think from what you know, if you don't know, you cannot think too far. Many companies are lamenting that many graduates they engage cannot even write correct English. We

Osunkeye: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Odds stacked against Nigerian businessesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Chief Olusegun Oladipo Osunkeye, a one-time CEO of Nestle Plc is boardroom guru who sits on the board of several blue-chip companies. He is currently President and Chairman, Board of Society of Corporate Governance Nigeria. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Bola Olajuwon, he speaks on the loss of values and ethics as well as offers solutions to challenges facing businesses and how corporate governance, effectiveness and best practices will promote Nigerian businesses. Excerpts: also find out that many graduates are even lazy. On ethos of the ethics, they cannot see why they should be punctual; they cannot see why they should work hard; they cannot see why they should take the job as their own and work loyally in a committed way. So, that is even before corporate governance and before you bring them to the mainstream. Now, let me ask: Who are we bringing to the mainstream? What is their character? What are their characteristics? Are they wellprepared? Have they been to school? Unfortunately, many of the schools have deteriorated. Many companies now have to train graduates for about 18 months before they can be useful for their purpose of employment in the organisation, it wasn't so before; 25 to 30 years ago, companies were going to universities to interview the students and when they take them from the institutions, they can be up and ready to go. Education should be the basis because that is the actual starting point. On artisans, we don't have them these days the bricklayers, the welders, the carpenters. The old ones we have are still surviving, but they are dying. Who will replace them? When you request for their service, the ones you see are not that competent; their work ethics is low. Instead of doing eight hours a day, he will end up doing four to five hours because he gets to work at 10am and wants to close at 3pm. So, we can go back to education and do something now for the future. The present generation has been lost virtually. But it can't be like this forever. We need qualitative schools and qualitative education; allround education. We should pay attention to vocational schools because it is from vocational schools and vocational trainings that we have self-employed persons that will establish ultimately the SMEs and some will even metamorphosis into very big organisations. But we have to get it right through qualitative education and qualitative training. About 30 to 40 years ago, there were many technical institutions which produced sound technicians. Are they still doing that today? Do they still have the right equipments? Are the teachers conscious? Are they being paid well, so they can be committed? Because teachers are the gateway, if they are competent and committed, the students will be competent for the future. What is responsible for the collapse of organisations? It is poor manpower. In

â&#x20AC;˘Osunkeye

the sense that there are no good hands to help, no work ethics, no loyalty and no commitment. Any of the workers will rather cheat their employers or engage in shady deals. Poor infrastructure is another cause and it's not helping at all. The roads are bad and vehicles, which should last five years, probably last one year because of poor road network. On power and energy, virtually every business needs consistent and constant electricity to do their work. Electricity is key, even if it's the work of the hairdresser, the welder or the vulcaniser. Many companies are battling with lack of electricity. They have to now generate their own power, buy a generating set, buy diesel and run their own electricity. Before they start the production of even the first package, the cost of doing business is very high and many companies cannot just survive. Some government policies are favourable while some are not and that is why we have advocacy groups like the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association to make government aware of their problems with a view to solve them.

A lot of odds are stacked against businesses and we must try to unravel and help businesses create the enabling environment. Good manpower, good infrastructure, good roads, water and electricity will bring the cost of doing business down. SMEs should be allowed to thrive. They are suffering right now and I hope that the policies that are put in place will be effective to enable them to grow. I have sympathy a lot for SMEs. The difficulties are so much. To surmount this, you need to have stamina and staying power. SMEs find it very difficult to get finance. And fortunately, the government is looking at that through the banks and other institutions. But the cost of accessing finance is also very high. SMEs maybe paying like 20, 22 or 24 per cent and the big companies can pay like 15 per cent. So then, you can see even between the big multinationals that have the class and the financial muscle versus the SMEs, the odds are not the same. How do you think the government can diversify the economy from oil? I fully subscribe to the notion that we should diversify our economy. At present, we are a monoculture economy - we depend

largely on oil. There are speculations that oil revenue is about 90 per cent. Oil is a wasting asset; it will not last forever. Even if new reserves and the likes are discovered, it is still a wasting asset. Like the Scandinavian countries, particularly Norway, do, we should have an active sovereign fund. I use the word active, where we are disciplined enough not to touch what we put into the sovereign fund for future generations. Future generations start from even those who are already born now. They are under the age of 20. At the time that they are 30-45, who will they rely upon? For the past 30 to 40 years, we have been living on this oil; this present generation has been consuming the wasting asset without thinking of the future. I think what we are spending now should be spent on income yielding assets and resources. For instance, are we putting enough of this oil money into agriculture? As a nation, we are about 170 million people today and maybe in 20 years time, we will be 200 million people. We must eat and food security will become an issue. If we can use oil money to diversify to ensure that we can feed ourselves now and in the future, it will be well spent. Oil money should give us good roads, good education, good hospitals with the equipments and personnel that are well-trained and competent that will take us farther into the future. So that 25 to 30 years from now, if we don't have oil, we would have enough resources that are selfsustaining like agriculture as well as sovereign wealth fund, which should continually be replenished or augmented so that the future generations can fall back on that; even when you are spending something now for current living and expenditures. Our economy must be diversified away from oil. The oil money is by providence; we have not worked for it. It just came from the soil and we applied technology. But when it dries up, what do we have? So, it is a must that we diversify economy and we have been saying this for the past 20 years. Unfortunately, we don't seem to have achieved much and that is lamentable. Is that why the code of corporate governance is being extended into the public sector? Yes, because corporate governance is at the end of the behaviour. We are talking of behaviour, transparency, honesty, accountability, integrity and if all these are imbibed, you are closer to corporate governance. And if

all of us subscribe to that, our nation and companies will be better. If all of us - the private sector and the public sector have a code of corporate governance, which we all subscribe to, it will be good for us, our economy, social coexistence, efficiency of people, business and investment. Because if I know you imbibe good governance and best practices, where you are coming from, I will trust you more and we can then become partners in business and investment. This is what we are looking at. Therefore, if the public sector has a code of corporate governance, for instance on standard of performance, it will be good for the economy, our cohesion, standards and we will be able to do business together among ourselves as domestic investors and investors abroad would want to come here and put their money. Because they trust that our code of corporate governance, which embodies both the private and public sectors, they can subscribe to it because it's the same with what they have abroad. Can you throw more light on the activities of the Corporate Governance Society of Nigeria? The society was formed about nine years ago by a group of public-minded individuals, of which I'm among, and we invited others to share its vision and that is why it is on good standing today. It is a qualitative society and part of our functions is to have conferences, where we talk about good corporate governance, best practices, bring in best speakers and share experiences. Also, we publish qualitative journals on various aspects of corporate governance. The idea, of course, is to move us forward as a nation. Where more persons are sharing their views on good corporate governance and best practices, it is good for themselves, their businesses and the nation. And now that we are extending it to the public sector, I think it will assure foreign investors and private investors as well within the country that we are all talking from the same page and it will help the economy. So, we train, we do board enhancement programmes, if the society is invited by companies to come and demonstrate or make presentations on the practice of corporate governance, effective and best practices. We do that and we are trying to imbibe others, get companies to know why we are doing this and we have succeeded in the places we went, their performances are better and they are going forward.

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

'To encourage start-ups, Nigeria needs its own Paypal' F

Okechukwu Ofili developed and runs Okada Books which won the Best Overall App in the MTN App Developer Challenge recently. In this interview with Bukola Afolabi, he speaks on the opportunities inherent in mobile apps and how start-ups can harness same

HAT'S your educational background? I have a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston where I graduated Summa Cum laude (first class). Prior to that, I did my secondary education at Corona Secondary School in Ogun State and primary school at St. Leo's Catholic school in Ikeja, Lagos. What are your general professional and non-professional interests? I love writing and drawingâ&#x20AC;Ś that is my passion, which is what I do at any given or free time. Most of what I write are often humorous or witty and take on serious issues. I started blogging on my site: ofilispeaks.com, and from there it evolved into three books How Stupidity Kills, How Laziness Kills and the latest, How Intelligence Kills. I also like to develop sketches and finding satirical ways to express my frustrations at the things that don't work in this country. When did you realise you wanted to become an App Developer? The first time I knew I wanted to develop an app was when I tried to sell my books in Nigeria and experienced firsthand the frustration that goes into distributing books in Nigeria. It was then that I started thinking of an idea that would circumvent the distribution road block in Nigeria, and that's when the okadabooks app idea came up. Okada, the local name for motorcycles and bikes in Lagos, is the name chosen because of its ability to navigate through Nigerian traffic, and it's our hope that our app can navigate the blocked/non-existent distribution networks of Nigeria books. So, what steps did you take? I worked primarily with a classmate of mine and several developers from three different continents (Asia, Europe and Africa) on the okadabooks app idea. What was the first app you developed? The first app I developed was for my first two books on blackberry phones. Basically, you send an SMS text on your phone and you would get a BB app download link for the book. But the app was limitedâ&#x20AC;Ślimited to Blackberry, limited to my two books and limited to MTN, so we had to scale it up to make it more diverse and that is where okadabooks came up. Where did you get your inspiration for the app you created? I won't say it was an inspiration, as it was more driven by

â&#x20AC;˘Ofili frustration. So, essentially, the challenges of book distribution in Nigeria gave birth to the ideas that crystallised into the okadabooks app. As such, the saying is true that the problems you are willing to solve provide a platform for creative solutions to evolve. What were the high points of your preparation? The high points of my preparation in terms of the scalability of the app were hearing firsthand feedback from people that used mobile applications talk about how it impacted their lives. For example, an anonymous mum emailed us asking to buy JAMB/SSCE questions for her children; the student from Lagos that downloaded over 30 books on their phones; the corporate worker that deposited N5000 in the app to buy books. It is comforting to know that contrary to popular beliefs, Nigerians did, indeed, read and they were doing it through our app. Did you know that you were going to win? I had no clues whatsoever. I actually felt our closest chances would be hinged on winning the best app in the educational category, but not the overall price. That was a huge surprise; I could not drive straight when I heard the good news that we had been declared the overall winner. How do you feel about winning? I feel very validated. I tell people that it is not about the

money or the car, but the validation from someone as big as MTN that they believe in what we are doing. I can't tell you the amount of meetings I had in Lagos, over the phone and in person and the number of proposals that I hand-dropped or the number of times investors said that our idea was not unique or worth investing in. That was tough but we kept on pushing and then MTN said, yes we believe. That is too cool! How do you plan to maximise the platform which your winning has brought? We want to work with MTN to help digitise Nigerian classics. I have visited publishers with large warehouses of books gathering dust and if we don't digitise these books soon we will lose a part of our history. We also plan to re-invest the contest money to make the app better. How have mobile users embraced the app and what kind of numbers have you churned out? The app has been downloaded close to 10,000 times and mobile users love it! Have you been able to monetise the application? Yes and No. Yes, we have, but it could be done better. The mobile e-payment system in Nigeria is too limiting. If you use mobile payment A, you cannot use it with mobile payment B so you end up having 10-11 payment options to cater to an entire population. Basically, Nigeria needs it own version of

paypal. There are a lot of companies that have the paypal concept in Nigeria but none has scaled to general acceptance. How do you intend to deal with the competition within the mobile industry and how will you differentiate yourself? Okadabooks mission is that every African, no matter where they are, deserves to experience the magic of books. So, if competition comes, it will mean three things, okadabooks will have to improve, the new competition will give users more opportunities to read and lastly and more importantly, whether okadabooks wins the battle or not, the users will benefit because they have more options to read. How would you assess current level of local mobile applications development? The mobile applications industry is developing, but we are not there yet. However, I feel strongly that with these kinds of partnerships between CCHub and MTN supporting app development, we will get there faster. This in turn means that there will be more distribution opportunities for app developers to showcase their works on a massive scale, such that would have been unavailable to them as small time players. Would you say Nigeria has the local capacity to effectively support the growth and development of mobile content and applications? Yes, we do have the local capacity to mainstream app development in the technology space. We just need our universities to start teaching app development as part of their curriculum. It is sad and disheartening to note that there are some "top universities" in Nigeria that do not teach mobile app development, but also ban the use of mobile phones completely on campus. Actions like that will hold back the nation from reaching its potential. What advice would you have for the government or corporate bodies in a bid to strengthen the local mobile application industry? The government needs to provide the enabling environment for techies to grow as well as create an acceptable mobile payment platform. That is the biggest limiting factor. If app developers see the green, Nigeria will see the super apps. But for now, people are just developing mobile applications with no plan or ways to monetise. Multinationals like MTN have shown the way. Etisalat isn't doing badly in this regard also. But I think that there needs to be more concerted efforts at growing the industry.

'Non-oil sector drives jobs, wealth'

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta ORMER Director of Product and Market Development, National Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mrs. Omowunmi Osibo, has urged state and federal governments to help the nation's artisans and operators of small and medium scale enterprises to succeed and expand in their trades. According to her, this will create more wealth and jobs for the citizens. Osibo also noted that unless the nation's leaders demonstrate the "political will" to nurture the non-oil sector of the economy, the solutions to graduate unemployment in the country may remain forlorn. She said there is the need for a paradigm shift in the country from the oil economy to the non-oil sector, developing it to the height of viability through "policies and political will" so that more jobs and wealth could be created for the unemployed. The ex - NEPC Director spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at a forum/exhibition of artisanal products organised by the Council's Abeokuta office. Osibo said: "The current unemployment level is as a result of thousands graduating annually (without jobs) which makes it more imperative that a change must be made. It is time for Nigeria to make a change with policies and political will that would truly grow the non-oil sector." According to her, the provision of support and advocacy for small scale sub-sector including artisans through innovative policies such as establishment of industrial parks and clusters would also go a long way towards achieving this common objective. Also, the Ogun State government urged artisans in the state to take advantage of the state government and Bank of Industry N1bn revolving industrial development fund to expand their businesses to enhance productivity and profitability. The Commissioner for Commerce and industry, Bimbo Ashiru, who was represented at the event by Mr. Kayode Ogunti, equally advised the artisans to produce high quality products that can compete with global standards.

'Nigerians in Diaspora contributing to transformation agenda'

IGERIANS in the Diaspora are doing their best to raise the country's profile in their various countries of residence, Mr. Festus Olatunde, the Chief Executive Officer, Greatway Foundation Scotland, has said. Olatunde made this clarification during the formal launching of the pre check-in luggage weighing systems, otherwise called "Best-Weigh" & "Best-Vend" Systems, commissioned at the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport Abuja recently. Speaking on the innovation, Olatunde said it is the airport is the first to have this machine in Africa. This is a unique transformation that will ease the passengers check in process. Echoing similar sentiments, the company's Chairman, Chief Alex Adole explained that the company's interest in pre check-in luggage weigh systems was informed by the absence of a standard, advanced and technologically driven system which would enable airline passengers from Nigeria and the entire Africa at large, the ease and comfort of checking the weight of their luggage before getting to the check-in point to determine if it conformed to the allowed carriage limit and either reducing or separating it- in the event that it is in excess. "We found that this could be done without having to abandon or send back items of one's luggage. We saw the inconvenience and discomfort with which air travellers from Nigeria had to check their luggage weight at the check-in point after the wait on the queue, the instances of excess luggage, the haggling and exchange of unpleasant words between passengers and airline staff, the stress of having to leave the queue to repack their luggage and even possibly abandon, discard or send back items in their luggage. They still have to join the queue again and face the same process of weighing yet again until they are cleared for check-in." GAOOUP's desire, he stressed, "is to remove all of these and provide air passengers the comfort and luxury of ensuring their luggage is not in excess of the allowed carriage limit, repacking and rechecking their luggage if they are in excess; before they get to the check-in points." Pressed further, Adole said: "With Weigh-Ahead, passengers are guided step by step through the easy to use system, allowing them to weigh their luggage and compare it to their flight's luggage allowance. In less than 30 seconds the system will show the bag's weight compared to the airline's baggage allowance and if the bag is overweight, how much the passenger could expect to be charged at check-in. This gives passengers the opportunity to re-pack any excess luggage before they check-in, avoiding any unnecessary airline charges. "Our process overall reduces queuing time, speeds up the check-in process, eliminates the stress, cost and embarrassment associated with excess luggage and contributes to improved customer-service and modernising our airports. Today, we make bold to say that GAOOUP is Africa's foremost in the provision of pre-check in luggage weighing systems."

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Onyema Ugochukwu, game changer, turns 70

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Deluge as 'October Rain' falls

O mark centenary in many clime is a memorable thing. A century after amalgamation of Nigeria by the British government in 1914, different events have celebrated the occasion. And penultimate Saturday, 'October Rain', an annual exhibition organised by the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA), Lagos State, paid tribute to Nigeria's centenary At the opening at Nike Art Centre, Lagos, the ground floor of the Nike Art Centre was a plethora of colours, forms, and shapes as 70 artists under the aegis of the Society of Nigerian Artists, Lagos State exhibited 132 artworks. The potpourri of works - mixed media, prints, installation, sculpture, ceramics - featured different nuances of Nigeria and Nigerian life as represented by the artists. Beadworks, paintings, crafts, and photography were all on display. A look round the exhibits hints at theNigerianese of the gathering as various works in varying degrees reveal Nigeria and the Nigerian identity. Currently, politics is in the air and politicians are in full mode of canvassing for votes. As 2015 elections are round the corner, the doings of politicians in different grab for votes is exposed. In his painting titled Oro Sunukun (Deep Issue), SaheedAdelakun depicts two men - one offering his head in exchange for naira notes. The message is direct - you die when you sell your votes. And going into a peculiar form of mechanical art is kinetic artist BiodunBadmus. His work titled 'Greetings, Not Fight' combines mechanical designs creatively such that the three Eyo masquerades sculpted in metal can dance and jiggle to music also produced by the box, all at the flick of a switch. This year's edition, the 16th in the series has as its theme, 'The Centenary, Nigeria @ 100.' And exhibiting alongside advanced artists like Bruce Onabrakpeya, Kolade Osinowo, and Kunle Filani were young artists who recently joined the Society. Other participating artists included Olojo Kazeem, Ofodile Okanume, UgbedeojoAtaboh, Funmi Opanubi Alasholuyi, Kunle Adeyemi, and Uche Nwosu. October Rain offers young artists an opportunity to exhibit alongside more and very experienced artists. Mr Hasib Moukarim, the managing director of Nigeria Gas and Steel Limited and chairman of the opening ceremony, also noted the importance of mentorship for sustenance of arts and culture. "Various landmark events have characterised Nigeria over the past 100 years," said Moukarim. According to him, these "include experience in the area of independence, achievement in the area of economic development, sports, and most importantly a nation of happy people despite various challenges. Nigerian art on the other hand has become an iconic symbol for excellence, both its traditional, modern and contemporary art forms. They have received universal acceptance." Moukarim, a special guest at the event, noted that artists who made the Esie Soapstone works, Benin Bronze works, IgboUkwu arts were precursors to contemporary Nigerian art forms while praising the path blazing examples of artists such as Aina Onabolu, Rufus Ogundele, Twins Seven Seven, Bruce Onabrakpeya, Kolade Osinowo and Abayomi Barber. He also noted the vibrancy and advancement of contemporary Nigerian artists of which he listed the likes of Abiodun Olaku, Sam Ovraiti, Uche James Iroha, Oliver Enwonwu, Peju Alatishe, Olu

Vast and rich, Nigeria offers abundance as October Rain showcases the country's centenary in arts, reports Joe Agbro Jr.

â&#x20AC;˘SNA Chairman Alabi conducting Moukarim (M) and Mrs. Ekene Okoroma, Curator of National Gallery, Lagos around the exhibition

â&#x20AC;˘ Students were also a part of the exhibition

Ajayi, and others. According to him, "Established Nigerian artists have drawn a great deal of interest in not just Nigerian but African arts as a whole. And their successes can be measured by the quality of their works, the rush to acquire them, the prices they command at auctions, and of course depth of its composition and expressive colours. Today's contemporary Nigerian artists have also continued to expand the deep and rich culture of the nation." A young artist exhibiting is Tega Akpokona. However, looking at his works, one may not easily know that he is just about three years out of university. "Many people have told me that my works are advanced," said Akpokona, a 2011 fine arts graduate from the University of Benin. He did a salon at Abuja in 2013 and based in Lagos. His work, 'Sober Susurration' captures beggars in their elements. Though not peculiar to Nigeria, begging in Nigeria can be seen virtually in every part of the country. The piece, according to the artist, is about the indigent people and the painting is just one in a series. "I started this documentary on their lives,"

he said. "They are people that you will see and you probably won't take a second glance at. That is the dilemma of artists. You are confined to aesthetics; you have to make it beautiful. I tried to capture them in their innate sober state. I'm trying to portray what they are thinking at that particular point in time. I can't un-see some things. I have the talents to express what I see visually. I'm sensitive to things like that." He also exhibited another painting, a landscape he titled 'Nostalgia', which captured the rural scenery of Auchi, a city in Edo. Styles also seem to be catching on and when Mufu Onifade started a painting style he dubbed Araism some years ago, many pundits agreed it was unique. However, Araism seems to be brimming in some younger Nigerian artists, one of whom is IsiavweUfouma. "I like Araism and I have been following it," said Isiavwe who also teaches fine art at Neander International School, Epe. His depiction of Eyo, uses Araism but the wavy patterns synonymous with Onifade's movement is patterned around forms of circles. He also exhibited a bright portrait of a

young girl holding a bowl to her mouth which he titled, 'Greatness would manifest.' Like a connexion, this year's October Rain attracted more school students. Earlier, Dotun Alabi, Chairman of the Lagos SNA had sounded that this year's October Rain would feature workshops for students. And about 15 schools including Caleb International School and Chrisland Schools turned up for that between Monday and Wednesday. Also members of the public would have a chance to vote on the winning works. "We will allow the public to participate in a voting session to choose the work of their choice," he said, "based on their connection and appeal to the works on display with guiding elements and principles. During the Gala Night, there will be an award and prize for the outstanding work." By Wednesday, Alabi said attendance was going on well. "We've sold a couple of works. And the students have made the exhibition lively with their drawings and their contributions. Most people have said it is the best October Rain that they have ever witnessed," said the elated Chairman.

Continued on page 68 Continued on page 68

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

NEWS REVIEW

2015 ROADBLOCKS

OLARIN, Alao-Akala in fight to finish in Oyo The seemingly intractable crisis in the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not abating just yet. This development, if not handled with care, could erode on the support base of President Goodluck Jonathan during the forthcoming presidential election and the dream of the party to take over from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). As predicted by many, the outcome of the last wards' congress held in the state, rather than unite the warring factions, has further left the party badly fractured ahead the 2015 general elections. Two of the leading governorship aspirants, a former governor of the state, Adebayo Alao-Akala and former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, backed by the Senate Chief Whip, Hosea Agboola, are both laying claims to controlling over two-thirds majority of the 33 local government areas in the wards delegates' election, a development said to be creating an atmosphere within the party. Another governorship aspirant, Seyi Makinde, is also telling anyone who cares to listen that his camp emerged victorious in the congress. But sources in the party revealed to The Nation that from reports made available to its national headquarters, Folarin appears to have the upper hand after all the results from the 351 ward across the state were complied. While the exercise lasted, the leading aspirants had accused one another of disrupting the distribution of materials at the party secretariat. But Dr. Kola Balogun, a former Chief of Staff to Alao-Akala, said there was no basis for his boss to have disrupted the distribution of materials when he was already winning. Also, Alhaji Akeem Azeez, the media aide to Makinde, said the disruption was unknown to them, adding that his principal had won based on reports collated from the field. On his part, Folarin speaking through one of his campaign coordinators, Sunday Babalola, said his principal won the congress, alleging that the distribution of materials was disrupted by the Alao-Akala group. To address the imbroglio, a panel headed by former Minister of Health, Prof. Alphonsus Nwosu, was set up to hear complaints on the congress. Subsequently, Nwosu had allegedly recommended the cancellation of results in some local governments where irregularities took place. A Sign that all was not well with the party was the conspicuous absence

Jonathan's return bid hangs in the balance in Oyo, Jigawa The contentious ward congresses recently held in Oyo, Delta and Jigawa States have raised apprehension within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead the 2015 presidential elections and President Goodluck Jonathanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chances, reports Remi Adelowo of Alao-Akala, Folarin and a former Minister of Power and Steel, Wole Oyelese, who is also a governorship aspirant. But other aspirants including Femi Babalola, Seyi Makinde, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, Kehinde Olaosebikan, Prof Soji Adejumo and a former Attorney General, Abdulsalam Are, who represented Dr. Isaac Owolabi, were present. Some of the aggrieved aspirants submitted petitions and exhibits, complaining that the congress did not hold due to the non-availability of materials for the election. But some others insist that the election held despite the nonavailability of materials. Some party leaders, it was learnt, have reportedly vowed to resist any cancellation of the results in their local governments, alleging that such a move would further cause disaffection in the party. One of the PDP chieftains, who pleaded for anonymity, said: "Only those who know that they have no place in the ward congress are clamouring for the cancellation of the results and if that is allowed, it means that others who won will resist such cancellation." The controversy that has trailed the congress may not be unconnected to the battle for the party's 2015 governorship ticket even as there are unconfirmed speculations that Folarin is highly favoured by the Presidency as the PDP gubernatorial candidate. A few months ago, governorship aspirants of the party who hail from Ibadan, had canvassed for the ceding of the ticket to the town, which constitutes over 50 percent of the voting population in the state. The aspirants, it was alleged, may have endorsed Folarin as the consensus candidate of the group, a decision that has not gone down well with other aspirants outside Ibadan including Alao-Akala, who was reported to have

â&#x20AC;˘Jonathan said that nothing short of the provision of a level playing field in a free, fair and transparent primaries to elect the governorship candidate would be acceptable to him. Depending on which side of the divide the pendulum of victory swings, there are still strong indications that the other warring factions on the losing side, may work against the interests of the party both in the governorship and the presidential polls in 2015. Jigawa: Battle ground for supremacy The supremacy battle between the Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido and his predecessor, Saminu Turaki, once again reared its ugly head during the last PDP ward congress in the state. Three governorship aspirants, Abba Anas Adamu, Alhaji Dalladi Auyo and Arch Aminu Kane, have called for the cancellation of the congress, which they allege, were manipulated by Governor Sule Lamido to favour his anointed candidate. While threatening to dump the party if the perceived anomalies in the

congress were not corrected, the aspirants alleged that the sale of the delegates' forms and the entire process of organising the congress violated the stipulated guidelines in the party's constitution. "A situation where an aspirant purchased all the forms in one fell swoop to obtain an undue advantage over other aspirants is undemocratic; it is nothing but nepotism," they pointed out, adding, "We have been loyal to the party but we feel this denial will not augur well for the unity of the party to face the opposition in the forthcoming 2015 general elections." Adamu, who spoke on behalf of the three aggrieved PDP stalwarts, asked how would leadership of the party accept the results of the congress, having first denied members forms, only to surreptitiously sell such to those favoured by Governor Lamido. For President Jonathan, winning a key northern state like Jigawa in the 2015 elections would, no doubt, boost his re-election chances, but it is feared that the crisis arising from the last ward

congress if not quickly nipped in the bud could prove too costly for his second term ambition. Uduaghan on firing line The last PDP ward congress in Delta State held peacefully across the state, but not without some high wire intrigues that played out on the morning of the exercise. Within the Delta PDP, many governorship aspirants are allegedly up in arms with the state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, over his alleged plan to impose a recently retired civil servant, Anthony Obuh, as the party's 2015 governorship candidate. Determined to take their destiny into their own hands, sources say the aspirants were ready for a showdown with the governor to prevent him from imposing his cronies as ward delegates. Having got wind of what was afoot, The Nation gathered that Chief Anthony Anenih, the Chairman of the part's Board of Trustees (BOT) who also headed the panel to oversee the ward congress in Delta State, summoned a meeting at the Government House in Asaba, the state capital to resolve the differences between the governor and the aspirants. Beside Anenih and Uduaghan, also present at the meeting are the major governorship aspirants including the immediate former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, Senator Ifeanyi Okonwa, Godsday Orubebe, Ovie Omo-Agege, to mention just a few. Sources say it was a no-hold barred meeting during which almost all the governorship aspirants allegedly told the governor not to interfere in the conduct of the congress in his alleged plot to impose Obuh, who until he joined the governorship race was the Permanent Secretary in the government house. "It was a frank meeting where everyone present bared their minds," say a source. On Anenih's advice, it was unanimously agreed at the end of the meeting that all the aspirants should be allowed to present equal number of delegates in their respective local government areas. A source said, "The agreement reached by the aspirants and the governor largely accounted for why the ward congress held peacefully across the state. "As it is now, all the aspirants are on equal footing; everything now depends on horse-trading among them to determine who emerges as the party's governorship candidate." But the big question is: would the current peace in Delta PDP last long or simply be peace of the graveyard?

Foothold in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Benue â&#x20AC;˘Contd. from page 11 Things have taken a turn for the worse for the President. Rivers State, which used to be his stronghold, is fast slipping away. Governor Rotimi Amaechi started dismantling the President's structure in the state when he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). He left the PDP with all political office holders in the state. Since he left, PDP has not known peace. Former Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, has taken over the structure of the party much to the discomfort of many members and supporters. At the last ward congresses, no fewer than 16 governorship aspirants of the party staged a boycott. They alleged the exercise had been skewed against them with the results predetermined. The aspirants vowed not to have anything to do with the outcome of the exercise. The mega rally organised by the aspirants was well-attended by disgruntled party members and supporters, lending credence to the fact that the party was fast losing its hold on the state. Yet, the state has the highest voting

population in the South South, which is considered the strongest base of the President. He is not only a son of the soil but also has a wife in Dame Patience Jonathan from the state. President Jonathan's greatest strength has become his Achilles heel in the state. His wife, who should muster votes from her kinsmen, has become too engrossed in the state politics, attracting opium to her office and husband's aspiration. To worsen matters, the ruling APC has zoned its governorship slot to the South East senatorial district riverine and upland communities in a move political observers consider very strategic. The district has never produced a governorship since the creation of the state. Governor Amaechi has also succeeded in pitching the people from the South east against the President, pointing out he ceded their oil wells to neighbouring Akwa Ibom State. The Wike-backed PDP however believes the issue of zoning means nothing in the state. Wike, who is gunning to succeed Governor Amaechi, is from the same senatorial district as the incumbent. He has several forces within the PDP to contend with. If he wins against them, the forces are strong

enough to play spoilers. If he loses, though very unlikely, he will move against them in a way the party will never recover. With a divided party, a governor at loggerheads and a state increasingly apathetic towards his aspiration, it is hard to imagine how President Jonathan intends to muster votes in Rivers. With the PDP in flame and the governor working against him, the President might just as well accept the possibility of losing the state with the highest votes from his region. This would be political suicide but there are just no other scenarios to expect. Though he has foot soldiers like former Governor Peter Odili, former House of Representatives deputy speaker, Prince Chibudom Nwuche, Hon. Austin Opara and a few others supporting him, critics dismiss them as yester years with no political clout to garner presidential votes. As it stands, it is a 40-60 chance against the President. Benue: Ragged by internal wrangling On a good day, Benue State should be a fait accompli for President Goodluck Jonathan. The state is largely PDP with many foot soldiers to count on. One of them is Senate President,

David Mark, a reliable ally of the President. There is also Governor Gabriel Suswam and former Chairman National Chairman of the party, Senator Barnabas Gemade. But things are no longer at ease in the state chapter of the party. Two elephants, Suswam and Gemade, are at each other's throats for the Benue NorthEast senatorial ticket. Suswam wants to displace the current occupant, who has vowed to stop at nothing to stop the move. The last ward congresses held in favour of Suswam's camp with Gemade crying foul of the process. He accused the governor of manipulating the process and seizing electoral materials. The National Working Committee (NWC), according to sources, does not know where to pitch its tent. As a Board of Trustee (BoT) member, Gemade is entitled to a right of first refusal. But Suswam is no small fry himself in the presidency, having warmed his way to the hearts of many power brokers. The division between the two leading PDP members is also affecting the governorship race. As many as 25 aspirants have indicated interest in the plum job with most of them vowing not to step down. This division and the

fight for individual ticket have affected party's interest and by extension President Jonathan's chances. The state has suffered from recurring tribal clashes occasioned by marauding Fulani herdsmen. Many communities have been sacked and residents displaced without much care. All of these have swayed sentiments against the PDP and Jonathan across the state. Many of the displaced residents alleged that the federal government and security forces have not done enough to protect them. With the infighting among the leading PDP members and the discontent in the state against government's insensitivity, Jonathan chances are getting slimmer by the day. Chieftains that should have been working for him are after one another, leaving the political turf to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to benefit from. Should the APC presidential candidate emerges from the north, as it certainly should, then the state could become a swing area. It could be neither here nor there for the President. Certainly presidential votes from Benue may just be for the taken. For President Jonathan, it is a 50-50 chance.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

INTERVIEW On leadership

IGERIA is blessed with people and natural resources. Our blessed country is so enriched in diverse ways that there is almost nothing that we do not have in Nigeria. We have mineral resources and we are also very rich in human resources. It seems to us that what we lack are the leaders to harness these resources together in such a way that they will be useful and available for all the citizens. Simply put, we lack leaders who have vision with righteous intentions and missions in Nigeria. There are not many leaders who are selfless, truthful, original, having ability to think about the nation and plan for the future of the citizens. We need men and women of economic, social and political intelligence, who will deliberately dream about Nigeria. We have numerous educated politicians (professionals) but this knowledge is yet to be used for addressing the challenges of the nation. We also need bold leaders who can aggressively address our problems. We have leaders who talk, discuss and analyse our problems. But do not boldly find solutions to these problems. Some of them are rather busy acquiring wealth, money, property and possessions; lacking any urge to make us better. For as long as we continue to have leaders who are selfish, we are not likely to come out of our leadership challenges. We therefore need leaders who would be visionary enough to positively influence the people and through whose instrumentality we can attain political, social and economic heights in the country. We need selfless leaders who would be willing to interact and lay emphasis on appropriate values and attractive intelligence. Good leadership will project the nation as a "thinking" and a "planning" nation. As at now, we seem to be merely moving round the same circle. That is, we have movements without advancement. There are talks,

ESPITE permutations and predictions to the contrary, Nigeria will remain undivided after the 2015 general elections, the Senior Pastor of Holy Ghost Christian Centre, Dr Amos Fenwa, has assured. He stated that the expected rancours and acrimonies from the elections across the federation will not consume the nation or lead to its break. Fenwa spoke last week with reporters ahead of the Night of Mercy interdenominational prophetic service slated for next Friday at the Gymnasium Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos.

"We lack leaders with vision' Bishop of the Diocese of Calabar of the Anglican Communion, Rt Rev Tunde Adeleye, spoke with reporters in the Cross River State capital on national issues. Nicholas Kalu was there. Excerpts: debates, conferences, discussions and resolutions without actions. This is what Ola Rotimi aptly depicted in his play titled "Holding talks". The style is that when a new leader comes in, he first dismantles the existing arrangements and starts a new thing which, in many cases, amounts to nothing. At best it is merely looking out for the new things in the same old ways. Good leadership will cause us to do things right. With the glowing intelligence of our leaders, we are sure to have good roads, electricity, good houses to live in, good food, functional hospitals, good schools, we will have banks that are alive and churches where God's will is being done. The Bible says that when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. One day, for sure, Nigeria will have the kind of leaders she deserves. On true federalism The main solution to the major problems in our country such as corruption, insecurity, poverty, depression, and diseases is when and if we agree to practice true federalism. The just- concluded discussion by the National conference Committee headed by the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Idris Kutigi, is unfortunately an exercise in futility as long as the truth about introducing true federalism is omitted. Nigeria is extremely heterogeneous and this present system of governing us as if we are in a military system or a unitary state is not only laughable but it is clear that it will not get us anywhere. The military system of government has destroyed the foundation of federalism. The military governed us as a unitary system. We should humbly accept this and take

â&#x20AC;˘Adeleye

steps to correct the issues. We probably have our own interpretation of federal system of government in Nigeria. But the true federal system of government will allow individual states to have control over their own affairs with a loose central government. In which case, they are only bound together by a governing representative head. Right now, there is too much power at the centre. That is why local and state governments look up to the

Federal Government, with cap in hand, for all that they need. A situation where there is a "strong" centre controlling the states is defective to be called a federal government. It cannot be a good example of federalism. On Boko Haram A few decades ago while we were trying to pray against the spread of Socialism in the world, (as being antiChristian), a few of our Christian leaders cautioned us that the main danger ahead of our nation was neither

Nigeria will outlive 2015, says Fenwa

â&#x20AC;˘Pastor Fenwa

The all-night service, which commences by 8pm, will

features intensive prayers and musical concerts. Gospel acts expected include Frank Edward, Eben, Segun Obe, Efe Nathan, Bukola Bekes and the mass choir of Holy Ghost Christian Centre, among others. According to Fenwa: "I don't see Nigeria breaking after 2015. Yes, there will be shakings and massive challenges but we will be one indivisible nation. "Many of the challenges we are experiencing now will in fact subside and disappear after the elections. God will step in in

ways that will shock us all." He challenged Nigerians not to write up the country or give up on the project, saying help was on the way. On the Night of Mercy service, he said it was conceived to offer a platform for prevailing prayers and release of prophetic destiny. "This is the first time we are having a concert and it's because we believe worship moves God. We just want to shake the heavens and move the hands of God to work on my behalf and the nation," Fenwa added.

Socialism nor Communism but radical Islam. We were warned that the main impending problem of Nigeria was going to be an attempt to forcefully impose a particular religion on Nigeria. This is what is playing out now in various forms and styles including what is now known as Boko Haram. We understand that the official name of the Boko Haram sect is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'Awati WalJihad. It means people committed to the Prophet's teachings for propagation and jihad. It is a "militant" Islamist movement which has received training and funds from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. It is generally called and believed to be a terrorist organisation. Today, the news of killing, kidnapping by Boko Haram activists are quite rampant. Our radio and television constantly greet us with news of death, abduction, bombing all over the world and in Nigeria. Which of these do we refer to? Which of them do we comment on? The deaths are too many. We cannot accurately count those who are daily killed at the major motor parks? Can we give accurate figures of those who were bombed in the busy places of major cities in Nigeria? Can we count the number of police stations already attacked by Boko Haram? Can we count the military installations and soldiers killed in this general attack on Nigeria by the Boko Haram? If we must, where do we start from? Boko Haram has done havoc on this country. Innocent citizens have been affected. The heaviest of the attacks have been on the Christians. Nigerians have lost their dear ones. Children

HY do many Christians die unfulfilled? This was the focal point recently during a seminar tagged The birth of prophecy by Christ Combatant Ministry Lagos. The founder of the church, Pastor Amavi Ajavon, explained that many Christians never really discover God's purpose for their lives. Others, he stated, fail to pray such glorious destiny into manifestation. He said: "Many destinies are hanging because they are living casually forgetting that God has a plan for them and prayer helps

have lost their parents, while parents have lost their children. On 2015 Thinking about 2015, sometimes, sends fears, bad feeling and fright to my mind. This is not to say that we have not had this type of political turbulence in the past. Our story has been that God, in His faithfulness, has always led us out of trouble and this kind of turbulence from time to time. We are eternally grateful to Him for this. What is now disturbing to us is that there are new dimensions to our political experiences. There are now some political attitudes in our dear country that we think have some religious undertones. There are political parties, which appear to be different and to be fighting for the common man in the country, but are actually religious bigots. It is sad. It is obvious that such political parties actually represent and have the interest of a particular religion. This does not look safe for our political development. A situation where a state government is deliberately prescribing religious (Islamic) attires for school children in the state is strange and unfortunate. In our opinion, it is the height of primitivism. This should be resisted by all means. We must and should separate religion from politics. If things are allowed to go on in this way, then, we have a very serious danger ahead of us. We must sound this note of warning. We have seen political parties which are ethnically biased in the past. But seeming religious political parties is new. It is also very dangerous. It should not be encouraged. Religious political parties are suicidal to any nation. This cannot work and everything must be done in the country to frustrate and destroy the effort.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Why Christians fail in life' to unfold and fulfill that plan after which the right steps are taken as revealed by God. "The birth of prophecy is the birth of a destiny. The younger generation has a lot to do in building the waste places of Nigeria. By realising that vision from God, they can turn around this nation because herein lies the future." The next edition of the seminar holds on Sunday, November 30.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

WORSHIP

COLUMN

Cerullo: The worst is over for Nigeria

-YEAR-OLD renowned American preacher, Dr Morris Cerullo, has declared the worst is over for Nigeria. The country, he added, is in a defining moment. He spoke penultimate Sunday at a special prophetic service at the international headquarters of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) in Lagos.

Stories by Sunday Oguntola

Speaking to an overflowing crowd at the 10,000-seater auditorium, the popular televangelist said: "Nigeria as a country and most populous black nation is in a defining moment. "The worst is over for Nigeria. Thus saith the Lord the worst is over in all areas of individual and national needs."

Living Faith

Cerullo explained that the world will experience greater calamities of unimaginable proportion but urged Christians to trust to God. Those who trust in God, he assured, will not be put to shame and will live in safety. The service, which witnessed a lot of prophetic declarations and healing pronouncements, lasted for only two hours.

By Dr. David Oyedepo

The Covenant Of Rewards! (2)

•Cerullo(2nd from left) with others during the service

We should lead global EVD efforts-Ayorinde

OUNDER of the World Evangelism Bible Church, (WEBIC) Inc, Prophet Dr Samson Ayorinde, has advised Nigeria to start playing leadership roles by working with the United States of America in developing vaccines for the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and raising the $600 million for the project. He explained that this becomes imperative because of the fact that the nation is the most populous black country on earth. The Chairman of Faith Television London gave this advice while speaking on the state of the nation.

By Biodun-Thomas Davids "I urge the Nigerian government to work with the United States of America to develop the vaccine for the dreaded disease ravaging some parts of West Africa, as soon as possible and I also urge them to play a leadership role in Africa, by partaking in raising the funds for the development of the vaccine," he said. Ayorinde believes Nigeria has earned a place of pride in the world to the recent certification of the nation as Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation, (WHO). According to him: "The proactive approach in the

containment of the disease is highly commendable. It shows we are ready to live up to our responsibility when the need arises." According to him, there is a cause for caution and intensive prayer on the 2015 general elections as politicians "juggling for power" would explore all options in their quest for electoral victory. Ayorinde, whose church has 40 branches in Lagos State, said his ministry has touched lives in its 19 years of existence. One of those was initiatives, he pointed out, is the launch of the Under 14 Kiddies' club recently where 36 football teams emerged in Lagos.

'Women only need spiritual empowerment'

HRISTIAN women have been charged to seek spiritual empowerment through intimacy with God and the help of the Holy Spirit in this present day society. The wife of the General Overseer of Glory Christian Ministries, Mrs. Faith James, made this known at the 2014 Women Congress of the church at its headquarters in Lagos. Tagged The empowered woman, the congress attracted participants from the globe. According to her, the

By Adeola Ogunlade greatest empowerment a woman should desire is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, which she said cannot be compared with any other empowerment. Mrs. James said: "For a woman to be greatly empowered and become an influence and a substance to her environment, she needs to maintain an intimacy with God "An empowered woman is specially graced by God to do humanly impossible things

with determination to build the future, influence her home and the society through prayers, humility and usage of right words at the right time." Advising them to make room for God through personal relationship, she called for submission among women. "No matter the circumstances, situation or elevation of a woman, there is a hierarchy and the head that must be honoured, recognised and submitted to. God has put it that way and it shall remain so," she said.

What and where? Jehovah Witnesses meet

HE regional conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses, which began in the last weeks of September has continued to attract numerous participants. The theme of the convention, which holds in different cities across the nation, is Keep seeking first God's Kingdom! At Ota, Lekki, Daluwon, Badagry, Fatumo - Ibadan and other c cities where it had started, a statement said an average 6,000 have been attending. Attendees included delegates and nonwitnesses. Afolabi Odeyemi, a convention spokesperson in Lagos, said: "Many

programme part features reenactments, practical Bible- based talks and video demonstrating application of Bible principles. "It also features two theatrical productions which bring Bible stories and a modern day Drama to life." On the growing numbers of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nigeria, Odeyemi:"From a humble beginning towards the end of 1921 when Jehovah Witnesses faith reached Nigeria with a group of 15 People in 1923, there has been a truly heartwarming response to the evangelising work. "As at 2013, there are 351,205 active witnesses in the country."

•xxxx

AST week, I said God is neither a task master nor the user of people. He is a Rewarder! He has not called us to serve Him in vain. When we serve Him accordingly, His reward and blessings are inevitable in our lives and families. I explained what the word 'covenant' means in our context here. All you need then is a good understanding of what the covenant entails, and you'll be a beneficiary of God's rewards for your service to God. Also, we considered faithfulness as a fundamental requirement of the covenant of rewards. If you are faithful as a servant of God you will be rewarded. This week, I will continue to show you other requirements of the covenant of rewards. • Diligence: Rendering your service unto God diligently, is a requirement of the covenant of rewards. Hebrews 11:6 says: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. God is a Rewarder of all those who diligently seek and serve Him. When you do it diligently, you will be rewarded openly. If you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly; but if you sow bountifully, you reap bountifully. When you serve God diligently, you will be rewarded lavishly. • Continuity: Rendering your service unto God on a continuous basis, is a requirement for the covenant of rewards. Recognize that as

NEWS

'Raise standard of righteousness for nation- building'

IGERIANS have been enjoined to raise a standard of righteousness that can withstand temptations and positively transform individuals in government and politics. That was the message of the

Church holds FBI service

you embark on your continuous service unto God, there could be temptations from your mockers, relations and circumstances of life (Luke 22:28-29). They would rear their ugly heads, just to discourage you from your continuous services to God. Don't forget that continuity is a vital rule of the game. It is a vital term of the covenant of rewards. As it is written: But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (Matthew 24:13). So, endure temptation in your stewardship, so you don't get robbed of your rewards. There are temptations that could come upon you as you serve. If you are not sensitive of them, you lose your rewards of service! If you don't possess the grace of continuity, your rewards will be shortcircuited. It you dare turn back, God's soul won't have pleasure in you (Hebrews 10:38). Don't turn back just as Demas did! (2 Titus 4:10). Never mind your mockers! Stay On! Continuity is a vital rule in your quest for full rewards (Luke 22:29). As long as you are not tired of rendering your continuous stewardship, in spite of temptations, God won't be tired of dazing you with unstoppable rewards. • Consistency: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Galatians 6:9). Do not be weary! We have a graphic example in Abraham. Talking about Abraham, the Bible says: I have made thee a father of many nations…Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And

being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform (Romans 4:17-21). Abraham was strong in faith giving glory to God, not casting aspersions on God or people. "He staggered not," which connotes consistency! Never get to a point where God becomes untrue to you! I know for long that God does not need me; it is me that need Him! So, remain steadfast (1 Corinthians 15:58). That is the rule that entitles you to the rewards. I am too sure of God's reward system; no devil can confuse me of this reality in my life. So, receive grace for steadfastness, in the name of Jesus! Friend, the power to tap into the above requirements is for those saved. You get saved, by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. You can be saved right now, by saying this prayer: "Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You, for saving me! Now, I know I am born again!" I will continue this teaching next week. Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books: Born To Win, Walking In The Newness Of Life and Understanding Your Covenant Rights. Friend, come for a lifechanging encounter at Faith Tabernacle in Canaan Land, Ota, from December 9-13, at Shiloh 2014, captioned, Heaven On Earth. Shiloh is an annual prophetic gathering of the Winners' family worldwide. God will surely deliver you from stagnation, frustrations, failure and destitution. Be there! I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

HE annual Favour, Blessing and Increase (FBI) service of the Maker's Church, Ojodu Lagos holds from 13-16 November. The hosts, CMD & Adenike Lamai, in a statement assured participants will witness unspeakable increase in their lives. Ministers expected include Bishop Wesley Arife (Memphis, TN, USA), Pastor Taribo West and Rev Ben Eragbai, among others.

By Bode Monogbe First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, to the Wise Men Conference of the Christian Pentecostal Mission (CPM) International in Ajao Estate, Lagos. It was delivered by the Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and Values, Dr Sarah Jubril. The First Lady said as individuals with no other country, it is incumbent on Nigeria is to come together and build a virile nation that will be the pride of all through good character and discipline. ''Parents must live exemplary lives and bequeath enviable legacies to their children. They must affect their work places in a way that will build the nation. "They must evolve a dress code that commands respect for their children, particularly girls. They must cultivate a culture of righteousness and decency that

can withstand corruption, nepotism and ethnicity and place collective interest above personal interest, ''she said. The General Overseer of the church, Dr Obiora Ezekiel, warned that Nigerians must learn to utter words that would build and encourage others. In line with the theme of the conference, understanding the times, Ezekiel said as the country grapples with challenges such as insecurity, youth unemployment and kidnapping, individuals should come up with workable solutions to these myriad of problems instead of scathing criticisms. ''We must always think of how to get out of our problems instead of engaging in open criticisms that will make us sink deeper.” "God has been good to place us in this mightily endowed country and we must not destroy ourselves but encourage our leaders always to do the needful, ''the man of God said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

‘Our own ‘Stomach Infrastructure’

RADUALLY, the seeds of our toils of the past three and half years or thereabout are becoming manifest in the eyes of the whole world. When we came into office in 2011, we communicated to our people the vision of making Oyo State the preferred destination of investors. In a society that is driven by understandable pessimism and disbelief of promises of government, very few people could take a bet on our vision. Our detractors and traditional cynics even mocked and jeered at us. Many of them, as usual, played politics with our noble objectives and vision. As you all know, we met an Oyo State that did not inspire confidence in investors. We were reputed to be the second dirtiest city in Nigeria. Group violence and political murders stalked the land like a pestilence. Many investors left our state in droves and development agencies wrote Oyo State off as a state that had fled from the radar of development. Inexplicably, providence brought our administration into office at this chaotic period of time. We drew a pyramid of development that had at its foundation an institution of peace and security into an otherwise turbulent Oyo State. For a state that was almost used to bloodshed and political violence, this was unique. We followed it up with a massive urban renewal exercise that had never been witnessed in the history of our state. Even our political adversaries were surprised at our resilience and shocked at the overwhelming result of the exercise. Encomiums poured in droves from all over the world. Many wondered how we were able to transform the hitherto dirty state into an adorable metropolis. Our response is that our people are the heroes of the transformation. While the transformation continues, the gospel of our urban renewal effort was predicated on that famous statement by Eleanor, wife of an American President, General Eisenhower, which says that while a leader will take a people to where they want to be, a good leader will take them to where they ought to be. In our urban renewal and transformation

HERE is no doubt the NigerianCivil Service has undergone several reforms since its creation by the British Colonial power in 1861.It has remained the engine room of governance and implementation of government policies and programmes. So far, we have had the Simeon Adebo reform commission of 1970, the famous Udoji “no reach me” commission of 1972, the Philips Dotum study group of 1985, the Ayida report of 1994 and the 1988 reforms which marks the official baptism of the politicization of the civil service with the introduction of Director-Generals in place of permanent secretaries. Despite that, theNigerian Civil Service was organized strictly according to theBritish traditions of being apolitical and neutral to serve any government in a non partisanway and the norms of impersonality and hierarchical structure were well entrenched. In Bayelsa State, the workforce was barely over four thousand when the state was carved out of Rivers State in 1996. Only few were at the directorate level. Some were made permanent secretaries with grade levels less than the directorate level.Successive administrations employed more people and currently the workforceis about twelve thousand. It was against this background when the restoration government of Dickson came on board, it had a clear vision to restore the long cherished core values of the civil service that had eroded since the beginning of democratic governance in the state. The vision of the state governor is to enthrone a world-class democratic public service that will deliver government policies and professionalism in the discharge of their duties. Like in every project management, the government first identified the problems of the civil service as follows; •The service had become highly political •Disregard for its hierarchical structure •Systemic Corruption •Gross indiscipline and abuse of laid down procedures •Rumourpeddling •Poor working conditions •Lack of training and retraining The first problem the governor tackled was the restoration of the hierarchical structure of the civil service where premium is highly placed on seniority and competence. For example, before now, the appointment of the Head of Service which is the peak of career progression was without regard for seniority. Mr. Frazer Okuoru who was the mostSenior Permanent Secretary in the service was often denied of his appointment as Head of State Civil

God, that tomorrow has come with our presence here today. Our vision was based on removing our state from the unpleasant profile of a backward, violent state that drives away investors. Today, I am one of the happiest persons on earth. The fruits of the discomfort we might have gone through in the process of breaking eggs while making our omelet are apparently ripe for harvest. Shortly after we banished violence from Oyo State and began our aggressive urban renewal effort, the Financial Times of London ranked our state as one of the ten investment destinations in the whole of Africa. We had hardly finished savouring this pleasant rating when investors indeed began to troop into Oyo State. Not long after, a report on capital importation recently released by a federal institution, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) became another testament to the vote of confidence passed on the Nigerian market by international investors. As revealed in the report, total capital imported into the country stood at $5.8 billion as at the end of the second quarter of 2014, relative to the $3.9 billion recorded in the preceding quarter. Of these, Southwest Nigeria was at the top destination for capital importation in the first half of 2014, with about 98% of total capital imported resident in the Region. This impressive performance located capital importation into Oyo State as having increased by 697%, approximating $3.49 million, up from $500,000 between the first and second quarter in the year. Happily, our uninformed and mischievous cynics have again been proved wrong in their assertions that there is capital flight in Oyo State. Investors who have been trooping here have shown that these statistics are no mere fluke. Right now, Oyo State boasts of the presence of a leading soya milk manufacturing company in Nigeria, the largest bread-making factory West Africa, the Number One day-old chicks agricultural company in Nigeria, the biggest support service provider for the telecoms industry in Nigeria, among others. If you add the largest Shoprite outlet in West Africa that has been recently sited in our state, you will understand how a secure and

peaceful atmosphere, as well as an environmentally conducive state, are essential for employment generation and indeed the economic development of the people. Add all these to the rebirth of night life in the capital city, as manifest in the many hospitality industries that have sprung up in the nooks and crannies of Oyo State, you will realize why development experts say that peace and security are the foundation of any society. The latest icing on our cake of harvest of a peaceful and environmentally friendly state is the event we have come to witness today. The establishment of Rom Oil, an ultra-modern edible oil refinery and margarine plant here in Oyo State, is another testimony to our leadership and investors-baiting policies. This international company, a subsidiary of Flour Mills Plc, is a 400 metric tons per day universal refinery. The management of this company would never have invested their billions of naira in a violent-prone and dirty Oyo State of the past. Thousands of our sons and daughters would be employed by this company. This will have multiplier effects on over a million of their dependants. This indeed is our idea of the socalled stomach infrastructure. We thank the management of the company for their implicit trust and confidence in our state. You have indeed vindicated our stance. The cumulative effects of our developmental drive and consequent influx of investors into our state will result in employment generation and empowerment of our people. This will positively impact millions of our people. It is the best and most dignifying stomach infrastructure ever. We will not rest on our oars in providing quality leadership for our state. We will continue to do all within our powers to make sure that our state continues to be the preferred destination of investors in Nigeria. This will definitely result in the economic development and progress of our people. For our administration, it is a task that must be done. Excerpts from speech delivered by His Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, at the commissioning of Rom Oil on November 7, 2014.

Dickson’s leadership and Bayelsa State Civil Service

ments and abused procedures in promoting their subordinates. They converted payrolls of their various ministries, agencies and boards to their bank accounts, padding them with ghost workers and under age staff. The situation was so bad that during a biometrics exercise conducted by the government, it exposed a lot of rot in the system. For example, a father was 25 years old while the son was 52 years. Some of them who had their relatives’ names in the payroll hurriedly call them and gave them their employment letters of over ten years to their shock and surprise. The governor rolled out the Bayelsa State Salary Fraud and Related Offences (prohibition) Bill 2012 that criminalized fraud in the civil service which marks the beginning of injecting sanityin the system. “These are the group of people, civil servants owning choice propertywithin and outside the state and the same characters resort to funding and spreading false rumours about the government of Dickson; certainly they will fight back. They go and feedPresident Jonathan all manner of lies because the days of stealing with impunity are over.” The governor who frowned at the provocative wage bill said, it was impossible that the payroll of a state with one of the least population in the country would ranksecond to Lagos. According to the governor; “The cartel involved in the sharp practice has devised various means through which they fleece the state, but this administration hasintroduced measures to curb them… if other governments before do not have the political will, I am going to exercise it”. Bythis singular act, governor Dickson has taken accountability to another level, where the culture of living withinones incomehas been entrenched.He has made it very clear in several fora, by extending the warning to political office holders as well that anybody who is on a mission to feed fat on the resources of the state should steer clear as he would not condone them. This is what many people consider as the sin of Governor Dicksonfor not putting on the tablethe resources of the state for the economic parasites to share. However, one thing that cannot be denied is the fact thatBayelsa is no more the same under the administration of Seriake Dickson including the civil service. To God be the glory, the Bayelsa State Civil Service of today hasturned a new leaf to the admiration of all.It has been transformed from the characteristics of looting to that of aninstitutionof discipline and service delivery.

• Gov. Ajimobi By Abiola Ajimobi efforts, we have had to engage our people trading on the streets, particularly in flood-prone areas and under high-tension wires/electric cables on the need to ensure their safety and have an environmentally-friendly state. The recent fire disaster at Molete area and the several unfortunate incidents in the state which claimed the lives of our people trading by the roadsides lend credence to our noble stance. Commendably, our people have been patriotic and have shown considerable understanding and cooperation whilst professional cynics went to town to politicize our vision of a better tomorrow for our people. Thank

By George Fente

Service which created bad blood, disaffection and killed productivity in the service. This was one of theanomalies corrected by the Dickson’s government of restoration. Mr. Frazer Okuoruwho was promptly appointed as Head of Service was greeted with loud ovation by both Civil Servants and non civilservants. In ensuring that rounds pegs are placed in round holes to achieve an efficient and effective civil service, aone time Head of Service and laterCommissioner representing, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers State in the Federal Character Commission, Elder BobOzakawas appointed Chairman of the StateCivil Service Commission. One of the first things the chairman of the Civil Service Commission did was initiating the process of institutionalization and professionalization of the civil service inline with global best practice. For the first time in the history of the service, a legal department was created with JonahOkah, a State Counsel, season Journalist and Technocrat in charge of the new department. The legal department in conjunction with the department of discipline looked into a number of cases of wrongful dismissal of civil servants and those on interdiction and suspension for five to nine years without fair trial. Some of the people affected have been reinstated; others found wanting were dealt with accordingly. This is in line with the due process, justice and fairness of the government of restoration of governor Dickson. Also, professionals like accountants, lawyers, Geologists and trained administrators who found themselves in the teaching profession due to lack of employment and professionals in other parastatals are being transferred and integrated into the mainstream of the civil service. This is essentially not only to correct the point of entry and placement of cadre, but also to inject new ideas, fresh blood and promote professionalism and specialization in service. Moreover, training and retraining of the workforce has become a priority more than ever before in the history of the state civil service, with the investment of large chunk of resources to this effect. In order to provideconduciveworking environment for optimum productivity, the government embarked on the construction, building and completion of state-of-the-artestoreybuildings known as the secretariat annex.

Apart from building the new secretariat annex, government procured befitting furniture for all offices, at least to give workers a sense of belonging and work under a conducive atmosphere. This was complemented by the introductionof Information and Communication Technology, ICT, in the conduct of government business. At the state Ministry of Justice, the policy is alreadyyielding fruit as lawyers are taking advantage of the law pavilion installed to provide current law reports to enhance their advocacy at the court. Government further introduced and installed the clock in-clock out machines to not onlymonitor the attendance of workers but also gauge their work output in the state. As a matter of fact, during his usual interactive session with workers, the governor unveiled his reform by stating that;”My administration will recognize and reward hard work and reposition the civil service along loyalty, discipline and the political neutrality the civil servants are known for; the present administration will not condone disloyalty, fraud and retrogression in the state civil service”. The warning is coming against the background where civil servants have become notorious in engaging in partisan politics thereby destroying the very fabric of political neutrality and impersonality of the service. He did not mince words when he warned civil servants to steer clear of partisan politics. Today, discipline has been restored as the fear of engaging in politics by civil servants is the beginning of wisdom. Another knotty problem is that of rumour mongering which was a common phenomenon and a veritable weaponused by civil servants to underminesuccessive administrations especially when the government tries to enforce discipline. Through conscious campaign and warning, the problem has been reduced to bearest minimum. The mostterrible monster the government confronted with head long is theinstitutionalization of fraud in the Bayelsa State Civil Service. The wage bill at the time governor Seriake Dickson took over governance, stood at over N6 billion. The practice was that Civil Servants especially accountants and top administrative officers at all levels indulge in inflating salaries and allowances of workers without supporting docu-

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Who’s fooling whom? T HE NATION ON SUNDAY front page headline slips of November 2 welcome us this week: “Tambuwal (Tambuwal’s) loyalists move to sack deputy, Ihedioha” “Crisis (Crises) nationwide as PDP holds ward congresses” “…the need to raise a high powered (high-powered) delegation comprising of former leaders….” Delete ‘of’. “Court of Appeal upholds FRSC powers on new plate number” Not news: number-plate “Ondo oil producing (oil-producing) firms tasked on CSR in host communities” “In these reports, our correspondents have pieced together compelling analysis (analyses) of the politics, issues and events that….” “Who is fooling who (whom)” “…revealing a scary statistics (statistic) that experts say may be worse than all the major killer diseases put together.” “…creating awareness in the scourge amongst (among) others” “The show has, overtime, gathered massive and ardent listenership/ followership.” Why not followers? “Any actor who passes through the rudiment (rudiments) of theatre will know that….” “As the nation prepares for the next election come (in) 2015….” “Assemblies of God excommunicates ex-leader, sets (set) for legal battles” “In what appears an image laundry (image-laundry) exercise….” “…to allay the concerns (concern) of the general public.” Comment: the fear of the public “Ekiti: Fayose, Arise clash over delegates (delegates’) list” “…series (a series) of strategic meetings have been held by….” Saturday PUNCH of October 18 collects the baton from THE NATION ON SUNDAY with this front page headline promo infelicity: “Ekiti workers read riot act to Fayose, warn against debts” The most widely (most-widely) read newspaper: the riot act. I know that the article ‘the’ is avoided in headline casting as much as possible, but there are exceptional (fixed/stock expressions) cases where it is inevitable. “PDP gives Jonathan, others seven days (days’) ultimatum to buy nomination form (forms)” (The Guard-

ian Front Page Headline Promo, October 23) “Submit nominations for the 2014 Integrity Award (no punctuation?) you may be introducing someone to a destiny changing (destinychanging) experience” (Full-page advertorial by Securities & Exchange Commission Nigeria, THE GUARDIAN, October 21) “Vacancy for area manager for all state (states)” (Full-page advertorial by Viju Industries Nigeria Ltd., THE GUARDIAN, October 26) “Redeeming pledges to victims (victims’) support fund” (THISDAY Editorial Headline, October 28) “Brazil: Rousseff (Rousseff’s) victory rattles markets” (THISDAY Headline, October 28) “My grouse against (about) Ihejirika” “Siasia submits U-23 blueprint for All Africa (AllAfrica) Games” (THISDAY Headline, October 21) THISDAY front page sub-headline solecisms of October 19 come next: “Fresh terrorists (terrorist or terrorists’) attacks in Borno, Adamawa” “My clientele includes (include) celebrities, governors” “Does regular masturbation leads (lead) to weak erection?” (THISDAY, October 16) “Residents of Greenfield Estate appeal to Lagos govt to compliment (complement) their self-help efforts” “Murder of Alamieyeseigha’s son: Keyamo accuses FG of double standards (standard)” (Source: as above) “Anambra House pass (passes) vote of confidence on (in) Governor Obiano” “Oni condoles (condoles with) Ogun APC Chairman over wife’s death” “Osun kicks-off Oranmiyan new town scheme” (THE GUARDIAN Headline, October 27) Phrasal verbs do no admit hyphenation. “According to him, within the past four years each of the three labour unions within the system, NASU, SSA, ASUU, have engaged in strikes….” ‘Each’ takes ‘has’ (not have). “But on the contrary, propaganda are always employed in peace times.…” ‘Propaganda’ is uncountable. “Algerian President visits troubled spots” Simply trouble spots! “There is no doubt that he who pays the piper must dictate the tune.” He who pays the piper calls (not dictates) the tune. “These agencies have

been working in the nooks and corners.” Nooks and crannies (not corners)…. “Then came this fateful 72-hour period between Wednesday, February 8 (a comma, please) to Friday, February 10, during which….” ‘Between…and’ or ‘From…to’. “Bauchi NUT threaten (threatens) to down tools” “As a journalist, how did he manage to round up (off) the discussions for the business?” Did he arrest the discussions? “Delay in announcement of Hajj fares worry Bayero” ‘Delay…worries’. “It has reduced families into nothingness.” ‘Reduce’ goes with ‘to’; not into. “Because such cars are not, manufactured in the country, servicing them or fixing mechanical problems have forced them…” Servicing them or fixing… has (not have). “Their prowess were tested in the ability to play…” Their prowess was (not were). “School fees, shoes, books, uniform and stationeries of course.” Plural of ‘stationery’ remains the same. FEEDBACK ‘CHAIRMEN’ and ‘chairwomen’ are used for both men and women. Also, board and company chairman and chairman of the board or company. A lady chairman or woman may be addressed as madam chairman. Also chairman of the joint chiefs of staffs is correct. The joint chief or the chief is acceptable. But do not use ‘chairlady’, ‘chairwoman or chairperson unless it is an organization formal title for an office. At the NJC meeting, do members address Chief Justice Aloma Mouktar as chairman, Mr. Chairman or Madam Chairwoman. (BAYO OGUNTUASE, 08056180046) MOST times n your column, you blame editors and others for the atrocious grammar and mistakes you help to put right. Now, what do you say when even the eggheads who by virtue of their learning ought to do better proceed to write atrocities like ‘rest in perfect peace’. I ask, like you, is there ‘imperfect peace’? See The Guardian of November 7, 2014, Page 56 (Uniben obituary advertorial)) (ONUORA NWABUFO, Abuja, 08036487027) I know of money or image laundering but image laundry (laundering) exercise used in THE NATION EDITORIAL of November 2 sounds strange to me. (KOLA DANISA, 07068074257) BLESSED WEEK AHEAD!

DStv monopoly: The facts, the fallacies I SPENT some time following the recent debate in the House of Representatives on the bill to halt what is viewed as a stranglehold on the payTV sector of the broadcast industry. The bill, which passed second reading at the House two weeks ago, was sponsored by Mrs. Aisha Dahiru-Modibbo. It seeks an amendment to the National Broadcasting Commission Act to ensure openness and competition in the industry. Specifically, the House expressed its displeasure at the “arbitrary” subscription rates charged by MultiChoice for its digital satellite television services in the country, arguing that high pricing by DStv has denied the majority of Nigerians access to its premium programming. It also alleged that there is a dearth of competition in the pay-TV sector of the broadcast industry, which has given big players like MultiChoice the “undue advantage” of preventing other operators from coming into the market and crashing prices. Another complaint of the House focused on what it considers a “rigid” subscription policy under which subscribers are billed “whether they are at home viewing programmes or not”. Dahiru-Modibbo, who led the debate, explained that the House is not opposed to foreign participation in the domestic economy, but is determined to protect the interest of Nigerians. She is of the view that there are Nigerian firms capable of providing premium satellite broadcast programming to Nigerians, but these have been frozen out by “deliberate actions” of by monopolies. “In every country, measures are taken to protect the people. What is happening to us in Nigeria does not happen elsewhere on the continent. It is high time our regulatory body, the NBC, was positioned to protect Nigerians from this arbitrary actions,” said DahiruModibbo. House Deputy Leader, Leo Ogor, spoke along the same lines, wondering why Nigeria, a country in which DStv has a huge subscriber base, does not get “subscriber-friendly offers” given to citizens of other African countries. “You have a situation in the telecommunications industry, for example, where you are billed as you go on use your mobile phones. You pay for what you use. We should be having pay as you view or watch as well. Why should Nigerians continue to pay for DStv services whether they are at home using the service or not?” Ogor asked. Thumbs up for the legislators for rising to protect Nigerians from exploitation. They can count on this writer to queue behind them in every genuine effort to free Nigerians from the grip of monopolists that want or may want to price-gouge them. My support for the House is partly based on the fact that I am a DStv subscriber, one that is light years away from being affluent and therefore deserving of the kind of protection the House wants to provide. Again, it is part of the human make-up to want bargains. I am certain

•Mba, DG NBC

By Jude Idugboe that the majority of Nigerians want bargains. But are bargains realistic in every situation, including for products of services branded “premium”? I do not think so. There is a reason a product or service is branded premium. Being premium suggests that it is the highest tier of that product or service. And as we know, services and products have categories marked by class and quality. Access to or enjoyment of such is determined by cost. MultiChoice have graded their services like the hotels grade their rooms (from executive to standard), like airlines grade their seats (First Class Business - Economy) and cars (Custom, Limited Edition, Full Option Regular, Basic Option Regular). Cars come with a variety of options: Manual or auto? Cassette or CD or Aux or a combination of all? Leather seats or fabric? Four or six cylinders? Alloy rims or wheel cover? Normal dashboard or navigational screen? Houses are also graded. We have detached, semi-detached right down to face-me I face you. The categories, naturally, attract different prices. The less than subtle charge of monopolising content brought against MultiChoice by the House must have gladdened a more than a few hearts. It is a long-running industry narrative. I believe it deserves a bit more scrutiny. First, MultiChoice is not the only payTV service provider in the country. StarTimes, MetroDigital, Daarsat, MyTV and Trend TV, Montage and the new entrant, Consat, provide similar services. HiTv once did, famously wresting the broadcast rights for the Barclays Premier League in Nigeria before its untimely death. Now, I am not happy that HiTv folded up the way it did, but that can hardly be blamed on DStv, which remained in business despite the loss of the rights to broadcast premium sport content before regaining such. Why did HiTv fold up? Simply because it paid too much for the rights to the Barclays Premier League and failed miserably to manage the rights it acquired. HiTv’s case was similar to that of Setanta, the broadcaster that once challenged the power of BSkyB in the UK, but folded up partly because it overextended itself by paying over the odds for content. If HiTv suc-

ceeded in one thing, it is in driving up the cost of rights to the Barclays Premier League in Africa-to the eternal disadvantage of the Nigerian subscriber. In a country that is supposed to espouse democracy and a free market economy, it is bizarre to seek to punish MultiChoice or any company for succeeding so well at what it does. No doubt, MultiChoice came in first and did tie up all the great content. Their fault? No. That is business. MultiChoice is doing nothing more than any other company operating in a free market economy. There is no law prohibiting MultiChoice from charging the maximum the market will bear. Can we blame Coca-Cola for outselling other producers globally? From the look of things, the House wants to force MultiChoice to share its content with its rivals at cut-rate prices. But what the House needs to do is to find out why those granted subscription TV licences over the years have not been able to get things going let alone actually get to the point of being able to compete. HiTv did actually compete for the three years, during which it held the rights for the Barclays Premier League, its cash cow. But in 2010, its inability to obtain bank guarantee for $40million, the content value of the first of the three years for which it sought a renewal, left it gasping before ultimately dying and for DStv to reclaim the rights. It is simply untrue, given the HiTv example, that DStv strangles competition. Television content is expensive, added to which TV channels will not be able to sustain covering these costs with traditional advertising revenue. One does not need a PhD to do the math. BSkyB acquired the rights to broadcast the Barclays Premier League between 2013 and 2016 at a less than measly cost of 2.28billion pounds. Early this month, a nine-year extension to the contract for the broadcast rights of NBA games between the NBA and its broadcast partners, ESPN and TNT, was signed. The new contract, which kicks in at the end of 20152016 season, will see the cost of the contract go up from $930million per year to $1.4billion yearly. Sport, today, is a business and not a charity. Legislators need to understand that access to pay-television programming, •Continued on page 76

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014 Car bombs kill 20 in Iraq

North Korea releases two detained Americans

HE US State Department yesterday announced the release of two Americans who had been held by the government of North Korea. "The Department of State welcomes the release of US citizens Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller from the DPRK, where they have been held for two years and seven months, respectively," it said in a statement. The State Department said the two Americans were freed with the help of US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who traveled to North Korea and "engaged on behalf of the United States in discussions with DPRK authorities about the release of two citizens," the statement said. Their release comes just two weeks after Pyongyang freed American Jeffrey Fowle, 56, who was imprisoned in April after apparently leaving a Bible in a nightclub bathroom. Bae, a Korean-American missionary, earlier this week marked the two-year anniversary of his detention by the reclusive state. The sickly 42-year-old was arrested in November 2012 and later sentenced to 15 years' hard labour. Miller, 24, had been sentenced to six years' hard labour by the North Korean Supreme Court following his arrest in April, after he allegedly ripped up his visa at immigration and demanded asylum.

Ukrainian doctors freed from Libya kidnapping

WO Ukrainian doctors kidnapped in Libya have been freed," Ukrainian Foreign Minister PavloKlimkin said yesterday. "After huge efforts, the two Ukrainian doctors kidnapped in September in Libya have been freed. They are in a safe place," Klimkin said on his Twitter account. A foreign ministry spokesman said he had no more information. In late September, Libyan authorities said that a Ukrainian doctor and his wife had been kidnapped in the eastern city of Benghazi, a stronghold of Islamist militias. Libya has been rocked by political instability and lawlessness since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed veteran dictator MoamerKadhafi. A spate of kidnappings has endangered Libya's health sector, which depends mostly on foreign staff, including Ukrainian doctors and nurses.

â&#x20AC;˘US President Barack Obama (R) looks on as his nominee for US Attorney General, Loretta Lynch (L), the US attorney in Brooklyn, NY, speaks during an event at the White House in Washington, DC, yesterday AFP PHOTO / Jim WATSON

Obama nominates first black female Attorney General P RESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday picked Brooklyn federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch to be the next U.S. attorney general, praising her as someone who would bring a commitment to criminal justice reform and other key administration priorities. If confirmed, Lynch, 55, would be the first black woman to serve in the post, bringing with her a family history that stretches back generations to great-great grandparents who were slaves.

Obama said he hoped the Senate would confirm Lynch, who he said had distinguished herself as tough and fair in her two stints as the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York, which covers Brooklyn, Long Island, Queens and Staten Island, without delay. Lynch would replace Eric Holder, the first black attorney general, who has held the job since Obama took office in 2009. She was among several candidates Holder had recommended to succeed him.

"Loretta might be the only lawyer in America who battles mobsters and drug lords and terrorists and still has the reputation for being a charming people person," Obama said in announcing the nomination. The announcement, made in the White House's Roosevelt room, was unusual both for its timing and for Obama's selection of someone for a top job with whom he has little personal history. The White House had planned to announce the se-

lection later this month after Obama returned from his trip to Asia but the timing was moved up after her selection leaked out to the media. The president leaves today for a trip to China, Myanmar, and Australia. Holder announced earlier this year that he was stepping down. Lynch's nomination is the first big personnel change Obama has announced since Republicans won control of the Senate in congressional elections on Tuesday.

Suspects admit massacring missing Mexico students

ANG suspects have confessed to killing 43 missing Mexican students, burning their bodies for 14 hours and tossing their charcoal-like remains in a river, authorities said, in a case causing national revulsion. Facing angry protests in the biggest crisis of his administration, President Enrique Pena Nieto vowed to hunt down all those responsible for the "horrible crime." Authorities say the aspiring teachers vanished after gang-linked police attacked their buses in the southern city of Iguala on September 26, allegedly under orders of the mayor and his wife in a night of terror that left six other people dead. The police then delivered the 43 to members of the GuerrerosUnidos drug gang who told investigators they took them in two trucks to a landfill and killed them. If the confessions are proven true, the mass murder would rank among the worst massacres in a drug war that has killed more than 80,000

people and left 22,000 others missing since 2006. The Iguala case has drawn international condemnation, highlighted Mexico's struggle with corruption and undermined Pena Nieto's assurances that national violence was down. "To the parents of the missing young men and society as a whole, I assure you that we won't stop until justice is served," said Pena Nieto, who has shortened a trip to China and Australia starting today due to the case. Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam stopped short Friday of declaring the 43 dead and said an Austrian university would help identify the remains. He said authorities will continue to consider the students as missing until DNA tests confirm the identities. But the chief prosecutor added that there was "a lot of evidence... that could indicate it was them." Three GuerrerosUnidos members confessed to killing the male students after police

handed them over between Iguala and the neighboring town of Cocula, Murillo Karam said, showing videos of the taped confessions. The bodies were set on fire with gasoline, tires, firewood and plastic, in a 14-hour-long inferno downhill from a Cocula garbage dump, he said. "The fire lasted from midnight to 2:00 pm the next day. The criminals could not handle the bodies until 5:00 pm due to the heat," he said. The suspects then crushed the remains, stuffed them in bags and threw some in a river. Suspects burned their own clothes to hide any evidence. Murillo Karam showed videos of investigators combing through small pieces of charcoal-like remains that were found in black plastic bags. Some parts were found near the landfill. Murillo Karam delivered the news to the relatives of the missing in an airport hangar in Chilpancingo, capital of the violence-plagued southern state of Guerrero.

But the parents, who distrust the government, said they would not accept that their children are dead until they get a final ruling from independent Argentine forensic experts who are taking part in the investigation. "As long as there is no proof, our sons are alive," Felipe de la Cruz, a spokesman for the families, said at a news conference from the missing young men's teachertraining college near Chilpancingo. "We will keep searching for them," he said. Last month, two hitmen had already confessed to killing 17 of the students and dumping them in a mass grave near Iguala. But authorities said tests showed none of them were among 28 bodies found in the pit. Authorities have now detained 74 people, including several GuerrerosUnidos members, 36 Iguala and Cocula police officers and Iguala's ousted mayor Jose Luis Abarca and his wife Maria de los Angeles Pineda.

AR bombs killed 20 people, including five soldiers, in the Iraqi capital and the city of Ramadi to the west yesterday, police and medical sources said, in attacks that resembled operations carried out by Islamic State militants. Hours after the violence AlHadath television station reported that U.S.-led air strikes targeted a gathering of Islamic State leaders in Iraq's western province of Anbar, possibly including the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Iraqi security officials were not immediately available for comment on the report from the station, part of Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television, and there was no immediate word from the U.S. military. Two bombs exploded in separate attacks in Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite Amil district, said a police source. "A driver parked his car and went to a cigarette stall then he disappeared. Then his car blew up, killing passersby," said the police source, describing one of the two attacks in Amil. In the mostly Shi'ite alAmin area of Baghdad, another car bomb killed eight people, medical sources said. The attack by a suicide bomber on a checkpoint in Ramadi in western Anbar province killed five soldiers.

Uganda draws up new anti-gay law

GANDA'S ruling party has drawn up new antigay legislation and could push it through parliament before the end of the year, rights activists said yesterday. The move comes nearly a year after Ugandan MPs passed a bill that would have seen gays face up to life in prison, only to see the bill struck down by the constitutional court on a technicality. According to a leaked copy of the new draft bill, MPs have instead focussed on outlawing the "promotion" of homosexuality -- something that activists said made it far more repressive and wide-reaching. "People don't realise that the 'promotion' part of it will affect everybody," prominent gay rights activist Frank Mugisha told AFP. "If newspapers report about homosexuality it could be seen as promotion. My Twitter account could be seen as promotion. All human rights groups that include LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights defence in their activities could be accused of promotion." According to the draft, anyone convicted of promoting homosexuality would be liable to seven years in prison. The new draft also outlaws "funding for purposes of promoting unnatural sexual practices" and "exhibiting unnatural sexual practices", and deems consent invalid as a defence. The government has not commented on the draft, although Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has been under pressure for several months from his own party to ensure that anti-gay legislation is passed.

POLITICS EXTRA

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

‘APC presents creditable alternative to PDP misrule’

•Bush-Alebiosu

POLITICS EXTRA 75

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

L-R: Chief Olusegun Osoba and Governor Ibikunle Amosun

Defection: Ogun APC moves to checkmate Osoba, others

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014

POLITICS EXTRA

Disrespect for party structure, bane of Enugu PDP

LL over the world, even in Countries where Nigeria had borrowed its model of democracy, the sanctity and place of party formation and control, remain one sacred powerhouse in the deliverables of democratic system of government. It can be likened to the real engine room, a typical labour room in a hospital that berths all the political actors. It follows therefore that all party national headquarters are domiciled and run by elected seasoned and proficient administrators, already tested and gone through the furnace of political blacksmith. Since such Party Octopuses are the party vehicles upon which members mount into and should be piloted by highly principled executive officers as in Nigeria termed National Working Committee with its members drawn from all the zones of the Country, it therefore infers that its decisions cannot be rubbished by any party official be you high or low. Resolutions of such arm as National Working Committee, (NWC) of any party are in the true sense representative of the views and standpoint of the Party as the composition of the NWC, bears the true voice and a spread representation of the elected party officials from National Chairman, Secretary, to the lowest in the rung Ex-Officio members, all coming from the six zones of the nation – North East, North West, North Central, South East, South West and South-South. So when such a Party hierarchy National Working Committee meets, deliberates on anyknotty issue, and arrives at any decision, its position on any issue and policy statement as guaranteed by its statutory functions cannot be disobeyed. To flout such an order, would be deemed anti-party and calls for severe party sanctions. The Credo or blue print as the Constitution of the Party envisions, gives the NWC such powers to make pronouncements and proclamations that are binding by all Party faithful, irrespective of status. The present flexing of •Continued from page 72

particularly sport, is not a human right issue, just like owning a car is not. The government needs to concentrate on fixing power (this will allow people to watch television a lot more) and other critical infrastructure. A friend with whom I shared the view that access to subscription television is no human right issue rejoined that consumer protection is the motivation of the House. But consumer protection is not about price, but about a defective product or dire service. If you renew your DStv subscription and you are not reconnected when due or you are sold a defective decoder or overcharged for a service, your rights-as a consumer-have been violated and you are entitled to redress. When the price fixed for subscription is not agreeable to you, it is your right to look elsewhere for one that suits your purse. What our legislators also need to understand is that the pay-as-yougo model in telecommunications does not fit the pay-TV industry. How exactly is DStv supposed to detect whether you are watching or not at any point, given that the signal is one way (downlink)? What DStv is able to do is to block the smart

•Muazu

By Tony Ugwuzo muscles in Enugu State chapter of the PDP, is really uncalled for. The hype was not necessary as what the Party ought to have done with the resignation of the Party Chairman Chief Vita Abah who suddenly took ill was the next in command to take over albeit in acting capacity. The Deputy Chairman Elder David Aja, statutorily ought to have moved into that cozy office to chair the affairs even if momentarily. This was not the case. Instead, the State Governor cause to supplant one of his surrogates IkejeAsogwa who is manning the State Housing Corporation as the Acting Chairman. Of course this move boomeranged as top Party Stakeholders from the State rejected Mr. Asogwa, the Governor’s nominee, leading to the present hullabaloo, confusion and worsening the already charged political situation in the State. Having been rejected, the Governor was alleged to have made spirited attempts to get the ears of the National Headquarters to au-

•Chime

thenticate the ‘kangaroo’ appointment said to have been made at an extraordinary PDP State meeting in Enugu, but met a brick wall at Wadala Plaza in Abuja. The NWC insisted that the right action ought to be taken which confers on Elder David Aja the current Deputy Chairman as the authentic acting Chairman. The order from Abuja which was also passed on to the two-State Chapters Enugu and Delta that had similar problem, was that the two Deputy Chairmen should act for a period of two weeks, and thereafter organize a Congress where authentic Chairmen would be elected. Enugu seemed not to have obeyed such directives and of course the just concluded Ward Party Congress in the State, created further division. Whereas the State Government is saying that no Congress in the true sense took place, a good section of the Stakeholders from the State, those perceived as the Oracle of the Peoples’ voice are happy with the peaceful conclusion of the Congresses that elected three Delegates per Ward, in all the

Wards throughout the State. And that is why the outcome must not be tampered with or used as any form of political bargain. To bargain with the Governor’s camp is to cheapen the party and make nonsense of its constitution and internal democracy. No one man or group is above the party. If the Governor and his camp do not like it, they can pursue their political fortunes elsewhere. In Enugu, Jonathan is a son of the soil. There is no gain-saying that the state government with its unfortunate autocratic tendencies has boxed itself to a sordid corner. It had allegedly planned to foist another Congress and even a well publicized meeting with the Governor, was called off at the eleventh hour. For the avoidance of doubt, the State Party branch has no such powers to call, organize or hold another Ward Delegate Congress, unless authorized by the National Headquarters. The Ward Congress, have been concluded throughout the State and comments from some of the influ-

DStv monopoly: The facts, the fallacies card from accessing the signal. There is no way to transmit back to base/ MultiChoice whether you are watching or not and what you are watching. Pay-per-view (PPV), which many have suggested, uses your telephone line or internet connection to execute the transaction. PPV is also not yet adequately understood. A usage-based system that is PPV is cripplingly expensive and is usually for one-off events. For example, the Floyd Mayweather vs Saul Alvarez boxing bout cost as much as $75 to watch in the United States. The sum is more than the cost of full DStv premium package on which Nigerians watched the fight. In addition, pay-TV providers are more or less agents. They do not always own the content they broadcast. If the content owners do not sell to them on pay-per-view basis, how can they resell on such basis? Another leg of the narrative is the long and loud claim that Nigerians pay the highest DStv subscription rates. This, however, is untrue. For the DStv premium package, Zimbabwean subscribers pay the equivalent of$72, Zambians, $81, Tanzanians $81.18, Kenyans $82, Mozambicans $81 and Ghanaians $78.75. Nigerians pay $72.46. There are

countries where lower rates are paid, but Nigerians do not pay the highest rates for the premium bouquet. For the Compact Plus package, Ghanaians pay the equivalent of $50, Tanzanians $51.49, Kenyans $52.48 and Zambians $52. Nigerians subscribers pay the equivalent of $48.3. The Compact package attracts the equivalent of $31.10 in Nigeria. In Zambia, it is $31.19; $32 in Zimbabwe; $32.30 in Kenya; $30 in Namibia; $31.67 in Ghana and $31.80 in Tanzania. Competition is desirable. But it is by no means the only thing that drives prices down, as many are wont to claim, citing the telecoms sector as the example. At the beginning, there were three telecoms companies in Nigeria: MTN, ECONET and NITEL. Before MTN and ECONET, only the affluent could afford the cost of getting a CDMA mobile phone on the NITEL Intercellular or Multilinks networks. When ECONET and MTN joined the party, the game changed. But it was not by legislating that NITEL should bring down its prices. The new companies offered better services than NITEL. And even at N35 thousand for a SIM

card, it was still cheaper and better than NITEL’s. Naturally, NITEL subscribers migrated to MTN, whose SIM card was still costlier than ECONET’s. While ECONET was still in Lagos, MTN had reached Port Harcourt, Warri and other places. In those days, calling across networks was expensive, a development that made more people to drift towards MTN. A major factor in driving down the prices was the reduction in the cost of doing business, as the new companies built their own exchanges and no longer relied on NITEL’s expensive and outmoded facilities. That was when MTN built the Yellow Band project. Even now that there is competition and all of what we want, there are options in the telecoms marketplace. For example, you have MTN Trutalk, MTN SmoothTalk MTN Smoothtalk Plus and MTN Zone. They carry different content and the higher the content, the higher the cost. It is the same with other providers. The bill before the House, with due respect, carries a whiff of crying wolf where there is none. Monopoly, which the bill alleges, simply does not exist

ential leaders of Enugu State have spoken in favour of the just concluded Congresses and the Party should proceed with the remaining Congresses as lined up in the Party’s long list of scheduled primary elections. When Party officials deliberately flout orders, they are not only sanctioned but they pay dearly for their folly by being punished and left in the lurk to lick their wounds. It might be proper here to recall that a lingering Party anomaly in the State where one of the executives at the local level had suspended some Party officials and cabinet members of the Government Executive, but was compelled to rescind the suspension since April last year, which he did, but the said Executive has remained shut out of the running of Party affairs in the State. One recalls with nostalgia, the days of Chief M. Adisa Akinloye National Chairman of defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and even Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, National Chairman of the defunct Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), when Party supremacy was treasured and a joy of all and sundry. The stature of these two personalities begot respectability and they were no push-over. The then President Shehu Shagari accorded both the NPN the respect and reverenced Chief Adisa Akinloye at all times, till the Military struck in 1983, marking the demise of the Second Republic. Politicians of all shades must learn to respect their Party hierarchy and Kowtow to decisions reached. To ensure Party vibrancy at all levels, every Party official no matter how esteemed must be whipped into line and shape so that there will be no hara-kiri. Enugu is no exception; so, to continue to disrespect Party structure will be its bane and doom.IkejeAsogwa, Governor Chime, and all who masterminded this total disregard for the party should be punished. A Suspension or ban from holding or seeking elective office for a given period would not be too much punishment for this level of rascality and impunity. because of the options available to the pay-TV subscriber. Also nonexistent is a design to kill competition. In a free market economy, there is no illegality in charging prices that the market is capable-as has been demonstrated-of bearing. Premium television content is not sold to broadcasters on the cheap and broadcasting, being a business, has to turn a profit else go under, taking with it direct and indirect employees as well as those with whom it must have built partnerships. As much as I would love a reduction in subscription rates, it should not come by legislation. If nobody has thought of legislating that Coscharis should slash the prices of its BMWs, why should it be MultiChoice for which such should be recommended? It is not right to punish innovation, topnotch content, efficient marketing capabilities and quality-all of which MultiChoice possesses. The bill before the House, to me, is akin to an opportunistic stickup rather than a desire to push for more openness and competition in the pay-TV sector.

•Idugboe, an engineer, lives in Lagos

News

THE NATION ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2014 CHANGE OF NAME ODUKOYA

I, formerly known and addressed as Caroline Toluwani Odukoya, now wish to be known and addressed as Caroline OdukoyaIjogun. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADEAGBO

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME ADEYEMO

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeyemo, Adeyinka Oluwafunmilayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lawal, Adeyinka Oluwafunmilayo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SALIU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeagbo, Tosin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajayi, Tosin. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Police Service Commission and general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Saliu Nurudeen Oluwalogbon, now wish to be known and addressed as Saliu Noah Oluwalogbon. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EZEKWE

I, formerly known and addressed as Olufunke Patricia Fayemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olufunke Patricia Dasylva. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwogu Claudia Chika, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ezekwe, Claudia Chika. All former documents remain valid. Ibadan Elecricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) and general public should please take note.

ODUGBEMI I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Charles Olatayo Odugbemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Rev. Prophet (Dr.) Charles Olatayo M. Abraham. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADEAGBO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Rukayat Folashade Adeagbo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Rukayat Folashade Adeagbo Badmus. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwatosin Elizabeth ONI, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oluwatosin Elizabeth AREGBESOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

FALUSI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss FALUSI ADEDOLAPO YEWANDE, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. AJAYI ADEDOLAPO YEWANDE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AWODIPE I, formerly known and addressed as Awodipe Abimbola Oladimeji, now wish to be known and addressed as Fredricks Abimbola Oladimeji. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

KASUMU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Kasumu Afusat Faramola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ayodele Afusat Faramola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SAKWE

I formerly known and addressed as Sakwe Matha, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onuife Matha. All document bearing Sakwe Matha and Onuife Mataha remain valid. General public take note.

ADEGBITE

I, formerly known and addressed as Adenike Abiodun Adegbite, now wish to be known and addressed as ADENIKE ABIODUN UDEGBUNAM. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OBAFEMI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Obafemi Mercy Omodara now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adelaja Mercy Omodara. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGUNJUBEE

I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Ogunjubee Olanrewaju lsaac, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Lanre-Jubee Olanrewaju O'tomilola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ESHO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olanike Esther Esho, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olanike Esther Bello. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. FAKANDE I, formerly Fakande Avwerosuo Toyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Onifade Avwerosuo Toying Rowland. Former documents remain valid. General public to please take note.

FAYEMI

OKPUWE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Okpuwe Beatrice Chioma, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ezenwata Beatrice Chioma. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.

IFEDIORA I, formerly known and addressed as Ifediora Stanley, now wish to be known and addressed as Abraham Gabriel Chukwuka. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EPUECHI

I, formerly known and addressed as Epeechi Uchechukwu Kenechi Favour, now wish to be known and addressed as Gilbert Uchechukwu Kenechi Favour. All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnic, Oko, JAMB, WAEC and general public should please take note.

OKAFOR FAMILY The following members of Okafor Family now wish to be known as GILBERT Family: Emeka Godwin Gilbert, Caleb Nzubechukwu Gilbert, Ikenna Okwuchukwu Gilbert, Ogbonna Chijioke Gilbert. All former documents remain valid. Unity Secondary College, Ikare Akoko, Federal government College, Idoani, UNAD, FUTA, Federal Poly Offa, A.A.U.A, WAEC, JAMB and general public should please take note.

TORIOLA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Toriola, Sarah Yemisi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onilude, Sarah Yemisi. All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnic, Oko, JAMB, WAEC and general public should please take note.

OKPARA

I, formerly known and addressed as Okpara Otami, now wish to be known and addressed as Milton Otami. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Security and Defence Corps and general public should please take note. OGUNDARE I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Ogundare Ayodeji Samuel, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Oluwadare Ayodeji Samuel. All former documents remain valid. RCCG, Diamond Bank Plc., GTBank Plc., Ecobank Plc., Sterling Bank Plc., Skye Bank Plc. and general public should please take note.

OJEANELO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojeanelo Faith Iluobe now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Eromon Faith Iluobe. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

KEHINDE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Kehinde, Lucia Olufunke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ayoade, Lucia Olufunmilayo. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission and general public should please take note.

IDOKO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Idoko, Charity Chinonye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onyekachi Charity Chinonye. All former documents remain valid. NDLEA and general public should please take note. ODETUNDE: I, formerly known and addressed as ODETUNDE BABATUNDE MICHAEL now wish to be addressed as OLORUNFEMI PAUL ERIOLUWANIMI. General public please note. All former documents remain valid.

CHANGE OF NAME ADEWUNMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adewunmi Rachael Dayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ijaola Rachael Dayo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME MEMUDUAGHAN

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Aremu Opeyemi Racheal now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olaniyan Opeyemi Racheal. All former documents remain valid Osun State Council for Arts and Culture and general public take note.

JUNAID I formerly known and addressed as Miss Junaid Nurat Oluwakemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Idris Nurat Oluwakemi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OBILIKI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Obikili Winifred Chinelo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okeke Winifred Chinelo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

BANGBOSE

I formerly known and addressed as Olanre Bangbose Adeeso, now wish to be known and addressed as Adeeso Olanrewaju Ganiu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OYELEKE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyeleke Olujoke Aanu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogunniyi Olujoke Aanu. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

SHITTU I formerly known and addressed as Shittu Olufemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Shittu Lookman Oluwafemi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AGWU

I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Agwu Kalu Chibuzor, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Udonsi Chibuzor Uzoma. All former documents remain valid. Umuahia North Local government Area and the general public should please take note.

OKEUHIE I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Okeuhie Ijeoma Happiness, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onwuegbu Ijeoma Happiness. All former documents remain valid. Immigration Service, Diamond bank, First bank and general public should please take note.

ORJIMUO I,formerly known and addressed as MISS ORJIMUO CHINWENDU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. AZOR CHINWENDU JOY. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ETUK I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ELIZABETH ROBSON ETUK, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. DAGOGO ELIZABETH IKPUKU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AREOLA I, formerly known and addressed as MISS AREOLA GRACE OLAPEJU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OLALEYE GRACE OLAPEJU. All former documents remain valid. Oyo State Hospital Management Board and general public should please take note.

MEMUDUAGHAN

I formerly known and refers to as Miss PATIENCE TAJIRENERE MEMUDUAGHAN, now wishes to be known and addressed as Dr (Mrs.) PATIENCE TAJIRENERE ASOR. All former documents remained valid. The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and general public should please take note.

BELLO I, formerly known and addressed as MISS BELLO RHODA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. AGUOCHA JUMOKE RHODA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OMONIYI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwakemi Olabisi Omoniyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oluwakemi Olabisi Adeyanju. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONUOHA I formerly known and addressed as Onuoha Nkechinyere Augustina, now wish to be known and addressed as Atama-Owoh Nkechinyere Augustina. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ODIGIE I formerly known and addressed as Miss ODIGIE OSEREMEN ROSEMARY now wish to be known as Mrs. EHINON ROSEMARY OSAS. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME NTOR-UE GOWON and NTOR-UE GOWON SYLVESTER refers to one and the same person. Now wish to be known as NTOR-UE GOWON SYLVESTER. All former documents remain valid general public please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME OPARA PAUL EBERE CHUKWUDI and Engr. PAUL EBERE CHUKWUDI refers to one and the same person. Now wish to be known as Engr. PAUL EBERE CHUKWUDI. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

UKU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss UKU BLESSING UDUAK now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. BLESSING UDUAK UKUOMOSEBI. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

CHUKWUOHA I,formerly known and addressed as Miss Chukwuoha Juliet Akuyoma, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Emesiobi Juliet Akuyoma. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

EDALERE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Edalere Adewunmi Yetunde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adesina Adewunmi Yetunde. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.

UKADIKE I formerly known and addressed as Miss UKADIKE CHIKAODI JULIANA now wish to be known an Mrs. BLESSED CHIKAODI .N. DENNIS. All former documents remain valid. FIRST BANK NIG. PLC. and the general public please take note.

TAIWO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Taiwo Morenike Elizabeth, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adegboye Morenike Elizabeth. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

KAFARU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss KAFARU ODUNAYO ABISOLA, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. LASISI ODUNAYO ABISOLA. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

OLIFE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Chioma Blessing Olife, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chioma Philip Esekhaigbe. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

ORIADE

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ORIADE TEMITAYO ENIOLA,now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OMIGBULE TEMITAYO ENIOLA TAWAKALTH. All former documents remain valid. NYSC concern Insistutions and general public should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Egwim Ikenna Chukwuemeka is the same and one person as Egwim Michael Ikenna Chukwuemeka All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should please take note. NGENE I formerly known as Ngene Ndidiamaka Favour now wished to be known as Nnamani Ndidiamaka Favour. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AZIKIWE I formerly known and addressed as Azikiwe Ndidiamaka Rosemary, now wish to be known and addressed as Alexander Ujoh Ndidiamaka. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AGBETILOYE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss AGBETILOYE RUTH OLUWATOSIN, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. GBADEBO RUTH OLUWATOSIN. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OKOH

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Okoh, Mary Vivian Chinyere, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Uchechukwu Mary Vivian Chinyere. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

MOJU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Roli Moju, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Roli Eduneju. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGBONNAYA

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogbonnaya, Amarachukwu Berachah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Amarachukwu Berachah. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SALIU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Saliu Rasheedah Omolara, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Saka Rasheedah Omolara. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

‘Why I want to govern Lagos’ By Adeola Ogunlade

GUBERNATORIAL aspirant under the All Progressive Congress (APC), Hon. Lanre Ope, has assured he has the capacity to make the economic and social development of the state leap, if elected. Ope made the declaration yesterday at a rally to formally announce his gubernatorial aspiration in Epetedo, Lagos Island. Ope said: “I am in this race not just to hold the office as the Governor of Lagos State but to take a big leap in the social economic development of our State. I urge our supporters and all Lagosians that we can be one people, doing the impossible to build a more conducive centre of excellence.” He stated that he has the creative energy to take Lagos to the new level of development and prosperity, urging residents to support his aspiration.

Christians parley with Lagos guber aspirants, others

GROUP, Coalition of C h r i s t i a n Organisations, will hold a parley with governorship aspirants and other public office seekers in Lagos State on Friday, November 21. The meeting, which takes place at Hoares Memorial Methodist Cathedral Sabo Yaba, begins by 11am. During the parley, the aspirants are expected to share their manifestoes and programmes for Lagos State with participants. One of the organisers confided that the aspirants would be asked stringent questions during the meeting with a view to endorsing them for political offices based on their presentations. The parley is expected to attract aspirants across party affiliations.

Nebolisa goes home

OKORO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Lilian Amarachi Okoro, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lilian Amarachi Williams. All former documents remain valid. Imo State university, Banks and general public should please take note. GIWA I formerly known as Giwa Idayat Yoyinsola now wished to be known as Adewunmi Idayat Yoyinsola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. ABDULLMUMIN I formerly known as Musa A. S. Abdullmumin now wished to be known as Jeremiah Shagari Musa. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

RS. Apollonian Nebolisa of Umuatulu Awobu village Enugwu Ukwu in Anambra State is dead. She was 72 years. The deceased was a prominent community leader, member of the Confraternity of Christian Mothers and Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) in Nsukka and Enugwu Ukwu branches. She was also a member of Sacred Heart of Jesus, Legion of Mary, Bible Society and St. Anthony of Padua where she served as president, secretary and treasurer. She is survived by 9 children, grandchildren and other relations A Christian wake holds on Wednesday, November 12th in her residence in Enugwu Ukwu. Her remains will be laid to rest the next day after funeral mass at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church Enugwu Ukwu.

QUOTABLE

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 9, NO. 3027

“I can only imagine the level of disappointment that you must all feel, having waited anxiously for this (Permanent Voters’ Collection) exercise and in spite of the fact that we had declared a work-free day. If this is a foretaste of what we should expect in the general elections, for me, it is a bad start. It tastes awful.” —Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), berating the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its shoddy handling of issuance of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) in Lagos State.

FTER hesitating for many months, the Olusegun Osoba camp in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State has decided to defect to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Though Chief Osoba himself has not made a formal announcement, the long-standing turmoil in Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s government all but made the defection virtually inevitable. Governor Amosun’s deputy, Segun Adesegun, who belongs to the Osoba camp, had a little over a week ago publicised his deep-seated grudges against the governor, much of it revolving around mistreatment, disrespect and inadequate funding. In the letter, the deputy governor sounded pessimistic the disagreements could be resolved. He may be right. The Osoba camp is believed to comprise some leading politicians in the state, including all the state’s three senators and six House of Representatives members. No matter what veneer of optimism the Amosun camp want to spread on the split, the Osoba camp is as formidable out of government as the Amosun camp remains formidable in government. If the two camps stay together, they will be even more formidable and stand a decent chance of defeating the resurgent and obviously wellfinanced opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. As far as optimism goes in politics, both camps imagine they are so formidable separately that they can win the next governorship poll based on their individual merits, political integrity and grassroots mobilisation. Chief Osoba entertains the chimera that he has with him the state’s top national lawmakers and perhaps a plethora of other state and local government elected representatives. He probably thinks his camp is impregnable. But as some states have shown since 1999, it may take just one election for a grumpy and testy electorate to sweep a whole coterie of lawmakers away. Governor Amosun also imagines that his infrastructural renewal programme, the like of which has probably never been witnessed in the state before, may stand him in good stead with Ogun’s longsuffering voters. He will be misreading the times to think performance is a sufficient condition for re-election. In fact, in reality, apart from their befuddling incompetence in assessing candidates, Nigerian voters may have become unfathomably venal, irritable and impatient. They punish well-meaning candidates for little slights, and reward malevolent candidates for massive deceptions. The trouble in Ogun APC appears on the surface irreconcilable. But that is because APC leaders’ attention is riveted, perhaps inadvertently, on the wrong things. They seek ways of mollifying Chief Osoba, who seems in the opinion of many to be desirous of carving a liberal fiefdom for himself in a state where he can exert a powerful pull on the politics and bureaucracy of the state consistent with his national standing, age and political associations; and where he can erect a panoply of political and electoral frameworks to dispense equity and fairness according to his own peculiar understanding of justice and ideology. But it so happens that in the same Ogun State lives and governs someone like Mr Amosun, a man fiercely independent and unwilling to subordinate himself to man or angel, or to Lagos or Ogun, but a man who was nonetheless probably the party’s best choice to win the governorship in 2011. The party’s pragmatic leaders, especially in Lagos, recognised this seemingly contradictory fact and prioritised their preferences. If their major desire was to win in 2011, they were willing to ignore Mr Amosun’s idiosyncratic irreverence. Chief Osoba, it seems, never quite reconciled himself to either Mr Amosun’s candidature or his independence for many reasons dating back to the 2003 governorship election. Every small disagreement has therefore loomed larger than necessary, and the governor’s sometimes complex realpolitik has seemed to the Osoba camp despicable and intolerable arrogance. Making a choice between who to support

Ogun and 2015 polls: APC’s unending conundrum for a House of Representatives seat, such as the one the party had to make between Lekan Abiola (MKO”s son) and Olumide Osoba, became red rag to two raging bulls. Party leaders in and out of Ogun are miffed and bewildered by how quickly a small misunderstanding turns tectonic. They are expending energy to settle acrimonious party congresses, determine who should be supported for elective and appointive positions as well as party executive offices, pacify incensed party men elbowed out of the governor’s tight inner loop, and other long if not interminable list of grievances. I am not sure to what extent party leaders can procure peace by continuing to focus on the long list of grievances from both sides. With every resolution, a new grievance emerges. I even suspect that judging by the severity of the rupture between the Amosun and Osoba camps, party leaders may now focus on how to ensure a tentative peace so that the party can unite for the 2015 polls. If they succeed, it will be because Mr Amosun realizes the inadvisability of relying on his good works to give him electoral victory, and because Chief Osoba appreciates that even if Mr Amosun is vanquished, it would be pyrrhic victory so devastating to procure that even he would be unable to gain from it. Nevertheless, party leaders must wade into the fray not by looking at the long list of grievances or setting out broad principles for redress, but by examining holistically the bane of politics in the Southwest, and helping party leaders, both elected and appointed, to have a better and deeper understanding of the complicated nuances of contemporary political undercurrents. The region is gradually moving away from the patrician and paternalistic forms of

politics and governance. Unknown to Chief Osoba, APC’s national leaders have had to quickly reconcile themselves to the fact that whether Ekiti under Kayode Fayemi, or Oyo under Abiola Ajimobi, or Lagos under Babatunde Fashola, the governors often and ineluctably resist any attempt by anyone to exercise control over them. Lagos and Osun, however, present an interesting study. While Mr Fashola chafes at any outside control, not being a politician dyed-in-the-wool however, he has been unable to summon the ingenuity to take over the state’s political structure. Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, in spite of his wellknown fondness for boisterous politicking, seems to be the most successful in the Southwest in balancing his independence with the need to accommodate his party’s national leaders. He has done it with effortless ease, due in large part to the easy-going nature of former Governor Bisi Akande and the ideological affinity he shares with former Lagos Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu. If restiveness in Ogun is to be pacified, party leaders in and out of the state will have to look closely at the Aregbesola formula, a formula I think, by the way, is more intuitively practical than rational or designed. It will be pointless blaming Chief Osoba or lambasting Mr Amosun. Blame game will only lead into a labyrinth. Mr Amosun has obviously not been wise enough in managing his relationship with Chief Osoba’s camp, considering how he has tried to win every battle, overt or covert. He wants to dominate the state and wholly determine its direction in accordance with the constitutional powers vested in him. If his party’s

national leaders gave him breathing room, a number of reasons accounted for that pacifying change. But in his battles with Governor Amosun, Chief Osoba consistently makes reference to his age and association with the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, at whose feet he said he learnt politics. Even then, Chief Osoba has not demonstrated the flexibility and restraint that come with the qualities he has ascribed to himself. Southwest history is replete with examples of party divisions preceding heavy electoral defeats. Why does Chief Osoba think Ogun can defy the odds in 2015? Chief Osoba may be a great politician and leader, but he is not ideological, notwithstanding the Southwest and APC’s progressive orientation. Indeed, most Nigerian politicians, the Southwest included, are not ideological. Mr Amosun is also ideologically blank, though his infrastructural renewal programme is exemplary. The common ideological causes and lofty visions for a great welfare society that should animate and bind the two political leaders together are thus inexistent. Until APC national leaders can help the two find a common cause, they will continue to undermine each other. Elsewhere, in Oyo, Mr Ajimobi is also not ideological, and he has found it difficult to conceptualise the inspiring common causes that have differentiated Lagos from other states, in spite of Mr Fashola’s lack of ideological affinity with Asiwaju Tinubu — the isolationist governor versus his expansionist and internationalist predecessor. If Mr Ajimobi had had a politician like Chief Osoba to discomfit him, say an aggressive Lam Adesina, Oyo would also obviously be in turmoil. The revolution begun in the Southwest some years back is stalling for much the same reasons the Ogun APC conflict is festering. It is uncertain how that conflict will be resolved, both in Ogun and the Southwest. Dr Fayemi has been dethroned, Mr Ajimobi is under enormous pressure and faces an uncertain electoral future, Ondo never really cottoned on to the revolution, Lagos quivers with uncertainty and is dithering, and Ogun now looks set to unravel spectacularly. A gargantuan conflict between idealism and populism is in fact underway in the region, between the so-called stomach infrastructure of grassroots governance and the futurism and inventiveness that epitomised the high points of the region’s development in the First Republic. Neither Chief Osoba nor Mr Amosun is persuaded by the transcendental quality of the causes they should be fighting for, causes that should concentrate their energies in the right direction and diminish the political self-aggrandizement that now propels their politics — a self-aggrandizement that irrationally drives politics in the Southwest and sets APC leaders against one another in Lagos, Oyo and Ekiti.

Religious politics, Southwest and general elections

N the midst of a rising politicisation of religion under the Goodluck Jonathan government, analysts had speculated that the Yoruba of the Southwest would rebuff the schismatic campaign because of its potential to undermine their culture. The analysts thought that since some Southwest states in the Second Republic were ruled by either a Muslim-Muslim or a Christian-Christian ticket, the region had been inoculated against systematic and entrenched religious conflict. Until about a year or two ago, religion was obviously not a big issue in Southwest politics; now sadly it is inconceivable that any political party, no matter how popular or ideological, could ignore either its political potential or its debilitating effects. Under Dr Jonathan, the politicisation of religion is unlikely to abate, and his aides and campaign directors and sympathetic clerics will mine it copiously, as they are already doing with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). It is not surprising that religious leaders like Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

•Jonathan

•Oritsejafor

have thrown in their lot with Dr Jonathan. To him and others like him, it is a natural and effortless process, a subliminally divine and even messianic struggle to win and hold down Aso Villa for God. But the surprise is that Southwest religious leaders have fully converted to the campaign and are helping Dr Jonathan market it. Whereas the South-South and Southeast can adapt to and project religious politics, seeing their regions are predominantly Christian, it may be counterproductive for their compatriots in the Southwest, who are almost split

evenly between the two main religions, to flirt with religious politics. In the event of a religious conflict, the South-South and Southeast may escape unscathed. The Southwest would almost certainly be struggling to keep the peace and stanch the flow of blood. Historically, the Southwest had recognised this tangled skein of religious politics, thereby prompting cultural and political leaders to devise means of engendering religious harmony and reining in and even emasculating extremists. Sadly, the culture of tolerance and secularism is fading. Southwest clerics and politicians are carelessly forsaking the balancing mechanisms that have sustained their society for centuries. If they do not begin to take conscious steps to return to the wisdom of the past, but instead allow themselves to be unwisely and sheepishly sucked into the red vortex of Dr Jonathan’s religious politics, present and future generations will hold them responsible for the consequences.

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