The Nation October 07, 2012

$620,000: Otedola keeps Police waiting

Achebe's outburst on Awo, Gowon invitation to war, says Buhari's party

Foreign 3 embassies monitor case

Arewa faults literary icon

Page

Kinsmen back him Page

Uncertainty over Patience Jonathan’s return

60

PAGE

7

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper www.thenationonlineng.net

VOL.07 N0. 2270

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

ONDO 2012:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

N150.00

Another Mimiko's aide resigns ‘Why Ondo youths back Akeredolu’ PAGE 4

2013 budget: Jonathan, lawmakers' row deepens Both sides adamant on bench mark, expenditure framework PAGE 2 Bankole Biodun

George Ogbonna

Emmanuel Morah

Ifeanyi Anosike

After her church crashed, Queen Ure declares: Emeka Chukwu

Ngozi Ekeoma

Samuel Aro

Adamu Aliyu Maula

EFCC arraigns 13 new oil marketers for alleged N4.6bn subsidy scam Arisekola's son faces fresh charges

PAGE

2

‘I'm back to Pastor Kris Okotie; where else will I go?’ 41 PAGE

2 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

2013 budget: Jonathan, lawmakers’ row deepens •Both sides won’t shift ground over benchmark, expenditure framework T •FG feels ‘slighted’ by NASS members’ action HE Federal Government and the two chambers of the National Assembly are spoiling for a long drawn battle over the yet-to-be unveiled 2013 budget.

The major points of disagreement are the benchmark for the budget which the House of Representatives unilaterally increased from $75 to $82, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2013-2015 and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).

President Goodluck Jonathan was scheduled to present the budget proposals to a joint session of the legislature last Thursday but had to shift it at the instance of the Reps who said they needed more time to study MTEF and the FSP with a view to understanding the projections and assumptions on which the budget was based.

The House Joint Committee on Finance, Legislative Budget and Research, National Planning and Economic Development and Loans, Aids and Debt, in a report obtained by The Nation, rubbished almost all the assumptions on the MTEF and FSP submitted to the House by the Presidency.

The House said it was acting in line with Section 11 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 which requires the Federal Government to prepare and lay before the National Assembly for consideration and approval, a medium-term Expenditure framework for the next three years (2013 -2015 in this case).

The position of the House has not gone down well with the Presidency and officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance who are angry that all the efforts they put into preparing the MTEF, FSP and the budget proposals were rubbished by the Reps.

It was gathered yesterday that the Senate may align with the House of Representatives on the issues at stake.

The senators say believe that under the law, the National Assembly is empowered to approve the MTEF and FSP as parameters for formulating the budget,whereas the budget was prepared before the MTEF and FSP were sent to them and the Reps.

Central Bank Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido, appearing before the House of Representatives on Wednesday, described the decision of the Reps to increase the benchmark as wrong while officials of the Ministry of Finance say it is a negation of the principle of good planning.

Chairman of the House Joint Committee on Finance, Legislative Budget and Research, Alhaji Abdumumini Jibrin, faulted Sanusi’s submission.

He said: “Why do we have a problem with increasing the benchmark? This will reduce deficit and the money generated will be tied to the provision of services and projects that we are currently borrowing to address.”

The joint committee, in justifying the increase of the benchmark said it “will lead to an increase in oil and gas revenue from N7,250.516 billion to N7, 963.436 bil-

Victor OLUWASEGUN, Dele ANOFI, Onyedi OJIABOR, Abuja lion. The $7 increase in the benchmark will increase Federal Government’s share of revenue from N3,561.02 billion to N4,137.31 billion.

“The revenue target of the Nigeria Customs Service should be increased from N914.366 billion to N1,018.310 trillion, while the target for FIRS and Federal Government of Nigeria Independent Revenue (FGNIR) could be retained as proposed in the document. This increase will make total nonoil revenue to rise from N3,298.46 billion to N3,523.82 billion.

However, a high ranking official in the Ministry of Finance told The Nation that the benchmark adopted by the Reps is overly optimistic.

“It’s just not good for the country,” he said, adding: “Under IBB, there was a period when the price of oil crashed to $8 per barrel. And for two years during the reign of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, the price of oil crashed below the projected benchmark and it was the savings during Obasanjo’s time that the Yar’Adua administration fell back on. The $85 benchmark is against the princi-

ple of good planning.”

Sources said yesterday that the Presidency would stick to its MTEF assumptions such as : oil production, 2.52 million barrels per day; crude oil benchmark, $75 per barrel and exchange rate, N160/$1.

Presidency officials are reading ulterior motive into the action of the federal legislators.

The senators and reps, a source alleged, appear to have a “hidden agenda to

frustrate the presentation of the 2013 budget.”

While the two chambers of the National Assembly have tentatively agreed to host the President on Thursday next week for budget presentation, there are speculations that the Presidency is already considering delegating the Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi to lay the budget before the National Assembly if the delay continues.

“The ball is now in the court of the National Assembly. Nobody will blame President Jonathan if the budget is not presented early enough for the consideration of the National Assembly,” said the source.

“The President has signalled his preparedness to present the budget but those who are to receive the document thought otherwise.

“Who knows what the lawmakers would come up with after looking at the

MTEF? “The MTEF may be tinkered in such a way that would make nonsense of the entire document.

“If that happens, it will mean the Ministry of Finance and other relevant agencies going back to the drawing table to rework the budget.”

The Presidency and the National Assembly have always had confrontation over attempts by the legislators to tamper with the benchmark adopted by the executive and the infusion of •Continued on Page 7

•From left: Adamawa State Governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako; Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji and Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswan at the meeting of governors with President Goodluck Jonathan on flood affected states at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Photo: Akin OLADOKUN.

EFCC arraigns 13 new marketers over N4.6bn subsidy fraud

T

HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday arraigned 13 new oil marketers at a Lagos High Court, Ikeja for fuel subsidy fraud in the sum of N4.6 billion.

The EFCC alleged that they obtained the money by false pretence and using fake documents.

Ten of the oil marketers, made up of six persons and four companies, were arraigned before Justice Habeeb Abiru while the remaining three, made up of two individuals and one company, were arraigned before Justice Lateefa Okunnnu.

The six indicted oil marketers and their four companies were arraigned before Justice Habeeb Abiru on an eightcount charge.

The charges bordered on “conspiracy to obtain by false pretence, obtaining by false pretence, conspiracy to forge documents and uttering false documents.”

The EFCC alleged that the marketers and their companies had conspired to and also obtain huge sums of money from the Federal Government of Nigeria, purpoting the sums to be payments for subsidy under the Petrol Support Fund for the purported importation of premium motor spirit from Europe to Nigeria.

Those arraigned before Justice Abiru were Anosyke Group of Companies Ltd; Ifeanyi Anosike; Dell Energy Ltd; Emeka Chukwu; Ngozi Ekeoma; Downstream Energy Sources Ltd; Alhaji Adamu Aliyu Maula; Rocky Energy Ltd; George Ogbonna and one Emmanuel.

According to the charge sheets, Anosyke Group of Companies, Ifeanyi Anosike, Dell Energy Limited, Emeka

Arisekola’s son faces fresh charges Adebisi ONANUGA Chukwu and Ngozi Ekeoma were arraigned on an eight count charge bordering on conspiracy to obtain by false pretence, forgery and uttering false documents to the tune of N1,537,278,880.82, being payments fraudulently received from the Petroleum Support Fund for purported supply of 15, 000 metric tonnes of premium motor spirit.

On the other hand, the commission arraigned Downstream Energy Sources Limited, Alhaji Adamu Aliyu Maula, Rocky Energy Limited, George Ogbonna and Emmanuel Morah on an eight count charge also bordering on conspiracy to obtain property by false pretence, conspiracy to forge documents, forgery and uttering false documents to the tune of N789,648,329.25, being payments fraudulently received from the Petroleum Support Fund for a purported supply of 14,273,0227 litres of premium motor spirit.

The EFCC claimed that all the defendants at various times forged different bills of laden for premium motor spirit not supplied all in a bid to claim the Federal Government’s subsidy on fuel.

The 10 accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges and their counsel applied for a date for hearing of bail application for them.

They also prayed the court to order that the defendants be remanded in EFCC custody as against prison custody.

Justice Abiru granted the request of the defendants as he ordered that they be remanded in EFCC custody.

He thereafter adjourned the matter till October 19, 2012 for

hearing of their bail applications.

Eight oil companies and marketers were initially billed to appear before justice Lateefa Okunnu on Friday but the EFCC was only able to arraign only three marketers.

The three marketers arraigned before Justice Okunnu were made up of a company, ASB Investment Limited, and two persons, Aro Samuel Bamidele and Abiodun Kayode Bankole.

The three defendants and others yet to face trial were ar-

raigned on an 18-count charge bordering on uttering, obtaining and falsifying documents to the tune of N2,326,927,210.07.

The three defendants who took their pleas before Justice Okunnu pleaded not guilty and the court fixed bail hearing for October 9, 2012 with an order that the defendants be remanded in EFCC custody.

Among the five persons and companies that were absent in court on Friday were Abdulahi Alao, the son of Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland,

Alhaji Arisekola Alao.

Abdullahi Alao and his company, Axenergy Nigeria Limited, will be appearing for the third time for offences bordering on fuel subsidy fraud since the fuel subsidy trials commenced.

In the current charge, Abdullahi was again alleged to have obtained under false pretence as well as forged bills of laden and other relevant importation documents to perpetrate fraud.

Trial in the matter involving Abdullahi Alao and four others will commence on November 22, 2012 before Justice Okunnu.

... arrests 10 for alleged violation of Money Laundering Act

T

HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday said the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) had arrested 10 suspects for not complying with the provisions of the Money Laundering Act 2011.

According to a statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, the suspects were mostly managers of auto shops, estate firms and hotels.

The statement said: “The EFCC on Thursday commenced the enforcement of compliance with the provisions of the Money Laundering Act 2011

by Designated Non- Financial Institutions DNFIs (hotels, real estate firms, auto dealers, audit and accounting firms, casinos, supermarkets bureaux de change, law firms, etc), with the arrest of officials of seven companies in Abuja.

“Those arrested include Manager, Pent House Properties, Mr. Austin Olefa; Chief Executive Officer, Abmed Motors, Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed; Mathew Abang and Eguakum Ekenema, manager and general manager respectively of Jorany Hotels; Accountant, Grand Product Company Limited (Grand Square) Ndubisi Akabogu; Juvita Akwari, and Obinna Ugoma, manager and accountant respectively, Lamonde Hotels; Wole Oladapo and Osayi Gavin, accountant and marketer respectively, Febsons Hotels and Abiodun Adelasu of NAWA Properties.

Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation and Eric IKHILAE “They were arrested at the start of a special operation designed to compel compliance with the anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism regulations by DNFIs. “Section 5 of the Money Laundering Act 2011 requires existing businesses to submit, within three months from the commencement of the Act, a declaration of their activities and all records of transactions.

“They are equally required to file returns on transaction within seven days from the date of the transaction in chronological order, indicating each customer’s surname, forenames and address.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) a few weeks ago also came up with a circular directing financial institutions to demand evidence of registration with SCUML as condition for doing business with DNFIs. “The Head of SCUML, Angel Nworgu, said the arrest of the company executives marks a turning point in the enforcement of the anti- money laundering laws.

She added that the days of impunity and noncompliance by DNFIs were over. She promised that more arrests would be made as the exercise continues.

NEWS 3

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

A

Anambra worst hit by flood – Presidential team

presidential delegation led by the Minister of Environment, Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafa, visited Anambra State on Thursday and declared it the worst hit by the floods that have ravaged 14 states in the country lately.

Accompanied by the the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah; the Minister of State for Works, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda; and theDirector of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mohammad Sani Sidi, Mailafia observed that the state is located at the lowest point of the River Niger and that must have occasioned the enormous destruction wrought by the flood.

The team commended Governor Obi for his efforts at assisting the victims.

The Minister of Aviation, whose house alongside those of the former minister, Prince John Emeka; former Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Prince Chinedu Emeka; the Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Princess Chinwe Nwebili and the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Oselloka Obaze, among others, were under water, said the situation was clearly beyond human comprehension.

He thanked the governor for his relentless efforts to offer assistance and support to the

affected communities and assured that the Federal Government would come to the aid of the state.

She said that while in other communities houses and farmlands were destroyed, in Anambra State, multibillion naira industries, including the three industries the President commissioned when he visited the state on August 30 and Orient Petroleum facility and office, were under water.

Conducting them round the flooded areas, some of which they visited in a helicopter, Governor Obi, who had to cancel all his engagements, including his trip to Mexico because of the natural disaster, said four local government areas, namely Anambra West, Ayamelum, Anambra East and Ogbaru, were completely submerged while four others, Awka North, Ihiala, Onitsha North and Onitsha South, suffered various degrees of destruction.

On Thursday, the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, held a meeting with the governors of the affected states on

•Gov. Obi (Middle), conducting the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah (left) and the Minister of Environment, Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia (right) during the tour of flooded local government areas in Anambra State in a helicopter.

measures to assist and reduce the thanked the President for his care and concern suffering of the people. and for setting up a presidential team to look Speaking at the meeting, Governor Obi into the disaster.

Bakassi indigenes sue Jonathan

S

OME indigenes of Bakassi, Cross River State, have asked a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to void the Green Tree Agreement that Nigeria signed with Cameroun in 2006.

The agreement followed the ceding of the oil rich peninsula to Cameroun by the International Court of Justice, Hague, Switzerland in 2002.

In a motion ex parte moved by their counsel, Mr Festus A. Ogwuche, the applicants are seeking an order of mandamus that compelling the Federal Government to, by any means available to it, repossess, occupy and take full legal and administrative control of the Bakassi Peninsula.

The motion was filed pursuant to Section 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Enforcement and Ratification Act Cap 10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990, as well as Order 34 Rules 1(a), 3(1) and (2) of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2007.

The suit was endorsed by nine executives of Free Bakassi Association, Prince Imoh Ukpa Imoh, Mr Godwin Ukpong, Mr Chritian A. Umoh, Mr Anthony Achibong Ukong, Mr Kingsley Edu, Mr Etim Ekpeyong Ndong, Mr Offiong Anying Ekpeyong, Bassey Okon Osua and Bassey Ikoedem Antiga.

The Applicants are seeking the leave for an order of mandamus, compelling the Federal Government, President Goodluck Jonathan and the Attorney General of the Federation, who were all joined as respondents in the suit, to "unilaterally resile from, withdraw, rescind, repudiate and/or revoke Nigeria's obligations under the Green Tree Agreement entered into between Nigeria and Cameroun in Green Tree, New York, USA on the 12th day of June, 2006, for its being invalid and in breach of Articles 1, 2, 20, 21, 22 and 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 1(2) of the UN Charter,

•Ask court to void Green Tree Agreement Kamarudeen OGUNDELE, Abuja and the UN Declaration on the Rights of indigenous peoples, and being inconsistent with sections 1-3, 2(1) and (6), 13, 14(1) and (2)(b), 17(1), (2)(b), (c ) and (d), sections 19(a) and 9d0, 21(a) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)."

The applicants argued that the ICJ gave its judgment on the protracted dispute over ownership of the oil rich Bakassi Peninsula on the basis of "archaic and anachronistic colonial declarations, and communications between colonial officers."

Justice Gabriel Kolawole

yesterday deferred ruling on the motion till October 9, saying he needed time to carefully peruse the court processes in view of "weighty national issues raised therein."

Specifically, the applicants argued that the ICJ, "in reaching its decision, relied on: (a) Henderson-Flerichau Exchange of Notes of 1931, (b) The Anglo-German Agreement of 11th March and 12th April, 1913 and (c) The British Order-in-Council of 2 August, 1946.

"The ICJ gave the decision as though the territory is occupied by wild animals without any rights under municipal or international law, and treated the colonial declaration and communica-

tion as conferring absolute proprietary rights and obligations to the territory to persons or entities outside the people who for centuries lived and existed therein and of which the territory is their homeland.

"The treaty, signed years before Nigeria came into existence as a sovereign entity, was a "Treaty of protection" conferring limited "protectionist" rights on Britain and cannot by any shade of imagination translate to sovereignty or absolute power of transfer of title, sufficient to extinguish the rights of the kings and chiefs to the traditional over lordship of the territory and/or give Britain an absolute right to alienate their rights and inter-

ests unilaterally without the free prior consent and authority of the chiefs and kings.

"The respondents are hereby given notice to produce the said treaty of 10th September 1884 which the applicants put in their possession upon the proceedings in the ICJ." The applicants are contending that they were neither consulted nor was their consent sought before former President Olusegun Obasanjo endorsed the Green Tree Agreement, saying they were totally kept out of the picture of things prior, during and even after the execution of the agreement.

"The applicants only got notice of the Agreement via media reports and grapevine, and upon contact with •Continued on Page 7

Alleged $620,000 bribe: Otedola keeps police waiting

T

HE police are awaiting the response of the Chairman of Zenon Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola, to an invitation for a follow-up interaction on the alleged $620,000 bribe allegedly collected from him by the suspended Chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime, Mallam Farouk Lawan.

But if the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), which is handling the case, runs into a brick wall, it may insist on its earlier decision to prosecute Lawan, the Clerk of the committee, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, and the Chairman of the House Committee on Drugs and Narcotics, Mr. Adam Jagaba.

According to findings, the Force Criminal Investigation Department(FCID), which is handling the case, had invited Otedola more than three weeks ago. The invitation was said to have followed a request by the prosecutor of the case, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN. A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “We have gone far in conducting additional investigation requested by the prosecutor. We have quizzed Lawan, Jagaba, Emenalo and a few others. But we still need to interact with Otedola on this matter.

•Foreign embasies monitor case Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation “From our records, we have invited Otedola but we have not got any response from him yet. We are anxious that if he does not respond, we may not be able to offer additional information to the prosecutor.

“We are also suspecting that a subsisting civil case initiated

by Otedola in court might prejudice investigation.”

Meanwhile, there were indications that some embassies have established watch-desks on the case to know how far the police will go in its investigation and whether the suspects will be prosecuted or not.

A diplomat, who confided in our correspondent, said: “Some foreign missions are actually interested in this case. It will serve as a barometer for measuring Nigeria’s commitment to anti-corruption campaign.

“Some of us have established watch-desks and it is amazing that not much has been heard in the last few weeks. Does it mean that your country is no longer interested in the case?

“Well, we are waiting to see how far you can go.”

The prosecutor had asked the

police to interact with Otedola on the following gaps in its earlier investigation.

“He (Otedola) should be contacted so that he can provide the following: Copies of documents he submitted to Farouk Lawan after the public hearing investigation to clear his companies AP and Zenon Oil (with a view to comparing them with what the House supplied).

“All the telephone numbers he used in communicating with Farouk Lawan or any other person, related to this matter.

Cautionary words to his statement or compliance with the Rules.

“To confirm whether SSS gave him the money in bulk or in bits of $20, $250, $120.

Whether Otedola signed for the money at SSS with particular serial numbers or whether the SSS has a photocopy of the US dollar bills.

“A copy of memo/documents by AP, ZENON and FORTE Oil submitted to the adhoc committee (presentation) by the MD, Mr. Otaru. He is to confirm whether the $120,000.00 requested by the secretary was for (for Lawan or for himself) as the secretary of the Committee.

“To confirm whether it was

the secretary who called him or he (Otedola) who called the secretary.

“To confirm how many video cameras were used for the coverage of the said sting operation. Where are copies of the recordings? How many bundles were the $120,000; whether only two bundles of $50,000 bills were given to Emenalo and account for the $20,000. The number of times he was visited by Mr. Emenalo.

“He should throw more light on why he went to the SSS and not the other anti-graft agencies? Why did he take the first $250,000 to Farouk’s hotel?

“Was there any lunch on 20th April in his house involving himself, Farouk and a former EFCC chairman and to comment on Lawn’s statement of 14/06/2012. He is also to comment on the allegation of plane load of 2.5 million USD he was alleged to have made to Lawan.

To confirm audio recording of Otedola with Farouk, where it is and copies.

Otedola could not be reached for comment last night. His media minder, however, said he was not aware of police invitation to Otedola. He promised to get to the Zenon Oil boss but later called back to say his cell phone was switched off.

PIB: NLC asks NASS to check Petroleum Minister’s powers Kazeem IBRAHYM, Uyo THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday urged the National Assembly (NASS) to check the powers of the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, as proposed in the Petroleum Industry Bill to avoid possible abuse.

Rising from its three-day workshop on improving legislative engagement between NLC and the National Assembly in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, the union said the NLC would study and make contributions on the PIB while urging NASS to pass a bill that would be in the best interest of the country.

In their 13-point resolutions jointly signed by the Chairman House Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity, Essien Ekpenyong Ayi and NLC Deputy President, Promise Adewusi, the union said minimum wage and labour issues should remain on the exclusive legislative list.

According to Labour, Minimum Wage Act should be reviewed to include periodic upward increases as well as other development-oriented submissions on Belgore Report on the National Minimum Wage.

They appealed to NASS to take another look at the bill on HIV/AIDS and ensure that employers do not make compulsory test a condition for employment.

The union also wants the government to make the Pension Act dynamic so as to ensure the inclusion of periodic upward reviews just as the minimum wage.

“Given the abuse of employment relations which has led to the prevalence of casual and contract labour, the NASS and labour should ensure the implementation of the Labour Act to guarantee decent and secure jobs.

“The laws on occupational safety and health should be reviewed by the National Assembly and made to conform with the conventions of the International Labour Organisation.

“Government should accelerate the process of domesticating ILO conventions and recommendations that will facilitate best practices in labour and employment relations in Nigeria,” they said.

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

4

ONDO 2012 'Why Ondo youths back ACN candidate’ n Damisi OJO, Akure n HE Ondo State Coordinator of the Youth Coordinated Campaign (YCC), Mr. Idris Usman, yesterday said the youths in the state will benefit more from the proposed South West political and economic integration if the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is allowed to rule the state.

He said the South West region had witnessed a major set back during the eight years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration in the region, adding that the ACN had come out with a blue-print that is similar to the ideology of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Usman who stated this in Akure, the state capital, during a mobilisation programme, commended the chieftains of ACN, particularly the former Lagos State governor, Ahmed Tinubu for creating a platform that was advocating for the interest of the Yoruba.

The coordinator stressed that the youths should embrace the political party that was interested in developing the states in the region, adding that forming an economic integration would help in fighting the high rate of unemployment.

T

Another Mimiko's aide resigns HE Special Assistant on Project Monitoring to Governor Olusegun Mimiko in Owo Local Government Area, Mr. Femi Idris, yesterday resigned his political appointment from the ruling Labour Party (LP) government.

In his letter of resignation, a copy of which was made available to The

T

n Damisi OJO, Akure n Nation said he decided to leave the ruling government in other to save his name from dishonor and shame.

The former Special Assistant described Mimiko’s administration as a government of inhumanity, failure and frustration, adding that

he preferred to concentrate on his educational programme rather than associate with the present LP’s government.

He noted that it was reasonable for him to quit Mimiko’s government so that his age-long political career will not be rubbished by the various atrocities that have pervaded the

government of the state.

The letter, addressed to the Secretary to the State Government reads: “I thank Governor Mimiko for allowing me to serve in his administration. I am compelled at this juncture to resign my appointment with immediate effect.

This is to enable me concentrate fully on my educational programme.”

It will be recalled that last week Monday, three aides of Governor Mimiko also resigned their appointment from the ruling LP’s administration.

Aketi youth platform for launch today n Damisi OJO, Akure n HE official inauguration of Aketi Youth Enlightenment Platform (AYEP) comes up today in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

According to a statement issued by the group’s coordinator, Comrade Bolarinwa Omotoso, the programme will be an eye opener for youths in the state to work for the victory of Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN] in order to benefit from the incoming administration of Mr Rotimi Akeredolu(SAN).

The programme will commence with street-tostreet march and door-todoor campaigns for Akeredolu and his running mate, Dr. Paul Akintelure, as well as a seminar on poverty alleviation and youths empowerment programme.

Omotosho said: “We will stand against being drawn into slavery through second term agenda of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko in the South West geo-political zone, as only Ondo State is left out of progressives platform.”

The group said no amount of deceit will save Mimiko from being removed from power in the state, stressing that the programme would be witnessed by eminent personalities within the state and beyond.

T

•Action Congress of Nigeria Ondo State Governorship Candidate, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu (second left); his running mate, Dr Paul Akintelure (left); Director -General ACO, Chief Tayo Alasoadura and Hon. Wale Akinterinwa at the rally held in Ore, Photo: NIYI ADENIRAN Ondo State...Thursday.

Group mobilises youths in Diaspora for Akeredolu T

HE Ondo Youth Alliance [OYA], led by Mr. Oluwakayode Adeyemi has taken the awareness drive for the October 20 election to the United Kingdom [UK] and Ireland where he met with various youth groups of Ondo State and their friends on the need to vote the Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN] candidate, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu [SAN].

At a gathering in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, which culminated in the Europe-wide mobilisation, it was an unprecedented show of support for the Action Congress Candidate, Mr. Akeredolu, by the youths.

In support of the youths, the gathering was attended by prominent Ondo State indigenes who have made their mark in the Diaspora like Dr. Taiwo Matthew, the first African to be elected as councillor in the Republic of Ireland.

Matthew said: "This is a good show of support and a welcome development in raising the political awareness of the youths of today for the challenges of tomorrow.”

One of the youths who advocated support for the ACN candidate stated that his support was based on the fact that he and his Nigerian friends wanted to come back home but they want a home that will be safe and progressive.

According to him, "If what we see on television stations and read in newspapers about Ondo State is anything to go by, then the present governor does not have any business in government."

Mr. Sunday Kehinde, an indigene of Akure living in the Diaspora also expressed the need for positive sustainable change in the state, "a peaceful transition to a true democratic government formed by

n Damisi OJO, Akure n

the ACN is what we desire and not one that will bring back the echoes of the 80s" Adeyemi implored who implored them to be good ambassadors of Ondo State in Diaspora until Nigeria passes the bill into law for its citizens to vote outside the country, said they should not shy away from the socio-political developments in their country, most especially in Ondo State.

He said: "Until you are allowed to be part of the electoral process in Nigeria, encourage your parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties resident in Ondo State to vote in Akeredolu in October."

He further reiterated the plans of the Chairman, Ondo State ACN in UK, Mr. Tunde Doherty's plans to lead other UK and Europe party leaders to the state for the this month’s election.

According to him, “the youths are no more interested in politics again

•Akeredolu

in Nigeria because on several occasions, their leaders or representatives have failed them.

But we have been telling the youths, particularly those in Ondo State to support the idea of ACN, because this is the only political party that has enough to give out to the youth.

"For instance, the economic integration will not only create job opportunities for the youths alone, but also the six south west states to combine resources together.

"In Ondo State, we have gas and with this, Ondo State can be generating electricity to the remaining five states in the region.

“Already there is a train moving from Lagos to Osun, this is only achievable because the two states are under the same political party. If the ACN wins the election, there will be an easy dialogue between the remaining four states to have a joint train that would be moving across the South West region.

"This will help in reducing the large population in Lagos and Ibadan because it will be possible then for people to be living in Ondo State and be working in Lagos.

“In Agriculture, the integration will also assist in eradicating hunger in our society. We all know that Lagos has no enough land for farming, but in Ondo and Ekiti, there are virgin fertile lands. With this, it is possible for Lagos State to be using the land to grow agricultural crops for people’s consumption through the Economic integration.”

He, however, urged the youths to vote massively for the ACN candidate, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in order to bring the economic integration into reality.

He said: “I was Chairman of Alimosho Local Government Area

in Lagos for many years, despite the fact that I was not from Lagos. Not only this, he gave me an appointment in his cabinet.

"I am not the only Ondo indigene who got such reward, the Lagos State House of Assembly majority leader, Hon. Adeyeye is from Ondo town, he also benefited from Tinubu’s gesture.

“Mimiko benefited from this, because I took him there, he was weeping when we got to Tinubu residence in Lagos, but today he betrayed him.

Mimiko is blackmailing all Ondo indigenes, but this is not true because real Ondo people are always loyal and humble.

“During the Ekimogun Day in 2007, when Agagu was angry with Ondo people because of our support for Mimiko, we have no fund for that festival, we approached Tinubu who came to the event with other chieftains of ACN. Ilori said the ACN national leader donated N1million on behalf of Mimiko because he could not attend the event due to paucity of fund.

“We are appealing to the ACN leaders, particularly Tinubu to forgive us and by October 20, we will use our votes to reward him by sending Mimiko away from government for the progressives to take over the Alagbaka Government House”.

Also, another indigene of Ondo and Majority Leader of Lagos State House of Assembly Hon, Dr. Jibayo Adeyeye, who addressed the people in Ondo dialect, described Tinubu as the authentic Yoruba leader.

Adeyeye said he had the opportunity to be the Majority Leader of the House because Tinubu wanted Yoruba integration to be successful.

Aregbesola's aide hails Tinubu n Damisi OJO, Akure n HE Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Environmental and Sanitation, Hon. Bola Ilori, has extolled the virtues of former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, saying he had contributed greatly to the development of the state, particularly Ondo town.

He spoke with The Nation in Ondo town, shortly after a redemption rally of the Action Congress of Nigeria[ACN] held on wednesday.

T

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

5

ONDO 2012 I am set to transform Ondo’s economy, says Oke n Damisi OJO, Akure n he candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the October 20, governorship election in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke, yesterday said he was prepared to make the necessary sacrifice in leadership that will transform the economy of the state and its people.

Oke said this at the local government rally of the PDP at Ore, in Odigbo Local Government Area.

According to him, the state is blessed with human and needed natural resources that could be used to drive its development, adding that leadership with defined focus is what is required to deliver good governance that will translate to direct impact on the people While receiving new entrants into the party at Ore, Oke said his government will bring primary school facilities closer to the masses.

He said he would do it in line with the school-for-all campaign of the United Nations.

"Our administration will employ more teachers and bring closer to the electorate, primary schools, this I will do in line with the United Nation's education-for-all campaign.

Our children will only walk five minutes into their respective schools if we are voted into power.

"Mimiko has only commissioned two primary schools in over 45 months. We will build more classrooms across the state and spend more on capacity building for our teachers. This, I strongly believe is important than one big structure that has badly altered the UN education for all campaign," he said.

Also at Bolorunduro, Ondo East Local Government Area, Oke said it will be difficult for the state to grow economically under its present state of ecumberance.

He said the cost of financing the state debt has stalled economic growth of all the local government areas in the state.

Oke bemoaned the incumbent over what he described as high debt profile, economically unfriendly interest cost and overbloated administration.

He affirmed that it was high time the state diverted its resources to activities that will open up the economy of the state so that its economy can interact with other states economy to attain economic synergy.

His words: "I have gone round the state, I have visited the two hundred and three wards in the state, what I saw is misplacement of priorities and display of cosmetics. At this critical stage of our development, our resources should not be splashed on town halls, old market stalls and intangibles.

"We need to move fast on the track of employment provision, delivery of quality education and reduction of government overheads so as to attain sustainable development. We need urgent intervention on the critical areas of our development. This, we shall do for our people," he said.

T

•From right: Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Aremo Segun Osoba (3rd right); Governor Amosun of Ogun State; Mr Akeredolu; Chief Bisi Akande and Governor Photo: NIYI ADENIRAN Aregbesola (left) at the Action Congress of Nigeria’s campaign rally in Ore, Ondo State...Thursday.

Osun Deputy Gov, Ikuforiji canvass support for Akeredolu SUN State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Grace Laoye-Tomori and Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Yemi Ikuforiji, have canvassed support for the candidature of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as the governor of Ondo State, stressing that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) would satisfy the yearnings of the state for infrastructural development.

Laoye-Tomori and Ikuforiji addressed a mammoth crowd of party supporters from the South Senatorial District at Ore, Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State. They said ACN had better programmes than the ruling Labour Party (LP), enjoining the people to embrace change and progress.

Also, Special Adviser to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Environment, Bola Ilori, urged the people of Ondo Kingdom to reject the Labour Party (LP) at the forthcoming governorship poll because the governor failed to fight the infrastructure battle in the town.

Canvassing support for Akeredolu, the Deputy Governor of Osun State urged the people to show courage and patriotism. LaoyeTomori said: "Don't shun the polling booths on voting day. Good days are coming. In Osun State, we pay

O

n Emmanuel OLADESU n N10,000 monthly to our elderly people. this will be done in Ondo State by Akeredolu. Our youths will have jobs."

The Speaker enjoined the people of Ondo State to take their destiny in their own hands by joining the vanguard of change in the Southwest. He said Ondo would fare better under an ACN government.

Ikuforiji, who led the Lagos legislators of Ondo State indigene to the rally lamented that those in government in the state have deceived the people for too long with sweet words and camouflaged programmes. He was accompaned

by ACN legislators, including the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Kolawole Taiwo, Bayo Osinnowo, Rotimi Abiru, Omowumi Edet, Segun Olulade, and Lawrence Ayeni.

The Speaker said Ondo should not be left out in the Southwest integration agenda, adding that the success of ACN at the poll will return the state to the progressive bloc.

Ikuforiji added: "Those in government in Ondo State have deceived you for long. It is time to wake up and reject deceitful

governors who lack character and credibility. Ondo is part of Oodualand. It must be liberated and the key to that is the enthronement of an ACN government. progress will come when Akeredolu becomes governor. We know the amount that has accrued to the state in the last three years. If ACN government is in the saddle in Ondo State, it would have turned around the state with half the money.

"Our schools would have been better and hospitals repositioned. By the time Akeredolu is celebrating his first year in office, you would have seen the changes. ACN governors have been performing. We say this Labour Party governor has not performed, despite the fact that he collects more money from the Federation Account than Lagos."

Former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs under Mimiko, Mr. Diran Iyantan said LP is dead in Ondo State, adding that the governor is deceitful by posing as a PDP member in Abuja and LP chieftain in Ondo State.

He said Mimiko would enter the Guinness Book of Records as the governor who could not construct a single road outside the capital city in four years and a governor who could only built just one hospital for

the whole state in four years.

Ilori, who hails from Ondo Kingdom, the birth place of the governor, acknowledged that he was at the centre of the row between the ACN family and Mimiko. He said, although the governor turned down the party's advice to appoint him as a commissioner, following the support he enjoined from the ACN, he was later made a special adviser in Osun State, despite his Ondo tribal mark. ACN National Leader Senator Bola Tinubu had also alluded to the betrayal of trust by the governor at the rally, saying that the governor refused to make the dedicated, loyal and patriotic Ondo indigene as a cabinet member.

Ilori said he knew about the agreement between the governor and ACN about collaboration and subsequent defection, recalling that the plans were not honoured by the goveror. The Special Adviser said: "This posture may dent the image of our town, but I assure you that Ondo people are not traitors. Only Mimiko is a traitor. What has the governor done for Ondo? look at our road. It is terribly bad. Ondo will fare better under ACN. Therefore, I urge our people in Ondo and Ondo State to vote for Akeredolu".

6 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

We’ve still not learnt from our journey U

SUALLY, people celebrate anniversaries when they feel a sense of achievement and self-discovery in their pursuit of something. In that journey, it is a pertinent rule of life that mistakes would be made. Mistakes are acceptable as long as one learns from them and use them to make improved decisions for the future. In our journey since Independence, we as a nation have made mistakes. But what did we do with the mistakes?

Did we learn from them or just repeat them over and over again, oblivious of what was to come?

All my life, I’ve seen my country struggle to attain that she should be: the giant of Africa, the pivot point for Africa’s political and economic excellence, a shinning example of a vibrant black nation. It seems to me that I have been watching, hearing and reading about the failure of this struggle for as long as I can recall. What is it about Nigeria that seems to defy any kind of modern governance or civilized behaviour by government? Could it be that we hadn’t made mistakes or, if we had, we were unable to learn from them?

Nigeria formally achieved independence in 1960 with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as the republic’s first president. However, on January 15, 1966, junior officers calling for radical reforms triggered by alleged corruption attempted a coup. The coup failed but the federal cabinet surrendered power to General JTU AguiyiIronsi. In July 1966, Operation Araba was exercised when army officers killed Ironsi and overthrew the government; as a result, Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon became head of state. Triggered by violence in the north, Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu proclaimed that the eastern part of Nigeria was now the independent Republic of Biafra in May 1967. On July 6, a civil war between Biafran secessionists and the federal government broke out. The war ended in January 1970. “No victor, no vanquished” was affirmed by General Gowon with a promise to return Nigeria to civilian rule in 1976. However, on October 1, 1974, General Gowon announced that the 1976 date for handing over power was not practical. Complaints about corruption and government inefficiency surfaced and led to a bloodless coup on July 29, 1975, when Brigadier General Murtala took over. He reinstated the promise to return to civilian and constitutional rule in 1979 but, six months later, he was assassinated while in a traffic jam. There was public outrage and the chief of general staff, General Obasanjo, reluctantly took over in February 1976. Over the next three years, a new constitution was drafted and an American-style presidency was adopted.

Nigeria was returned to civilian rule in 1979 with Alhaji Shehu Shagari as president. Public disillusionment rapidly set in as the politicians began to pilfer. When the elections in 1983 appeared to be inconsistent, the military took over power again in a popular coup led by General Muhammadu Buhari on December 31, 1983. The government promised to crack down on corruption and introduced a heavy-handed War Against Indiscipline (WAI) in an effort to reorient the social order. However, this was not to be as, in another bloodless coup, General Babangida ousted General Buhari with a promise to vacate office by October 1990. The government again pushed the date for handover back to October 1992, but on April 22, 1990, middleranking army officers attempt to overthrow Babangida. General Sani Abacha, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and chief of army staff, reaffirmed the military’s loyalty to Babangida.

The coup leader, Major Gideon Okar, and 42 of the soldiers were executed in July with 27 more executed in September. Presidential elections were conducted on June 12, 1993, and Chief Moshood Abiola ostensibly won.

Observers and the vast majority of Nigerians agreed that it was the fairest election Nigeria had ever held. The military government annulled the election, called for a new election and banned Chief Abiola from participating.

Protests and controversy followed, forcing

General Babangida to step down on August 26, 1993. Power was handed over to Chief Ernest Shonekan, head of an Interim National Government(ING). General Abacha overthrew Shonekan’s ING on November 17, 1993. However, pressure for Abiola to form a government continued and he was obdurate. On June 23, 1994, he was arrested, charged with sedition and jailed.

Implicated in a phantom coup, General Olusengun Obasanjo was also jailed in 1995. Unexpectedly, Abacha died on June 8, 1998; ambiguity surrounded his death but the official cause given was a heart attack! Abiola was to be released but in the course of meeting with a US delegation on July 7, he died after drinking tea; the official cause given was a heart attack! After the death of Abacha and Abiola, General Abdulsalami Abubakar took over and began a transition to civilian rule. On February 19, 1999, Obasanjo won election to the presidency in a relatively free and fair election. However, in the 2003 elections, INEC declared that he won a second term amidst widespread controversy and suspicion.

Apart from my brief recap of Nigeria’s history being a mouthful, the mistakes are quite evident.

Many believe that ,if there is any good coming out of the bad years of military dictatorship and ineffective civilian governance, it’s that we have made enough mistakes to learn meaningful lessons from them. It appears that all the time the government has failed, it has been either due to massive looting and corruption, outrageous rigging at elections, extensive tribal marginalisation or an unnecessary and unfair extension of the agreed period of rule by the government. Obviously fraudulent elections and chaotic economies are some of the excuses used for takeovers.

If those were reasons for governmental invasions, it could be argued that all our past governments were in the throes of death almost straight after their inception. If the theory still is correct, then military takeovers become a kind of euthanasia because, in nearly all the cases of the breakdown of government, there was a repeated pattern of corruption and cheating. Our governments never seemed to learn from the past mistakes, yet always ended up with the same fate failure!

I, for one, saw this Fourth Republic as a clean slate given to Nigeria despite our past misdeeds so that we can start our quest for greatness afresh. We had the opportunity to right the wrongs of the past and break the vicious circle of pre-doomed governments. General Abdulsalami, in his speech made in 1999 during the inauguration, most appropriately described it when he said, “To us all beckons the historic opportunity to break, once and for all, the cycle of instability and mistrust that have wracked our political life since independence”.

That seems a lifetime ago as Nigerians realise that these new breed of politicians have rapidly adopted the old ways of patronage, rigging and corruption, and the mistakes of the past are being reenacted all over again with a vengeance, meaning that we haven’t learned anything from the past.

It seems all the trauma and hardship this nation has gone through has not taught us anything. If we choose to turn a blind eye to the effect of misrule and cheating, then, that is a serious indication that we are still not ready for that greatness we were destined for; our forefathers struggled and died for absolutely nothing. This is an even more serious threat to Nigeria’s democratic experiment and development.

We must start all over again – never to move forth until we reflect on our blunders and apply it in a positive way to the betterment of this land.

This is one of my wishes for Nigeria. Therefore, as we conclude our 52nd year celebration after colonial rule, I hope to be around to celebrate, at least, the first year of the rebirth of a corruption-free, riggingfree, power-hungry-free Nigeria, fresh from the lessons of the past. If those that have the power choose to drive our homeland to the brinks of death or even kill her, then, we shall one day celebrate the first year of her recuperation or reincarnation.

Either way, one day we shall celebrate for motherland. It will be then and only then that we shall truly have a free and independent nation to celebrate for.

•Top & bottom: Family members, associates, sympathisers and officiating ministers at grave side. Inset: The late Cynthia

•Cynthia’s father, Major-Gen. Osokogu (2nd left) with the officiating ministers

Emotions as Cynthia is finally buried •My daughter’s killers must be brought to book, says father

I

T was a somber atmosphere yesterday as Miss Cynthia Osokogu was finally laid to rest at her father’s country home, OwaEkei, Owa Community, Ika North-East Local Government Area of Delta State.

Cynthia Osokogu, 24, was on July 22 murdered at a Lagos hotel by her facebook friends.

The interment of late Cynthia Udoka Osokogu earlier scheduled for September 5 was postponed by the family following advice from security agencies and medical experts.

A small group of close relatives and friends discussing in low tones awaited the arrival of the corpse, sitting under low hanging trees in small groups around the expansive compound of Major-Gen. Frank Osokogu, Cynthia’s father, along Owa-Ekei Road, Boji Boji Owa .

At exactly 2.59 pm, a black coloured Volvo hearse with registration number LY 616 EKY, drove into the compound carrying a white casket bearing her remains.

She was buried at 3.28 pm amidst tears by her relatives.

Many women cried and cursed in low tones as Cynthia’s body was buried. Grimfaced men only gnashed their teeth as they tried to mask their sorrows.

Rev. Father Leonard Bianchi of the St. Dominic Catholic Church, Owa, who con-

Okungbowa AIWERIE,Asaba ducted a short prayer, prayed that Almighty God accept Cynthia’s soul.

Major-Gen. Osokogu said the law must take its full course in prosecuting those found responsible for the death of his daughter.

According to him, murder is a crime against the state and not against an individual, adding that the case is entirely out his hands.

He described his daughter’s death as tumultuous, painful and incomprehensible but said he had faith in the judiciary to give the family justice.

According to him, the case is in a holding court which will be transferred to the appropriate court of jurisdiction.

He expressed satisfaction at the efforts of the police, adding that the media have shown enormous support for the family. ”I am impressed with the efforts of the security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force”, Major-Gen. Osokogu said.

On how he feels losing Cynthia, he said: “What you cannot help you endure; we are confronting the situation with all equanimity. So far so good. It is a difficult vacuum to fill, if it is possible to fill a vacuum, but life goes on. I think we are slowly coming to terms with my daughter’s death”.

NEWS 7

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2012

2013 budget: Presidency, National Assembly row deepens •Continued from Page 2 budget, only N1.8 billion has so far been released and cash-backed as at the third quarconstituency related projects by the legisla- ter of the year. tive arm.

The underfunding, he insists, is responsiThe Reps are currently on a verification tour ble for the low level of the implementation of capital projects across the country slated of the capital projects of the Airforce. for execution under the 2012 budget.

The House committee of Environment, The tour, according to them, will guide the headed by Hon. Uche Lillian Ekwunife, beHouse in prioritising budgetary allocation in lieves the current flooding in many parts of the 2013 appropriation. the country was caused partly by The Nation learnt that the Reps are gener- underfunding of the ministry. ally disappointed at what they have seen of A lawmaker, who does not want to be the projects. Their view is that the level of named revealed to The Nation that the situaimplementation is low. tion is dire. “And now that we are in the last For instance, the House committee on quarter, the general opinion is that not much Airforce, headed by Hon. Kenneth Edet can be achieved.”

Archibong discovered that of the N5 billion The committee chairmen have been briefappropriated for the Air Force in the 2012 ing Speaker Aminu Tambuwal on their findings.

Uncertainty over Patience Jonathan’s return

F

IRST Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is due back home any time from now, it was learnt yesterday.

She was said to be near fulll recovery after about six weeks in an hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Indication to her recovery and soon return emerged during the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the hospital on his way to New York to attend the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The President was reported to have told close aides that the First Lady was fast recuperating. Hence, according to sources within and outside the Presidency, her return was only a matter of time.

While there has been no official date for her return just as there was none for her sudden disappearance from the country, the manner of her return is still shrouded in secrecy.

According to the sources who confirmed her possible return, “it is not clear if the Presidency will want to make public details of her return.”

On the manner of her return, the sources said it was not clear if she will come back in

Vincent IKUOMOLA, Abuja day time or steal in like late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

The First Lady’s sudden disappearance from the Presidential Villa has been an issue of intense public discourse in the last few weeks. While some said she was rushed out as a result of food poisoning, others said it was as a result of ruptured appendice.

Some even say she was taken to the same hospital (kidney specialist) the late President Shehu Musa Yar’Adua was taken to in Germany, insinuating that she might also be battling with a kidney problem.

Her Special Assistant on Media, Ayo Osinlu, said for now, he has no idea when Mrs. Jonathan will return to the country, stressing that it was not in his capacity to find out.

Osinlu contested reports about the health situation of the First Lady. He noted that all reports about the medical trips were lies and that he could be quoted authoritatively on that.

Osinlu, who had confirmed the foreign trip to a national

daily, had insisted that Mrs. Jonathan was only taking a rest and not seeking medical attention.

He said: “If you look at her itinerary in August, you will be wondering how she was able to accomplish that.”

He said the First Lady was expected back in the country this week but did not give a specific date.

Asked when the First Lady would return, he said: “I don’t know. I don’t have any information on that. You don’t expect me to call her and ask her, ‘When are you returning?’ Is she my mate?

“Ours is to ensure everything is in order to receive her once her return is made known to us. I do not have fresh information on that.”

Pressed further, he said, “Nobody is going to put a gun on my head and force me to talk when I have no fresh information. My position is not different from what I told Daily Trust.”

Osinlu also refuted online report about the Firts Lady’s foreign trip, saying: “I can tell you authoritatively that the First Lady was not lifted by any air ambulance to anywhere.

All those things are lies.”

Bakassi indigenes sue Jonathan •Continued from Page 3 their representatives in the state and national assemblies, were told that nobody was either consulted nor was aware of such agreement. " Before the applicants could realise what is happening, they were told that for them to remain as Nigerians, they are required to vacate their ancestral home and move into settlements to be built, constructed and maintained by the respondents, or else, if they opt to remain in their fatherland, they should be prepared to remain as Camerounians.

"The applicants are scattered in different parts of the country, as in Delta State, Bayelsa, Rivers State, Akwa Ibom, etc, living under the basest form of human degradation embodying all the pains and sufferings that could be experienced by man, existing in makeshift pre-civilization abodes, having only trees as cover against rain and shine, and other vagaries of the weather, which are most times inclement.

"The members of the applicant community are dying in their numbers every day from afflictions of disease, poverty, malnutrition,

squalor, etc, and there is no end to their suffering, humiliation, degradation of their human essence and homelessness.

"The Camerounians changed the names of their communities and altered every existing tradition structure or monument which they could not destroy to suit their whims and purposes and destroyed and obliterated the very essence of their origins.

"The applicants do not have direct access to the ICJ, as by virtue of the statute of the ICJ, only states are recognizable parties before it, and have employed all existing measures to prevail upon the respondents to go back to the ICJ and undo the havoc they have caused in their lives, all to no avail.

"The applicants' dehumanization is worse than animals, more humiliating than slavery, and degrading to the basest form of inhumanity, and is unpalatable and unacceptable in a 21st Century world.

"The applicants are under the direct traditional authority and suzerainty of the Obong of Calabar and are forever subjects to the Royal Office and paraphernalia of the Obong's stool, which is

also their cultural and spiritual guardian and guidance; the applicants cannot in any way be extricated from their historical cultural roots which are tied inextricably to their kiths and kin in Cross River State, Nigeria.

"Furthermore, the applicants cannot have their land in one country and be citizens of another country, and the respondents cannot impose their nationality on them as their right to a nationality is guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"By the failure of the ICJ judgment to conform to this basic principle of justice, renders it null and void, and thus, the ceding of the applicants homeland to Cameroun is anchored on nothing and is bound for the ground.

"Under international law, the 1st -3rd respondents do not have any obligation to obey the ICJ judgment, and is not bound by the Green Tree Agreement to take the territory belonging to the applicants to the Republic of Cameroun without their free, prior and informed consent, hence the need for the 1st -3rd applicants to quickly return to the Hague to untie what they have intricably and unlawfully knotted."

8

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

9

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

T

HE shocking news on the internet that 48 students of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi in Adamawa state were killed in cold blood by attackers who stormed their hostels at night, called out their names and killed them with knives and guns, set the tone for the topic of today. Internet news had it that the students union of the Polytechnic had just had an election that had religious and ethnic coloration and that the killings reflected this dark politicization of events. A statement credited to a former president of the National Association of Nigerian Students – NANS – one Mr Henshaw noted that the winner of the students elections was a Christian as well as the Rector of the institution, and that there had been resentment of these facts amongst some sections of the institution and it was no coincidence that the winner of the election was killed.

That and the sheer savagery as well as the number of those killed showed that the mix of politics, religion and security has misfired most violently at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi where I taught Economics as a youth corper when it was founded as the Federal School of Arts and Science several years ago. It is my contention here that what happened at the Polytechnic in Mubi is a reflection of a larger and pervasive malaise that is affecting the global political system, nations and institutions generally. It is a dangerous trend that is setting the tone for real friction and hostilities amongst the various social, political and religious entities that make up the modern nation state and it is solidifyingvery dangerously- divisions amongst peoples of different faiths and beliefs even within nations that claim to run secular constitutions like Nigeria where Mubi is located.

I am using events that happened on the global scene in the past week to illustrate my viewpoint here and without sounding alarmist I think all of us should take another look at the role of religion in our environment especially with regard to our politics and general security globally. From Turkey’s intervention in Syria which NATO says it supports; to the presidential debate in the US between Obama and Mitt Romney, religion plays an underlying role that gives value to the type of politics and security that emerges in every part of the world nowadays. Either in Islam or Christianity it is obvious that the fault lines are getting wider in terms of global cohabitation and tolerance and that politics is getting charged and overheated locally and globally, subsequently.

Let us start with Turkey sending its planes to bomb positions inside Syria after Syrian forces had killed innocent Turks - five of them including children according to reports - inside Turkey. On the surface Turkey, has a right to defend its territorial integrity which Syria had violated- ostensibly because Syrian rebels were fleeing into Turkey after attacking Syrian troops.

Turkey’s government has already taken parliamentary approval to attack Syria even though it said it does not want war with Syria. But the situation is not that clear cut and is full of real and potential diplomatic mischief. Turkey has been seeking EU membership for over 50 years now to no avail, for the simple reason that most EU members are not comfortable with Turkey’s proud Islamic credentials.

Turkey claims to be running a secular constitution under the monitoring of its military - which in recent times has had its former generals who planned coups and ran dictatorships - being put on trial by a popular government with fundamentalist sympathies that have tested Turkey’s secularity dangerously of late.

Now before a shot had been fired, NATO nations say they stand by Turkey even though at best Turkey

Religion, politics and global security

is just a member of a military alliance and not a full -fledged member of the EU as the Turks have always wanted. Now, by attacking Syria in the present crisis, is Turkey and its leaders aiming to kill two birds with one stone— namely to nail a bothersome neighbor and clinch EU membership in the process? Before this no less a person than former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger now Pope Benedict XVI and current German Chancellor Angela Merkel were on record as saying that Turkey cannot be a member of the EU because Europe is Christian and cannot afford for its security to have a Muslim member nation in the heart of Europe.

In addition the present Turkish government should be careful in the way it attacks an Arab nation in spite of the present isolation of the unpopular Assad regime. Egypt and the Arab League may call for the fall of the Assad dynasty but the geopolitical equation changes once Turkey a non - Arab, but Muslim nation attacks another Arab and Muslim nation like Syria ostensibly on behalf of Western Europe. In addition, it remains to be seen if Russia and China will stick to their guns and veto proposed UN resolution to intervene in Syria, Libya style, in the face of Syrian provocation and Turkey’s retaliation. It is of note that the present Turkish government has won three elections so far back to back in spite of the grumblings and suspicion of the military about its religious fervor

in Turkey’s secular environment. It is therefore well advised to watch before it leaps into trouble over Syria at the expense of its home grown religious popularity in spite of the attraction of EU membership or the lure of regional leadership in the Middle East while looking over its shoulders at Egypt and Iran.

At the end of the US presidential debate last Wednesday, the general conclusion was that Barak Obama lost the debate to his challenger Mitt Romney who was trailing at the polls before the TV debate and who performed creditably and with a commanding presence. The behavior and performance of the two well prepared candidates reminded me of that between former President Ronald Reagan of the Republican Party and incumbent President Jimmy Carter who was famous for his cheerful toothy smile but who allowed Reagan to annoy him during their TV Debate with the taunt – there you go again- anytime Carter charged that Reagan if elected would lead the US to war.

Carter lost the election after the debate and ended up as a one term president while Reagan went on to have two terms. Romney used Reagan to tease Obama successfully in this week’s TV debate by saying that Obama was quoting Reagan on tax cuts for the rich while charging that Romney a Republican like Reagan was taxing the poor more than the rich. Romney then stunned a speechless or tongue- tied Obama with the charge that the US presi-

dent was an ‘expert on raising taxes, raising government expenditure and raising regulation‘. To me the debate was between a champion of laissez faire capitalism - Romney and the welfare state - Obama .

On the day, however, like a commentator said, it was as if Obama’s mind was on his 20th wedding anniversary on that same day, and not on the debate. On a personal note really, the debate and Obama’s loss reminded me of another painful spectacle in boxing when Larry Holmes, the great Mohammed Ali’s sparring partner defeated his hero over 15 rounds to retain his World Heavyweight title in the US . I waited vainly then for Ali to produce the wonder punch to take Holmes to the cleaners and end Holmes insolence. That punch never came just as Obama was not able to match Romney’s mastery of issues last Wednesday till the end of the one hour TV debate.

Nevertheless the religion connection however is still there in the US presidential election and showed its ugly face in Mitt Romney’s earlier private video categorization of Palestinians as not wanting peace in the Middle East and his total support for the state of Israel. He had problems with this but has refused to change his utterances on this as well as the 47% categorization in which he said such a percentage of Americans will not vote for him because they are government handout beneficiaries. But then in terms of religion both Obama and Romney can be said to be change catalysts in US politics .Whether that change in US politics is for good or bad – only time will tell. Both are also what I will call ‘unthinkables’ in US politics.

Obama is the first US black president and Romney is aiming to be the first Mormon one. They follow the charismatic pedigree of the first Catholic American president John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK).

While Romney has already alienated himself with Arab Americans Obama too is at loggerheasds with

the US Catholic Church whose leading Cardinal attended Romney’s consecration at the GOP convention, just to say prayers and not to endorse, as the Cardinal insisted. But then the Cardinal and others had gone to court to challenge the Obama’s administration meddling in Education in violation of the US constitution by asking employers to fund birth control for their employees of which the Catholic Church has millions in schools and hospitals all over the US. This pitches Obama against US Catholics especially the Latinos who are the fastest growing immigrants in the US – even far more that blacks.

If the Latinos obey their Church as expected of them Obama will have problems on November 6. But the pundits are focusing on the so called swing states and some are saying the debates may not change the polls or decrease Obama’s lead which to me is like a dog barking at the moon.

Overall, religion hangs like a sword of Damocles over contemporary local and international politics and relations, as well as security. On the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, the government must put its feet down firmly and not assign the murder and mayhem as usual to the Boko Haram menace - as even the usual claim of responsibility was not forthcoming from them in the first instance. Student politics must never be allowed to degenerate to barbaric murder at night as happened at Mubi - Sabon Dale as the Polytechnic is not a religious or state institution but a federal one, open to all Nigerians as teachers, workers and students.

Student politics is a universal process of leadership growth and learning and should not be grounded because some students have murder in their hearts because of a loss of an election. It is therefore the most important duty of government to punish those involved maximally to serve as a deterrent to others.

That, to me is the only way to secure peace in Mubi and hopefully Nigeria and the world at large in the face of rampant global religious provocations.

10 COMMENTARY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Foraging for official quotes and misquotes Knucklehead

I

cannot easily recollect who made the statement or what prompted it.

However, I still vividly remember that a notable Nigerian (or could it be the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo?) once described a particular regime as not only grossly incompetent but also tactlessly incoherent with a leadership that proved incapable of bequeathing a single quotable quote with which the trampled populace could remember it by.

Today, that particular administration and the dictatorial farmer that headed it have become a footnote of history.

Because its key actors could not aspire beyond gratuitous self-glorification, they missed the opportunity to inspire a generation of leaders. How did they end up without one memorable quotable quote? That, I assume, must be a record low for any government regardless of its ideological slant. For, if the truth must be told, the Nigerian political space is not lacking in leaders who are fantastic speechmakers and hollow rabble-rousers but, in practical terms, are nothing short of perpetual underachievers.

Here, I do not speak of the sublime and captivating power of oratory that seemed to have died with the passing on of icons like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Tafawa Balewa, Alhaji Aminu Kano, Ozumba Mbadiwe of “timbre and calibre” fame and a few others.

Instead, the focus is on those accidental sound bites that occasionally crop up in the warped speeches of majority of the ones that pretend to lead us now—those cathartic moments of epiphany that give a semblance of seriousness to the pure deceit often offered on the campaign train. Not that you did not know that the words were flowing from the tip of the tongue, you just could not help but be touched by its emotive essence no matter how crude the delivery.

Somehow, the events of the outgone week rekindled in good, old Knucklehead those memories. At least, we now know that there is more to this country than the triple maladies that continue to stifle its growth—religion, ethnicity and corruption.

In a sense, we may label the Jonathan administration clueless going by the plethora of problems confronting it and the fits of excuses that have been tendentiously offered to justify its lethargic approach in solving them. As the killings fields get wilder and murderous bestiality takes a life of its own, it is evidently clear that it requires more than Aso Rock’s huffing and puffing to stop this madness. Nevertheless, we cannot, in all good conscience, deride it for lacking in quotable quotes! I am, indeed surprised by the fact that in these climes where sycophancy has been elevated to industrial proportions, no one has deemed it fit to sponsor multi-million Naira wrap-around newspaper adverts on the pages of all national dailies, celebrating our President for his ‘five-star’ performance during the 67th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. I mean, if some shameless folks see nothing wrong with listing the construction of an Olympic size swimming pool in a Governor’s Lodge as

landmark achievement, why are they pussy-footing about celebrating our President’s quotable quotes on the world stage?

At a time when his “I once had no shoes” statement was becoming a cliché, Jonathan impressed and truly inspired with his down-tothe-earth speech at the UN headquarters some two weeks back.

Hear him: “Events of recent weeks have demonstrated how interconnected our world is and the extent to which one incident can spark off general mayhem and conflagration. Freedom of expression should not be a licence to incitement. The freedom that we all hold dear and true should be exercised wisely and cautiously. Freedom of expression and religious tolerance must not be mutually exclusive but should be complimentary to each other. Much as we eschew violence and deplore the needless losses of lives and destruction of property, we also condemn the deliberate denigration of religious beliefs and sensitivities which in turn lead to counter reactions.”

Crux of the matter? Humanity, I believe, can be saved from the growing harvest of anguish and deaths if the rest of the world connects with Jonathan’s wise counsel. For every freedom, there must be a responsibility. It is, therefore, irresponsible for anyone to defend or justify the vexatious anti-Islam film which has heightened tension across the globe. The question is, would anything have been lost if that film was never contemplated? Not at all! Yet my greatest fear is that Jonathan’s prognosis could just have been buried in President Barrack Obama’s oratory in the speech he delivered same day.

Nevertheless, the key word here is simply this—respect. Why denigrate another person’s religious beliefs? By the way, if all world religions preach peace, why is the world being torn apart by religionists? Shouldn’t freedom be exercised with restraints and utmost caution so that we do not, needlessly so, hurt the sensitivities of others? Let us chew over these things please!

As things turned out, Jonathan was not the only one that was caught in the quotable quote bug. While the President was sweating to influence the world at the UN gathering, the President of the Senate, David Bonaventure Mark, was also busy at home unleashing the deadliest knuckles on one of Jonathan’s trusted associates, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku. The journalist-turned-politician and former deputy governor of Nasarawa State appeared to have bitten more than he could chew.

He incurred the wrath of the members of the National Assembly for daring to describe their resolutions for or against executive decisions as “merely advisory”, adding with some impetuous arrogance that the President was not under any compulsion to implement such resolutions.

If Maku thought he had delivered a sucker punch against an intruding legislature, then he must have underestimated the rage of a disparaged Senate. By the time his case was brought before the Senate, he did not only recant the statement he made as a free citizen in a democratic setting, he got more than a bloodied nose from Mark’s counter attack which came in torrents deadly blows.

Listen to Mark’s vintage quotable quote that has gone viral on the social media: “I think the Information Minister is a careless talker.

He did not think properly, He is not an educator and we need to educate him. Next time he does that (talk recklessly), we will take

With

Yomi Odunuga E-mail:yomi.odunuga @thenationonlineng.net SMS only: 07028006913 a resolution here that any minister who talks recklessly be removed.”

Ouch! When and where did the Senate acquire the power to fire a minister appointed by the President of this Federal Republic?

Moreover, I thought the Senate was kicking against the denigration of the constitutional responsibilities of the hallowed chamber on national issues! Can one denigration justify the other?

Put bluntly, is Mark not guilty of a bigger crime by disparaging the status of a federal minister as someone who is incapable of any intellectual construct? Has he not abused that privilege conferred on him as the nation’s Number Three citizen? Has he not offended the sensitivity of Maku? In addition, while talking down another citizen from such exalted pedestal that was turned into a bullying pulpit, did Mark tread with restraint and caution?

In other climes, there wouldn’t have been any need to resort to subtle threat. However, since Maku has recanted, blaming the ministerial indiscretion on the usual scapegoat——the Nigerian press, I refuse to push this argument further. All the same, it is important to note that Maku did not impress anyone with his cheek-in-tongue quote that because “pressmen pressed me” for headline, he had to find something to say since he “could not make any declaration because Mr. President did not ask me to make any such declaration. If I had said that the policy had been stopped I would be wrong because I was not instructed to speak.”

What illogic!

I am appalled that Maku could blame the so-called indiscretion on reporters who wanted a headline by all means possible.

Was he saying that he uttered those words to satisfy the headlinechasing reporters without giving a thought to its implication?

Do we take it then that Mark was right in marking Maku out as a careless talker? Whatever it is, those operating from the bully pulpit should understand that it has no place in modern politics. Those who cannot stand the heat should please get out of the kitchen. It is, indeed, infantile for the Senate President to speak so condescendingly of a leading member of the executive unless he is ready to defend the right of the rest of us to criticize and perhaps speak condescendingly of some non-endearing peculiarities in his office too. Free speech should not be equated with the abuse of privilege. As President Jonathan puts it, freedom of expression should be exercised wisely and cautiously. It is not a licence to incitement! Is it not time we all start seeing the bigger picture?

Re: Will Sanusi floor our honourable men again?

•Thank you Vincent for your fiery and scintillating piece on the N5,000 note conflection. It is already common knowledge that Sanusi is arrogant and usually self-opinionated in his approach to issues of national importance the same National Assembly members are known for their laxity and corrupt enrichment of themselves, cronies and family mebers.

But both institutions occupying very important positions in our national life should act as checks and balances on each other in the interest of the nation and not just winning each other for the sake of winning in matters that arise. It is wrong for Sanusi to want to want to introduce the N5,000 note without due consultations and with immediate effect, just as it would not be proper for the House to throw out the N5,000 without really taking time to weigh its merits and demerits.

Emmanuel Egwu, Enugu.

•Vincent, Sanusi can never win this time.

Nobody, no matter how powerful he or she is, can confront the press and the masses and get away with it. He was able to triumph over the National Assembly because both the press and the masses were in his support.

Alhaji Adeboye Lawal, Ibadan.

•At the time your piece was published, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had been compelled by the Commander-in-Chief to put the printing of N5,000 note and other intended coins on hold albeit to respect the National Assembly and other dissenting voices, not necessarily because of superior argument against the currency restructuing.

You know also that the President will have to get his 2013 budget approved by Lord Assemblymen with ease. Finally, Sanusi has done his best and loves the masses with his courageous banking reforms.

Lanre Oseni.

•Concerning your piece on the N5,000 note, it is good that the National Assembly backed the citizenry because it was a sure way for the untouchables to engage in money laundering in a new way. It is also a sure way for corruption to be introduced in a new way without stopping the old one. They know what they are doing

and what they want.

Asuki.

•The National Assembly’s decision to stop Mallam Sanusi’s N5,000 note is a welcome development to avoid inflation. With this, democracy is working partially. Sanusi took Nigerians for granted by not consulting well on the issue.

Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

Re: The plot to destroy the naira •Sanusi is a true bourgeois economist. He is working to make Nigeria a solid and sound scion of the capitalist world. It does not bother the Sanusis that the working class all over the world want capitalism to be guilliotined. Why? It is a blood sucker.

Amos Ejimonye, Kaduna •Nigerians abhor coins because of misplaced sense of sophistication. All over the world, any currency of one dollar value and below are in coins.

It costs more than N12 to print a N5 note. Coins, with a life span of more than 15 years, makes more economic sense. It is in good interest to even change N50 and even N100 to coins so that their usage is compelled.

In competition and with availability of coins, water may even cost N4 per sachet. Furthermore, it may aid the cashless policy since many Nigerians are aversed to coins.

Q. Daniel.

•Vin, are you a new man in this country? You should have known by now that policies and changes in this clime are meant for our rulers. So who cares whether there will be hyper-inflation if the N5,000 note is introduced and smaller denominations are technically phased out. The funniest aspect is that the National Assembly will intially pretend as if they are on the people’s side only to turn against us after they might have been settled.

A good example is th recent introduction of new number plates and driver’s licence. NASS members intially cried blue murder but changed gear after going into close session with the FRSC’s top officials. Anyway, God dey.

Seye, Akure.

•Vin, Thank you for such a nice piece. I think Sanusi Lamido Sanusi should embrace democratic virtues and save himself the avoidable flow of

aldrenalin. He should purge himself of dictatorial posture and believe more in engaging the public in debates but with an open mind.

He should allow superior logic to prevail rather than combative posture. After all, Nigeria is our country, not SLS or Dan Fodio estate.

SLS unwittingly came to the same chapter where Prof Soludo literally ended his experiments: denominations. What more? He should start packing his bag. The drumbeat is over and the dance must stop/change.

080948541..

•Now you guys are coming to terms with what we believe about the Hausa/Fulani north and their kingpins.

080530280..

Re: A case for one man, one gun •Were it being that the citizens vesides criminals and law enforcement agents would be formally trained before the use of such individual guns, I would have subscribed to your titular propositions. Who will catch an abuser of the gun? Where are the cameras to check criminals? None. We will end up causing more problems than solutions at our stage, just like the debate on adopting state police.

The following will solve our crime, kidnap and kill-and-go headaches: massive education of citizens and law enforcement agents; massive enlightenment; massive recruitment of law enforcement agents, about five million to patrol Nigerian cities, streets and rural areas, including our borders; massive and regular training for law enforcement agents; massive unnoticeable cameras on our streets, schools, hotels and factories individually and by governments.

Is it all of us that have the courage to pull triggers even if we have guns?

Lanre Oseni •I commend your piece on one man one gun. Since the three tiers of government cannot guarantee the safety of their citizens, let every citizen carry a gun to protect their lives.

The three tiers of government and the security agencies are not living up to their responsibilities to stop the ugly trend called insecurity and other vices.

Gordon Chika Nnorom.

•Your article on one man, one gun reflects the rationality in George Mangaki’s mantra that the man dies in him who keeps silent in the face of tyranny.

Godfrey •Your piece, no doubt, is beautiful and I’m well at home with your submissions and postulations. The truth, however, is that we already have laws for such excesses. But ther is a snag: inability to enforce the laws. That is the bane of turbulence and rising criminality in our nation.

Pray, why would a murderer condemned to death by a valid court judgment be kept behind bars indefinitely awaiting the hangman’s noose that may never come, thus defeating the purpose for which justice is sought? It is not enough to make laws and adjudicate, enforcement of such laws is the ultimate antidote to sanitise the nation.

Japhet Ogunniyi.

•Your piece is excellent in the face of the horrible security problems we have in the country today. But how do these cache of arms and ammunition flood into the country when we have security agencies manning our borders? This country is rotten. Corruption has become a religion of sorts.

Since I was born, I have never touched a gun.

But it beats my imagination that youths in their 20s in our villages, towns and schools are well armed. Except the monsters that deceive themselves that they are leders, how would these jobless people procure the arms?

Whether we like it or not, our problem starts and ends with this criminal brand of democracy that ensures that laws punish only the hapless followers while the rogues in power remain untouched. Even the judiciary that we look up to for rescue has almost become a strong tower for billionaire crooks. They run to the courts for safety.

Ifeanyi O. Ifeanyi, Abuja.

After her church crashed, Queen Ure declares

FLOODING:

‘I’m back to Pastor Kris Okotie; where else will I go?’

Cries, pains at Anambra refugee camps

–Pages 41,44&45

–Pages 19 - 22

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

Want twins?

Go to Igboora •Community where every family has a set of twins

11

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

12

•The statue of woman carrying twins

•Taiwo and Kehinde Ajasa

HEN it comes to multiple births around the globe, no name is quite evocative, so resonant as Igboora, a relatively known town in South-West Nigeria.

It is true that much have been said and written about the city of Paris and its allure. And it was to this credit that the cliché- ‘see Paris and die’ was coined.

But a similar story is currently playing out in Igboora, where a cliché, ‘if you want a set of twins, come to Igboora’, is gradually gaining momentum among the indigenes of this sleepy town.

And sure enough, it is not for nothing that the people would boast of their prowess in the biological art of giving birth to sets of twins.

According to researchers, the rate of twin births in West Africa is about four times higher than in the rest of the world. While there is no accurate figures on the exact number of these births, a study conducted by a British gynaecologist, Patrick Nylander,, between 1972 and 1982 recorded an average of 45 to 50 sets of twins per 1,000 live births in the South West. But the centre of the multiple births has been found to be Igboora.

And in honour of this uncommon ‘achievement’, the people roll out the drums in an annual festival, tagged Odun Ibeji (festival of twins).

Among the indigenes and residents of Igboora, Odun Ibeji would dwarf other world renowned festivals like Christmas and Ramadan. The community celebrates the festival annually and generously invites anybody who wishes to have twins to come to the community.

The festival is an annual celebration in Igboora, where virtually every family has a set of twins or more. As a testimony to its being a repository of twins, you are welcome into the community by an imposing statue of a woman carrying a set of twins, one on her chest and the other on her back.

With their hands stretched out, the characters in the statue are apparently saying, ‘Welcome to Igboora, the land of twins.’ A recent statistic has it that the community has about 158 sets of twins in every 1,000 births.

Historically, unlike Calabar, where history has it that the birth of twins was regarded as a taboo in the ancient times, a birth of twins in Igboora has from stone

W

•Effigies of dead twins...over 100 years old

‘We produce twins because we eat cassava flour and ilasa soup’ •Medical doctors explain mystery n Segun AJIBOYE and Innocent DURU n age period been regarded as one of the best things that can ever happen to a family.

The same way crude oil is a natural gift to the people of the South South, the birth of twins is an inexplicable gift in the community and hardly is there a family that does not have a set of twins or more in the area.

Those who are yet to have a set of twins in their families fervently pray for one because the birth of twins is believed to bring blessings. This is the case with 60year-old Nosiru, a motorcycle mechanic, whose father had two sets of twins, but is yet to have one himself.

“I am praying that I have a set of twins myself. My age is not a barrier, and as a matter of fact, I believe that I will still have

one.”

Even the poor members of the community who already have one or two sets of twins wish to have more without minding the economic implication. They simply believe that the twins are gifts from God, in whom they have a firm belief to provide what the children would eat.

Interestingly, this rare gift of nature has shot the obscure community into international limelight with the United Nations World Health Organisation rating it as the community that has the largest number of twins globally.

The gift is, however, not restricted to the natives as checks revealed that nonindigenes who live in the area have also been giving birth to twins. This was the opinion of Chief Lamidi Laide Adeyemi, the Onipako of Pako, Igboora.

According to the chief, the birth of twins

is not limited to any part of the six component areas of the community. He said: "The birth of twins is everywhere here in Igboora. Hardly would you see a family in this community without twins.

“My father had sets of twins, so also did my grandfather. I am a father of twins as well. One is in Lagos and the other one in Port Harcourt. They have just married and would hopefully give birth to a set of twins or more. From the time immemorial, our forefathers have always regarded twins as unique creatures and adored them so much.

“There is hardly a family in this community that does not have twins. It is not restricted to the natives. Even nonindigenes in our midst have also been giving birth to twins. So if you want to give birth to twins, come to Igboora.”

Even though their claim has not been

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

13

•Taiwo and Kehinde Jimoh

•Taiye Kehinde Owonikoko

,

empirically verified, the community The cassava believes flour and ilasa strongly that their recordbreaking feat is as (dry okro a result of the leaves) soup white cassava flour and ilasa that we eat soup, which is have been acclaimed as the most popular touted to be in the responsible for delicacy area.

“The cassava the multiple flour and ilasa births over the (dry okro leaves) years soup that we eat have been touted to be responsible for the multiple births over the years," Chief Adeyemi stated.

In Igboora, twins don’t die. Even when one of the set dies, either at birth or later in life, he or she is not deemed to have died, but rather to have ‘travelled to Lagos to purchase stuffs’ for the living partner.

With the benefit of hindsight, the chief recalled that when one of a set of twins dies, the parents would carve a statue of the dead.

"Traditionally, we don't say that a twin is dead, even when he or she is late. Instead of saying that, we always say that he or she has gone to Lagos to buy clothes. Our forefather even went a step further by carving statues of the dead ones to make it appear as if they are still living. They always wanted their memories kept alive.

They always pass it from one generation to the other. I have some of such statues handed over to me by my father and forefathers.’’

As proof, Chief Adeyemi brought out

,

•Alhaji Hamzat some visibly old statues, which he said were more than a century old.

“These statues are over 100 years old.

They were all passed over to me by my father. And I will in turn pass them to my children. They are not to be discarded or treated anyhow because there is a spell on whoever does that. The culture of carving images to represent dead twins has been drastically affected by civilisation. Many youths of these days don't do all that again, but that does not mean that it has been abolished," he said.

And the story assumed a strange turn when the chief revealed that ‘shrines’ are also built in a special corner in the homes of the parents of twins. You have a container in which palm oil is kept. The palm oil, he said, is used as balm whenever the twins fall sick.

"Previously, our people always made a shrine in a corner of their rooms for twins.

They always offered red oil at the shrine.

The red oil is believed to be medicinal because whenever a child, especially any of the twins is sick, our people would take the oil kept in the shrine of the twins to rob their bodies, and before you know it, the sick child is up and playing around with his mates.

“In fact, if anybody had his property stolen, such person could go to the shrines to ask the twins to help him deal with the thief and retrieve the stolen property. All they needed to do was to offer things that are forbidden for twins to eat at the shrine.

Anybody asking for the help of twins in this regard would say that it is the thief that instructed him to offer such vile food to them. It is believed that such would compel the twins to go after the perpetrators of the crime. It worked for them. There are testimonies of its efficacy."

Speaking on the annual festival of twins,

,

•Chief Adeyemi

he said: "The festival of twins is a very big comfortable in any way. But on this day, celebration in this place. We celebrate their she was boisterous and proud as a mother festival annually because they are very of two sets of twins. For her, the birth of special to us and the community as a two sets of twins is a special gift from whole. What we do on the day of the God, and a sure indication that the future festival is to cook beans and mix it with oil is ‘very bright’. and invite people to come and feast with She told The Nation that she desires to us. Every family that has twins does it on have more sets of twins despite her the festival day. seeming poor status and limited “On the day of the festival, people wherewithal to take care of them. desiring to have twins would pray for it.

She said: "I have given birth to two sets The oldest twins in this community of twins already. One of the first set is clocked 100 years this year. One of them dead, but here we don't say they are dead. died few months ago while the other one We simply say they have travelled to has been taken to Lagos by her children.”

Lagos to buy clothes. Even though the Among the interesting beliefs about economy is inclement, I wish to have one twins and their families in Igboora is that or more sets of twins. It is God that they are forbidden to eat the flesh of all provides and takes care of the children we species of monkeys. According to this give birth to. There are many who have no general belief among the children and can still not people, the monkeys are feed well. We have many regarded as distant children and God has relations of the twins. been providing us with The chief also explains: The birth of twins is not the basic things they need “Twins from this to live happy and healthy limited to any part of community are totally lives. the six component areas “I want more twins forbidden from eating the flesh of monkeys. It is a of the community. The because experience has taboo and it is believed that birth of twins is shown that they bring a it would amount to eating lot of good tidings to any everywhere here in their own flesh if they do family that has them.

Igboora. Hardly would There has been a such. It is not the twins alone that are prohibited you see a family in this tremendous from eating monkey. Every community without improvement in our family that has twins must income and standard of twins. My father had also not eat monkey." living since we started Nasiru Aremu, an artisan sets of twins, so also did having twins. The story is in Igboora, is not unaware my grandfather. I am a the same with many of the myth surrounding that have twins father of twins as well. families the birth of twins in in this area."

One is in Lagos and the Igboora. For him, the high Taiwo and Kehinde record in the birth of twins other one in Port Ajasa are both artisans. in the town is beyond the While Taiwo mends bad Harcourt. They have common delicacy of cassava Kehinde repairs just married and would tyres, flour and the native soup. motorcycles a few metres hopefully give birth to away from his brother’s His reason, he said, is rooted in the fact that shed. They are both a set of twins or more people who enjoy similar happy to be twins. delicacy outside the town "I am happy to have don’t have the same high come to this world as a record of multiple births. twin, especially in this "It is true that the kind of food we eat in kind of environment where the birth of this environment makes us to have twins is highly appreciated. I have had a multiple birth. But that does not mean that very wonderful time with my twin brother people outside this area can give birth to all along. Our parents also shower us with sets of twins if they eat the same delicacy. love. But because we are identical, we For anyone to enjoy this gift of nature in suffer for each other’s shortcomings and the manner we do here, the person must also benefit from the good gestures. I want come and drink our water. You have to to give birth to twins because I am one,’’ drink the water from this land and eat our said Taiwo. delicacy before you can have twins in the Kehinde, on his part, said he would manner we do here. wish to marry a twin. "I wish to marry a "My father gave birth to three sets of twin and give birth to sets of twins so that twins. Some of them have also given birth my family can be home of twins. to sets of twins. I am yet to have a set of "As twins, we can eat everything but twins, but I am hoping to have one or two monkey. Our family members must also sets of twins very soon because their birth not eat it. Tradition has it that we may die attracts a lot of blessings and favours,” he or suffer serious calamity if we eat it. said.

During our festival, our food is cooked Yemisi Jimoh has two sets of twins. beans, mixed it with palm oil. It is the food From her looks, she does not seem Continued on page 48

,

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

14

I drank directly from a river, salt and pepper for eight days victim of kidnapping, 46-year-old Alhaji Alaka Abayomi Kamaldeen, has revealed that the gang of four men that abducted him in front of his office at Agbowa, Ikorodu Lagos, on August 24, was equipped with sophisticated weapons like machine guns, dynamite, rocket launchers and AK 47 assault rifles.

Kamaldeen, a native of Ogbomoshoe, Oyo State, said the kidnappers were confident of victory if they were confronted by policemen because of their knowledge of creek area. They also believe that the police would not want to embark on a suicide mission by daring them. The kidnappers were also said to have boasted that it would take them less than 24 hours to replace any of their members arrested by the police. This, according to them, is their own way of helping the country to solve its unemployment problems.

Among their sources of sophisticated weapons, they revealed is weapons they got by attacking military armouries and the rifles of policemen killed by members of the gang, as well as supplies from hoodlums in the Niger Delta who still have weapons hidden in the creeks.

Narrating his ordeal in the camp of his abductors, Kamaldeen said he slept on logs of wood and survived on meals of garri, pepper and salt.

His legs, he said were in shackles for the eight days he remained in the den of the •Back view of the victim kidnappers.

He said: “On that fateful day, I was standing in front of my office when I saw four men n Ebele BONIFACE n in an Audi (Volkswagen) car driving station. I asked them if the police station towards me. I thought the driver was was in the bush. They gave me another only being reckless, as he drove dirty slap and told me to shut up. They menacingly towards me. I made to avoid threatened to scatter my mouth if I would the car, but the driver swerved the car in not keep quiet. It was then that I my direction again. And before I knew suspected that they what was happening, three of the were kidnappers and occupants alighted and two of them I shouted for help. wielded guns, while the remaining one “As the driver brandished a dagger. made to increase the “One of them pointed his gun at me speed of the vehicle, and asked the one with the dagger to its tyres sank into the drag me into the back seat of the car. The one with the dagger gave me a dirty slap, mud. I continued to shout for help and dragged me into the vehicle and they people started drove off. The one who appeared to be gathering to find out the gang leader wore a bulletproof jacket and held his AK47 assault rifle in a battle- what was amiss. The ready position, making one to believe that kidnappers became uncomfortable, and they were policemen. their leader fired “I asked them where they were taking several shots into the me, and they said they were taking me to air and scared the their station. They said I should keep people away. quiet because whatever I said might be “They alighted, used as evidence against me. I kept quiet, pushed the car out thinking that they were policemen. They and drove far into did not blindfold me. the creek.

“When we got to Itoikin village in the “When we got Epe area, they branched off into a bush. deeper into the Although I sat between two members of creeks, one of them the gang who held me tightly, I managed said they should call to ask them why they were branching a boat quickly. But into the bush when they had earlier told before the boat me that they were taking me to the police arrived, they

A

brought me out of the car, lay me on the ground and started beating me mercilessly. They tied my hands backwards and tied my legs too. They kicked me mercilessly and poured petrol on my body, threatening to set me and the car ablaze so that nobody would be able to identify both of us.

They also removed the number plate of the car.

“As they were threatening to set me ablaze, a flying boat arrived and two of them took me into the boat, which also had about ten 100-litre kegs in it. We started moving on the water with thick bushes on both sides.

“As the journey continued, they called their leader, who they called Chairman, and told him that the operation was successful. He sent two people to come and pick us with another flying boat.

We spent about eight hours on water that night. We met some

,

One of them pointed his gun at me and asked the one with the dagger to drag me into the back seat of the car. The one with the dagger gave me a dirty slap, dragged me into the vehicle and they drove off

,

policemen on patrol at about 7 pm. They asked whether there was any problem and they said there was none. We also met soldiers who asked the same question and got the same response.

“As we approached their camp, they stopped. They raised their guns up in a gesture of surrender. The camp’s security guard flashed a torch to welcome them. I could not stand up because I was chained to the boat.

“At about 1 am, we passed the 10th security point and entered their headquarters. They brought me out of the boat and unchained me. A few minutes later, their chairman appeared in black suit with five men wielding AK47 rifles.

He asked whether I was a governor, professor, commissioner, captain of industry or common man. I said I was a common man and he ordered them to take me to their camp immediately.

“On the footpath that led to the place, I saw a trap made of a big log of wood hung on top of a tree and held in place with a rope. Anybody it falls upon will surely not survive it. They cut some wood and asked me to sleep on them. I slept on them for one week.

“The day after we arrived at the camp, they asked me to call my people on the phone. They demanded N150 million ransom. After two days, they brought it down to N70 million. When my people insisted that they had no such money, they brought it down further to N30 million and told them that they would kill me if they could not provide the money within three days.

“My people told them they were making serious efforts to get more money and begged for more time. Eventually, they said they could only raise N5 million. I told the gang that I would pay them the balance if they would accept the N5 million and release me. They asked me to swear with an AK47 rifle and I did.

“They called my people and told them to bring the N5 million to a spot between Edo and Delta states. They said my people would see a signboard with the inscription ‘Welcome to Delta State’. They warned them not to do anything funny, saying that their men were watching.

They used my mobile phone to communicate with my people.

“When they had exhausted the call credit, they asked me to tell my people to send credit to them. I called my people to send the credit and also told them to keep the cards after calling the numbers out to them. My people then sent N30,000 worth of credit.

“They then told my people that when they reached the boundary between Edo and Delta, they should put the N5 million in a carton beside the expressway and go back to Benin. After the money was dropped, the hoodlums called their headquarters and told their chairman that they had succeeded in getting the money.

He quickly sent a flying boat to pick the money.

I was taken to a spot around 6 am and we were there till about 8 am when they saw a commercial motorcycle rider and gave him N3,000 to drop me at Koko junction. There I met my family and started the journey back home.

“There are more than 10 different sections in their camp. You have the section for governors, senators, chairmen, captains of industry, business tycoons, middle class and poor or common people. They used to narrate how they attacked military armouries, not to talk of the police. They also talked about how they used to sink task force boats on the

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

15

slept on wood and lived on garri, —Kidnapped building contractor

•The suspects to SARS.” he got to waterside.

Confessing their individual roles in the “At Itoikin, he struggled to come out of kidnapping saga, one of the suspects, Joel the car, but we dragged him inside. When Ebigbaa (25), said: “I reside at No. 13, he shouted for help, people gathered to Christmas Road, by Akpojeto Road, rescue him, but we scared them away Sapele. I am married with two lovely when French fired some shots into the air. children. My wife is not aware that I am We then drove to the waterside where in SARS’ net. I was arrested on September French ordered us to tie his hands. But 13 at Akudo Police Station. We were four when we entered the boat, we untied his who slept in a hotel called Sinaji Suits Ltd hands and he kept quiet. We did not tie shortly after the operation. SARS his leg to the boat at all. operatives took me to the hotel and “We later drove down to Delta State, to arrested two others, while the remaining a camp called Obiro, which is close to one scaled the fence.

Koko. But we took him down to a creek “I stopped armed robbery a long time where there were no people. We kept him ago because there is cool money in there for a week or thereabout, and fed kidnapping and there is no much stress. him with rice, eba, akamu, garri with We only rape ladies when we kidnap water or fish and bread. them, to reduce tension. We don’t even Our chairman’s name is Million. He is take them to the camp because we don’t based in Warri. His real name is Agabra want them to spoil our chairman’s Asonomo aka Gabilo. He and his younger charms. He warned us not to bring in brother, Edisco, are based in Sapele. women.

I have participated in two operations “We were arrested for kidnapping one since I joined the gang. The first one was Alhaji Kamaldeen at the one in which we Agbowa in Ikorodu, kidnapped a along the road that Lebanese and leads to Ijebu Ode collected N3 million. town. He was sitting My share was in front of his house N100,000 and it was with about six of his contracted by I stopped armed friend. We were four, General Luke robbery a long time namely Unity, Oweikeme, who has French, Hoel and between 50 and 100 ago because there is Raymond, in the car; boys. Some of his cool money in an Audi 80 with boys’ names are registration number Police, Boyo, Dobra kidnapping and there CU 203 BEN. and Deo. is no much stress. We Raymond was “We were in a driving while Unity only rape ladies when hotel room since our and French were car got spoilt at we kidnap them, to shooting.

Akongo Lekki. SARS “French told operatives came in reduce tension. We Kamaldeen that he the night and asked don’t even take them wanted to arrest him us to open the door. as a police officer. He The hotel manager to camp because we wore a fez cap and a told us that they don’t want them to black polo shirt. were there to do a When the victim routine check. But spoil our chairman’s asked to know what immediately charms offence he had Raymond opened committed, French the door, we were told him that he arrested. would know when “I have no regrets

,

high seas, killing everybody on board and collecting all their rifles.

“They have assorted police and military uniforms with big ranks like Navy Captain, Chief Superintendent of Police, and so on. You remember there was a time they kidnapped somebody and policemen and soldiers came in 10 boats on rescue mission and their chairman, who is a retired general, was alerted. He came and sank the 10 boats, killed everyone on board and collected their arms and uniforms.

“There was also an operation in which they attacked a military armoury, broke the strong room and carted away arms and ammunition. They used to go to Ijebu Ode to rob banks and they normally entered the banks by blowing the walls.

“I was fed with garri, pepper and salt and I drank directly from a river throughout my stay there.”

Asked why he could have been the target of kidnappers, he said: “I suspect some people who live near me. They are all Ijaw people. They must have been monitoring me. They must have told the gang that I am a rich man. I am married with six children. I hail from Ogbomosho in Oyo State.

“The kidnappers are very wicked. Even when my brother went there to give them the ransom, he went with my son. After collecting it, they released me and my brother, but held back my son so that I would quickly go and look for more money for them.

“But I thank God for the officer in charge of SARS. He is doing the Nigeria Police proud. He came to my son’s rescue. It shows the new Inspector General of Police, Mohammed D. Abubakar’s transformation agenda is working.”

On how he alerted the police, he said: “The police in Agbowa Police Station later found their vehicle and suspected that they had kidnapped somebody when they found one of my phones in the car.

They towed the car to the police station.

The vehicle’s registration number was removed by the kidnappers to avoid being identified, but the police traced me with my phone and transferred the case

,

because I was employed to do kidnapping. I had looked for job for more than 10 years without success, and this very one was the one that saved me from dying of starvation. It is better to die doing something than to die being idle.”

The second suspect, Raymond Urueshe (31), said he graduated from the Institute of Export and Shipping Management, Accra, Ghana, with an Ordinary Diploma (OND) in Maritime Management. “I came back to Nigeria in April this year to search for job. I had stayed for many years, but could not secure a job as an engineer. The little money (N240,000) I came back to Nigeria with nearly ran out before I used part of it to buy a car for transport business.

“It was then that I met Asonomo in Sapele. He said he would like to charter my car for some days. We did not negotiate the price before I gave it to him.

He took me to Agadagba, close to Arogbo, in Ondo State. I did not know that they wanted to kidnap one Hon. Taofeek Adeniye.

“I am not good at taking hot drinks or drugs. I do not smoke or womanise. My girlfriend is still a virgin because I wanted to marry her after she has finished schooling. She is now in the university doing Economics Education. The family is the one sponsoring her, and I merely assist her in my own little way, as I also have brothers and a cousin who are still in higher institutions.

“We were arrested in a hotel, Sinaji Suit Ltd, in Akodo, Lekki, Lagos State. I was not involved in the kidnapping of the Lebanese. It was only that of the honourable and Alhaji Kamaldeen that I participated in.

“I wanted to go back to Ghana to continue my GSM Tower engineering job since I could not secure a job in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, Asonomo and Gabilo called me for this job. They deceived me that they were going to work on the sea for about one week.”

The third suspect, Phillip Tomi (29), said: “I am happily married with two children, but I had no money to feed them. Hence, I took to kidnapping to feed my family. I was doing timber work in a bush in Badagry side; close to a checkpoint at Agbua along IjebuOde/Epe Road.

Gabilo had stayed at Agbowa before.

He knew the man they kidnapped at Agbowa. His name is Alfa Kamal. Gabilo asked me whether the victim was still coming to our compound, and I said yes.

He then told me that they wanted to kidnap him for a fat ransom, and I told him that I had never done that kind of work before, and that I was afraid. I used to hear stories of how police kill kidnappers if they were caught or arrested, and I did not want to die a sudden death to the embarrassment of my happy family.

“Gabilo called me a hungry coward and told me to pick courage as that was the best work that pays in hard currency.

He advised me not to fear. He said if I depended only on hard work, I would never be rich. He then assigned me the role of telling the gang as soon as Alfa Kamal came back from his journey.

“The day Kamal came back from his journey, I quickly informed the gang.

They did the job around 4 pm. Joel followed me to survey the compound and the following day, they came and did the job.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, said the police in the state was ready to crush any gang of criminals that dares his men.

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

16

•Roundabout at Odo-Ona Apata Road

resistance under the guise that it wastes precious time for business transactions.

Some of these efforts are complemented by local government chairmen who also undertook beautification of some parts of their domains.

They also constructed public toilets in areas where toilets are scarce to prevent indiscriminate defecation and its attendant consequence – outbreak of diseases.

The Chairman, Oluyole Local Government, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, disclosed that his administration built 10 public toilets both within and outside the metropolis to ensure that residents are able to ease themselves decently and also prevent outbreak of diseases.

His Ibadan South West and North West counterparts, Taoheed Adeleke and Wasiu Olatunbosun respectively, also built over 18 toilets in their domains which fall within the city.

On a routine visit to Iwo-Road interchange, which is hitherto known for its rough driving, indiscriminate parking and deafening din, sanity and decency now reign. The former hideouts for motor parks touts, lunatics, beggars and pickpockets have been opened up for landscaping while motorists enjoy a smooth ride.

Traffic management The Ajimobi administration approached the poor traffic control in the city with deployment of members of the Youth Empowerment Scheme of Oyo State (YES-O) to major points with clumsy traffic life PHOTOS: Femi ILESANMI such as Iwo Road, Mokola, Bodija, Dugbe, Ojoo, Gate and Challenge. Operating with and many others within the metrolpolis. overhead bridge linking Lead City officers of the state’s Road Transport For the first time, the Ajimobi University with the rest of the town, the Management Authority, the YES-O cadets administration is constructing a flyover Lagos entrance is fast transforming to a have helped reduce traffic gridlocks in these bridge at Mokola to ease traffic and beautify beautiful scenery. Already, flower trees have areas by exercising a firm control on the central location within the city. Mokola started growing at the centre of the long commercial drivers. roundabout is link to Dugbe, the city’s central stretch of the road from Toll Gate to Iwo Road After succeeding in keeping their parks off business district; Sango, which connects the while landscaping experts have been busy the roundabouts, motorists who park Polythecnic and the University of Ibadan. beautifying the centre of the expressway indiscriminately are promptly arrested and The roundabout also connects Sabo to from Iwo Road to Ojoo end. punished. A few arrests within their first two Eleyele, the location of the police The two portions of the road used to play months of operation sent the message to headquarters and some factories in the state host to heaps of refuse, human faeces and them that the new government was serious as well as the many densely populated stinking dead bodies of animals knocked about injecting sanity on the Ibadan roads. residential areas in Eleyele and Ologueru. down by speeding vehicles.

Today, travellers passing through Ibadan Mokola also provides linkage with the Ring road, which is one of the longest in through Iwo Road interchange, Challenge University College Hospital (UCH), Orita- the city, is one road on which the impact is and some other areas shower encomiums on Mefa and Agodi, the seat of the state very feasible. Marked out with many the new government as they move within the government, among others.

When roundabouts, the road now prides itself as town with little or no hinderance in spite of completed in December, the flyover will arguably the most beautiful in Ibadan. The the large volume of vehicular movements at transform traffic system at the roundabout beautification adds glamour to the many such flash points. and ultimately bring attractive offices of benefits to economic corporate organisations Waste management activities in the whole which line both sides of The lack of waste bins in many houses city. Combined with the the road from the within the city have contributed to the huge planned circular roads Challenge end to the deaths troubling the city. Many houses in Ring road, which is one Quarters end. around the city, Ajimobi’s densely populated areas in the city such as blueprint on The feat is partly Oje, Beere, Ojoo, Agbowo have no modern of the longest in the beautification and urban made achievable by the toilets. In fact, some houses built for city, is one road on renewal of the city will weekly environmental commercial purposes were built without which the impact is place it at its rightful sanitation introduced by allowance for setbacks and sewage position as the epicentre the governor last year. management, among sanitary facilities. very feasible. Marked of politics, commerce and The furious flood that Also, dumping of refuse into rivers, out with many education in the swept through several drainage systems and abandoned structures, roundabouts, the road Southwest. Over 199 parts of the city on were, according to experts, responsible for roads have been August 26 last year had the August 26, 2011 flood disaster in Ibadan, now prides itself as rehabilitated across the exposed the quantity of in which over 102 lives were lost and arguably the most state since the inception dirts hidden within a property worth billions of naira were of the administration. city. It was not long after destroyed. beautiful in Ibadan.

Gone are the days the flood of fury that The Chairman, Oyo State Solid Waste The beautification adds when visitors to Ibadan cholera broke out in Management Authority,(OYOWMA) Eng. glamour to the many from Lagos and Ijebusome remote parts of the Adebisi Adesina, said the challenges on Ode axis are welcome city. ground range from poor bahavioural attractive offices of with heaps of refuse at The outbreak of the compliance, poor revenue collection, lack of corporate organisations both sides of the Lagosdisease further helped land fill department and inadequate dump which line both sides Ibadan expressway. With A j i m o b i ’ s sites to inefficient and uncoordinated the relocation of traders at e n v i r o n m e n t a l manpower. of the road from the the Toll Gate end of the sanitation policy sail Adesina said he started with total Challenge end to the road and commencement through without reorganisation and improvement of existing Quarters end of beautification of both resistance. Otherwise, structures, by creating a landfill department sides and the centre of the residents of the city, who and appointing a consultant to oversee the old expressway as well as are largely traders, daily operational affairs of the four the landscaping of the would have put up dumpsites namely, Lapite, Aba Eku, Awotan

Beauty, colour as Ibadan goes green USTIC shops, tattered roofs and heaps of dirts producing stench are giving way to new roofs, clean, beautiful landscape in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The recreation of a true, modern city from the ancient-looking city is the result of the beautification initiative of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration.

With bulldozers bringing down shops and structures with unapproved plans, which stand on walkways along major roads, some of the popular roads within the city are wearing new looks as flowers glow along their paths. The overriding yellow and maroon colours of the new state logo glittering on flower pots, road medians and roundabouts across the city are making Ibadan, the city once adjudged as the nation’s dirtiest city, come alive with the garment of a true modern city.

Visitors to Iwo Road interchange, Parliament Road, Iwo-Ojoo Road, Ring Road, and Apata-New Garrage Expressway last year would be impressed if they repeat their visit this time as the outlook is fast changing for the better. So are many other roads within and outside the city announcing the vision of a new governor.

The new initiative is strengthened by several road rehabilitation and reconstruction as well as rebuilding of many bridges. The new roads and bridges not only take away dust and ugly sceneries, they make beautification and landscaping easily accomplished. Beneficiaries of this gesture include Ajibode-Alphonso Road, SecretariatBodija Road, Elebu_Oluyole Extension Road

R

,

Ugly sights are giving way to beautiful sceneries in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. BISI OLADELE and TAYO JOHNSON, who went round the city, report that the process of urban renewal is on course in the city.

,

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

17

Woman dies of shock as robbers invade Lagos community n Precious IGBONWELUNDU and Wale AJETUNMOBI n ESIDENTS of Idera Street in Ilupeju, took my wife’s phone, my purse which Lagos, yesterday recounted their contained some money, my identity and losses following an early morning ATM cards.” armed robbery attack that killed One Mr. Adebayo Olumuyiwa, who their 50-year-old neighbour, Mrs. Aishat alleged that he was robbed of N30, 000 and Lawan. his LCD television, said that the robbers The attack which, according to used his in-law’s daughter to get into his eyewitnesses, started at about 3am on room.

Thursday was carried out by a group of “They were already in my parlour but I eight armed robbers, including a female, did not know. My wife’s sister and her little who raided from one house to the other, child who came to visit us were in my disposing their victims of money and other parlour, so, around 3:30am, the small child valuables. was knocking on my room door that I Meanwhile, the Alakara Police Division should open the door for her and I did not has arrested one of the suspects who was even know they were using her. maimed while the others escaped.

“Immediately I opened the door, they A source at the police station said that the pointed about three guns at me and asked Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Okosun Odion me to give them money and any other useful (SP), got a call at the early hours that some item I had. hoodlums were operating at Ilupeju and “I led them to my wardrobe and they took that the Ilupeju Police Station had not the N30,000 that was there. The robbers said responded to the distress call by the I should bring more money and I told them residents.

I do not have any. They ransacked my He said the DPO asked his men on patrol house, searched my wife’s wardrobe and to be on the watch, especially around the when they did not see anything, they left streets close to the area and eventually, four and as they were going out, they took my suspected armed robbers were sighted by LCD television which was hanging on the the men on duty but three escaped while wall,” he said. one was caught.

The Security Committee Secretary of the At 37, Idera Street where the deceased, a street, Mr. Soji Adeniran, who said he was ‘fufu’ seller, resided with her husband and also attacked by the hoodlums, told The four children, The Nation gathered that after Nation that the incident was becoming dispossessing her of her money and mobile rampant in the area because their entrance phone, the armed men who were not and exit gates were bad. satisfied with the sum she presented, cocked He said: “We started experiencing armed a gun and pointed it at her son, Sikiru. robbery attacks here since our gates went Our source said they threatened to kill him bad about two months ago. That was why if she refused to bring out more money and we had to form a security committee so that the woman was pleading with them to leave we can deliberate on how to repair those her son that she had given them all she had. gates as well as form a vigilante group.

“She was crying and shouting in her room “Just last month, we levied each that they should leave her son alone that she compound on the amount to pay so that the did not have money. Maybe out of shock gates can be fixed and people can sleep that they would kill Sikiru, she fell down peacefully. and was no longer breathing and before we “I was attacked by the group at about could rush to help me, she was already 3:30pm. From the discussion they had in my dead. house, it appeared they had a target. The “We are not happy; we have not even woman they wanted to rob owns a shop on gone to the police the next street but station to report or she does not live write statement there. because of her death.

“Apparently Mama Sikiru was a disappointed, they very gentle woman. started going from The worst part now is one house to the that we cannot even other. They took my call them to know if phone and game they have reached Ekiti box, but I had no because the thieves money at home so collected all their they did not take phones,” she said. any money from Neither the me. deceased’s husband “We called the nor children were Ilupeju Police available for comment Station but they did as they were said to not answer us. Even have taken her remains when we heard one to Ekiti State for burial of the robbers had in accordance to been arrested and Muslim rites. taken to Alakara, Another victim, Mr. we went there and Sheu Tijani, who is a they told us to go •Injured Tijani petrol attendant, told and make a The Nation that despite statement at Ilupeju collecting his money, since the robbery one of the robbers still hit him with a gun occurred at Ilupeju. and got him injured.

“When we now went to Ilupeju, the Tijani, who resides at house 35, said he policemen there told us they will not go to had to split the money he had into two Alakara, that since the suspect was arrested immediately he heard armed robbers were by them within their division, that they going from house to house. should carry on with the case.”

He said: “Immediately I heard they were When contacted, the DPO Alakara moving from house to house, I just divided confirmed the arrest and said the suspect the money I had. I do not even know how was still under their custody. much they collected and I did not also Odion said he got a call in the morning struggle with them. from his men that robbery suspects were “As soon as they entered my house, one intercepted around Akala Street, and when of them shouted that I should bring out all they were trying to escape, one of the my money and gold jewellery. I told them I suspects was maimed. do not have Gold and opened my drawer The suspect, who was identified as Lekan for them to collect the money.

Obajimi, the DPO said was caught with one “The short one among them angrily said I locally made double barrel pistol with a was lying, that I should bring out all my cartridge. money but I told him that was all I had and He said the suspect had confessed that that my phone was on the table. they were four in number and had robbed “The next thing I saw was gun on my at Ilupeju, adding that he will be handed head and before I knew what was over to the Ilupeju division while both happening, I was bleeding. When they divisions will work together to arrest the realised I was bleeding, they left me there, others.

R

•Another roundabout in the city

•New Adeoyo Hospital road juction

•Oyo State Secretariat Road

and Ajakanga.

He has also revitalised the Operations Department by working three shifts in a day.

This initiative, he explained, has increased the total waste moved from Ibadan metropolis from 15000m3 in December 2011 to 37784.57m3 in March 2012 with a cleaner and accommodating environment.

"Efforts are ongoing on repairs of refuse collection vehicles and procurement of additional compactor trucks, roll-on roll-off trucks, street sweeping vehicles, and towing trucks to meet the daily challenges of refuse in the metropolis," he stated Rehabilitation works on the four dump sites are ongoing with the intention of making them more accessible with roads, electricity, water, odour and pollution control chemicals, while additional sites for sanitary landfills are being identified.

Explaing the vision of the administration for the environment, the Special Adviser to Governor Ajimobi on Environment, Mr Abayomi Oke, said all efforts to change the face of the city are borne out of the transformational agenda of the administration.

According to him, the major focus of the current administration is to restore the glory of the state and attract enough investors. He disclosed that the beautification exercise would also be replicated in other major towns within the state.

Oke said: "We are focusing on

infrastructural and environmental development. We are first starting with the green project in tackling environmental challenges. We will replicate the green project in other towns. What we are doing for a start is to turn all major roads to green and plant trees as part of our aforestation programme.

We started in Ibadan but will replicate it in Oyo, Ogbomoso, Iseyin, Saki and Eruwa in due course."

On the beautification of the toll gate, Oke explained that the entrance into a city communicates to visitors what the city and its people stand for.

"We know that the entrance to a major city tells you what to see in the city and what the government and the people stand for. Hence, we are turning the toll gate green to convey the appropriate impression of the re-emerging greatness of Oyo State. ”We are trying to make Oyo State a better place where people will want to come and work, play and relax. This is a wholistic approach to better living and to attract investors. Investors will come to a place where there is security, beautiful environment, green areas. We have done a lot of dredging of rivers to prevent flood and we are dualising the toll Gate-Challenge road. That is why the Financial Times of London has listed Ibadan as one of the top 10 destinations for investors in Africa. All these have been made possible within one year that this administration assumed office,” he said.

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

18

Outrage as robbers kill 23-yrold for refusing to be raped

,

n Odogwu Emeka n ODOGWU, Nnewi

J

ULY 29, 2012 was a dark day in Awka Etiti community in Idemmili South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The community is now a ghost of itself. Beautiful ladies in the seven villages of the community no longer attend early morning service or mass or late evening engagements for fear of the dared-devil rapists on the prowl.

The not-so-beautiful girls too are no where to be seen following the ugly incident that happened to delectable 23-year-old Miss Francisca Okoli.

She was murdered after she resisted ferocious attempts by a gang of five armed men to rape her before her parents in a dawn raid on their house.

They came at about 4:30 a.m. on Sunday July 29, 2012.

Her parents, especially the mother, are inconsolable following the sad event. Her father, Mr George Okoli, narrated the ugly experience. that the gang broke through his premises around 4.30 am on that fateful day with shot guns, cutlasses, cudgels and other dangerous weapons.

His words: ``My attempt to save my daughter’s life failed when the robbers stabbed me with cutlasses and other weapons and chased me out of the room where I saw them tearing the dress and underwear of my daughter in a bid to rape her. ``In the process, she was beckoning on me and invoking the mercy of God and anybody that could save her, even though she posed a strong resistance against their move. ``Angered by her continued resistance, the robbers made good their threat to kill her by hitting her with pistol on the head, neck and waist. ``I could not do anything because they locked us inside one room and one of them was on the door threatening to kill us if we opened the door. ``The gang searched the whole rooms in the house and stole some little cash and valuables. ``Due to the shock, which overwhelmed me and my wife, we waited until about 6.30am after the robbers had left with some of our belongings only to discover that our daughter had been killed, with bruises all over her body, her head smashed

•The late Francisca Okoli

prayed that killers of Francisca would know no peace till they pay with their lives.

Condemnations and curses trailed the killing as His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze, the former Prefect, Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Vatican City, condemned the incident, saying it was ``a mindless killing’’ and ``an atrocity meted to a helpless person’’. He prayed for the peaceful repose of the soul of Miss Francisca.

The Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha Archdiocese, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, also urged the police to investigate the attack and bring the killers to book. He said the killing was gruesome and wicked since the deceased was harmless.

He said late Francisca did not deserve to die.

Archbishop Okeke said: ``I deplore the orgy and wanton killing of an innocent citizen as that particular lady could not have provoked her assailants by any means.’’

The Archbishop said that the Church had dispatched a team from his office to ascertain the circumstances leading to her murder, while calling on security operatives to fish-out the people responsible for the act.

The manager in-charge of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church Hospital, Awka-Etiti, Rev. Fr. Peter Anene, said he had known late Miss Francisca for sometime in the parish, describing her as unassuming, ``hardworking and always at the chapel’’.

Even Dr. Donald Nwasike, who received the body of the deceased at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, AwkaEtiti, noted that the lady was badly brutalised with severe head injuries and that she was foaming in the mouth.

The robbers made good their threat to kill her by hitting her with pistol on the head, neck and waist. I could not do anything because they locked us inside one room and one of them was standing by the door threatening to kill us if we opened the door.

The gang searched the whole rooms in the house and stole some cash and valuables

,

with clubs.’’

The Catholic Church in Awka Etiti is missing Francisca because of good manners at home and in public. Youths at St. Joseph Catholic Church and St. Mary’s Anglican Church attested to that, even though they don’t want to be mentioned to avoid the wrath of the robbers but they

•Francisca’s body

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

19

Saturday

THRILLER

F LO O D I N G

Cries, pains at Anambra refugee camps •Governor Obi

•Governor Dickson

•Obi ‘relocates’ to flood sites •Bayelsa Governor Dickson raises panel

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

20

Flooding: Anambra

•One of the submerged buildings •Chinedu Emeka's house

OR the past 12 days, it has not been easy with the state governor, Mr. Peter Obi and the people of Anambra State, following the flood that has rendered thousands of people homeless in the state.

The flood, which began in Anambra West Local Government Area, has swept across eight local government areas out of the 21 in the state with over 40 communities involved.

The local government areas are Awka North, Anambra East, Ayamelum, Idemili South, Ihiala, Onitsha South and Ogbaru.

But the most pitiable sites to behold in all the flooding are Ayamelum, Anambra East,

F

n Nwanosike ONU, Awka n Anambra West, Ogbaru and Oba Ofemili in Awka North Council Area.

Not only that farm produce in the affected areas have been lost, their domestic animals have all perished, while human lives have equally been lost.

The occupants of these areas have effectively become refugees in their own land, with relief materials being sent to them as if they were in a war situation.

At Ogbaru, the buildings belonging to the Anambra State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Chinwe Nwebili, the member representing the federal constituency, Mr.

Victor Ogene and the Secretary to the State Government, Oseloka Obaze, are all buried in water.

In Anambra East Council Area, Chief Chinedu Emeka, former Deputy Governor to Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, also lost his house to the flood.

Similarly, former Minister of State for Transport, Prince John Emeka, and the traditional ruler of the area, Igwe John Emeka’s buildings and belongings have all been swallowed by flood waters.

Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, was forced to temporarily relocate to those areas to make sure that victims were evacuated before they get drowned.

The people of Anambra West and Ogbaru respectively have lost their local government secretariats, while their

workers numbering over 2,000 have all relocated to other communities.

Some of the victims, especially pregnant women, were being delivered of their babies in different camps created in the state in different locations.

Senator Margery Okadigbo, representing Anambra North Senatorial Zone, who was in tears throughout her visit to the affected areas in her constituency, equally sent her personal relief materials to the victims, besides the ones from the Federal Government.

An unidentified woman was delivered of a set of triplets at Fr. Joseph’s Camp in Aguleri, just as hunger and starvation have become the lot of the victims.

The community lamented that the last time they experienced such horror in the

Bayelsa: Two kids collapse, communities Isaac OMBE in Yenagoa, writes on the effects of the ravaging flood on communities in Bayelsa State, and how government is making concerted efforts to ameliorate the sufferings of affected inhabitants.

•77-year-old Chidebe in a pensive mood

•A compound in Odi community

•Headmistress Ozuah Elizabeth in charge of Ege Migrant School

HE Bayelsa State communities are beginning to count their losses following the ravaging floods which swept through some parts of the

T

state.

So far, two children have been lost to flood water, as bridges linking s o m e commuinties have collapsed, while some o t h e r communities are seemingly on the brink of extinction, no thanks to flood’s fury as several people have been r e n d e r e d homeless.

“Two kids have lost their lives at AngalaOweigbene, the Imiringi bridge has been washed away,

and Otuobhi Community is finished,” lamented Mrs. Faith OPuene, Special Adviser to Governor Dickson on Emergency and Rehabilitation.

Disturbed by the carnage caused by the floods, the state government has set up a committee comprising four commissioners and headed by Mrs. Faith Opuene, the Special Adviser on Emergency and Rehabilitation.

Even before the committee came on board, Mrs. Opuene and Environment Commissioner, Sylvanus Abila, had commenced a tour and immediate assessment of the flood-ravaged communities in the state.

Communities affected included Sagabama main town, Toru–Orua (governor’s hometown), Sampou, Odi, Opokuma, Sabagiria, Agbere, Odoni, Anebeze, Dagababiri.

Others included Isampou, Alaebiri, Amabulu, Tuomo Zion,, Futorogbene, Obirigbene, Tombia, Biseni, Tombiri, Kalama, among others.Opuene said the committee will meet with the chairmen of the affected council areas and prevail on them to come to the aid of the flood victims.

Strategies of the committee, according to the Special Adviser, would include taking relief materials like food stuff, mattresses, blankets by a team of medical personnel to

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

21

communities count losses

•A sunk building

state was in 1969 during the Nigeria/Biafra civil war, which, according to them, did not assume such magnitude.

John Nnonyelu, a 57-year-old farmer from Oba-Ofemili, told The Nation that the situation has rendered him speechless.

Also, Mrs Eunice Onuora, a 45-year-old peasant farmer, said they have given up hopes of survival. They are all camped at the hall on the outskirts of the community.

The Regent of the community, Anaelo B. Nwanelo, who has been in the saddle since their monarch, Igwe Sampson Akabueze, passed on in 2004, described the situation as terrible.

All the eight villages that make up Obaofemili are all nestling comfortably in flood water, but the most painful aspect of the

flooding is the submerging of the solar energy built for the community by Guinness PLC. Their rice farm land, comprising over 40 hectres are all submerged, including the migrant school in Ege Camp as well as churches.

The headmistress of the school, Ozuah Elizabeth , told The Nation that the situation was so sudden that it did not give any person chance to relocate, adding that “we are now floating on water.

The situation has created severe health hazards and unbearable hardship in those communities.

Some of the National Assembly members from Anambra State, Uche Ekwunife,

Senators Margery Okadigbo and Andy Uba had all relocated to the state as a way of identifying with the sufferings of their constituency victims. They have offered some relief materials.

Already, the National Emergency and Management Agency (NEMA), South East office being coordinated by Dr. Onibode Bamidele, has relocated to Anambra State to distribute some relief items.

Apart from some people being drowned in the flood, there had been reported suicide. But The Nation could not immediately confirm the claim.

Before now, the Minister of Aviation,

Stella Odua, whose house is equally submerged in Ogbaru and former Minister of State for Transport, Prince John Emeka, had called on the Federal Government to come to the aid of the people of Anambra State.

77-year-old Ozo Emmanuel Chidebe, told The Nation that by next year, everybody in the country would have to battle hunger, as most of the affected communities in the state are the food baskets of the country.

President-General of Oba-ofemili,

Continued on page 22

die, bridges cry out for help victims.

Members of the National Emergency and Management Agency(NEMA) will also be on hand to provide relief materials and to assess the extent of devastation and strategies on how to distribute the relief materials.

“The committee will meet with LGA chairmen, governor’s special representatives, to see how they can assist and also ensure that the items get to the affected communities,” stated Governor Dickson’s SA. Opuene, who lamented the discomfort being faced by the large number of affected People, called on individuals and donor agencies to come to the aid of the state.

“For one to be displaced is quite uncomfortable. We have recorded two deaths so far,” noted Opuene.

Decrying the current flood situation, Opuene said it was caused mainly by the opening of the Cameroun dam.

The government of Cameroun had informed of its intention to open the dam and had urged the public to be prepared.

“We should be prepared for the main flood, the main flood hasn’t come, it will come by October. What is happening now is from the Cameroun dam,” she re-echoed.

Mr. Douye Diri, Deputy Chief of Staff, Government House, who expressed the state government’s sympathy for the affected communities shortly after visiting some of the affected areas, described the situation as pathetic.

He expressed optimism that government would do everything within the limits of available resources to alleviate the sufferings of flood victims in the state.

The Deputy Chief of Staff commended the people for their communal efforts at combating the menace and called on other communities to take precautionary measures to avoid the loss of lives and mitigate other effects of flooding.

Also speaking on the effects of the flood, paramount ruler of Toru-Orua, Governor Dickson’s country home, where the flood has affected several houses, Chief Gosselin Felagha Touaregha, described this year’s flood as “the worst in the past 30 years.”

Chief Touaregha appealed to government and other well-meaning organisations, including the National Emergency and Management Agency (NEMA), to come to the aid of his community.

•Senator Okadigbo

•The Regent, Nwanelo

•Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson (left) presenting a souvenir to the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Assessment of Flood Disaster Affected Areas, Hajiah Hardiza Melafia (right) during a courtesy call at Government House in Yenagoa.

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

22

•Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson (centre); Chairman, Presidential Committee on Assessment of Flood Disaster Affected Areas, Hajiah Hardiza Melafia (left) and the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Edmund AllisonOguru (right) during a courtesy call at Government House in Yenagoa.

•Bayelsa Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Douye Diri, Mrs. Opuene and another person on tour of flood areas

•A compound in Sagbama town

The palace of Igwe Emeka of Umueze-Anam

•Another compound in Sagbama town

•Some of the flood victims

Anambra flood Continued from page 21 Nwabufor Chukwuma, who said he is still in shock, told The Nation that the same appeal should equally be transmitted to donor agencies to come to Anambra and help the victims.

According to the transition chairman of Awka North Local Government Area, Lady Joy Enweluzo, “We cannot continue dying in silence, how can we be refugees in our own land?’’

The items distributed by NEMA on Thursday in Anambra State were 1,476 bags of rice, 100 kegs of groundnut oil, 50 bags of granulated sugar, 1500 buckets, 1500 blankets, 1500 towels.

Others included 1000 pieces of wax prints, 1000 pieces of nylon mats, 500 mattresses, 500 pieces of guinea Brocade, 500 pieces of mosquito nets, 200 cartons of Omo detergents, 200 cartons of bathing soaps, 2500 plastic cups, 2500 plastic plates, 2500 plastic spoons, among others.

•Sagbama town in Bayelsa State submerged by flood.

LOCATION

BACKSTAGE

SNAPSHOT

REEL NEWS

MUSIC

SCREEN

Edited by: VICTOR AKANDE

Tel: 07029013958

E-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com

ntertainment

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

23

Refusing to act nude has cost me some roles

a l o b m i b A a —Aish

SEE PAGES 28-37

24

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

STAND BY! h

Wit

VICTOR AKANDE

E-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com Tel: 07029013958 (SMS only)

THINK

nt part of An importa s of any the succes is its civilisation late the mu ability to e t led to the a th factors ther success of o Eric .— s civilisation rt Reine

SNAPSHOTS

Perhaps for the fact that Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) is the beloved of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), the latter having licensed the former as the sole Collective Management Organisation for musical work and sound recording in Nigeria, every move made against Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) by NCC on why it should not remain in business is assumed to enjoy the connivance of COSON. This chat by some music industry reporters reflects the sentiment expressed by supporters of COSON on one hand and MCSN on the other hand. It can only be said to be 'infotaining'.

The NCC, MCSN, COSON triangle -Continued from last week

Afro Hollywood Awards unveils nominees •Winners to be announced in Akure

-Continued on page 25

Lilian Bach spotted in London

Let's face the fact; COSON cannot go this journey alone.

Even that Adewopo's proposal of a merger was a move that will forever remain impossible. You can't have a merger between two organisations that are in business for motives that are best to known to them

- To be Continued

WRITE TO US! Do you watch Nollywood movies? What do you think of the Nigerian motion picture industry? Send your review of any movie or short essay on any topic of your choice about the film industry in not more than 200 words. Send entries by e-mail to: victor_akande@yahoo.com or SMS your short comments to 07029013958

25

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

RE ELNEW S Afro Hollywood Awards 2012 Nominees

Family unveils burial plans for Amadi Ogbonnaya

-Continued from page 25

B

•Nigerian Idol hosts Illrymz, Tiwa Savage with the Top 3 Contestants

A

S organisers of popular music reality show, Nigerian Idol are get ready for the third edition slated for November, a series of pre event activities are in top gear, including a Press Idol, a fun competition at the Shaba Events Centre Ikeja which engaged media men, as a way of discovering the hidden talent among journalists.

Auditions for season three of Nigerian Idol has been billed to kick off across the country on Wednesday, October 13, 2012.

The one-off 'Press Idol' was anchored by Optima Media Group, owners of the Idol's

Ahead of Nigerian Idol 3 franchise in West Africa, with sponsorship from Etisalat.

“We thought to ourselves: we are very grateful to the media, which has made this Nigeria's number one reality TV show," said Tiwa Medubi, the project manager. "So why not reward them... by putting them on the spot.

On a weekly basis, they are shining the spotlight on the victories and mistakes, challenges and a highlight of these contestants, and these were a fun way to enable them lives the

dream!"

Putting up thrilling freestyle music performances of popular classics and contemporary hits, the media men contested for the grand prize of $1000, which was clinched by Daniel Oramai of Hitz on TV. The second prize of $500 was won by Efe Tommy of Excite on TV, while the third position of $200 went to Yes! Magazine's Gbenga Saba.

The event had performances from season 2 winner Mercy Chinwo, runners up Joe Blue and Stephen Onochie and Naomi Mac of season 1.

Viewers’ Choice Awards berths

URIAL arrangement for the late Group Entertainment Editor of Vanguard Newspapers, Ogbonnaya Amadi, has been released by the family.

The programme reveals that a Service of Songs will hold at the deceased; No. 7, Aganga Williams Street, Off Haruna Street, Ifako Ijaiye, Lagos on Monday October 8, 2012. and on the following day, being Tuesday, October 9, there will be a Candle Light Procession/Night of Tributes organized by his friends and colleagues in the media, at Ojez Entertainment Centre, located inside National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

Interment is said to have been scheduled to take place at the deceased home town, in Ohafia, Abia State on Friday, October 12, 2012.

An account (6160594231) has been opened at Fidelity Bank with the name; 'Friends of Amadi', where friends, colleagues who wish to contribute to a Trust Fund can avail themselves of. The proceeds, the committee said will be handed over to his wife and children after the burial.

His wife, Mrs. Toyin Amadi is said to be one of the signatories to the account.

•Amadi

Fadeyi Oloro headlines ACN rally

•Biola Alabi

26

r to a singer, ce u d ro p c si u m through the n From being a se ri s a h s in rt a JM highlife crooner, years as a performing artiste ranks. With seven ys that the journey has not to his credit, he sa is interview with th been all rosy. In itor, VICTOR AKANDE, he d Entertainment E ess, his love for charity, current talks music businst of other issues. projects and a ho

y a w a y h s I Why c i l b u p m fro s n i t r a M J —

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

You rarely see me in the media because basically I am a quiet person.

Most of all what I do, you don't get to hear about it because it is not mouth praise. For me, if I do something for you, I don't need to tell another person

27

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Crack Ya Ribs rocks

CocoIce excites with new song ‘Bad Guy’

•Julius Agwu

R.Trimnell poised for Nigeria market

Triple feat for Mr 2Kay

Stars4Christ set to change gospel reality TV show Dupe AYINLA-OLASUKANMI

•Trimnell

•Bouqui, Flo,Panam Percy Paul and Bukola Bekes

28

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

ntertainment

‘I have never dated anyone for a movie role’ Yoruba actress Aisha Abimbola has come a long way in her bid to become successful in her chosen endeavour. At barely 11, her mum died suddenly and she was forced to live with a dozen families. That experience, she says, has transformed her into what she is today as she reveals more about her life and her career in this interview with AHMED BOULOR.

ntertainment

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

ntertainment

ntertainment

ntertainment

ntertainment

37

Legend ‘Real Deal Nite’ rocks Abuja

Most desperate actresses do anything for acting but that will only get them into trouble. Doing anything carries a lot of implication; that's desperation. Young girls come to me and say 'Aunty we want to act.' The first thing I ask them is 'do you want to be an actress or a star?

Which do you want?'

•Duncan Mighty

Heroes and Zeros forges on

Yes! There are jobs I have missed because I could not wear some things and I could not do some things. I have lost jobs because I refused to go nude. I can't do certain stuffs because I am still going to have children

•On set of a movie, Heroes and Zeros

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

•Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi

Sports Minister Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi was in Lagos last week for the Soccerex Seminar. He met with some selected sports journalists where he highlighted the problems of sports in Nigeria and the plans being made to correct them. Ade Ojeikere was there.

•Olumide Oyedeji

•Chika Chukwumerije

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Odemwingie close to first matrimonial goal Commissioner warns Anambra athletes against cheating

•Beautiful Sarah and Husband Odemwingie

“

Hon. Minister sir, please don’t stop the League

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

32

RONALDO:

Zanetti wants to win

It’ll be a tough game at Camp Nou

•Ronaldo

Barca faces defensive crisis ahead tie

C •Puyol

ARLES Puyol's dislocated elbow means Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova faces another unwelcome defensive conundrum for Sunday's first La Liga Clasico of the campaign at home to Real Madrid.

Playing his first game back after a knee injury, Puyol landed heavily after leaping for the ball in the second half of Barca's 2-0 Champions League Group G victory at Benfica on Tuesday, and Vilanova confirmed he would miss the Real clash.

The shaggy-haired 34-year-old, whose regular partner in central defence Gerard Pique has not played since hurting his foot two weeks ago, was taken to a local hospital for checks before flying back to the Catalan capital and spending the night under observation in a clinic.

"Good day! The sun always comes out again... thanks for all your messages! A big hug," Puyol tweeted, adding that he would be back to full fitness soon.

Barca will sorely miss Puyol's experience and inspirational do-or-die attitude on Sunday, and if Pique does not recover in time, Vilanova may again be forced to deploy new signing Alex Song alongside fellow converted midfielder Javier Mascherano in central defence.

MATA: I

Milanese derby

•Walcott

E

VEN though the season has barely begun, Real Madrid's classic meeting with Barcelona on Sunday is a must-win game for the defending Spanish champion, which visits Camp Nou already trailing the Catalan club by eight points.

Barcelona is perfect through the first six rounds and Tito Vilanova's squad has a chance to mark the club's best league start ever with a victory over its fierce rival.

After its poor start, Madrid has won its last three games, including a 4-1 rout at Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo is in tremendous form having scored backto-back hat tricks this week to take his season tally in all competitions to 12 goals.

"Scoring three goals is fundamental for me, it boosts my confidence," said Ronaldo. "We are going to have a tough game at Camp Nou, but we believe in our chances and are sure we will get a good result."

33

GOAL SCORERS

Player Demba Ba Luis Suarez van Persie Fletcher Defoe Miguel Michu Peter Crouch Lambert Zamora Carlos Tevez Damien Duff Edin Dzeko Torres Nolan

Team Goals Newcastle 6 Liverpool 5 Man Utd 5 Sunderland 5 Tottenham 4 Swansea 4 Stoke 4 Southampton 4 QPR 3 Man City 3 Fulham 3 Man City 3 Chelsea 3 West Ham 3

I haven't reached my peak yet

•Mata

building a side that can last for a long time and be very successful.

“And of course winning the derby would give us even more confidence in our ability.”

One of the main sub-plots surrounding the match sees Antonio Cassano face his former side for the first time after he swapped the red side of the city for the blue during the summer, and Zanetti feels the Italy striker can help the Nerazzurri bring silverware back to the club.

"He's a world-class player. He feels at home here and we’re working to win lots of trophies together."

Pato boost for AC Milan

A

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE

•Adebayor

FIXTURES

S

EVRA:

We must be very careful against Newcastle ATRICE EVRA has warned his team-mates they cannot afford ‘disaster’ in Newcastle if they hope to win the title.

Manchester United were hammered 3-0 by Alan Pardew’s men last season.

And a similar result this season will mark their third defeat in seven league games and one of their worst ever Premier League starts.

Alex Ferguson’s side have given teams the lead in five of their six league games and did the same in the Champions League against Cluj on Tuesday before recovering to win 2-1.

And defender Evra said: “It is not funny when we go behind.

IENA boss Serse Cosmi has admitted that it may take ‘something extraordinary’ to beat Juventus this weekend.

Although the Old Lady have struggled in recent games against Fiorentina and Shakhtar Donetsk, Cosmi has underlined that they are still the best side in Italy.

“We’ll need the perfect game to beat them,” he told the

Mancini vows to resolve City's problems Frei eyes Fulham comeback

•Evra

C M i l a n c o a c h Massimiliano Allegri has been handed a big boost ahead of the derby with Inter after Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato made a welcome return to training.

The 23-year-old has yet to make an official appearance for the Rossoneri this term due to an adductor problem, and had spent the past few weeks working on his recovery.

However, he is now one step closer to a comeback after participating in a full group training session on Thursday, without any reaction to his original injury.

It remains to be seen whether Pato will make the squad for the Derby della Madonnina, though, with Milan keen to ease him back into action and avoid any further long-term problems.

‘Perfection needed to beat Juve’

Sat. 06 Oct. 2012 Man City v Sunderland Chelsea v Norwich West Brom v QPR Swansea v Reading Wigan v Everton West Ham v Arsenal Sun. 07 Oct. 2012 Southampton v Fulham Tottenham v Aston Villa Liverpool v Stoke Newcastle v Man Utd

P

NTER captain Javier Zanetti has stated that a win in the Milanese derby could give a significant boost to the Nerazzurri, who are looking to make up for the disappointments of last season.

The 39-year-old is coming towards the end of his illustrious career, but stated that he is not fixated on the very real possibility that this will one of his last games against the Rossoneri.

Instead, in his typical professional manner he chose to concentrate on the game on Sunday.

"We just want to win. I’m not thinking that this could be one of my last derbies. I'm just enjoying the moment," he admitted to Sky Sports Italia.

"It's a massive game with no favourites. What I can say is that we're in good shape and we're

•Zanetti

F

ULHAM midfielder Kerim Frei is close to challenging for a place in Martin Jol's side after returning from a pelvis injury.

The 18-yearold, who made 25 appearances last term, suffered the knock while on international duty with Turkey and has yet to feature for the Cottagers this season.

Frei revealed that he has been training for a week and is working on his match fitness ahead of his return to firstteam action.

"Last week on Thursday I started training

M

•Kerim again. We've been making sure that I didn’t come back too fast in case the injury came back," the youngster told Fulham's official website.

"We did some little games on Tuesday - three lots of 20 minutes - and everything was fine so hopefully I will be back in the team soon.

"I missed playing football very much, I missed having the ball at my feet and things like that but I'm very happy to be back and I'm looking forward to playing my part in the season ahead."

ANCHESTER City manager Roberto Mancini insists he knows where his team’s problems lie after their fitful start to the season.

City’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday extended their poor run to just three wins in nine matches.

Mancini’s team have just one point from their two Group D matches and are four points adrift of leaders Chelsea in the Premier League.

After being so solid on their way to the Premier League title last season, they have also failed to keep a single clean sheet in their nine matches so far.

Mancini, whose team host Sunderland on Saturday before the international break, is sure he can find a solution to his team’s issues and has promised he will rectify their issues quickly.

He said: “I know the problem and I will resolve it very quickly. It’s my problem and my job and I will solve this

problem.

“If we want to play in the Champions League we have to play better.

“We have to run and fight. It’s not enough to just pass.

Champions League is another situation — different from the championship.

“We have to run and fight. It’s not enough to just have quality.

If you don’t run like Dortmund did, then you have a problem.

“Our performance was very poor but I think that in the end

•Mancini

This could be Everton's year — Howard •Howard

T

IM Howard says Everton will fight to keep all their best players in January as they aim to finish in the top four of the Premier League.

The Toffees have traditionally got off to slow starts in recent years but this term they have had a flyer and Saturday's 3-1 victory over Southampton kept

them in second place.

Goalkeeper Howard believes it is the strongest squad Evertonhave had since he joined in 2006 and says they will keep pushing for a UEFA Champions League place, even if it is far too early at this stage to get excited.

"The Champions League is a real, viable option for us. Very a

difficult, but it is viable," he told Sky Sports News. "We talk about it, we achieved it a few years ago and we have the ability on form to do it. But it is a long way off to May. "This is my seventh season. I think it is the best squad we have had, in terms of quality from top to bottom.

FIXTURES

Sat. 06 Oct. 2012 Chievo v Sampdoria Genoa v Palermo Sun. 07 Oct. 2012 Roma v Atalanta Catania v Parma Torino v Cagliari Pescara v Lazio Fiorentina v Bologna Siena v Juventus AC Milan v Inter Milan Napoli v Udinese

Corriere dello Sport. “They’ve been in difficulty just twice this season, in Florence and against Shakhtar.

“In those games, Juventus played to 50 per cent of their potential, while their opponents were at 90 per cent.

“This means that Juventus don’t even lose games when it is not their day and that is no coincidence.

“We’ll have to be at 100 per cent and then we’ll see what happens. But if Juve play to their maximum then we’ll something extraordinary to happen in order to win.”

One of the key questions that all Coaches preparing to take on Juventus face is whether to man-mark Andrea Pirlo.

“No,” Cosmi stated. “When I bossed Perugia and teams marked Fabio Liverani, he always had a great game.

“Pirlo, like other players at Juve, needs to be limited but not necessarily with a specific man-marker.”

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Flying Eagles must soar!

Nigeria: Can the Leopard change its spot?

AKINLOYE

AT LARGE

08050246155 atlarge84@yahoo.com

•Mikel

NIGERIA AT 52

36

ADEKANOLABOOSTS OLYMPIC GOLF

Saturday, October 6, 2012

GOLFLINE

with

Tony Akhigbe golflineintl@yahoo.com 08094863638

• Otunba Olusola Adekanola

OCHOA OPENS RARE

tournament appearance with 69

An Association’s wise counsel on sports development

38

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

•Rachel Oniga, Segun Arinze, Ibinabo Fiberesima, Ejike Asiegbu and Steve Eboh

M

ANY look forward to the day when the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), the unifying body for all actors, will hold a rancorfree election, but as events have proven over time, it doesn't appear to be anytime soon. In a move that shocked industry watchers, sometime in May, the incumbent President, Segun Arinze, bowed out as the leader of the Guild after a botched attempt to hold the elections in Benin City Partisan in its very nature, AGN elections come with their dramas and schemings and it wasn't a different scenario on September 27, 2012 when the members of the actors' association came together to choose another leader.

In a keenly contested election held at the body's Secretariat, actress cum model, Ibinabo Fiberesima emerged winner, beating her opponents; Steve Eboh and Emeka Rollas.

Announcing the results on Saturday, September 29 at the Guild's premises, Secretary of the AGN Electoral Commission and veteran actress, Rachel Oniga said that after the elections, Steve Eboh received 10 votes; Emeka Rollas got 86 while Ibinabo pooled a total of 97 votes, making her the new leader of the AGN. She has since been sworn in as the first female President.

Holding elective positions goes beyond the desire to conquer.

According to reports, Ibinabo, who has seen her own share of challenges as an actress in the industry, floored her opponents with her manifesto which promised better welfare package not only for active members of the Guild but for aging veterans.

As the elections got underway, when it was clear in whose favour the result would swing, fellow contender, Emeka Rolas was said to have pushed out everyone out of the building. He was also said to have stalled the release of the result, but Secretary of the electoral committee, Rachel Oniga, on Saturday, September 29, went ahead to announce the result, a move which she said is to protect her image.

Though Ibinabo explains that the owner of the property locked the premises because the Guild is in arrears of its rent, she confirmed that it was her fellow contestant who initiated the locking of the premises.

“Actually, while the result was being announced, we were pushed out of the office by Emeka Rolas. He practically pushed us out of the office. He said he is in charge of the building, but you can't be in charge of somebody's building when you have not paid rent,” she said.

If anyone knows how the Guild works, it will be Ejike Asiegbu who served two tenures as President. From

How Ibinabo emerged actors’ first female president Ovwe MEDEME

the result, he said, it is quite clear who won and that is Ibinabo. “I think we need to support. From what I have seen, Ibinabo won the election quite clearly.

Others should learn to be good losers. It is only in this part of the world that people come to do anything they like.

By virtue of my experience, this is 32 years in the industry, my doors are always open to accommodate, to be tolerant and to give my best, all aimed at ensuring that we move the entertainment industry forward.”

The challenges of holding an office are numerous and it gets even more daunting when the office holder is female. As is given with this clime, sometimes, chauvinism comes into play but this veteran filmmaker admonishes total support.

“The men should not be chauvinistic about having a woman run the affairs of the Guild. It is good for us to be gender sensitive and give her a chance and an opportunity to prove herself. There is no doubt in her credentials. Apart from being an actress, she was a Beauty Queen and a mother. She will be able to move the Guild forward,” he opined.

For the immediate past President, Segun Arinze, there is nothing like a female. In Arinze's opinion, “a job is a job, a president is a president. A lot of challenges await her but they will unfold as time progresses. When I got in, the challenges were there and they started coming up. When they come, she will take them up as they come. The most important thing is for all actors and office holders to rally round her and see that she succeeds. It is not just an Ibinabo presidency. It is our presidency. Let's move on with it.”

Receiving the constitution of the Guild, the actress and model said that the time for change has come. “We need to revamp the Guild, we need to build our offices so that people can see us and know us. We need to solve the problem of our veterans. We need to reach out to them; we need to set up health and insurance plans. There is a lot to be done but first I have to sit and discuss with my team. Very soon, we will come out with a blueprint of our activities but you can be sure that this guild will be very busy,” she said.

How does she hope to forestall further bickering in the Guild especially where elections are concerned? “Once we are reconciled, bickering will no longer be the case when elections are held. It is time for us to build our guild. I wasn't here when they chose this mode for the elections. I was called while on set and I was told over the phone. It was Emeka Rolas' idea for each state to hold their elections while the results are collated in Lagos. I said I would do anything to move the guild forward so I accepted. I don't see any reason why it had to turn out this way. Like I said, I am not a hate person so it is impossible for there to be rancor when the time comes for elections. Not while I am there.

Though she makes history as the first female President of the Guild, she admits that challenges await her.

However, she believes, as female, it will be easier to tackle. “Like you know, women have slightly 'longer legs' than the men. There are doors we can go through but the men, it would take them a while to enter. I will use that to my benefit. I will try to reach as many people as I can to build the Guild,” she enthused.

The Board of Trustees has since accepted the outcome of the elections, stating that bye elections will take place for the positions of Vice President South East/North Central, National Public Relations Officer and Director of Guild Services.

39

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Matchmakers My husband won’t marry me legally for love even after having a child from another woman Males •Oluwaseyi, 45yrs old, Good day ma thanks for solving others people’s problems which I am one of them.

I’m a woman from Ondo State with 3 kids of 12, 9 and 6 years respectively. Just this year my husband had a child with another woman without my knowledge. This has caused problems between us. Now my husband said he wants to do traditional engagement with me when my family called him, but I said I want ‘REGISTRY MARRIAGE’. My husband said no, but he said he loves me that his late father had warned him against Registry EGISTRY, but his brother married through registry. I’ve said I am not interested in the marriage again because of problems presently in the marriage, please ma what do I do now?

Dear Madam, if your husband is proposing customary marriage, then go for it. Customary marriage as far as Africa is concerned is valid, and in my own opinion, it is better to be married in the presence of your family and your bride price paid than nothing.

Do not try to fight for a registry marriage when he has made up his mind on what he wants. He’s different from his brother and you must respect that. You have lived with this man for years without as much as a ring, now even after straying and

having a child from another woman, he still finds it worthy to take you as a new bride, please dump pride and accept.

Let me tell you something; registry marriage or not, this is Nigeria where men sleep with their girlfriends with their wedding rings firmly on. Okay, some men may remove it before the action, but does that remove the fact that they sleep with other women?

Registry marriage does not make the man faithful. In your own case, he already has a child from another woman anyway. He alone knows if he wants the mother of his new child for keeps or if it will stop with just this child. If he has made up his mind that this woman will continue to have kids for him, going to the registry with you won’t stop it. You’re thinking of getting married under the Acts so you can sue him if he goes ahead to have another wife or other children? Forget it! Even the solicitor you get for your case and the judge to hear the case may be die-hard polygamists if they are men. If they are women, they are probably married to men who have other wives.

Settle down in your marriage and be good to the man. Most men will eat out of your palms if you make them feel like kings. If you give him respect, honour, sex at the right time and laughter around the house, he is likely to stay glued to you and wonder what took him to another woman in the first place. Love this new baby as your own and win your husband’s respect. I wish you well.

Has tea and lemon stopped my growth?

Hello ma, I am a very good fan of yours because I learn a lot from you. I’m 16 years old. When I was 10, I was so big my friends used to laugh at me. Out of frustration, I started taking tea with lemon and it worked! But since then I’ve not been able to grow.

My mum is tall while my dad is average, is my past deed working against me? I look small now when people see they take me for an adult.

Secondly, I’ve been suffering from pile since last year.

What do I do? I need your help.

I doubt very much if tea and lemon can affect growth. I know a lot of tall people who grew up taking tea and lemon. Children in early childhood usually grow at a rate of about two to two and a half inches per year, up until they begin puberty, when their growth will slow to about one to one and half inches per year.

There is acceleration in growth

as they hit their peak growth velocity in puberty, to about three to three and a half inches per year for girls and four inches per year for boys. Growth then slows again in girls to about two to three inches per year after the first period until they reach their adult height. Boys and girls usually continue to grow until they are 14 to 16 years old, but this depends on when they started puberty. Remember that

From you to me You are just that beautiful and charming, doing a nice job to the comfort of souls across the nation. May you live long, amen. You will be kind enough to link me with the one I miss a lot and would love to associate with in the person of Mrs Jokogbola, we served together at the Oworo P.H.C, Kosofe LG. I’m Gbolade. Phone number: 08158952726.

Thanks.

Hi Madam, happy day and happy month to you and yours.

Please kindly forward my heartfelt sympathy to the families of those students killed at Mubi. And please, this question to the killers: as you killed those students, hope you will never die? And could you let the world know what

My guy doesn’t care for me in the name of the budget Please I read your article and was inspired on your advice. I’ve been in a relationship for 3 years now, but my guy doesn’t care for me in the name of the budget he keeps saying he has. Please advise me, I’m confused.

Well, I don’t know the exact meaning of care if it is the monetary side alone the man is lacking. If he treats you well, calls you regularly, tells you he loves you but he is ‘stingy’, then I think he cares for you, he is just mindful of his pocket. Is it that he doesn’t give you anything at all? How much of his income do you expect him to spend on you

girls reach their pubertal growth spurt about two years earlier than boys, so in early adolescence; many girls are taller than boys.

To evaluate whether you are short, it is important to get a growth chart to see how you have been growing. Your doctor may decide to just observe your growth over the next 3 to 6 months to decide if or not you are grow normally. Discuss the pile issue with him too. Cheers!

before you know he cares? If he spends everything he has on you without keeping some for house rent, family obligations, his own needs and savings, I’d tell you not to hope on a financially strong future with this kind of guy. But a guy who has a budget is my kind of man.

Having a budget is the first step toward financial freedom. Creating one will enable you to track your spending, save up for big purchases, control your credit card expenses, and gain financial wealth. While it may seem like something that everyone does, it’s amazing how many people work hard and do not have a budget.

Re: My dad thinks I’m a failure; is there anyone out there who can help me?

Dear Aunty Adeola Agoro, I just read your ‘Hearts’ with regards to one Innocent. I advise you’re in a better position to solve the boy’s problem. I’ll advise you call him and ask him to give you the father’s names and phone number and talk with the father. Don’t forget to introduce yourself to the father as a staff of The Nation, Lagos. This will make him to take all your advice very seriously and begin to implement it with speed. Tel him what he stands to gain training the son. Let him show the boy love.

P.S: Thanks for your opinion. Please note however that I stopped being the Society Editor of The Nation four years ago, so I will not tell the man I’m a Nation staff if I do call him. I do this column as my civic contribution to fellow human beings.

civil-servant, from Osun State, genotype AA, needs a God-fearing lady between 30 and 44 yrs old for a serious-relationship. Contact: 08164557898.

•Femi, 39, single father with 2 kids based in Lagos needs a serious-minded, God-fearing woman. She must be Yoruba, fair in complexion, good-looking, educated, humble and between 28 and 35 for a serious relationship. Call: 08102562959, 08073406779 or mail: olufemolar@yahoo.com.

•Temitope, 30 from Ondo State needs a God-fearing Christian girl between 23 and26yrs for a relationship that will lead to marriage.

Call: 08165948364.

•Michael, a lawyer in Equity needs a decent lady btw age 18 and 36 for a relationship. Contact: 08087126541.

•Kazeem 36, Muslim single handsome employed from Ibadan but based in Lagos needs a responsible pretty caring loving Godfearing single B.Sc. graduate working Muslim lady based in Lagos age b/w 22 and 26 for a serious relationship that will lead to marriage.

Contact: 08135909085.

•Oscar 47,resides in Lagos, self-employed needs a devoted Christian lady for a serious relationship from any part of Nigeria, working class aged between 30 and 40. 08164339742.

•UC, 30, in Makurdi. 5.7ft, handsome, desires a serious matured lady of 30 and 50 years based in any North Central States for a romantic affair. Call: 08101197033.

•Olajide 29years old selfemploy i resides in Lagos needs a working class, Christian lady for serious relationship. 08020947947

Lost Contacts Dear Adeola Happy Sunday. Please link me up Adaobi Nwakuche she used to work with Standard Alliance now with STACO Insurance. My name is Dr Pastor Nissi.

08033155803. Please do this for me ma, I have being trying to reach her.

I’m 21 but my interest is on older and bigger and well-endowed ladies Dear ma, I am 21 but recently my romantic interest seems focus on far older and bigger ladies who are well endowed. They appear sexier than younger ones. Should I go after them?

Tony.

The T-o-n-y! Your romantic interest is interest-i-n-g o! AT 21 you’re already dreaming of going after ladies your big brothers are scared to try. I salute your courage o. What advise will I give a determined young man now? Do I tell you not to go after what you desire?

Just do me a favour, no matter what you want in a woman, let your aspirations in life be higher than that. What that means is that whatever you’re doing now, be so serious about it that when you’re rich and famous, no big lady will be able to turn you down. If you’re a failure and you venture to talk to ladies who are far older, they will so much

insult or beat you that you would know that they are endowed in other areas too.

Hearts With Adeola Agoro E-mail: libranadeola@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 08023162609

Did armed men make a call at my place?

There are so many questions playing in my mind since this past Tuesday when I was rudely informed that armed men came visiting at my house.

As a rule, I must empty the bin in the kitchen before going to bed every night. I like waking up to the fresh fragrance from my air freshener, and I know how bins left overnight could negate this. So once I was sure there was nothing to bin anymore that Tuesday night, I took the bin downstairs to dump in the waste bin outside the house. I was going back into the house when a neighbor stopped me from going back inside. She announced that the gateman was at his security post tied hands and legs. “He told me that some armed men came inside and tied him”, she said.

How did he tell her that, since he was tied, I asked. She said she wanted to tell him something at the security gate when she saw he was tied.

She didn’t wait to listen to more, and of course she didn’t wait to untie him before she bolted outside. Apparently, she was hiding under a tree outside the house when she saw me coming out and decided to inform me. We alerted some neighbors and the security man was untied after which we made sure that

there were no unwanted visitors in the house. Nabo, the security man said about ten armed men came visiting, bur he said he didn’t know what they did next after tying him with ropes in his room. He said they took his phone before leaving him.

The questions I’m still not able to find answers to are: could tem armed men just come into a house and not as much as announce their presence anyhow if they meant business? How come nobody saw them apart from Nabo?

Agreed, our doors are these Israel bullet-proof doors, but our windows are glass, if they actually wanted to operate, couldn’t they have knocked on the windows to get our attention?

I don’t know why I’m having strange feelings that Nabo is working on something. He might have made up the story for a future reason, and somebody (an accomplice of his) helped tie him. But we have reached a stage in Nigeria where fear has taken over our emotions? I’m so scared of asking Nabo direct questions because he might plan to tie me hands and legs when no one is watching the same way he was tied, that is if he knows what we all don’t know.

Please, join me in praying for our safety and security in my house. We need it.

Here are some benefits of budgeting:

Smart Spending: Having a budget will help make it easier to shop. While out shopping, you will always be tempted, but a budget helps you realize that you are stronger than an advertisement.

Treat Yourself: A budget that is adhered to will lead to rewards. Whether you are budgeting to save for a vacation or for a new cell phone, if you stay on your budget, you will see the benefits.

Build wealth: You are able to see how each month’s budget helps make you wealthy.

Mood Booster: With a budget, you just feel good about yourself. You are in charge of your money and you will feel empowered when you avoid temptation and keep your budget in mind.

No surprises: When you look at your bank statement, you will see where your money is going and won’t need to worry about your account becoming empty.

It’s fun! Creating a budget and taking care of your finances can to ensure that you are spending wisely can be fun.

The Cardinal School during their yearly celebration...last week

40

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

The millionaire’s daughter (5)

E

LFREda was everything Meera was not: loving, caring and homely as

well.

She was always concerned about my welfare and to top all that, she cooked very well and often prepared the most delicious meals for me.

One evening, I was at her apartment and as she bustled around preparing dinner, I could not help but compare the atmosphere there with the one at my home. There was a homely feel, an air of domesticity that was lacking at home. Here was a woman who knew how to take care of a home and her man unlike my wife to whom the kitchen was an alien territory never to be ventured into.

I sighed and changed the channel on the TV. “What’s with the long face?” Elfreda asked, as she sat besides me on the couch.

I smiled at her and drew her to me.

“I was just thinking about the past. How good we were together...” I stated, a hint of regret in my voice.

“You are right. Perhaps, that’s why I couldn’t get over you no matter how hard I tried,” she said, looking at me in a way that made me ache with longing for her.

Cradling her face gently in my arms, I said: “Thanks for opening your heart to me again. I promise you that things will be different this time. I will never, ever let you go again, no matter what happens.

Please trust me on this.”

She gazed at me for a while before speaking.

“I believe you, Dave. Besides, I don’t really have any choice as my life is meaningless without you. I tried dating other guys just to get you out of my mind but it wasn’t possible. As long as you are by my side, I’m happy,” she stated, smiling sweetly at me.

I kissed her on the fore-

head and held her tightly to me.

The runaway wife On getting home that night, Meera was already there. I was surprised to see her because she got home most days very late at night.

“And where are you coming from at this time of the night? Don’t tell me it’s the office because I know you left there long ago!”

I glanced behind me to see if she was talking to some one else. Then I looked at her in surprise.

“Are you talking to me?”

I asked her.

“Who else could I be talking to? There are only two of us in this room!”

“And what business is it of yours where I’m coming from?” I queried as I walked towards the staircase to go to my room.

She stood in front of me, blocking me off.

“I’m your wife, remember? So, it’s my business to

know what happens to you,” she responded.

I burst into laughter at her words, which made her step back a little.

“Wife? What wife? When was the last time you played your role as a wife in this house? When did you ever care about my welfare or that of your daughter for that matter?” I enquired.

“Is that why you’ve been running all over time with that tramp?” she asked belligently.

“What are you talking about? What tramp?”

“Stop acting dumb! You know who I mean? Your exgirlfriend, Elfreda. Or you think I won’t know? That you’ve been running around town with her? Spending time with her?” she demanded angrily.

I was surprised by her words but it didn’t show on my face as I said: “I see you are drunk again. If you don’t have anything better to say, just shut

up. I’m tired and I need to rest,” I stated, pushing her out of the way.

As I climbed up to my room, I could hear her screaming: “I don’t blame you! Now that you’ve made money and are rich, you think you are a star! Let me remind you in case you’ve forgotten; I made you whatever you are today!

And with a snap of my fingers, I can unmake you! I know you are cheating on me and it must stop because nobody cheats on me! You are my husband and as long as we are still together, I can’t share you with another woman, least of all that bitch!”

I laughed out loud as I opened the door to my room.

‘Imagine her calling someone a cheat. What is she then, with all her boyfriends?’ I thought to myself.

I continued to see Elfreda despite Meera’s threats. It was necessary for me to retain some form of sanity because of the situation at home which was becoming impossible. Meera and I were fighting nearly everyday, a situation which made me reluctant to go home after work.

Most days, it was Elfreda’s place that I went to from the office. It was like a haven of peace in a very stormy situation.

“I don’t know how long I can go on like this,” I grumbled to Dick one day. I had gone to visit him at home

In that type of noisy situation, a good night’s rest is impossible and one often wakes up most days red-eyed and irritable from sleep deprivation.

And this applies to a large proportion of the populace who have to endure the noise emitted by these nasty generators. Now you understand why many people these days are grumpy, stressed out and generally angry with the world.

And as if the noise from the gens are not enough trouble, other things contribute to noise pollution in the country and consequently, the deafness rate in the country. Top among these is noise emitting from religious houses like mosques and churches. Many are situated in residential areas and at times of worship, the noise from the loudspeakers they often use is on the same level, if not more than those made by the generators.

In fact, my very good friend and namesake, Pat once lived in a house at Gbagada with a very big church as next door neighbour. On Sundays, while other faithful are heading to their places of worship, my friend will be sitting comfortably in her house.

When you ask her why she’s not at service, she will reply:

back. Now, no matter what happens, I will never leave her again. I want her by my side always as she makes me happy, helps me forget my sorrows.”

A few months later, Meera unexpectedly travelled abroad. She did not inform me about the trip. I got home one night to meet a note she had dropped for me in which she stated that she was taking a break from me and all the trouble I was causing her.

“I’ll be away for about a year.

I’ve left Cyndi behind as I believe she will be better off with you as you always accuse me of being a bad mother. You accuse me of kinds of things but you seem to forget that I, Meera made you what you are today. Instead of showing gratitude, all you do is give me stress. I’ve had enough of all the grief you give me so goodbye for now...”

To be frank, I felt nothing but relief at her going away.

I would now have some peace in my life but it was going to be temporary as she would still be returning.

Right now, I’m thinking of filing for divorce on the grounds of desertion so I can be with Elfreda always. She’s the one I want to be with and I want nothing more to do with Meera. Do you think I’ve made the right decision?

Readers’ reaction welcome.

Concluded Names have been changed to protect the identity of the narrator and other individuals.

Send advice/suggestions to 08023201831 or psaduwa@yahoo.com. The best response from a reader wins N1000 recharge card.

Preview of next week’s edition titled ‘Bride of winter’ Abby and Henry dated for some years before he travelled out of the country in search of a better life. After five years of being separated, Henry returned to the country so they could get married. He went back to his base abroad after the wedding, with the plan for his bride to join him later. A few months later, Abby jets out of the country to meet her husband, full of high expectations of a life of bliss and happiness abroad with her beloved. But the reality of life over there is far from what she dreamt of. Don’t miss this exciting new series in your ever sizzling The Nation!

Generators and deafness in the land (2) Continued from last week

and we had been talking about my problems at home.

“You have to take it easy,” he stated.

“For how long? Life with Meera has become impossible. She’s just driving me crazy. I can’t bear it any longer,” I said, taking a sip of my drink.

“So, what do you intend to do?” asked Dick.

I sighed then said: “I really don’t know. I’m really confused right now,” I stated sadly with my hands on my head. “The sensible thing is to just walk away.

But I don’t believe in divorce. I don’t want my daughter to come from a broken home. But I can no longer stay with Meera because of her behaviour. Do you know she keeps bringing her boyfriends home and flaunting them in my face?

How long can I continue to tolerate such horrible behaviour from my own wife? I don’t want to commit murder but anything can happen one of these days if she dares bring one of her men to the house again...”

We were silent for a while then Dick said: “I know it’s not the time to say this, but I think you should have stayed with Elfreda. She’s the right woman for you...”

“You think I don’t know that?” I stated vehemently. “I regret leaving her every day.

I just thank God that she forgave me and accepted me

P atience Edirin Saduwa On Saturday 08023201831 (SMS only) Email: psaduwa@yahoo.com

“There’s a church right at my doorstep so why should I bother going faraway to worship. I follow the service from the beginning till the end. I participate in the praise and worship, listen attentively to the sermon and I also partake in the blessings from God.” “How do you pay your tithes and offerings then?” she is asked.

“That is between me and my God. It’s none of your business. Afterall, the Bible says the right hand should not know what the left hand is doing! So, how I pay my tithes should not be your problem!” she would retort.

If the noise pollution is not bad enough, what about the air pollution caused by the noxious fumes emitting from the generators? Thick, poisonous fumes come out from most of them which pollute the air space. The health hazards of

these fumes are many and can cause such respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis, cartarrh, breathlessness among others. What about the long term effect of inhaling these fumes such as lung cancer and other forms of cancer and other diseases that might not manifest now until years to come? Besides, many people have died in their homes while sleeping with their gens on. The hazards are indeed numerous.

From all this, it’s obvious that the onset of generators in this country has been a real ‘curse’ not just economically, socially, health wise but in other ways. They’ve caused Nigerians too much trauma and all kinds of stress and we cannot continue like this.

So what should be done about these machines? The sensible thing is have all of them dumped in a refuse heap and destroyed. But we can’t do without them for now due to the poor power supply in the country presently.

This is why those in charge of the power sector should intensify efforts in improving the power situation. In fact, any serious government should make it its number one priority as improved power will have a multiplier effect on the economy and improved quality of life for the people.

That way, a time will come when we can all gladly pack up our generators and dump them in the store room for future generations, who hopefully will live in a Nigeria with 24 hour power supply, to marvel at and wonder what ‘these strange-looking machines’ were used for…

Concluded

&

LIFE

Society Profile

THE NATION, Saturday, OCTOBER 6, 2012

STYLE Gossip Interviews

41

After her church crashed, Queen Ure declares:

‘I'm back to Pastor Kris Okotie; where else will I go?’

SEE PAGES 44 & 45

44

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

‘Re-marriage?

Why not?’

Queen Ure Ukezie the petite, but pretty ex-wife of youthful musician, Soul E, is back in the country and also back into controversy. Before she left last year for the United Kingdom, Queen Ure, as she is popularly called, battled life after a failed marriage. The church business she started with her ex-husband also packed up. But no sooner had she returned from her UK sojourn than she was spotted at Pastor Kris Okotie’s Household of God. It was Pastor Okotie who predicted then that Queen Ure’s marriage to Soul E, wouldn’t last and thus, refused to give his blessing.

Queen Ure, in this interview, says she’s back! She spoke to PAUL UKPABIO on why she retraced her steps to Pastor Okotie’s church, her new line of business, her failed church, her possible re-marriage and musical career, among others.

Excerpts:

W

HEN did you return from London?

A few months ago.

You were in London for a while, what was it all about?

I actually went for two reasons, the first was for vacation, while the second reason was for training. I go for training from time to time abroad. And this time around, it was in the UK. It was an opportunity to continue my self-development and also get some kind of relaxation. I did a little bit of business here and there too.

The last time we heard from you, you were into human development training, are you still into it?

Yes, I’m still into it. It’s called “Dream n Become International”. We are basically into training and coaching. Some people would term it consultancy. Our core areas are service excellence, customer satisfaction and marketing skills. But we train based on the needs of the clients.

When we organise our workshops, these are areas we focus mostly on.

You used to be in the banking industry, is your present engagement related to that?

Of course, most of the clients I train are in the corporate world, oil and gas, banking and so on. Sometimes, we work with other consulting companies, we facilitate for some other consulting companies as well.

About your life in the entertainment industry, are you back in it, or you’ve dumped it?

Yeah, the entertainment industry is part of me and I am part of it. I am a full-blown artiste now. Music has always been my number one passion. It has always been part of me. Now I’m doing it fully.

When you said ‘fully’, what exactly did you mean?

Entertainment is the number one thing I do most. I am •Queen Ure presently an independent artiste.

I am not signed on with any label. I sing. Presently, I have a promo copy which has five songs. I intend to come out soon with an album of 15 songs. I have recorded more than five songs, but I just did this promo copy ahead of the main album. I would be was a gospel group and any church that I got shooting a video for one of the songs involved in, I had always found my way into entitled, popori, in the next couple of days. the choir. However, I am not strictly a gospel Other songs include: I have found love, artiste now. Right now, I’m not limiting my Ngegere, a better place. I have been working songs to any particular genre. I’m singing continuously in the studio with good, everything. Whichever way the inspiration competent producers and it is a whole lot comes, I sing. For instance, the five songs in of fun. Shortly, my video will be on air my promo are all different. In one of the and that is when I will be back fully. The songs, I actually did real rap. So, it is quite a video goes a long way to support promo different kind of rap in my own style. There’s copies. It is exciting and wonderful. reggae, hip-hop, high life and so on.

Is this your first attempt at having a For me, music is about expressing myself. musical album?

I have the gift and when you have the talent Yes, this is the first attempt at having a or gift, you use it. You do it your own way. musical album, but I have always been What distinguishes anyone in anything is writing songs. I have been recording songs originality. I’m someone who believes in in the past, but I did not do anything with excellence. I’m not out to compete with the songs. I just kept them in my house. I anyone because we are blessed in our was always contented with singing in different ways. church, I mean singing in the church choir.

Isn’t it out of place that you were supposed I was writing for other people and other to be a pastor, but you are abandoning gospel musicians. music?

But this is not the first time that I will be No. When I said I am not doing gospel music showcasing my singing talent. But it is the for now, I didn’t mean I am abandoning that first time that I am coming out with my class of music. Even in this promo copy, the work. At least, I still recall that on campus last song is gospel. Moreover, music is a then, I had a musical group. That was at platform to express the soul. It could be the University Of Jos. I was the leader of a spiritual, it could be romantic, whichever band. It was called ‘The Rubies’. It was an way, my music cuts across everything. Man all girls (laughs) stuff. Just four of us. It

is spirit, we have a soul. So I sing about the body which has to do with the romantic aspect of life. I equally do soul-lifting songs and playful songs.

Any special reason why you are coming out at this particular time?

Like I said, music has always been a part of me. In time past, I was busy doing other things. Now that I have more time, I’ve decided to go into it full blast. Definitely, this is the right time for me to do it.

You said one of the tracks in your new work is entitled ‘I’ve found Love.’ Have you truly found love after your broken marriage to your ex-husband, Soul E? Love is in me. Love is in all of us. The first love to find is the love for one another. That is why the Bible says: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. In other words, you can’t love another, unless you love yourself. You have to love God, love yourself and then you can love another.

Do you love another right now?

Of course, I love people not just one. So many people.

Is there a man presently in your life?

Yes, there are so many men in my life.

Is there any particular one that you are emotionally attached to right now?

45

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

‘

Kris is my pastor whom I hold in high respect.

There is no reason to do a re-think or whatever about the matter. Since I am not doing pastoral work now, there is no reason why I cannot go back to the church. I need not have to think twice about that. Where else will I go to?

Well, if you are asking if I am in that kind of relationship, well, I am not and it is not even on my mind.

But why not? Is it because you don’t have men showing interest in you?

No, of course there are lots of men who want to have such relationship with me, but it is not just on my mind. And that is because it is the way I want it for now.

Wherever you find yourself, it seems you court controversy around you. How true is this?

Really?

You were in London not long ago and the news all over the place was that you were involved with Tuface. And there was this salacious photo of you and him, which circulated all over the social media.

(Laughs) Tuface at the moment is happily engaged, so it’s better to just allow him and his spouse build on what they have. All I did was to take a photo with him at the after- party of his show in London and of course, I displayed the photo and there was nothing wrong with displaying that and he’s a friend. I think they just made a whole lot of things out of it. Presently, Tuface is seriously involved, so there is nothing to it between us. He’s a great singer, we all admire him. I admire him and definitely, I

’

will like to do a collabo with him but not now.

I have to come out on my own first.

You know, in the past, we had great female singers like the late Christy Essien-Igbokwe of blessed memory and Onyeka Onwenu and people had this notion that if you are into music and you are female, it’s likely you are not responsible. But these are women who have been into music and have distinguished themselves. So, about about females being in music and not responsible, it is not correct.

We have other young girls who have been doing well in music and that is encouraging.

How about re-marriage?

Every woman wants to be married, but when a woman is not married, it could be perhaps, such ladies may not have found the person who they think they should be married to. So they hang in there and wait as singles. As for me, any time I want to marry, I will marry. Marriage, to me, is not a problem. For me, it’s not about being married, it’s about being happily married.

And then for me, I allow life to flow. If marriage comes, it comes. I flow with life. I allow things to come to me and that is why my music is coming now. It is time and I am ready. So it has flowed to me. I allow things to happen, things flow to me. So if marriage happens to me, why not? I will allow it. It is

•Queen Ure

a beautiful thing.

So what do you tell male admirers who try to woo you?

It’s just natural that every lady has to have those who try to woo her. It’s part of life. There will always be people asking me out and if I feel connected to any one, then why not? I am an African woman, an African girl. I’ll love to have kids, that‘s me, I love family, I believe in family, I’ll love to have my own family, have children, raise a family, it is awesome.

I’ll love to have children someday.

We hear that you are back with Pastor Kris Okotie as you have been spotted in his church.

I have been in Household of God church for years. That is where I worship. He is just my pastor.

Pastor Kris disapproved of your marriage which eventually fell apart as he predicted.

So, you’ve gone back to his church now, what does that mean?

Kris is my pastor whom I hold in high respect. There is no reason to do a re-think or whatever, about the matter. Since I am not doing pastoral work now, there is no reason why I cannot go back to the church. I need not have to think twice about that. Where else will I go to?

And did he just accept you back?

No, I don’t understand that because, there

was no reason as to whether he accepted me back or not, because there was no reason for that. I just went back to my church and I won’t comment about his break-up with his wife. Every church has its uniqueness and everybody is worshipping where they feel connected to serve God. I could worship anywhere, but I feel comfortable with Household of God. God is Spirit. God is everywhere. But there are certain places you find yourself and you feel connected and blessed and God will want you to be there. So that is why I’m there.

How about your pastoral calling and the church you set up with your ex- husband?

My life itself is a ministration. Like Saint Paul said: ‘Our lives are epistles known and read.’ So my life itself is like a book.

Ministering or serving God is not only limited to the pulpit. If God gives you the opportunity to serve in that capacity, that is fantastic. I enjoyed every minute of that when it happened.

But why are you no longer pastoring a church?

As I said to you, I just flow with life. Three years of pastoral work have passed and that is it! Jesus Himself did ministry work for just three years. So that is it.

What does being beautiful mean to you?

Beauty, they say, is in the eyes of the beholder, you can choose to see beauty in whatever you choose to see it. To me, beauty is an inner thing.

Everyone is beautiful. We are all beautiful in our own ways: But after that, beauty has to come from within. You have to be a cheerful person, a happy person and that has to come from within. If you are unhappy inside, that is not beauty.

No matter the tone or volume of your make-up, if you are not happy inside, then you are not beautiful. So, people should be happy and be peaceful. If you are at peace with God and people, then you will be beautiful. Apart from your inner beauty, there is your body and your skin. All that is maintained when you eat well and exercise.

Everything has got to be maintained. People have to eat in a healthy way to maintain their body and look good. I do eat lots of fruits, vegetables and less of carbohydrates, if I must. I hardly eat carbohydrates though. I am not one who does heavy exercise, I do moderate ones.

What do you spend money on?

I spend my money on myself, people, family and friends. I love myself first and then I share with people. I have to wear my hair. Most times, I have my make-up on. I wear my jewelry but not all the time.

Basically, I love to have beautiful things.

However, I am not much of a materialistic person. There is nothing that I have today, that I cannot do without. There is nothing that I can't let go, no matter how precious it might be. Being happy is more precious than anything. I can let go of anything! But that doesn't mean that I don't love life or that I don't love beautiful things. I do.

I don't really take much to people who chase money up and down. Money can only make you a little bit more comfortable, like moving from a small house to a bigger house, or get a bigger car. It doesn't change who you are, it doesn't change your state of mind. People don't know that. Money doesn't give you the most important things in life. For me, the most important things in life are things you don't see. Things like peace, happiness, non tangible things that money can't exchange with.

46

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Eyeenhancing make-up E

yes wide open Wondering how to accentuate your eyes in a naturallooking way? Lancôme’s Sandy Linter, Head, makeup artist at New York gives details on how a neutral smoky eye can work wonders.

Prep your eyelids Start with an eye shadow base, something that’s tacky so that it holds the shadow. If your eyelid is dry, you can use a concealer, but if your lid is warm, you really do need a base that will pick up moisture and keeps your make-up looking smooth.

Choose a dark pencil When you want to enhance your eyes, you should use a dark liner: navy, charcoal, brown, or black to contrast against the whites of your eye and your eye colour. You should also use pencil because it’s easily manipulated. Liquids and gels will chip and flake, but pencil can be pushed around to form a beautiful shape.

Perfect your eyeliner After dotting lids with liner and connecting the dashes, a tiny eyeliner brush softens and perfects the line. Then use a pointed cotton tip to push the line up and out at the corners.

Layer ma-eup for longer wear For the crease colour, line eye sockets with taupe pencil, a lighter shade than the one used along the lashes. Starting under the brow bone; extend the line to the outer corners to create a “V” shape. It’s an old trick that opens up the eyes. Next, retrace your steps with gel liner and powder shadow in similar taupe hues, using a dome-shaped brush (layering your make-up makes it last all day and through the night).

•Bella Adenuga

•Banke Meshida-Lawal working on a client

•Dark pencil •Mascara

•Genevieve Nnaji

47

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

The white dress W

E have been used to the idea that the little black dress (LBD) is a must have for every fashion-conscious lady which is totally true.

However, this season is all about the little white dress (LWD).

This is the newest trend this season. THE LWD is an answer to the LBD. The little white dress is eye-catching, unique, simple and sexy. There are dazzling array of dresses in white with lace, one shoulder, strapless, sequins, ruffles or beaded for an eye-catching look.

The little white dress can be worn for different occasions such as weddings, cocktails, dinners, proms, graduations, beach parties and even board room meetings. The little white dress makes you look fresh and modern. It makes an individual stand out.

•Ufuoma Koloko

When selecting a white dress, there are several er: LWD pointers to consid

•Chinwe Princess Ejere

•Adejoke Adepashe

A courier company lost Hakaan Yildirim’s entire Spring 2013 collection

S

OMEWHERE between his London studio and Paris Fashion Week, a courier service hired by Turkish designer, Hakaan Yildirim to transport his Spring 2013 collection lost all of it. (Really, taking the Eurostar is a little bit unpleasant, but not, “I’m losing my mind and these racks of expensive clothes, too stressful). With nothing to present, Yildirim has cancelled his show entirely.

Though his publicist says all of the pieces will be re-made in time for press days. Of course, if he just showed up in London like a London-based designer, maybe, this probably wouldn’t have happened.

as coloured underwear •Always go for fleshn opposed to white white to suit your ski •Choose the shade of r skin are advised to hte lig th wi tone; those ile those with darker go for bright white, wh go for the off-white to ed skin tone are advis light to see how the •Hold the dress up topurchase. u yo ore bef is sheer it ite Dress can get •Finally, the Little Whid sitting on grass, and avo stained easily. So, gers and drinks from people with sticky fin It’s not ideal but spilling on your dress. ays easy. being on trend isn’t alw

•Titi Fowora

•Ezinne Chinkata

BY ONYEJEKWE WINI

FRED

Dolce & Gabbana explains those controversial earrings

A

clarification via the designers’ online magazine, “Swide.com”, the show jewellery is reminiscent of ornate ceramics that often appear in Sicilian homes, restaurants and hotels. The head is inspired by traditional Moorish people, a term used to describe the Medieval Muslim inhabitants of Sicily, a place that consistently inspires Dolce & Gabbana designs and the native country of Domenico Dolce.

So, steeped in history, yes. But still a bit racist in the sense that you know, colonial Europe was kind of prejudiced against people of colour.

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

48

A few months away from now, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will be 40 years.

Established by Decree 24 of May 22, 1973, the scheme has gone through a purple patch, socially and culturally. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, immediate past Chairman of the Governing Board, Chief Linus Emonse Okom (OON), lauds the idea behind the scheme, just as he flays those calling for its scrapping. Excerpts:

Why NYSC should not be scrapped –Ex-Governing Board chair Linus Okom

S the immediate past Chairman of the Board of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), how would you assess the success or the otherwise of the scheme, in terms of objectives, nearly 40 years after?

I will say it proudly that the objectives have been achieved. This can also be attested to by the various participants, both past and present that the objectives have been achieved. There is no one who will tell you that he or she was not excited about the scheme. And there is no present participant who will say that he or she is not happy about the scheme.

Culturally and socially, the scheme has achieved a lot. Hitherto, there were some Nigerians who may not have had the opportunity of knowing where Abuja was or where Port Harcourt, Ogoja or Sokoto was. But today, with the NYSC scheme, they have been able to know where these towns are located and they have interacted with the locals of these towns. Apart from knowing where some of the cities and villages are located, the NYSC scheme has also afforded participants the social benefits of inter-marriage.

Until the recent security challenges, virtually every NYSC member wanted to be posted outside of their towns and villages. But this is not to say that corps members are still not being posted to states other than their state of origin or state of their choice.

The scheme was initiated on May 22, 1973 by the then head of state, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd.) with the objective of forging cultural and social integration at the end of the Civil War in 1970. He must be commended for his foresight.

The operation of the scheme was designed to be a tripartite affair between the federal, state and local government.

While the Federal Government sees to the financial welfare of the participants, the states were to assist in the area of transit accommodation during camping, while local governments intervene in the area of transportation, which often times is not available because they do not have the means. And this is where the challenge has been.

There is also the challenge of security, both at the state and local governments.

Even when the issue of accommodation is addressed, security, in recent times, has remained a thorny issue because of the emergence of insurgency in some part of the country. I must state, however, that the issue of security has not proved insurmountable to the government. It has always been the responsibility of the government to provide security and it has never failed.

With respect to the corps members’ stipend, as the chairman of the board, my board had recommended to the government to carry out a review, which it did. Today, corps members receive a stipend of about N19, 800. It is negligible though, but it is an improvement on what used to obtain. So, in a nutshell, I can say that the objectives of the scheme,

A

Medical doctors explain Igboora of

twins anytime and we always enjoy it."

Thirteen-year-old Taiwo and Kehinde Owonikoko also share the sentiments of the Ajasas.

The teenagers are highly elated to have been born as twins.

"It is a great privilege to have been born a twin. There is something extraordinary about us. Our siblings who are not twins don't get much attention from our parents as we do. We would also like to have twins when we marry because there is a lot of pride and blessings in having twins," said Kehinde.

Alhaji Adekunle Hamzat, a prominent indigene of Igboora and former chairman of Ibarapa Central Local Government, said he was not aware that the birth of twins was so many in the community until WHO came up with the result of its research on the community.

Though Alhaji Hamzat is yet to have a set of twins himself, he is very proud that his hometown has been regarded as the place where multiple births are unprecedented.

"It dawned on me that we have rampant cases of multiple births in Igboora when the World Health Organisation made public the result of its research on the community. There is even a compound where the people

give birth to triplets regularly. It is amazing and we are proud that such a bundle of joy is happening in our midst," he said.

The former local government chairman is not alone in this, everywhere you turn in Igboora, the indigenes are happy and ready to revel in the rare feat of their hometown.

However, while Igboora has been confirmed as the bastion of twins, researchers may need to take further steps in unravelling this myth, and why surrounding towns who eat almost similar delicacies don’t have the same high rate of multiple births.

Meanwhile, Dr. Michael Ogunkoya is a fertility specialist. For him, the high rate of multiple births could be traceable to diet. The doctor, who maintained that most medications and drugs are derived from herbs and plants, said the rate of multiple births in the axis could be traced to their popular diet.

The doctor, who sometime ago appeared on a popular television programme to speak on the same issue, explained: “In particular, the high rate of twin births in Igboora has been traced to a particular diet.

“Let me explain it to you, there are two types of twin births, a multiple birth occurs when more than one fetus is carried to term in a single pregnancy. Different names for multiple births are used, depending on the number of

,

Continued from page 13

offspring. Common multiples are two and three, known as twins and If a British woman triplets. These and other with no history of multiple births occur to varying degrees in most twin births in her animal species, although family comes to the term is most applicable Nigeria and lives to placental species. in Igboora for a Multiple birth siblings are either monozygotic or period of say 10 dizygotic. The former result from a single fertilised egg years, she can give or zygote splitting into two birth to twins or more embryos, each because of the type carrying the same genetic of diets she takes material (genes). Siblings created from one egg are commonly called identical.

Since identical multiples share the same genetic material, they are always the same sex. Dizygotic or fraternal multiples instead result from multiple ova being ripened and released in the same menstrual cycle by a woman's ovaries, which are then fertilised to grow into multiples no more genetically alike than ordinary full siblings.

,

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012 should scrap the scheme, they will tell you no. They will strongly kick against it. To be honest, the integration aspect of the scheme has worked effectively.

The only sore point is the state of insecurity in some parts of the North, which has taken the shine out of it. I am aware that during the last general elections, some of the corps members were attacked and killed.

Perhaps that is why some are quick to conclude that the scheme has outlived its usefulness. So far, the scheme has hugely succeeded and it should be allowed to continue because it is still relevant. Those who suggest the scrapping of NYSC do not wish Nigeria well.

A pocket of insurgency in some parts of the country is not enough to call for the scrapping of the scheme. the benefits outweigh any other consideration.

As the immediate past chairman of the Governing Board of the NYSC, what aspect would you recommend for review, if you were to recommend a review of the policy?

I will recommend that for the scheme to succeed and remain relevant, government should strengthen security in areas that have become seemingly unsafe for corps members to live and carry out their primary duties. This is very important in the face of the emerging security challenges in the country.

But bear in mind that Nigeria is not the only country with this type of scheme. You will find a similar scheme in the United States of America, where young people are allowed compulsory two-year service in the military. It is just a matter of whatever name any country may give to its own scheme. My recommendation is that government should look into the aspect of providing adequate security, particularly in volatile states.

There have been suggestions that one of the ways to make the scheme more relevant is to redirect the focus where participants will serve a compulsory two-year service in the military, following which they can be fully absorbed into the army, air force, navy or the

I will recommend that for the scheme to succeed and remain relevant, government should strengthen security in areas that have become seemingly unsafe for corps members to live and carry out their primary duties. This is very important in the face of the emerging security challenges in the country

,

mystery twins “If a case of twin birth is genetic, it means every woman born into that particular family may likely release two eggs instead of the normal one for every woman. So, for instance, if two sisters live apart from each other, they may likely have twins because the twin births run in their family and they share the same gene.

“At the same time, if a British woman with no history of twin births in her family comes to Nigeria and lives in Igboora for a period of say 10 years, she can give birth to twins because of the type of diets she takes. A particular diet can stimulate a woman’s ovary to release more than one egg. So the diet can also be a factor.”

For Dr. Aaron Gad, Medical Director, Kuba Hospital, Lagos, it is not a surprise that Igboora has a high number of multiple births. According to him, the South West of Nigeria is noted for its high rate of twin births more than any other part of the country. “It is on record that people from that part of the country

police. How agreeable are you with this?

This is entirely beyond any individual, whether in the service or outside the service.

The NYSC has since become an Act of the National Assembly or parliament, and for that suggestion to have any force of law, a bill has to be sent to the National Assembly for the amendment of the Act to make it possible for corps members to serve a compulsory two years in the military.

It is only the National Assembly that can bring about this change.

Even if I wish this to happen, it will be a mere wishful thinking because I do not have the power to make it possible. The National Assembly is the only body that can make this possible through an amendment to the Act establishing the scheme.

During my time as Chairman of the board, I found out that Bayelsa was not accepting corps members who were particular about serving in the bank.

They insisted that they be sent to the classrooms to teach.

Later on, Rivers State followed suit. The idea was to make the scheme as relevant to the need of these states as it could be.

That was as far as the scheme could be interfered with. But beyond that, only the National Assembly has the last say.

If changes are effected to make the corps members to be integrated into the army, navy, air force or the police, you will be polluting the atmosphere in these services.

Things will no longer be the same. It might bring about bad blood. While it is the disposition of America to allow a compulsory two-year service in the military, it is not our disposition. Else, General Gowon would have decreed so.

Ahead of 2015, the North is already asking that the presidency should return to that part of the country. As a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is the agitation in order?

From all indications, it is obvious that as Nigerians, we do not have self-discipline. If indeed, we are disciplined, what we should be focusing on is good governance. 2015 is a long way off and we should not be preoccupied with that for now. Rather, this government should be supported to ensure that it succeeds in delivering the gains of democracy.

As a people, Nigerians are too much in a hurry to cross the bridge even before getting to it. It should rather be the other way round.

I am sure that by the time we get closer to 2015, there will be compromises on what is right for the country. But for now, it is too early to discuss 2015.

,

since its inception, have been achieved. There has never been a time that the scheme has been found to have outlived its relevance. It is just of recent that the issue of insecurity started raising its head,q1aw and this is peculiar to some states in the North.

There is the criticism that the scheme has become mere cosmetic, especially as corps members pass out at the end of the service with no future guaranteed them. How do you react to the issue of employment discrimination against corps members in some part of the country?

Well, this aspect you spoke about was not injected into the decree setting up the corps in 1973. The observation is well taken, but it did not form part of the decree that as a matter of compulsion, corps members must be engaged by their host communities. But I want to say that it is not all corps members who are usually not engaged at the end of their service year. Some host communities, governments and organisations are generous enough to engage those considered to have excelled in their primary assignment. In any case, it is the prerogative or the discretion of any state, or organisation to engage whomever they want to engage since there is no compelling statute or decree that says that at the end of the service year of corps members, they must be given mandatory employment. But on the whole, and to the best of my knowledge as the immediate past Chairman of the Governing Board of the NYSC, governments and organisations have continued to provide employment to deserving corps members whenever such vacancies exist.

It will interest you to know that in Bekwarra Local Government Area of Cross River State, there are some corps members of South West extraction who were offered permanent teaching appointments in the council because they were adjudged to have offered quality service deserving of being retained. They have imbibed the culture of their host, so much so that they speak Bekwarra language better than some indigenes. Quite a good number of them are excited about it and they are proud to be considered worthy for placement in the council teaching service. So, it is not entirely true that corps members are usually discriminated against when it comes to employment. There may be a few isolated cases, but it is not enough to draw a generalised conclusion. In the state civil service, it all depends on the chief executive of the state, the governor. If he is given a favourable report about some particular corps members and there are vacancies for their engagement, they are employed without prejudices to where they may hail from. But to say it is imperative that they must be given employment, it is not correct because that is not included in the decree or the Act of the parliament setting up the scheme.

A lot of Nigerians have expressed concerns that the NYSC has outlived its usefulness and as such, it should be scrapped outright. Do you agree with this?

I do not agree that the scheme has outlived its usefulness. I do not also agree that it should be scrapped. If you ask many of the corps members themselves if government

49

has a preponderance of multiple births.”

Among the factors that can lead to multiple births, according to Dr. Gad, is the use of fertility drugs. “A woman who is placed on a fertility drug is likely to get pregnant with twins.”

The doctor would, however, not agree with suggestions that hinges the high rate of multiple births in Igboora on food. He insisted that hereditary factor is the main reason responsible for multiple births.

“The claim that the meal of cassava flour and ilasa soup is responsible for their multiple births may not be true.

This is because they are not the only people in the South West that eat these type of foods. Some people even celebrate yam festivals, so you cannot really say it is the main reason why they have twins. It is not true that their food is the reason why the people have high rate of twin births. The truth is that twin birth is hereditary. It runs in the family. If a member of a family has it, there must have been somebody in that family who has had it. It is simple.”

Nigeria is today embroiled in endemic corruption with every facet of our national life neck-deep in the pandemic. Would you say both successive and present governments have done enough in the fight against corruption?

When Nigerians say corruption has become deep-rooted, I laugh. We tend to narrow corruption only to politicians and governance. But everywhere, there is corruption. There is corruption in churches, in schools, in the homes, in the family. There is nowhere that there is no corruption.

There is a way that you tell someone ‘good morning’ and it is well taken. But there is another way that you may say it and it is perceived as corruption.

Any behaviour that you put up that is seen not to be transparent, it is corruption.

Anything done outside the norms which may have nothing to do with money could also be seen as corruption. Corruption is already here with us. Nobody can end corruption in a way we tend to prescribe. The only thing to do is to minimise it.

There is no country in the world that is free of corruption. The only difference is the degree. If there was any country that is free of corruption, then there would have been no need for the Transparency International to grade or rate countries on the basis of corruption index. Let us not be fooled here, corruption is not all about money and misappropriation of it. It is about doing what we ought not to do in terms of our dealings with our fellow human beings- social, religious and business relationship with others. It is not only when it involves money that we assume it is corruption. It is a wrong notion. When a father or a mother loves one of his or her children more than the others, it is corruption because you are discriminating against the other children.

The day we woke up and decided to concentrate our attention on only oil, while forsaking agriculture, groundnut, cocoa, coal, cotton, to me, that was corruption. As long as we continue to highlight corruption from the standpoint of money, we will be missing the true meaning of corruption.

There are agitations for the creation of more states in the country and Ogoja, being one of the old provinces with Afikpo and Abakiliki under it, is today the only one that has neither not been made a state capital nor a state created for it. What do you make of this?

That is part of the corruption we are talking about. This is a perfect example of corruption. Like you rightly noted, Ogoja as a province, had Afikpo, Abakiliki under it.

That was when we used to talk about the COR State. Then we later had South Eastern States, but today, we have states like Rivers, Ebonyi, Kogi, among others. Sadly enough, nobody is talking about Ogoja state. In those days, we had people like the late Chief I.I Murphy who championed our cause. Today, we have nobody to fight our case. But then, it is still corruption which is why Ogoja is being left out of state creation. If there was justice, you do not need anyone to make a case for it, it should have been created like any other. One day, we may have a messiah who will deliver us.

There is an alleged force in Cross River State today called the “Three Musketeers of Power”- Duke, Imoke and Gershom Bassey, in the state politics, which has reportedly perfected plans to rule the state in that order. In the spirit of zoning, justice and equity, where does that leave the Northern Senatorial Zone of the state in 2015?

Politics of participation is very good when zoning is an issue. And this is inherent in the politics of the creation of senatorial zones in the state. When you consider a situation or scenario where two out of three brothers have taken part in a meal and the third person has not had a taste of it, without any prompting, do you not think that it is only fair to allow the third person to have his share?

So, in the contest of power rotation, power should naturally go to where the third senatorial zone has not had a taste of it. And that is the Northern Cross River. Luckily for the zone, we have a God-fearing governor in the person of Senator Liyel Imoke (CON). He has told us at various town hall meetings that “we in the Central and in the Southern zones have enjoyed power from 1999 to 2015 or thereabout. It is only proper that the Northern Senatorial Zone should produce the next governor in 2015." Governor Imoke is a gentleman, a man of honour and a man of his word. He has continued to assure us of his promise to us and so far, there is nothing to suggest that he will renege on his promise.

He is a man of fairness, justice and equity.

The zone has the personnel, the skills and wisdom to take up the challenge of ruling the state in 2015. What we are praying for is the unity of purpose and God will definitely grant us our prayers. It is on the basis of political morality that Governor Imoke is saying that power should go to the North in 2015. The trinity you are talking about knows that the state is made up of three zones, otherwise, Duke should have handed over to his fellow Southern zone brother. But he handed over to the Central and it is in that order that the North is awaiting its turn in 2015, after which Gershom can aspire and have it.

What happens if the North does not have it in 2015?

It will be unthinkable. I really do not know how that will happen that the North cannot have it.

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

50 was invited because of the Warri crisis and the only brief he gave me then was to help restore peace in Warri. So, as God would have it, in less than one year, we restored peace. Looking at it again, for the first four years of the Ibori administration, he had the task of restoring peace to the state. And so his focus was divided between development and restoration of peace. What kind of development are you going to be able to carry out in a state where people were being killed? For instance, in the first two years after I came into office, the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission) could not do anything in the state.

The state lost what it could have got from the NDDC. In fact, if you wanted to charter a vehicle from Lagos or Abuja, they would reject you. So, you can see the difficulties the state has gone through. If from this background that I have just given you we are still having one Delta State, for me, that is a very big achievement.

How does that qualify as an achievement?

Nobody believed that Delta State would remain one for a time long enough as half of the 21 years we have recorded, given the way we started.

Another great achievement Delta state has recorded is the election of Governor Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan. For a state that resented itself, let me use that word, from the onset to elect, not by appointment, a man from the minority of the minorities as a governor shows that the state is already moving forward.

The Itsekiri ethnic nationality is one of the smallest if not the smallest of the small nationalities in the state. For the Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri to come together and elect a man from the smallest group, the state has come of age. When it comes to the area of development, whether you like it or not, like I said, Ibori came in and laid the foundation. He built four bridges which are still there for you to see today. Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia was the first man as a military administrator who attempted to build a bridge into Ijaw land, but he did not succeed. The plan did not even get out of the drawing board but Ibori came and did it. The Bomadi Bridge is there. He built the Omadino Bridge and the Ase bridge. As a result of the Bomadi Bridge, a lot of roads are today being constructed into the hinterland of Ijaw. So, for me, the man did his best. Most of the roads were constructed under him. He started renovating schools.

Another major area of his achievement was the health sector. Then, the present governor was commissioner for health. And, of course, so many other things were achieved by Ibori.

Again, when the present governor came in 2007, we had similar challenges as the earlier ones. But this time, not ethnic strife but brutal killing, especially in Asaba area and in Warri.

In Asaba here, you woke up every day and you heard that somebody had been killed.

That was the reason why the first project after he took over as Governor was the street light in Asaba and Warri, because heinous crimes were thriving under darkness. So, the motivation for the street light you see was not just the aesthetics but to drive away criminality. Of course, I need not tell you the

On the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the creation of Delta State, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Comrade Macaulay Ovuzorie, x-rays the development of the state and concludes that keeping it as one for more than two decades is an achievement on its own. He also speaks about the state’s plans for independent power supply, construction of roads and other infrastructural facilities. He spoke with Assistant Editor, AUSTIN AVWODE

Those who oppose state police are running away from the truth –Delta SSG Ovuzorie

,

Delta State is 21. Would you say it has achieved anything worth celebrating?

For me, the state has grown. The age of maturity is 21 and I can say yes, it has grown, knowing what the state was at its creation in 1991. I still remember vividly the confusion that trailed the announcement. Some felt there was a mistake; that the real Delta State was yet to be announced or the real Anioma State was yet to be announced. But it turned out to be the real Delta State with capital at Asaba. From the next morning, it was like a new agitation.

Some swore they would never come to the capital as long as it remained in Asaba.

But Government has made its pronouncement and it has come to stay. And

by January 2, 1992, the first civilian governor, Chief Felix Ibru was sworn in, and for those five or six months before January 2, Air Commodore Luke Ochulor, assisted by Chief John Edozien, came to town as pioneer administrator and deputy administrator of the state respectively. They managed to put up some infrastructure for the state to take off. As soon as Ibru took over, the agitation was reopened. I am not sure Ibru had a breathing space for 24 hours between January 2 and Nov. 17, 1993 when he ruled the state. It was all conflict.

Of course, Ibru was also from the part of the state that was not happy with Asaba as capital.

And Anioma people were throwing punches as most of them never accepted Ibru as their governor and a lot of accusations were made against the old man, at his age now anyway.

Then, he was much younger. He was accused of never staying in Asaba, always flying in and flying out with a chopper. But as a journalist, I can tell you that after his election, I can’t remember seeing him flying in a chopper. And as a governor, he was living in a three-bedroom flat. A man of his pedigree came from that height to live in a threebedroom flat in Government House. If you waited to see him, if you had been in sitting room and he is coming from the bathroom, he would pass by you to get to his bedroom. That is the truth. It was the Government House and his lodge.

The man made a lot of sacrifice to keep the state together but he was not truly accepted as a governor. The administration came to an end on November 17, 1993 when Abacha struck.

After that, we had series of military administrations. Of course, we all know what military administrations are all about. The allegiance was not to the people but the man who appointed them.

When civilian administration was restored in 1999, the state seemingly started all over again under Chief James Ibori. It was like coming to build where there was no foundation. And so the young man had the task of laying the foundation of what is now the new Delta. For one, Delta is in two phases, the one under military administrators and the one under civilian governors. The new Delta state started with Ibori in 1999. So, we should look at the old Delta of about eight and a half years as a completely wasted era except for few years of Air Commodore Ibrahim Kefas. It was not only in Delta, it was so in most parts of the country.

So, how do you see the ‘new Delta’?

In all honesty, I wasn’t part of that administration when it started. But it came with so many problems. Again, the major one was ethnic crisis which lasted for seven years.

As at 1999, it had lasted for four years. I mean the crisis in the Warri area where people were being maimed and killed on a daily basis. It was not easy to manage such a situation. On the day the man was sworn-in, the whole of Delta South was closed because it was a tripartite thing. It was Ijaw versus Itsekiri on one hand and Urhobo versus Itsekiri on the other.

So, he inherited that crisis and had to manage that for the first four years of his administration. I remember that he had to temporarily relocate to Warri to enable him see things for himself at a very close range.

He was, in that instant, accused of plotting to move the headquarters, being an Urhobo man, from Asaba.

But then he recorded some successes. As soon as he noticed that relative peace was being recorded, he ran back to Asaba. It was in November of 2003 that I actually came into the government. I

success story of the street light. Today, it has spread to other towns which are local government headquarters. The story is that in December, people across the Niger were no longer interested in going to their villages but just stay in Asaba because the aesthetics, the peace and security that the street light project brought are all there.

The mantra in the state now is ‘Delta beyond oil’. Can you expatiate?

Having laid the foundation, what any person would do and which the governor is doing now is to focus on securing tomorrow.

Delta state is not interested in small projects.

Where they are very necessary, perhaps where they affect life, yes. But the projects today, like the Asaba International Airport which has become a reality, the dualisation of the 145kilometre Federal Road from Ughelli to Asaba, the Independent Power Project (IPP), improvement of the Warri Port, improvement of the Koko Deep Sea Port, establishment of the Koko Free Trade Zone, all these things are not for today. That is exactly what is tagged Delta beyond oil. The airport is not for Governor Uduaghan to fly in and out. The dualisation is not because Uduaghan wants to leave his medical practice and go into trading.

What informed the dualisation of the Ughelli-Asaba Road is the fact that the Warri Port is supposed to be an international sea port.

Here is Onitsha, the largest market in Africa.

People come from outside the country to buy things here. Most of the importers send their goods to Lagos or at best Port Harcourt. Getting them to the states across the Niger is the problem. But if we improve this road, which we have embarked on after consultation with the market leaders, they would prefer to go to Warri Port and in less than two hours their goods would be here.

And I can tell you that between here and Igbuzor and Okpanam there is no land left. It has all been bought for warehousing. This is in the light of the dream of Delta Beyond Oil, when internally generated revenue (IGR) can sustain it even without going to Abuja.

What about agitation for state creation here?

We believe that we are one Delta and that unity has come to the state. There was a time when people didn’t want to marry

Again when the present governor came in 2007 we had similar challenges as the earlier ones, but this time not ethnic strife but brutal killing, especially in Asaba area and in Warri. In Asaba here, you wake up everyday and you hear somebody has been killed. That was the reason why the first project after he took over as Governor was the street light both in Asaba and Warri because heinous crimes were thriving under darkness. So the motivation for the street light you see was not just the aesthetics but to drive away criminality

,

themselves. But today, the Urhobo marry Anioma and vice-versa. We have fused as one. But if we agree one day to separate for the purpose of development, so be it. But I don’t see anybody from Delta State that is hell bent on getting another state out of it now. Let me make it clear that we would not say no to it, like I said, for the purpose of taking development nearer to the people.

If the argument is marginalization and lack of development as it were when Delta was carved out of Old Bendel State…

If that is the ground, it will be a justified one, because if you look at it, it was part of the injustice in the system. Even in the days of Bendel when we said Delta is the one producing the oil, but strictly, which part of Delta was the oil coming from? It is the creeks.

The present area you will today call the Delta South Senatorial District that is the main producer of the oil. And the injustice that money is taken and nothing is done to develop the area. But now, attention is going there. We have just established the school of Marine Technology there, and lots of things are now going on there, like giving them money, providing alternative sources of light either through solar system or generator that is big enough to serve the people.

Gamaliel Onosode-led Think-Tank once came up with a bill of about $15 billion to link the hinterland with the upland. That was about 10 years ago. Now, it will be up to $30 billion to create a ring-road round the state.

Now, if Delta State gets that kind of reserve, it must look at what it gets and match it with the issues that are seeking attention.

How far has the state gone with its IPP programme?

The IPP programme is on, but it is not the type of project you want to package every day.

If you recall, when we went to Oghara about two months ago, we were almost beaten by rain. It was the beginning of the rainy season.

During this rainy period, there is nothing you can do, especially with the site, which of course is deliberate because it must be near the source of water to do the cooling which must be connected to a river.

What you saw that day is about 80 per cent of the block work that you are going to see there. If you want to know how an IPP looks like, go to a major power station. You will just see a small building there. The rest are poles, rods and cables and wire. The first batch of the turbine is in already. The second batch or the final has arrived. Part of it is still at the Airport. Part has been transported to the site.

But we can’t move further now until we build the bridge to the site. Turbines are very heavy

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012 care whether you create states or live in paradise but just give them that little that is due them. All the other things are elitist and it is not their concern.

What is your take on the issue of electoral litigations in the state?

Well, it is natural that even as this interview is going on now, if somebody just opens the door and barges in, there will be distraction. If I say these litigations have not affected the focus of government, I won’t be right. But not to the extent that some of you think. We have come to live with them because this is the only state in the country where after election we are in court till another election comes up. In other words, the government can never have 100 per cent of its attention focused on development.

Some groups of people who are benefiting from these litigations keep fuelling the process.

To that extent, yes, it has been a source of distraction. It is unfortunate that here we don’t accept defeat.

The state invests so much in security but would you say you have commensurate dividends on this

things; about 25 tons. It is not every bridge that can take a turbine. So, we are trying to construct a special bridge that can take them.

And I am sure the contractor is just waiting for the rain to stop so that they can move to site.

As soon as that is done, the major part of the project, which is the installation, will start.

Again, let me also say that we were the first state in this country to get the licence, one of the states that started their IPP after the Federal Government started its own under Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, and I am not aware that one has been commissioned till today. That was eight years before we started. So, we are only trying to blaze the trail by telling you that we have turbines that are in, which we will be installing very soon. No state has been able to achieve that feat and by the grace of God we will be the first state to launch our IPP. The problem of drainage in the Asaba is such that people wonder if the project has been abandoned…

As at this weekend, the contractor was still on site. It is not an abandoned project. And when we say drainage, it is not the building of gutter; it is the laying of very big pipes. We all know that the major problem in Asaba is erosion and that is why Government felt that all ad hoc measures should stop. And for you to build, you must draw it. People who are saying it is not fast enough don’t understand the technicalities and complexities involved.

And that is not the only project the government is funding. So, what the state is trying to do is to manage whatever it has among the competing needs of government, especially the mega projects.

How far has the state gone in resolving issues of boundaries and assets sharing?

Well, boundary adjustment is an ongoing issue. Even states that were created before Delta and at the national level, the issue of boundary is an ongoing thing. But the good thing is that we have never gone into any conflict or crises with another state on account of boundary matter. We have a committee headed by the Deputy Governor, and once there is anything like that, the committee takes it up. What is paramount is development.

Once there is development, all this agitation for states will stop. What people are particular about are power, good roads, hospitals, schools and employment. They want just the basic things of life. So, any person who is in government should just concentrate on how to improve the lives of the people. They don’t

investment?

We are investing in security. But the governor does not have a troop of his own.

The SSS is not under the governor, the army is not, the police are not. And so it is laughable for one to say the governor is the chief security officer of the state. But what we can do is to provide them with logistics. And you remember, recently the governor gave the police vehicles. And that is just in addition to those given to the army, which is over 25. The SSS got theirs and generally we have been investing heavily in security matters, rendering sundry logistics assistance. For us, we have done what is expected of us.

But to answer your question, we expect more reward for our investment in security.

We want a state where if you are driving along the road and your car develops a fault and you can’t fix it, you should be able to park it and come back the following day and find it in the right spot and as you left it. We want a state where I can wake up at about 1 am and drive to any place for my engagement without the fear of night marauders. As long as we don’t have that yet, I am not satisfied.

Is that why the state is in support of state police?

Let met speak for myself. I am not also speaking for the governor, because they have their forum. But speaking as Comrade Macaulay, we are only running away from the truth by saying we don’t want state police. We travel outside this country every day. Common fire, if there is fire outbreak now, you will see different ambulances coming from different directions. Are they from one agency? No. If there is a crime, immediately you make a call, you see different people coming from different directions in different uniforms – policemen and what have you, coming with sirens. Are they from one institution? The answer is no.

Don’t the people saying no to state police go outside the country? Have you seen one country that has just one security institution?

How well is the Federal Government funding the police without states’ contribution?

Assuming you want to fish out a bad person in my community, you bring somebody from Edo to go and fish out the person, for the next six months, you may not be able to achieve it.

But if anything happens and I go there in the next seven days, I will get the person. So, I don’t know why we are running away from the issue.

51

Tribute: The Major Akinloye Akinyemi we knew IFTY-EIGHT odd years ago, a child Hons. in Electronics Engineering. was born to a reverend gentleman By the time he returned to his and his wife. country and was assigned to the Signal A wide-eyed, pristine tabula rasa, he Corps, he had fully transformed imbibed the Christian family values of mentally, spiritually and physically. A industry, modesty, love and honesty. sharp, shrewd mind with a sober and Twelve years later, in 1966, a mild- mature countenance, handsomely mannered, self-effacing young lad embodied in a wiry, tough, tall and lean arrived at the gates of Government frame, almost unrecognizable from the College, Apata Ganga, Ibadan to report nondescript young lad of GCI days. for secondary school education. His Carter was later to go to the United name was Akinloye Akinyemi.

States, where he earned his wings as a Akinloye, soon to be nicknamed paratrooper.

‘Carter’ by his mates, was a study in He had a mind as tough as steel, equanimity. Where his fellows jostled backed with great courage, and and sought to assert themselves and be expressed with uncommon candour, recognised, Carter stood aloof. It was as sensitivity and sophistication. He was if he knew something the rest of us did principled, unwavering, intensely not know then—that character, not patriotic, and powerfully intellectual. aggression, was the real sorter of men. He forayed into discussion on the arts He had the slightest of frames and a with the same ease that he delved into permanent cherubic look of innocence. military strategy. He was a purist and a This should have made him a perfect dreamer in the ambience of the Army target for the known bullies in class and he loved and lived for. boarding house—Swanston House.

Sadly, all of this would prove his And there were a good number of these undoing.

He, the dare-devil characters plying their business about paratrooper and first class electronics in those years. Strangely, something engineer, ready to do battle for Nigeria about Carter seemed to warn them off against her enemies, was a sheep his case in all our years together at among wolves. It was a tragedy just College! waiting to happen. The coup. The Carter was never once heard to accusations. Arrest and grievous utter a foul, unkind or torture. Hounded out of the derisive word. To most of Army - and lucky to have us in our early years, escaped with his life, Carter lived in the many would say. background of our In his own words: consciousness. He “After the 1985 appeared content coup, I received a to stay in his own strange parcel world, never f r o m demanding, government, n e v e r ostensibly an contending. i n i t i a l Buried in our compensation own pursuits, for my role… I we missed the quietly returned transformation this ‘gift’, firmly process that was stating that was going on right in not the reason front of us. For why we moved…

Carter had found and then my his purpose. This troubles started…’ was on the heels of Carter could not the arrival of the have survived and •The late Major Cadet Corps. The small, become a leading force Akinyemi slightly built boy joined for change in his beloved the corps. His life would Army, given the never be the same again. contradictions and realities of While his mates struggled with the the power structure. That was clear to sciences or occupied themselves with everybody, except Carter. It was the how to score good grades in their same realities that would make it chosen arts subjects, there was only one impossible for an ObafemiAwolowo or thought on Carter's mind: he was going a Nuhu Ribadu to become President. to join the Nigerian Army. And so, Carter is dead, and we, who knew while his mates curled up in bed every him, mourn. Carter is an idea; a afternoon to observe siesta, followed by profound image of what is possible, games of soccer or cricket on the school even in a nation riddled with distrust fields, Carter would be found all by and lack of self-esteem. For Carter himself in cadet fatigues, crawling loved Nigeria through tall grasses or running through and was ready to die for her. His the many bushes GCI was abundantly efforts may have looked like Sir blessed with, in self-imposed military Galahad, tilting at the windmills. But drills, chasing after imaginary he was deadly serious and massively adversaries. gifted, a figure fit to be a folk hero in It was little wonder he was soon better times. voted the best cadet in the school. That There lies a man who has passed on was the beginning of warrior's laurels to glory. Akinloye Akinyemi. Retired for this son of a pastor. He simply Major of the Nigerian Army. In any could not be stopped. He became best civilised nation, he would be a five-star at everything he chose to do. general, wearing all the decorations his From GCI, he left for the Nigerian nation has to offer her best warriors; Defence Academy (NDA), from where consorting with presidents, dining with he graduated as the best in his set. He royalty. May his soul rest in peace. left for Sandhurst, Britain’s premier Pray do not ask why all this passion military training institution, where he over a man's passage? This was no graduated as the best overseas cadet ordinary man. This was Carter. officer. This earned him the Sultan of Femi Olugbile, Niran Akintola and Brunei’s award. Thereafter, he went to Sola Olugbesan wrote this piece on Shrivenham Royal Military College of behalf of their Government College Science, bagging a B.Sc. First Class Ibadan set.

F

FAMIL Y HEAL TH AMILY HEALTH

52

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Keys to a lasting marriage

D

EAR Reader, You are most welcome to another exciting lifechanging edition of Family Forum. This month, we shall be looking into the topic, Keys To a Lasting Marriage. It is my prayer that as you open up your heart to God’s Word, your home will experience the glory of a lasting marriage, in Jesus’ name.

This week, I shall be teaching on what marriage is all about. I will like to start by asking you this question: What is marriage to you? Is it a thing of joy and pleasure, or a ‘necessary evil’, as many would say? Is it a bed of roses or one that is full of thorns and thistles? Is it a thing that you are glad you are in or one that hurts you day by day, and you are trying to get out of? Well, I have good news for you!

What then is marriage? Marriage is the legal union of a man and a woman coming together as husband and wife. It is the foundation for the family, because until it is in place, there can be no family. A family is a social group in the society, consisting of a man, his wife, and their offspring.

Marriage is a covenant relationship. It is not just the coming together of a man and a woman for the purpose of procreation. Although having children is one of the

blessings of marriage, it means much more than that.

Some people think marriage is merely co-habiting with someone of the opposite sex, but, this perception is wrong, as it goes beyond that. Marriage is a covenant.

When a man and a woman come together as husband and wife, they are expected to have entered a better way of living. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says: Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Marriage is meant to be exciting, but when it is not founded upon God, the joy, excitement and satisfaction the couple had at the onset is short-lived. It’s like owning a car. With time, new models come out, and what was once new begins to age; the car owner now desires to change the once new car for the latest one. Why? Because the old one does not excite him anymore.

However, when God is at the centre of your marriage, you find that instead of getting tired of each other, your excitement and satisfaction increase as the years go by, making the relationship go from good to better and from better to best!

Marriage is good! Don’t think that marriage is for shame and reproach. No, my friend! You don’t have to settle for an average home, you don’t have to put up with continuous quarrelling and fighting; you can make that marriage work! You can have a marriage free of hurt and wounds; you can enjoy fulfilment and God’s goodness, and His lasting peace Marriage can be likened to a house. The Architect who drew the master plan is God, while the husband and the wife are the builders, who must diligently follow the design of the Architect, so as to experience success in their marriage and family. This is why the scriptures expressly says in Hebrews 3:4: For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. Also the Bible says in Proverbs 24:3: Through wis-

Excess body weight can damage the kidneys, heart, brain, other vital organs Simple tests you can do to estimate associated risks and know where you belong

M

easurement of blood pressure, (Bp), the body mass index (Quetelet’s index ) or BMI, plasma cholesterol and blood glucose are now well known as some of the ways an individual can estimate the risk of dying suddenly from heart disease or a cerebrovascular condition such as stroke. In some cases, the blood pressure may be within the range considered normal for age, gender, occupation, etc: an unsuspecting individual could even have a BMI below 25 kg/m2, also within normal range. However, the dangerous effects of obesity especially truncal, mid body or upper body obesity may give the patient the false optimism that he or she is well, where as, organ damage goes on un observed Obesity is now a major public health problem and affects children, adolescents and adults, all over the world, such words as metabolic syndrome and Globesity have begun to emerge in order to capture the pandemic nature of the problem Obesity is associated with not only heart disease but in an obese patient, various degrees of damage to the brain and kidneys eyes, organs of reproduction, blood vessels amongst others occur in a vicious circle that without intervention results in incapacitation or death. From studies across the world , women are now more likely to carry excess weight and die from dangerous complications, compared with men of same age; beyond that studies have also shown that in Nigeria, most overweight or obese

women either resort to self medication, or seek help mostly from alternative medicine practitioners.

Current estimates, suggest that world wide about one billion adults are obese and over 400 million are overweight In Nigeria, different reports, studies put the prevalence of overweight at 22%, and Prevalence of obesity, 33% The condition affects people of all ages, and can begin in the unborn child.

Child hood obesity, is now on the increase especially in affluent Families living in cities. Awareness/family history of death of parents and other adult family members dying in middle age should influence patterns of behavior towards healthy styles of living Anatomy and obesity Gynoid obesity occurs when fat distribution in an obese individual is primarily around the upper thigh and gluteals (region of buttocks) This type of obesity is more resistant to the chemicals released during exercise but easily responds to insulin, and so fatty acids are quickly extracted and stored in the buttocks and thighs.

They are difficult to lose and majority of women on poorly supervised weight loss programs who are unaware of this fact may die in the process without achieving any set goals Obesity and pregnancy:When obesity complicates pregnancy, the situation is best handled in the province of specialists in Internal medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Paediatrics, Dietetics and behavior change counseling Gestational diabetes and insulin dependent diabetes are more common in obese pregnant women. In Preg-

nant women, many of the physiological changes that occur are in the direction of an increase. Thus in pregnancy there is increase in the concentration of the lipoprotein lipase (enzyme which breaks down fat) present in adipose tissues, more fat is available for storage, and as they are stored in the thighs and buttocks, where they contribute to the overall burden of the Heart. The blood volume also increases by as much as one and a half liters, and. A major path physiological issue in obesity is the marked reduction in the ability of the patient to excrete salt and water . Put together, the risk of developing a hypertension in pregnancy, Heart failure, and if kidney involvement, pre eclampsisia and eclampsia Investigation and treatment panel for morbid obesity do not come cheap, because of the multiple nature of organ involvement Lab tests include general as well as specific such as lipid profile, cholesterol, Interleukin 6, C-reactive protein,Echocardiography, Electrocardiography, Cardiac enzymes, Leptin, , Uric acid, Blood Glucose, and many others are not readily available and in centers that have them, they are quite expensive.

However studies done in the past ten years have confirmed that, simple, non-invasive measurements that can be done quickly and at very little cost produce results from which you can draw conclusions very identical to the evidence obtainable from the sophisticated laboratory tests For these measurements, you need an inelastic tape, or if you cant get that, the one used by Taylor will do. A note book of fairly good quality for your records is advis-

dom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established.

The realm of marriage that God wants you to enter is such that you would get to a point where men and even devils are compelled to acknowledge God’s glory that is all over your family. This is your heritage as a child of God! I command an end to whatever is bringing unrest in your marriage today. If there is any tumult in your life and family, I command the peace of God to replace it now, in Jesus’ name.

Nevertheless, all hope is not lost. If you make a decision today to become committed to your marriage and family, God’s grace will be available to you to establish your desire.

Grace is only available to the redeemed of the Lord. So, if you are not born again, there is no way you can be committed to God or your marriage. You need to give your life to Christ. You do this by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus your Lord and Saviour. Are you set for it? Why not say this prayer of faith from your heart: Dear Lord, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Now I know I am born again!

Congratulations! Till I come your way again next week, please call or write, and share your testimonies with me through: E-mail: faithdavid@yahoo.com Tel. No: 2341-7747546-8; 07026385437, 07094254102 For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all the Living Faith Churches, and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, and Building A Successful Family.

Health Matters With DR MIKE OYAKHIRE

able.

Waist circumference- This provides an estimate of fat around vital organs such as the heart, kidneys. Compared with obesity in the arms thigh and leg regions, large amounts of fat around the chest and abdomen have been found proved to be much more dangerous from the dynamics of clinical anatomy and biochemistry in relation to the different ways fat is metabolized in the regions of the body. Molecules of free fatty acids are more readily released from abnormal deposit sites in the cells , tissues and organs in the chest and abdomen in response to various stimuli, internal and external. the mobilization and release of free fatty acid from the omenta(greater and lesser), the mesentery, and subcutaneous fat is relatively simple and faster compared with the biochemical processes from other sites.To estimate the circumference of your waistStand straight but relaxed, preferably without shoes .

Identify the highest point of the hip bone on your right flank where the thigh seem to begin(anterior superior iliac spine), do the same thing on the left side Run your finger tips along the lowest part of the bony ring formed by the lowest ribs of your chest(rib cage or costal, margin), opposite where you took note of the highest point on your hip bone from the point on the hip bone to that on the rib cage, . Measure the circumference of your waist by passing the tape round at a position midway between the two points making sure it passes exactly half way between the two points on both right and left sides,. The mid point may run through the umbilicus, and this is often easier., but in very obese individuals using the umbilicus as a guide becomes use-

08170268670 email: drmikeoyakhire@yahoo.com less Hip circumference; Wearing light clothing, place your tape around your buttocks ensuring that it passes on and around the most prominent part , and with the tape held loosely.

Waist circumference:hip c i r c u m f e r e n c e ratio(waist:hip) This ratio estimates the degree of upper to lower body obesity, and can be derived by simple division after the

relevant measurements have been done as above Neck circumference:- Sit or stand straight with face forwards directly in front of you to clearly expose the laryngeal assembly(Adams apple). Run your finger from the highest point of the upper part of the throat down the Adams apple downwards to the bottom of it on the front part of the neck.

Place your tape around the neck at this point to measure the neck circumference

REFERENCE VALUES :Males Neck circumference e” 36cm ———over weight Neck circumference e”40cm ———obesity Females Neck circumference e” 33cm Neck circumference e” 35 cm

————overweight ————obesity

Android(apple) obesity should be suspected:In males, with Waist circumference e” 100cm In females with Waist circumference e” 90cm Basal metabolic index(Quetelet’s index) Normal d” 25kg/m2, Obesity d” 30kg/m2 Waist :Hip ratio World health org(who )cut off point for males—1.0 Who ,, .,, ,, ,, ,, females—0.85 0.6 to 1.2 Greater than 1.2 Less than 0.6

———— ——— ————

Normal Android obesity Gynoid obesity

Short people with steatopygea , disorders of the spine, as in scoliosis, kyphosis, kyphoscoliosis or spondylosis may not benefit from above procedures procedures.

Urinalysis for glucose, and proteins, can be done as is done in pregnancy test with a strip of paper dipped in urine , you then lay the strip against a color meter and check for the presence or absence of proteins and glucose As always. Prevention is cheaper and safer than cure but does not translate to treatment. You need see a Doctor when as deemed fit

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

FAMIL Y HEAL TH AMILY HEALTH

Coping with diseases

Emotional control and balance

A

LL of us, I am pretty sure, have in the course of our lifetime felt like destroying an offender, killing an enemy, taking something (especially money) by force, or escaping something (e.g., work) or someone (e.g. a creditor). These are strong feelings. Perhaps more regularly we have less strong feelings. One could feel like climbing a mountain, getting some sunshine (or cool air conditioning), playing some music, taking a vacation, calling a lover, pinching a neighbour, stealing ice cream, etc.

Our emotions are our physical expressions of love or hate. Our emotions release the principles of good or evil as expression of the love or hate within us. In this respect we can describe positive and negative emotions, good and evil emotions, etc. depending on if we view love and hate as positive or negative; good or evil.

Everything that reaches our senses generates love or hate within us and is translated into a tendency towards an emotion or an actual expression of an emotion. We respond to our environment subconsciously

and consciously depending on our level of maturity and power of choice.

A baby yells and cries spontaneously which an adult would not do. The physical manifestations of emotions are according to the love or hate within us and their principles of good or evil.

An artist friend of mine once told me he had a problem with anger management. He had been for therapy in the past to help him control his anger. At the time I was talking with him, he was unsuccessful.

He had not been able to break through as an artist. He explained that he had a producer and one day he lost his temper and threw a glass of water at the producer’s face. That baptism still haunts him today while he ekes out his daily bread.

Is it wrong or right that we show emotion, even strong emotion? Can we control our emotions?

How can we safely show strong emotion when we need to?

Do things have to reach a stage that a person kills another person? Why would a spouse walk out of a marriage or a teen walk away from home?

Why would a predator

with Prof. Dayo Oyekole

Prostate enlargement abuse a child? Why would a comfortable civil servant gulp public funds? Why would a person not be able to sleep because of a strong feeling? Why do we sometimes overdo it at a party?

Why would one spend a whole day daydreaming?

Why do we use terms such as “nervous wreck” and “control freak”. Obviously the expression of emotion is not always welcomed.

Every day as we walk through life we are showing emotions. Some emotions typically express our love for something or someone and include enthusiasm, pleasure, joy, contentment, peace, harmony, solidarity, happiness, etc. Some emotions typically express our hate of something or someone and include fear, anxiety, disgust, jealousy, anger, sadness, etc. Some emotions such as sorrow and surprise belong to both love and hate equally. In many cases we may not actually express an emotion but may express a tendency towards an emotion as seen in excluding something or

someone, prejudice, bias, supremacy, etc.

The physical manifestations of emotion involve our body and mind, and are modulated by our spirit.

Some manifestations are common such as a smile, eye and facial expressions, blushing in Caucasians, crying, and laughing. Others are rare such as biting one’s finger nails, twitching, sweating, and shaking.

Some are not always obvious externally such as change in heart rate, change in breathing rate, and involuntary peeing.

We shall examine these manifestations and their importance in relationships, well-being, and social life.

We shall look at the power we have to control, dominate, balance, and utilize emotions for our well- being and the well-being of others.

Dr. ’Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA. For any comments or questions on this column, please Email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 07028338910.

Coping with respiratory illnesses (1)

R

ESPIRATORY ill nesses are the leading causes of unplanned hospitalizations and death for people with developmental disabilities. While many respiratory illnesses can start out as minor illnesses, such as the common cold, they can sometimes develop into much more serious and life-threatening illnesses, including pneumonia. Respiratory illnesses mostly affect the parts of the body used for breathing. For example, respiratory illnesses can affect the: Nose Sinuses (air pockets located inside the bones of the skull) Throat Bronchial tubes (the tubes that bring air to the lungs) Lungs Many people experience at least one or two minor respiratory illnesses each year.

If left untreated, some minor respiratory illnesses can turn into more serious and life-threatening illnesses.

Some common respiratory illnesses include: The common cold Influenza (flu) Bronchitis Pneumonia Asthma What are the risk factors for respiratory illnesses?

Everyone experiences respiratory illnesses periodi-

cally. However, some people have a greater chance of experiencing more serious respiratory illnesses more often.

These people include: Older adults and young children People who smoke cigarettes, cigars, or pipes People who live in an area with polluted or smoky air People with other, ongoing illnesses or conditions Respiratory illnesses are contagious (can spread from one person to another). Because of this, people are more likely to develop respiratory illness when: They live in homes where they often come in

•Ginger tea

53

close contact with others who may have respiratory illnesses They visit their doctor’s office more often than others; while at these visits they may come in contact with other people who have respiratory illnesses They don’t use proper hygiene or come in contact with people who don’t use proper hygiene Cold and flu The common cold and flu are two of the most common respiratory illnesses. Symptoms include: Feeling more tired than usual Having a stuffy or runny nose Having a sore throat Sneezing a lot Having a fever of about

101 degrees Have a headache, cough, and sore throat Feel general aches and pains in their body Feel more tired than usual Inability to keep fluids down (vomiting after drinking) Painful swallowing A sore throat that lasts for longer than a week A cough that lasts for more than two weeks Cold and flu are usually caused by viruses. This means that they cannot be cured by taking antibiotics.

Most cold and flu symptoms do not require a doctor’s care and will get better on their own. However, some of the time, and especially among people with other health concerns, cold and the flu can become more serious diseases and lead to unplanned hospitalizations and even death.

Treatment Make time for extra rest and sleep Drink plenty of liquids – such as: juice, tea, water, or soup-ginger and honey tea are especially effective for colds and cartarrh.

Use over-the-counter medications such as pain relievers, decongestants, or sore throat lozenges To be continued

Prostate enlargement is generally a disease of elderly men; and it is characterized by urine retention, leading to severe pains, anxiety, discomfort, and sometimes, loss of consciousness.

The full function of the prostate is not yet fully understood by scientists all over the world. However, it is known that as a gland, it produces fluid called ‘semen’ which is released by men, at the climax of sexual activity.

The prostate gland will only grow and function under the influence of male hormones, the most important of which is called TESTOSTERONE, produced from the testicles.

The prostate gland surrounds the neck of the bladder and the first part of the urethra goes through it. An enlarged prostate, presses on the urethra and decreases the size of the opening through it, or it forms a dam which holds back part of the urine.

The causes of prostate enlargement are not very precise, but they are associated with hormonal imbalance; and available information indicates that most men who use drugs to improve their sexual performance tend to activate the level of their Testosterone hormone beyond the threshold, and consequently, they often end up developing prostate enlargement and related complications.

The enlargement can be a simple type called Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, or it may be cancerous, that is, Malignant Prostatic Hyperplasia. Both the benign and malignant types usually present similar symptoms of frequency in urination, hesitancy, urgency, trickling flow of urine and in advanced stages, there is acute urine retention as a result of blockage of the urinary tract.

A man suffering from enlarged prostate will first notice that he has to get up oftener than usual, to pass urine at night. The stream will be small and slow to start. A long time may be required to empty the bladder.

Many men with enlarged prostate may have no further disturbance than the “nuisance” symptoms stated earlier.

Other cases will get worse until the patient cannot empty the bladder, and must resort to a catheter for relief.

Unfortunately, after the urine has once begun to be drawn by catheter, the danger of bladder infection is great.

Also, the symptoms and problems of cystitis are likely to occur.

Treatment and Control In Holistic Lifecare, it is strongly advocated that the best prospects of controlling Prostate Enlargement, is by going back to Nature. When symptoms of an enlarged prostate are noticed, it is advisable to avoid spices, condiments and alcoholic beverages; to lessen bladder irritation, which may promote infection. It is also important to avoid cold conditions or getting the feet wet, or holding the urine for too long.

Prostate Enlargement is not new in African context. In fact, ethno-medicinal research has shown that herbal remedies are very effective, without complications or side effects.

The holistic natural remedy being suggested for Prostate Enlargement is a combination of natural extracts of herbs such as Saw Palmetto, Cocos nucifera, Khaya ivorensis and Lycopersicum esculentum.

For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chronic Debilitating Conditions as well as mental and social problems, please call on: 0803-3303897 or visit: Mosebolatan Holistic Lifecare Centre, Adeyalo Layout, Ogbere-Tioya, Off Olorunsogo Express Bridge, Ibadan.

Website: www.holisticlifecare.com. Distance is no barrier, we can send remedies by courier if need be. We also have facilities for accommodation, admission and hospitalization in a serene and homely environment.

54

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

‘

Umuaja, home of Ethiope River The source of River Ethiope, in Umuaja, Ukwuani Council Area of Delta State is one of the tourism offerings of the state.

It is a place rich in indigenous culture, eco-tourism and history. Okorie Uguru, as a member of the Naija Seven Wonders expedition trip to the state, was there.

He captures the setting and mystic air around these tiny sprouts of rivulets from the roots of a giant tree that expanded to become a big river (Ethiope).

T

HERE is something surreal about this place that may likely leave one with goose pimples. There is a maze of huge tree roots from an equally huge tree trunk zig-zagging through the grove like thousands of snakes sprouting from the head of Gorgon Medusa of the Greek mythologyas normal. Except if one considers as normal, white and red pieces of plain clothes used to tie round one huge silk tree and other smaller ones as normal, there is so much to ponder about River Ethiope. Also, a couple of candle sticks burn in different parts of the grove. There is a small enclosure with a sculpted bust of a man and a smaller bust of a female beside him,

all ‘wearing light blue clothes’ with a huge red object.

The surrounding alone, without the appurtenance of African religious worship and sacrifice to a particular deity, Onoku, attracts its own air of mystery.

From the foot of the huge silk tree and other smaller ones, tiny sprout of crystal clean water flow out. From this tiny sprout of clean water, a little pond is formed all within the grove.

The water is sparkling clean. Even the huge foliage kind of shy away from muddying the water with dead leaves. This is the source of River Ehiope, a unique river reputed to be the deepest inland water-

•Umuaja, source of Ethiope River

way in Africa. The claim of Umuaja pond to being tourists site is not just about the eco-tourism and cultural setting of the place. It is the source of one major river in Delta State that has been part of the history of the area.

Before the experience of visiting the source of River Ethiope, one had a opportunity of promenading to the bank of Ethiope River while staying at the Abraka Turf Club. At Abraka, the river is wide

and still maintains its sparkling purity, despite the long distance between the town and the source of the river.

The river is important to a large number of people in Delta State. It is a source of portable water and also for other domestic uses. The leisure activities around the water have brought joy and satisfaction to so many indigenes and visitors to the area.

But it does not stop there, Ethiope River from the

Umuaja spring was a very important river during the colonial era and it served as a route for the movement of goods from the hinterland to the coast. It is to show the importance of this river that the British colonialists put it under their protection in 1894, as a means of stopping the activities of Nana of Itsekiri.

The colonialists made a proclamation aimed at making sure King Nana did not use the river to gain advantage over those in hinterland

in their trade with the Europeans: “Whereas a state of terrorism has been established in the Benin, Sapele and Warri districts by parading of war canoes on public waterways, and many other of the natives are thereby prevented from pursuing in peace and security their ordinary vocations in life.

“Be it therefore known to all whom it may concern that it is hereby strictly prohibited for any war canoe to appear on

Tourism News NANTA partners Akwaaba, as new airlines join

T

HE National Associa tion of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA) is once again partnering with Akwaaba African Travel Market (AfTM) to grow the only tourism and travel fair in West Africa.

Akwaaba African Travel Market which is in its 8th edition is the only event in West Africa that brings together travel professionals from many countries, bringing together airlines, hotels, resorts, tourism boards, national parks, destination marketers, travel and tour operators under one roof for three days.

It will take place at Eko Hotel and suites from October 22nd to 24th.

This comes as Delta Airlines, the American mega carrier will be appearing at

Akwaaba for the first time, joining 12 other global airlines at the exhibition as Qatar airways rejoins.

According to Mrs. Ngozi Ngoka, the Publicity Secretary of NANTA and the CEO of Zigona Travel and Tours Ltd., “Akwaaba is our own home grown World Travel Market (WTM) and because it meets international standards, being a member of ITTFA, it provides our members an alternative to other global fairs.”

Meanwhile, Mrs. Rita Ikechi Uko, representing the organizers, said: “Having NANTA as a partner is a huge plus for our event, we have partnerships with global associations and having a credible national group like NANTA which is the biggest travel association

•Ikechi Uko, CEO, Akwaaba in West Africa completes the circle for us and we are excited to tap into their goodwill and expertise.”

Alhaji Aminu Agoha, President of NANTA, will deliver a paper on “The role of NANTA in Aviation and Tourism development in Africa”.

The opening day of the event is the Aviation Day with the theme: “Aviation and Tourism in Africa: the true story”. There will also be papers on ”The Passenger Bill of Rights“, “The Airports and the Passenger” and “The Weather and Travel“, among others. Day two of the event will be Gambian and Ghana days, showcasing the best opportunities in these countries. Day three will have the Nigerian day to be hosted

by NTDC, featuring training for tour operators in Nigeria and the hospitality seminar with the theme: “(1) 5 star or fallen star: Standardising Hotels in Nigeria” with Mr. Alex Gassuer, Area Manager, Starwood Group (owners of Sheraton, Le Meridien and Four points hotels) as speaker.

CARNIRIV 2012 will promote S preparations for the A 2012 edition of the Rivers State Carnival, popularly referred to as Carniriv, intensify, the Rivers State Tourism Development Agency, RSTDA, has explained that this year’s event is targeted at impacting the economic prosperity of the people of the state. Carniriv 2012 holds from December 8 to 15, 2012 at the Liberation Stadium, Elekahia, Port Harcourt.

Dr. Sam Dede, the Director-General, Rivers State Tourism Development Agency, RSTDA, speaking on the level of preparedness for Carniriv 2012, said government is desirous of making this year’s event one of the major platforms to bring about significant economic well-being and empower-

•Dr. Dede ment for the people of the state.

He added that the prosperity of the people will ultimately result in exponential growth in the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state put currently at US$21,073,410,422.

‘

55 Don’t call empowerment tools national cake —Ekwerenmadu

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012 any of the rivers, creeks or waterways of the districts above mentioned without sanction of the consular officer in charge of the district.”

On getting to Umuaja in Ukwuani Council Area of Delta State, one does not just walk round the source, permission has to be obtained from the keeper of the river, ‘the River King’.

He has a small structure by the river. The tour guide who is from the town goes to him and pays homage. It is after that the to go ahead is given for a tour of the site and pictures taken.

According to some indigenes of the town, people come from wide and near to the river to find solutions to their problem.

The source of River Ethiope does not just attract tourists but suppliants who believe the river is endowed with mythical powers to solve their problems.

The trip to the river is part of the expedition trip by the Naija Seven Wonders’ crew to Delta State. Having visited the source at Umuaja, the crew undertake a relatively long trip to Abraka to visit another tourism offering only to get there and still meet the river in full flow.

Enegele Charles, from Okwuani, is an indigene of

‘

So, over times, people come to do certain things close to the river bank, you see so many things like lions, tiger and others. Most times the river brings blessings, like for the farmers, when the go to farm, they have rich harvest. They now said the river is a blessing to them.

‘

•The surrounding of the grove

the area. He speaks about Umuaja and the source of River Ethiope: “The source of River Ethiope was discovered by one Ugbo. Ugbo was a hunter who left the hinterland. On his hunting trip, he got to this place and saw this river. He shouted and said he would want to come and settle down here. He went back to the hinterland, Akoku, and then returned and settled down in Umuaja. That was how the settlement in Umuaja began.

He started the foundation of Umuaja because of the river he saw here.

“So, over times, people come to do certain things close to the river bank. You see so many things like lions, tiger and others. Most times, the river brings blessings. For instance, when the farmers go to farm, they have rich harvest. They say the river is a blessing to them.

Most times, stories have it that whatever you wish for yourself, good health, business, child birth and so on, come to pass. People come here to pray and seek for the things they pray for. People also come here to worship Onoku. That is why it is called sacred river.

“This is the source of the huge River Ethiope. This river runs through seven local government areas, meandering through Sapele and Koko and then meet with

tributary rivers before emptying into the ocean.

As you see it coming out, it widens as it flows on.

This river goes straight to Obiaruku and Abraka.”

For visitors to the place, there are no big hotels in the area, but there are good accommodation facilities in Asaba and other nearby towns. To get to

•The King of the River at Umuaja

ote Rivers State economy, says Dede With a population of 5.1 million people and GDP per capita of $3,965, Rivers State is Nigeria’s second largest economy after Lagos State. ‘‘The hosting of Carniriv offers a strategic connection for the people of Rivers State.

The reason is that Carniriv is a brand that is owned by the people. Our strategic intent is, therefore, that the carnival must not just be a showcase of the pristine cultures of our people to the world, but a tool for the empowerment and socio-economic prosperity of the people of Rivers State. We are persuaded that ultimately, when the people prosper, Rivers State will prosper, and Nigeria will also prosper,’ Dede said.

The RSTDA DirectorGeneral further noted that the strategic linkage between

Umuaja, one could do so through the more popular Agbor town, taking a cab to Umuaja which is about 60 to 70 kilometers from Agbor, through the Abraka road.

It is an experience and a taste of African mystery. It is worth visiting.

economic prosperity and destination marketing is compelling for countries in view of the current global economic recession. ‘We are well-focused in our hosting of Carniriv for the sixth time, and the positive impact we intend to see on the economy of the state. ‘’We intend to see more than a good show. We intend to see recorded economic growth. We intend to use this edition of the carnival to put money in the hands of the average man and woman on the street who will engage in one socio-economic activity or the other during Carniriv. That is how Carniriv can impact and improve their lives. We are therefore focusing on the economy of the carnival itself,” he explained. ‘‘In South Africa, tourism rose from being the fifth contributor to the GDP to the second position by the year 2007, second only to mining. This is where we have our eyes on from this year. We intend to track the economic impact of the carnival from this year going forward.

South Korean food festival at Sheraton Abuja

•Mrs. Nwaneka Ekweremadu presenting an item to one of the recipients

T

HE wife of the Deputy Senate President, Mrs. Nwaneka Ekwerenmadu, has called on ministries, departments, agencies, corporate bodies and individuals to help the nation by providing for the needy and the poor while urging the latter not to see such gestures as national cake.

Speaking at the presentation of working tools to 50 widows at the Tourism Village, Abuja, Mrs. Ekwerenmadu said the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has shown courage by extending hands of compassion to the needy.

The occasion which was part of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of NTDC and this year’s World Tourism Day which has as its theme, “Tourism and Sustainable Energy: Powering Sustainable Development”.

Ekwerenmadu also urged the recipients to see the working tools as a great gift for them to work and earn a living and not as the distribution of national cake.

Speaking further, she lauded the NTDC DirectorGeneral, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe for the courageous move, saying it was not easy to give. Her words: “By doing little things, we arrive at doing great things.”

She also used the opportunityto appeal to other MDAs, corporate bodies, private organizations and philanthropists to emulate the NTDC gesture, while advising the beneficiaries to use the items judiciously.

The items distributed to the widows who cut across the 36 states of the federation included sewing machines, grinding machines and a token sum of money, which the Director-General of NTDC described as seed money for them to start small scale businesses.

In his remarks, the NTDC boss thanked the wife of the Deputy Senate President and other eminent dignitaries for gracing the occasion, describing her as a woman who loves to care for children and the needy.

He said the modest effort was to commemorate the corporation’s 50th anniversary by empowering 50 widows as a way of showing love to the mothers. He implored all to take a cue by contributing their quota to improving the society.

Earlier in the day, the NTDC also presented other items like refrigerators, chairs, umbrellas, amongst others to the National Car Hire Operators at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja as part of activities marking the day.

The corporation, alongside the Federal Road Safety Corps is also set to commence training of the airport cab drivers as the first point of contact to enable them relate better to visitors and tourists visiting Nigeria so as to create a positive first impression.

S

HERATON Abuja Hotel, recently took ‘a journey’ to South Korea as the Papillion Restaurant introduces exotic and authentic cuisines from Seoul.

South Korean Food Festival is making its first appearance at the Hotel’s Papillion Restaurant from the 4th to 6th October, 2012, featuring a variety of truly delightful South Korean cuisines.

Korean chefs from Starwood Hotels and Resorts World Wide -Westin Seoul were on hand to offer world renowned Korean dishes such as Hae mul japchae (Potato Starch Noodles Stir-fried with Seafood andVegetables.

•Some of the items given to widows

56 COMMENTARY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Damkwambo’s refreshing touch in the savannah

B

ECOMING governor was not, for Ibrahim Damkwambo, the fulfilment of an ambition. It was, for him, the beginning of a mission: a mission to transform. As Accountant General of the Federation, Dankwambo took a cursory look at Gombe State from the outside, and realised that without security, not much would be achieved by whoever assumed office as governor after Danjuma Goje.

Prior to his assumption of office, Gombe was synonymous with a group of ill-tempered youths called Kalare Boys. This group held the state in thrall. It made life brutish and short. It scared investors and made positive development difficult.

As governor, Dankwambo brought his learning to bear on the state. He knew from the onset that his administration will remain unsung if the Kalare Boys still hold sway. But instead of merely reading the riot act and unleashing security apparati at his disposal on the boys, he embarked on positive re-engineering of their minds. He expressed his belief that rather than expand the prison population, those youthful energies wasted in brigandage and hooliganism, could become transformational energies for the good of the state. Within his short stay in office thus far, Damkwambo has been able to eliminate the Kalare Boys phenomenon and ploughed back their energies into gainful purposes.

Look at the statistics: 30,000 youths are being trained in various skills throughout the state. The pilot scheme involving the training of 300 youths in various vocational and skills acquisition trainings has been completed and those who graduated from the centres received loan grants of N200,000 each to become self-employed.

Further statistics from the state indicate that some 1,198 youths have also been trained under the Talba Youth Re-orientation and Rehabilitation scheme. Of the number, 500 received training to become environmental agents; another 500 became Ward Security Agents while another set of 198 graduated to become traffic agents. In the second phase of the training in vocational skills acquisition, another group of 500 youths are beneficiaries. They are currently undergoing training in 13 different skills which equipment alone cost Gombe State some N229 million.

To further enhance youth empowerment in the state, Dankwambo engaged 100 youths in training in renewable energy technology with another 300 in leadership and citizenship training while procuring 250 tricycles to be deployed in engaging youths and keeping them busy. Effectively, these actions put an end to the Kalare Boys phenomenon and opened the state to some level of peaceful development.

Dankwambo’s ability to turn the youth energy around made it possible for him to focus on other developmental needs like road development, education, erosion control, health, agriculture and water.

In education development, Dankwambo’s realisation that pupil/student population outnumbered teacher

D

EMYSTIFIED chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, was in the news some couple of weeks ago when some national newspapers speculated that he was being tipped to return to the honey pot called the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, as the board chairman.

I don’t have anything personal against this illustrious son of Edo, acclaimed to have fixed so many knotty issues for his party, the PDP. This has earned him the sobriquet of Mr Fix It, especially since the advent of this Fourth Republic.

But there is one hard knot he failed to fix which has probably rubbished all his past records in the eyes of his admirers and the PDP. The July 14 Edo State governorship election will ever remain an indelible dent in the political career of this retired cop turned evil genius, as he was finely fixed by the giant killer, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

He failed to bend the steel and lion-

•Governor Dankwambo Akintunde OGUNSANYA

and class ratio was the beginning of a fresh battle. For instance, Gombe had an acute shortage of teachers such that the ratio of teacher per students in core subjects like English and Mathematics was one teacher to 727 students and one teacher to 2,590 students respectively.

This was unacceptable to the governor.

His response? He recreated the situation such that no classroom in the state now has more than 40 students.

Statistics obtained from the state indicate that the governor declared an emergency in education in Gombe and started a regime of infrastructure development for education. He declared that the number of students in a class must not be more than 45 and maximum of 1,500 students

in any standard secondary school. This led him to embark on the massive construction and renovation of classrooms, hostels, laboratories, staff quarters and external works throughout the state. For now, there are 582 classrooms and 51 laboratories under construction.

On teacher development, Dankwambo has ensured that 1,000 graduates are employed as teachers into the secondary school system while another 1,000 NCE holders were brought in to meet target in primary school system, just as he has awarded contract for the supply of 5,410 three-in-one school desks for secondary and primary schools in the state. This is in addition to other infrastructure and teaching aides.

Dankwambo has also put in a deep foot

‘

While stubbornly driving the development of Gombe State, Damkwambo has not lost sight of the need for him to remain accountable to the people. He knows that the lean resources of the state create no room for wastages, but for prudence and frugality. This has earned him the Mr. Due Process tag among civil servants

’ Anenih, PDP & NPA Nosa MUSA hearted Adams Oshiomhole. The Comrade Governor completely routed and demystified the Lion of Uromi. Anenih who had never been dared politically in his den was put to shame even in his ward. What a political disaster! However, the July poll is not the thrust of this write-up, rather it is PDP’s shamelessness.

Yes, the party leadership is very good at celebrating failures and those considered to be political liabilities to the nation’s march to the Promised Land. In any case, one should not expect anything better from a party with a septuagenarian at the driver’s seat. One quarrels with the appointment of Anenih as the board chair of the nation’s gateway of commerce and industry, especially if the

same man had been there before and didn’t make a too impressive showing.

At this juncture, one may be tempted to ask some pertinent questions. What is it that he could not do in about three years he was at the helms of affairs at the ports that he now wants to go and complete? Or is there something he forgot in the office that he now wants to go and pick up?

Edo people bluntly refused to part with their common heritage as retirement benefit to Anenih on July 12. Unfortunately his party now wants to send him forth with the nation’s ports. What a warped way of saying good bye to an old political fox.

Sad enough, this is a man who was saddled with the responsibility of fixing the nation’s vast network of roads. Like the ports, he left the roads in worse shape than he met them.

Perhaps the only thing one can point at

in the Gombe State health system.

Realising that a healthy state is a wealthy state, the governor is unrelenting in ensuring that general hospitals in the state are upgraded and equipped with necessary drugs and equipment to ensure that the health of the people are adequately attended to. Already, he has created the Gombe State Primary Health Centres Development Agencies; renovated and upgraded the Preventive Health Office in Gombe Metropolis; begun construction of 14 Model Primary Health Centres across the state; built a snake bite treatment centre at the General Hospital Kaltungo; upgraded the urban maternity Gombe into Special Hospital for women and children and also built an intensive care unit, extended the maternity ward at the State Specialist Hospital as well as built a new laundry and kitchen at the same hospital.

Not done with these, Dankwambo has also ensured provision of free drugs to children and women in all the state hospitals and also built a model School of Nursing and Midwifery for the training of nurses and midwifery personnel.

These he has done in line with his vision of ensuring a healthy Gombe State.

Road construction and rehabilitation form planks of Dankwambo’s vision of integrating urban and rural areas of the state.

To this end, he has opened up five urbanrural roads as a way of encouraging investments in agriculture and movement of farm produce. His road revolution has ensured massive road work on about 53 roads comprising urban-rural roads, township roads, intercity roads and inter-state roads. For this, Damkwambo is already investing about N33.73billion of Gombe’s money.

Dankwambo, though an accountant, knows that his state is agrarian. For this, he understands the demand on him to ensure the development of agriculture in Gombe.

For this reason, he has not shown any signs of tiredness in ensuring that farm implements are readily available to farmers in the state. He has ensured steady flow of fertiliser and also bought new tractors as well as refurbished old ones to be deployed for farming. There is no doubt, Gombe residents will feed abundantly at the next harvest.

While stubbornly driving the development of Gombe State, Damkwambo has not lost sight of the need for him to remain accountable to the people. He knows that the lean resources of the state create no room for wastages, but for prudence and frugality. This has earned him the Mr. Due Process tag among civil servants in the state as he is seen to be a stickler for prudent management of available resources. His knack for due process is also unparalleled in the history of the state. This, many analysts say, is reason that despite receiving about N3bn monthly from the federation, Dankwambo is driving infrastructural development that challenges the ingenuity of fund managers.

As it is now, Damkwambo has given Gombe a new face and taken it a notch higher than he met it on May 29, 2011. He may be the new star from the savannah.

•Ogunsanya, an independent journalist, writes in from Abuja. for his years in the lucrative works ministry is the Benin by-pass, which he did to enable him have a smooth ride to his Uromi country home thereby cutting off the ancient city of Benin, which is the state capital.

One should not be tempted to think that the old fox did it because of his love for his people. Far from it, it was cleverly executed to marginalise Benin because of his hatred for the Binis and whatever they represent.

For those who do not know, Chief Tony Anenih was the Works Minister during the first term in office of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The mere mention of his name as possible board chair of the NPA has unsettled and further balkanised the PDP in Edo State.

Some of the party’s big wigs in the state like Chief Mike Ogiadomhe have every right to kick against his re-appointment.

Musa is a Benin-based political commentator.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

57

58 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Ekiti seals off 131 unregistered schools

F

OLLOWING the expira tion of the six month ul timatum given proprietors of private schools in Ekiti State to register and upgrade facilities in the institutions , the State Govern-

Sulaiman SALAWUDEEN, Ado-Ekiti ment has sealed off 131 schools that fell short of expectation.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Tech-

nology, Dr. Eniola Ajayi told newsmen in Ado Ekiti that owners of the affected schools had been severally warned to register them.

The Commissioner reiterated the commitment of the

•Vice President Namadi Sambo (right), being received by Gov. Peter Obi at Uga, during the funeral service for the mother of Senator Andy Uba, at St. John's Anglican Church, Uga, Anambra State, yesterday.

Fayemi administration to the provision of a conducive learning environment with a view to enhancing the performance of students, stressing that government would not compromise the future of children in the State under any circumstance.

Advising proprietors who lack the wherewithal to run a standard school to choose other callings and vowed that government would no longer allow sub-standard schools to function in the state.

She insisted that every school must function from its permanent site within three years of inception.

Such permanent site must be at least two hectares of land for expansion.Besides,each school must take off with no fewer than three standard and well ventilated classrooms as well as an administrative block consisting of a minimum of two rooms and a store.

Other facilities expected in a standard school include a functional library equipped with up to date books as well as qualified teachers.

Aliu condemns indigene/non-indigene policy

T

HE governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has advocated the removal of the ‘indigene and non-indigene’ provisions from the constitution, as one of the ways of achieving national unity and peaceful coexistence.

Speaking, yesterday, in Minna, Aliyu, who is also the Chairman Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), said that the indigene and nonindigene syndrome has caused the country a lot of problems .The governor, who made the remark while receiving the President-General of the Yoruba community in the 19

JIDE ORINTUNSIN MINNA Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory, Alhaji Jamiu Oguntoyinbo, in his office, said that every Nigerian should be free to live and work in any part of the country regardless of his state of origin. ‘’Nigeria is meant for Nigerians, but it is unfortunate that some foreigners are recognized more than Nigerians just because of the language they speak and the religion they practice” stressing that, ‘’we must forget the settler syndrome if Nigeria is to move

forward.’’

The governor, who frowned at people who use the non-indigene policy to exploit the poor, said local government chairmen in the state have been directed to give indigene status to anyone that has lived for six years in any local government area, and that such people should not be discriminated against.

According to the governor, the free education policy of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo administration in the defunct Western region inspired him to introduce the free and com-

pulsory basic education in the state by his administration in 2007.

Earlier, Alhaji Jamiu Oguntoyinbo praised Aliyu for appointing Yorubas as Special Assistants and Advisers, saying, ‘’this act will entrench unity.’’

Describing the governor as a driving force for the unity of the country, Oguntoyinbo said: ‘’this man (Aliyu) can wear the uniform of Nigeria because he doesnot discriminate.’’

He went on to call on other governors in the country to emulate Governor Aliyu.

Oyo Assembly passes N50b bond bill

T

HE Oyo State House of Assembly yesterday passed an executive bill for the government to raise N50 billion bonds and other financial instruments from the capital market.

The Assembly at its sitting presided over by Speaker Monsurat Sunmonu, also passed a bill mandating the

Tayo JOHNSON, Ibadan executive to seek a loan of $56.24 million from the African Development Bank (ADB) to tackle the problem of inefficient and insufficient water distribution pipeline in Ibadan.

But the lawmakers effected

29 amendments in the bond bill, before it was passed.

The bill had,over the last five weeks generated reactions in the state, especially from the opposition .

Only four days ago the Assembly granted Governor Abiola Ajimobi request to divert N30bn budget alignment to finance the construction of

Fashola urges re-orientation of educational system

G

OVERNOR Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has urged university and polytechnic graduates to strive to become entrepreneurs instead of searching for jobs after leaving school.

But he also says the Nigerian educational system should be re-oriented.

Fashola, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, at the 16 th Fafunwa Educational Foundation Lecture with the theme: ‘Entrepreneurship Education: Repositioning Nigerian Education for National Transformation”, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos, said the Nigerian educational system should be changed to make graduates entrepreneurs instead of employment-seekers.

He said: “As you all know,

education remains the bedrock of any meaningful development in a nation. But it is also instructive to note that the best economies of this world cannot shy away from entrepreneurship education as a means of solving unemployment and reducing to the barest minimum, the reliance on non-existent white collar jobs that most of our graduates and youths are searching for today.

“Over the years, we have laid much emphasis on academics and university education. The resultant effect is that we have succeeded in producing graduates who have become unemployable, not because they are not educated, but because they cannot express their God-given talents, combined with the education they have, to make a living for themselves and help their society to grow.

“Our system of education has produced more frustrated youths, who despite having the qualifications, cannot find jobs to earn a living. Many of our homes now have overgrown babies who by every standard should be bread winners. This precarious situation has resulted in crime and insecurity in our society. Our system has produced more monsters and hardened criminals who are bent on making a living by hook or crook.

“It is urgent for us as a nation to tilt our curriculum towards entrepreneurship education in order to achieve national transformation. We cannot shy away from the need for proper understanding of the ICT, science and the likes.

We must also understand that it is only a creative mind that can turn things around for the development of our nation.

some bridge and road projects across the state.

On September 13, Governor Ajimobi presented the bond bill to the Assembly, which subsequently organized a public hearing on the bill and two others.

In his remarks, the chairman committee on public accounts, finance and appropriation, Hon. Olusegun Olaleye said the bond will be utilized by the executive to embark on capital expenditure projects and will attract more investors to the state.

Olaleye said:" it shows that Governor Ajimobi is a person who believes in transparency and accountability for bringing the bond to the floor of the house" Earlier, the state’s Chief Vehicle Inspection Officer, Mr Bamidele Ajibola,in a report on the accident that occurred at Idi-Arere Ibadan on September 26, said the accident involving a truck of the Oyo State Solid Waste Management Authority would have been prevented if the state had a heavy duty towing truck.

He urged the state government to procure a towing truck for use in the state.

The Assembly approved his recommendation and requested government to compesate all the victims of the accident.

Ajimobi promises discount on land for UK investors

G

OVERNOR Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has promised at least 80 per cent discount on land for investors in the agricultural sector, as an incentive to attract them to the state.

The governor, in a presentation to the London Chamber of Commerce and Industries, United Kingdom, on the investment potentials of the state in London on Thursday said that the partnership had become imperative in order for his administration to deliver on its electioneering promises and set the state on the path of growth and development.

Gov.. Ajimobi said although he met decayed infrastructure in the state on his assumption of duty,government was working hard to rectify the situation.

He listed the challenges facing the state as poor infrastructure, especially in the rural areas, low productivity,unemployment, an ageing farming population and shortage of technical expertise.

The governor also noted that the state was bedeviled by unstable electricity supply, migration of workforce to neighbouring states and mismanaged exploitation of mineral resources which, he said, had been compounded by the control of mineral resources by the Federal

Government, thus leaving the state helpless.

He, however, listed the various economic opportunities that abound in the state but which had been left largely untapped by past administrations to include numerous investment opportunities in agriculture, agro-allied, tourism as well as exploitation and processing of solid minerals.

Others are opportunities for infrastructural development, availability of a large market with over 6.7 million population, proximity to Lagos air and sea ports. higher security of lives, property and peaceful environment, and relatively low cost of living.

Governor Ajimobi expressed his administration’s determination to provide good governance that would be participatory, transparent and accountable, and to make the state physically functional and economically buoyant.

Aside good governance, Gov. Ajimobi also said that his administration’s transformation agenda would involve human capital development, agriculture and rural development, safety and security of lives and property, sustainable environmental management and functional infrastructure.

DPR shuts filling stations in Ilorin

T

HE Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has closed down three petrol stations in Ilorin for selling premium motor spirit (PMS) above the pump price of N97 per litre.

The stations are AP, Mudram and Super Oil. DPR’s Operations Controller in Kwara State, , Mr. Amos Jokodola, said the filling station at the entrance of UNILORIN gate was found to be selling at N115 and operating illegally.He said:”That station was owned by former AP, now Forte Oil. But there was no formal communication to DPR for a take-over. That is a violation of the Petroleum Act. In fact, we have written to the university. We will mobilize our officers so that the content they have will be dispensed to the public at authorized rate. We do not want to keep the station shut for a long time because of the scarcity. If we had enough petrol, such that petrol stations were operating at optimum capacity, the station would have remained closed for the period of time prescribed by the law.”

Other filling stations shut by the DPR, according to Jokodola, “are along Ajeso Ipo Road. They adjusted their pump meter to N120 per litre. They complained that they bought it at that price. We asked them to produce evidence so that DPR could take action, but they could not. It is a continuous exercise. We will also raid other petrol stations. We will not concentrate on Ilorin alone, we will extend it to other areas,” he promised.

Taraba new deputy governor sworn-in

A

LHAJI Garba Umar, a businessman and politician was, yesterday, sworn-in as the new Deputy Gover nor of Taraba State.

Governor Danbaba Suntai at the ceremony in Jalingo urged the new deputy governor to live up to the dictates of the oath of office he swore to.

He said that it was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Taraba State and urged all to rally round government to ensure that the interest of the state was put first.

Suntai said that as the number two officer in the State, Garba was expected to carry the people along in harmony with the PDP, the ruling party in the State.

In his acceptance speech, the new deputy governor pledged total loyalty to the Governor as well as the people of the State.

Garba’s appointment followed the impeachment on Thursday of the former Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sani Abubakar, based on allegations of gross misconduct levelled against him by the State lawmakers.

The State’s Acting Chief Judge, Justice Josephine Tuktur, administered the oath of office on Garba at a crowded ceremony amidst tight security.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

59

60 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Achebe’s outburst on Awo, Gowon invitation to war, says Buhari’s party Gbenga OMOKHUNU, Abuja, Tony AKOWE,Kaduna, Odogwu Emeka ODOGWU, Nnewi

T

•Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi (r); proposed Airport Committee chairman and founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN; and Chairman, Ekiti State General Public Private Partnership, Sir Remi Omotoso during the submission of the committee’s report in Ado Ekiti... on Thursday.

Mubi massacre: Phone calls would have saved lives, say witnesses

H

AD the Islamist sect,Boko Haram, not vandalised telecommunication facilities in parts of the North recently, many lives would have been saved during the Independence Day anniversary massacre of students in Mubi, Adamawa State, witnesses said yesterday.

The vandalisation has disrupted communication in much of the region, which made it difficult for the students to warn their friends of the impending disaster.

About 40 students were killed by gunmen who invaded student hostels in the town.

John Bello, a student, said yesterday that only one mobile phone network was working in the town and that it was congested.

"We could maybe have alerted some of those that were killed if the networks weren't down," Bello said.

"Many students didn't find out what happened until they saw students running (away)," said Danjuma Aiso, another student. "When we tried to call those in the affected area, our calls didn't go through," he added.

Aiso said he heard gunshots for about five hours from his hiding place.

However, Adamawa State Police spokesman, Ibrahim Mohammed, said the attacks ended much more quickly, although he could not say on Friday how long authorities believe they lasted. He said police are still investigating and that there had been no arrests. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Days after the killings hit the secluded college, many

questions remain about what actually happened.

Sabotaged phone lines are partly to blame for the information vacuum as people in the town struggle to communicate with those in other parts of Nigeria.

The killings came a month after Boko Haram attacked more than 20 phone masts in Kano,Yobe,Borno,Bauchi and Plateau states.

Days after the attack, the difficult communications are still having a negative

effect.

The Mubi killings show how the communication breakdown is making people even more anxious and vulnerable to widespread crime.

"The lack of good (phone networks) makes life very tough and insecure for us," said Abba Ado, a security guard at a bank in the Maiduguri, "Each time we hear bomb blasts or gun shots, we become agitated, because we cannot get across

to our wives at home or our children at school."

Yuguda Ibrahim, a cameraman, said his neighbour's pregnant wife could not call her husband as she started to feel labour pains.

"She almost died because all the calls she tried to place across to her husband wouldn't get through," said Ibrahim. "The child was already coming out when my wife heard her groaning and helped her deliver in their bedroom."

...security tightened at North’s varsities, polytechnics

S

EQUEL to the Independence Day anniversary massacre at a students hostel in Mubi,Adamawa State,security has been tightened in tertiary institutions across the North.

Families of top government officials and security agents have also devised security measures to protect themselves and property following threats by the Islamist sect ,Boko Haram, to target wives of government functionaries.

According to investigation, security agencies have devised strategies to check the activities of the sect in tertiary institutions in view of the recent attack in Mubi.

Security sources said agents have been posted to the institutions with the firm instruction to blow the whistle before any havoc could be done.

“The Police have a deliberate policy of posting their men and officers to varsity/ polytechnic towns. They work in concert with the institutions’ security units and that is why security breaches have been reduced until recently,” sources said.

“Some miscreants are hiding under the current security challenges to wreck havoc but we are on top of the situation.”

Although the students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria are currently on holidays,the authorities of the institution have taken measures to secure lives and property on the

Akin ORIMOLADE, Abuja and Tony AKOWE, Kaduna campus in reaction to the Mubi incident.

Regular stop and search exercise at all the entry points into the institution’s two campuses is still in force.

Besides, the university has a Mobile Police unit that works with the university security unit to maintain law and order.

At the Kaduna Polytechnic, the students are just resuming from their break to commence registration for the next academic session. But at the time of this report, only a few had registered for the new semester.

As part of improved security measures, the management has commenced the reconstruction of all collapsed fences and security gates in all four campuses of the institution.

Surveillance within the institution has also been intensified .

When The Nation visited the Kaduna State University, many of the students were not on campus.One of the lecturers attributed this to the fact that the students are preparing for their second semester examinations.

“I don’t think the students are staying away because of the incident in Mubi. You know, it is normal for most students to stay away from school when they are preparing for exams. I want to believe that is what is happening.

HE Muhammadu Buhari-led Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) yesterday described the statement made by Prof. China Achebe on former military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon and the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in his latest book,as unfortunate.

The literary giant claimed that the war-time Head of State and the then vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council, formulated policies that promoted genocide against the Igbo.

Reacting to the statement, CPC National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said: “From whichever perspective you look at it Chinua Achebe is a statesman, whose mastery of prose is globally acknowledged. The question is: what is the portent of this memoir

by Professor Chinua Achebe at the twilight of his life? Does he intend to make us to continue a controversy that would definitely outlive him?

He said the statement was capable of triggering war.

“It is akin to the great Madiba, the irrepressible, indomitable Nelson Mandela writing a book and cataloguing only the heinous crimes of the white supremacists of the apartheid era. The first thing that runs through the mind (before depreciating the worth of the man) is: what is the portent of this at the ‘quarter-to-grave’ status of this old bloke?

“What you now see is that there is basically exiguous information in the memoir that obviates the need to ‘sheathe sword’ in stirring up a needless controversy in a state with fragile nationhood.

“From all intents and purposes, Prof Chinua Achebe projected a very parochial opinion about the war. I do not expect ancients like him to bring up memories that will further exacerbate the inflamed passions on the war. It is even very unfair to the memory of Chief Obafemi Awolowo because, at that time, he felt the policy of withholding feeding- which he had said was mainly directed at the Biafran fighting force- was meant to bring the war to a quick end. “ You will appreciate that statement when you consider that Iran and Iraq fought for eight years in the 80s with attendant humongous fatalities on both sides. The three-and-a-half-year duration of the Nigerian Civil war could have been extended if that policy was not in place.

“May be, one can now see the wisdom in the Ikemba’s reticence in writing a war-time memoir. For me, he remains a hero, a quintessential Nigerian patriot who did what fate thrust upon him, and he discharged with honour, courage and unflagging assiduity.

“Succinctly put, this unfortunate statement by Professor Chinua Achebe has unwittingly vitiated his worth!”

In his reaction, National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, said even though Achebe is entitled to his opinion, it is conventional in a war situation to do everything possible to enable you win such a war.

Sani said : “I remember that when such allegations were first made, Chief Awolowo replied them by saying that in a war, you do whatever you can to win. So, whatever instrument used to win the war then was okay.

“After the war, they introduced a policy that integrated the Igbos back into the Nigerian nation. I think that was a commendable effort aimed at showing that to the world that they meant well”.

Abuja-based lawyer,Mr.kayode Ajulo said:”The new book by Chinua Achebe, in my humble opinion, is nothing but an irrational continuation of the Civil War that ended before my birth which fortunately was declared as no victor, no vanquished. “ Chinua Achebe and a few others are still bitter and regard themselves as the vanquished of the war.

“His assertion on the Yoruba and Chief Obafemi Awolowo is an evidence of emblematic fixation that has plagued the writer before and after the war.

“Well-meaning Nigerians, particularly Igbo leaders and traditional rulers, are enjoined to call Achebe to order as he presently constitutes a security risk to the corporate existence of Nigeria”.

However,Achebe’s kinsmen in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, saw nothing wrong in what he said.

Dr Phillip Atanmuo a native of Ogidi and Chairman of Ohaneze Ndigbo in the state, said: “Truth is always bitter and that sums up my reaction’’.

Dr Atanmuo demanded that Nigerians face the reality of how things are and stop wiping up tribal sentiment at any slightest opportunity, retorting that those wiping up the sentiment were just striving to paint Ndigbo black. ‘’Until there is fairness , equity, justice and love for one another, Nigeria would remain down but once these virtues are propagated, healthy competition will creep in because all the best brains in the world are from Nigeria. Go to Europe and you will discover that the best brains there are from Nigeria – the most brilliant people all over the world, yet nothing is happening here because of tribalism and unnecessary bickering and antagonisms,” he said.

Cynthia: Court remands seven in prison custody

A

SABO Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, yesterday remanded seven suspects in prison custody for their alleged involvement in the murder of Nasarawa State University post graduate student, Cynthia Osokugo.

The suspects are: Okwmo Nwabufo, 33, Ezike Olisaeloka, 23, Orji Osita, 32, Maduakor Chukwunonso, 25, Gideon Okechukwu, 39, as well as Ezike Ifechukwu, 22 and Ezeaka Chinonso, 27.

Precious IGBONWELUNDU

Their remand in custody followed a re-arraignment of the suspects by the police who had at different occasions, brought the seven suspects to court under different charges.

At the last adjourned date, the prosecutor, Chukwu Agu (SP), had notified the court of the state’s intention to consolidate the various charges since the suspect were arraigned on a cause of the same transaction.

Although, the defence team objected to the merging of the various charges on grounds that some of the suspects were chargged for allegedly receiving Cynthia’s stolen property, the court upheld the plea of the prosecution and adjourned for consolidation.

At the resume hearing, an 11-count charge preferred against the suspects by the police was read to them.

Ifechukwu, who is the younger brother to the second defend-

ant, (Olisaeloka)and Chinonso were charged for conspiracy and receiving stolen Cynthia’s stolen BlackBerry Bold-5 mobile phone, valued N85, 000 sometime in July.

They pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge punishable under Sections 409 and 326(1)(2) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.

Whereas Nwabufo, Olisaeloka, Osita, Chukwunonso and Okechukwu were charged on

nine counts of murder, rape, unlawful administration of obnoxious drug, armed robbery, assault and unlawful invitation with intent to kill one Cynthia Osokogu.

Agu said their alleged offences were punishable under Sections 231, 221, 409, 295(1)(2)(a)(b), 258(1), 237, 241 and 316 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.

Their pleas were not taken as the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case.

Presiding Magistrate, Olalekan Aka-Bashorun, cancelled the bail he earlier granted Ifechukwu and Chinonso since they were now charged alongside the other suspects.

He remanded all seven suspects in prison custody pending the legal advice from the Director, Public Prosecution (DPP).

Aka-Bashorun adjourned the matter to November 5, for DPP advice.

THE NATION, Saturday, October 6, 2012

Flood sacks Imo communities T HE ravaging flood that has continued to sack communities across the country, has unleashed terror on Oguta and Ohaji/Egbema communities in Imo state.

The flood, which overflowed the Oguta Lake, submerged the bridge linking Egbema and Uli in Anambra State, sacking several villages along the bank of the lake.

The home of maverick politician, Senator Arthur Nzeribe was cut off from the rest of the community, as the road leading to his country home was flooded.

T

…Nzeribe’s home cut off n Okodili NDIDI, Owerri n Some of the villages affected by the ravaging flood include Umuanam, Apatu, Umuakishi, Umoma and Ndegwu village among other villages.

Also, the road that leads from Oguta and Egbu was overtaken by the flood, as commercial boat operators made quick money, ferrying trapped residents for N100.

In some of the villages

visited by The Nation, the flood had continued to rise following yesterday morning downpours, which washed away buildings and farmlands.

The displaced people who were yet to be resettled by government are taking refuge in public places and homes of relatives.

The state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, who visited the areas to access the level of damage done by the

flood, expressed shock at the level of destruction by the flood.

Okorocha called on the Federal Government to assist the flood victims, assuring that the state will do everything to cushion the sufferings of the displaced persons.

Meanwhile, a committee has been set up by the state government to access the level of damage, make recommendations and send relief materials to the displaced people.

HE remains of Dame Bessie Chinwe Uba, mother of Chief Chris Uba, member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Senator Andy Uba, were yesterday laid to rest in Uga, Anambra State.

Among the dignitaries who witnessed the burial were Vice President Nemadi Sambo, who represented President Goodluck Jonathan, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Others were Senate President , David Mark, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, Governors Godswill Akpabio, Theodore Orji and Alhaji Yakowa of

Police investigate Bayelsa speaker, others over alleged N78m fraud n Jude ISIGUZO n PERATIVES of the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Milliverton Road Ikoyi, Lagos, are investigating the Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Kombowel Beanson and 18 other house members over an alleged N78m fraud.

Police investigators are investigating a case of conspiracy, misappropriation and conversion of N78m public funds leveled against Hon. Benson, and 18 other members of the State House of Assembly.

The Nation gathered that the speaker and other House members are being investigated following a petition by Transparency and Good Governance Coalition, Abuja.

It was learnt that the group alleged that the suspects requested for approval of N78, 000,000.00 from the governor to attend the 43rd C o m m o n w e a l t h Parliamentary Association (CPA), Africa Regional Conference in South Africa from 29th June to 8th July, 2012.

The petition further alleged that the Honourable Speaker and the other members of the State House of Assembly did not attend the conference, but converted public fund to their personal purse.

SFU spokesperson, Ngozi Isintume, who confirmed the story, said, "Police investigation so far revealed that the Speaker, leading other 18 members, including his Deputy, with the exception of Hon. Omonibeke and three others, departed Nigeria for South Africa, allegedly for the conference on the 6th of July and arrived Johannesburg on 7th July, 2012, the day the conference ended.

O

n Odogwu Emeka n ODOGWU, Nnewi Akwa Ibom, Abia and Kaduna states respectively, Senator Abdul Ningi and Senator Chris Ngige among many others.

At the burial service, the Primate, Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Reverend Nicholas Oko, appealed to the family to reconcile and make peace. He prayed God to continue to bring the family together, and asked for the grace of unity in the family.

In his message, President Jonathan asked the Uba family to take solace in the fact that their mother lived a life worthy of emulation. He said their mother impacted positively on the lives of people around her.

Governor Peter Obi commended the dignitaries for coming to console the Uba family over the death of their mother and commiserated with the family.

In his funeral oration, Senator Andy Uba said his late mother kept the spirit of their late father alive and struggled to keep the family together until she breath her last.

30-year-old man bags six years imprisonment over illegal arms Ugochukwu n UGOJI-EKE, Umuahia n

•Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Senator Andy Uba, during the funeral service for the senator’s mother, at Uga, Anambra State, yesterday.

Delta leaders dismiss marginalization allegation, meet media professionals in Warri HE character and values of some politicians in Delta State, on Thursday, came under the searchlight of The People’s Movement, a group of prominent indigenes of the state, and the group did not mince words in asking the detractors of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to bury their heads in shame.

The group bemoaned the actions of some politicians, self- acclaimed human rights activists and community leaders, insisting that Governor Uduaghan’s decision to channel Delta State resources towards making life better for the ordinary citizens of the state was the root of most of his problems

T

with the elite.

The group, in a press release issued in Lagos by its Director of Communications, Mrs. Ibifuro Tatua, dismissed the allegation of marginalization by some ethnic leaders, accusing the elite of promoting their selfish interest. “ If you don’t tar any road or build any hospital, so long as you are able to satisfy their personal needs, they believe you are the best,” the group said.

Continuing, the group said: “if you are a parasite trying to see that everything that comes in to benefit the society, you pocket it, you cannot be a friend to Governor Uduaghan.

What Deltans need today,

Banks shut over robbery scare in Imo ANK customers were yesterday stampeded out of the banking halls by terrified bank officials in Owerri, the Imo State capital, as banks hurriedly shut down, over a purported security alert of bank robbery in one of the first generation banks in the state.

The banks gave their staff 30 minutes to close down all banking activities, while the customers were asked to vacate the halls with immediate effect.

This was coming barely 24 hours after the Police foiled three attempted bank robberies in the state, when the state Police Commissioner, Baba Adisa Bolanta, led a team of policemen in smashing the robbery gang.

But in a swift reaction, the Police doused the fear, which had earlier forced banking and other

B

NEWS 61 Andy Uba’s mother laid to rest

n Okodili NDIDI, Owerri n commercial activities to a halt, as stern-looking policemen took strategic positions around the banks and other busy places in the city.

The incident, which took place at about noon, came through a telephone alert which was sent to the Police Command informing them of a purported robbery incident that was taking place at a first generation bank along Mbari street in Owerri Municipal Council Area.

It was gathered that the banks had to close down for fear of possible attack as customers were seen rushing out of the banks in panic following the report that turned out to be a false alarm.

according to the group, is for them to look at the basis, particularly the governor’s three point agenda of peace/ security, human capital and infrastructural development, and then support him in taking the state to greater heights.

It stressed that Delta State is moving forward because of the governor’s effective deployment of state resources.

“If you were ever familiar with the state five years ago, and you compare it with what Delta State is today, you will agree that the Uduaghan–led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government has taken the state forward creditably.

The governor has touched the lives of the ordinary people.”

The group, while commending the governor for his plans to embark on the reclamation of the environment and protection of the shoreline, appealed to different organisations, corporate bodies and nongovernmental organizations to contribute their quotas in alleviating the sufferings of the displaced people in the state.

It also appealed to those behind the abduction of the Delta State Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof.

Hope Eghagha to release him.

The group also announced its determination to work with other democratic forces to build a better future for the people of the state. “ We cannot achieve anything by jeering at each other and destroying our great state. The energies we dissipate in pointless controversies should be channeled into positive objectives” the group advised.

The group of prominent Deltans recognizing common problems, rolling up their sleeves and coming together to solve them, the statement further said,

High Court sitting in Umuahia, Abia State, and presided over by Justice Kenneth O. Wosu, has sentenced a 30-year old man, Mr. Ikechukwu Kalu, to six years imprisonment with hard labour for illegal possession of arms.

Kalu was arrested on the 7th of July 2007, with two locally made double barrel gun, one locally made Revolver Pistol and one locally made double barrel pistol at Imo Transport Company (ITC) Park, Umuahia, Abia State, while trying to board a bus to Onitsha .

Other items, which the convict concealed in his luggage included five military ammunition of 0.99mm, 33 live cartridges, 2 charms, 3 Handsets and N25,870, an offence punishable under section 3(1) of the Firearms Act. Cap 389 Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1990 applicable in Abia State

A

Suspected gunmen kidnap DPP chairmanship aspirant n Polycarp OROSEVWOTU, Warri n USPECTED gunmen yesterday kidnapped a chairmanship aspirant of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State, Chief Peter Uvie Jitobor at his Sedico junction office, in Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.

It was gathered that Chief Jitobor was abducted and taken to the bank of the river under the Udu Bridge, from where he was bundled into a waiting speed boat and taken to an unknown destination by the suspected kidnappers.

According to source close to the family, the suspected kidnappers were yet to make any contact with the family, who he said has reported the incident to law enforcement agencies.

Some prominent chiefs of Udu community, who spoke on condition of anonymity, condemned the act, and pleaded with the state government and the law enforcement agents to take life and property of citizenry as priority.

S

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2012

62

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 6-10-12

Profit taking halts bullish trend HE recent upward rally on the floor of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) came to a halt yesterday due to profit bookings exerted by market participants.

This was highlighted by negative turn on market breadth as league of declined stocks outweighed advanced once in the ratio of 28:26.

The market recorded a succession of 4-day uptrend (addition of Friday last week) before yesterday's turn.

Within this period, majority of stocks in the market making baskets returned strong capital growth.

In summary, NSE-ASI shed marginal 5.94 absolute points, representing 0.01 per cent depreciation, to close low at 26,442.67 points. Similarly, the market weight indicated

by Market Capitalisation shed N1 billion, also repre-

T

By Taofik Salako andTonia Osundolire

senting 0.02 per cent decline, to close low at N8.41 trillion.

However, total volume of shares transacted dropped to 430.564 million shares, valued at N2.977 billion in 5,341 deals, compared with 3.64 billion shares worth N32.48 billion exchanged in 4,733 deals posted on Thursday.

The Financial Services sector as usual led the volume of transactions with 347.683 million shares worth N1.856 billion in 3,076 deals. This was followed by the conglomerates with 33.354 million shares. Consumer goods, oil & gas, health care, industrial goods and services also recorded high turnover with 25.874 million shares, 6.002 million shares, 5.133 million shares, 5.013 million shares and 3.328 million shares respectively.

Specifically, analysts said that investors appeared comfortable with recent capital gain garnered on Access Bank in the light of indifference posture on the stock a day after it was added to the market making basket. It was massively disposed for profit sake.

As such, it led the active traded stock's log with 91.554 million shares, valued at N777.378 million exchanged in 582 deals. Mansard Insurance, Goldlink Insurance, Transcorp and Custodian & Allied followed in sequence with 66.480 million shares, 32.561 million shares, 30.437 million shares and 23.064 million shares respectively.

Access Bank, which led the losers’ table of 28 stocks dropped N0.64 to close at N8.51 followed by Oando, MRS, Transcorp and UPL with price drop of N0.67, N1.61, N0.06 and N0.21.

On the gainers’ list, AIICO led with an increase of N0.06 to close at N0.68, followed by Academy Press with a gain of N0.15 to close at N1.94. Also on the table were Red Star Express, Fidelity Bank and Cadbury with price gain of N0.21, N0.10 and N1.31.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 6-10-12

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

63

SPORT EXTRA

Odemwingie may return in bench role for QPR W

EST BROM striker Peter Odemwingie is available again after serving a three-match ban but might not start at home to Queens Park Rangers.

Odemwingie was sent off at Fulham for aiming an impetuous kick at Sascha Riether.

In his absence, both Shane Long and Romelu Lukaku have impressed and Albion find themselves sixth in the Premier League table.

Baggies boss Steve Clarke welcomes the return of the Nigeria international but stresses that there is now competition for places among the forwards at the Hawthorns.

Clarke said: "Peter is available again. He is in the squad. He has trained well.

But Peter has had to sit on the sidelines for the last three games through his own fault.

"If and when he gets the chance to make amends, he is more than welcome to do that. But everyone has got to battle for their place."

"He accepts that, he accepted

that at the time, and we just welcome him back to the squad.

"If and when he gets the chance to make amends, he is more than welcome to do that.

"But everyone has got to battle for their place. It has

been like that since the start of the season.

"We have sat here on a number of occasions and spoken about the competition for places, how it gives me a headache.

"Nothing has changed, it is the same situation now and it is one that we relish."

• Odemwingie

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

Nigeria, Venezuela tickets on sale October 8

T

ICKETS to the u p c o m i n g international friendly between Nigeria and Venezuela will go on sale on Monday, October 8, sportsrollcall.com has reliably gathered.

The Marlins officially announced on Tuesday that both countries will play each other in the first international soccer match at Marlins Park on Nov. 14.

Thousands of Venezuelan fans won't have to wait as tickets with price ranging from $25-$200 will go on sale at marlins.com, as stipulated.

The game will be a prelude to the Miami Soccer Challenge scheduled at Marlins Park in January.

Venezuelans are looking to catching a glimpse of Nigerian stars, chiefly among which are first choice Vincent Enyeama, who stole their hearts with brave saves at 2010 World Cup in South Africa and Taye Taiwo, who they claim offers plenty firepower from the left-back position.

Venezuela will be relying on their youngsters, who excelled at the 2009 FIFA World Youth Championship in Egypt, among which are Yohandry Orozco and Salomon Rondon, both of whom are now playing in Europe.

The home team will also be banking on experienced legs such as Juan Arango, Giancarlo Maldonado and Jose Manuel Rey.

A

NATIONS CUP QUALIFIERS

Liberia plots to humiliate Nigeria in Calabar

N

IGERIA’S Super Eagles could be up to a rude shock thinking the upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifier against Lone Star of Liberia in Calabar will be a summer stroll in the park.

Sportsrollcall.com gathered that the visitors have put plans in place to ensure they humiliate Super Eagles during the October 13th corresponding fixture.

This exercise is seen as a national assignment by Liberians, with news rife that the country’s number one citizen, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will be at U.J Esuene Stadium to cheer the Lone Star to victory over their illustrious West African counterparts and pick a ticket to next year’s AFCON in South Africa.

The Lone Star , which forced Nigeria to a 2-2 draw in the first leg in Monrovia departed for Ghana Wednesday , where to camp intensively for seven days leading to the make or mar

encounter in Calabar.

The 24-man delegation comprising about 12 local and four foreign based players and eight technical and support staff was supposed to have left for Ghana on Sunday to begin their tactical and psychological training, but the trip was postponed till Wednesday.

The Liberia Football Association and the Lone Star Mobilization Committee raised about US$270,000 for the camping and other related undertakings.

The seven-day camping is intended to “greatly contribute to Liberia’s win at the difficult hunting ground in the decisive 2nd leg match against the Super Eagles in Calabar, Nigeria on Saturday, October 13.

When contacted, Lone Star head Coach James Kaetu Smith hoped the camping programme will be a stepup approach to humiliate Nigeria in their back yard.

Meanwhile, the

Omeruo yet to arrive for Amajita

DO Den Haag defender, Kenneth Omeruo is yet to arrive in Nigeria ahead of Sunday’s 2013 Africa Youth Championship qualifier against South Africa.

Omeruo, who has been impressive with Den Haag in the Eredivisie this season was one of two foreign-based pros invited by the Nigeria coach for

the clash against the Amajita.

The big defender is, however, expected in the country on Friday.

Ukraine-based Aliyu Mohammed has, however, joined his Flying Eagles teammates ahead of Sunday’s clash.

Head coach of the team, Sam John Obuh said his team are

set for the clash against the Amajita.

“We are set for the game. The players have been giving their best in training and we are now waiting for Sunday. The South Africans are good but by the grace of God we will overcome them and qualify for the AYC next year,” Obuh told supersport.com.

Confederation of African Football has a leading South African match official Daniel Bennet as centre referee of the match.

Marwa Range Aden of Kenya will serve as assistant referee one, while Zekhele Siwela also of South Africa as assistant referee two. And Victor Gomes, another South African will serve as reserve referee.

Mouucharafou Anjorin of Benin repubulic will serve as match commissioner. CAF has appointed an additional official for the match who Mbengue Abel of Cameroon.

Don’t stop the league (2) • Continued from back page make from merchandising? All these business activities happen because there is zero tolerance for sharp practices in those climes. The only way we can move forward is ensuring that people who take money from firms render account.

Otherwise, there will be no deal from the blue-chip companies in Nigeria for our soccer.

Globally, club football thrives on several marketing windows that increase the cash flow for all the participants. Such windows are title sponsorship rights, television rights, official insurers, official kitting firms, official beverage firms, official water firms, agencies responsible for the billboards and others boards that carry the message of the game to the public.

These windows serve as one of the ways of generating revenue. Cash realised from these marketing ventures are declared at the end of the season, such that clubs know what to expect from each window to drive their transfer sales even before their proprietors pull out their cheque books. I laugh when people say that our clubs are cash-strapped. I wonder if anyone has asked those who manage government clubs how much they make from selling our players in inter and intra club transfers? Do we really care? If we do, many people who run these clubs will be in jail. We need this therapy to instill the fear of God in our administrators. The sale of players in the transfer period is bonanza for many clubs that groom rookies and a drain in the purse for those who thrive in splashing cash on new players annually. Our administrators are mindless, if we consider how much telecommunication giants Globacom sank into the Nigeria Premier League in 2006- about N2.4 billion.

Surprised, please don’t be. Globacom coughed out N693 million during the 2006-2007 season where there was an abridged league (18 weeks). Again in for the 2007-2008 season , Glo put in N762.6 million for 38 matches; 2008-2009 season N835 million for another 38 matches. Indeed, Globacom paid additional N25 million each year for seminars. Did I hear shout aloud bazaar? You haven’t read anything about how cash flowed into the domestic game.

Globacom paid upwards of N18 million to organise the end of season Super Four but those who ran the show didn’t consider it expedient to pay the winners prize money. Nigeria, we hail thee!

Many would say that the NPL boards did their audits. But, it is not true that the new board inherited a debt of over N12 million? What did the predecessor of the debtor board leave in the NPL coffers? Did the NPL not boast that part of its feats was in having its own secretariat? Is it not also true that that edifice was used as collateral for loans that could make the boastful body lose it? Did they pay the clubs their share of the sponsorship deal for its duration? What happened to all the tours to England some people undertook in the name of collaboration with the English Football Association (NFA)? Why would we still be struggling with television rights if the proper things were done? How much is the NPL worth? These are the real issues that must be addressed, if we hope to make any meaningful change in the domestic league.

Okwuosa set for PSL debut

F

FORMER Rangers skipper James Okwousa will debut in the South Africa Premier League on Friday for Chippa United after he got his work permit.

Okwousa joined Ajax Cape Town during the summer transfer, but was shipped out to newly promoted Chippa United.

His agent Mohammed Lawal disclosed to MTNFootball.com that his player is not on loan to Chippa as has been widely reported, but he has signed a permanent contract with them.

"Okwousa is now a player of Chippa United. He joined them from Ajax Cape Town on a permanent transfer for a season with an option for another two years and not loan. He is yet to play in the league because his work permit was not ready, but it is here now and he is on the list for the game against Maritzburg on Friday. He cannot wait to play," Lawal told MTNFootball.com Okwousa has only played a friendly against Manchester United for Ajax before he changed clubs.

Joel Obi: My injury was a difficult period

N

IGERIAN star Joel Obi has said he has put behind “a difficult period” when he returned from injury to score in a Europa League tie.

Obi has been ruled out of action for several months, but returned in fine style Thursday night to score in Inter Milan 3-1 win at Neftci PFK in Azerbaijan.

"It was a difficult period that I've put behind me now. The coach and the club have faith in me and that's very motivating,” said the young midfielder after his comeback goal, which incidentally was his first for his Italian club.

"I never thought I would score so soon after returning from injury, but that made it

feel all the more special."

He dedicated the goal to his family. “(The goal) is to my family and everyone else who has helped me during my time out,” he told his club’s website.

Joel Obi also said he will be happy to play in any role for Inter as long as he is playing.

“What role I will play is not for me to decide, but it's important to be playing," he said.

• Joel Obi

TOMORROWPUNCHLINE IN THE NATION

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL.7, NO. 2270

The truth of the matter is that the kind of indefensible claim that the government made about its anti-corruption efforts is the way Nigerian officials bandy figures and claims; they had been doing it within for long, it is only that the attempt to begin charity’ abroad this time has backfired

—Tunji Adegboyega

I

have adapted as the title of this piece the famous Latin American literature Nobel Prize winner, Garcia Marchia’s novel, ‘Love in the Time of cholera’. The reason for this is of course obvious. The last 52 years have been a season of national cholera for Nigeria. Cholera has been described as an acute intestinal disease that is often fatal. Pray, are the intestinal component units, institutions and values of the Nigerian state not severely diseased, contaminated and in grave danger of irredeemable extinction?

The causes of cholera include poor sanitation, crowding, war, famine as well as eating or drinking contaminated food or water. Do millions of our people not live in insanitary and dehumanising environments? Are millions of Nigerians across the country not forced to live in overcrowded rooms, including slums and urban shanties? Are we not already in a situation of war with the violent activities of the Boko Haram fundamentalist Islamic group, kidnappers, armed robbers and sundry criminal elements that continue to defy the authority of the Nigerian state?

Are millions of Nigerians not living today in conditions difficult to differentiate from famine? The value of the Naira continues to plummet. At the same time food prices keeps rising thus making hunger the constant companion of the vast majority of Nigerians. In any case, can the vast majority of jobless youths afford to feed in any meaningful manner? Do millions of Nigerians have access to clean drinking water despite the country being blessed so abundantly with water? Have we not seen some of our compatriots foraging in garbage dumps for something to eat? In a condition of mass poverty with the minimum wage embarrassingly far below the cost of living, can many Nigerians, already living in desperately poor conditions, really care about the quality of food they eat? Are they, therefore, not vulnerable to eating contaminated food?

In other words, the conditions for the outbreak of national cholera are right here with us? And in many ways Nigeria is already exhibiting symptoms of cholera, which include watery diearrhea that starts suddenly (Boko Haram), rapid dehydration (massive corruption), rapid pulse (insecurity), nausea (Otedollar/Lawan saga), glassy or sunken eyes (collapsed education and health) as well as unusual sleepiness and tiredness (anaemic presidential leadership).

To treat cholera, health care workers replace fluid and electrolytes lost by the patient through diearrhea. But can Nigeria find the right type of visionary, courageous and selfless leadership that can cure this scourge of cholera that is slowly suffocating and insidiously bleeding the Nigerian polity to death? As I drove out of Lagos during the week, these were the questions on my mind. Can President Goodluck Jonathan be that quintessential statesman that will restore the country to socio-economic,

Hope in a season of national cholera

‘

Cholera has been described as an acute intestinal disease that is often fatal. Pray, are the intestinal component units, institutions and values of the Nigerian state not severely diseased, contaminated and in grave danger of irredeemable extinction?

’

political and moral health? There is absolutely no reason to believe he has any such capacity.

And nothing demonstrates this better than his Independence Day anniversary speech to the nation. As many analysts have said, the speech was listless, insipid, colourless, utterly uninspiring and even bordering on terminological inexactitude (not falsehood), in some parts.

Even more alarmingly, the speech gave the impression of a presidency absolutely out of touch with the contemporary Nigerian reality and is thus satisfied with its performance so far.

President Jonathan called on “every Nigerian to remain steadfast because our nation is making progress”. I am not sure that deep in his heart the President believes this outrageous claim that contrasts so sharply with the state of the country today.

Nothing illustrated the lack of progress in Nigeria better than the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on which I was travelling as I reflected on our 52nd Independence Day anniversary and President Jonathan’s leadership capacity. Like several other highways across the country, this

road has been abandoned by the PDP-controlled Federal government since 1999. The pot holes and veritable craters on the road are a national embarrassment. No, we have regressed rather than progressed in virtually all aspects of national life contrary to President Jonathan’s assertion. In reality, the country is far worse today than she was in 1999.

President Jonathan is most certainly right in recalling how the country “weathered the storm of the civil”, and urging Nigerians to be courageous and hopeful. But then, if the necessary radical institutional and structural reforms to make the country strong and viable are not undertaken we will inevitably end up with another conflagration much worse than the civil war. So far his administration’s Transformation Agenda remains just another slogan that simply does not resonate with the majority of the Nigerian people. The more the Jonathan administration shouts about its Transformation Agenda from the hilltop, the more the people get poorer and angrier at the inhuman conditions of their existence.

All through the speech, Mr. President gave the impression of a man who is satisfied with the performance of his administration so far.

He measures economic progress not by the ac-

tual reality and deplorable living standards of Nigerians but by abstract GDP statistical growth rates. How can a country be said to have an economic growth rate of 7.1% yet the majority of her people are impoverished and her infrastructure dilapidated beyond comprehension?

The President is naturally happy about the recent marginal improvement in power supply. In reality, he ought to be very sad and angry that a country with a population of 160 million is only attaining 4,500 MW of electricity after 13 years of the return to civilian rule and over $16 billion gone down the drain. Millions of unemployed youths across the country would find the President’s claim of “creating wealth and millions of jobs for our youth and general population” most laughable.

The President claimed his administration has improved the country’s investment climate thus attracting more investment to the country. He believes that due to his administration’s efforts “there has been a significant decline in the spate of security breaches”. Yet, Mr. President addressed the nation from the safety of his Aso Rock Villa rather than preside over a presidential parade at the Eagle Square! What signal does he think that sends to foreign investors and even Nigerians about the true state of security in the country?

In spite of all that is wrong with Nigeria, there is cause for hope that this season of cholera will soon come to an end. But, then that can only happen when people are politically conscious and are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to fight for a credible electoral system that will ensure their votes count. That way, they will be able to vote for candidates at all levels with the character, competence and vision to promote development, peace and progress of Nigeria. A credible electoral system will put public officers on their toes because they know that the electorate has the capacity to vote them out of office through free and fair elections. A credible electoral system is therefore the only hope for the liberation of Nigeria from this humiliating season of national cholera. The last test case was Edo. The people voted emphatically for change. The next port of call on October 20 is Ondo state. Yours truly was in Akure, Ikare, Ondo town and Ore during the week. I was utterly shocked at the total lack of development; the terrible deterioration of infrastructure and the palpable poverty in at least in those three key towns. Now, if the towns look like large urban slums, what would be the situation in the rule areas of Ondo state? I could thus understand the huge turn out at the ACN rallies and the yearning for change that is so obvious in the state. It is up to the people to exercise the power of their vote and vigilantly police their votes. The outcome of the Ondo polls will hopefully be another giant stride towards liberating Nigeria from the national cholera of the past 52 years.

Ade Ojeikere on Saturday talk2adeojeikere@yahoo.com

Don’t stop the league (2)

T

HE domestic league is off - technically.

The talk among the league clubs is that the honourable sports minister directed its stoppage to redefine the way the game is being run. Fantastic idea. But doesn’t this offer lazy clubs and managers an excuse for their failure at the end of the season?

If the essence of stopping the league is to restore the confidence of the corporate world in the, then we have shot ourselves in the foot. There are existing deals in the league that are time bound. Supersports has scheduled games for certain periods. The stoppage means that the South African television network will be compelled to look for fillers. Yet, the real problem will be finding space for the league matches which will definitely clash with existing programmes at some point. Companies’ fiscal year won’t accommodate our plans largely because they maintain a January-December calendars. Besides, they won’t trust us to keep to the time-table.

Nigeria will lose the advantage gained in having our league to run in tandem with other leagues. Our domestic clubs will suffer when other leagues’ transfer windows open. The good

ones in our league will sneak out for trials and deplete their teams. Teams will be weakened by the absence of their stars and quality of play. Of course, if the fans are dissatisfied with what they see, they won’t return to watch subsequent matches.

Besides, most governors of states which own teams have found an alibi to keep club officials at arms’ length and that could be dangerous, especially as most governors take delight in working in Abuja, leaving their states at a standstill until they return.

Players and coaches will be roaming the cities, condemned to playing the game in their neighbourhoods, particularly on school grounds with improvised facilities. Shylock agents prancing waiting to lure the weak-hearted among them into slavish contracts outside the country.

These shylocks need not wait for long because the players would soon be hungry, if they aren’t already.

The real causalities are the country’s representatives at the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) inter-club competitions. Those who will also feel the pang are the country’s flag bearers in CAF and FIFA U-20, U-23 and Super Eagles because our boys will be match rusty. A clear

case of the effect of this lacuna is the appeal of Sunshine FC’s management to Eagles chief coach Stephen Keshi to cajole the boys to play for Nigeria. Of course, the Ondo State governor is deeply enmeshed in the fight of his life to gain a second berth in the Sunshine State. Football is nothing. But you ask, did he not make provision for this in previous budgets? That is the real reason why we must cultivate the habit of prosecuting those who misappropriate cash meant for the development of sports, not just football.

Again, honourable minister, Keshi on Wednesday told the press that he invited 23 home-based players to the Super Eagles camp head of the October 13 Africa Cup of Nations tie against Liberia because he wasn’t sure of the players’ form since it the league is off. I dey laugh o!

The lull in the league has divided the media with spurious claims being made to justify why the game must be grounded. The reasons being advanced now are not different from those we heard from the same characters in the past. The new order they are lynching, they once told us were the best option. The implication is that we are chasing selfish interests couched in the drape of change. Yet, I know that the minister’s plans transcend the media lynching that the present

order is facing.

The pre-season media blitz as it concerns players’ movements heightens the awareness among clubs’ fans, such that everyone is eager to know what to expect and make frantic bids to secure their tickets in a bid to watch their idols.

The fans’ debates help to convince the business sector to inject cash into the European leagues, knowing that they can connect with the masses to sell their products and services seamlessly. This crucial marketing activity rubs off handsomely on the clubs. It also creates competition among brands which eventually think of windows where they can identify with the global brand- soccer. It is difficult in Nigeria because those who own the property prefer to use middle men not because they are better bargainers, but because they can strike shady deals with them easily. This trend continues because we have failed to probe funds pumped into sports.

This lapse has emboldened others to fill their pockets and impoverish the players and coaches, who should benefit the most.

Indeed, European clubs start reaping cash from the sales of shirts of their new recruits, especially the big ones. Need I waste space to talk about the market activities surrounding big stars, such as Cristano Ronaldo, when he left Manchester United for Real Madrid? Or can we situate the money that megastars, such as David Beckham and Lionel Messi, •Continued on Page 63

Published and printed by Vintage Press Limited. Corporate Office: 27B Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Lagos. P.M.B. 1025, Oshodi, Lagos.

Telephone: Switch Board: 01-8168361. Editor-08094000052, Marketing: 01-8155547, Abuja Office: Plot 5, Nanka Close AMAC Commercial Complex, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja, Tel/07028105302 `Website: www.thenationonlineng.net E-mail: saturday@thenationonlineng.com ISSN: 115-5302 Editor: DELE ADEOSUN