November 15, 2014 by The Nation

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HE grief of Chibok residents was compounded yesterday with yet another attack by the dreaded Boko Haram sect. The invaders were believed to have fled from Mubi and Maiha where they were overpowered and dislodged by combined fire power of local hunters and the Nigerian Army. The casualty figure from the latest attack could not be ascertained at press time but reports indicated that many residents had fled the town for dear lives as the sect took control of the town. A fleeing resident, Mr. Apogu Afaramai, who spoke with our correspondent on the phone, said that he and many other residents took to their heels as the insurgents stormed the town at about 10 pm yesterday. He was however not sure of about casualties. He said: “As I am speaking with you now, I am in the bush moving towards Biu. I don’t know whether they have killed anybody or not because when we heard gunshots, we just fled the area and there was no network service.” Another resident who identified himself simply as Suleiman said the insurgents arrived the town and started shooting sporadically to scare everyone in the city. “We were about to sleep when we started hearing gunshots and shouts of Alllah is great in Arabic. The shooting was very intense. I can’t even explain how I escaped from the village,” he said. The sect had attacked Chibok and abducted more

US to collaborate with Nigeria on food security

HE United States of America will collaborate with the Nigerian government and the private sector in the area of agriculture and agric business as part of moves to ensure global food security. The US Agric Attache, Mr Selfart Kurt, disclosed this yesterday during a facility visit to TUNS Farms Nigeria Limited in Osogbo, Osun State. Kurt told newsmen that the visit was part of strategies to collect data in Nigeria as part of United States of America’s agricultural policy aimed at ensuring food security Nigeria and other African countries. “You know my country and Nigeria share the same agricultural practices. Nigeria wants higher standard and we also want higher standard in agric practice. So, in order to ensure maximum food security and safety, we are here to exchange ideas with Tuns Farms,” Kurt said. Kurt added that the information gathered would help in drafting food security law which he said the US government and that of Nigeria will collaborate to enact. This, according to him, will bring about safety of food consumption for all and sundry. Earlier in his welcome address, the Managing Director of the farm, Mr Olalekan Badmus, commended the US diplomat for the visit to the company.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Boko Haram captures Chibok Duku JOEL,Maiduguri with agency report than 200 school girls in April this year. The girls are yet to be rescued, save 15 lucky ones that have managed to escape. The Senator representing

•Casualty figure on certain the area, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, was also not sure about casualties. He said,:”I was told that Boko Haram terrorists at-

tacked Chibok town, but I cannot tell whether there were casualties or not, as we are yet to receive calls from people in Chibok since the insurgents have burnt down the telecom masts in the

town.” AFP quoted Chibok-based pastor, Enoch Mark, as saying that Boko Haram had taken control of Chibok town. Mark’s daughter and niece are among the 219

teenagers kidnapped by Boko Haram. Mark said the attack on the town appeared to come after Boko Haram overran the towns of Hong and Gombi in neighbouring Adamawa state following the group’s ouster from the commercial hub of Mubi. “They came in and engaged soldiers and vigilantes in a gunfight,” he added. “Some of us managed to escape. All the telecom towers in the town were destroyed during the attack with RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades). “No one can say what the situation is in the town in terms of destruction to property.”

Suswam, deputy escape death in ghastly auto crash Uja EMMANUEL, Makurdi

O •From left: President Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Omar Abdulwaheed; Secretary General, Trade Union Congress Musa Lawal; Chairman, House Committee on Finance, AbdulMumin Jubrin; Executive Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Newman Ordia and Chairman, Good Homes Developers Company Ltd, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, during the House of Representatives Committee on Finance Stakeholders Meeting on the Funding of Housing for the Nigeria Workers held at the National Assembly in Abuja yesterday PHOTO: Abayomi FAYESE

Ribadu's brother escapes from kidnappers' den

ARELY six days after his abduction, Hon. Sani Ribadu, the younger brother of former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, on Friday escaped from kidnappers’ den. The younger Ribadu was kidnapped by gunmen on his farm in Fufore by some gunmen and taken to an unknown location. The gunmen did not get in touch with his family until his lucky escape on Friday along Girei axis of the state. A statement by the family, which was signed by Hon.

Yusuf alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

Abuzarri Ribadu (member, Adamawa State House of Assembly) said Ribadu’s brother escaped unhurt. The statement said: “Hon. Sani Ribadu, the younger brother of former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has this morning reunited with us after escaping from his adductors. “Sani, who is a former chairman of Yola South local Government and former member of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, was

kidnapped by unknown armed men at his farm along Yola-Fufore Road last Sunday. “His kidnap was a trying time for the family as family and friends spent sleepless nights in search and prayers. “To the glory of God, our brother escaped unhurt around 2 am on Friday from the bushes around Girei Local Government, where he was being kept. He arrived his house at six in the morning, having stopped over at Sangere where he performed the dawn prayer. “The outpouring of goodwill and empathy

shown to us at this trial time was something to cherish. We are especially humbled by the spontaneous jubilation across all parts of Yola on learning that Sani Ribadu is back home. “The mammoth crowd of sympathisers trooping to congratulate us is a solace that we were not alone in grief. “The effort of our security agencies and the local community in his search and eventual rescue is in all ways commendable. “We also send our appreciation to all individuals and groups who commiserate with us and helped in all possible ways to rescue our brother.”

Govt will mobilise resources to fight Boko Haram, says Minister

HE Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, has vowed that the Federal Government will win the war against Boko Haram. President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Moro said, will continue to mobilise resources to fight the insurgency that has taken over most parts of the North-East. He spoke in Abuja when the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Michael Zenner, paid him an official visit. Moro assured that government was not leaving any stone unturned to end the crisis. His words: “We are thanking the German government for the support they have given to Nigeria in the fight against insurgency. In a war situation, when international

•Continued on Page 4

•Moro: It is a war we must win Gbenga OMOKHUNU, Abuja community renders support, it is not a formal agreement of defining what should be given. “I think that Nigerian government is satisfied with the expression and support of the international community to fight this war and win this war. “I have not said we have won the war and I have not also said that this war is over. Every Nigerian and observers of Nigeria is aware that this war is ongoing and what Nigerian government has consistently tried to do until this war is over is to continue to mobilise all resources that are available. “Insurgency is not a straight

fight; it is a fight that is sometimes characterised by gouerilla tactics. As long as insurgents continue to wage war against Nigeria, the responsible government of Nigeria will continue to mobilise all the resources to ensure we win the war, because it is the responsibility of government all over the world and Nigeria is not an exception to ensure that the lives and properties of the people are secured. “Nigeria and Federal Republic of Germany have a cordial relationship. One of the countries that the President Goodluck Jonathan visited on assumption of office in 2011 was Germany. “He had very warm discussion on bilateral matters and

of course they were able to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Germany and Nigeria on some issues “I can assure that as the Minister of Interior, we will do everything that is convenient to do to ensure that German investments in Nigeria are protected. “We will definitely provide the much needed environment for German/Nigerian businesses to thrive in Nigeria. “ The German Ambassador, who had just spent three months in Nigeria, commended government’s effort in fighting Boko Haram and assured of German government’s support in the bid to end insecurity.

N the eve of his 50 birthday celebration Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam’s convoy was yesterday involved in a ghastly accident, with the governor narrowly escaping death. A fully loaded red passenger bus had a head on collision with the governor’s backup vehicle. The official vehicle in which he was travelling with to Asunkunya and Gboko for an official function was also damaged. His deputy, Chief Steven Lawani, was also on the convoy. The incident occurred at Angbaaye village along Makurdi-Gboko federal highway, shortly before the NAF Base in Makurdi. An eyewitness who identified himself as Terna Tor, said the passenger bus was on top speed from the opposite direction and was trying to overtake another vehicle. It almost hit the governor ‘s car but for the tactical manoeuvre of the back-up vehicle. Tor said the back-up vehicle, in an effort to protect the governor, had a head on collision with the commercial, summersaulted three times and hit a tree in the bush. The back of the car was badly damaged while the security details sustained serious Injuries and were taken to NAF hospital for treatment. The driver of the bus, and that of another Toyota passenger car sustained serious injuries. Governor Suswam and his deputy, Chief Steven Lawani, stopped and ordered that those who were injured be taken taken to NAF Hospital before he continued with his journey to Asunkunya to flag off this year’s tree planting campaign and attended another function in Gboko. With his official car also damaged, he continued the journey in another car. In a telephone interview with The Nation, Governor Suswam said: “I’m hale and hearty and looking forward to Super Eagles victory against Congo in Point Noire, which will serve as a perfect birthday gift. Governor Suswam clocked 50 years today.

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Three die as another helicopter crashes •Air Force flies 6,000 missions against insurgents T HE Defence Headquarters yesterday confirmed the death of three crew members in another air crash involving one of the nation’s military helicopters in Adamawa State.. It was the second time in one week that a military helicopter would crash in Yola, the state capital. But in spite of losing another helicopter to air crash, the Nigerian Air Force has flown at least 6,000 missions to the troubled North-East in an offensive against the Boko Haram sect. The latest incident occurred at about 9 pm on Thursday around the Modibbo Adama University of Technology Yola, located at Batare, a hamlet under Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State. Two eyewitnessesand residents of the area, Mr David Omole and Comrade Jonathan Philibus, who saw the low flying chopper when it crashed, said:the chopper crashed closed to their houmes with about five people on board wearing army uniforms. A one-paragraph statement issued by the Defence Headquarters said: “At about 2200hours yesterday 13 November 2014, a ground attack helicopter on an armed patrol crashed around the Federal University of Technology Yola, Adamawa State. “ The crew of 3 was lost in the ill-fated accident. Rescue

Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation and Barnabas MANYAM, Yola

party worked throughout the night to preserve the wreckage of the aircraft and scene of the accident for proper investigation to be carried out. “Further details would be made known later.” Another source added: “Military aviation experts have been deployed in Yola to investigate the crash. This is the second or third time it will happen in Yola airport and its environs. “One of the areas of investigation is the visibility or navigational situation of the airport in the evening and night. “The investigators will also ascertain if the requisite technological manpower and facilities are in place at the airport.” Investigation into the incident was still on as at press time. A military source, who gave an update on the operations against Boko Haram insurgents said the troops had started “ full-scale campaign” in the North-East. The source said: “Since the Boko Haram campaign of terror commenced in fullscale in the North-East states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe, the Nigerian Air Force has flown at least 6,000 missions in efforts to rid the

Angry youths set District Head's office, Magistrate Court ablaze in Adamawa riot

ITH the chant of Allahu akbar (God is great) more than 300 angry youths burnt down the offices of the head office of Jimeta District and a Magistrate Court in Yola, Adamawa State capital yesterday. The youths were protesting the removal the Imam of the Jimeta Jumaat Mosque, Mallam Sufiyanu Adamu. The angry youths, who also burnt down the office of the District Head of Jimeta, Alhaji Mohammed Inuwa Baba-Paris. insisted that they would not accept the removal of the Imam by the District Head simply because the Imam criticised government’s handling of the security situation in the state. The Imam had been very critical of the governments at the state and federal levels over the prevailing security situation, particularly the Boko Haram crisis, during a special prayer session for peace. His fiery comments were said to have drawn the ire ofg Baba-Paris who decided to send him on suspension. Trouble started when some of the rioters got to the mosque for the jumat service only to learn that the Imam could not show up because he had been suspended by the District Head. They immediately

mobilised themselves and stormed Baba-Paris’ office. Disappointed that he was not in the office, they decided to burnt down the office and the Magistrate Court. Some of the youths also headed towards the district head office, setting it ablaze and were preparing to proceed to Baba-Paris’ residence before they were prevented by security agents and some opinion leaders who pleaded with them. “We will no longer condone injustice by leaders who think we must not express ourselves in the face of injustice. “Why should the district head feel offended because the Imam spoke the mind of the majority as far as the insecurity situation is concerned,” one of the protesters who identified himself as Sufi said. Effort to get the Baba-Paris to react to the development did not yield result as he was said to have been rushed to an unknown destination by security agents. When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of Adamawa State Police Command, DSP Othman Abubakar, confirmed the incident. But he said he was yet to get details of what actually happened. Abubakar however said that the situation was now under control.

zone of insurgency. “The missions, aiming to decimate, degrade, destabilise and demoralise the Boko Haram terrorists with a view to completely curtailing their freedom of actions,

comprised ground attacks platforms, mission on ATR42, Beechcraft air surveillance platform, airlift missions using the G-222 and the C-130H. “The Chief of Air Staff of

the Nigerian Air Force, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, said at a recent forum at the University of Ibadan that the scope of the operations included airlift of troops and equipment, rotation of

forces, battlefield interdiction, casualty evacuation, air surveillance Operations and armed reconnaissance Missions among other operations.”

•Chairman, Ikorodu Oga Day 2015, Otunba Lamidi Gbadamosi (left) and the Regent and Olisa of Ikorodu, High Chief Zaheus Odusoga, during Ikorodu Oga Day in IKorodu, Lagos at the weekend. PHOTO: Muyiwa HASSAN

Boko Haram wants to conquer Nigeria, Umar raises alarm •Offers nine solutions to insurgency

former Military Governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar

Dangiwa Umar (rtd) yesterday described the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East is a war against Nigeria. He said the insurgents intend to use a conquered North East as a launch pad to take over the nation. He suggested nine ways of tackling the insurgency, including the suspension of national celebrations, recall of all armed forces personnel in the reserve and the recall of military and security personnel on non-essential duties. He however kicked against arms blockade against Nigeria by the United States. Umar, who made his position known in a statement in Abuja, faulted the alleged recklessness and the cold indifference being displayed by the nation’s politicians, who are preoccupied with the 2015 poll. The statement said: “We need to understand that the

Yusuf alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation war in North East is a war against Nigeria. The insurgents intend to use a conquered North East as a launch pad to invade and conquer the rest of the country and possibly the whole of the West African sub-region. “Boko Haram is well funded by ALQAEDA in the Magrib, (AQIM) as well as the booty they acquire in the numerous territories they conquer. Nigerians must wake up to the reality that their only defence against the marauding insurgents is our visibly demoralised military.” Umar asked all Nigerians to rise against the insurgents. He said: “Nigerians, irrespective of our religious and ethnic differences at home or in diaspora must feel threatened and act accordingly against this growing threat of Boko Haram insurgency. “We must be psychologically and emotionally in-

volved in the war against BH. It is a task that we must do while we still can.” He suggested seven ways of tackling the insurgency, including the suspension of national celebrations and recall of all armed forces personnel in the reserve. The statement added: “The BH (Boko Haram) cancer must be prevented from metastasizing. For an effective war against the insurgents, we must resolve to do the following: “Show unity of purpose by stopping all divisive recriminations as to which group of Nigerians is responsible for the emergence and support of BH. It is not true that the Federal Government is behind the BH nor is any anti-President Jonathan politician responsible. “We must give unalloyed support to the Federal Government and by extension our security forces in their difficult task of combating the BH insurgents. “More than ever before, Ni-

gerians must be security conscious. “Politicians must desist from using our security challenges to score cheap political goals. They must also show example by refraining from excessive celebrations during their electioneering campaigns. “All national celebrations must be suspended. We should also suspend our participation in international sporting events until our security situation improves. “In an effort to mobilise and focus the nation’s attention on our war effort, the FGN should declare a period of mourning in honour of the victims of insurgency. Special prayers should be held in churches and mosques for the victims, including prayers for the release of the Chibok school girls and other abducted victims. “The need to beef up the strength of our security forces cannot be overemphasised. To this end, the Federal Government should recall all armed forces personnel in the reserve.

Osoba’s defection regrettable, says Atiku

ORMER Vice-President and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Party (APC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday lamented the defection of former Ogun State governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba from APC to Social Democratic Party. Describing the develoment as “regrettable and unfortunate,” Atiku expressed confidence that that reconciliation between Osoba and Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State was still possible.

Ernest NWOKOLO, Abeokuta He said: “I’m the Chairman of the South West Reconciliation Committee (of APC). But we also had to set up and elder sub-committee of that committee to try and see if there will be what I call an internal reconciliation before the bigger committee looks at the reconciliation process. “It is regrettable and unfortunate but I believe it is a situation that is still reconciliable. This is a situation that has been going on for some time and

we have not given up. The former Vice President who had earlier visited his former boss Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, at his private mansion on Presidential Hilltop Estate, Abeokuta, saying their relationship is “extremely cordial.”said: he was in Ogun State to pay respect to his former boss, adding that they had discussed the state of the nation generally and described their relationship as extremely cordial. He said he was greatly indebted to Obasanjo and Ogun

State for playing major roles in the height he has attained today. Atiku, who was equally in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to meet with Governor Ibikinle Amosun and some APC leaders in the state, arrived Obasanjo’s home at about 2.56 pm with an entourage comprising his Director of Campaign Organisation, Prof. Babalola Borisade, among others, had a 55minute private meeting with the ex-President.

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HE Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, yesterday accepted the presidential nomination form bought for him by 80 members of the House, friends and associates. He, however, said he would make his final position known to Nigerians. But it was learnt from one of his key strategists that Tambuwal has made up his mind to vie for the office instead of the governorship poll. The strategist said the Speaker was delaying in making any declaration because he ought to finalize consultations with past Heads of State and Government, some key leaders, royal fathers and governors. The Speaker's residence at Danube Street in Maitama District, Abuja was a beehive of activities as members of the House jostled for space to present the nomination form to him. The event was delayed until about 4.45pm, following pressure from many members to witness the ceremony. Clad in white babanriga, white cap and shoes, the elated Speaker admitted that he was overwhelmed by the show of love of the members. He said: "My dear friends, I must say that I am moved by this show of love, commitment to the course of the oneness of Nigeria and the progress of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ably demonstrated this evening by my friends across the divide of this country. "This discussion about whether Aminu Waziri Tambuwal should run for this or that has been on for some time. "As I was about to round off my consultations, these my friends came in to say we were drafting you into this. I thank you most sincerely for your kind words and for identifying me as such a personality that in your belief possessed some of these qualities that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is expected to have.

‘I’m humbled by this gesture’

"I am humbled by this gesture. I must say that this is almost akin to what happened in 2011 after our general elections when I left my Federal Constituency of Kebbe/ Tambuwal to Abuja and my colleagues in the House of Representatives and several Nigerians, in consideration for the need for us to have a stable, focused and progressive House of Representative, decided that I should come and serve as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. "To God be the glory and with every sense of responsibility, we have done fairly well as the leadership of the House of Representatives. I am sure that part of what you have done as part of the traits of leadership in me is coming from what we have been able to do in the House of Representatives. "Therefore, I will thank my 359 colleagues in the House of Representatives that have showcased me and given me the support to get to where I am today for me to be considered by these very well-meaning Nigerians to contest and vie for the most coveted office in the federation. "Having heard what you have said, I have accepted to collect this nomination form and go and conclude my consultations and come back to Nigerians soonest on what should be my final position on

SATURDAY,NOVEMBER 15, 2014

2015 poll: Reps meet Tambuwal with nomination form Yusuf ALLI, Victor OLUWASEGUN, Tony AKOWE, Dele ANOFI, Abuja

this matter". Earlier, the spokesman of the members, Engr. Peter Ede from the Ezza North/Ishelu Federal Constituency of Ebonyi State described the Speaker as a unifier. He said in view of “what is happening in Nigeria today, the lawmakers believe that Tambuwal possesses the right quality to lead the country.”

‘We’re here on behalf of Nigerians’ Hon. Ede, who presented the form to the Speaker at about 5.00pm, said: "We are here on behalf of millions of Nigerians to visit Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. "The reason we are here is because we are of the firm belief that these are uncommon times in Nigeria because the country is facing enormous challenges and having examined everything that is happening in Nigeria and convinced of the need to find a solution and take Nigeria into a country of our dreams. "We have decided to come and urge Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal to consider presenting himself as a candidate for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We do this in the conviction that Alhaji Tambuwal is a unifier. "His track record as leader and Speaker of the House of Representatives and as a leader in Nigeria, he has shown that he is a unifier, somebody who can bring the people together and make them work as one, somebody who can energies Nigerians to fight for the country we all desire. "This is a leader who, despite all the malaise in the country, has till date not been tinted with the brush of corruption. It has not been mentioned in connection with him. He is known to be very detribalised. He is somebody who has travelled throughout this country. "We are aware that he has visited 340 out of the 360 constituencies in this country. So, he has first-hand knowledge of the people's problems because he has seen them first hand and knows their culture. He has seen and respected their religious beliefs. He is also somebody who relates to everybody with humility and firmness. Nigeria needs a man of such qualities. "Nigeria needs a man who can speak truth to power. He is a man who can say a thing and stand by it. Nigeria needs a man who will be accountable to you and all of us. "We have found in him these uncommon qualities and we believe that he has the modern world view that will see us do things differently and confront our problems with new approaches. What we need now is a paradigm shift. It is not all about age and youthfulness. Those are clauses by the side. "But we respect his vision about Nigeria; we respect his nationalistic appeal and his ability to weld the country together. These are qualities we think that the President of Nigeria should have in this era. He is, in our view, the right person to lead Nigeria at this

time. "Let me also say that within the All Progressives Congress, there are other candidates with good qualities, but the mix in him is so complete that we think he is the right man to lead Nigeria. All we are doing is to put him on the shop window for Nigerians to consider, evaluate and make a decision. "He has to take this request seriously. What we have done is to bring him before the people and ask the people to see him as a solution to the different challenges we are having today and we believe that by God's grace, if he becomes President, this country will change for the better for all. "The people in this project are from a broad-based coalition, coalition of professionals, legislators, politicians and people from all shades of life. It is pan-Nigerian project and

not a project driven by any segment of the polity. "It is a project supported by students, youths, market women, the old, the young, experienced politicians and people who have the interest of Nigeria at heart. The clerics, regardless of their religious persuasions, are also behind this project. "Those who have Nigeria at heart are buying into this project, and we believe that if it becomes successful, Nigeria would have escaped the problems of the last decade. “We are asking Aminu Waziri Tambuwal to be our President. We have purchased his nomination form for him, and we are here to present it to him". Some of the members of the House at the session were Edeh, Samuel Adejare, Rotimi

Makinde, Emmanuel Jime, Solomon Adeola, Julius Fakeye, Zakari Mohammed, Aliyu Ibrahim Gebi, John Dyegh, Razaq Bello-Osagie, Yakubu Dogara, Suleiman Yahaya Kwande, among others. Immediately after the formal presentation of the form, the Speaker and the members retired into a private session. The acceptance of the nomination form put paid to speculations on the 2015 aspiration of the Speaker. One of his strategists, who spoke with our correspondents last night, said: "The Speaker is going for the presidency and not governorship poll as being insinuated or propagated by some forces. He has accepted the nomination form, and all doubting Thomases should get the message once and for all.

"We have done our homework before we concluded that Tambuwal should give the presidency a consideration. The issue is not about being a dark horse or an underdog. If you look at the history of Nigeria, underdogs have always been leading the nation. "You may underrate Tambuwal as a potential presidential candidate, but you cannot ignore the desire of Nigerians for change now." Another source said: "The Speaker has delayed in making a declaration because he wants to finalize consultations with ex-Heads of State, key leaders nationwide, royal fathers, governors and strategic groups. "This project is not Tambuwal's own alone. It is the handiwork of concerned citizens, seeking a genuine change for the nation. Just wait for it to unfold."

•Alhaji Tambuwal (middle) receiving the APC presidential nomination form from Hon Ede (left). With them are Hon. Makinde, Dr. Adejare and others ... yesterday PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE

...VP’s security aides attack journalists

OURNALISTS on their way to cover the presentation and acceptance of the presidential expression of interest and nomination form of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, narrowly escaped being shot as they were attacked by the security details attached to the Vice-President Namadi Sambo yesterday. The convoy of the reporters was attacked at Aso Drive junction (close to the Three Arm Zone) as the Vice President, who was on his way back from Jumat prayer at the National Mosque, passed the junction. A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Buba. K, triggered the attack when he ordered the arrest of Mr.Emman Ovuakporie who is a Senior Correspondent with the Vanguard newspapers, claiming that the reporter beat a security cordon mounted by the security details of the Vice President. Buba could not be convinced that one of the mobile policemen attached to the VP's security convoy passed the journalist's car. Other journalists passing packed their cars and protested the undignified manner in which the policemen were manhandling the reporters

Victor OLUWASEGUN and Dele ANOFI which caused a sizable gathering. The Vice President's security details were further annoyed on learning that the reporters were on official assignment to cover the presentation and acceptance of the presidential nomination form by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal. A mobile policeman, Corporal Ayubu Ayefu threatened to shoot a cameraman with Africa Independent Television

(AIT), Femi Akinpelu, in an attempt to disperse the protesting journalists. The Corporal ( Ayubu Ayefu) pointed his cocked AK 47 rifle at the AIT cameraman as he attempted to film the incident. "Look at my name tag; nothing will happen. If you don't leave this place immediately with your camera and your vehicle, I will shoot you. Now move!", the corporal ordered. A senior Department of Security Service (DSS) operative saved the day when he wit-

nessed the scene and alighted from his vehicle. He appealed to the irate DSP Buba and appealed to him to release the detained journalist. He said to Buba: " I came down because I recognised your face. Your boss was my classmate in the university, and I want to let you know that you are biting more than you can chew here". The detained reporter was eventually released by the Vice President's security details after appeals from many quarters.

No pay for striking health workers, says Fed Govt

HE Federal Government has said all striking health workers under the umbrella of the National Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) will not be paid their salaries for the period they are on strike. In a circular signed by the Director, Department of Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Dr Patience Osinubi, the government said the strike is illegal, adding that the executive officers of tertiary hospitals where the striking workers currently work should communicate the issue to the Accountant-General of the Federation for last month’s

Wale ADEPOJU salaries to be deducted from their subsequent salaries. Osinubi said: "No work, no pay", stressing that the EDs should commence the process of disciplinary action against those who embarked on illegal strike. She said the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has dissociated itself from the NUAHP. Osinubi said all staff of the hospitals should be notified that striking workers would not be paid for the period they abandoned their duty posts. Responding to the circular,

NUAHP president said the Federal Government is responsible for the problem in the sector with its double standards. Faniran said no profession is bigger than the others, adding that all professions should be partners in progress. He blamed the Health Minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, for the discrimination as medical doctors are seen as the head of the health sector. He said some rulings by the National Industrial Court (NIC) which were in favour of the union, were never implemented by the government, hence the need to embark on the strike.

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

USTICE Evoh Chukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja yesterday ordered the service of a motion seeking to stop the planned national convention of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on the party’s leadership. The judge made the order while ruling on an ex-parte application argued by a lawyer, Mrs. Lilian Ojimma. She had sought an order to restrain the PDP and its National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, from proceeding to hold the party’s convention and for parties to maintain status quo pending the determi-

Move to stop PDP convention: Court orders

service of processes on Mu’azu, others Eric IKHILAE, Abuja nation of the substantive suit by her client. She argued that it was unjust for the PDP to proceed with its congress when her client, Aliyu Ayoba Gubrin, a member of the party and House of Representatives aspirant from Adamawa State,

was challenging Mu’azu’s appointment as the PDP Chairman and his right to preside at the congress. Justice Chukwu refused to grant the prayers ex-parte, but instead ordered the applicant to covert her application to a motion on notice and serve the defendants to enable them respond. He adjourned to No-

Alleged N247m fraud at Lagos Trade Fair:

AGF seeks withdrawal of suit

HE Attorney General of the Federation and Min ister of Justice, Mr. Muhammed Adoke, has applied that a N247.746,097.31 fraud case at a Lagos High Court, Ikeja against five former staff of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex be discontinued. The defendants in the suit instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) are Bassey Dominic, Okafor Ngozi Eunice, Francis Datla, Okocha Ajele Lazarus and Kolo Banabas. They were in late 2013 arraigned by the EFCC over charges bordering on conspiracy and stealing. They were said to have committed the offences on various dates between 2009 and 2012 by allegedly stealing the money belonging to the management of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. The EFCC said the offences are contrary to the provisions of Sections 516 and 396 of the Criminal Code Cap 617 Vol 2 of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2003. They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges. At the last hearing of the suit, the victim of the fraud, Professor Chika Nick Eze, had narrated how the alleged crime was perpetuated by the defendants. Prof. Eze had insisted that the defendants kept collecting rents, even after the complex has been concessioned to his company, Pulic Nigeria Lim-

Adebisi ONANUGA ited, a real estate management and development company. The matter was adjourned for defence to cross examine him. At the resumed hearing of the suit yesterday, Mr. Adoke through a counsel, D. E. Kaswe, said he had an instruction to withdraw the matter from court. Citing Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Kaswe told Justice Kudirat Jose of Lagos High Court, Ikeja that his chamber had filed a notice of discontinuance before the court. According to him: “In the exercise of his powers, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation has entered a nolle proseque in this matter. I, therefore, urge Your Lordship to deem the notice as proper and the court should discontinue the suit.” In his response, counsel for the EFCC, A. B. C. Oziokwo informed the court that the commission is neither aware of the presence of the counsel from the AGF office nor the application he brought to court. According to him: “Nothing was served on us at the commission. I submit that the EFCC is still prosecuting this matter. The files are still with us and we are ready to proceed. “We are aware that the AGF has power to enter a nolle proseque, but is it limited

to federal enactments. The matter before the court is stealing and it is only the Lagos State Attorney General that can enter a nolle proseque in this matter. “Section 211 (a) of the 1999 Constitution is clear with respect to this matter. “It is only the Lagos Attorney General and not the AGF that can enter nolle proseque with respect to this suit. The EFCC has the fiat of Lagos State AG to prosecute this matter and that fiat has not been withdrawn.” Justice Jose has however adjourned the matter till November 26, 2014 for ruling. Meanwhile, counsel for the civilian complainant, Victor Opara told journalists after proceeding that it is wrong and strange to enter nolle proseque in a matter that the party bringing the application has not even seen the case file. “It is surprising that a nolle proseque could be entered in a matter the EFCC is prosecuting without the Federal Government taking the commission into confidence. The EFCC denied knowledge of the application, and what that suggests to me is that there are no inter-prosecutorial meeting before the AGF decided to introduce that application. “My submission with respecy is that the power of AGF to discontinue is akin to public interest which must be exercised on ground of overriding public interest. The current AGF is a man of impeccable character.”

N1.1bn subsidy fraud: Company Secretary confirms signature on certificate

witness in the ongoing N1.1billion subsidy fraud against an oil marketer, Opeyemi Ajuwah, yesterday told a Lagos High Court, Ikeja that one of the surveyors who signed the Empty Tank Certificate issued by a vessel MT Brave is a staff of the company. The witness, Yayah Zon Kassim, who is the Company Secretary and Legal Adviser of General Marine and Oil Services Limited (GMO), confirmed to the court presided over by Justice Lateefat Okunnu that Okechukwu Opo who signed the document works with the company. Kassim made this known while under examination by counsel for Ajuwah, Olanrewaju Ajanaku, at the resumed hearing of the subsidy fraud charge brought against Ajuwah and four others by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Ajuwah has, however, denied the charge. Kassim told the court that on

Adebisi ONANUGA September 3, 2012, his company received a letter from the EFCC requesting them to authenticate two documents, the Empty Tank Certificate and the Vessel’s MT Brave haulage report. He said they declined to authenticate the documents because ithey are not their own. “Though we saw a signature of one of our staff who signed it. We contacted Q and Q; we told them we have seen a document from them signed by our staff but that we cannot authenticate it,” Kassim. He said his company, GMO, later wrote the EFCC that they are not in position to authenticate the document because they did not issue the Empty Tank Certificate. “Since it has to do with investigation, we told the EFCC to reject the Empty Tank Certificate issued by Q and Q,” Kassim said. He said that the staff of his company, Okechukwu Opo,

was in a better position to explain why he signed the document. According to Kassim, the mandate given his company by the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) is limited to determining arrival of vessels. “In this case, that document has nothing to do with us because our operation has terminated at arrival of the vessel”, he said. Under examination by counsel for third defendant, Aderemi Oguntoye, the witness, who claimed that the filing room of his company is under his control, said he did not know how the document got into their file. The trial judge, Justice Okunnu, adjourned the matter to February 16, 2015. Ajuyah, and her company, Majope Investment Limited, are being prosecuted by the EFCC before Justice Okunnu. They are standing trial with Abdullahi Alao, son of the late Alhaji Arisekola Alao, his company, Axenergy Limited, and Olanrewaju Olalusi.

vember 20 for the hearing of the motion. Gubrin is, in the substantive suit, seeking, among others, an order sacking Mu’azu. He argued that Mu’azu cannot legitimately preside over the affairs of the PDP because the process leading to his emergence as the National Chairman violated the party’s constitution. In the suit marked: FHC/ ABJ/CS/821/2014, Gubrin equally faulted the process leading to the resignation of Mu’azu’s predecessor,

Bamanga Tukur. Named as defendants in the suit include the PDP, Tukur, Mu’azu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Gubrin, who wants the court to void Mu’azu’s appointment, equally seeks an order to restrain Mu’azu from further parading himself as the party Chairman. He wants the court to determine whether or not Tukur’s resignation on January 15 complied with Section 47(5) of the constitution of the

party. The plaintiff also asked the court to declare that Tukur’s resignation is invalid as it did not comply with the constitution of the party and the Electoral Act 2010. He is equally praying the court for an order setting aside the resignation of Tukur as the party Chairman. Gubrin also wants an other restraning INEC from recognizing Mu’azu as the Chairman of the party. Hearing in the main suit has been fixed for December 20.

FG to consolidate Nigeria’s position as Africa’s largest economy — Aganga

HE federal government is committed to consolidat ing the position of Nigeria as Africa’s largest economy through dynamic local and international investment policies and projects, Trade and Investment Minister Segun Aganga said in Abuja yesterday. Speaking at the signing of an agreement between the Tafawa Balewa Square Management Board (TBSMB) and The Infrastructure Bank PLC towards the development of the 25-storey Independence Building, Lagos into a National Trade and International Business Centre, Mr. Aganga said that the country will realise its dream of becoming one of the world’s top-20 economies by year 2020. The minister said the project, which he described as a “game changer”, will give Nigeria an iconic building in the league of the Ronald Reagan Centre in Washington

DC. He said the choice of the Infrastructure bank as the financial advisor for the project and the agreement signing were quick steps to ensure its speedy completion. Aganga described the bank as a premier development financing institution with the domain expertise and market credibility to structure and attract a renowned concessionaire to undertake the development and operation of a worldclass international trade centre. The minister said the bank is expected to work closely with the concessionaire to ensure that the design concept optimised all the benefits accruable to the development of such an iconic development. Aganga commended President Goodluck Jonathan for the ‘’fast ap-

proval’’ of the project in recognition of the status of Lagos as Nigeria’s commercial capital. In his own remarks, the Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Adekunle Oyinloye, said it was pre-mature to talk on the estimated cost of the project before its designs were completed. Oyinloye reiterated that the bank would conduct project due diligence and develop transaction structure and financing mechanism and Public Private Partnership model for it within 12 to 8 months. Also speaking, the representative of TBSMB, an agency under the federal ministry of trade and investment, Mr. Bibonga Umar, said that the project will be an ultramodern high-rise complex that will be a convergence point for the facilitation of national and international trade in Nigeria.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

NEWS

Dame Fashola, Utomi, others tackle child trafficking, hold on November 24, 2014. O address growing sexual abuse Experts who will also prescases of sexual abuse

•Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State (left); former Vice President Atiku Abubakar (middle) and state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Akin Oke (right), when Abubakar paid the governor a visit in Ibadan...yesterday.

and trafficking of children, renowned public affairs analyst, Prof. Pat Utomi and wife of Lagos State governor, Dame Abimbola Fashola, will be guest speakers at a seminar tagged “Child Sexual Abuse and Trafficking: The Implication on Our Society”, organized by Harmony Life family magazine. Speaking on the scope of the event, the editor of the publication, Mercy Ighofose, said the seminar will focus on creating awareness about the high incidence of child sexual abuse and trafficking in the society, and how to reduce the problem. She said: “Every day, children are being sexually abused in the society and the issue is not getting enough attention from policy makers and enforcement agents. The media lately is awash with reports of child sexual abuse and trafficking. It is important that awareness be created on the dangers such abuse pose to the develop-

Akala loses bid to take over Oyo PDP Exco ORMER Oyo State governor, Adebayo Akala has lost his bid to assume the control of the executive committee of the state's People's Democratic Party (PDP) as a Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the party from sacking the existing exco of Oyo PDP. Justice Evoh Chukwu, in a judgment in a suit by the Vice Chairman of Oyo PDP exco, Chief Solomon Oluwole Ogunjimi, held that the exco, having been validly elected on March 17, 2012, should not be dissolved until the expiration of its four -year tenure. He petitioned the national chairman of the party seeking the dissolution of the Hon. Yinka Taiwo led executives which they accused of not living up to expectation. Ogunjimi sued following a petition allegedly written by some supporters of Akala, accusing the exco of incompetence and demanding its dissolution by the party's national body. He alleged that the former governor, who is working to return to office, has been critical of the Yinka Taiwo led Oyo PDP exco and was working to ensure its dissolution with a view to assuming control of the party.

n Eric IKHILAE, Abuja n Part of the petition reads, "I want to urgently bring to your attention the fact that the PDP exco in Oyo State elected on the 17th of March, 2012, under the chairmanship of Hon Akeem Yinka Taiwo, is not living up to expectation at all.” The petition also accused the Exco of not carrying elders and stakeholders of the party along and that it was creating divisions inimical to the interest of the party ahead of the 2015 general elections and called for the immediate dissolution of the exco and the inauguration of a caretaker committee after due considerations with leaders of the party in the state, including him. The plaintiff, who named the PDP and INEC as defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/106/2014, urged the court to restrain Akala and his supporters from dissolving the state executive committee of the party elected on the 17th of March, 2012. He prayed the court to restrain the defendants from recognizing any group other than the state executive committee elected at the party's state congress held on the 17th of March, 2012 in Ibadan,

the state capital before the expiration of the four -year term of the said state executive committee. In his judgment, a copy of which The Nation obtained yesterday, Justice Chukwu granted the 12 reliefs sought by Ogunjimi. He restrained the PDP and INEC from dissolving the Oyo State executive committee elected on the 17th of March, 2012 at Ibadan before the expiration of its term of four years. The judge equally restrained the defendants from recognizing any group other than the state executive committee elected at the party's state congress held on the 17th of March, 2012 in Ibadan, the state capital before the expiration of the four- year term of the said state executive committee. Justice Chukwu also restrained the defendants from conducting any primaries, congress, convention etc, in Oyo State in respect of the State House of Assembly, National Assembly and governorship elections in any venue except that designated by the state executive committee of the PDP in the state which was duly elected at the party's state congress held on the 17th of March, 2012 in Ibadan, the state capital, of

‘APC will embrace defectors’ LL Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant for the House of Representatives in Ondo State, Hon. Lucky Ayedatiwa has assured that politicians who recently defected to the party would not hijack it from the existing members. Ayedatiwa who is gunning for the Ilaje/Ese-Odo constituency seat spoke while submitting his nomination form at the party secretariat in Akure yesterday. He said the party has given open arms to defectors who are ready to abide with its rules and regulations. It would be recalled that since the defection of Governor Olusegun Mimiko from Labour Party (LP) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), two State House of Assembly members, a member of the House of Representatives and prominent politicians in the state have decamped to the APC. He stated that what makes the APC different from other parties is that the party always gives defectors the opportunity to fulfill their political ambition. His words: “Looking at the federation at

n Leke AKEREDOLU, Akure n large, we have two parties; PDP and APC. We all know that PDP has been in government for so many years and the people are tired. APC is an option for the people so we are not surprised that we are seeing a lot of people decamping to the party. "There is nothing to worry about because we have opened our arms to receive everybody. Politics is a game of numbers, the higher the number of people that are coming, the better for us. “We are not afraid of the people coming into the party and are convinced that they can't hijack the party. They are just coming to join forces with us in the party. What we will do is to provide the enabling environment and give equal opportunity to everybody.” He expressed optimism that the party would enjoy massive vote from the electorate in the state due to the failure of the present government and the unending crisis rocking PDP.

which Chief Ogunjimi is the vice chairman, in respect of the 2015 elections to be conducted by the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, or any other electoral activity until the expiration of tenure of office of the said state executive committee of the party in the state.

15 people feared killed in Kano multiple bomb blasts Kolade ADEYEMI, Kano BOUT 15 people were feared killed yesterday after multiple bomb blasts occurred at Hotoro quarters close to the NNPC mega station in Kano. This was the account of eyewitnesses, but the police confirmed that six people died in the explosions. Five people, including three policemen sustained various degrees of injury in the blast. The blast which occurred at about 7:30 pm shook the foundation of the area, causing the residents to be running helter skelter for their dear lives. The bomb, according to sources close to the area was planted at a crowded terminus within the NNPC and the checkpoint, apparent targeting the security men. It was said to have exploded in the midst of chaotic traffic situation. An unconfirmed report said that some security men at the checkpoint might be among the dead. In a telephone chat with The Nation, the police commissioner, Mr Adenrele Shinaba said contrary to the eye-witnesses’ claim, only six people died in the incident. He asserted that six people were killed in the blast, adding: “Five others including three policemen were injured. Developments may however make the the casualty figure to increase. “At about 7:30pm, there was a deafening sound and immediately my men were alerted about it, we swung into action and on reaching the scene of the incident, we discovered that it was a bomb blast.’’

n Kunle AKINRINADE n

ment of children and the society at large, hence the need for this seminar in conjunction with stakeholders at the Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island and will

ent papers at the seminar include, Mrs. Bose Ironsi of Women's Right and Health Project; Mr. Chino Obiagwu of Legal Defense & Assistance Project (LEDAP) and Mrs. Josephine Chukwuma of Project Alert.

Group decries APM hike in charges HE Associations of Joint Freight Forwarders, Apapa chapter, has urged the Federal Government to resolve demurrage issues caused by the APM terminals Ltd in Apapa. The group made this known on Wednesday during a press conference to inform the general public of the delays and sufferings caused by the shipping company to the body. In a statement, the group lamented that the additional demurrage charges by APM is at the detriment of the Nigerian economy. 'We have made presentations at every opportunity and in the different forms to make APM terminals improve over the years without success. As of today, APM release terminals said they cannot handle more

n Rukkayat JIMOH n than 200 containers daily. The situations would have worsened if the Nigeria Customs Service has not introduced the fast track scheme. ''Every other booking wait while storage charges accrue for APM terminal to receive causing Nigeria’s economy to suffer the storage payment. Often, APM terminals would not provide the booked containers for examination /scanning in order to receive additional storage charges. Loading of released containers for delivery are also delayed tactically for more storage payment to APM terminals while truck drivers are made to be on the seat in their trucks for minimum of 10hours in APM terminals premises before being loaded. This is hazardous.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

COMMENTARY

Institutional performance, politics and discipline HEN I read the headline credited to APC leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu this week that ‘INEC has merged with PDP’ I thought that was stretching the imagination of Nigerians too far even in our highly volatile and tension soaked political environment. But then, this was a week of unbelievable events. While Asiwaju Tinubu was raising a great alarm which turned out to be fortuitous since INEC made a u- turn on the creation of more voting booths in the north more than the south, other events and news were certainly no more alarming and provocative than the evil prospect of a merger of our major political institution with the ruling party of the land. First imagine the Chief of Army Staff Major General Kenneth Minimah refusing to answer questions in the National Assembly from the Senate Committee on Defence unless the place was cleared of, of all people, journalists. Similarly just fancy the cheek of the Americans announcing that they will not sell the sophisticated Jaguar helicopter fighter to Nigeria because they did not think our military can maintain it . Thirdly you find it difficult to believe or answer the question of the Igbo Cultural group Ohaneze which in announcing its support for the declaration for re-election of the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan rhetorically asked if because people are being bombed the president should not declare his intention to contest for re-election?. Fourthly you want to wonder how the Angolans, fellow Africans, found the courage to tell off the all powerful African Football Confederation that it cannot host the next edition of the African Cup of Nations which Morocco has refused to host because of Ebola in West Africa. Starting with the reported heated challenge the Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Senate, Senator George Sekibo gave the Army Chief, one is left with no choice but to sympathise with the army boss. He was told to his face that his army, our army was not performing but he refused to speak until journalists have been shown the door. His excuse was that he would not discuss war strategy on the pages of newspapers, which I think is tenable and should have elicited a prompt apology from a senate committee on defence which should have been security conscious but which later yielded to the General’s stand and banned the press which has always been the whipping boy of those in authority globally but especially in Nigeria. Really the Senate Committee rubbed salt in the festering wound and

pride of the army over this Boko Haram disaster. It should not be that way. The army should be encouraged to retrieve its mettle and capability to send Boko Haram packing in a jiffy as we all thought and expected, before Boko Haram blossomed and metamorphosed from a domestic cat on Okada in Maiduguri to a very lethal full blown tiger on armoured cars and anti aircraft weapons in Mubi, right before our eyes. I am sure the Army boss used his armoury of discipline to maintain his cool before that Senate Committee. He must have remembered that story of a servant of a mighty sultan in those days of yore when power was arbitrary and absolute. Then, the servant touched his head on leaving the presence of his boss. That was the certain way of making sure he has survived the meeting because he still has his head on his shoulders. But then time changes and this is our democracy. With regard to the hatred of the army boss for journalists I assure him it is quite misplaced. He will need them very soon when the tide turns against Boko Haram and the army is victorious. He will then know why failure was an orphan. With regard to the sale of helicopter fighters I think the Americans are simply having a good laugh, very publicly and most undiplomatically because of the intelligence they have on corruption in high places in our security establishment. They even asked us to buy elsewhere as they are not the only sellers and that given the human rights record of our military we could use the helicopters to kill civilians not to talk of our army. Well it is really not their fault. When the cat is not at home mice would play. If our army had wrung the neck of Boko Haram like chicken we will not be the butt of this nasty and humiliating American jokes. But then every dog has his day and the Americans can make merry with our present predicament till of course they shoot themselves in the leg with their rude mirth which will be quite soon. This is because given their prediction based on nothing that Nigeria will collapse in 2015 which they have not denied they can be accused of being the devil’s advocate by not

helping us with needed ammunition in our of need when we are an integral part of their global war on terror and their national values include respect for the sanctity of human lives which Boko Haram is trampling on with impunity in our besieged North East. I pray really they have a change of mind and very soon to. With regard to Ohaneze ‘s support for the PDP flag bearer and our President, the support is in order but it need not be couched in blood like the Spokesman did. People die every day whether elections are coming or not. When however young students are bombed on school assembly lines, humanity is disturbed and the milk of human kindness flows in empathy and sympathy for the victims. That is just natural. Just as people are still demonstrating in Mexico after the killing of 49 students by Police and drug gangs in that nation. That was the trait lacking in that question of the Ohaneze on the re-election bid. The living cannot or should not stop it. Neither can the harmless and innocent dead. Support can be given to the reelection bid as required without devaluing the worth and sanctity of human life. That question lacked humanity and was just extravagant. However Angola’s rejection of the hosting of the 2015 African Cup of Nations was a lesson in cost control and budget management. The Angolan Spokesman on the issue said his nation had not applied to host and should therefore not be forced to do so. In addition he said the notice was short and Angola has just approved its sports budget and was not ready for extra budgetary expenditure. Which is a lesson in fiscal discipline for all African nations which use presidential fiat to exceed their budgets and fly in money on presidential jets to pay footballers who refuse to play at semi final or finals of CAF Competitions as our Super Eagles have done several times in recent times. Incidentally Angola too is awash in oil like Nigeria but is using our tragedy in mismanaging our oil wealth as a lesson and lamp post not to repeat our mistakes. As for the Moroccans I am happy CAF has expelled them from the 2015 edition they have dropped because of Ebola. Which I think is racist and shows that African solidarity is a sham with North African Arabs who only tolerate Africans outside their nations and maltreat those inside especially those migrating to Europe in recent times. CAF should censure such nations seriously and expel them like they have done to Morocco to show that a friend indeed, should be a friend in need.

Adamawa hunters’ message to Jonathan Saturday T Flakes

HE saying that power belongs to the people found practical expression in Adamawa State on Wednesday. With the monumental failure of the military to checkmate the rampaging army of the Boko Haram sect, which in recent weeks, has overrun many towns in Borno and Adamawa states, the people decided to take their destiny in their own hands. Local hunters, armed with bows and arrows, flushed out the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents from Maiha, one of the numerous towns earlier captured by the sect in the North East, killing no fewer than 75 sect members in the process. They followed this up a day later with another offensive on the sect in Mubi, flushing out its army of occupation and killing the stooge they installed as the new Emir of the town. Armed with Dane guns, bows, arrows, cudgels and amulets, the brave hunters confronted the army of insurgents that had humiliated our military, capturing town after town and forcing our soldiers to flee with their tails between their legs. Before Wednesday’s exploits by the brave hunters the news media were frequently awash with tales of Nigerian soldiers fleeing to Cameroun in their hundreds at the sight of the army of the dreaded sect. And while the authorities of the Nigerian Army told the worried public that the soldiers only made a tactical detour into the neighbouring country, it is on record that many of the soldiers deployed to fight insurgency are currently on trial for mutiny. And for the first time in history, we had soldiers’ wives protesting the deployment of their husbands to Boko Haram enclaves. Coming barely 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan declared his decision to vie for four more years in office, the hunters’ action was an eloquent and unambiguous passage of a vote of no confidence in the ability of the armed forces and their commander-in-chief to protect the lives of hapless inhabitants of the South East zone against the ruthless sect that has slaughtered the people in thousands. Like his predecessor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, who ordered the military to quell an uprising the sect began in parts of the North in 2009, President Jonathan had every chance to nip the activities of the sect in the bud after the Christmas Day bombing of Saint Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, near Abuja where 42 worshippers were killed in 2011. But rather than move decisively against the sect, he adopted a phrase that has since become a mantra: “We will name their sponsors.” So, when the sect bombed the United Nations House in Abuja, the President said: “We will name their sponsors. When they attacked churches in Yola, Gombe, Bauchi, Maiduguri

With

Vincent Akanmode vincentakanmode@yahoo.com SMS only: 08034426263 and other parts of the North, the President said: “We will name their sponsors.” When they unleashed terror on markets and motor parks in Kano, Kaduna, Abuja and other parts of the country, the President said: “We will name their sponsors.” When they attacked prisons in Bauchi, Bama, Gwoza, Kotonkarfe and other parts of Nigeria, setting thousands of prisoners free and killing scores of prison officials and inmates, the President said: “We will name their sponsors.” Weary of empty promises and shocked at the ease with which the sect took over Mubi, the second largest town in Adamawa, while the soldiers on ground simply abandoned the armoury and fled, the people decided that the time had

‘

Coming barely 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan declared his decision to vie for four more years in office, the hunters’ action was an eloquent and unambiguous passage of a vote of no confidence in the ability of the armed forces and their commander-inchief to protect the lives of hapless inhabitants of the South East zone against the ruthless sect that has slaughtered the people in thousands

‘

come to take their destiny in their own hands. The people borrowed from the Yoruba saying that when a load defies the head and rejects the shoulder, there is yet another place you can keep it. They were simply not taken in by yet another pledge by the president during his declaration of interest in the 2015 presidential race that he would not take a flight in the face of the security challenges that have rocked that part of the country since 2009. The demystification of the dreaded sect by hunters who tread where soldiers dread appear to lend credence to the conspiracy theory of the Boko Haram crisis. Although the Federal Government has vigorously denied it, Nigerians are increasingly alligning themselves to the view that the crisis in the North East is being fuelled by the PDP-led government for political gains. The reasoning is that the North East is a stronghold of the All Progressives Congress (APC), hence there is a grand plot by the ruling party to make it ungovernable in order to ensure that elections are not held in that part of the country in 2015. Such a situation would put the APC at a disadvantage and brighten the chance of the ruling party to sustain its ambition to rule Nigeria for 60 years. Two major developments have lent credence to the foregoing. The first was the confession of the Australian negotiator, Steven Davis, that Nigerian politicians were sponsoring Boko Haram. He went ahead to name specific individuals as sponsors of the group and the Central Bank of Nigeria as the financial institution that helps the sect to move funds around. Although the Federal Government was quick in refuting the allegation and distancing itself from Davis, subsequent events, including the President’s clandestine rapport with some individuals accused of funding the group. Also of great concern to observers was the ease with which the sect captured Mubi after the soldiers deployed to guard the city capitulated without firing a shot. Not a few residents of the city raised the alarm that the soldiers were only acting a script prepared by a higher authority, a view that has been stregthened by the relative ease with which cudgel-wielding hunters flushed out the sect from Mahia and Mubi The exploits of the hunters could signal the beginning of a major revolution in our national life. The subtle declaration of loss of faith in the ability of the government of the day to secure the people’s lives in the face of clear and present danger could rub off on other Nigerians who could now live with the belief that entrusting their future in the hands of the current administration could amount to suicide.

I joined politics out of circumstances, says Suswam at 50 — Pages 60 & 61

THE NATION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

PEOPLE SOCIETY ROMANCE ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS

•Entrance to the cemetery

Innocent DURU

â&#x20AC;˘A view of the cemetery

THE NATION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Gang members strike a menacing pose for the camera in Mushin during a turf war Inset: Victims of a gang war Olatunji OLOLADE, Associate Editor

Gangs of Lagos Dangerous manifestations of turf wars in a coastal city

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

THE NATION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Continued from Page 17

Members of the One Million Boys gang been herded into a police truck at their arrest by law enforcers

Tunde

Continued on Page 48

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

22-year-old murder suspect has admitted stabbing a man identified as Segun Bokos to death because he allegedly conspired with another man to abduct his son and wife. Wasiu Kadiri, who is cooling his heels in the cell of the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, said he was moved to extreme anger because the victim had the courage to come to his house and make jest of him after conspiring to kidnap his wife and son. Explaining the circumstances that led to his arrest, Kadiri said: “My friend, Tunji, who resides in the same area with me in Epe, a suburb of Lagos, is the cause of my problem. He took my wife and three-monthold son and went away with them for more than two months. “I told my brother that I did not know why he ran away with my wife and son and he promised to see him and ask him why. Surprisingly, I saw him on Sallah day as he came home to celebrate Sallah. Their house is very close to ours in Epe. “On Sallah day, I saw Tunji going to the praying ground. He carried the late friend I stabbed to death on his motorcycle. When they finished praying, they rode back to their house at No. 7, Odunshola Street, Epe on the same motorcycle. “They were riding up

•Wasiu, suspects

n Ebele BONIFACE n

and down the street, and each time they rode near where I stood, the late guy would raise his shirt up at the waist to intimidate me by showing that he was carrying a pistol. “Although I did not see the gun, I believed that he had a dangerous weapon on him, something like a gun because the way he posed was the way they used to pose whenever they were up to an evil mission. I believe that they are cult members who do not value life. “When my brother saw Tunji and asked him why he took my wife, he denied it. Unfortunately for him, my wife called my brother and told him that she was with Tunji. I had earlier reported Tunji to my brother Jamani and another man called Baba Bukky. Both of them later saw Tunji and my wife and warned them to stop that bad act. “Seeing that they were unrepentant liars, we decided that we should tell them to confess or drink ‘oshi’ water at a shrine in Epe on Sallah Day. “But on that day, Tunji came with the late friend and parked his motorcycle in front of our house. They insisted that they knew nothing about my wife and son. “I did not know whether my wife was under spell as she was supporting Tunji, claiming that I was talking

Beauty queen’s goose pimples over electoral violence •Charges youths against thuggery O politician's ambition is worth the blood of our youths", the fair, beautiful lady thundered in a half-filled hall. She radiated with exceptional prettiness and exuded extra-ordinary confidence as she cautioned the youth against violence in the forthcoming elections. Spotting her golden crown, Miss Peace, Bayelsa State, Queen Rebecca Hampson, was, indeed, worried about the roles politicians and moneybags could compel the youth to play in 2015. In fact, the thought of possible bloodshed before, during and after the elections threw her into trepidation and lined her skin with goose pimples. Perhaps, if she had the physi-

cal power to seize the energies of the youth, she would have done it, a least, temporarily till after the elections. Lacking such magical powers, Hampson could only appeal to the conscience of the youth. At an event in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, where she received a Kia Rio car donated for her cause by an ex-militant leader, Mr. Ebikabowei Victor Ben, popularly known as Field Marshall Boyloaf, through the PGR Entertainment, the organiser of the pageant, Hampson spoke emotionally on the need for sustainable peace. She said: "Most conflicts are being caused by the selfish ambitions of some corrupt politicians all over the world. In our coun-

try, the elections are very close and we are saying, 'No politician's ambition is worth the blood of our youths'. I say, 'No' to political thuggery. We will vote credible politicians. We will vote wisely and we will vote for our future". She further appealed to Nigerians to identify with the ideals of Miss Peace which, she said, had universal appeal. According to her, no society could thrive in an environment of anarchy. She recalled with nostalgia the violent crises in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and Nigeria. But in Nigeria, she said peace was being threatened in the Niger Delta region and the North East where Boko Haram insurgents have Continued on page 20

•Miss Peace posing with the car

Continued on page 20

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

CRIME ‘I stabbed man to death for mocking me’ Continued from page 19 nonsense. “Later, Tunji rode on his motorcycle back to their house, but his friend stood behind and continued to insult me, acting as if he was armed. “I was wondering why he refused to go with Tunji and continued to challenge me the moment he alighted from Tunji’s motorcycle. “It was as if they wanted to prove that I was too small to challenge them as cult boys. He came near me, raised his shirt again and showed me something that looked like a gun. I stomached the challenge until he pushed me and threatened to slap my face. “I got myself ready for a fight and he charged towards me like a hungry lion, wanting to pounce on me. I ran towards the spot where a knife meant for killing a ram was kept. I then drew the knife and stabbed him just once. “I dropped the knife and ran when I noticed that he was going to die. The people around called Tunji and told him that his friend had been stabbed and that they should pursue me before I would run far. “They pursued me with a bike but could not get me even with assistance from the vigilance group called “Emuwo”. “I was provoked to do what I did. After stabbing him, I ran to my working place at Mbata Market garage to continue my motor park work. I thought that they would rush him to the hospital and save his life. I never thought that just stabbing him once could kill him, because I stabbed him on the shoulder. “I am not mad or mentally sick. I lost control of my anger due to the height of provocation. I plead for leniency.” The second suspect, Tunji Balogun, who was said to be at large was eventually arrested on Thursday. Confessing his involvement, Tunji said: “I went into hiding when the incident happened because I was not there to avoid being arrested but when I heard about the risk of hiding in a case which O/C SARS Abba Kyari is investigating, I surrendered myself to Epe Police Station. I know Wasiu as a street boy at Odusola Street Epe. He used knife to kill Bokos and my younger brother said the body had been deposited in mortuary. ‘’It was Segun that gave Wasiu’s wife my address to come and meet me at Ijebu. I slept with her for one month before I realised that she was married to Wasiu. I sent her away before the incident where Bokos was stabbed to death.’’ The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, had earlier warned that there is no hiding place for hardened criminals in the state, adding that his men and officers will get them.

OTHER STORIES

olukunle87@yahoo.com

Plateau Police pounce on robbery suspects, recover 25 stolen cars

Beauty que e n begins campaign against thuggery, electoral violence Continued from page 19

n Mike ODIEGWU, Yenagoa n

continued to unleash mayhem on people. She was particularly unhappy about the abduction of the over 200 girls in Chibok, Borno. In a voice laced with sympathy, Miss Peace asked the insurgents to release the innocent girls. Making reference to the abducted girls, she said: "In all of these war situations, women and children have become the unfortunate victims. This has also created millions of orphans all over the world". Miss Peace also used the occasion to inaugurate her peace pet project entitled, Massive

Awareness Raising Campaign on Peace (MARCOP). To change the perception of the youth, she said she would carry out widespread advocacy programmes on peace. She said the message of peace and non-violent elections would be conveyed through drama, music, dance and distribution of informative materials. As part of her plans, she said she would gather politicians, youths, the police, the armed forces and women for a seminar on peace ahead of the election. "The project is aimed at not only creating awareness for

peace before, during and after elections, but also building the culture of peace. Let peace be our way of life and ultimately, let’s take collective stand against violence and crime. "A complete success and sustainable peace-building is a function of youth participation. The seed of tolerance must first be sown right into the minds and hearts of our children as they grow old. "Let's nurture in them respect for the existence of individuals of whatever religion, ethnic group, nation, gender, socioeconomic standing and political leaning", she said. She thanked the PGR Entertainment for giving her the

platform to beckon on Nigerians to embrace the peace. In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, PGR Entertainment, Seleipre Tonbie, said the pageant was organised because of the company’s vision to promote peace in Bayelsa and Nigeria in general. He urged the state government and other philanthropic organisations to identify with the vision of the company to ensure sustainable peace and development in the state. He said peace and security are key to development, adding that for any society to grow, critical elements of peace such as Miss Peace pageant should be embraced.

Tale of Kogi kid hawkers HE phenomenon of children street hawkers all around Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, is so prevalent that it no longer shocks. When the reporter sought to take a trio of these kid hawkers, who daily throng the Nigerian union of Journalists Press Centre along Lugard Road, a self-seeking government media aide took offence, saying, how can you do that? Don’t you know that you are abusing their right? It was then that the reality of the problem of these children dawned on the hapless reporter. The abused children have no one to fight their cause; not their hapless parents

n James AZANIA n

many that are back in the villages, nor the government or its officials. They are on their own. Asked why he was not in school, Halidu smiled, but answered firmly that his aunt will have none of that. “My aunty nor go gree. My father dey village and I dey stay with her and her husband”, he said. The scene of kid traders though not peculiar to Kogi is unique because of the seeming condoning and acceptance. Elsewhere in places like Lagos, government, civil society groups and other socially conscionable

individuals, groups and organisations have always been there for the children who are made to fend for grown-ups. The issue of non-payment of teachers’ salaries in the state, which has in turn resulted in epileptic running of the basic school ‘system’ has further joined to compound the situation of the children, some of who are actually supposed to be in their various classrooms. On a good day, from AM to PM, these children are weighed down by the burden of hawking various items, mostly edibles, such as boiled eggs, smoked fish, garden eggs, kulikuli, groundnut, Sachet (pure) water and all what

n Yusufu AMINU IDEGU, Jos n HE Plateau State Police Command has arrested suspected, notorious crim- we have made the cars available for identification and inals who are said to specialise in stealing cars and power gen- claim by their owners." Mr. Oki added: "About 12 of erators. the stolen vehicles were recovThe suspects and the 25 cars ered in Akwa Ibom State with recovered from them were pamany of them repainted. Othraded at the command headers were recovered within Jos quarters in Jos by the state here and neighbouring states. Police Commissioner, Nasiru "These armed robbers operOki. ate mostly in Gada Biu, Rantya Mr Oki, while briefing newsmen in his office, said: "It is our and Rayfield areas of Jos where they are making innocent citipleasure to intimate you of the zens sleepless. We as police will successes recorded by the comnot sit down here, fold our mand within the last one arms and allow criminals to month. There are some notorirule the command. We have to ous criminals that have been show we are in charge." giving citizens of the state While parading the suspects sleepless nights. They go about at the Police Area Command in searching cars at gun point. They go to residential homes to Jos, the CP attributed the success of the command to the costeal electric power generators. operation from residents who "Residents cannot move arvolunteered information. round town because of these He said: "I am delighted to criminals because of fear of being robbed of their cars. So as intimate you of the successes recorded in the last one month. a command, we decided to rise The existing synergy and coopto the occasion providing resieration among the Police, other dents with respite. And the efsecurity agencies and stakeforts of our men and officers holders have made our task rehave yielded positive results with the arrest of some of these warding. "On the 9/10/2014, a Police notorious criminals. detective attached to Area "We have also recovered 25 Command Metro, Jos, apprecars from these criminals and hended one William Ezeudo,

•Miss Peace (middle) with other contestants

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

not. The Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR), Mr. Idris Miliki, and a spattering of others have in the past spoken out against the practice. Efforts made to speak with government officials and get their response on the development was stonewalled at every point, while a top government functionary who spoke on the condition of anonymity, simply said: “Government is already working on that and you will be witness to the measures we are putting in place to address the issue you have just spoken of when they are rolled out.”

•The suspects with some of the cars

who specialises in stealing generators sets and the following were recovered: "SP 100 Mikano, SP 40 Mikano, SP 13 Mikano, LP 20, Lister Better Generator and L17.5 Generator. One Abel Joseph, who with others at large are experts in snatching vehicles at gunpoint, was arrested based on information.

"Toyota Camry JJN 286 RP, Accord EOD - No Registration number, Toyota RAV4 RYM 171 RA, Honda Civic GP 845 ABC, Honda Accord AG 71 KJM, Ford Focus AJ 842 JNN, Toyota Matrix - no registration, Toyota High Lander among others." Mr. Oki added: "Like I told you, the police will not sleep until we rid the state of these

About a decrepit Abuja registry ould-be couples have ample reasons to shun the Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja, Marriage Registry. A first-time visitor would have to inquire for the location. A decrepit structure, tucked by the side of a narrow untarred road, looking quite empty and deserted, the building instills fear and trepidation in visitors, especially these days that kidnapping has become part of our country’s security challenges. Investigations by The Nation revealed that the building is actually meant for the solemnisation of marriages. Would-be couples are expected to file inside the building and tie the nuptial nuts with witnesses from among friends and family members. A small office with about ten chairs for witnesses and well-wishers was provided for the solemnisation. The condition to be fulfilled by couples, it was gathered, are not so cumbersome, provided the potential husband and wife come with affidavit from a customary court indicating their desire to be joined together as husband and wife. In addition, the couple would have to pay the sum of N10,000 to the registry if they want to do their wedding in less than 21 working days. However, if they are not in a hurry, they would pay, N5,600. The Nation further learnt that the would-be couple would have to provide a cartoon of Malt

n Blessing OLAIFA, Asst. Editor, Abuja n drink, and come with a symbol of their love for each other, either a ring or a Holy Bible. In all, a wedding can be consummated in the registry with less than N50,000. But potential couples, it was learnt, do not find the registry attractive because of the condition of the building being used as a place for such an important life time engagement. On top of the building are grown up weeds. And a portion of the building roof also leaks. When The Nation made enquiries on the number of weddings that have been consummated in the building for the past five

months, a staff of the registry merely said “they were very few because most couples prefer being joined together outside here. So they use their reception venue”. The staff, who spoke in confidence, said the condition of the building always scares people away.” People have been coming, but after making inquiries about the things they need for their wedding, some would show up and others would say they want another place as venue. We have noticed that their behaviour was not unconnected with the state of the building. We have complained

•A view of the structure housing the temporary registry

about the problem but we were told that since this place was a temporary office, we should just manage. “The former Chairman of the Council Area started the Town Hall building which is supposed to house our registry, but work on the building is on-going. The present Chairman, Abubakar Giri, has promised that the building would be completed very soon,” she asserted. When The Nation accosted a young girl who lives near by the building and asked whether she would not mind holding her wedding in the registry, she said: ”God forbid. I live in this area, but I can’t remember when last any wedding takes place here. Look at the structure; it has been neglected and remained unkept for years. If you take the pictures of your wedding here, would you be proud to show your children in the next few years? That is one; what manner of honeymoon would you have when you remember this place? Certainly, I don’t want nightmares to follow my honeymoon and this structure is no more than a symbol of nightmares”. However, it was gathered that the Gwagalada Council Area authorities are working round the clock to complete the Town Hall building, especially as complaints over the registry are becoming an embarrassment to the government.

criminals. So, we will sustain this tempo of our vigilance and intelligent gathering. So we need the good people of the state to continue to partner with us with timely information. "I belive, if members of the public cooperate with the police, criminals will not exist in our midst," he said.

Court remands man over alleged murder n Rukayat JIMOH n

N Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate's Court has ordered the remand of a 26-year-old man, Lawrence Ikonne, for allegedly killing one Isa Yaya, 22 years old. He was alleged to have hit him with an Iron rod on his stomach. The said incident happened on the 10th of October, 2014 at about 1,000 hours, at No, 16 Afro Close, Afro Media Estate, Okokomaiko, Lagos. The charge sheet reads: "That you, Lawrence Ikonne 'M', on the 10th day of October, 2014 at about 1,000 hrs, at No 16 Afro Close, Afro Media Estate, Okokomaiko, Lagos, in the Lagos magisterial district, did unlawfully kill one Yaya 'M' aged 22 years by hitting him with an iron rod on the stomach and thereby committed an offence, punishable under section 221 of the criminal law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.’’ He pleaded not guilty to the count charge of murder. Police prosecutor, Inspector Cousin Adams filed an application that the defendant be remanded in prison custody pending legal advice from the office of the DPP. The Presiding Magistrate, N. A. Layeni, granted his plea and ordered the defendant to be remanded in prison custody pending advice form DPP office. He adjourned the case till 5th of January, 2015 .

ENTERTAINMENT

Continued from Page 21

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

It was hard to tell my parents I’m a cook –Ex-Mobil chef

Stories on pages 28&37

Akintunde Adesina, popularly known as Chefshine, was an accountant before travelling to the UK with the aim of furthering his study. Unfortunately, he could not realise his dream and as fate would have it, he took to being a chef. In this interview with INNOCENT DURU, Chefshine, who is currently consulting for several hotels in the country, narrated how he conquered pride to take up the job that has brought him fame and wealth.

‘How I abandoned my accounting career to become a chef’ ould you tell us about your background and how you became a celebrated chef? I am from Oyo State and presently the executive chef of Orchid Hotels and events Centre. I won’t say the idea of getting into the industry occurred by accident. It was the will of God. I am an accountant by training. I worked as an accountant for some time. And just when I was about to write my final papers in ICAN, I decided to travel out of the country. The idea behind that was to continue to pursue the accounting profession over there. In order to further my studies over there, I needed a job to be able to take care of my family. The first job I got was in the purchasing department of a company called Rain Forest Cafe. It was a franchise owned by the Glendolar Group. I actually wanted to pursue a career in Accounting in the company, but because of this issue of trust between the black and the white, I found it difficult getting employment as an accountant.

After failing to pick the job of an accountant, an Irish man, who was my friend and general manager, called me and said, 'Shine, everybody loves you around here and people wish to help, but this accounting thing you are pursuing might not work'. He asked me if there was any other thing I wanted to do in the company aside from the accounting job. I asked him what else I could do since I had been an accountant all along. I went back home and thought over it but I couldn’t fashion out any other thing I could do aside from accounting job. So I went back to him the following day and told him that I could not come up with any other thing. He replied that outside my work, he had seen me helping out those in the kitchen and asked, 'Don't you think you can work as a chef?’ When he said so, my response was, 'Me, a cook? What I’m I going to say to my parents? What will I tell my friends that I am doing? He said to me, 'Shine, I

•Adesina

can assure you of one thing, if you do this profession with the passion that I know that you used to work, you can never go wrong and anywhere you go in the world, you can never lack employment. How much did you know about

cooking at that time? I didn’t know much about the food industry at that time. But I decided to give it a trial. When I got home, I went on the internet to know how far one can go as a chef. When I did that, I came about all the celebrity chefs and I saw how big

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014 they were living. I said wow! Whatever it took them to get that far doing this job, it was worth doing. That was how the story of my life changed. Besides, I also furthered my education in programmes that are related to the industry. This put me in a good position to attract the best offers. Would you say that decision was worth it? Looking back, I would say that that I have taken a very right decision. A lot of my colleagues who were accountants back in the days cannot measure to me in terms of achievement. Not so many of them can boast of it. My work experience as a chef spanned over 15 years. After working with Rain Forest Cafe, I moved to Octave Restaurant. From there, I moved to the Babecan Centre. Thereafter, I came back to Nigeria. My first job in Nigeria was in Mobil, Eket, in Akwa Ibom State. Were you free enough to tell anybody back at home when you took the job of a chef? At first, I knew my dad would not appreciate that. I didn't tell them at first. But when I started sending money home, living big and already had a house in London, they demanded to know what exactly I was doing. It was then that I told them that I am a chef. I remember my dad saying, 'You are a cook? It took him time to understand. But few of my friends who travel really appreciate what it takes to be a chef. It was easy for me to relate with them. A lot of people I didn't tell about it got to know on my facebook account and they said it was beautiful. Each time I posted something on the social media, the kind of comments that people made showed clearly that what I was doing was really good. What is the difference between being a chef in Nigeria and being one abroad? There is a big difference. Within the few years I have been in the country, I have come to see that the training that the early settlers, like the Portuguese, Indians and so on, have taught them is what they have held on to. Just like every other area of life has evolved, the food industry has also evolved. Some of the senior chefs I have come across still do things the way they were done in the 60s. These days, we have what we call fusion food. You have a lot of recipes and can do a lot of Asian, Spanish and English fusion to make it something else. You don’t necessarily need to go by what it was in the 60s. What I have also seen here is that a lot of people are just doing the job to survive. They are not really career people. A lot of people are in the industry because they just needed to work and they found themselves in there and are just doing it. This is why you don't see so many career chefs around in the country. Another thing is that the gap in remuneration is so big. What the cooks earn compared to what their contemporaries earn overseas is so different. But it is all about you as a person. Don't just stop at what somebody teaches you. Thank God the internet is there for you to learn. You can go online to check up recipes. Now that you have identified the gap, is Chefshine doing anything to bridge it? Yes. Like I said, there are a couple of chefs who have worked with me not even for a very long time, but they were able to do some wonderful things like I would do. My whole idea is that in a very short time, we would have an association of chefs and make things work

out so that we will be able to say to employers, 'You cannot pay this cadre of chef less than X amount every month.’ I have some young, brilliant guys who have worked with me and have landed some very good jobs. There was one of them that I even had to go to an interview with and the employer said, 'Chefshine, if you cannot work for us, let your guy work for us.' I told them that if he would work for you, you cannot pay him less than N120, 000. And this was a guy that was earning N40, 000 where he was before. I believe the gap will not be bridged not just by word of mouth but by giving up to date training to the people. When this is done, they would go places. A lot of hotels are springing up here and there and there are so many of such who do not have people to run it for them and they are looking for chefs. Bridging the gap may take a while because of the economic situation in the country. But it is going to get a lot better. We need to have this done by training the guys in the field. I am never tired of impacting knowledge because what I have in my head is enormous. But I can assure you that it is going to be a lot better in the nearest future. We want to see people wearing their chef jackets and driving around in their SUVs and all that. One would have expected you to abandon your career

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

I used to say to a couple of guys I have mentored since I came back three years ago that they should go out there and tell people that they are chefs. If you are good at something, go all out there and make it known. Gone are the days when chefs were paid peanuts, so why shouldn't you be proud of it? I earn a lot than most bankers, so I am very proud of it

as a chef when you returned to Nigeria, going by the attitude of the people here to such jobs... After my exposure abroad, I have come to be proud of this job. My coming back to Nigeria was made possible by one of my workers who I trained as a chef back there in London. He got a job with one of the catering outfits that came to Nigeria to work on the offshore. After the kind of treatment that he got here in Nigeria, he saw the potentials in the country. Unfortunately, he ran back to the UK when kidnapping became very rampant in the country. When we met again, he said to me, 'Chef, what are you doing here? Why not go back to your country because there is a lot of money to be made there?' He said that when he was here, he was given a house here in Lagos and another one in Port Harcourt by the oil company he worked for. When he said all that, I said my country respected you that much because of your colour. I said back in Africa, even if you are not that good, the fact that you are white, they tend to believe that you are good. It was at that time that the whole idea of coming back to the country got very strong in my mind. What was the industry like before you travelled to the UK? Before I travelled

to the UK, the industry wasn't this big. People were used to eating a lot at home and less outside. It was at the point of thinking of coming back home that the industry has grown and that a lot of franchise has come into the country and people are fast appreciating going out to eat. I observed that the hospitality industry is becoming very big and you cannot take food away from the hospitality industry. You cannot separate the two. As an executive chef in the UK, when I said I was coming back home, a lot of my friends said what are you going to do in Nigeria? You want to go and start all over again? And so on. But I said I just wanted to give it a trial and since I came back, I have been very glad that I did. When you are good at something and you know yourself, you will be able to hold your shoulders high. I used to say to a couple of guys I have mentored since I came back three years ago that they should go out there and tell people that they are chefs. If you are good at something, go all out there and make it known. Gone are the days when chefs were paid peanuts, so why shouldn't you be proud of it? I earn a lot than most bankers, so I am very proud of it. What is your next plan? Part of the reasons I came home is to see some of the ideas that I have had in my head over the years interpreted and made to work. I have been consulting for many hotels and some other related things. But the whole essence of coming back home is to go bigger. I am looking right now at the entertainment aspect of the industry. There is what we call theatre cooking, which is basically not just all about cooking. It is a bit of art and a bit of cooking. If you decide to go to a restaurant with your girlfriend and you see chefs throwing pots right at you and what you are eating is being cooked right in front of you and you see people moving up and down in front of you, that is something you want to see. What we are saying here is that the name Chefshine is not just about the food; it is about the beauty of food. It is about creating more to the food that you eat. It is like an entertainment and a comic art. That is the beauty of what we are looking at right now. It is a big industry and you can't run out of ideas unless you are a lazy person. So far so good, I have experimented with what it takes to be a chef in Nigeria. There is a big difference between what is obtainable overseas and what is obtainable in Nigeria. But I am out to change all that. Beginning from next year, I am going to start a training session to encourage people to pick a career in being a chef. Even if you are a professional in a particular discipline, you can take a vocation in cooking. Back in the UK, there were a lot of people who were doing something else but took cooking as a vocation. So far so good, the experimental stage has worked, and I am believing God that by next year, we would be going to the next level. Are you thinking along the line of a television reality show? Yeah! There are lots of offers that have come my way, but my public relations consultant here in Nigeria said we should take our time before going into it. Hopefully from next year, depending on the instructions of my PR company, a reality show will come up. A whole lot of things would be coming up in the show, but I don't want to start mentioning things now because here in Nigeria, the moment you mention something, you will find that people have started doing it.

AKINLOYE

AT LARGE

08050246155 atlarge84@yahoo.com

Barnabas MANYAM, Yola

THE NATION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

with KAYODE ALFRED

E-mail:kayflex2@yahoo.com Tel:08116759807, 08035733605

THE NATION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

41 with KAYODE ALFRED

E-mail:kayflex2@yahoo.com TEL:08116759807

ot a few people were jolted by the news of Kessiana Salubi's death a few days ago. Full of life and promise, Kessiana's death was one incident that further highlights the ephemeral nature of life. Kessiena, a trained architect, died in her sleep on November 7. She was said to have shown no sign of sickness before she went to bed the previous night. A family source said her death came like a bolt from the blue. The source said she had returned home the previous night from an outing hale and hearty and had her dinner before she headed to the bathroom to have her bath. Thereafter, she went to bed but

would not wake up the following morning. She grew cold from head to toe and was later confirmed dead by a medical expert who was called in to examine her. Kessiana came into limelight in 2004 when she had issues with popular Lagos big girl, Eunice Efole. She and Efole were embroiled in a spat over Lagos big boy. The story had graced the cover pages of all the major society journals. The 34-year-old was a model, 2001 Miss UNILAG, first runner up Miss Nigeria 2002, an architect and an interior designer. She is survived by her parents and siblings.

â&#x20AC;˘Another entrance gate to the cemetery

â&#x20AC;˘Banana trees inside the cemetery

THE NATION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

A commercial transporter examines the damage done to his bus by gang bangers during a turf war

A machete-wielding gang member keeps vigil beside a bonfire in the heat of a turf war in Mushin

Continued from Page 47

ber sleeps in a commercial bus

Living on the fringe: A homeless gang mem

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

•Wunti Roundabout

BAUCHI:

Affinity with mother nature

Besides the beautification of various public structures and a handful of recreational spots, 98 per cent of the city’s streets have been smoothly constructed and usually lit in such a way that motorists can drive on them with the least of fear even at late nights. Besides being nicely tarred, the roads are lit at night with generators provided by the state government in places where solar power is nonexistent

AUCHI is one of the states that can be said to be very close to mother nature, thanks to the Yankari Games Reserve, a tourist attraction that has attracted many foreigners to Nigeria and enhanced the nation’s foreign exchange earnings. Carved in 1976 out of the old Northeastern State, which comprised today’s Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and Taraba states, Bauchi enjoyed the full status of a province before the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates by the British colonial masters in 1914. Today, the city that once served as the choice settlement for a few foreigners, their servants and a handful of administrative aides has transformed into a modern city with a population of over four million people. Since it is always the case that transformation comes with challenges, Bauchi has been no exception. Up till now, it is still experiencing its own challenges from its days as a provincial headquarters to its current status as a state capital. Happily, town planners have coped well with the challenges, mapping out the different parts of the town for the provision of social amenities like roads, streets,

n Austine TSENZUGHUL, Bauchi n markets, hospitals, recreational and residential areas, among others. While efforts had been made to provide all these since the colonial period, the growing population has made the expansion of such facilities imperative. And in compliance with man’s admiration of beauty, the Bauchi State Government remodelled the facilities at the Yankari Games Reserve and other tourist destinations in the state. It also beautified the landscape of the state capital. Among the landscapes that enchant a visitor from the Jos end of the city is a beautiful roundabout with the statue of an African elephant as a symbol of the Fauna around in the state. At the Kano, Gombe and Dass ends of the city are other roundabouts that serve as an embodiment of the beauty for which the city is renowned. But besides the beautification of various public structures and a handful of recreational spots, 98 per cent of the city’s streets have been smoothly constructed and usually lit in such a

way that motorists can drive on them with the least of fear even at late nights. Besides being nicely tarred, the roads are lit at night with generators provided by the state government in places where solar power is nonexistent. However, heaps of domestic and market waste accumulated daily have taken over most streets in the state capital. This is a typical scene on almost every street, particularly YanDoka Road from Gidan Mai RoundAbout to Wunti RoundAbout, Wunti Street, Central Market and Gombe Road. In some parts of the city, segments of some streets have been cut off by heaps of refuse. Sometimes it is impossible for a vehicle to navigate through the heaps of refuse to his or her destination. And this is in spite of the presence of the Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA), set up to, among other duties, evacuate neaps of waste and sustain the beauty of the city as envisaged in its master plan. A resident of the city, Prof. Suleman Aliyu, told our correspondent that" al-

ca s Y t i C

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

•Other views of the city

•Aerial view of the city

suburb of the city because the refuse site on the street where they lived became a real danger to their health. She said: "We complained in writing to both the state Ministry of Environment and BASEPA for over nine months, but nothing was done. And because we had no choice, we decided to leave. We are happy where we are at the moment. At least the area is clean, even though some social amenities are lacking." Five daily visits to the Ministry of Environment located on Adamu Jumba Road and supervised by the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sagir Aminu Saleh, did not yield any positive result as our correspondent sought official comments from the ministry. No official of the ministry was willing to talk about the dirty streets in the state capital. At BASEPA’s headquarters on Sokoto Road in the old GRA, the Permanent Secretary in charge of the organisation, Alhaji Waziri Jalam, declined comment when our correspondent met him on Monday and Tuesday with pictures of the dirty streets. Alhaji Jalam said on Monday: "I have just resumed and I have a meeting with my directors. Come to tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning." But when our correspondent got there on Tuesday morning, the BASEPA boss was said to be at a meeting at the State Secretariat where the efforts our correspondent made to reach him were also fruitless.

though Ebola has more or less come and gone, malaria and other illnesses associated with the accumulation of such waste are also very deadly. Unfortunately, BASEPA, which is in charge of the cleanliness of the city has refused to perform its duties." Decrying the ugly development, Adamu Babagida, a resident of Railway Quarters, said: "I sincerely don’t see why such functions should be given to such an organisation because the staff is made up of civil servants, and you know how civil servants behave when it comes to public matters." According to him, a private organisation named Cosmopolitan Cleaners had earlier been contracted for the evacuation of refuse. But along the line, the contract was terminated and that signalled the return of heaps of refuse on Bauchi’s streets." Chukwudi Azubuike, a spare parts dealer who lives at old Government Reservation Area (GRA), however, observed that "what we see in the town here is not much different from the GRA where some of us live. The GRA appears to be clean because the rich men there have labourers who clean and evacuate the dirt. Otherwise, it would have been the same smell from the heaps of rubbish there." Hajiya Laraba Nuhu, a medical personnel with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, said she and her family members were forced to relocate to a community in the

Heaps of domestic and market waste accumulated daily have taken over most streets in the state capital. This is a typical scene on almost every street, particularly YanDoka Road from Gidan Mai RoundAbout to Wunti RoundAbout, Wunti Street, Central Market and Gombe Road

THE NATION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

God designed your home for success (3)

Functions of water in the human body

President of the Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu (OUI), Dr. Raheem Adedoyin, and Dr. AbdulRaheem Oladimeji, one of the awardees at the graduation ceremony of the university

Coping with Diseases h it

Professor Dayo Oyekole,

Ph.D. (Ibadan), NMD, FNCP. Tel: 0803-330-3897 Website: www.holisticlifecare.com E-mail: kolemetric@yahoo.com

THE NATION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

THE NATION

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

ADVERTORIAL PRESS STATEMENT

14th November, 2014.

WHY THE PRESIDENT MUST VISIT BENUE STATE ON THE OCCASION OF GOVERNOR GABRIEL SUSWAM’S BIRTHDAY (A Rejoinder to PDP-Benue Supporters Club’s Open Letter to Mr. President)

group which goes by the name PDP-Benue Supporters Club appeared suddenly on the scene yesterday with a paid advertisement in the Leadership of 13th November, 2014. The advertisement which took the format of an open letter to the President was signed by Comrade Armstrong Terzua Adagi as “Club Co-ordinator” and Chief Achadu Ochagwwuba as “Club Scribe.” The fake group in the desperate bid to seek credibility claimed to have been in existence in the last three years. This has been found to be completely untrue as no such group is known in the PDP circles in Benue state. Similarly, the signatories to the so called open letter are not known members of the PDP neither do they have any connection with the party as “supporters” as claimed in the publication. Since the group did not provide any address of its office(s) even though it claims to have been in existence for three years in the state, we have come to the inevitable conclusion that it is a fake group acting for the frustrated opposition elements in the state which has notable but cowardly political figures in the state as its sponsors. The writers of the open letter in their imagination think they would by the tissues of lies poorly crafted in the advertorial dissuade our dear leader, His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan from visiting the state in solidarity with his friend and confidant, Governor Gabriel Suswam on the occasion of his 50th Birthday tomorrow. They will be disappointed with this diabolical plot as Mr. President is better informed about the state of affairs in Benue. It is laughable that the pseudo which claims to have been in existence since three years has never raised a finger on the issues contained in the “open letter” but waited for the President’s scheduled visit tomorrow to throw the dirt on the pages of newspaper in the guise of open letter. This hatchet job obviously does not deserve a dignified response from the Governor. However, as a responsible leader, Governor Suswam is at all times willing and ready to give account of his stewardship. In this instance also, he has chosen the path of decency to shed light on the barefaced lies contained in the “open letter” so that the public will be better informed. 1. Teachers Strike/Slice in Workers Salaries : It’s very clear to everyone who is familiar with developments in Benue state these characters and their sponsors have no iota of decency in them hence the deliberate misrepresentation of facts on the state of affairs in the state. It is true that Primary School Teachers went on strike over demands for payment of minimum wage. The strike was called off in June and an agreement was signed with the Teachers. The agreement is being implemented. The teachers are being paid and the schools have since re-opened. Salaries of Benue workers have not been reduced. On the contrary, Benue civil servants are among the highest paid in all of the Northern part of the country. The state is enjoying the cooperation of workers hence the industrial harmony which exists in the state at the moment. The design by these retrogressive elements to stir industrial unrest with gross misrepresentation of facts has surely failed as the Benue workers are wiser and can read through the destructive intent of these enemies of the state. 2. Flood Disaster Relief Fund: From indications, these blackmailers have nothing to take to the public against Governor Suswam than resurrect dead issues that have long been settled. The Flood Relief Fund of N500million was committed to execution of flood control projects in the flood-prone areas in Makurdi metropolis as well as other infrastructural projects in the affected local government areas of Logo, Kasina-Ala, Buruku, Guma, Gwer-West and Agatu as approved by the State Executive Council in full consultation with Council Chairmen of the affected Council Chairmen. Some critics of the Governor who went to court on this matter lost the case at a High Court in Makurdi. It is therefore, nonsensical that the fake authors listed this matter in their so called letter to the President. 3. Proceeds From Bond Issue: The Benue state Government issued a N13bilion Bond in 2011 and the proceeds of the Bond were applied on major infrastructural projects. Some of the projects included rural roads, the Benue State University Teaching Hospital among others. The writers of the “Open letter” even acknowledged this fact. The state government has also approached the capital market for a second bond issue which is being processed by the regulatory authorities. The fact that the state is approaching the market for a second bond is a testimony of how well the first was utilized. It’s common knowledge that most states of the Federation have resorted to the capital market for bond issues as the cheapest source of long term borrowing for infrastructural projects and Benue state is not alone. Those familiar with capital market operations can testify that the stringent conditions associated with issuance of Bonds and the high degree of monitoring makes it difficult for any proceeds from a Bond issue to be misapplied as the mischief makers would like the public to believe. 4. Sale of States Shares in Dangote Cement Plc: The state government has explained this several times even in the media. For the umpteenth time, we wish to state that the state’s shares in Dangote Cement Plc and in other companies are held by the Benue Investment and Property Company(BIPC) which has the statutory right to buy and sell shares as part of its mandate. Such transactions are routine functions of the Company and do not require any other authorization to so transact. The BIPC has its Board of Directors and its operations are guided by provisions of the Companies and Allied matters Act and other laws of the land as a limited liability company. As a corporate entity therefore, it wil report its operations to the Board as required by law.

5. Ward Congresses of the PDP: The recently conducted Ward congresses of the PDP in Benue appear to be the real reason for this sponsored diatribe against Governor Suswam. His political opponents hiding behind this letter are those who lost out in the Ward congresses as they were rejected by their constituents. Rather than swallow the bitter pill of defeat in the transparently conducted congresses, they crying wolf where none exists. Governor Suswam’s popularity in the State has even soared since the congresses took place two weeks ago. Those who are scared with his growing popularity should be rest assured that Governor Suswam will triumph at the polls to their disappointment. 6. Lack of Infrastructural Development: Those behind this hatchet job in the haste to cart away their filthy loot stood truth on the head when they asserted that “ there is lack of infrastructural development in Benue state as there are no projects to be commissioned by Mr. President if he visits the state”. Nothing can be farther from the truth as Governor Suswam’s feat in infrastructural development of Benue since 2007 has earned him awards from highly reputable media organisations and other responsible bodies in Nigeria and outside the country including Thisday which gave the award as the Best Governor on Infrastructure in 2009. Where were these elements when President Goodluck Jonathan visited Benue on from 8th-9thMarch, 2012 to commission several infrastructural projects executed by Governor Suswam. The projects included The Adikpo-Jato-Aka Road, Anyiin-Ugba-Amaafu-Abaji road, Otukpo-OkpogaOwukpa road, Eke-Olengbecho-Ugbokolo-Otukpa road, the Otukpo and KatsinaAla Water Works, the Benue State University Teaching Hospital and the Greater Makurdi Water Works which is the largest of its kind in all of the Northern part of the country. The Governor has only recently awarded a contract of over N4billion for reticulation of water in the First Phase to cover all of Makurdi municipality . The contractor is at the verge of mobilizing to site. This project will take clean water to all the parts of Makurdi metropolis. Tomorrow’s visit even though for a specific function, three projects have been earmarked for the President to commission. These include the multi-million naira New Makurdi International Market, the ultra-Modern Government House Chapel and the dual-carriage and stone-based - Makurdi Inner Ring Road which the hatchet men sought to pooh-pooh in their poorly scripted open letter to Mr. President. Only yesterday, the Governor flagged-off the construction of Wannune-Ikpa road in his continued commitment to enhance the infrastructural base of the state. The above facts have sufficiently exposed the diabolical intent of the authors and sponsors of the so called open letter to the President as its obvious Benue has transformed for the better under the Suswam administration. 7. The charge that Governor Suswam “gallivants around the world and imports girls for choice parties” including tomorrow’s birthday celebration is banal and petty. It confirms that the sponsors of this filthy message are people of corrupt mind who are opening the window for us to see the dirt that sorrounds their thoughts. Governor Suswam is a decent family man and a devout Christian of the NKST denomination which is noted for its strict discipline and high moral rectitude. He therefore does not get into such bizzare social acts as alleged by the sponsored writers. 8. The claim that a whooping N500million is being spent on the Governor’s 50th birthday anniversary celebration is one of the wicked ploys to disparage the celebration and infuriate the Governor and foul his mood on a day he is supposed to be celebrating. These mischief makers have obviously failed as the Governor is not in anyway perturbed by such tissues of lies meant to incite the public against him. The good people of Benue State and indeed the public is to be informed that the Governor’s Birthday is a one day event and is being marked in the simplest form with a interdenominational Thanksgiving Service in the Aper Aku stadium for which Mr. President is invited as Special Guest of Honour. Governor Suswam’s political foes must burry their faces in shame that the same person they are desperate to shoot down is held in the highest esteem by the leaders of the country for his distinctive qualities and achievements as Governor. The evidence to this is Mr. President’s acceptance to attend his birthday celebration. Conclusion: We urge Mr. President to ig nore these mischief makers and enemies of progress and show up in Benue state in solidarity with a great Leader, Rt.Hon Gabriel Suswam Ph.D, CON on this great day in his life as the issues contained in the publication are a total fabrication, malicious and diabolical in all intents and purposes.

DR CLETUS AKWAYA Media Consultant to Governor Gabriel Suswam

NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Itsekiri leaders to Jonathan: you’re pursuing Ijaw agenda

2015: Return all illegal arms, police tell Edo residents

n Bolaji OGUNDELE, Warri n

HEAD of the conduct of the primary elections for political parties, the Edo State police command has issued a 14day ultimatum to residents of the state to submit all illegally-acquired weapons in their possession. It said anybody arrested with illegal weapons would be severely dealt with after the expiration of the ultimatum. The state Commissioner of Police, Foluso Adebanjo, who stated this at a press briefing yesterday, said the anti-robbery unit and other squads of the command have been directed to identity, raid and confiscate illegal weapons. He raised the alarm that some unscrupulous politicians have acquired arms and ammunition, hired thugs and violent cult groups, with a view to cause mayhem if they lost the primaries. Adebanjo announced some financial reward for any information leading to the recovery of massive arms and ammunition in the state. He said, "As the 2015 elections approaches, it is necessary that all hands are on deck towards insuring free, fair, credible and violent-free elections. "The activities of political thugs have remained a major concern in the political process, which the Inspector General of Police has talked about in different fora. We are strongly determined to ruthlessly deal with any political thug and their sponsors."

PDP seeks dismissal of suit on Cross River delegates’ election result HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has asked the Federal High Court presided over by Justice Adeola to dismiss a suit filed by� some members of the party in Cross River State restraining the National Chairman of the party, Dr Adamu Mu'azu, from using the result of the ward congresses other than the hand-written results submitted by the electoral panel. The panel had submitted a hand written document in a plain sheet as result of the ad hoc delegates’ election from Cross River State, as opposed to the results contained in the official result sheet compiled by the ward and local government collation officers across the 196 council wards and the 18 local government areas of the state. The solicitors to the party, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) and Paul Erokoro (SAN), filed preliminary objection to the suit, saying the plaintiffs lack the Locus Standi to �file the suit. They argued that an ad hoc delegate does not have a legal right to sue the party, as their responsibility is merely adhoc.

HE Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILOT), the apex national body of Itsekiri people, has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of pursuing an agenda that is detriment to the interest of other ethnic nations in the country, saying the president was pursuing an Ijaw agenda. A statement signed by the secretary of the organisation, Barrister Edward Ekpoko, said that the Itsekiri nation would not hesitate to seek secession from Nigeria and seek the protection of other developed nations if the Federal Government fails to halt an alleged systematic extermination of its people. The statement, which was read in the presence of Pa Ayo Ayomike, the president of the organisation, berated President Jonathan for allowing himself to be deceived by the threats from his Ijaw brothers. Addressing the contentious issue of the ownership of the land on which the Exporting Processing Zone (EPZ) is situated, the ILOT explained that the project is completely sited in Ogidigben, an Itsekiri town, where an approximate of 2,560 hectares of land had been mapped for the project. “EPZ is completely sited in Ogidigben, an Itsekiri town in Ugborodo, in Warri South-West council area of Delta State. The closest Ijaw enclave, which lies to the south, is Yokiri and it is about 14 kilometres from Ogidigben. “

n Osagie OTABOR, Benin n

•Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (2nd right); his deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama (2nd left); Chairman, Ndokwa East LGA, Mrs. Nkechi Chukwura (right) and Chairman, Ethiope East LGA, Chief (Mrs.) Faith Majemite (left), after their swearingin at the Government House, Asaba...yesterday.

Gunmen’s attempt to kidnap Delta commissioner’s mother foiled EN of the Delta State police command have foiled an attempt by a five-man gang to kidnap the mother of the state Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Mama Ferife. A member of the gang was, however, killed by the police. A statement by the state police spokesperson, Celestina Kalu (DSP), said the remaining members of the gang abandoned the Toyota Camry car they had earlier snatched from one Barrister Festus, after failing to kidnap their target. “While the armed gang was trying to carry out its plan, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ozoro police station was alerted and he promptly mobilised his men to go after the hoodlums.” Luck ran out on the gang when the police team caught-up with them within Ozoro town. The gang reportedly opened fire on the police team, leading to exchange of fire with between the police and the gang. “On Thursday, at about 20.30hrs, the DPO Ozoro received a distress call from NDC road in Ozoro that five (5) gunmen attempted to kidnap Mama Ferife, the mother of the Commissioner for Lands and Survey. When they failed, they went further to snatch a Toyota Camry car, with Reg. No. BG 75 KWL belonging to one Barrister Festus.

•One killed in gun battle with police n Bolaji OGUNDELE, Warri n “The patrol team was dispatched immediately by the DPO, Ozoro. On sighting the patrol team, the hoodlums engaged them in a gun battle, during one of the gang members was fatally wounded, while the other four (4) gang members escaped and abandoned the vehicle,” the statement said. Items recovered from the gang include a double barrel gun, two live cartridges and the Toyota Camry car. The statement added that efforts were on to arrest the fleeing members of the gang. Speak the truth, Uduaghan tells gov. aspirants GOVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has charged governorship aspirants in the state to desist from divisive actions that are capable of breaching the peace of the state. He gave the charge on Friday in Asaba during the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected chairmen of Ndokwa East and Ethiope East local government areas of the state, Mrs Nkechi Chukwurah and Mrs Faith Majemite respectively. Uduaghan, who frowned at the attitude of some of the governorship aspirants, said he was not afraid of any

gang-up against him, and advised that the people speak the truth in the interest of the state. "Those who are aspiring to be governor should stop creating trouble. I have tried to be fair to all in our journey towards 2015. "Two weeks ago during the ward congresses, I had meetings with the governorship aspirants. The aspirants and the leaders contributed to the emergence of the delegates through a consensus list and they all applauded the free and fair nature of the congress. “Tell your friends who are aspirants to take it easy, Delta State belongs to all of us. They should stop creating problems and they should retrace their steps so that they can land safely and get to their destinations.” Uduaghan, who congratulated the new council bosses, observed that they were successful because they did not create the problem that prolonged their electoral process. He urged the new chairmen to concentrate on the area of security, payment of staff salaries and ensure that they engage in progressive projects in their local government areas, noting that women are doing well in the politics of the state.

Navy destroys 50,000-litre-capacity refineries PERATIVES of the Nigerian Navy in Rivers State have destroyed two illegal 50,000-litre refineries producing N8 million worth of diesel daily. The Base Operations Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Cdr. Chindo Yahaya, made the disclosure yesterday during the destruction of the refineries in Abonnema, the headquarters of Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State. He noted that operators of the refineries abandoned their tools and fled after they learnt of the approach of naval personnel and gunboats. “We went out on patrol yesterday (Thursday) night, and based on intelligence report, the patrol team was able to discover the illegal crude oil refining sites at Opobo creek, close to Abonnema. “There are two active illegal crude oil refining sites. As at the time the patrol team arrived early this (yesterday)

•Refinery produces N8m diesel daily n Bisi OLANIYI, Port Harcourt n morning, they were still working. The crude oil is being refined to obtain AGO (diesel) and some quantity of kerosene. “Based on the sizes of the refining tanks, there are about 15,000 litres of refined AGO, while the remaining crude oil that they are yet to refine runs into

thousands of litres.” The base operations officer also stated that the navy destroyed the refineries because its personnel could not make any arrest at the scene. He stressed that in spite of the success recorded by the navy in its fight against oil theft and illegal refining, the personnel would continue to carry out 24-hour air and water patrol of the creeks.

Bank-Anthony Declares for House of Reps Chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State and staunch member of the defunct National Democratic Coalition NADECO, (abroad) Mr. Babatunde Bank-Anthony has picked nomination form seeking his party’s ticket for the Federal House of Representatives in the 2015 general election. Bank-Anthony who picked the nomination form of the party at the party secretariat in Lagos yesterday said he was opting to represent Surulere II Federal Constituency, to give the people quality representation at the House of Representatives. He is presently the executive secretary of the Lagos State Sports Endowment Fund (LSSEF) where he has contributed tremendously to the development of sports in Lagos State.

Youth group plans empowerment programme n Rukkayat JIMOH n HE Lagos State chapter of the National Igbo Youths Congress has said it is determined to empower youths across the country, as a way of reducing youth unemployment. Speaking during the annual general meeting of the IYC in Lagos, the national president of the congress, Comrade Jerry Ugwu, lamented that many youths continue to roam the streets after graduation because governments at all levels have failed to create jobs. According to him, "You see youths walking around the town with no jobs. Our plan is to empower such youths and make sure that they become useful to themselves and the country at large. We need to make such youths believe that they can succeed without the support of the government.” He said the group has set up committees in areas like business, education, tailoring, hairdressing and other trades to work out the modalities for exercise. On the plan of the group in the 2015 general elections, he said: "This congress is nonpolitical, but at the same time, we still have to vote. So, we have decided to give our support to anybody who has donethe development of the youths.”

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

NEWS 59 Women protesting alleged rape by herdsmen block highway orried by the increasing cases of rape of old women and girls by herdsmen in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, aggrieved women, most of them victims from Irete community, yesterday blocked the Owerri/Onitsha express way to protest the alleged indifference of the authorities to the plight of the women. The angry women called on the state government and security agencies to take immediate action that would put an end to the unwholesome practice. The spokesperson of the women, Lady Gloria Chukwumezie, noted that they were compelled to embark on the protest to register their anger and to seek an end to the dehumanizing act. She stated that several women from the community had been raped, manhandled and beaten up by the herdsmen while working in their farms, adding that a similar in-

•L-R: Dr Nkem Okeke, Deputy Governor of Anambra State; Dr Joseph Odumodu, Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Alhaji Adebowale, at the block moulders, cement and allied products training sensitasation forum at Awka, Anambra State.

n Okodili NDIDI, Owerri n cident occurred few days ago when some women who went to their farmlands were severely raped by the same people. The protest, which started early in the morning, lasted for hours, resulted in heavy traffic gridlock. It took the efforts of armed policemen from the state police command disperse the women. The chairman of the transition committee of the local government area, Albert Okenwa, blamed the women for carrying out the protest against his instruction, stating that he had appealed to them not to embark on the protest. When contacted, the Police Public Relation Officer of the command, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, who confirmed the presence of armed policemen at the scene, said the policemen were drafted to stop the women from taking the laws into their hands.

Supports to institutions give me Joy –Obi

Angry PVC seekers take F to the streets in Imo •Barricade INEC office, hold REC, other hostage housands of angry voters who could not collect their Permanent Voters' Card (PVC) in Imo State, yesterday, stormed the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to protest what they called a deliberate attempt by the electoral body to disenfranchise the people. The protest, which resulted in heavy traffic gridlock along the busy Port Harcourt -Owerri road and other parts of the capital city, crippled activities at the INEC secretariat, as the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Selina Oko, and other staff of the commission were held

n Okodili NDIDI, Owerri n hostage by the protesters who barricaded the main entrance to the office and prevented vehicles from going in or leaving the premises. Victor Okonkwo, who spoke with newsmen, alleged that INEC was working with some politicians to hijack the exercise, stating that the commission has proved that it cannot be trusted to conduct a free and fair election in the state. Expressing his doubts over the 2015 general elections in the state, Okonkwo described the withholding of the PVC by INEC as ‘electronic’ rigging, which he said was one

of the newly-introduced measures to undermine the conduct of the election in the state. “We demand the immediate release of our PVC. Let this not be an electronic rigging, INEC, our PVC is our right, let us be real Nigerians. INEC has failed. “There won’t be election in the state until INEC does the right thing. INEC should not disenfranchise Imo people. We say no to this plot.” However, speaking during a radio broadcast, the REC appealed to the people who were yet to get their PVC to remain calm, saying efforts were already on to get it distributed.

Alleged libel: Chime loses appeal NUGU State Governor, Sullivan Chime, �has lost the N1.5 billion libel suit he instituted against his opponent in the 2007 governorship election. His bid to have the decision of a Lagos High Court judge, Justice Kkazeem Alogba, absolving Okechukwu Ezea and The Guardian Newspaper of libel, overturned, was dismissed by the Court of Appeal yesterday. The Appeal Court also awarded N30, 000 cost against Chime. �Justice Alogba had dismissed Chime's application and awarded N100, 000 cost in favour of the defendants, prompting the governor to institute an appeal. Through his lawyer, Gbolahan Elias (SAN), Chime had urged the Appeal Court to set aside the trial court's judgment and allow his appeal. But in a judgment delivered by Justice Rita Pemu, the appeal panel �held that the appeal lacked merit and cannot be sustained. Justice Pemu affirmed the lower court's decision that the appellant failed to prove that Ezea (first respondent) uttered the defamatory statements. The judge held that the appellant attached no weight to the Vanguard newspaper publication on the grounds that Vanguard, unlike the Guardian Newspapers limited, was not sued as the printer and publisher of the defamatory statements. In a unanimous decision, the appellate court held that the appellant (Chime) ought to have called witnesses that attended the press conference where the defamatory statement was allegedly uttered. The court held that Chime is not even the per-

n Precious IGBONWELUNDU n son who ought to have instituted the suit, since the alleged text massage was not sent to his phone. It upheld the submission of Ezea, made through his lawyer Joseph Nwobike (SAN), and dismissed the appeal.� The governor, had in his appeal, submitted that the lower court erred in law when it held that the appellant failed to prove that Ezea (first respondent) uttered the defamatory statements complained of at the Abuja press conference on August 7, 2007. He submitted that the lower court erred when it held that the words published in The Guardian newspaper were incapable of defaming the appellant. But, in his argument, Nwobike submitted that the lower court was right when it held that the appellant failed to prove that the first respondent actually uttered the words complained of at that press conference. He submitted that the appellant did not adduce evidence at the lower court to support his allegation. Nwobike argued that the lower court found that the words complained of, even if interpretable to be defamatory, did not actually lower the appellant’s estimation in the minds of rightthinking members of the society or disparage him in his office or political standing. In the substantive suit, Chime had alleged that Ezea, in a press conference held in Abuja in August, 2007, accused him of wanting to kill him (Ezea), demanding N1 billion from Ezra and N500,000 from the newspaper as damages.

ORMER governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has said that offering support to institutions that help in the training of young ones is what gave him joy and peace of mind. Obi made the remark yesterday when he visited the Rosary College, Awgwu, Enugu State. The former governor, who presented a cheque of N2 million to the school to, called on wealthy Nigerians to imbibe the culture of giving back to the society. Describing contributions to worthy societal causes as a corporal work of mercy, Obi said that there are much joy and peace derivable

n Nwanosike ONU, Awka n from such acts than using the money to engage in conspicuous and wasteful expenditure. Speaking on behalf of the proprietor of the school and the Catholic Bishop of Awgwu, Most Rev. Dr. John Okoye, the Manager of the School, Rev. Fr. Titus Udeh, said the entire Diocese was grateful to Mr. Obi for the revolution he engendered in the state when he returned schools to the church. He said that Obi's commitment to good governance in all its ramifications is a challenge to Nigerians on the practical exemplification of patriotism.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

INTERVIEW

I joined politics out of circumstances The Governor of Benue State, Rt. Hon. Gabriel Toruwa Suswam, clocks 50 today. In this pre-Golden Anniversary chat with senior editors in Abuja, he spoke about life, politics and his bid for the Senate in 2015. The Managing Editor, Northern Operation of The Nation, YUSUF ALLI and SANNI ONOGU, bring you excerpts: OW does it feel being 50 in a country where life expectancy is about 45 years? In everything, I give thanks and glory to God because Psalm 118: 23-25 says “This is the Lord has made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it." I give glory to God because within a short space of 50, I have been able to be who I am today. It is only by the grace of God that gave me the opportunity and privilege of being in the National Assembly for eight years and being governor for almost eight years before turning 50. There is no adjective that will qualify my gratitude to the Almighty God. I still feel as if it was yesterday, the days are going and the body is still responding to the days. I thank God for His mercies. How was your growing up like? I was born in a very polygamous family. My father was a traditional ruler. I was born during the Tiv riots, the Atem Tyo in 1964 and the meaning of my native name, Torwua. Then, the traditional rulers were the target because the feeling then was that they were supporting the NPC headed by late Sardauna of Sokoto and the JS Tarka group had the UMBC. My father had more than 15 wives. You know in a polygamous family, if your mother does not struggle, you end up in the village. I was lucky my mother was a struggling woman. I grew up basically with her picking up the bills. We were six but two have died and I am third in line of the boys. So, I was born in a humble background. Of course, at the time, a traditional ruler was a big deal but it was just a local

• Suswam

—Suswam at 50

arrangement. There were a lot of difficulties but my mother was able to struggle to overcome some of those hiccups and gave us education and all of us became university graduates. While I was in form two in 1978, my father passed on and the entire responsibility of raising six children was on my mother’s shoulders but she was very industrious and was able to move us from the village to Makurdi and was able to train us. Fundamentally, I grew up with my grandmother but still under the same circumstances. What were the lessons you learnt from her? Discipline, courage and commitment without necessarily being aggressive. My mother was a very disciplined woman and that has helped me in life because you will never see me being aggressive or shouting or making noise. I am very disciplined about things that I want to do. I also know that I am a very courageous person. I got that from my mother; I fear only God but I respect people. Once I set my eyes on something, I am always focused. What motivated you into politics? Let me say that I did not like politics. My immediate elder brother was the one that was into politics. But growing up, we went to NKST Primary School, Zaki-Biam, and NKST Mission School was where a measure of discipline was exercised. If you could not spell a word correctly, you were given severe punishment. You had to be punctual in school and a lot of moral issues that we were put through that helped in guiding me. From NKST Primary School, I went to St. Andrew’s Secondary School, Adikpo, also a mission school where I did my forms one and two before moving on to Government College, Makurdi. Government College was a unity school with a lot of discipline and so from there, I went to SBS Makurdi and from there to the University of Lagos. I wanted to become an economist because right from secondary school, I was very good in some subjects like History, in which I got A1 in my WAEC; in Literature, I had A2; Economics, I had A3. I was focused on being an economist but when I went to SBS, the stories about wigs and lawyers became a big attraction. So, after SBS, I came out with 10 points and I decided that I was going to be a lawyer. I applied to the University of Lagos. I hadn’t been to Lagos but the university was the first thing that took me to Lagos in 1986. I was given admission. After graduation and qualifying as a lawyer, I started practice with some senior colleagues' chambers and later joined with Harris Ogbole. We were just struggling young lawyers. But we decided that we were moving to Abuja and it was while in Abuja that I started going home and I had some friends with disposition to politics. Suddenly, Gen. Sani Abacha died. I was home when he died and the young men began to meet and I was meeting with them. When they formed PDP, in the Youth Wing where we were meeting, I found myself going to my local government constantly. Even at that, I had no intention of running for an elective position. I just wanted to help the process and as I was going and meeting with them, people started talking about House of Representatives. I didn’t know what it meant but I began to develop interest and all the young men were with me and I eventually

‘

Suddenly, Gen. Sani Abacha died. I was home when he died... people started talking about House of Representatives. I didn’t know what it meant but I began to develop interest... I was nominated and elected to the House. It was not a conscious and deliberate effort on my part. It was circumstances that pushed me into it

‘

became serious; I was nominated and elected to the House. It was not a conscious and deliberate effort on my part. It was circumstances that pushed me into it. I thank God that He had a different plan for me, while I was planning a different thing. Who would you say is your role model? Whose style of politicking attracted you? Like I said, my immediate elder brother was the one into all of this. As far as I was concerned, it was a waste of time and I was like why can’t you do something better? But frankly, at the time that I made up my mind to join politics, most of the people who are elders in the state were also new in the game. Senator George Akume was just coming in from the civil service; Senator Barnabas Gemade started with CNC; Senator Ayu who was somebody that would be considered older in the game. But all of them had not practised politics for more than 10 years. So, it was like a new thing that we were all coming into. Because I wasn’t politically conscious, I wouldn’t say that there was any outstanding politician that I took after but while I was a student of politics in SBS, people like Aminu Kano and Waziri Ibrahim attracted me a lot. They were characters that I used to listen to and what Dr. Olusola Saraki was doing in Kwara interested me a lot. So, I looked up to them as people worth emulating. I looked up to them but not to the extent of being in politics. I took interest in them and I eventually had to join. But my joining politics was just circumstantial. You look very young and you are turning 50; what is the secret behind this? If you ask me, you see, some are born to be slim; some have the tendency of being fat. I thank God that I have been able to control myself because in the family, I am the one that looks like my late mother because she was big and I know that if I don’t control myself, I would look bigger than this. So, it is about discipline; about what you eat and what you do. I am somebody who works round the clock, I hardly sleep on time. I go on and on when it comes to work. I am also sensitive about changes in my body. So, I make sure that I check myself regularly. Medically, they say when you turn 40, you change, so from the moment I became 40, I became very conscious and I began to check. And I have kept very active, if you are docile and keep a sedentary lifestyle, there is the tendency for certain things to happen but if you keep the body active it repels some of those things. You are as old as Nigeria so to speak because we got our independence in 1960, how will you say Nigeria has changed between independence and today? No, there is tremendous change. For good or for bad? For good. The way we have changed is almost dramatic but because we have a lot of mischievous people who want to see the negative part. Who were driving SUV cars here? Who was talking on GSM? Who were the people who had private jets? There is quite a lot that have changed in the country. Educationwise, we have progressed in a manner that is unprecedented. Even in terms of infrastructure, as late as the 90s how many roads were tarred? Not many. So for me, we've positively changed but people don't want to accept. I went back home and I say that as late as when I came to the National Assembly, it was a big deal for somebody to buy a tokunbo car. It was announced back in Benue that this young man has arrived and that he bought a tokunbo car. Even babies now buy cars. It is not news. As late I went to the National Assembly in 1999, you could count how many young men could afford to buy tokunbo cars. When we were in Lagos in the 90s and we bought tokunbo cars and we could drive home on Christmas, we were the kings. But today those conditions have changed. The changes are simply amazing. We must accept the fact that we have changed. When we begin to compare ourselves with developed

THE NATION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014 economies, these are people who in the 20s were flying aircraft. We can't get some basis for comparism. There is no basis. People who have discovered different things as early as in the 18th Century. So there is no basis but we are trying to compare ourselves with such countries and feeling that we are lagging behind. We are not. There is a lot of improvement that we need to do but I will say that between 1960 and now, we have changed a lot. The only problem that we have that has created a major problem in the society is the issue of corruption because from 1960 up to the time that the military took over, those people were actually determined to set Nigeria on the path of development but unfortunately, the military came in and distorted the whole of that and so people begin to see more reason in material things than working for the overriding interest of the Nigerian people and that is what has created problem for us. Otherwise, there are a lot of positive changes in the country. It was also the military intervention and the war that brought in armed robbery into our country and so while there are very positive changes, you also have some negative ones as well but put on the average, I will say the positive ones are more than the negative. Look at Press Freedom. These are all changes. Internet, social media... I like one aspect of your life where you said that you were in the University of Lagos, then you read law; what was your first day in court like and who is the judge that you appeared before? I was with Professor Olawoye and it was actually a political case. I have forgotten the judge because it is long but it was very interesting. Professor didn't appear himself so I went with a senior in court and the secretary of the party then, I also can't recollect the party it was, it was saying that he was not qualified to be the secretary and the man was defending himself. He stood up and they asked, they said you don't have western education, how can you be the secretary of the party? What I recollect vividly was the answer. He said that they were voting people and not voting English. You know the judge himself burst out laughing. It was quite an ingenious way of answering the question - they were voting people and not English and that where he comes from, the language they speak predominantly is Hausa language and so are they saying that he can't speak Hausa or what? That was my first experience as an intern with Professor Olawoye. Professor Olawoye was my Professor in the university. Was it Hausa or Yoruba language? No, it was Hausa and he brought the case to the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Tinubu Square. How did you meet your wife? I got married to my wife in 1998. We met the year before then in Kaduna incidentally. It was in Kaduna and she was also visiting and we met. It was in a restaurant and she was with her friend. She then, I think, had finished serving with FCDA and working with them. I was a freelance young lawyer who was all over the place. I was also visiting Kaduna and we met and started joking and I said, 'Ah, she looks like she would be a good wife.' That was a joke but I think God worked on that and incidentally she was in Abuja and I used to come here because we we started practice, they had just established the Corporate Affairs Commission and with a few young lawyers who were incorporating companies, the in thing was to convince people to incorporate companies. The pay wasn't much but we were making some change and behaving big. So, I got back to Abuja and then there were landlines then working. We started talking on the phone and then one thing led to the other, and we became friends. We dated for about a year and we ended up getting married in Ibadan. We have a son, Terna but before then I had a relationship that did not work but produced a son, Shima. So, I have two big boys. She is an architect. In 2003, when you contested for the House of Representatives against one of your late brothers, Mahmoud Akiga, there was this attack in which one of your boys was killed. Have you forgiven people that perpetrated that? You see, God has a way of setting people’s path. I think God has set my path and for anything that I do in life, I have committed it into God's hands. You won't see me being aggressive or unduly aggressive for anything. I am a very determined person but I am not aggressive in trying to achieve material things because that can only come from God. Like the experience you have mentioned, I went to the House of Representatives in 1999. When I was to go back, there was serious gang up from some of my elders and friends. They just ganged up and did not want me to go back. So within my local government headquarters, they had planned to even assassinate me but somehow, I was in the village and I would be voting that morning. I woke up but unlike me, during election, the person you are seeing now is not the same person you see during election. I am totally a different person. So unlike me, I voted and sat back. I did not go anywhere because I was very weak. My spirit was just weak. I sent one of my aides, Joe Ker, but they almost killed him but the orderly that went with him was shot. They shot at them; they thought he was dead because they were waiting for me. They moved these militia from all over other places in Benue into the local government headquarters. Nothing would have stopped me from going to see how the elections were going. But funny enough, I did not go. So I sent them. He escaped by the whiskers but my orderly was shot and they thought he was dead. They shot him and as a policeman, he laid still. So when when they came, some said just put fuel on him and burn him but one said let's not waste our fuel, he is already dead. So they left. They were chanting and looking for me, saying 'we will cut him into pieces.' I wasn't there. So, I have forgiven them because thereafter I had won several elections, after that incident I became governor. Even some of the people who participated, who the policeman identified are people working closely with me now. So I am not somebody who keep malice with people. If God had wanted me dead, I won't be sitting here. God did not want it, so He stopped it and I have continued to progress over and above some of the people who engineered that, so I hold nothing against any of those people. There is the issue of godfatherism in Nigeria politics and Benue cannot be an exception. There are allegations in some quarters that there was this your godfather who was dictating but at a stage, you said let me be myself. What is your take on godfatherism in Nigerian politics?

INTERVIEW

• Suswam

‘

Senator George Akume is my elder brother, he is my boss and we worked together very closely and among other people, he participated actively in making sure that I become governor

‘

You know, everywhere globally, politics whether we accept it or not, you can't rule out the issue of godfather or godmother or whatever you call it. People call it different names in different spheres but you know for even Obama to have won elections in the first place, there were people behind it. It is just that those people would not become as visible as our own here will want to be. Once, you assist a person to attain that, you have achieved your own purpose, so allow the person and probably guide the person from behind. But here, godfathers and godmothers you have want to determine everything. It is not practicable. My eldest son just turned 17, the other one is 13 and most time, when I sit down with them, and say look, they will say no that they can't do it and there is nothing you can do. That is your own child who is still a child. They will tell you no. How much more an adult that has won election to an office as governor and there are different interests that are seeking for his attention and then you want to determine what he does. You see, that is our problem here. The problem here is that we don't give space. Once you assist somebody in an office, you want to even determine what he does with his wife. That kind of thing can never work anywhere and that is why there is problem everywhere. I think that as I exit, that is a lesson to me and that is why I have tried as much as possible to allow the situation in Benue to be free and fair environment, so that any person who emerges can operate freely. I don't want a situation where they say this is Suswam's boy. I don't think that is right. Our politics is developing. So we must begin to pull back. You know elsewhere when people leave office, you don't even hear about them. But when you hear about them, you hear about them in foundations, in charity works, but here people want to finish and come back and say look, this boy I put here, you know I must pull him out. As long as we continue with that disposition and attitude, we will continue to have problems. So for me, Senator George Akume is my elder brother, he is my boss and we worked together very closely and among other people, he participated actively in making sure that I become governor. We parted ways politically because there were certain tendencies that did not agree with my philosophy and so we parted ways. We are not enemies but politically we parted ways and we still relate and I believe that there is room for us to relate as we move on. In politics, our late Zik said that what should be permanent should be interest so the issue of godfatherism in Nigeria is a big political problem for people who want to still remain in office when they are out of office. That can't happen and that shouldn't happen and I pray to God that I should not find myself in a position where I want to remain in office even when I am out of office. What is the relationship between you and Senator Barnabas Gemade? Senator Gemade is an elder that I respect very much. When we started this politics and said it was a Youth Wing, he was the leader of the elders and eventually he became the National Chairman of this party. So I respect him. When I became governor and he said that he wanted to be a senator, I supported him with my whole heart. Senator Akaghergher was the senator then. He wanted to go back but we pulled Senator Akaghergher back because of the respect we have for Gemade for him to go to the Senate. And when he was campaigning, everywhere he went, and I say this on my honour, let him deny that he never said that he was doing it for one term because we have a tacit understanding in my senatorial zone that whichever district gets it that is eight years. It is not anything written but it is a tacit understanding and I challenge Gemade to deny that he did not say he was going to do one term to complete the eight-year tenure of what was given to them.

That is why the entire elders with no exception in Zone A they were the people who bought my forms. They were the people who said I should go to the Senate. The Senate is actually not supposed to go to my district. We are composed of three districts in my Senatorial Zone. It is supposed to go to another district but elders from that district agreed as is the tradition and custody to the Tiv people to loan it to my own district, knowing that after I would have gone for eight years as it is customary, or whatever it is they will have it back. And so for Senator Gemade, what I would have expected from him as an elder statesman was to call all of us and sit down and say 'look, we have an understanding in our Senatorial District. These four years are not enough for, me what can we do?' Instead he went straight attacking me and assassinating my character and all kinds of thing and I felt that for an elder, that is not right and that is not fair. The people said that I should go to the Senate. The elders unanimously with no exception said that I should go - they bought my form with their meagre resources. Does the PDP discuss zoning since you said they have not given automatic tickets to anybody? The party discusses consensus and encourages dialogue and zoning. Zoning is a principle that is not written in the constitution of the party but it is something that is encouraged so that people don't feel marginalised. And so they encourage it. And in Benue, you will know that Aper Aku is the proponent of zoning. Aper Aku started this in NPN. In Benue, among the Tiv, zoning is something that is a cultural thing. It is very cultural within the Tiv that if today this person has gotten this, if it takes a 100 years and that same position comes back to that community, they will say 100 years ago this person got it from here, it should move to that place and eventually, the Nigerian societies have imbibed that and it is working in a lot of places so as to avert crisis in most of the highly contentious areas. How do you defend this charge? They say when someone like you have been in the House of Representatives for eight years and you have been governor for eight years, though you are still full of energy, they will ask, must it be you alone? That is why I am not contesting for governor, I want to go to the Senate. To be the governor and the Senate are two different things. What we need also at some level are people who have cut across, and that is the way that we can develop the country. You know, America is not a good example but we keep giving it because our constitution is modelled after their own. Politics is not an all comers affair. There are families that are political and for you to become governor, you can't wake up from your bed in your village just because you have money and say you will be governor. It cannot happen. You can just not sleep and say that I have made money from crude oil and so I want to be president, it would never happen. You must either be a governor, a senator, or in the House of Representatives. You can never, never be governor without either passing through the State Assembly or the House of Representatives. You can't. So we must also develop a political culture here and that is the only way we can develop the process. So when you have people with my kind of experience wanting to go to the Senate, I believe that it is to add value to that institution. It is not for any selfish interest, we are not saying that we will entrench ourselves in the executive, we want to build these institutions. Once we have a political culture - it is only in Nigeria people will go and do 419 from America and come here and they are running for governor and people are following them without any pedigree, without anything to show who they are and later the people will start having problems. So, I believe at the age of 50, I am just turning 50 by the grace of God, I have a lot to offer given the experience I have gathered over the years. If the national leadership of your party says you should step down for Gemade, are you going to dump the PDP? No. I don't think that that situation will arise. But PDP is a party that I started in 1998 and I am not somebody who is flippant in even talking of somebody who will just walk out because of one single incident and say that I am changing party. I am a very philosophical person, I believe in certain ideologies. Politics in Nigeria, people take it as an end to a means. I am not that kind of politician. I believe in PDP. If and when I am tired and I decide on anything I will leave politics. I will not go and say I am changing political party because of an incident. I will simply pull back. I am a professional and there is a lot that I can offer in other areas and so, I want to assure you that the leadership of the party and the presidency will not engage in a scenario that you have painted. Nothing like that will happen in the PDP. All of us are encouraged, where has dialogue is not possible, we go the field. You will exit as governor by May 29 next year, looking back over these years, what can you say that is your major achievement for the state? In other words, what legacy would you say that you are leaving behind in Benue State? First is the attitude. I have said this several times. More than the physical development on ground, the attitude of an average Benue man has shifted from extremely negative to mid positive. When I became governor, the attitude was very very negative. You know anything about government, people were just negative because they have been told lies over a long period of time. So they never believed in anything. There was apathy and so that has changed. Now they believe that government can make promises and fulfill them. Anytime I make a pronouncement, they will say that you made pronouncement and you fulfilled them. That shows a shift. You know attitude of people is major in any society. If the attitude is negative, no matter what happened, that society will not move forward. And so my major achievement that I can beat my chest is the slight change in the negative attitude of the Benue people to the positive one. You know, there are whole lot of legacies in terms of physical infrastructure but the one that I am proud is that shift and how did it happen? When I came in and there were promises, no body believed that that will happen because in the past it has not happened. But I decided at I was going to change that, so virtually everything I said I would do I have been able to do within the limited resources available to me. Some I have not completed the way I wanted, but they can see it and so they now believe that this can happen. So there is a big paradigm shift in the attitude of the people towards the positive more than it was before and I want to say that is the legacy I want to leave behind and I am happy that I was able to do that.

THE NATION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014

SPORT EXTRA

BATTLE OF POINTE NOIRE ... BATTLE OF POINTE NOIRE ... BATTLE OF POINTE NOIRE ...

Congolese humiliate Nigerians; Going to Pointe Noire chant Ebola go away • Police stop contingent from watching Friday training session

IGERIANS living in Congo Brazzaville would be subjected to negative reactions from the indigenes if the Super Eagles beat the Red Devil in today’s make or mar 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match. Not only that the visiting Nigerian delegation led by the Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick are also in

From Segun Ogunjimi, Pointe Noire, Congo Brazzaville for a very negative reception from fans and the security agencies in Congo today as the Eagles take on the Congo Brazzaville for the maximum three point at stake. A dose of what to expect if Nigeria beat Congo Brazzaville today was extended to Nigerian

Journalists and Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) team led by Friday Nwankwo Kujah, some members of Nigeria Supporters Club and Nigerian fans in Congo were denied access to watch the Eagles training held 3.30pm yesterday. The fans rained abuses and tagged Nigerians Ebola people, singing “Ebola (effected people) go away from us”.

• The violent fans barricading the main entrance to the Stade Municipal Ominisport yesterday

Eagles land in Point Noire, 100 per cent fit

HE Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles arrived the Congolese city of Point Noire 2:30am on Friday morning and after passing through immigration proceedings were checked into Atlantic Palace Hotel in the heart of the city. The team made up of 25 players, the technical crew led by Big Boss Stephen Keshi, NFF President Amaju Pinnick who led the delegation, Senate Committee Chairman on Sports, Alhaji Adamu Gumba among others have since settled down for the business of getting three points off the host on Saturday after-

noon. It was drama at the airport as over 100 Nigerians resident in Congo, kept vigil to welcome the team with familiar songs, drumming and dancing. They were joined by the Nigerian Football and Other Sports Supporters Club, led by Dr Rauf Ladipo. The atmosphere was very lively as they mobbed the coaching crew and players while seizing the rare opportunity of taking photos with the Nigerian team. Head Coach, Stephen Keshi was however not happy with reports that the team was riddled with injuries, inferring that the team was actually 100

percent fit at the moment. “Mikel is super fit, Enyeama (Vincent), had a slight shoulder strain and he’s also in perfect shape now, Raheem Lawal had knock during our last training session and he has since bounced back. So we should stop scaring Nigerians with reports that the team is injury hit”, he declared after conferring with team doctor, Ibrahim Gyaran. The team had a feel of the Stade Omnisport where it will tango the host at 3:30pm local time, which is the same time with Nigeria and the same time the game will be played on Saturday.

The journalists, TAN team and Nigeria’s Supporters Club members had to run inside the Coastal Bus that brought them to the Stade Ominisport Stadium and begged the driver to leave the stadium before Congo fans attack them. What even amazed the Nigerian journalists covering the match was the way security men were listening to fans instructions not to allow the visiting Nigerians to enter the Stade Ominisport Stadium. The main gate of the Stadium was locked and any attempt by journalists, TAN members and Supporters Club led by their President General, Dr Rafiu Ladipo to enter was rebuffed by fans and the security men on ground. Meanwhile the Eagles have assured that nothing would distract them from getting the needed victory in today’s match. The Team Coordinator, Emmanuel Attah told NationSport that the players were resolute and very determined to beat Congo Brazzaville since that is the only way they can actualize Nigeria’s dream of playing in the finals of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. “The players are experienced to be bothered by the antics and undue threats from host fans. They have vowed to concentrate on the task to be done on the field of play not outside it. By the special grace of God we will come out smiling after tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) match’, Attah assured. Congo Brazzaville fans who also like Nigerian fans kept vigil at the Airport expressed optimisms of beating the African Champions, Nigeria as they points five fingers to players and officials emerging from the Discovery Air that conveyed the Nigerian team to the Augustoneto Airport which means that they are expecting their team to beat Nigeria 5-0”.

Only hardwork will save Eagles — Enyeama

UPER Eagles captain Vincent Enyeama has insisted that mere wishes can never see the African champions through in their make or mar encounter in Port Noire, Congo Republic today. Enyeama who spoke before the African Champions left Abuja for the East African country, said that the present situation the team found itself can only be remedied if all the players decides to give in their very best in the encounter. Quoting his words, the former Enyimba of Aba safe hand said "we have found ourselves in a very difficult situation, which unfortunately may not be our desire. As African Champions, much was expected from us before the qualifiers, but football being what it is, has put us in a very tight situation, that we need to work extra hard to remedy it. This would have start from this match in Congo. The Congolese came here and ran away with the maximum points at

RESULTS Africa Cup of Nations - Qualification S. Leone 1-5 Ivory Coast Botswana 0-0 Tunisia

From Patrick Ngwaogu, Abuja stake, so we are going down there to pay them them back in their own coins. But, this is our wishes, and desire, but for it to be actualize, we must work extra hard all through the ninety minutes of the game. We must avoid any slight loss of concentration and we must be very focused". Continuing, the Akwa Ibom born goalkeeper who may not feature in today's encounter due to the shoulder injury he sustained in his club's league match, said "I don't pray to be part of the Super Eagles team that would not defend the trophy they won last year, and all the players have that at the back of their minds. They know that every of such tournament is always a boost to their careers, so they are very determined more that ever before to battle the Red Devils of Congo to a stand still today at home" he concluded. Super Eagles will need an outright win against the Congolese to draw level with them in points, before facing the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Wednesday.

• Enyeama

‘I can make the difference’

UPER Eagles new invitee, Kingsley Sokari has promised to make the difference in today's make or mar African Nations Cup qualifier against the Red Devils of Congo in Port Noire. Speaking exclusively to Sportinglife, the Enyimba International mercurial midfielder said "first, I have to thank God and the Coaches for giving me the opportunity to be called to camp. The first day I arrived camp, I was a little jittery, because I had the opportunity of interacting with some of our big players thatI have been watching on television for a long time. But, after that day, I made up my mind to take the bull by the horns, and decided to establish myself in the team, and I

From Patrick Ngwaogu, Abuja have seen that I have all it takes to make maximum impact in the game. This is to say that If I am given the opportunity in today's match, I will surely make the difference". Continuing, he said "I watched the Congolese when they came to play us here in Calabar, and I want to tell you that I know their weak points and will surely capitalize in it when the need arises. I know very well that the match would not be an easy one, but I want to assure all Nigerians that the Super Eagles would surely come out victorious at the end of the day". He appealed for the support of all Nigerians in the match.

• Continued from back page Footballer of the Year’s nomination. How can Enyeama be talking about an injured shoulder? Where did he sustain the injury? He mustn’t be risked for the game. Only very fit players should wear the jersey today. Ejide is an efficient goalkeeper, except that he is prone to injuries. Don’t ask me about Chijoke Agbim being asked to start the game in Pointe Noire? Many Nigerians won’t watch the game. Look at the way Agbim was fidgeting in the ceremonial game to open the Akwa Ibom International Stadium last week Friday in Uyo. Until recently, the Eagles’ defensive four-man group had been the pivot of the team. Not so any more with the silly goals the team has been conceding, especially in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifiers. Efe Ambrose and Kenneth Omeruo have been sidelined by their clubs for weeks. Not many can vouch for Oboabona’s form. Only Juwon Oshaniwa is playing for his Israeli club. Many have, however, asked about the quality of strikers in the Israeli league to give Juwon the type of challenge that he will face today. The flipside is for the coaches to rely on experienced Elderson Echiejile, who, incidentally, has played for his French side in the last two weeks. Again, the coaches will be happy that these bench warmers are not nursing injuries. Eagles’ leaky defence makes a mockery of the commanding display of the team’s chief coach, Stephen Keshi, when he played for Nigeria. Could it be the absence of regular first team shirts in their European sides that has affected their sterling performance, like we saw in at the South Africa 2013 Africa Cup of Nations? Keshi was awesome. He managed the team on the pitch. He took responsibility by stepping forward to score vital goals. Keshi ‘arrested’ troublesome players in the opposition, a trait missing since the Big Boss was appointed. Whereas our opponents plot how to mark out our dangerous players, Eagles stars just strive to win matches without planning to stop the opposition’s best. Congo has a dangerous striker who plays for Almeria in the Spanish La Liga. He scored a breathtaking goal against Barcelona last weekend. Indeed, he scored against the Eagles in Calabar, which makes it imperative for the coaches and the players to take him out of the game before 45 minutes. Fair and foul means are employed to stop our big players. The Italians took out Emmanuel Amuneke and Daniel Amokachi at the USA’94 World Cup; remember? Should I remind you about how the French roughened out Michael Babatunde and Oguenyi Onazi at the Brazil 2014 World Cup? The exit of these players at accounted for Nigeria’s early exit at both World Cups in 1994 and 2014. If Keshi and his crew fix the Eagles’ defence, victory in Pointe-Noire would be achieved with plenty of goals. The Congolese need a win,

even though a draw would still fetch them the qualification ticket. But an early goal would do the magic for the Eagles, provided the defenders stay with the Congolese. If they do that, the hosts will be frustrated. They will be struggling to even the score. This panicky setting will expose the hosts at the rear. We just hope that the midfield arrangement will have boys who can be selfless during the game by giving the balls to those who are free to score goals. Goals alone win matches, not fanciful displays or selfishness by any player(s). Will the coaches have the courage to bench either Mikel Obi or Oguenyi Onazi? Both players play in the same defensive positions for their European clubs. We, however, saw a better playing Mikel in the country’s last victory over Sudan, largely because Onazi was deployed to play at the right back position. I hope the coaches can stick to this game plan so that younger boys can do the marking in the midfield for the Eagles while Mikel sprays the passes like he does at Chelsea. Most games are won in the midfield. Besides, coaches use the midfield to plot their counter strategies, especially in the second when the opposition would have given all that they have to offer. Our coaches leave the changes too late. I hope that the coaches have jettisoned the archaic 4-2-4 formation. Our players know how to play in the 4-4-2 format or 4-5-1 or the 3-5-2 style depending on what the coaches want them to adopt. Modern day soccer is played in the midfield by the team that outnumbers the opposition with thinking boys in that department, who create openings for their strikers to convert. Eagles must learn how to effectively utilise Ahmed Musa’s pace by giving him the passes early. Such early release of passes gives Musa the edge to outrun his markers. Musa, happily, has started scoring goals. Musa has grown to understand that he can be the team’s undertaker where designated strikers have been marked out of the game. Given Emenike’s status as a prolific scorer, no country pitched against Nigeria ignores him. He is a marked man. But Uche’s return is the coaches’ trump card. Having been out of the team for two years, it is only proper that Uche starts the game from the bench so that he can observe how his new mates play. I hope that the coaches have perfected set pieces with the players in training. We have failed to utilise our corner kicks, free-kicks and set plays into goals. Well executed set pieces can catch the Congolese off guard. The beauty about goals scored from set plays is that they are indisputable. Incidentally, Keshi and Daniel Amokachi were in the Eagles squad that beat Congo in Pointe Noire. The winning goal was a long pile driver by the late Rashidi Yekeni. Unlike then when the pitch was bumpy, what the Eagles will see today is a synthetic pitch. It shouldn’t be the reason for any excuse at dusk today. The Congolese are used to playing on astro turfs, but they came to Calabar and inflicted the first defeat on the African champions playing on a grassed pitch. Good luck Super Eagles; up Nigeria. Oba khato Okpere, Ise!

TOMORROWPUNCHLINE IN THE NATION

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL.9, NO. 3033

To continue to think that the present structure of the polity can be sustained if the era of oil boom comes to an end is for our leaders to knowingly bury their heads in the sand in order to avoid coming to terms with an unpleasant reality

—Ropo Sekoni

have been eagerly awaiting a critique of my paper of last week titled ‘Osun Election: A Pathway to Nigeria’s Democratic Growth’. At last, I got one in the reaction of my friend, Segun Ayobolu, on the last page of The Nation, Saturday, November 8, 2014 edition. As usual of such reactions (some patronage here and there before the slicing knife is applied), Segun introduced his discussions of my paper with some pejoratives and later took a descent into his opinion of what is right. His allegation that “Banire treads treacherous and slippery analytic terrain” (whatever that means!) was supported by what he thought did not make sense in making a distinction between a party and his candidate. I am sorry to say that while that assertion might appeal to ordinary consciousness, a good understanding of politics would prove otherwise. In any political clime where a party fields an unpopular candidate, there is no assurance that the electorate would gullibly buy into the party’s craze. A good understanding of Osun politics reveals that Aregbesola’s emergence in the first term was kindled by his political records in Lagos and the declining popularity of the government then in power whose policies the people were clamouring against. It is to that extent that the fate of a party and his candidate may roll into each other. If the Action Congress had produced a candidate of less public approval in 2007 in Osun, the story could have been different as the people would not see any difference between the government in power and our offer of redemption. There, I believe my friend did not get the purport of our analysis. If in 2014, we had presented in Osun a candidate not better than the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, the outcome would probably not worth the celebration of today. That emphasizes the need for our political party to be more pragmatic in its choice of candidature. Segun queried what would have been the incentive for the electorate to vote against our party in Osun. What was the incentive for the electorate when they voted against our party and candidate in Ekiti on June 21 (not August 9 mistakenly stated by Segun in his article)? Whether the party and its candidate are gnashing their teeth now is not the issue but that our party would have been out of power just as happened in Ekiti. The fact remains that popular programmes of Aregbesola largely retained political patronage from the masses in favour of our party and no emergency gospel of ‘stomach infrastructure’ recklessly flaunted by the PDP would have dissuaded the masses. Segun did not seem to follow the opinion poll conducted by some reputable organizations before the election which justified my assertion that the popularity of the candidate overwhelmed the rating of the party in Osun. The politics of today requires every candidate to organize direct grassroots interaction with the people which we did on the basis of doorto-door campaigns by which we distilled our facts and got better acquainted with the feelings of the people. It was a direct practical approach we adopted and not an armchair analysis of events. We practically learnt from

Re: Banire, Aregebsola and Osun Polls

•Aregbesola

•Banire

the less-privileged who did not seek any political appointment and are not in any vantage position to seek political appointments. They are political followers of many aspirants at the grassroots level who felt disappointed by the pranks of such leaders and a fortiori, the party, but expressed great satisfaction about the policies of Ogbeni. Segun’s stance that probably those who condemned the party were political appointment seekers did not come out of reality but mere conjectures. Such conjectures would not align with the factual situation which we encountered during the preparations for the election. The reference to Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji Lateef Jakande is greatly misplaced. If those leaders had failed in their performances, they would not have secured the eminent and glorious positions they retained today in history. Segun also asserted that why Aregbesola was able to contest in the first term was because the party fielded him. This contention smirks of childish historical conclusion as the process by which the party fielded Aregbesola in the first term is what we are concerned with and not merely that the party fielded him. Is Segun suggesting that Aregbesola was imposed on the Osun people in his first term? Far from that! Aregbesola won the primaries of the party in 2007 fair and square. So many candidates came up and a credible primary election was organized in which he emerged winner. The same process was embarked upon in 2014 even when Aregbesola was the only one who purchased nomination form on the

platform of All Progressives Congress. He was not imposed on the people and nobody hid the form from any other aspirant and neither was anybody prevented from aspiring for the job. The party still ensured that a primary election was organized in line with the Constitution in which Aregbesola was given the party’s banner following a popular affirmation process. The reference to Babatunde Fashola is grossly misplaced. The fact that the party gave a credible candidate an opportunity to run in the first place does not mean that where the party is engaging in political suicide, we must all remain complacent or coldly indifferent. Such attitude would only be a mark of sycophancy or political indolence. This we eschew, as we are loyalists of the party and not sycophants. Interestingly my friend said that “it is difficult for one to scientifically determine the meaning of imposition in a situation in which, for instance, over 20 aspirants are gunning for a given position and each believes that if he does not win, it is because the winning candidate has been imposed on the party!” this is a completely naïve appraisal of our paper and the political situation in our party. One would not expect such a political conclusion from Segun since we both served in Asiwaju and Fashola’s governments. I recall that Segun was press secretary to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and he ought to know better notwithstanding that he would claim livelihood in journalism and not politics. The allegation of imposition in our party is not as jejune in nature as Segun tried to paint same. Our understanding and definition of im-

RIGHT OF REPLY

position is more scientifically determined than Segun’s understanding of it. Where in a primary election, an aspirant scored the majority votes and the loser was rather imposed by an overlord, can Segun give us a worse instance of scientific imposition than that? As a leader of the party, I received petitions against imposition on a daily basis during any electioneering process and yet some people would prefer that we must keep quiet. What is the usefulness of featuring candidates rejected by the members of the party only to satisfy the political gusto of some few individuals? This menace has wiped away the needed sense of political responsibility among our office holders and now people have been comparing us negatively with our political opponents. The need to project the party in favourable light to the people has made some us compulsory advocates of the truth. If Segun’s analysis of what transpired between Awolowo and Akintola in the First Republic is actually correct, must we still promote the politics of self interest at all costs which Segun has pretended not to see its negative impacts? If, as argued by Segun, that development brought the crisis that engulfed the West and reverberated all over Nigeria leading to catastrophic consequences, must we now perpetuate same simply because it is not the same characters of the past that are in the saddle today? It is this kind of attitude among followers that destroys leaders and glorious institutions they profess to build but which over time they tried to pattern along their personal ego. How on earth can Segun justify zoning and religious considerations above merit? Reference to federal character in the Constitution does not justify Segun’s argument as the approach we condemn in Lagos State does not fall in line with theories that dictate progress in plural societies. If such balancing as argued by Segun is a necessity, then today our party must not be celebrating Tambuwal whom we identify as a great asset and align with against the zoning arrangement. Would Segun rather have preferred the PDP-sponsored Speaker? Why must we give fillip to negative sentiments by quoting redundant political theories rather than project the best interest of the people? Pandering to suggestions such as made by Segun would only justify the negative aspects of our living. We all must endeavour to save our party and even our political overlord from self-destruction as we are loyalists and not sycophants. By the volatile nature of this issue, I expect further discussions, dissensions and distended dissertations. If telling the truth could be regarded as treachery, then I admit otherwise as always said, truth is bitter and change is usually resisted but constant. The earlier we jettison the unfashionable practices in our party, the better for us. Dr. Muiz Adeyemi Banire Principal and Founding Partner, M. A. Banire & Associates and National Legal Adviser, APC.

ILLUMINATIONS returns next week

Ade Ojeikere on Saturday talk2adeojeikere@yahoo.com

Going to Pointe Noire

ODAY is significant in our quest to defend the Africa Cup of Nations’ diadem that we won in South Africa on February 10, 2013. It is not enough for the players to make promises. It is important to ask the coaches if they have reconciled the warring factions in the team. Has the chief coach truly forgiven Ikechukwu Uche? How would Uche feel today, if the coaches place him on the bench? Will Uche give his best if introduced? Is it true that Emmanuel Emenike and the coaches don’t talk to one another? The coaches have to face the fact that players must be prepared to play. Aggrieved players cannot give their best.

The coaches and the players must, therefore, embrace peace. No squabbles. What Nigerians crave for today is victory. We must leave the pitch today with the same seven points as Congo. This will only happen if we beat them. It is possible only with a united house. It will be a big shame if Nigeria doesn’t qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations from a group that has Congo, Sudan and South Africa. More ridiculous will be that we couldn’t finish among the best two. My poser to the players and coaches: What will the 2015 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations look like without the defending champions? It certainly won’t be the first time this is happening. But the Super Eagles have their last chance to qualify for the next

competition. The coaches and the players must forget about their internal problems and stop the Congolese at home in Point Noire today. Is this an insurmountable task for the Eagles? No. Our players have been through such tough terrains before, for club and country. We have many big stage players, who know how to raise their game when they need to. Now is the time for them to win a game for the teeming fans, many of whom will be fasting so that they can watch their Eagles shock the continent again, like they did in South Africa on February 10, 2013. Have the players and coaches thought about what they would be doing, if Nigeria fails to qualify for the 2015 edition? What

would they be telling their admirers, if asked what happened to the Eagles? What do they want Nigerians to remember them for? Wouldn’t pundits sneer at us when the games begin next year and the Eagles are not part of the best 24 teams in Africa? Is that what the players want to bequeath to their successors? Our players’ scorecard for their European clubs last weekend was awful. Vincent Enyeama conceded the 12th goal in 13 outing. Austin Ejide conceded the seventh goal. If the coaches are to judge Chijoke Agbim’s outing last week Friday at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium against Ghana’s U-23 players, they would be apprehensive. But with the Eagles, Enyeama has been outstanding. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Enyeama has been listed in the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) African

•Continued on Page 63

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