Saturday 20, 2012

Why Nigerians hate Igbo, by Chinua Achebe

Why we’re not yet 21 married Page

Super single celebrities open up

Revealed: ‘How Page 2 Ojukwu rejected food aid for starving Biafrans’

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper www.thenationonlineng.net

VOL.07 N0. 2284

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Ondo poll: Page

15 arrested in 5 Afenifere chief’s home for illegal voting Six LP chieftains on the run

•Akeredolu

•Mimiko

N150.00

33 drown as bus plunges into river on Sagamu- Page Ore road 59

Flooding: Mother, daughter die in boat mishap Page 59

•Oke

Akeredolu, Mimiko, Oke in final showdown How they stand All eyes on INEC Pages Residents stockpile foodstuff 4,11-20

SEE PAGE 63 FOR DETAILS

Page

Fresh killings in UNIPORT’s host community 57

2 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Adamawa crisis: Gov Nyako begs PDP leaders A DAMAWA State Governor, Murtala Nyako, was at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday to beg the leadership of the party to rescind its decision on the dissolution of the PDP executive council in the state.

The national leadership of

Gbade OGUNWALE, Assistant Editor, Abuja

the party had dissolved the state Exco last week for what the party described as serial disobedience to directives from the national secretariat.

Nyako, who stormed the party secretariat with his entourage, pleaded with the

leaders to restore the dissolved exco, saying that he regretted every of his action that led to the dissolution of the exco.

He said there was nothing wrong in begging the leadership of the party for leniency.

Nyako stated: “There is nothing wrong in begging.

PDP is a very large family. It

has elder brother and younger brother. In our own situation, we have a national headquarters, we have a state chapter of the party, we have local government chapter of the party, we have the ward, we have the unit leadership.

“So, if there is any shortcoming, we should express regrets that this has happened.

“It is a large family. We are here to tell our elder brother our own version of the story.

“We are here as the state chapter, which I am privileged to be the leader.

“Don’t forget I am not the chairman. I am the leader of the party in the state and I am here to explain what has happened.

“It is a very busy time for us in Adamawa. We had election this year. We have the menace of Boko-Haram and

flooding. So, we are very busy.

“Sometimes when you are busy the way we are, omission is inevitable. So, whatever the omission or shortcoming is observed in our conduct, we extend our regrets.”

The Governor told the party leaders that the various waring factions in the state were being reconciled and that peace would soon return to the chapter.

Firm accuses army of illegal closure of office

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•Some Kogi indigenes, led by former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dino Melaye, protesting the removal of the Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly in Abuja yesterday.

LAGOS-based property management firm, NAITCO Services Ltd, has accused the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Victoria Island, Lagos of unlawful closure of its office located in its premises.

In a petition written by Otaru Otaru and Co, on behalf of the Managing Director of the firm, Mr Olaitan Omoyele, to the Chief of Army Staff, the firm alleged that the authorities of 81 Division of the Nigerian Army had forcibly sealed up its office on September 24, 2012.

The petition reads in part:

Why I signed convicts’ death warrants __Oshiomhole

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DO State AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice, Osagie Obayuwana, yesterday defended the action of Governor Adams Oshiomhole in signing the death warrants of two persons convicted of murder.

Obayuwana said the governor acted within the law, adding that the Supreme Court had confirmed their sentences.

The names of the two condemned convicts, according to sources, are Osaremwinda Aiguohian and Daniel Nsofor.

Osagie OTABOR, Benin Augustine EHIKIOYA, Abuja It was gathered that the governor signed their death warrants over the offences they were convicted of.

Aiguohian was said to have killed his victim and dismembered the body which were buried separately to avoid detection.

The convict described his action in his defence during trial in court as a “mistake”. But the

Supreme Court, in affirming his death sentence in 2004, said “the likes of Aiguohian belong to the Hades.”

Daniel was said to have strangled his female victim after stealing her money.

Governor Oshiomhole reviewed the death sentences of four other convicts whose names were given as Callistis Nkem, Monday Odu, Zubeiru Abdulrama and Tijani Mustapha.

Callistus and Monday were pardoned and released while

the others’ sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.

Governor Oshiomhole ordered that job be given to Monday while transport fare was given to Callistus to go back to Imo State.

Oshiomhole said the National Human Rights Commission and other bodies were wrong in saying that he signed the warrants of Callistus and Olu Fatogun.

He said Olu’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment while Callistus was re-

leased.

According to him, “the state must be seen to be sensitive to the feelings of persons and their families. The National Human Rights Commission was wrong. They must be seen to be painstaking in matters of life and death. They must check their facts rights. The state does not exercise mercy on such persons. I decided to free those who didn’t kill to go and sin no more. We must send clear message to criminals that they have no right to kill and live.

Kunle AKINRINADE “The office has been under barricade on the instructions of the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division, Major General KTJ Minimah, and our client, who is a law abiding gentleman, has since stayed away from the premises.

“However, in the morning of September 24, 2012, at about 10.03 am, our client got a call from the Assistant Chief of Staff of the 81 Division, Lt. Col. Victor Ezugwu, ordering him to vacate his office before close of work on September 24.

“It is worthy of note that our client had duly paid his rent for 2012 in respect of that office thereby making him a lawful tenant till December 2012.

Responding on the telephone, the Assistant Chief of Staff, 81 Division, Lt. Col Victor Ezugwu, said: ”I am not competent to speak on this matter. The appropriate quarters should be our lawyers because I have just resumed duties here.

“Moreover, we are in court and our accusers know the right thing to do but they are just trying to play around the matter.”

Why Nigerians hate Igbo, by Chinua Achebe NIGERIA’S foremost novelist Chinua Achebe has claimed that Nigerians, especially of the Hausa/Fulani and the Yoruba stocks, do not like his Igbo ethnic group because of the southeast’s cultural advantage.

He made this claim in his new book, There was a Country, which has generated controversy for his onslaught on the role of Obafemi Awolowo as the federal commissioner of finance during the Nigeria civil war.

He accused Awolowo of genocide and imposition of food blockade on Biafra, a claim that has drawn rebuttals and contradictions of emotional intensity from some southwest leaders and commentators.

“I have written in my small book entitled The Trouble with Nigeria that Nigerians will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo,” he wrote under the heading, A History of Ethnic Tension and Resentment. He traced the origin of “the national resentment of the Igbo” to its culture that “gave the Igbo man an unquestioned advantage over his compatriots in securing credentials for advancement in Nigerian colonial society.”

He observed that the Igbo culture’s emphasis on change,

Revealed: ‘How Ojukwu rejected food aid for starving Biafrans’

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NE of the many aides of the late Biafran leader, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, resigned angrily in August 1968 after accusing him of frustrating international efforts to get food aid across to civilians caught on the wrong side of the civil war.

Robert S. Goldstein, an American and Public Relations Representative of Biafra in the USA, accused the late Ojukwu of using ‘ starving hordes as hostages to negotiate a victory in the war.

His letter of resignation, which was first published by the defunct Morning Post on August 17, 1968, resurfaced in the wake of Prof. Chinua Achebe’s damning condemnation of the role of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo during the war, especially the blockage of food to the rebels.

Goldstein, in the letter, recalled various efforts he made to swing public opinion in Europe and the USA in favour of the defunct Biafra and the subsequent recognition of such countries like Gabon,Tanzania, Zambia, Ivory Coast and Haiti until Ojukwu began to undermine those achievements by “hoping to use these unfortunates with world sympathy on their side as a tool to further your ambition to achieve war concessions at the upcoming peace talks in Addis Ababa.”

(See full letter on page 60) He said: “Urgent telex messages were received from ‘Biafra’ telling of tens of thousands of people starving in the refugee camps, Sam OMATSEYE individualism and competitiveness gave his ethnic group an edge over the Hausa/ Fulani man who was hindered by a “wary religion” and the Yoruba man who was hampered by” traditional hierarchies.”

He therefore described the Igbo, who are predominantly Catholic, as “fearing no god or man, was “custom-made to

grasp the opportunities, such as they were, of the white man’s dispensations. And the Igbo did so with both hands.”

He delved into history with his claim, asserting that the Igbo overcame the earlier Yoruba advantage within two decades earlier in the twentieth century.

“Although the Yoruba had a huge historical and geographical head start, the Igbo wiped

the villages, the bush country - stating if something weren’t done in the next few months over a million women, children and aged would be starved to death. I immediately contacted the Press, urgently petitioned the State Department for action on their part. “ Food, medicine and milk were sent to the only available ports open for immediate shipment to ‘Biafra’ via land routes through Federal and Biafra territory, under the auspices of world organisations such as the International Red Cross among others.

“Then came the incredible answer from ‘Biafra’ that land corridors could not be acceptable until there was a complete ceasefire, and that an airlift was the only solution to feed the starving.

“You then appeared before the various Heads of State and representatives of the OAU at Niamey in Niger. I fully expected you to at least accept the world help that was offered your starving throngs.

However, you delayed, hoping to use these unfortunates with world sympathy on their side as a tool to further your ambition to achieve war concessions at the upcoming peace talks in Addis Ababa. Thus, innocent victims continue to perish needlessly of starvation, the most agonising death that can befall any living creature.

“I cannot in all conscience serve you any longer. Nor can I be a party to suppressing the fact that your starving thousands have the food, medicine and milk available to them.....it can and is ready to be delivered through international organisations to you. Only your constant refusal has stopped its delivery.” out their handicap in one fantastic burst of energy in the twenty years between 1930 and 1950.”

He narrated the earlier advantage of Yoruba as contingent on their location on the coastline, but once the missionaries crossed the Niger, the Igbo took advantage of the opportunity and overtook the Yoruba.

‘The increase was so expo-

nential in such a short time that within three short decades the Igbos had closed the gap and quickly moved ahead as the group with the highest literacy rate, the highest standard of living, and the greatest of citizens with postsecondary education in Nigeria,” he contended.

He said Nigerian leadership should have taken advantage of the gbo talent and this failure was partly responsible for

the failure of the Nigerian state, explaining further that competitive individualism and the adventurous spirit of the Igbo was a boon Nigerian leaders failed to recognize and harness for modernization.

“Nigeria’s pathetic attempt to crush these idiosyncrasies rather than celebrate them is one of the fundamental reasons the country has not developed as it should and has emerged as a laughingstock,” he claimed.

He noted that the ousting of prominent Igbos from top offices was a ploy to achieve a simple and crude goal. He said what the Nigerians wanted was to “get the achievers out and replace them with less qualified individuals from the desired ethnic background so as to gain access to the resources of the state.”

Achebe, however, saved some criticisms for his kinsmen. He criticised them for what he described as “hubris, overweening pride and thoughtlessness, which invite envy and hatred or even worse that can obsess the mind with material success and dispose it to all kinds of crude showiness.”

He added that “contemporary Igbo behavior(that) cab offend by its noisy exhibitionism and disregard for humility and quietness.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

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NEWS 4

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ECISION day is here when the electorate in Ondo State will pick their governor for the next four years.

Seeking the mandate of the 1,545,081 registered voters are: Adeuti Taye of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN); Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN); Adeyemi Bolarinwa of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP); Better Nigeria Peoples Party’s (BNPP’s) Ayodele Olusegun; Omoyele Olorunwa of Change Advocacy Party (CAP): Olusoji Ehinlanwo of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC); Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of Labour Party (LP); National Conscience Party’s (NCP’s) Oladipo Lawrence; Abikanlu Olusola of National Solidarity Democratic Party (NSDP); Victor Adetusin of the People for Democratic Change (PDC); Mr.Olusola Oke of Peoples Democratic party (PDP); and Progressive People’s Alliance whose flag is being flown by Omoregba Omotunji.

However, from the various public opinion polls (POPs) conducted ahead of today’s election, the winner is certain to be one of the trio of Akeredolu, Oke and Mimiko.

The key factors in electing the in-coming governor are the popularity of the individual contestants and the strength of their parties.

Mr.Akeredolu is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a human rights activist from Owo in the Ondo North Senatorial District while Mr.Oke, also a lawyer, was until recently the National Legal Adviser of the PDP.He is from the south senatorial district. Dr Mimiko,the incumbent is seeking re-election on the platform of Labour Party. He hails from Ondo,in the central senato-

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Judgement day in Ondo •Akeredolu, Mimiko,Oke in final showdown •How they stand •All eyes on INEC •Residents stockpile food

sor Attahiru Jega is leading the INEC team. He has posted a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) to each of the 18 local government areas of the state to ensure a smooth election.

He promised at a stakeholders meeting in Akure on Wednsday that the election would be the freest in Nigeria’s history.

IGP Abubakar announced on Wednesday that all roads leading into or out of the state would be closed from Thursday evening ahead of the polls. Five units of policemen,according to him, “shall be deployed to check violence and enforce the restriction of movement during the election.”

There will be no movement on water in the riverine areas, neither will there be fishing, shouting and disruption of election.

He said 20 armoured patrol security personnel and marine police patrol men will be provided in the riverine areas.

Residents, especially

Ekiti indigenes in Ondo back Akeredolu

•Police at the INEC office in Ondo State rial district.

The campaigns are, arguably, the most colourful in the history of the state having drawn the leadership of each of the party to the state to sell their candidates to the electorate.

The last 48 hours have witnessed the arrival and accreditation of observers from across the country for the monitoring of the elec-

tion, the arrival and distribution of more electoral materials; the posting to the state of a new police commissioner in Mr. Mohammed Ndabawa for the period of the election; and the deployment of soldiers to compliment the police in keeping the peace. The soldiers have been ordered to shoot anyone found causing violence during the

polls. Three more police commissioners arrived the state yesterday with each of them co-ordinating security in the three senatorial districts. A Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and two Assistant Inspectors General (AIGs) are also part of the police team.

The Chairman of the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC), Profes-

Three more police commissioners for Ondo election

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HREE additional police commissioners have been posted to Ondo State specially for today’s governorship election,the State Police boss,Mr Mohammed Ndabawa announced yesterday.

Mr.Ndabawa himself was deployed to the state only on Wednesday for the polls.

He had earlier been joined by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and two Assistant Inspectors General.

In all 11000 policemen from the rank and file will be on duty during the election.

Mr.Ndabawa told reporters yesterday that the newly posted police commissioners will co-ordinate security in each of the senatorial districts in the state.

The move,according to him,is to ensure a free and fair election.

He said there will be police presence in every part of the state and warned those planning violence to shelve any such plan.

He said police orderlies attached to political office holders have been withdrawn as a measure of police impartiality.

He said: “We are urging politicians to display the spirit of maturity. We don’t want to see anyone distributing money.There will be no selling of food, no fishing, no

•11,000 rank and file mobilised Leke AKEREDOLU, Akure hunting. “ I commend the General Officer Commanding [GOC] who has already ordered his men to shoot hoodlums who resist arrest.

“You are not expected to wear any cloth that has your party logo. I am repeating this again: any politician who goes

to polling centre with security men, those officers will be arrested, and prosecuted.

You are not expected to wait at the polling units after voting.After you might have cast your vote, kindly go back home and wait patiently for the announcement of the result”.

Security has been beefed up in all parts of Akure, the state capital with soldiers de-

ployed in strategic parts of the town.

Security personnel routinely stop and search vehicles coming into or leaving Akure.

On the popular Oba Adesida Road,for instance,check points have been mounted at a distance of approximately 20 metres from each another.

Ondo election:Delay mars accreditation of officials

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LECTORAL officers (EOs) expected to over see today’s governorship election in Ondo State spent long hours yesterday to get accredited before leaving for their duty posts.

Journalists assigned by their organisations to cover the election did not fare better.

Each journalist was required to send in a prior application on a letter-headed paper, duly signed.

This, The Nation learnt, was to stop fake journalists.

Many applications from unknown news organisations were turned down, officials said.

The accreditation, which commenced at about 12pm, was rowdy and largely

Osemwengie OGBEMUDIA, Sulaiman SALAWUDEEN, Eric IKHILAE, Joseph JIBUEZE, Akure

unorganised. Some journalists engaged officials in a shouting match over conflicting methods of application.

The small room provided for the accreditation exercise was too small to contain the pen-men. More than half of them were on the queue for long hours..

Some journalists argued that their organisation’s identity cards were enough for the purpose of identification, but officials said they must bring their company’s introduction letters and passport photographs.

Although the accreditation was scheduled to start at the

women, were busy, stockpiling food at home that would last them for at least one week.

A total of 3009 polling units should have been used for the polls but two have been cancelled in Ese-Odo area for security reasons bringing the number down to 3007.

The 1,545,081 registered voters are spread across the states as follows: Okitipupa, 101,044; Irele 55,231; IleOluji/Oke-Igbo, 64,219; Akure South, 248, 953; Akure north, 53, 953; Ifedore, 63, 242; Odigbo, 120, 014; Ondo West 150,838; and Ondo East 37, 469.

Other local governments are Idanre, 60,720; Akoko Northwest 68,061, Akoko Northeast, 62, 451; Akoko Southeast, 29, 773; Akoko Southwest, 86, 155, Ose 62,386; Ese-Oso, 57, 255; Oijo, 110,100; and Ilaje, 114,235.

Five units of mobile policemen will be at each of three senatorial district and 20 armoured tanks and marine patrol policemen will be provided in the riverine areas.

Eighteen Resident Electoral Commissioners from outside the South West will co-ordinate activities in the local government areas.

Alagbaka,Akure secretariat of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at 10am,many of the EOs were yet to be accredited by 2pm and even those who had been accredited by then spent even more time to be allocated vehicles that would take them to their duty posts.

The commission is deploying 8,906 permanent and ad hoc staff to conduct the election.

These include one Returning Officer; 18 Local Government Area Collation Officers; 203 Registration Area (RA) Collation Officers; 19 LGA Supervisors; three LGA Supervisors from the NYSC; 203 Supervisory Presiding Officers; 3,009 Presiding Officers and 5,450 Assistant Presiding Officers.

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HE Ekiti Parapo Descen dant Union (EPDU) Ondo State chapter, yesterday, said its members have resolved to vote massively for the candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) , Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu [SAN] in today’s governorship election in the state.

Chairman of the group, Mr. Dare Adebayo, the Secretary, Mumiya Ajibola and Awe Olaitan,in a statement, said: “Our group has made strong consultation with Ekiti, both at home and abroad, on our direction, which is to rally support for ACN. “We have approached all Ekiti indigenes in the 18 local government areas of Ondo

Damisi OJO, Akure State to come out massively and vote for Akeredolu on Saturday.

“We are sincerely optimistic that an ACN government will not discriminate against Ekiti indigenes as being witnessed under the Mimiko’s administration.”

EPDU hailed the economic integration being agitated by South West governors, stressing that the proposal will transform the lives of every citizen of Ondo and Ekiti states.

The Union urged all Ekiti resident in Ondo State to troop out and vote for ACN and Akeredolu.

List of observer groups for Ondo State governorship election S/No Organisation 1.

Justice and Equity Organisation 2.

Centre for Peace Building and Socio Economic Resources Development 3.

Reclaim Naija 4.

African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development 5.

Federation of Muslim Women’s Association in Nigeria 6.

Nigerian Bar Association 7.

Justice Development and Peace Caritas (JDPC) 8.

Transition Monitoring Group 9.

Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre 10.

Cleen Foundation 11.

Alliance for Credible Elections in Nigeria 12.

Human Rights Monitor (HRM) 13.

Independent Election Monitoring Group 14.

Liberty Spirit Foundation 15.

Global Help Trust Foundation 16.

Justice Development and Peace Centre 17.

Centre for Democracy and Development 18.

Rights Monitoring Group 19.

Nepad Nigeria 20.

Police Service Commission 21.

National Association for Peaceful Elections in Nigeria (Napen) 22.

International Republican Institute (IRI) 23.

International Foundation For Electoral System (Ifes) 24.

Centre for Human Rights and Ethics in Development 25.

Women Arise For Change Initiative

NEWS 5

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Ondo election:15 youths arrested in Afenifere chieftain’s home for illegal voting

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IFTEEN youths were ar rested in Akure, Ondo State capital, on Thursday for illegal voting ahead of today’s governorship election.

They were caught stuffing ballot boxes with thumbprinted ballot papers.

Already,six chieftains of the ruling Labour Party in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of the state are on the run after reports of their rigging ahead of the election leaked.

Sources told The Nation yesterday that the Akure suspects were caught in the residence of an Afenifere chieftain who recently en-

•Six LP chieftains in Ese-Odo on the run OUR REPORTERS

dorsed Governor Olusegun Mimiko, the Labour Party’s candidate in the election.

The Police got wind of the illegal voting and stormed the residence of the Afenifere chief to effect the arrest of the suspects.

The retrieved items were the leftovers of the 2011 electoral materials.

The intention of the suspects, it was learnt, was to swap the fake ballot boxes with the original ones on the way to the counting centres.

The suspects are being detained in police custody.

The Nation gathered that similar illegal voting was taking place in many other places in the state.

For instance,six chieftains of the ruling Labour Party (LP) in Ese-Odo and Ilaje Local Government Areas of the state are on the run from security agents following the leakage of their illegal activities to rig the election.

The men, including a member of the state assembly and a local government chairman, were reportedly

•Security at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Owo gate yesterday

ACN is on rescue mission — Fasanmi

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ECOND Republic Sena tor, Chief Ayo Fasanmi, has likened Action Congress of Nigeria’s plan to rule Ondo State to a rescue mission.

The former national vice chairman of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) said by telephone from his Osogbo base that victory for the party in today’s election would be a victory for the people of the state and the collective interest of the

Adesoji ADENIYI, Osogbo South West.

He recalled how “five out of the six states in the South West geo-political zone were stolen from us in the 2003 elections and its attendant set-back for the region.”

He said if the efforts of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and other past Yoruba leaders would not be in vain it has become imperative that the region

should resume speaking with one voice.

He vouched for the integrity of the ACN guber candidate in Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) to re-integrate the people of Ondo State into the fold of the South West once he emerges victorious in the election.

He said the issue of regional integration which is being championed by ACN must be pursued with all seriousness.

thumb printing ballot papers ahead of today’s election at Omonira Street, Igbokoda and NDDC village on Igbokoda Road, Okitipupa.

In a separate incident, a physically challenged person was arrested in Ese-Odo Local Governmebt area also for rigging.

Security operatives,acting on a tip off, were said to have stormed the areas to arrest the culprits.

The affected lawmaker and council chairman reportedly fled through the window, while the legislator sustained serious ankle injury in the process.

The development which has become the talk of the town in the state was described by residents and political analysts as ridiculous and undemocratic.

However, a chieftain of LP in the area and former NDDC commissioner Dr Benson Enikuomehin has denied the arrest of any council chairman for alleged rigging.

Several LP Chieftains were said to have gone underground to avoid arrest.

In some polling centres in Irele Local Government Area of the state, Labour Party supporters have been apprehended for being in possession of voting materials (ballot papers and boxes).

Thugs who claimed to be working for the party have similarly been arrested.

Security operatives have been despatched to those places.

A National Officer of the Niger Delta Youth Movement (NDYM) Mr Bright Ojubuyi urged security operatives to resist any attempt by the ruling Labour Party to hijack ballot boxes or replace them with thumb printed ballot papers.

All efforts to get the reaction of INEC did not succeeded as several calls to the mobile telephone of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Akin Orebiyi, went unheeded.

Politicians return home for voters’ mobilisation

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OP politicians in Ondo State have returned to their home towns and villages for last minute mobilisation of voters for today’s election and to personally direct affairs for their parties.

Reports from different parts of the state said the politicians are leaving nothing to chance as the performance of their parties would ultimately determine their relevance and post-election rewards.

Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) picked to serve as ad hoc electoral officers by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) departed Akure, the state capital, for their duty posts in hired buses at about 1pm yesterday.

They were accompanied by

•NYSC members reject postings to Ilaje/Ese-Odo Emmanuel OLADESU, Akure

policemen and INEC officials.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner,Mr. Akin Orebiyi, said conducive accommodation had been provided for them to ensure their comfort.

However, some of the corps members deployed to Ilaje and Ese-Odo local government areas, rejected their postings. They declined to board the buses assigned to convey them to the riverine areas, citing their phobia of water and possible breach of security by militants.

Orebiyi said voting will commence with accreditation of voters at 8.am. Voters will

queue up and present cards for accreditation and poll officials will cross check the register for each voter’s name.

Accreditation will end by 12 noon when the last voter that joined the queue before 12 noon would have been accredited.

He said the number of accredited voters will be announced publicly and recorded immediately after accreditation, adding that the poll official will educate voters present at the polling centre on the voting process.

Actual voting will start by 12.30 pm.

“Without voters card, you cannot vote and you cannot vote more than once,” Orebiyi said.

The REC advised the people to be law abiding, warning that electoral offenders would face the wrath of the law. He warned INEC officials against dereliction of duties and aiding and abetting rigging.

Electoral offences listed by the electoral commissioner include impersonation, voting when not qualified, breaching secrecy of voting, campaigns during voting, violence, snatching and destruction of election materials, possession of offensive weapons, bribery and inducement, false announcement of candidate’s withdrawal and unlawful announcement of results.

Ondo poll: Ministries, banks close at noon

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head of today’s governorship elec tion , ministries, banks and some other institutions, yesterday, closed for the day at about 12 p.m in Akure, the state capital, and some other parts of the state.

This was in compliance with the state government’s directive declaring half day for workers to enable them prepare adequately for the election.

The Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola, had said in a statement on Thursday, that the gesture was to allow the workers participate in the election.

He said government took the decision having realised that some citizens of the state had to travel to where they registered for the election.

“The government thought there is need to give our people the chance and the opportunity to get to where they can exercise their franchise,’’ he said.

By 12.30pm, the state government secretariat, local government secretariats, banks, as well as some other institutions were practically empty by 12:30 p.m.

A civil servant, Mr James Olowoyo, said that

civil servants were happy about the decision as it would allow them to prepare for the election.

The Abuja and Lagos motor parks in Akure were empty by 2: p.m.

A commuter, Mrs Grace Jinadu, who was at the Abuja motor park, said she was disappointed that she could not get a vehicle to Lokoja at 2: p.m.

Business activities were, however, not interrupted in Akure, Owo, Ondo and other major towns in the state.

Commercial motorcyclists in the state capital made brisk business with many of them increasing their fares by as much as 50 per cent due to heavy human traffic.

It was also observed that there were long queues at ATM machines in most of the banks’ premises due to the early closure of banks to customers.

A resident, Mr Busari Adekola, expressed surprise that his bank had closed for business as at early afternoon. ‘’Thank God, I was able to cash some money with my ATM card for the use of the family during the weekend,’’ Adekola said.

How Mimiko betrayed my family, widow alleges

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HE widow of a former Ondo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs ,Mrs Sola Alademehin has accused Governor Olusegun Mimiko of betraying her family after promising them heaven and earth following the death of her husband,Oye Alademehin.

Mrs.Alademehin ,in an interview, said not only did the governor fail to show up for her husband’s burial,none of the promises he made to the family has been fulfilled.

These include scholarship for the children of the deceased,said to be one of those who put their lives on the line for the governor in the struggle to reclaim his mandate after the 2007 election.

Mrs.Alademehin who spoke in an interview on the sidelines of the grand finale of the PDP rally in Akure said: “My husband died a mysterious death during this Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s administration shortly after he was sworn-in in 2009. He was a great grassroots politician particularly in his home town, Ode-Aye.He had a massive base there and played a major role in ensuring that Mimiko

reclaim his mandate.

“My husband hardly fell ill. He loved his family and his people until he died mysteriously. We don’t know the cause of his death.

Governor Mimiko took him to the hospital without informing his family, including me his wife.

“After he died, Mimiko refused to show up at his burial ceremony; God is my witness. He promised my children and I that he would ensure that we do not miss our breadwinner. He promised to give my children scholarship and also empower me so that I can take good care of the family.

“As we speak,he does not care about us.Even if we call his phone line, he will never pick the call. I am not saying Mimiko killed my husband, but he failed in all his promises to care for the family.

“The suffering was too much after my husband’s death, until former Governor Olusegun Agagu came to check on us. They were both in PDP before my husband joined Mimiko in LP. Agagu advised me to return to PDP and start from where the late Alademehin stopped at PDP. Dr. Agagu has been helping my family and I will continue to be grateful to him”.

6 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Boko Haram: FG angry with Senate over handling of anti-terrorism bill •Fusion Centre pact with US threatened •North-South rivalry may affect fight against Boko Haram, others

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HE Federal Government is angry with the Senate over its removal of a ‘vital’ clause from the anti-terrorism bill passed on Wednesday.

The executive bill (A bill for an Act to amend Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 and Other Related Matters) is part of the strategy by government to tackle the insecurity caused by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups.

The clause has to do with empowerment of the Office of the National Security Adviser to co-ordinate the activities of all security and enforcement agencies in the country.

Its adoption would have formed the basis for the United States of America to establish what it calls Fusion Centre in the country.

Government and the security community are worried that Nigeria is now at the risk of losing the benefit of such an important facility in the fight against terrorism.

They fear that without the clause, the co-ordination of the security agencies will be very difficult.

It was learnt that the rejection of the section was influenced by some senators from the South.

The clause- Section 1 of the

Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation Act- reads in part: “The Office of the National Security Adviser (in this Act referred to as ONSA) shall be the coordinating body for all security and enforcement agencies under this Act and shall: (a)provide support to all relevant security, intelligence, law enforcement agencies and military services to prevent and combat acts of terrorism in Nigeria. (b) “ensure the effective formulation and implementation of a counter-terrorism strategy for Nigeria. ( c) “build capacity for the effective discharge of the functions of all relevant security, intelligence, law enforcement and military services under this Act or any other law on terrorism in Nigeria; and (d) “do such other acts or things that are necessary for the effective performance of the functions of the relevant security and enforcement agencies under this Act.” A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Going by the way the Senate passed the bill, the fight against terrorism is certainly being threatened. The implication is that all security agencies will be left to operate independent of each other with-

out relating with the Office of the National Security Adviser.

“This is against the new focus of the Federal Government in promoting synergy in the operations of all security agencies.

“Our fears border on the fact that Boko Haram and other terrorist organisations may capitalise on the loopholes in the law to wreak more havoc.

This bill as passed by the Senate will not assist counter-terrorism fight.

“Also, when the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton was here, she announced that a Fusion Centre will be established to serve as a pool for intelligence gathering and coordination for counter-terrorism.

“The Fusion Centre ought to be domiciled in the Office of the National Security Adviser. But with the bill passed by the Senate, we may lose this security advantage in the sub-region. This is a threat to the centre being built by the US. Responding to a question, the source added: “We learnt that some Southern senators in the relevant Committee deliberately shielded the facts from the Senate before it removed the clause and passed the bill.

“I think these Southern

•Senate President David Mark senators might have had a secret agenda of undermining security coordination against terrorists. Only God knew their motive.”

Asked if nothing could be done, the source said: “The House had passed the bill with the clause intact. This means we have to make a strong representation to the Joint Review Committee of the two chambers to restore the said clause.

“But the bill as passed by the Senate on Wednesday will leave terrorists to win the ‘war’ against security agencies.”

100 renovated schools commissioned in Ekiti • 83 others for renovation in Decemeber

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O fewer than 100 public secondary schools in Ekiti State which underwent renovation have been delivered and handed over to the management of the schools.

Commissioning some of the schools which are spread across the 16 local government areas of the state, Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi said his administration is committed to providing an environment that will enhance productive teaching-learning process.

The governor also hinted that the renovation of the remaining 83 secondary schools billed for the second phase of the Operation Renovate All Schools in Ekiti (ORASE) will commenced during the Christmas holidays.

The Governor restated his resolve to revamp the education sector so that it can produce quality products that will make the State proud.

Fayemi said he would ensure that adequate resources are expended on the education sector so that it could return to its place of pride as the fountain of knowledge.

Some of the schools renovated also got new buildings such as examination halls and laboratories where the existing ones were considered beyond renovation.

Meanwhile the distribution of the 40,000 units of furniture ordered by the government has commenced, following the delivery of the furniture.

It will be recalled that the Governor had during the flag off of the renovation exercise said that the renovation and the purchase of the furniture would cost N2.5 billion and would be delivered within eight weeks.

The Governor has also flagged off the 2012/2013 school enrolment into all primary schools in the state.

Registering pupils in Ikole Ekiti on Wednesday, the Governor expressed satisfaction at last year’s enrolment which was higher than the penultimate year.

He added that the rise in the enrolment is not unconnected with the confidence that the people repose in his administration’s effort at revamping the education sector even as the State SUBEB Model Primary School recently emerged the best primary school in Nigeria.

At Ola Oluwa Muslim Grammar School, Ado Ekiti, the Grand Imam of Ekiti State, Alhaji Bello Kewulere, commended the ORASE initiative of the administration.

The cleric said it was a testimony to the commitment of the Governor to providing quality, functional and free education for all students in the state.

Kewulere said he was particularly impressed with the distribution of computers to the students, saying that this would no doubt expose the students to best global practices in the education sector.

COMMENTARY 7

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Northern psychasthenia P

SYCHASTHENIA, obsessive-compulsive-disor ders, compulsions, nervous breakdowns, obses sions, unreasonable fears or any other psychological disorder. It seems almost inevitable that in this day and age most of the world is on the verge of one of these universal conditions. With all sorts of challenges worldwide; the economy, the wars, the intolerance and the conspiracies, who isn’t going through some kind of psychological disorder right about now? But the disorder that has been weighing heavily on my mind is the one that Northern Nigeria is at present going through.

Northern Nigeria is at this very time a region that is suffering from a very bad case of psychasthenia characterized by unity-phobias, religious-obsessions, violentcompulsions and excessive poverty-anxiety. Northern Nigeria; a region filled with baron, beautiful, undulating landscapes, amazing scenery, beautiful flora of evergreen trees and native bush, sparse prehistoric arid dessert-like Saharas, home to the most fertile land within a backdrop of the most spectacular display of agricultural tapestry. It’s hard for me not to feel awed by my home land every time I think of its grace, its people. But despite all that is wonderful in Northern Nigeria, its beauty and its cocktail of tribes, cultures and complicated multi-layered issues, there is something very wrong in our Northern Nigeria of today.

The fact that the situation in Northern Nigeria has essentially been a main talking point, shows that the breakdown Arewa is going through is weighing on many other minds. If we cut right to the chase in dissecting the issue at the heart of our present Northern psychasthenia, we find that the problems facing Arewa today are primarily about a fundamental lack of justice. A lack of transparency and tremendous corruption conducted and condoned by the past, present and likely future leadership of the North. St Augustine quotes that, “in the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?” And perhaps nowhere at this present time can this be truer than in Northern Nigeria.

Trailing near injustice is a great ethical degradation that never used to be part of the Northern identity. This ethical degradation has everything to do with power and money. And specifically a Northern power on the decline; paranoid, empty of glory and threatened by everything, even the shadows.

In the past several months, since it became apparent that President Goodluck Johnathan is likely to be an ‘African’ extending his stay in power, so called Northern leaders have come out from hibernation to cry ‘blue murder’. Leaders whose silence, at a time when carnage ravaged the north in the form of the Boko Haram brutality, was deafening, have all found their voice to cry foul because “Johnny seems to want a second… or is it third term?”

Also, northern heavy weights have come out to odiously challenge what they call the great injustice in the current revenue structure and sharing formula where the Niger delta states get approximately N24 billion a

month of fiscal allotment, while Northern states collect N4 billion. At this point, even with the asymmetrical revenue formula, it is doubtful as to whether the average Northerner gives a toss on how much Jigawa State collects as opposed to Akwa Ibom state. It’s not like the money actually trickles down to the vast majority of the public anyway.

Whenever real issues face the north such as our dwindling agricultural sector, our sparse educational challenge, our emergent dichotomy and the violence that is eating away at us, our rulers, elders, leaders often meet the news with an almost catatonic silence. And instead of adequately addressing those issues which incidentally are the real plagues of the north, they do what all hapless leaders do when they don’t care; they look the other way. But the minute that the issue centres on who should be the next president or monies to be collected, our northern leaders have a way of standing up first and shouting the loudest, as if those are the issues that ordinary northerners are concerned about.

Honestly, with no ostensible sense of irony, Northern leaders speak of the presidency being the turn of the north, but they say nothing of the fact that a good number of them were instrumental in renting out and mortgaging the supposed turn of a Northern presidency when they supported a very cruel Obasanjo at the time he hoisted a gravely ill man on the throne at a time when the North was given its chance. When Obasanjo insisted on anointing Late Umaru Yaradua as president, everybody knew he was not the best option the north had.

None were more convinced of this than the governors who frequently complained of the late Presidents’ non participation in their governors’ forums. Yet when President Yaradua was chosen, all the northern governors kept mum, none of them spoke out against it.

Northern rulers complain about the revenue sharing formula, but say noting about the fact that the present revenue that the north is receiving now is in no way reaching even 5% of the Northern population. Neither has there been any acknowledgement that the majority of Northern Nigerian youth have a grim future because they have no education. At the time that the basic education scheme was introduced, we were told in a manner of a pep talk given to slightly obtuse children that it would benefit the North more than any other region. But since its inception, instead of our children being in the class rooms, they are out on the streets begging and waiting for word on when the next sectarian violence will start so that they can participate and no ruler has found a voice to speak out about it.

Yes, our leaders speak a lot; they speak about what the North wants, of what they think the North should get, but they have not spoken a word of what the North really needs, the true reasons for its failures, the renditions, the lack of education, the dearth of unity, the emergency. Northern injustice, Northern ethical degradation; these all play a part in giving the North the psychasthenia that is so abound, they all play a part in giving way

to the hydra headed monster which is corruption.

Corruption is a concept that, unfortunately, is so familiar to all Nigerians. And corruption means something to Northerners and when you break it down, what it means is this. There is no other place in the whole of Nigeria where the class divide between the rich and the poor is more obvious than it is than in the north. Since independence, Nigeria has been ruled by a Northern ruler for an approximate total of 38 years out of 52 years, yet in every corner of Northern Nigeria, millions of people can barely afford to feed their families. That in a recent Forbes listing of the richest Africans in the world, at least four northerners claim the slots in the top 40, including the top spot, yet several northern states have the highest incidence of poverty in the entire country. Littered all over the length and breath of Nigeria are Almajiris and beggars of a Northern origin. Religious bigotry and sectarian hatred in the north has become so intense that it has formed an identity even to the most objective and exposed within us. For every national examination sat in this country the aggregate of the region with the lowest candidates is the north. The regional bloodletting and consummate violence; which has been the by-product of the injustice in the society is getting worse.

It is when one sits down to really consider some of these inconsistencies and tries to relate them vis-à-vis each other that one can appreciate the attitudes that contribute to the erosion of the north. An inconsistency that was borne by injustice, selfishness, bad leadership, lack of foresight and every other factor that has contributed in bringing the North to its knees.

These facts are all well known; constantly people write and debate about them. All the goals and the ideals that this, once upon a time, giant within the giant of Africa has ever had, has been lost and is totally missed. We missed our goals because since the passing of Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto (yes him again), the North has had the misfortune of a short-sighted leadership that truly either doesn’t really care or doesn’t realise their part in the decay of the ideals of being a northerner and the accord that once made the North a force to be reckoned with.

There it is and as difficult as it is to say, this is the crux of it, the stark reality of the plight of the North, this psychasthenia we are suffering from. So the next time that our leaders, rulers and elders speak out on behalf of the North, they should please give the North a break and speak out, not on selective issues that affect them directly, but on the real issues that are truly plaguing the heart of the north, the issues that give way to this terrible case of psychasthenia Northern Nigeria is suffering from.

NEWS

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man in his mid 20s Mr. Ovie Emeserhire has ap pealed to the InspectorGeneral of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubarka to constitute an independent body to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged murder of his mother, Ms. Josephine Diemudeke by a Warri based businessman and allegation of conspiracy by the Police in “B” Division, Warri, Delta State to cover up the suspect.

Ovie, in a September 10, 2012 petition to the Police IG through his lawyer, Mr. Jonathan Ekperusi alleged that the businessman (name withheld) invited the deceased to his residence on January 11 this year but did not return home .

Her body was traced to Warri Central Hospital after several weeks.

The petitioner and his relations, Pa. Gabriel Ekrebe and Isaac Diemudeke alleged that the Police in “B” Division had refused to act on the report of the murder of his mother until the family petitioned the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 5 Benin.

The businessman was then arrested and detained by detec-

Man appeals to IGP over death of mother tives from Asaba barely six months after the incident.

Ovie, who alleged that in the course of investigation, the police allegedly introduced a doctor to conduct an autopsy on the deceased, said that the report that came out indicated that Ms. Josephine Diemudeke died of severe hypertensive cardiovascular with subarachnoid hemorrhage which indicated that she died a natural death.

The lawyer explained that “It is our clients’ strong belief that the autopsy report by the doctor was compromised and the report on its face is of questionable integrity as the report does not indicate which medical facility or institution issued same.

More worrisome is that fact that whereas it was the doctor that conducted the autopsy investigation, the report was purportedly issued by a different doctor on a pre-printed Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.

The petitioner said he could not accept the report for several reasons including the fact that when he saw the corpse in the

mortuary there were injuries on the corpse, clearly suggesting that the deceased did not die of natural causes as and that Ms. Josephine Diemudeke had

never been a hypertensive patient.

The Delta State Police Spokesman Mr. Charles Muka, a Deputy Superintendent of Police

(DSP) however denied police complicity in the alleged doctoring of the autopsy report insisting that it was conducted in the presence of the family of the deceased.

‘Why SMEs are unable to access BOI loan in Kwara’

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HE President, Kwara State Chamber of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (KWACCIMA), Chief Hezekiah Adediji, has expressed regrets over the inability of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the state to access the Bank of Industry (BoI)’s N750 million loan facility.

Chief Adediji made the disclosure while addressing newsmen, in Ilorin, as part of preparations for the sixth Kwara State Trade Fair, with the theme: “Unlocking the Potentials of Kwara State for Sustainable Development.”

The KWACCIMA boss, who said that the loan facility is yet to be obtained by the enterprises, added that the firms might have found it difficult to meet the

Adekunle JIMOH, Ilorin

bank’s requirements. He also said that the development had contributed to slow growth of SMEs business in the state.

He urged members of the business community in the state to register with the organization to benefit overseas training and other business opportunities for their growth, adding that the registration would also expose them to sustainable development.

He said the trade fair, billed to hold between the 22nd and 31st of October, 2012, would expose public and private enterprises,

adding that local and state governments, including Chinese companies were already in the state to participate in the fair.

He also called on local and foreign investors to tap from accruable benefits of the trade fair, adding that the state is blessed with abundant natural and mineral resources.

Chief Adediji, who said the fair would meet international standard, added that it would accommodate about 200 stands, excluding walkways and parking spaces, and assured participants of adequate security, as all security agencies in the state have been contacted.

8

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

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AST Thursday, Greeks went on the streets for the 20th demonstration against austerity measures aimed at making Greece capable of meeting its debt obligations under the auspices of the EU which has just won the Nobel Prize for the way it has handled the euro zone debt crisis. The demonstrations came on the day EU financial czars were to meet in Brussels over Greece and its bail out progress report. A Greek woman in an interview shouted that Greece should pay its peoples salaries and hospital bills and stop paying the creditors. An economist mused that Europe should pool sovereignties which is something the British never want to hear. In a BBC Hard talk programme a French Minister said achieving social justice is at the heart of France’s new government policy of taxing the rich massively to fund revenue generation, pay Frances huge debts and reduce its spiraling deficits.

From China came the news that the country’s growth rate has stalled from 7.6% to 7.4 % because of the decreased demand for its products especially from the huge market of the euro zone in now dire economic straits; and from nearby Ghana came the news that a court in Accra has ordered the seizure of an Argentine ship because of Argentina’s debt default of 2001.

Unfortunately, Greece has replaced Argentina nowadays as the wayward or prodigal son of the global financial community and the painful human side of that opprobrium is what the Greek woman has uttered in blind fury at austerity and economic solutions that create more human misery and do not have a human face. But then Greece has to pay her creditors and honor its sovereign debt obligations to remain a credible member of the global financial system. No one or nation on earth wants to be like Greece today and that was very aptly and succinctly put at the expense of incumbent President Barak Obama by his opponent at the last town hall presidential debate last Tuesday in the US. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate put a dagger at the heart of Obamanomics, the economic policy of the US government in the last four years, when he said that the US could not afford another four years of Obama’s presidency as that would create a debt crisis for the US similar to the euro debt crisis. According to Romney - ‘We ‘ve gone from $ 10tn national debt to $16tn of national debt. If the president were reelected we ‘d go to $20tn of national debt.

This puts us on a road to Greece.‘ Given events in Greece and the sovereign reputation of that nation nowadays, Mitt Romney has laid a grievous charge and painted a dire figure of Obama’s economic policies that cannot be easily waived off especially as the Greek demonstrations took off almost after the debate that many thought Obama had won this time around.

Although there is a third debate on October 22 there is no denying that Obama has found his mettle to defend his policies but there is not much he can do to deny high unemployment figures as well as the glaring deficits. More importantly he must find a quick advert or campaign message to counter the ‘road to

Trading sovereignty, debts and values

Greece message‘ of Mitt Romney as the satellite pictures of the austerity demonstrations in Greece on the global media are bound to be exploited by the Mitt Romney campaign team in influencing the electorate in the November 6 presidential elections.

In reality what Romney and the Greek woman have said separately are two sides of the same coin. The woman reply is personal anguish while Romney’s categorization is sovereign and is being used to get a political advantage and win power from Obama. Both are allowed in politics and in any democracy and both have taken a step further. You can bet the Greek woman will be in the forefront of the demonstrations on the street of Athens and will predictably be dealt with by the police. With regard to Romney it is up to Obama to allow his opponent to trick him out of the White House.

At the first debate Obama looked like a king who forgot his clothes at home and almost danced naked. At that first debate Obama allowed Romney to look, as his supporters said, dynamic and radiant while Obama looked professorial and stuck on issues.

The town hall debate has equaled matters a bit but there is no denying that the aura of incumbency has been badly damaged by the

challenger who has become bolder and like a lone wolf that has smelt blood, now knows that the this president can be mortally rattled in this close presidential race. It is my considered opinion that the Obama campaign team must be more aggressive than hitherto and the best opportunity for now is to counter ‘the Road to Greece‘ message as it affects Obama’s domestic economic policy. This is because for once an incumbent president in the US presidential campaign has allowed an opponent to successfully make a mockery of his existing economic policy using an example of a very economically sick foreign nation – Greece. That really is unfortunate for the Obama campaign team.

On the suggestion that the EU members must find a way to pool sovereignties I think that is an idea that is easier said than done.

What part of individual member nations will go into the sovereignty common pool and which will not?

Is it security, finance, banking, political parties, or tourism? Given the unique culture, chequered history and peculiarities of each nation, who will bell the cat and cast the first stone in surrendering sovereignty? Can Germany with its history of fiscal discipline and prudence ever come to accept

Greece’s profligacy as a way of life to be condoned or tolerated?

Can any EU nation other than France tax its rich citizens that high and take compliance for granted as a fait accompli? Can any other nation in Europe respect its monarchy like the British do and how are the British going to put that in a common European sovereignty pool when it is the basis of their political stability?

And how many EU nations can put up with the sex and fun loving lifestyle of Italy‘s former PM Silvio Berlusconi the owner of the AC Milan football club and the most popular Italian leader of our time? Really pooling sovereignties in the EU will involve so much horse trading and bargains that Europe may not be able to recognize itself at the end of the exercise.

However the cheering news on the global economic scene was the news from the Chinese of a reduction in their growth rate, albeit minimal. To those who think that Chinese economic growth was going to burst, the slow pace is good news. To the Chinese who have planned their economic progress with the Chinese Communist Party holding the reins and its high officials firmly in the saddle, the small reduction is a sign of economic stability. This is because China‘s growth has been based on exports and manufacturing with credit financed investment directed by the Chinese government.

So China has never claimed that its economy is unregulated or that the blind forces of the market are in control and competition is there for the taking by all stake holders. It follows therefore that since purchasing power from its customers overseas especially the euro zone is diminishing because

of the global financial crisis its economic performance results must reflect such shortcoming hence the slight reduction in the growth rate as reported for the quarter under consideration.

There is no denying that China will eventually take over the world economy given its huge resources and the discipline of its political leadership in providing what has been called guided democracy in most of the mock democracies littering the globe .

What is not too certain is for how long the Chinese government which is financing the production of communication gadgets and IT equipment at an unprecedented rate at its massive computer villages in China is going to be able to monitor the flow and use of the information in and out of China and still be able to keep power within an elite group of party members who still run China as at now.

China was rattled by the North African street revolutions and thought it could not happen in China. It has been emboldened in this frame of mind by events in Libya where it felt cheated by the French and English who ditched Gaddafi, an age long ally of Russia and China, both long communist friends. China is using events unfolding in Syria to consolidate its official view that strong governments must not give in to popular uprising such as those that removed Mubarak in Egypt and later Gaddafi in Libya.

That is at the heart of its seeming solidarity with Russia in not allowing the no fly zone in Syria as it knows that the masses of its people are watching on the internet and pondering why what is sauce for the goose in foreign lands cannot be good for the Chinese masses at home.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

9

10 COMMENTARY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

A sexed-up budget and yam-heads’ illogic Knucklehead

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HE Nigerian economy must have become used to the daily assault inflicted on it by professional pilferers. This, more than anything else, explains why it is perennially on a lifesupport machine. It is, indeed, the eighth wonder of the world that we still have something called by that name— an economy wobbling on crutches but occasionally getting positive ratings from some international rating agencies. Regardless of ratings, the ordinary folks here directly understand that the muchtouted “growth” in our economy promises no tangible development for more than 100 million souls eking out a living across countless Nigerian towns and villages. The poor state of the economy, I hasten to say, is hardly helped by a budgeting process that has become an annual ritual of padded and bloated figures.

Moreover, in spite of the public outcry over the highly vexatious ‘envelopes’ that are regularly hidden within the Appropriation Act, there seems to be no end in sight to the craze to sex up the budget in whatever ways possible. It is no longer news that the folks behind this well-organised Nigerian bureaucratic banditry do it with some measure of cold aplomb and outrageous impunity. I doubt if those involved in this backward economic wizardry care about how we feel or give a hoot about the Nigerian masses who are the ultimate victims of a sickening official predilection to loot!

The question has been asked: will Nigeria ever have a peoplefriendly budget? Of course, those baking this national cake will be fast to tell you that the question is irrelevant as all budgets, regardless of the bloated contents, are meant to cater for the people. They may not be forthcoming on why humongous figures are set aside to meet the expensive tastes of certain public office holders. They will definitely find the right excuse to justify whatever was appropriated.

So, it is not in any way surprising that the first person to defend the ‘reasonable’ estimates proposed in the 2013 budget was the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Describing the proposals made for personnel, overheads, sitting allowances and travels for the ministry in the 2013 fiscal year as “modest and justifiable”, my good friend and media aide to the minister, Paul Nwabuikwu, would go on to declare that a N43m estimate for cleaning and fumigation of the ministry’s corporate office was within the industry limit. Well, having studied some parts of the budget details in the last few days, I could not agree less with Mr. Nwabuikwu that, in a nation where experts have cried themselves hoarse on the need to cut down on the neck-breaking speed at which the cost of governance is growing, the agency charged with the responsibility of drafting a workable financial framework for the “Nigerian people” ought to be commended for “managing the finances of the country in a manner that protects and enhances the interests of the country.”

Moreover, since we seem to be on the same page with the eggheads in government on the shape and form of a peopleoriented budget proposal, I assume it will not be out of place to seek clarifications on how certain incongruities often embedded in the budget contribute to the realisation of this singular objective. How, for example, did they come to the conclusion

that about N92m would be needed for the landscaping of some houses under the management of the Presidency, including the residence of the Vice President? What economic value would the construction of N550m car park, zoo and slaughter slab add to the lives of the over 70 per cent Nigerians wallowing in abject poverty? What’s wrong with all the ‘modern’ slaughter slabs scattered around the Federal Capital Territory anyway? How did the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation reach the N180m being proposed to buy 18 Toyota Hilux vans and one Camry car when investigations show that it takes far lesser an amount to transact such business? Can anyone in the know explain to us why the chief auditor of the nation’s accounts should be given N5.3m in 2013 to procure 50 fire extinguishers at an average cost of N106,000 each; N7m for explosives detectors and N23 to ‘monitor’ ongoing projects in Ministries Departments and Agencies? And what happens to the agency tasked with monitoring such projects by the way?

Besides, it is disturbing that some of these items keep popping up in one budget after the other that one can’t help but conclude that the drafters of the budget have run out of ideas. A report published in this paper had drawn readers’ attention to the fact that the 2012 Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly approved about N22m for the improvement of facilities including slaughter slab for The Presidency. Yet, the same Presidency has proposed to spend N60,600,300 on the construction of a zoo and another N15,349,202 on the construction of a slaughter slab at Aguda House in the 2013 budget proposal currently before the National Assembly! Since our economic wizards at the State House are yet to tell us the real status of the N6m approved for the landscaping, drainage and access road to the State House Medical Centre in the 2012 budget, why should the National Assembly approve the request for a princely sum of N45m for the landscaping of the Veterinary Unit in 2013? Are these proposals justifiable by any stretch of imagination?

The concern here, it must be pointed out, is not just faulting the relevance of some of the projects. It is to evolve a means of blocking the numerous leakages in the economy and reduce official graft. Questions have been asked regarding the propriety of spending N5.8b for the construction of residences, offices and guest houses for presiding officers of both chambers of the National Assembly. Why should The Presidency shoulder such responsibility through the Federal Capital Development Authority when the National Assembly, in the last three years, continues to appropriate about three per cent of the country’s entire budget (N150bn) to itself without as much as availing the general public a breakdown of what it does with the money? I just can’t understand why the FCDA should also be responsible for the N3.5bn being proposed for the construction of the National Assembly complex Phase 111, parts 1 and 3 in the same budget. We may ignore the fact that N500m was appropriated for the same project in the 2012 budget, but we cannot but ask the National Assembly Service Commission to give us a detailed breakdown of what it has been doing with the N1.5bn allocated to it yearly.

In the last weeks, the media has feasted on these figures, pointing out the duplications and the contradictions. We now know that the Vice President’s residence may gulp N2bn next year; that

With

Yomi Odunuga E-mail:yomi.odunuga @thenationonlineng.net SMS only: 07028006913 though about N3bn was spent on the rehabilitation and renting of offices for the displaced staff and provision of additional security measures for the United Nations building in 2012, an additional N1bn is being proposed to be spent on the same initiative in 2013; that it would cost us over N2.8 billion to rehabilitate and repair residential buildings for the president, vice president and their aides in 2013; that about N733,893,900 has been proposed for refreshment, meals, food stuff and catering materials supplies for both the president and the vice president; that in the drive to attract investors and relate well with the international community, about N2.96 billion would go into travels by the President and his deputy; and we equally know that, on the average, the overhead for the State House alone in the next fiscal year has been pegged at N7.48bn according to another report.

Point blank truth is: this budget is frustratingly skewed against the people with almost intolerable expenditure layout and unacceptable allocation for capital projects and infrastructural development!

The last time I checked, this is how it stands: Aggregates expenditure is N4.92 trn; N380.02bn for statutory transfer; N591.76bn for debt service; N2.41trn for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure; N1.54trn capital expenditure. While the share of recurrent is 68.7 per cent, that of capital expenditure is 31.3 per cent. Has that not been our story since the beginning of the democratic journey?

Now, we ask this simple question: with all the padding and overloading, how does this yearly ritual favour the common man?

How does this ‘enhance and protect’ the interest of the Nigerian people? With the unflattering verdict issued by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that Nigeria now ranks among African nations’ worst performers in governance and other issues related to indicators of development, it would take more than the window-dressing of a sexed-up budget to get out of the quagmire of underdevelopment. Ordinarily, the face-off between the Presidency and the National Assembly over the poor implementation of the 2012 budget would have been something to cheer about, but that would be tantamount to building castles in the air in an economy where these forces regularly conspire to put a semblance of reality to what is purely a choreographed drama. If not, why the conspiracy of silence over the billions of Naira tagged as ‘unspent funds’? The sad reality is that when the huffing and puffing is over, we may end up with a far more bloated budget than was ever anticipated by the executive. That, by the way, is how the cookie crumbles.

NEWS

F

Fitch affirms Nigeria at ‘BB-’, outlook is stable

ITCH Ratings has affirmed Nigeria’s longterm foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘BB-’ and ‘BB’ respectively with a Stable Outlook. The agency has also affirmed Nigeria’s short-term foreign currency IDR at ‘B’. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at ‘BB’.

According to Reuters report, the affirmation reflects progress on a number of fronts including a tighter fiscal stance, an improvement in electricity supply, increased agricultural output which has helped reduce imports, and an increase in international reserves.

It said the reinvigoration of structural reforms has yet to feed through to a higher growth rate and weaknesses including a vulnerability to oil price shocks, high inflation and governance challenges weigh on the rating.

According to Fitch, the partial elimination of the petroleum subsidy in January sent a strong message about the government’s reformist intentions. Although the move did not go as far as originally planned, it is an important step in the right direction.

Moreover, the political furore it prompted paved the way for a clean-up of the subsidy payment system and crackdown on the inefficiencies and fraud that have been uncovered. This has brought

Collins NWEZE

important gains to government revenues and international reserves, including the Excess Crude Account (ECA) which has risen to $8 billion this year.

Fitch believes the slowdown in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is temporary, affected by security and weather problems which have particularly affected agriculture. A recovery to seven per cent or more should be possible next year.

However, there is no sign

yet that growth is moving to a higher plain, which should happen as the reforms take hold. The banking system is also still convalescing, with credit growth barely positive in real terms due to high interest rates, limited lending opportunities and improved risk management.

A redraft of the long-delayed Petroleum Investment Bill was recently submitted to parliament. The prolonged debate of this key piece of legislation, affecting a vital sector of Nigeria’s economy, has brought major uncertainty

and been detrimental to investment. Passage of a bill that achieves the goal of a progressive fiscal framework while encouraging investment would be credit positive.

It said the draft 2013 budget is consistent with further fiscal tightening and a broadly stable general government debt ratio, which Fitch forecasts at 22 per cent of GDP at end-2012. The combination of a tighter fiscal stance, the reduced petroleum subsidy and a tightening of the subsidy payment system and other FX transactions, has resulted in a

month-by-month increase in FX reserves this year of a cumulative USD9.1bn.

This goes some way towards replenishing the buffer to withstand future oil price shocks. However, reserves still represent only 4.5 months of current external payments, compared to almost eight in 2008. The inauguration of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority could herald a stronger mechanism for saving above budget oil revenues. However, it is not clear when it will begin receiving regular inflows.

Why local government polls can’t hold in Abia next year –Deputy Speaker HE Abia State House of Assembly has explained the reasons behind its rejection of the proposed local government elections in the state which was slated for January next year. It said the State Independent Electoral Commission was not ready for such exercise.

The House said that there were still many things to be done by the body which were yet to be done, such as delineation of political wards, party primaries and other logistics required for a successful council election in the state.

Speaking in Umuahia during the monthly press briefing of the House of Assembly, the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Allwell Asiforo Okere, said that after looking into the case involv-

T

Ugochukwu UGOJIEKE, Umuahia ing the council elections, they found that it would not be possible to hold the elections at that time.

Okere, who is also the House Committee Chairman on information, said that after meeting with the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC) Chairman and members, they found that the Commission had nothing on ground to hold the election at the stipulated time.

He said: “ABSIEC does not even have the funds. It has not done the delineation of political wards and the party primaries which take about three or more months have not been done and other logistics associ-

ated with such election. We came up with the idea that the elections will not hold.”

The Deputy Speaker said that the House was not against holding elections into the various offices in the 17 local government areas of the state, “but we want the proper things to be done, so that our politicians

will not waste their money on a venture that will not hold.”

He called on ABSIEC to let members of the public know when the local government elections will be held since January date will no longer be viable, stressing that by so doing, those who are interested will be better prepared.

Rev Elizabeth Aina Husswin for burial THE remains of Rev Elizabeth Aina Husswin will be laid to rest today at The Voice of Redemption Gospel Church Worldwide, Gideon school Compound, Okota Lagos.

She died on Saturday, August 29, 2012.

Other programmes lined up for the funeral rites include a service of songs, Christian wake keep, lying-in state and

a thanksgiving service between 18th and 21st October, 2012.

She is survived by her husband, Folorunsho Orunto Husswin, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and relatives from the Umaru Mogaji Agbeni family.

Fondly called Sister by all, Reverend Husswin died at the age of 77.

Man appeals to IGP over death of mother Polycarp Orosevwotu, Warri A man in his mid 20s, Mr. Ovie Emeserhire, has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar, to constitute an independent body to investigate the circumstances that surrounder the alleged murder of his mother, Ms. Josephine Diemudeke, by a Warri-based businessman and the allegation of conspiracy by the police in “B” Division, Warri, Delta State to cover the suspect.

Ovie, in a petition dated September 10, 2012 and sent to the IG through his lawyer, Jonathan Ekperusai, alleged that his mother was invited to his house by the businessman (names withheld) on January 11 this year, but did not return home but only to discover her body at Warri Central Hospital after several weeks.

The petitioner and his relations, Pa. Gabriel Ekrebe and Isaac Diemudeke, alleged that the police in “B” Division had refused to act on the report of the murder of his mother until the family petitioned the Assistant-Inspector-General of Police, Zone 5, Benin before the suspect was arrested and detained by detectives from Asaba, barely six months after the incident.

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

11

O

2

NDO 201

The forerunners:

D-DAY

How they stand

Pages 14&15

In Ondo, it’s one man, one term Page 16

Akure as battle ground

•Akeredolu

•Jega

•Mimiko

Page 19

All eyes on INEC

Page 20

Ondo’s

Day of decision

•Oke

•Akeredolu, Mimiko, Oke in race of their lives

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

12

ONDO 2012: D-DAY

The road to

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Ikare witnessed one of the most As voters file out to cast their votes in Ondo State today, EMMANUEL OLADESU on the campaigns and other partisan activities that have culminated in the electrifying reflects final contest today at polling booths across the 18 local government areas. campaigns.

T is a historic day in Ondo, the achievements in the last four years observers have justifiably derided peculiar tunes and fanning the An ACN lone oil producing state in the amounts to nothing but failure. On them as liabilities and weak embers of intolerance and discord Southwest geo-political zone. his part, Oke believes the reality had organisations merely drawing through violence. On a daily basis, supporter Thirteen political parties are on dawned on the people of the periodic electoral grants from state posters are defaced and billboards marks, waiting for the Sunshine State that they embraced coffers for the benefit of their of rivals are pulled down in the came to the their umpires' s whistle. But most eyes Mimiko in error because he could founders and uncoordinated night. are only on three of the candidates, not match the unsung feats of his leaders.

Political campaigns have created venue with namely Olusegun Mimiko, a predecessor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu. Fears had been expressed by panic and tension in some locations, medical practitioner and candidate For the trio, it may be a moment some traditional rulers and sending the wrong signal of do-ora saw ma- ofRotimi the ruling Labour Party (LP); of emotional wrenching. Mimiko community leaders that the heavy die exercise. Thus, many people Akeredolu, legal luminary and Oke were colleagues in the presence of troops may scare voters. have gazed at this moment with standard bearer of the defunct Agagu administration But the candidates and other party apprehension. In Akure, the state chine, and and opposition Action Congress of before they parted ways in 2007. chieftains have been educating and capital, political meetings were still (ACN) and Olusola Oke, Both of them had worked actively enlightening the people that they being disrupted as at Wednesday. at the Nigeria lawyer and flag bearer of the with other PDP members to draw are on ground to maintain law and Other towns and villages were Democratic Party (PDP). the curtains on the Adefarati order, offer protection to voters and enveloped in anxiety. slightest Peoples Although they are not giants in the administration in 2003. When police the votes.

Miffed by the strife and rancour of the illustrious pathfinders, Mimiko was fighting to reclaim his The poll should ordinarily be a associated with the electioneering, mention of mould foremost nationalist figures and old stolen mandate in 2007, Akeredolu festival of legitimate choice and the chairman of the PDP in the state warhorses, they are was one of the great minds at the change. But the poster war, hot told the Inspector General of Police, Iroko, he political household names in the country. forefront of the legal fireworks. Both campaigns, debates by contestants, Muhammed Abubakar, that the Ondo, power is a divisive issue. Akeredolu and Oke are also endorsement and counter- ruling LP had perfected a plot to run made sure TheInstate is polarised into the ardent colleagues at the bar. In fact, when endorsement of candidates, the opposition out of town. “There of the PDP, ACN and LP. Mimiko alleged during the thuggery and violence connote that are plans to intimidate, harass and the ma- supporters Whoever wins the governorship governorship debate that the former hot politics is in the air. But the oppress the opposition, using the inherit the burden and Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) display of raw power, strength and police. I want you to make sure your chine will challenge of reconciliation in the President had a petition hanging on arms by fierce-looking policemen men are not misused," he charged. divided state in the post- his neck from members of the and soldiers patrolling major towns PDP candidate, Oke, who had roared into utterly election period. body's executive committee, Oke at random creates panic, making been campaigning amid tight Mimiko's goal is continuity in disagreed with the governor, saying people to wonder whether the state security, expressed similar feelings life, acting office beyond February 23, 2013. But that as a learned fellow, the is preparing for election or war during the governorship debate at for Akeredolu and Oke, the state is allegation was unfounded.

In the First and Second Republics, the Cultural Centre, Adegbemile as if he was ripe again for power shift. The The candidates on the platforms Ondo State suffered devastating House, Akure. He said his claims he has performed of the remaining 11 ‘mushroom’ effects of political violence. As the campaign train would have been cutting governor up to expectation. But the ACN parties are regarded as spectators in political parties warm up for the aborted if he was not escorted by disagrees, saying that the hot race. Their existence on the poll, pockets of violence and arson policemen. He said if there was state showcasing a single uncompleted register of the Independent National have been reported during rallies police, it would have been difficult down a tree candidate road, one mother-and-child hospital Electoral Commission (INEC) may and campaigns. Politicians, analysts for the opposition to campaign with

I

,

and a fountain along Oba Adesida Road, Akure as enviable

be a subject of controversy in the post-election period.

Many

argue, are beating the drums of war.

Their followers are dancing to the

the kind of governor in the saddle.

Mimiko, in his reaction, said there

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

13

ONDO 2012: D-DAY

•Left & right: File photos of scenes from a previous poll

was peace in Ondo State, absolving LP of any involvement in the threats against rival parties.

At the ACN rally in Ore, South Senatorial District, the party's national chairman, Chief Adebisi Akande, warned that the party was being pushed to the wall by suspected LP thugs. He took exception to unprovoked attacks on ACN supporters, following the party's rally in Ondo Kingdom, Mimiko's birth place, by suspected party thugs. Going down memory lane, he said that any act of oppression against progressive parties have always resulted in doom for the country, recalling that, on the two occasions democracy crashed in Nigeria, the circumstances leading to the monumental disaster were closely associated with Southwest's resistance to domination and political opppression.

Akande and Akeredolu also reiterated their call for the transfer of the Ondo State Commissioner of Police, saying that he was partial.

They said he had become a willing tool in the hand of the LP government.

Apparently in response to these apprehensions, the Inspector General of Police read a riot act to suspected thugs, advising them to flee the state. He ordered that the roads leading to the state from the neighbouring states of Edo, Ekiti, Ogun, and Osun states should be closed as from Thursday evening to prevent the invasion of real or imaginary mercenaries.

Abubakar noted that inflammatory statements by candidates and their allies also had implications for security. He threatened to arrest any candidate

or politician associated with such unguarded language as the campaigns were winding up. In addition, he said he would beam a searchlight on the riverine areas. He ordered fishermen to down tools and desert the waterways to avoid being mistaken for electoral marauders on the seas.

The threats were not without justification. Three weeks ago, the Akeredolu Campaign Organisation (AKO) cried out that suspected LP chieftains were in possession of fake ballot papers ahead of the election.

Its Director of Research and Publicity, Idowu Ajanaku, said it was part of the rigging plans of the ruling party. PDP Publicity Secretary, Ayo Fadaka, also berated LP for seeking victory through the back door when INEC had not kicked off the race. Suspects were arrested. Confirming this at the stakeholders' forum, Jega said that investigation was still on.

Expectedly, the candidates, supporters and followers were locked in hot media campaigns in the last couple of weeks. It appeared as if the media houses in Akure were compelled to give airspace to contending parties and candidates without discrimination. But media campaigns have been carried out with massive rallies across the three districts. Not only are the parties different in terms of their world view, they also adopted different campaign costumes.

LP had selected pink T-shirts and fez cap as its campaign uniform. For ACN, it was a thick blue T-shirt with Akeredolu's picture at the front and back. PDP stuck to its red T-shirt carrying the picture of Oke. Either in the bus or along the streets, the

supporters were identifiable.

At ACN rallies, brooms, the symbol of the party, usually filled the air, with party supporters shouting "Aketi! Aketi! Aketi!." For LP, it is "Iroko!", the nickname of the governor. For PDP, it is simply “P...D...P… Poweeer." Mimiko usually wore the familiar adire fabric. For the two lawyers, Akeredolu and Oke, it may be simple English or native dress.

Banners and posters were designed creatively and hung at conspicuous locations.

Ikare witnessed one of the most electrifying campaigns. An ACN supporter came to the venue with a saw machine, and at the slightest mention of Iroko, he made sure the machine roared into life, acting as if he was cutting down a tree. Cultural troupes from Ondo, Owo and Ilaje, the birthplace of the contestants, competed for attention. Comedians, musicians and itenerant drummers smiled home with good money.

Campaign venues created opportunities for traders. Hawkers of sachet water also made brisk business.

While party leaders occasionally traded words at campaign grounds, the campaigns were generally issueoriented. Remarkably, both ACN and PDP cleverly and strategically avoided antagonism. The LP in Ondo State had alleged that the ACN leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, wanted to install a stooge in the state to garner returns from political investment. But the governors of Ogun and Osun states, Ibikunle Amosun and Rauf Aregbesola, described the claim as a tissue of lies. "I have been governor for two years and our

respected leader has not asked for a kobo from me. Not even a common favour. And I still travel abroad at his expense, even as governor," said Aregbesola at Ore. Collaborating him, Amosun, who described Tinubu as a man of honour, said the party leader and his compatriot, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, have decided to devote their time and energy to guiding the new crop of progressive leaders in the region without imposing any burden on their administrations.

Southwest governors have an axe to grind with their Ondo counterpart for another reason.

They believe that the nonparticipation of Ondo State in the regional integration has been a setback. Amosun reasoned that it is relatively easier for governors in the zone to cooperate and collaborate, based on the principle of comparative advantage. "There is a flow of bitumen from Ondo to Ogun State. we can collaborate along the coastal corridor to have a seaport. We are talking about having a railway. These can be actualised if we belong to the same political party," he stressed.

Osoba supported this line of thought. He recalled that it was possible for him and the late Governor Adebayo Adefarati to cooperate as kith and kin on a number of issues because they both belonged to the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

Perhaps the major bone of contention, according to ACN leaders, is the breach of the agreement by Mimiko to join forces with them. They are of the view that the collective journey to the future Continued on page 18

,

October 20

Akeredolu advised Mimiko to pack and go on October 20, saying that he had failed Ondo State. He described his achievements as cosmetic feats that could not justify the huge resources at government's disposal. He lamented the lack of template for industrialisation in the states, adding that the governor was gallivanting about collecting frivolous awards for non-performance

,

14NEWS ONDO 2012: D-DAY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

•Mimiko

•Oke •Akeredolu

A

FTER weeks of grandstanding and verbal confrontations, the stage is finally set for a showdown in the contest for the governorship seat of Ondo State. Residents of the Sunshine State will troop out in their thousands today to elect their governor following the imminent expiration of the four-year-tenure of Governor Olusegun Mimiko. He contested the election on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) in April 2007 after defecting from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) but lost the contest to the incumbent Governor Olusegun Agagu of the PDP according to the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Alarmed by the apparent irregularities that characterised the election, Mimiko, supported by democracy activists, particularly the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, shifted the battleground to the courtrooms. Their efforts paid off on February 23, 2009 when the Court of Appeal declared Mimiko the authentic winner of the election.

With less than four months to the end of Mimiko’s tenure, the stage is set for a fresh election with no fewer than 13 other candidates challenging the second term bid of Mimiko. They include Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, (Action Congress of Nigeria); Chief Olusola Oke (Peoples Democratic Party); Taye Adeoti (Allied Congress Party); Adeyemi Bolarinwa (All Nigeria Peoples Party); Ayodele Olusegun (Better Nigeria Progressive Party); Omoyele Olorunwa (Change Advocacy Party); Olusoji Ehinlawon (Congress for Progressive Change); Oladipo Lawrence (National Conscience Party); Abikanlu Olusola (National Solidarity Democratic Party); Victor Adetusin (People for Democratic Change); and Omoregha Olatunji (Progressive Peoples Alliance).

Keen observers of the contest, however, believe it is a race between Akeredolu, Mimiko and Oke, the candidates of ACN, LP and PDP respectively, while the others, considering their clout, pedigree,

Vincent AKANMODE, Deputy Editor antecedents and platforms, are no more than mere participants.

Akeredolu Of the three front-runners in today’s governorship race, the ACN candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu, comes across as the most strategically positioned, considering the factors that are likely to work in his favour. They include: Regional integration To be sure, the ACN candidate made a late foray into partisan politics and cannot boast as much experience as his LP and PDP counterparts. But he secured the governorship ticket of the ACN at a time that regional integration has become a mantra and the average indigene of Ondo State is yearning for the state’s integration into the progressive bent of the ACN in the South West.

Like a hurricane, the rigging machinery of the PDP had swept through the South West during the 2003 general election, leaving Lagos as the only state in the grip of the then Alliance for Democracy (AD). The party, which later metamorphosed into the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), had to bide its time until the 2007 general election to win back such states as Osun, Ekiti and Edo after protracted legal battles in the law courts where it challenged the electoral fraud through which the PDP had perpetrated its hold on power in the region.

With Oyo and Ogun joining the progreesive fold of ACN-controlled states after the 2011 elections, Ondo became the only state controlled by Labour Party not only in the region but the entire country. The aberration its isolation constituted became even more glaring with the realisation that even the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who for years had functioned variously as the Secretary-General and President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) opted for the platform of the ACN instead of the Labour Party when the time came for him to pursue his governorship ambition

Even Mimiko himself had to rely on help from the National Leader of the ACN, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as other chieftains of the party like the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola in the battle for the restoration of his mandate in the courts after the Independent National Electoral Commission had declared the PDP candidate the winner of the election. Many Ondo indigenes had presumed that given the moral and financial support he got from the ACN while he battled for his mandate, the natural thing Mimiko would do was to defect to the ACN. Alas, they were wrong. Rather than pitch his tent with the ACN and integrate Ondo State into the progressive movement in the region, Mimiko chose the path of confrontation and verbal assault, turning round, as it were, to bite the fingers that fed him.

Many indigenes of the state would see today’s election as an opportunity to take their destiny in their own hands and return to the fold of their kinsmen in the South West, and that could translate to a huge advantage for Akeredolu.

Performance of ACN governors A corollary to the foregoing is the high level of performance of the administrations in states controlled by ACN. The strides recorded by the Fashola administration in Lagos, the

Aregbesola administration in Osun, the Oshiomhole administration in Edo and the Fayemi administration in Ekiti, among others, have become the envy of states in the stranglehold of other parties, including Ondo.

In terms of road construction and maintenance, public healthcare, education, potable water and environmental sanitation, governments in the aforementioned states have demonstrated their capabilities beyond doubts; a situation that has left other states particularly a contiguous one like Ondo yearning for a sip from the Holy Grail.

It was on the strength of their performance, for instance, that governors Fashola and Oshiomhole recorded landslide victories in their re-election bids. Ondo, a state that has always voted progressively, may see today’s election as an opportunity to key into the ACN vision by voting for its candidate.

Pedigree While Akeredolu might have made a late foray into politics in the state compared to his LP and PDP counterparts, he is not a stranger to the limelight as a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the umbrella body of the nation’s lawyers. Besides, he is surrounded by political heavyweights and campaign war horses including Asiwaju Tinubu and the governors of ACN-controlled

‘

The gale of defections from Labour Party to Action Congress of Nigeria in recent times is seen by many observers as an indication of the direction that the votes will go in today’s election.

Curiously, Mimiko’s own aides are involved in the defections

’

NEWS 15 ONDO 2012: D-DAY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

states, who all supported him in launching a vibrant campaign in the build-up to today’s election.

Akeredolu himself has promised to create 30,000 jobs within his first 100 days in office if elected, and that has been greeted with the submission of 10,000 applications to his campaign office in Akure. The development is seen by many as a mark of trust the electorate have in the ability of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria to deliver on his election promises.

Defections from LP to ACN The gale of defections from Labour Party to Action Congress of Nigeria in recent times is seen by many as an indication of the direction the votes will go in today’s election. Curiously, Mimiko’s own aides are involved in the defections. About three weeks ago, four of them, namely Chris Anota (former Special Assistant to the governor on Special Interest); Kayode Agunloye (ex-SA on Project Monitoring and Evaluation); Soji Ojomo (exSA to the Governor on Special Interest) and Opeyemi Igbede (ex-SA to the Deputy Governor on Political Matters) all resigned from the Mimiko government and defected to the ACN. They also alleged that they were receiving anonymous calls, threatening to eliminate them for abandoning Mimiko’s government.

“Our resolve to join the ACN is unshaken despite the threat. We believe in the party’s agenda and manifesto. We are leaders in our own rights. We strongly believe in the regional integration agenda of the ACN. Every true Yoruba person should support this agenda,” reports quoted Anota as saying.

In a similar vein, a Special Assistant to the Governor on Project Monitoring, Mr Femi Idris, also resigned his political appointment from the ruling government, saying it was in his best interest to resign than for someone to rubbish him or bring his name his name into disrepute. His resignation letter, addressed to the Secretary to the State Government, partly reads: “ I thank Governor Mimiko for allowing me to serve in his administration. I’m compelled at this juncture to resign my appointment with immediate effect. This is to enable me concentrate fully on my educational programme.” He further said it was wise for him to resign his appointment from Governor Mimiko’s administration because it was associated with different political crises and for the sake of his image.

Mimiko For Mimiko, a few factors stand in his favour, while many others will work against him: Experience Mimiko, no doubt, is a politician with considerable clout and experience. Before he became the governor of Ondo State in February 2009, he had been deeply involved in politics in the state and had functioned variously as the Commissioner for Health and Secretary to the State Government (SSG) under the administrations of Chief Adebayo Adefarati and Chief Olusegun Agagu respectively.

Thereafter, he was appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as Minister of Housing before he resigned his appointment and defected from the PDP to Labour Party to join in the governorship race in 2007. Hence, he has traversed the political terrain of Ondo State for years, oscillating between the progressive and conservative camps in pursuit of his governorship ambition.

However, the desperate manner he has pursued the dream has not been without a toll on his credibility as a reliable politician. At critical times, he had dumped his mentors and defected to rival political parties. Even the ACN is pained by the manner he turned round to insult its chieftains after they had helped him to recover his mandate from the PDP. The result is that he has made many enemies in the camps of power brokers in the state, and this, observers believe, could be his albatross in today’s election.

Incumbency The power of incumbency has always been a vital factor when the chances of candidates in an electoral contests are considered. For obvious reasons, the incumbent usually enjoys the limelight more than his or her challengers and his or her name sounds much more familiar than those of competitors. And in this part of the world where a distinction is hardly made between the office of a governor and the private life of its occupant, an incumbent governor has virtually unlimited access to state’s resources and can use it to advance his

•INEC’s ballot box

personal interests, including funding his reelection bid. A sitting governor can also capitalise on the projects he has executed with public funds and use same as a campaign tool to seek votes from residents of the affected communities.

But like the late former Senate President, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo once noted, incumbency is a double-edged sword. It can only be explored to advantage to the extent that the office holder deploys it positively. Otherwise, it can turn from an asset into a liability. The latter scenario would seem to be the case with Governor Olusegun Mimiko whose four-year stay in office is generally believed to have made little or no impact on the life of the average Ondo indigene.

As the only oil-producing state to have emerged from the South West, Ondo earns billions of naira in excess of the earnings of other South West states, except Lagos whose internally generated revenue is higher.

Unfortunately there is nothing to show for the superior revenue base of Ondo State under Mimiko’s administration. Not even the township roads in Akure, the state capital, have benefitted from the mega allocation that comes to Ondo from the federal purse every month.

Deep pocket As the sitting governor of the state, Mimiko could boast of a big financial edge over his competitors in the PDP and ACN because of the virtually unrestricted access he has to the state’s treasury. As the only oil-producing state in the region, Ondo State is easily one of the wealthiest, next, perhaps, only to Lagos.

But he may also have to contend with the financial might of ACN-controlled states in the region whose governors have not hidden their support for Akeredolu. At different campaign rallies in Owo, Akure, Ore and other parts of the state, the governors took turns to declare their support for him because of their belief in his ability to transform the state like has been done in other ACN-controlled states.

This was in addition to the endorsement of Akeredolu’s candidacy by the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties.

Second term jinx One more problem Mimiko would have to grapple with as the people troop out to the polling booths today is the jinx of second term in the governorship of Ondo State. In the political history of the state, it has been difficult for any governor to do a second term. Not

even during the Second Republic with all the prospects at the disposal of the late former civilain governor of the state, Chief Michael Ajasin whose deputy, Akin Omoboriowo, was rigged into victory at the expense of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) chieftain by the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Although Ajasin later recovered his mandate after persistent pressure from the electorate, his second term was aborted less than one year into it.

Incidentally, Mimiko himself has demonstrated in words and action that he is not a believer in second term as far as the governorship of Ondo State is concerned. On account of his opposition to the second term bids of former governors Adefarati and Agagu, under which he served as commissioner and SSG, he defected at different times to rival parties to vie for his erstwhile boss’ jobs.

Political observers thus believe that he has no moral right now to seek a second term.

Weak support base Unlike Akeredolu, the politicians that surround Mimiko in his re-election bid are more of spent forces who hardly wields any influence in the current political dispensation.

Notable among them are former presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae; chieftain of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) Chief Reuben Fasoranti and Convener of the Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare.

Oke The PDP flagbearer also has some factors in his favour; and some against him. They include: The PDP machine The PDP candidate will be counting on the PDP machine for whatever mark he makes in today’s election. The problem, however, is the uncertainty of the PDP’s direction of support between Mimiko and Oke. There have been conflicting signals from the party as to which of the two candidates enjoys its support. While some media reports have indicated that the Presidency is more favourably disposed to the candidacy of Mimiko because he is still seen largely as a PDP member in LP’s garb, other reports have quoted the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, as saying that the party would only support Oke, its own candidate.

How much support Oke can secure from the

•Jega PDP in the current scenario remains a matter of conjecture. This is in spite of the fact that some PDP chieftains, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Olusegun Agagu and Dr Kema Chikwe converged on Akure on August 11 to express their solidarity with Oke during his campaign rally.

Experience and pedigree For Chief Oke, a lawyer, the political terrain of Ondo State is as familiar as the back of his hand. He has been an active participant in the politics of the state as far back as 1992 when he was elected a member of the short-lived National Assembly of the Third Republic. He also contested the senatorial seat of the Ondo South Senatorial District in the 2007 elections and was declared winner before the Supreme Court declared his victory illegal. Besides, he has functioned as the National Legal Adviser of the PDP. The foregoing make him a familiar face on the political terrain of the state. But how far that could translate to victory in today’s election remains to be seen, given the low presence the PDP has enjoyed in the state since Agagu was unceremoniously ousted as governor.

The PDP albatross One obstacle Oke will have to contend with in his quest for the governorship seat of Ondo State is the burden of the party on whose platform he wants to realise his ambition.

Generally speaking, the PDP carries the tag of a non-performing party as evidenced in all the states it has so far controlled. After the protest votes that swept the party away from government houses in the South West, it looks unlikely that the people will be willing to tolerate the party any time soon, no matter how credible the candidate might seem. In the four years that the party held sway in different parts of the South West, there was absolutely nothing to show for all the federal allocations and the internally generated revenue. Even the performance of the party at the centre is widely believed to have fallen far short of expectation. These could constitute a big burden on the governorship ambition of Oke at today’s polls.

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

16

ONDO 2012: D-DAY

In Ondo, it’s one man, one term

I

N some settled democracies, traditions and conventions are as strong as the letters of the law. In countries like the United Kingdom where the constitutions are unwritten, traditions, ethos, mores and conventions set over the years, the precedence laid down by superior courts guide the societies. And, even in the United States of America, where the constitution is considered rigid and takes precedence over any other code or document, the document is slim and much is left to the conscience of the leaders, institutions and the people who are resolved to walk the narrow path.

Tomorrow, the 1.6 million voters in Ondo State will be exercising their franchise in deciding who should paddle their state’s canoe in the next four years. On offer are 12 men and political parties. They are Adeuti Taye of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN); Adeyemi Bolarinwa of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP); Better Nigeria Peoples Party’s (BNPP’s) Ayodele Olusegun; Omoyele Olorunwa of Change Advocacy Party (CAP): Olusoji Ehinlanwo of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC); National Conscience Party’s (NCP’s) Oladipo Lawrence; Abikanlu Olusola of National Solidarity Democratic Party (NSDP); Victor Adetusin of the People for Democratic Change (PDC) and Progressive People’s Alliance whose flag has been presented to Omoregba Omotunji.

But, it is largely agreed that the nine are not the contenders; they merely make up the number. They are at best participants. The three contenders who stand any chance at the poll are Rotimi Akeredolu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Olusegun Mimiko, the incumbent who has the mandate of the ruling Labour Party (LP) to attempt a return to the office and Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) Olusola Oke. They are three men who share a number of characteristics but have divergent factors working for and against them.

One critical but peculiar factor that would come to the fore in deciding the next occupant of the Alagbaka Government House is the political tradition and culture of Ondo State. It is believed to be the unseen hand guiding every election that has been conducted in the state that proudly goes by the soubriquet, Sunshine State, since it was created in 1976.

The first governorship election in the state was conducted to usher in the Second Republic in 1979. Although five political parties were registered to contest the poll, only two, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), stood any chance at all of emerging victorious. The people of old Ondo State voted for tradition.

They knew Chief Obafemi Awolowo who had become an idol in many parts of the old Western Region. They identified with the UPN that was seen as the successor-in-title to the Action Group (AG) and saw Ajasin as a steadfast, loyal member of the progressive tendency. He had participated actively in founding the AG and was chosen as a Vice President of the party at inception.

After the poll, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, a veteran of many political battles, was presented the trophy. On October 1, 1079, he was sworn in as the first elected governor of the relatively new state.

For four years, he piloted the affairs of the state in accordance with the manifesto of his party and worked hard to justify the confidence that the party and the electorate had in him. However, before the 1983 general elections, things had fallen apart in the UPN as his deputy, Chief Akin Omoboriowo decided to ask for the scalp of his boss. Omoboriowo, an Ekiti, hailed from the most populous part of the state and was a man of his people. But, Ajasin, who hailed from the relatively small Owo division, had a strong and well organised party behind him. Omoboriowo’s challenge and defection to the UPN was considered a betrayal and a sacrilege. The judges were the voters who had the task of calling the shots in

favour of one of the men. Picked to replace Omoboriowo was Nathaniel Aina Falaiye, also an Ekiti, who had served in the executive council as commissioner for education.

There was no tradition to guide the electorate in taking a decision. Never before had there been such a fierce electoral contest in that part of the country. The result was contentious as both Ajasin and Omoboriowo claimed victory. Backed by a rapacious Federal Government, Omoboriowo was proclaimed winner by the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO). It was a year and general elections that the ruling party at the federal level chose to capture as many states as possible. In the West, the progressive governments in Oyo, Bendel and Ondo were swept away, even where the choice of the people and the prevailing mood of the people were decidedly in favour of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his party. Lagos and Ogun States were spared the ordeal.

While the NPN whose ranks had been swollen by the defection of former Bola Ige’s deputy Sunday Afolabi in Oyo got away with what has been recorded in history as political robbery, the same could not be sustained in Ondo as the people rose until Ajasin was sworn in as governor on October 1. It was going to lay a precedence and establish a tradition, but the military intervention of December 31, 1983 changed the dynamics.

With other elected political actors, Ajasin was swept out of office. Was he returned at the poll, by the people? So declared the Appeal Tribunal. But, would it have been sustained in view of the appeal pending at the Supreme Court at the time? Would Ajasin have gone down in history as a two-term governor?

These are now conjectures. One fact that stands is that the only term that Ajasin served fully was for October 1979 to September 30, 1983.

Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin was the first to serve only one term.

The next time a governorship election was held in the state was in the aborted Third Republic. In January 1882, Chief Bamidele Olumilua, an Ekiti, was sworn in as governor.

His party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), triumphed over the National Republican Convention (NRC). It was a stillborn Republic and the tide of the times swept away all the political actors before the Olumilua/Olusegun Agagu could even nurse the dream of a return to office.

The reality at the inception of the Fourth Republic had changed. The Ekiti were no longer part of Ondo State. Five divisions were carved into three senatorial districts. The Owo and Akoko divisions in the North, Ondo and Akure in the Central and Okitipupa in the South. The first person to win the confidence of the people was Chief Adebayo Adefarati who was the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy. Like the AG in the First Republic, and the UPN in the Second, the AD hurricane blew away everything in sight in the old Western Region in 1999. Adefarati, already a septuagenarian like Ajasin in the Second Republic, was deemed to be available for only one term. But, at the end of that session, he

,

Is Dr. Rahman OLusegun Mimiko swimming against the tide in his quest for a second term as governor of Ondo State? Group Political Editor BOLADE OMONIJO examines the fate of his predecessors who attempted to be returned by the electorate but failed the test.

It was the dawn of another era and a confirmation that the one governor, one term principle had been endorsed by the people. At the centre of the campaign was Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.

He campaigned vigorously against a second term for Adefarati

,

indicated interest in serving a second term.

That music did not strike the right chord with Mimiko who was a commissioner in that administration. Mimiko had nursed the ambition of succeeding the governor at the end of the first term and would not brood a second attempt. He quickly made his calculations, left the AD camp for the Ondo PDP that had shown the brightest prospect in the Southwest in 1979 and combined forces with the tendency to bring Dr. Olusegun Agagu to office. Agagu had pledged that he would serve for only one term. And, privately, he was believed to have pledged to support Mimiko as his successor.

But, three years at Alagbaka changed the equation. By 2002, Agagu decided to run a second time. Mimiko who had started as Secretary to the State Government and moved midway to the centre as the Minister of Housing and Urban Develoment, indicated interest in doing battle with his boss and ally.

What had brought the two men together in 1999 tore them apart. Only about six months to the 2003 poll, Mimiko jumped ship to LP. But history was repeated. Mimiko, the presumed winner, was denied the prize.

Rather, it was accorded Agagu who was administered a fresh oath of office on May 29, 2007. The progressives in Ondo State teamed up for a grueling legal battle that lasted till February 23, 2009. Before Justice Garba Nabaruma, Agagu lost in July 2008. The decision was unanimously affirmed on February 23, 2009 by a five-member Appeal Tribunal over which the then President of the Appeal Court, Justice Umaru Abdullahi, presided.

It was the dawn of another era and a confirmation that the one governor, one term principle had been endorsed by the people. At the centre of the campaign was Dr. Olusegun Mimiko. He campaigned vigorously against a second term for Adefarati. After a short while that he served apparently loyally, he showed his hands when he called on the governor to step aside if he wanted another term. At the time, some of those who supported him saw reason on account of Adefarati’s age. However, age was not a factor in the bid to block Agagu’s re-election. Naked ambition was. But, Mimiko succeeded in getting the progressives who were opposed to the PDP to rally round his ambition. Mimiko, the iroko, pulled through.

But, can this tree make a forest? Is Mimiko strong enough to decimate the progressives, trample on the PDP and shatter the tradition hitherto sustained for almost four decades?

Before him, others had tried. Some were at the edge of succeeding, but the hands of tradition were too strong for them. They could not pull through with the second term bid. Ajasin fought through the courts and appeared to have succeeded only for the military to pull him down. Agagu got the support of INEC, but the courts struck and he was dragged away from the scene after 21 months of occupation of the Governor’s Office.

Ondo is not the only state with the tradition of one governor, one term. In Oyo, the situation is similar. In 1979, Chief Bola Ige mounted the dais. He could not survive the rebellion of his deputy and power fell to the NPN in 1983. His successor, the inimitatble Dr. Victor Olunloyo, lasted only three months at the Agodi Government House. In the class of 1992/93, the late Chief Kolapo Ishola was the governor. That experiment lasted a short 20 months. Then, in 1999, Alhaji Lam Adesina was elected on the platform of AD. He lost in 2003 alongside other AD governors except the charismatic Bola Tinubu. His successor, Rashidi Ladoja, who hoisted the PDP flag in the Ibadan Government House could not survive the plot anchored by the legendary Lamidi Adedibu. Even when he survived a phony impeachment, he lost the PDP ticket that would have afforded him the opportunity of contesting the 2007 election to Adebayo Alao-Akala. Akala also met his political waterloo last year as he was defeated by the Action Congress of Nigeria’s Abiola Ajimobi in a field that also had Ladoja as flag bearer of the Accord.

It took the ingenuity of Peter Obi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), with vigorous support from an ailing Biafran civil war hero Chukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu to break the tradition in Anambra State. Before him, Emeka Ezeife, Clement Mbadinuju and Chris Ngige could not make the mark. It is not yet clear if the tradition has been permanently broken given the slippery nature of the Anambra political track.

If Mimiko survives a formidable opposition in a free and fair poll today, he would have established himself as one tree that has made a forest. But, if he fails, it would prove that tradition is such a strong tide that no man could swim against.

•The late Chief Ajasin

•The late Chief Adefarati

•Dr Agagu

•Mimiko

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17NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

ONDO 2012: D-DAY

Polls seal it for Akeredolu government areas of the state.

Painstakingly conducted in wards to carry grassroots people along, the scientific studies also involved students of institutions of higher learning and senior citizens in the state.

A total of 2,160 respondents were interviewed in the Central Senatorial District; Ondo South Senatorial District, 1,530 and 1,310 in Ondo North Senatorial District. According to the report, the respondents were between the ages of 18 and 50.

The poll rated Akeredolu to win with 40.28 per cent ahead of the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko (24.84 per cent) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Olusola Oke (22.84 per cent).

Among the specific reasons given by the respondents for the outcome of the exercise, it was learnt, was people’s conviction about the candidate who they believed would provide them with all indices of people-oriented governance, especially social amenities, employment opportunities, free and qualitative education, good healthcare delivery, improved agriculture and affordable lowcost housing units.

The outcome of the studies was not strange to many who were abreast with the true situation of things in the state.

They hailed it.

But not so with Akeredolu’s main opponents – the incumbent, Mimiko of the LP and Oke of the PDP, who are still flexing muscles, beating their chests that on the conclusion of today’s voting exercise, they would take the baton and do a majestic walk into the Government House.

Yet to come to terms with the veracity of the outcome of the NGPW studies, Total Loyalty Team, another group, came up with another wellresearched opinion poll prediction: Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu will win the poll!

Conducted just last week, the opinion poll categorically rated the ACN candidate ahead of the rest in all the local government areas in the state. Total Loyalty President, Oluwatoyin Balogun, said: “The poll revealed the people’s hunger for a change in the state.”

Prior to the return of Edo State Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole into office for second term, similar opinion polls were conducted with the results giving it to the activist governor. In fact, even without the instrument of science, predictions were freely made by many who were convinced that Oshiomhole had paved the way for his return into office with his achievements, which even his most virulent critics tacitly attested to.

At the end of the exercise, the pre-election heat subsided and he was back in the saddle, lending credence to the outcomes of the opinion polls.

It therefore goes without saying that in the next few hours, the day of both NGPW in association with Track Pool Ltd (UK) and Total Loyalty Team would have been made as Akeredolu looks set to begin a four-year attempt at changing the story of Ondo people for the better with their freely given mandate.

Dada ALADELOKUN, Assistant Editor

F

OR ages, the aphorism, Vox Populi, Vox Dei (people’s voice is that of God) has remained immutable. When the champagne corks pop at the end of today’s voting exercise in Ondo State, on the frontline of the celebrants could be the brains behind the opinion polls that recently favoured Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), as the victor in the election.

Akeredolu, fondly called Aketi, is the banner carrier of the progressive ideology of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state, and as the D-Day inched closer, he never rested on his oars. He continued to win souls with his convincing campaigns in every nook and cranny of the state where the

people have been suffering hunger for better times.

Largely aided by Akeredolu’s agenda as firmly rooted in the progressive antecedents of the ACN, especially the party’s legendary exploits in Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Edo states where it holds sway, and the successful carnivallike Broom Revolution spear-headed by the national leader of ACN, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the legal luminary-turned politician has, in recent times, been generally adjudged the candidate to beat at today’s poll.

Perhaps to erase any of doubt about Akeredolu’s ever-rising popularity, Nigeria Gallop Poll Watch (NGPW) in association with Track Pool Ltd (UK) conducted a field study between August 13 and 14. A total of 5,000 respondents were interviewed across the 18 local

AT A GLANCE

Ondo State governorship election 2012 opinion poll 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

ACN – LP – PDP – CPC ANPP NCP PPA NSDP Undecided

Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu Dr. Olusegun Mimiko Chief Olusola Oke Mr. Olusegun Ehinlanwo Mr. Bolarinwa Adeyemi Mr. Lawrence Blanle Mr. Olatunji Omoreghe Mr. James Olusola Abikanlu

40.28% 24.84% 22. 84% 3.96% 2.72% 1.78% 1.18% 0.96% 1.44%

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

18

ONDO 2012: D-DAY Continued from page 13 would be smooth if the entire Southwest is under a progressive umbrella. Mimiko was believed to have made a promise to the ACN leader to defect to the party within 30 days, following the restoration of his stolen mandate. The relationship between LP and ACN was solid. Apart from financial assistance to the LP candidate, top ACN leaders had also stormed Akure for his inauguration.

When the stolen mandate of Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi was restored by the Court of Appeal, Mimiko had been the first person he visited and they both shared the joy of the accomplishment. However, the Ondo State governor, it was gathered, later changed his mind about a futher affair with ACN. In fact, during his campaigns, he denied receiving any financial assistance from ACN leaders.

Consequently, in Ikare, Ondo, Ore and Akure redemption rallies held by ACN, Tinubu had hard knocks for the governor. He described him as a traitor with an uncanny capacity for deceit and •File photo of a voter during a previous election betrayal. "But if Mimiko did not betray me, did he not betray Adefarati, Agagu and Obasanjo? He said it should be one governor, one term. Why should that not be applicable to him? Tinubu asked at the Akure rally.

The ACN leader delved into the member of the Niger Delta Commission Mimiko to pack and go on October 20, Scriptures, saying that every tree that does was not good enough, recalling that he lost saying that he had failed Ondo State. He described his achievements as cosmetic not bear good fruit should be cut down and the re-nomination battle.

But Oke defended himself, saying it was feats that could not justify the huge thrown into fire. He lamented that in spite of all the oil money that had accrued to Mimiko who was corrupt. He said, under resources at government's disposal. He Ondo State in the last three and a half years, his charge, the state had incurred debt. lamented the lack of template for there had been obvious gaps between Akeredolu aligned with this view, saying industrialisation in the states, adding that expectation and reality in terms of that the bond recently sourced by the state the governor was gallivanting about achievements.

He lamented the was unnecessary because there was no collecting frivolous awards for nonmarginalisation and neglect of the South evidence to show that it would be used to performance. He promised real free District, which is an oil-producing area, fund developmental projects. Oke alleged education for primary and secondary assuring that ACN government would that Mimko neglected the rural areas. He school students and bursaries and develop the area. He envisaged a free trade said it was unreasonable to site a lone scholarships for indigent tertiary students. zone for the south, saying that the same mother and child hospital in Akure and He said each ward would have one health motive was being actualised for the Ibeju- asked pregnant women from different centre in the state. To the youths, he parts of the state to go to the distant clinic promised 30,000 jobs in his first 100 days in Lekki corridor.

Tinubu also picked holes in the mega for medical care. He said a better option office. He also said the youths should school project of the Mimiko ignored by the governor was the protest against him if he failed to fulfill the promise. administration. He believed it was not decentralisation of the medical centres.

The PDP candidate said Mimiko had Akeredolu promised to industrialise the being driven by cogent factors as population explosion and lack of land for neglected the South, the goose that lays the South District and make it a tourist’s haven. school infrastructure. He said Mimiko had golden egg. He disagreed with the He was the only candidate who engaged equated showmanship with statesmanship governor over the security situation in the the national question during the debate by advertising non-existing achievements state, drawing a relationship between and throughout the electioneering period. in the media to confuse the people. He criminality and unemployment in the state. calling for state police, which Mimiko blamed the soaring unemployment in the "The governor has refused to employ our accepted with conditions, but which Oke state on the governor's refusal to employ teeming youths. For three years, he has totally rejected, he said the governor, who is youths. Like other critics, he said the even refused to recruit teachers. We have the chief security officer, should be able to give orders to the police administration performed poorly by failing over 15,000 shortage of without recourse to the to fight the infrastructure battle in the state. teachers across the commissioner of police or Fayemi echoed Tinubu’s words at the schools," added Oke. A the Inspector-General.

Ikare and Akure rallies. The Ekiti governor vocal politician, Oke Paradoxically, both exuded confidence in his achievements, challenged Mimiko to The PDP candidate ruling and opposition saying that he had constructed all the roads publish the financial said Mimiko had parties have cried foul leading to Ekiti's borders with towns in books of the state for the neglected the South, over alleged plans to rig Ondo State, including Igbara-Oke, Emure- sake of accountability the goose that lays the the election. But INEC Ile and Oyun, despite the fact that Ekiti and transparency. He Mimiko was golden egg. He chairman, Jega, allayed does not collect oil money like Ondo. said their fears, assuring that Fayemi urged Ekiti people in Ondo State to corrupt, clarifying that disagreed with the the commission would reject Mimiko at the poll so that an ACN corruption has different governor over the conduct a free and fair government, which is ready for faces. security situation in Akeredolu took poll. However, what was developmental challenges, could be to the the state, drawing a worrisome is the orgy of enthroned. ACN Campaign Director, Tayo exception violence associated with Alasoadura, shed light on how money was governor's reference to a relationship between campaigns in the Sunshine being misused in the state. He alleged that panel he said had criminality and State. There have been government had been inflating contracts, indicted him. Berating unemployment in the accusations, counteradding that he could tender the proof. "I him for what he called accusations and denials. have deposited the proofs in the bank the shortness of his state. "The governor But the propaganda has because they can invade my house," he memory, he reminded has refused to employ Mimiko that the Appeal our teeming youths. not halted the trend of said. violence and tension.

The governorship debates organised by Court had set aside the For three years, he has Last week, the Inspector the Nigeria Debate Group paled into a panel. He also said the scrutiny of Mimiko's achievements by his petition against him was even refused to recruit General of Police spit fire challengers. Mimiko had derided his rivals, a non-issue, stressing teachers. We have over and brimstone. He vowed to relocate to Ondo State saying that he was more qualified to rule that if he had not been 15,000 shortage of during the election to the state, having served as commissioner cleared, the NBA would teachers across the coordinate security twice, minister and governor. He said it not have named the activities. It is common was curious that PDP was itching to Lawyers House at Abuja schools knowledge that bounce back, having ruined the state in the in his honour.

Akeredolu advised unemployed youths, idle past. The governor said Oke's record as a

artisans and peasants, and motor park touts usually form the bulk of thugs. Thus, at a meeting he held with the executive members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers ((NURTW) in Abuja, the police boss read the riot act to arsonists.

The catalogue of electoral violence in the state started with the face-off between LP and ACN supporters in Akure during the Adebayo Adefarati Memorial Lecture. In the twilight of his life, the former governor was neither a chieftain of LP nor that of ACN. Sources said that both dives struggled to make a political gain out of the event. The organisers, nevertheless, had some guests in mind: elder statesmen, foremost politicians, top government officials from ACNcontrolled Southwest, and relations.

The programme was about to kick off when some thugs invaded the venue, demanding why some LP chieftains were denied entry.

Instantly, all hell was let lose. Akure ACN leader, Chief Wumi Adegbonmire, was manhandled.

Scores of dignitaries were injured.

Other eminent persons ran out in fear. ACN spokesman, Gboyega Adedipe, attributed the disruption to suspected LP thugs, an allegation denied by his LP counterpart, Kole Odogiyan.

However, since then, violence has characterised preparations for the election. It reared its head again in Owo, when Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, a staunch advocate of power shift in Ondo State, stormed the Achievers University to receive an award. “Thugs barricaded the road. It was laughable because they wanted to attack the convoy, unmindful of security details of the governor," recalled Idowu Ajanaku, Akeredolu's Media Adviser.

Few weeks later, Adegbonmire and some elders were chased out of a political meeting in Ijoka/Sijuwade area of Akure.

With him were Chief Olu Adegboro, Prof.

Adegbola Aderounmu and other ACN leaders. The old Action Group (AG) chieftain was filled with anger. "Can't I hold a political meeting again? This is my town.

I am the Asiwaju of Akure. This is the height of intolerance,” he protested.

Last month, there was commotion along Oba Adesida Road, Akure, when Akeredolu and his supporters were blocked by some youths brandishing dangerous weapons. The convoy was heading for Owo, his birthplace, following the governorship congress that endorsed him as the flag bearer. The police immediately rose to the occasion to restore order.

Recently, in Irele, South District, suspected thugs disrupted the empowerment programme organised by an LP lawmaker. As LP and PDP supporters clashed, Oke, who later became the PDP governorship candidate, was attacked by thugs.

In Akure, the ACN state secretariat was vandalised. The security man was beaten to coma. Adedipe blamed LP members for the mayhem, which he described as acts of hooliganism and barbarism. But Odogiyan disagreed, advising him to look for culprits elsewhere.

Ajanaku alleged that indiscriminate arrest of ACN chieftains by police at Owo is now rampant, describing it as an affront on human rights. "It is part of the grand design to frighten our people and disperse our supporters. But the strategy will fail," he said.

"In Ifon and Ute, the campaign offices of Chief Akeredolu were vandalised. When Mimiko was campaigning for governorship in 2007, Agagu did not stop him. But this governor has refused to let ACN use OSRC and Akure Town Hall.

Mimiko declared in that hall for governorship in 2007," Ajanaku added.

The road to October 20

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,

Continued on page 20

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

19

ONDO 2012: D-DAY •Governorʼs Office, Akure

Akure as ‘battleground’ I

T is a politically conscious city. The population is huge. Indigenes and nonnatives live in peace and unity. In fact, to the credit of the town, it is said that Akure indigenes are very accommodating to strangers. It is customary to see indigenes and non-indigenes from neighbouring Southwest states, Kwara, Kogi, Hausa/Fulani, Ebira, Igbo, Edo, Ijaw and Nupe tribes cohabiting in the same compound in the metropolis. Both indigenes and non-indigenes account for almost 250,000 registered voters in the city, which is 25 percent of the total number of registered voters in the entire state.

"The votes expected from Oke-Aro and Ijoka alone would be more than what some local governments outside Akure can produce. That is why eyes are on Akure during elections", said an Akure chief, who did not disclose his name. "We are not even talking about votes from Arakale, Isikan, Isolo area, Oja-Oba area, and NEPA areas. It is a massive turn-out every time, compared to other towns. People are never afraid to vote in Akure. That is why the politicians have concentrated attention and campaigns here, wooing traditional rulers and chiefs and other community leaders", he added.

Migration to Akure increased geometrically, following the creation of Ondo State in 1976 and naming of Akure as the capital. But during the colonial days, it was the headquarters of Ondo Province. The town was made popular by the pre-eminence of its famous paramount ruler, the late Oba Adesida Afunbiowo, whose four offspring have inherited the exalted throne in quick succession, following his exit.

In the beginning, it was an Ekiti town which played a noble role in the activities of the famed Ekiti Confederation, the Pelupelu.

Akure played reconciliatory roles in those days of yore in Yorubaland, although in later years, it was locked in a protracted land dispute with Idanre, its neighbour. It maintained intimacy with Edo, but its monarch then, Oba Adesida, arguably the oldest Yoruba monarch of his days, was a father figure. Throughout his reign, he was responsible for the advantageous position of his kingdom in Yorubaland. When the British requested for facts on how to settle the protracted land dispute between Ido-Ajinare and Efon, it was the royal father who provided

the historical facts. Although the colonial Fasoranti and Chief Wumi Adegbonmire, District Officer at Ado requested the much Asiwaju of Akure, former Secretary to younger educated Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Government and ACN leader.

Despite being the capital city, Akure had Anirare Aladesanmi, to speak on behalf of the Obas, he turned it down in reference for Oba marginalised itself in the past by resisting Adesida, who played the role. Since then, the attempts to break the town into more local colonial masters interacted more with the governments. In the Southwest, Akure is the only capital with one single local government.

Akure monarch.

One good turn deserves another. When Ewi "We had the advantage when our son, Olu Anirare was temporarily sent packing from Falae, was Secretary to Federal Military the palace by Ado people in the days of civil Government, but the chiefs said they did not strife and rancour, it was to Deji Adesida that want Akure divided. So, we have a local he turned for refuge. From Akure, he government in Akure and it does not augur normalised his strained relations with his well for a city like this", said an Akure chief, people and the District Officer. Also, when the who had served as commissioner in the state.

In 2003, an Akure indigene, Omolade riots led by Mrs. Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti led to the temporary abdication of the Egba throne Oluwateru, now an ambassador, was elected

by Alake Gbadebo, he ran to Akure for safety deputy governor. But no Akure indigene had served as civilian governor, although the late before he later regained his exalted seat.

Historians recall that following the Commodore Bamidele Otiko hailed from the supremacy quarrel that broke out between town. No Akure indigene had served as a Deji Adesida and the highly pompous Alaaye senator since the the First Republic. Apart of Efon, the late Oba Samuel Adeniran from Adedipe and falae, the Olu of Ilu-Abo, Kekereata, the esteemed monarch, already no other indigene had served as minister.

However, it has maintained the reputation advanced in years, decided to pull out of the Ekiti Confederation. He convinced the of a great voting public right from the 50s.

Resident, who was domiciled in his domain When Nigeria was on the fast lane to that Akure, Ilaramokin, Isarun and other independence, Akure embraced progressive villages were ready to follow suit. The politics, although its first lawyer, Dr. Akinola Resident granted his request and Akure and Aguda, missed the regional parliamentary its environs severed the umbilical cord with nomination in the Action Group and when he participated at the inaugural election as an Ekitiland.

Akure grew in leaps and bounds independent candidate, contrary to the advice afterwards. Today, the 36-year-old state is a of his friend, the late Ayo Rosiji, the AG medium-ranking commercial hub. It hosts the national secretary, he lost his deposit.

At that historic parliamentary election, Alagbaka State House, with its big government bureaucracy, a university of Akure voted en masse for AG, despite the fact technology, a federal school of agriculture that the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a close enjoying a polytechnic status, a school of friend of the the Lisa-Abejoye of Idanre, the health technology, a Central Bank of Nigeria slate Chief Gabriel Akin-Deko, was the (CBN) office, a general hospital, residential counsel to Idanre in the land dispute between the town and Akure, a land estates, numerous primary suit that was decided against and secondary schools, small Akure by the court. Even, and medium-scale enterprises, when Aro Adebowale and private agricultural The votes decided to pitch tent with the settlements. late Chief Ladoke Akintola's Early local politicians in the expected from Nigeria National Democratic city who played council Oke-Aro and Party (NNDP) to spite Awo politics were patriotic indigenes. Notable among Ijoka alone would during the split in the AG, majority of Akure people them were Adinlewa, also the maintained an abiding faith first principal of the first be more than in AG. secondary school in the town, what some local Their love for progressive Oyemekun Grammar School, politics also manifested in the late Chief Adebowale, the governments their bloc vote to Aro of Akureland and First Republic senator, outside Akure can Awo/Ajasin's Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in 1979 and octogenarian Chief Adedipe, 1983. When the defunct Elemo of Akureland who produce. That is Federal Electoral became a federal minister why eyes are on Commission (FEDECO) under Prime Minister Tawafa declared the late Chief Akin Balewa in 1964, the late Alex Akure during Omoboriowo as the winner Adedipe, former councillor elections of the governorship election who was Second Republic in error in 1983, Akure Majority Leader of the House resisted the result. The of Assembly, Pa Rueben

,

Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the perception of the stakeholders on Akure, the capital of Ondo State, as a critical ‘battleground’ in today’s election.

,

FEDECO office went up in flames. Key National Party of Nigeria (NPN) figures in the city, including the federal legislator, Olaiya Fagbamigbe, and another member of the House of Assembly, Tunde Agunbiade, were murdered by the mob. The first four storey building in the town, Laco House, owned by the NPN lawmaker, Clement Agunbiade, later senator, was also torched by protesters. The bold and brave politician, who served as the UPN agent at the collation centre, Alex Adedipe, a lawyer, hailed from Akure.

In the Third Republic, Akure renewed its pact with the progressive camp. It voted for Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The people of Akure also queued behind their own, Falae, during the stalled SDP presidential primaries. In 1999, Akure voted for the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati as governor on the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD).

Ikale-born Olusegun Agagu, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), succeeded Adefarati from Akoko in 2003. By 2005, Akure had been clamouring for power shift. The town voted for Olusegun Mimiko, a PDP defector to the Labour Party (LP). At issue is whether Akure will re-endorse the governor at the poll today.

Cracks have been visible on the wall. The Iroko political family, to observers, has lost a great deal off influence in many sections of the city. While it could be said that there was no trace of ACN in Akure in 2007, it is a different ball game in 2012. The party has grown to be very formidable. Miffed by the rancorous party campaigns in Akure and other parts of the state, the Deji of Akure, Oba Adegboye Adesida, the fifth, who spoke through his second-in-command, Olisa James Olukoga, appealed to politicians to exhibit tolerance and decorum.

Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) and feather weight Mega Peoples Party chieftains; Pa Fasoranti and Chief Falae are two prominent Akure indigenes whose children are serving as members of the executive council in Mimiko Administration. They have endorsed Mimiko for a second term. But Adegbonmire, another prominent indigene, said the endorsement was misguided, saying that it did not hold water. "Mimiko can only deceive a few in Akure, not all the people, not even many people. What are his achievements in the state in the last three and half years?

Akure will not vote for Mimiko", said the old AG stalwart.

Also, Tayo Alasoadura from Akure North, comprising Iju and Ita-Ogbolu, said the wings of the Labour Party would be finally clipped today. In the same vein, House of Representatives member Ifedayo Abegunde, who is also an ACN chieftain in Akure, has boasted that Mimiko will not garner enough votes from the city, unlike 2007.

r

NEWS 20 ONDO 2012: D-DAY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

The road to October 20

A

S the people of Ondo State head for the polls to elect a new governor today, all eyes are on the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC).

Only three months ago, it received a resounding applause across the nation over its sterling performance in the Edo State governorship election it conducted on July 14.

Without exaggeration, the governorship election in Edo State has come to be regarded as one of the freest and most credible in the history of elections in Nigeria.

As would be expected, Nigerians rose to celebrate the feat, which with all intents and purposes, saved the once terrible image of the Commission in the era of Prof. Maurice Iwu. The new benchmark set by the electoral umpire has inadvertently placed a burden on it never to perform below the standard already set in Edo State.

As if to affirm that it can sustain the momentum, the Commission has been doing a lot of confidence building, trying to assure the electorate and the general public that the votes in today’s election will count.

Last week, the Commission unfolded its plans for the election. The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, said special arrangements had been made in respect of the difficult terrains in the riverine Ilaje and Ese-Odo local government areas of the state, among others, to ensure the success of the election.

He advised political parties to get their agents ready, urging the party agents to note the security numbers on the sensitive materials to be used to enable them identify genuine electoral materials.

As part of the plans by the commission for a free and credible election announced by it last week in Akure, party agents would be made to witness the arrival of the materials and monitor them from the distribution centres down to the polling units.

While sensitive materials such as ballot papers and result sheets will be available in the state on Thursday, October18, a security meeting would hold on Friday. And other things being equal, a stakeholders meeting would be on at the time this report was being written on Wednesday. The National Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega would have arrived from Abuja on Tuesday.

Orebiyi, in an interview during the week, assured that INEC is fully prepared for the conduct of the governorship election. He said: “We have done quite a number of meetings with stakeholders. We have rounded off the voter education forum at the local government level. The essence of the voter education forum is to educate the voters on their responsibilities, their duties and also the procedures for the conduct of the election.

“We have trained the party agents; 334 agents of 13 political parties. We have trained our supervisors for the election. We will have 223 supervisors for the election.

UNDP sponsored the second training for party agents. The first one was sponsored by the International Republican Institute (IRI). INEC has also conducted training for presiding officers and assistant presiding officers. The bulk will come from the National Youth Service Corps. Whatever shortfall we have will be filled by students of tertiary institutions.”

Orebiyi explained in a more detailed way, some of the things that the commission and other stakeholders must do to ensure that the polls meet the expectations of all and sundry.

He said: “All campaigns must end on Friday, October 19. On election day, there must not be any campaign. There will be no movement around the state on the election day. Each voter will only go to his or her polling unit. Party agents are not allowed to roam the streets. There is a party agent for a political unit. Government officials and party officials are not allowed to move around. They cannnot carry weapons to election grounds on the day of election.

Continued from Page 18

All eyes on INEC Augustine AVWODE Assistant Editor

Security will be provided adequately by security agents. We are working closely.

You are meant to carry to the polling booth only your voter’s card. If you don’t have a voter’s card, don’t bother to come to the polling unit.

“Accreditation will start at 8 am. It is going to be different this time. This means our officials, men and materials would have arrived at the 309,000 polling units at 7 am.

Even if there is delay, they should be there by 7.30 am.

“Accreditation will take place between 8 am and 12 noon. After accreditation, voting will start by 12.30 pm. But any polling unit where accreditation of voters does not end by 12 noon, the presiding officer will count the number of people yet to be accredited and he will now ask the security officer on duty to stand behind the last person on the queue, which means nobody can join the line after 12 noon.

“The implication of this is that voting may not start in some units at exactly 12.30 pm.

When voting starts, it does not end until the last accredited person has voted. That means voting will not end at a particular time. After voting, there will be sorting of

the ballot papers according to the political parties voted for.

“There will be counting and after counting, there will be announcement of results. Only results will be announced and no winner will be declared at that level.

Voters are free to stay within the vicinity, two or three hundred metres, to watch the entire electoral process on election day.

“After the announcement of results, voters are advised to quietly return home. We will move from there to the ward collation centre to do the collation of all the polling units in that ward. We announce the result, we don’t declare winner.

“From there, we move to the local government collation centre. Then we move to the state collation centre at INEC office in Akure where the final collation will be done and results will be announced.”

In all, the people of Ondo, nay, Nigerians expect INEC to play its role as an unbiased umpire by doing its best in ensuring that the votes of the people count such that when the results are announced, just as it was done in Edo State, the people can troop to the streets in spontaneous jubilation, celebrating the triumph of the choice of the majority and not mourning over the victory of the minority.

Mimiko Campaign Organisation’s spokesman Kola Olabisi had a harsh words for the PDP and other parties, which he accused of peddling falsehood, saying that they are alarmists. He said LP secretariat was recently vandalised, although he did not give clues about suspects. He alleged that Oke was actually creating tension by promising to scrap developmental projects embarked upon by Mimiko. He said this is an unguided utterance, urging him to moderate his reactions.

Yet, other observers believe that, historically, in the Southwest, the sheer parting of ways among the supposedly members of the progressive family, could herald a bitter contest. Following the split in the defunct AG, the federal and regional elections in the wild wild West ended in chaos. In the Second Republic, when there was defection of some leaders to the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), Ondo and Oyo states were in flames after the election.

Akande and Osoba warned that the mistakes of the past should not be repeated in Ondo State. The ACN national chairman said peace would be conditional on free and fair election. The former Ogun State governor said Ondowill not accept an un-elected governor, adding that rigging would be in vain. “When Omoboriowo rigged against Ajasin, there was resistance. You were the first state to resist an imposed governor. Don’t give rigging a chance. Edo votes were policed. That was why Oshiomholw won. Police your votes in Ondo”, he advised.

Resident Electoral Commissioner Akin Orebiyi acknowledged that campaigns are hot in Ondo State. But he quickly added that “anybody who foments trouble will be consumed by trouble”. Almost on weekly basis , a stakeholders’ meeting attended by representatives of 13 parties in Akure has been ironing out issues of interparty discord. At the meeting,s the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, State Security Services (SSS) men, and commander of the Army Artillery, Akure, have been robbing minds and issueing serious warnings to politicians in the state to desist from acts capable of breaching the law, especially during the election.

Orebiyi assured that, with that warning, there would be no violence and break down of law and order.

Besides, he said clashes among rival political supporters would be averted by heavy security presence. He urged the people to cooperate with INEC and security personnel. “Election is a joint exercise requiring the support and cooperation of all stakeholders”, he added.

–Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw

–Page 48

My life at 50

I may go for another marriage

–Abike Dabiri-Erewa

–Page 23

21

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

•Ruby •Bouqui

•Essence

Super single celebrities open up:

Why we’re not yet married

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

22

C

Essence: Marriage is living the rest of your life with a friend. After the ceremonies, the glamour, pomp and ceremony, marriage is about being with a friend. Before, when I used to read Mills and Boon book collection, my expectation of my ideal man was a tall, dark and handsome man in shining armour to come and take me home finally in his arms. But now, I do not have any prince charming ideas again. Now I’m just praying for a Godfearing man. A truly God-fearing man because, if he is truly a God-fearing person, he won’t beat me, no matter how I run my mouth. He will respect me, and most importantly, I need somebody who will encourage me in my career. That is because, if you do not have somebody to encourage you, but allows only you to encourage him, then you are married but single. He should encourage my choice of career which is music. That will indeed prove to me that he is my friend. ‘’Money will be important in my marriage. For me, not too much money though, but still the Bible says that money answers all things. So at every point in time, we should be able to meet our responsibilities. So to me in that aspect, I believe that the times that we are now living in requires sharing the family responsibilities between the couple. So I’ll say 70% to the man and 30% to the woman. He should be able to provide, while I chip in my little bit as God helps me. ‘’Sex and romance will be given in my expected marriage. We must procreate and replenish the earth and have romance for keeping things new. For instance, there will be a time that any of us may not be in the mood for sex, but romance will then keep things new between us, to encourage us to keep being attracted to one another. ‘’Why I am not married? The Bible

•Ara

•Saint Best

Our ideal men, by super single music stars ,

HOOSING a life partner, according to Dr Leonard Okonkwo, a Lagos-based psychologist, “could be most challenging for a celebrity.” Most often than not, celebrity marriages are not easy to come by. They take time.

Stardom itself comes with a lot of public attention, which gives little or no room for long time emotional attachments and commitments. And when a star shines in any particular segment of the entertainment industry, choosing a lifepartner even becomes more difficult. The problem becomes more real when a music star’s fan base swells to a large number.

Young budding star Alimah said it all when asked why she is not married. Her reply: “How am I supposed to get married? I enter a place and everyone I see has the look of love for me in their eyes. I see in those eyes love and interest.

But how do I really know who among them truly loves me or is genuine? I have toasters, if that is what you are asking me, but who among them is sincere? That is why I am undecided about marriage.”

Gloria Doyle, a popular gospel singer, who recently got married, says she is enjoying a blissful married life!

According to her, it is not easy for celebrities to get married. “I am married now, though the ceremonies were not loud and elaborate. I am enjoying marriage. It is wonderful to be married.

It is a beautiful thing. I am soon going to present my husband to the press! The problem these days is that most marriages are based on material satisfaction and that contributes to why celebrity marriages are crashing.

Another reason is because celebrities marry because they want to use the status to get to a certain level or gain acceptability in some quarters. So most often, celebrities don’t get married for the right reasons. When they get what they want from marriage, they pack it up.”

We sought out top female musicians and asked them what they think marriage is, what expectations they have of marriage pending the time that they finally make up their mind for it, and why they are not married. These are their views:

•Gloria

n Paul UKPABIO n says that, it is the man that finds a wife.

So I am not expected to go and start looking for a husband. Or should I post it on my social media page that I’m looking for a husband (laughs)? ‘’Basically, seeing the rate of divorce, one needs to be careful about choosing a life partner. That is why I stressed that I need to marry my friend. I remember in school, if you fight a friend, the next minute, you can resume friendship again. To find my man is not a race.’’

Gloria Ibru ‘’Marriage to me is a sacred institution, if you are not ready, there is no point going into it. I won’t marry because everyone else is getting married. No, I’ll marry because I have met a man who I can live with for the rest of my life. My ideal man should be tall, dark, handsome, and God-fearing. Money is important in marriage, but of course, it will depend on how we handle it. ‘’Money will not be a problem to us in my marriage, if my partner and I understand each other. It will actually be

How am I supposed to get married? I enter a place and everyone I see has the look of love for me in their eyes. I see in those eyes love and interest. But how do I really know who among them truly loves me or is genuine? I have toasters, if that is what you are asking me, but whom among them is sincere? That is why I am undecided about marriage

,

a blessing. In my own marriage, money matters or problems will not even come into play at all. Marriage has many departments and two of the most important departments are sex and romance. Anybody who says that these two departments are not important is lying. If it is not happening, either of the two parties will go out and look for it. So sex and romance will be very important in my marriage. ‘’I expect that when I eventually go into marriage that my man will love me till the day I die: The same way that I expect that I will love him till he dies.

Obviously I am not married today because I have not found the man that I can live with till the day that I die. And whether I am getting married soon?

Well, when the time comes, everybody will know.’’

Kenny Saint Brown ‘’Marriage to me is a friendship that will stand for a lifetime of tolerance. I don’t think there is any ideal man or an ideal woman anywhere until they find themselves and establish friendship. It is from friendship that you can see that this

is what I can tolerate and this is what I cannot tolerate. So there is no ideal man!

I am not an ideal woman either, until someone finds me and sees some features that are attractive enough for him. He then speaks to me, and sees my flaws and weaknesses and believes and accepts to tolerate all that, till death do us part. ‘’So, if I am going into marriage again, that is what I will be looking out for.

Why I am not married again yet is because the timing is not right. Also, meeting the right person will determine when I get married again. But he has to find me, and I find him and we become friends and know that we can tolerate each other, for the rest of our lives. I will not want a situation where I go into marriage and go out of it again.

Marriage for me again will not be about money. It will be about friendship that can stand throughout a lifetime.’’

Ruby Loopy ‘’Marriage is a sacred institution, something that God created, and I Continued on page 46

LOCATION

BACKSTAGE

SNAPSHOT

REEL NEWS

MUSIC

SCREEN

Edited by: VICTOR AKANDE

Tel: 07029013958

E-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com

ntertainment

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

23

SEE PAGES 28-37

I may go for another

e g a i r r ma

窶年ollywood actress, Kate Henshaw

24

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 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 Monalisa Chinda splashes millions on new automobile

A futuristic expedition of the DTT

F

OR a world integration project like the much-talked-about switch-over from analogue to digital broadcasting, sensitive governments have evolved proactive and systematic line of actions to ensure that they are not caught napping when possible interference from neighbouring countries hit them. They have also ensured that the citizens enjoy the choice of clearer picture, ample channels and the succour of subsidy on the Set Top Box (STB); the conservative device that will provide signal to the existing television sets after the June, 2015 switch-over date.

The leapfrogging tendencies of a country like Nigeria become worrisome considering the fact that a global agenda of this nature is not just a complex transition, but one which seeks common understanding, diplomacy and cooperation of neighbouring countries within the continent.

Suffice it to say that in Europe and Africa, a timeline has been agreed within the framework of an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) treaty. The consensus is such that after June 2015, analogue television transmissions will no longer be protected from harmful interference caused by digital TV transmissions. In the same vein, analogue TV transmissions will not be permitted to interfere with digital TV transmissions.

Evidently, migration to digital broadcast transmission technology has begun, with countries like France, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden and New Zealand already advanced in their migration programmes, even as Finland and Mauritius have already switched off from analogue.

While South Africa, which began the process years back, may not have overcome the complexity of the transition, the fear for Nigeria's readiness is ominous. It is because indeed, while other countries are already engaging their regulators, policy makers and digital analysts to unlock the migration process, Nigeria, it appears, will exert its usual magic when the reality of 2015 comes to it in a flash.

Analysts have reasoned that for a smooth transition, the government of a country must consider the fact that the STB will take about six months to be manufactured. And although the price of the decoder has dropped to about $40 ever since a higher version dubbed DT2 entered the market, there is the need for each country to subsidise its production. And while it is also pertinent to consider the eligibility for a subsidized decoder based on the number of TV Households (as it is the thought in some countries), this may be a challenge in a country like Nigeria that is still struggling with population data and, to justify the government, where TV licences are not paid for.

But wherein the various governments in Africa do not seem to have engaged the stakeholders well enough on this digital revolution that is set to herald more channel choices and value to television viewers, Multichoice, a big private sector stakeholder in the scheme, and the largest pay TV

conglomerate in Africa has set an enviable agenda based on its Social Responsibility objective. Not only did the company begin a test-run of the digital TV innovation in Nelson Mandela's town of Soweto, last week, it also gathered African journalists from the IT, Entertainment and Business beats to interact with experts for two days in Johannesburg, South Africa. That Digital Dialogue Conference, more than anything, has enabled a deeper understanding of the digital migration process through topic of discourse ranging from 'Entertainment and Media Outlook from 2012-2016'; 'Preparing for the Transition of TV Broadcast Services to Digital'; 'How TV and the Internet are Meeting' and 'Effective Public Education for Digital Migration'. The conference which took place at the Sandton Convention Centre last Thursday, ended the next day, with a session specifically on the STB and government obligation, presided over by Mnet Technical Director, David Hagen at the MultiChoice Headquarters. This was followed with a tour of the households in Soweto where Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT) is already being tested. Testimonies abound in Soweto that indeed, the new innovation renders sharper picture, and better sound quality; such difference as it is between an old video cassette and a DVD. The households visited in Soweto agreed that they have a choice of more channels on the new device.

Reason for this is not far fetched.

Experts have explained that digital signals take up much less bandwidth than analogue signals. The result is that we can broadcast up to 10 television channels in the same bandwidth - giving you the potential of many more channels to choose from. Another benefit that this gives the people of Soweto is that they are for the first time, able to access many free-to-air TV channels.

Analysts have reasoned that for a smooth transition, the government of a country must consider the fact that the STB will take about six months to be manufactured

Back at home, all that we hear is the Federal Government's plans to have 20 million STBs manufactured locally by 2015. If that is the case, then 2015 for Nigeria will be the beginning of migration plan for the country, but not its own switchover year; unless the country's leapfrogging magic happens, will it enjoy the technology without the risk of initial interference. I guess also that for a population of 160 million Nigerians, 20 million STBs is an average way to plan for one citizen who has television sets in abundance and for his neighbour with none. And in the spirit of the current transformation agenda of the Federal Government, the claim that the government is currently wooing foreign and local companies to invest in the digital TV STBs production, and its wish for the country to start manufacturing digital devices locally is supposedly laudable.

But how many of the relevant stakeholders is Nigeria engaging on this evidently uphill task? I recall Hagen saying at the last conference that many players in the migration still habour many unanswered questions. This cannot be typical of South Africa.

Some of the key issues that arose from the Johannesburg conference included right, new, attractive and relevant content; affordability of STB; balanced technology features; relative conformity of the decoder to current devices; consumers' understanding of the process of migration; cooperation with broadcasters, signal distributors and manufacturers, who must be involved in the project from the beginning; and a possible community support or call centres for easy access to information on migration.

Unfortunately, doubts persist among stakeholders as to the ability of the government to achieve its supposedly aggressive digitalisation ambitions. Reason: The government is under-estimating the huge complexities to be faced in implementing the migration and probably needs to first focus on making the NBC more efficient.

At the inception of the discourse on migration, Nigeria had in its characteristic manner, shown some aggressiveness by pronouncing a self-imposed target of June 17, 2012 as the change-over date to digital broadcasting transmission in the country. Today is October 20, 2012 and with that initial aggressiveness running out of steam, it is only preemptive to say that 2015 is a wishful thinking.

A committee of experts and representation from a wide range of business and economic sectors set up by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in October 2008 to create the roadmap for the takeoff of digital broadcasting in Nigeria, we learnt, had long submitted its report to the Minister of Information and Communications in December 2009. Perhaps at the point of switchoff of analogue technology in 2015, the country will find its way through a dysfunctional data signal, like the fire brigade moving precariously through the deadly inferno in order to put out the conflagration from its fierce source.

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

I

NFORMATION reaching us has it that light skinned actress, Monalisa Chinda spent about 6.5million Naira on an automobile. Mona, as she is fondly called, recently took delivery of a 2012 Honda Crosstour model.

Few weeks ago, Monalisa gathered some of her celebrity friends at Nu

Grotto, Victoria Island, Lagos for a lavish birthday party. The shindig was attended by Ini Edo, Mike Ezuruonye and Segun Arinze among others.

The Glo ambassador is said to be having the best of times as she is doing everything possible to ensure that she lives comfortably.

Omotola in London for Amina

A

WARD winning Nollywood actress, Omotola Ekeinde Jalade is presently in London, UK for the movie premiere of the bespoke movie entitled Amina.

Omosexy, as she is fondly called by fans, flew in to London days back for the event which took place about four days ago.

Omotola is the lead character in the movie and the premiere which took place in Leicester according to sources is said to be one of the best premieres to have been staged in that land.

Baby boy for Ufuoma Ejenebor

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OLLYWOOD actress, Ufuoma Ejenebor is now a proud mother; the actress has been delivered of a baby boy.

Ufuoma who featured in one of Lagbaja's mus ic video after the exit Ego is said to be in high

spirits after she gave birth to her bundle of joy.

Mother and child are said to be in good condition in far away South Africa as congratulatory messages continue to pour in for the actress who was reported in 2011 to have been man-handled by the Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker.

She got married to Steven McDermott in April 23, 2010 and she is also largely remembere d for representi ng Nigeria at the Miss Earth 2004 Internation al beauty pageant held in Philippines.

25

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

RE ELNEW S Amaka Igwe launches Q TV

Joseph Benjamin, Van Vicker contend for AFA's African Actor of the Year

MCSN slams NCC with N100 million suit

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EQUEL to the raid of MCSN office carried out by NCC during its raid on th 18 September, 2012; the Musical Copyright Society Nigeria has filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos to enforce its fundamental and constitutional rights and those of its officials, asking for an award of N100 Million as damages against the Nigerian Copyright Commission and 4 others.

It has also demanded that the NCC should within seven days return all materials, files, documents and computers illegally removed from its offices in a recent raid; otherwise it would be claiming One Million Naira per day for the number of days which the materials remain in the custody of the NCC. In Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1163/12 filed on 3rd October 2012, MCSN and its 6 other officials, namely, Olukayode Ajayi, Benson Yusuf, Omolara Banjo, Halim Mohammed, Louis Udoh and Mayo Ayilaran are asking for the following reliefs among others: An Order of perpetual injunction restraining the Respondents whether by themselves, officers, agents and privies from further harassing, intimidating, detaining or further arresting the Applicants or any of its officers or agents in the course of performing their lawful and legal duties and administering their property rights, an order of the Honourable Court awarding compensation for the Applicants and against the Respondents (jointly and severally) in the sum N50 Million for unlawful disruption and interference in 1st Applicant's lawful businesses and an order of the Honourable Court awarding compensation for the Applicants and against the Respondents in the sum of N50 Million (jointly and severally) for threat to arrest, unlawful arrest, detention, intimidation and harassment of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th 7th and 8th Applicants.

Other Defendants in the suit apart from the Nigerian Copyright Commission are the Director General of the NCC (Afam Ezekude), Mr. Amodu Augustine Alewu, Mr. Mathew D. J. Ojo and the Inspector General of Police.

The suit was filed on behalf MCSN and its officials by Dr. Ope Banwo of Banwo & Igbokwe (Solicitors) and a hearing date was being expected.

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ET to commence airing on DStv is Q, Nigeria's latest entertainment channel is. The new channel, according to its management, is set to provide viewers with exciting movies, thrilling dramas, inspiring documentaries, general interest programmes and much more.

Founded by multi award winning filmmaker, Producer and Director, Amaka •Van Vicker •Joseph Igwe, Q is the first of its kind in the country T a special ceremony held in Akure, London at the glamorous ceremony. The and is positioned to be viewers' one stop choice for original, exciting and entertaining contest is between Joseph Benjamin of Ondo State, Nigeria on Wednesday television content.

Nigeria (Tango with Me), Van Vicker of 10th October, winners for the 17th Ghana and one of South Africa's leading African Film Awards 2012 a.k.a Afro Speaking on the launch in a statement, actors, Jafta Mamabolo (Otelo Burning).

Hollywood Awards, emerged. Organised Amaka explained that the new channel was a lifelong dream of hers nurtured by her The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) by the African Voice Newspaper UK, the Governorship candidate in Ondo State, Mr. deep passion for the Nigerian entertainment names of finalists in various categories industry.

Rotimi Akeredolu SAN assisted by his were released.

“Q has been a long time coming. In my deputy Dr. Paul Akintelure was full of New acting talent Kiki Omeili star of over 22 years of working with television, I praises for the African Film Awards' Married but Living Single was adjudged have felt an enormous need for a platform organizers. “I'm happy Governor Rauf winner of Best Actress in supporting role that can adequately explore Nigeria's in an English languague film defeating Oge Aregbesola supports you and I want to assure you that if we are voted into power enormous television potentials, one where Okoye and Nse Ikpe Etim while Tonto content producers can truly call home,” she in Ondo, he will not saddle it alone, we Dike emerged Best Actress of the year said. shall support. To our artistes here tonight, defeating Omoni Oboli and Chika Ike. The According to her, Q is your endorsement mean a lot to us, your winners will be attending the prestigious primarily a series channel presence at our campaigns mean a lot to annual awards slated for 3rd November in which presents us. A lot of people come to our campaigns London. programmes in a serial because they want to see you, listen to Meanwhile, the winner of the African format. “All you,” he said.

Actor of the Year will be announced in programmes on this channel will be in multiples, connected or in a standalone format, spanning several weeks, a quarter, multiple HE country's biggest music honours quarters or a year noted that, "The Headies is not only about event, The Headies, is set to roll with and beyond,” Igwe rewarding deserving artistes, it has been pomp and electricity with Nigeria's adds. She further responsive to our society in many ways. biggest music stars getting ready to shine disclosed that Q One new way it intends to do so this year will have over this weekend. is its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 80% original With the big nominees including project tagged Help The Children which Nigerian content. international superstars D'Banj, P Square, aims to bring succour to less privileged •Amaka Sarkodie, Wizkid, 2face as well as hitNigerian children who are suffering from a makers Davido, Ice Prince, Naeto C, Iyanya prevalence of unclean water, low food and many others getting ready for the big supplies and diseases such as malaria, day, organisers say Lagosians should brace pneumonia, measles, whooping cough, up for a world class event, befitting of our tetanus and tuberculosis.” home made super stars.

LL Seasons Hotel founded in the city Veterans to be honoured during the of Owerri, the capital of Imo State The Headies Awards, which has become Veterans Night include: Ken Caleb owned by businessman and showbiz a reference point in the Olumese, Tony Okoroji, Daniel Wilson, enthusiast Evang Myke Ikoku is now Nigerian music industry, will Oritz Wiliki and Chris Okotie. receiving a face-lift as construction has hold on Saturday October 20 Other veterans to be honoured include begun on GMP's latest overseas project, the 2012 at Eko Hotel and Daddy Fresh, Stella Monye, Baba Fryo, Edi NV Nightclub.

Suites, Victoria Island, Lawani, Easy K, Pretty (Junior & Pretty), Through featuring celebrity DJ's and the Lagos. employment of state-of-the-art DJ systems Fellyx, (Fellyx & Mozzyx), Alex Zitto, such as 'The Emulator', the NV Nightclub The pre event activities, Edmund Spice, and Ras Kimono. regularly attracts thousands of clubbers from comprising Veterans Night Majek Fishhook, Mandators, all over Imo State. and a special CSR project, Edna Ogoli, Bongos Ikwe, Director of GMP, Neil Morton, said “This HELP THE CHILDREN, Onyeka Onwenu, KWAM 1, is the second prestigious international are all part of an Mike Okri and Blackky are contract won by us in a very short space of exciting line up of also amongst the proud time; it's testament to the worldwide events leading to the veterans. reputation of GMP Design. The start of 2012 much-anticipated was a very busy time for us and we now Meanwhile, A-List 2012 edition of The anticipate that pace to be maintained crowd pleasers scheduled Headies. throughout the year.” to perform on Saturday at The new night club interior will include a Ayo Animashaun, The Headies include number of GMP's latest club advances.

Chief Executive Grammy nominee Femi These include the world's first “Emulator Officer of Hip Hop Kuti, Bez, Timi Dakolo DJ” glass touchscreen DJ unit, and World and executive and Styl Plus. Others are revolutionary celebrity booths that producer of The transform from a seating booth into a Praiz, Chuddy K, Davido, Headies Awards •Onyeka Onwenu dancing area.

Eva Alordiah and Brymo.

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Onyeka Onwenu, Bongos Ikwue others for Headies Awards

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Multi-million naira All Season Nite Club ready

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GSR 360 offers hope to up-and-coming stars

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F the words of Misty Ngozi Uba, the boss of Global System Resources (GSR 360), a multimedia outfit, is anything to go by, the era whereby musical videos by Nigerian artistes and television advertisements are shot in South Africa and Europe are over.

Uba started his dream of putting the Nigerian entertainment industry on the world map about 19 years ago when he, alongside other like minds, packaged a television programme that features actors, musicians and other stakeholders in the Nigerian entertainment industry.

“We started about 19 years ago with our popular television programme, Stars Timeout. The programme was on Minaj

Broadcasting, and we featured movie and musical stars like Omotola Jalade, Rita Dominic, Okey Bakassi, Julius Agwu and Ali Baba among many others. We have since added other programmes like Corpers' lodge and The Parliament.

All these programmes are still doing very well.”

Almost two decades on, that programme, 'Stars Timeout' which debuted on the now-rested Minaj Broadcasting, is still wasting stronger, and has indeed given birth to other equally entertaining programmes on television channels across the country. Having seemingly conquering the world of independent production on radio and television, Uba and his team are ready to, in his words, “give

back to the society” by offering a first-class studio service to budding and established musicians.

“GSR 360 is a one-stop shop for multimedia and entertainment. Our aim is to contribute our quota to national development by offering up and coming artistes and established ones the best modern recording facility. It is comparable to whatever you can get anywhere in the world.”

Speaking with The Nation, Uba, an engineering graduate of the Auchi Polytechnic (now Federal Polytechnic, Auchi), lamented the absence of quality studios in television stations across the country. According to him, this has led to serious capital flight from the country, as most musical videos,

jingles and commercials by big blue chip companies are either done in South Africa or Europe.

“If you observe, you'll see that most commercials and musical videos for our artistes are now done in South Africa. Those that are not shot in South Africa are done in Europe. This is a big shame. Most of our television stations now lack quality programmes. Most those programmes you watch are by independent producers who pay for airtime.”

The GSR 360 studio is equipped the modern mixer, energy-saving lights and cameras for both audio and video recordings and editing suites, which Uba said places his outfit ahead of other recording studios in the country.

26

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Christened Samson Uche Mogekwu at birth, but popularly called Samsong, this artiste has come to be associated with contemporary gospel R'n'B music. A former banker, Samsong's love for the art has made him to abandon his dream for the apex bank in Nigeria. Two decades gone by since he plunged into music, the singer, writer and label owner, talks about early years as a gospel act, marriage, philosophy and other issues in this interview with MERCY MICHAEL.

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IANULE, is one of your songs that is very popular. What inspired that song?

Bianule is just a thanksgiving song. I found out that there is a lot to be thankful for. God has done a lot for me.

I'm married now. I've got two kids. And through all the struggles and challenges of being a gospel artiste, God gave me the grace to overcome most of them. I'm very happy. So that's where the inspiration came from.

How long have you been doing gospel music?

Professionally, I started doing gospel music in 1990.

You did say God saw you through some struggles and challenges. Tell us about them?

Interestingly, gospel music is much better now than when I started. I sing contemporary gospel R'n'B. So when I started, the acceptability was a little shaky. 'Samsong, why don't you sing something that we can identify with?

With this your voice, sing something traditional', that's all I get to hear most of the time. And I'd answered by saying 'I can't sing traditional music.' But you know, as I grew in the industry. I realized that no matter where you are.

No matter where you are from, it's important for you to be able to reach out to your people. It's interesting to know that even Americans sing their own traditional music. Though, their traditional music is not in the language.

It's in the genre. Those church songs you hear are American traditional music. For us, our traditional music is not in our genre. It's in our language because we have diverse languages. So I thought, let me try Bianule, and it worked. And after then, I've done another album that's titled Church Boy Reloaded Album. This was in 2010. And it's doing very well.

There is this notion that gospel music isn't as commercially successful as secular music. Was it easy for you to settle for gospel music then?

I didn't start singing for commercial reason. I never really wanted to be a musician. I've always wanted to be a banker. I studied Accounting in school.

When I left school, I worked in Central Bank of Nigeria. I later worked in Golf Bank. I actually wanted to be the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.

That was my dream. That was what I was working towards. But somewhere along the line, I started feeling like a square perk in a round hole. So I resigned from the bank and plunged into gospel entertainment. I love what I'm doing. I love to sing and to see that people are happy that I'm singing to them. That was my drive. But as much as possible, I knew that money would come. I was passionate about the art. I wasn't so crazy about money. I didn't have much money, but I just kept singing. I had too many offers to sing secular music, but I believe that music is not just about singing. It's a lifestyle. If I'm living a Christian life, then I should sing gospel music. If I'm living a secular life, then I should sing secular music. It's not about just picking up pen and writing lyrics. I should be able to write lyrics that are congruous with the kind of life that I live. There is no way I would have been singing secular music. I'm a Christian. I love God. And I love to sing gospel music. Basically I'm still here because it's more than music to me. It's a lifestyle.

I'm sure you didn't just wake up one day and decided that today I'm leaving the bank. What were those incidents that culminated into you quitting your banking job for music?

Why I turned down offers to do secular music —Samsong false life. That's why I said before that Well, I have this brother whom, music is a lifestyle to me. I don't sing whenever we are watching R. Kelly; he'd secular music, not because I cannot sing says, “You're just as good as this guy.” it, but because I do not live it. So how do Whenever he says it, though I come up I sing what I'm not living. That's it for with the excuse that R. Kelly is in me.

America, he has the opportunity, in my To live a decent life doesn't come quiet time, I always think about it. cheap. It takes a lot of discipline.

Again, a pastor walked up to me one day What's your experience, especially and told me; 'look, how much are you when you were starting off? being paid in the bank? Do you know Life is a choice for every one of us to how much you can make if you take make. We have our choices to make in music seriously?' Those comments life. There are people who are not helped to build my confidence. But then, Christians but they've chosen to life a I also had people who were like, people decent life. It comes from that are rushing into the bank, you are perspective. There are people who are thinking of leaving. So I had to choose not born-again. They've not accepted which voice I wanted to listen to. At the Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and end of the day, I followed my heart. And saviour but they will not go out there what my heart told me was to go into and drink, smoke or frolic with girls. gospel music. So I left the bank. My What would you say about that? So for friends who were in the bank with me me, it's a choice that everybody has to then thought I was stupid, but today make. As a young artiste, I grew up in a they are very proud of me. I guess most Christian home. Though I had ladies time; one has to just follow his heart. come to me, I travelled a lot as an artiste How would you describe gospel and I had people come to me to music now in Nigeria? introduce all sort to me, but I never gave It's much better than it used to be. It's in because I made a choice to live a good more developed because the minds of life. It's not for the fact that I'm the people too have developed to a level born-again, I where they can appreciate lyrics. For me, decided right I believe that gospel music is not all from time that about the beats. It's more about lyrics.

I wanted to You are trying to pass across a message. live a good If you are able to achieve lyrics then life. you most likely would achieve gospel You've music. So, it's much better than it used got great to be. When I started it was difficult. looks. How There are things people wanted to hear. do you And as a gospel artiste, you cannot say handle those things. But today, more people are advances from the even tilting towards gospel music. They opposite are embracing decent life. I'm not sex? marketing born-again (laughs). People appreciate good lyrics now than just hearing about drug, sex and money.

Certain people do gospel music but their lifestyles do not necessarily stand them out from those who do secular music.

What's your take on this?

I call it the double standard life. In short, that's what the bible calls it. I would say its falsehood. It's falsehood because writing a lyric that you are not living is double standard. If you write lyrics that are of good values, but you live a life of vices, it's falsehood.

•Samsong You're living a

Yes, ladies come. They are my friends.

No, they are my fans. Not even my friends. They like the fame; they like the lifestyle, but don't even know me. So there is no way I can expose myself to them like that. To a large extent I decided to life a decent life. It's not difficult. The truth is that for every decision you make, you must put machineries in place to help you through it. When I decided I wanted to be a gospel artiste, I had to cut off from some friends. I made some new friends. I had to start being in church a lot. I had to start studying the Bible to help me build myself spiritually. So it's not a difficult thing to do. It's a process.

It's just like making a decision to be a banker or to be a dancer. That's just it.

You are one the judges on Destiny Child, a gospel talent hunt reality show in the making. What are your thoughts about it?

I think it is a very fantastic initiative. I have craved to see this happen for a long time. And my philosophy about life is this, if you see this thing and you don't like it, stop complaining, create a parallel.

Now, we complain that most of the guys that win the secular reality show come from church and when they win they go secular. If you complain from now till thy kingdom come, it will not change. It's been like that before now and it will remain like that. So the only thing that we must do is to create a parallel.

Something that looks like it, but it's not it that will accommodate our people, Christians, real Christians so when they come in and they win; they are signed under a record label that's not going to tell them not to sing gospel music. So it's a parallel of what we see. Like I always say, Destiny Child has come to write the wrongs.

It's the first time you're going to be a judge on a reality show? How do you feel?

I've done it before, but not to this magnitude. This is going to be like the biggest because it's going to be on national TV. The ones I have done before now, have been within churches.

Basically, it's a great feeling.

When did you get married?

I got married in 2008.

How has marriage helped to balance out pressures from the opposite sex?

It was more difficult before I got married. Nigerian girls know how to respect marital union, I mean to some extent. I'm not trying to say I'm totally free from it but yeah, now, when they come around and they notice I'm married they just take a step back which is very good.

Now, I handle less pressure.

You look quite glamourous with your hairstyle. Tell us about your style?

Let me start by saying I have a clothing line. That's called 'Boogie Down' by Samsong.

The hair thing is a style that I created about six years ago. I believe that everybody has to be known for something, especially in show business. If I'm not having this I would be like everybody else and there won't be anything to me. So I thought let me do something that most people will find difficult to do. It takes a lot to keep this. Most people do it and after a while they get tired and they take it off. But for me, this is my image. It's my signature.

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

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OING to Calabar had a strong pull on me and going to watch the Super Eagles was an extra fillip. It was a kind of homecoming for me and would be the second time I visited after 21 years of graduating from the University of Calabar. The city fondly called Canaan land by residents and natives occupies a very important phase of my life, the time of my life when I made deliberate choices outside of direct family influences.

Therefore, as a proud Malabite, I consider myself a bonafide citizen of the city having spent quality years training in that city to become the person that I have turned out to be.

But for some others who were headed to Calabar last weekend, there were many who approached with precipitation, a shadowy fear that it may yet go wrong as it did in Abuja last year for the 2012 Nations Cup in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea and as it did in Kano in 2006 for the World Cup in Germany. My trip to Calabar was full of verve and a trust in the saying that ‘impossibility

H

OW would you describe Nigeria’s qualification for the 2013 Africa Nations Cup finals?

I feel great, very happy and honoured because after a long time, we have been looking for victory for our national team. It seems today (last Saturday) is the beginning of a new story in the history of Nigerian football.

Having had a 2-0 victory against the same Liberia in 2002, and the last match played in Monrovia ended 2-2 but today it ended 6-1 in Eagles’ favour so overwhelmingly we won the match. I am quite very happy and I must tell you that my happiness has no bounds.

Firstly a lot of Nigerians came out today in one colour, in Green-white-Green to support the national team. I have always made an appeal not only winning the match but of course people being proud of their country, to brand Nigeria.

I think it is a new beginning for us in Calabar today (Saturday).

I look at it as a departure from era of matches we have lost before now and era of disconnection. I know and I must say it in the course of this interview that there had been some ill feelings and bad feelings among the past officials of the NFF (Nigeria Football Federation) and NFA (Nigeria Football Association) I will use this opportunity to appeal to all of them to reconcile and allow football to grow. Even the curses they rained on this team (Eagles) is enough to cause problems for the Nigerian team. This person will tell you he left in disgrace, he is not happy and so on.

Today’s overwhelming victory by the Eagles should be a turning point for everyone that love this country and belief in our football for us to make a new head way and a new beginning.

Did you have any fears before today’s (Saturday) match?

Honestly I must tell you that before now a lot of us had doubts on the national team.

That is the honest truth. We hoped and really believed we could get a good win today but we didn’t know it will be this good. The margin is quite very

Important notes for Keshi as we celebrate Calabar is a state of mind’. The can-do spirit that saw me out of UNICAL with a good degree was the leading spirit that urged me on to see the Super Eagles.

Days before the trip, there was an exchange on twitter with Port Harcourt-based Sports Journalist, China Acheruo on how my presence may have been the ‘Jonah’ at the two failed campaigns in Kano and Abuja. Acheruo had quickly responded that for the sake of Nigeria, I should stay away from Calabar and went on to jokingly threaten to send boys to stop me from entering the city.

That Liberia was going to be subdued by Stephen Keshi boys was for me not hot on the plate. My biggest worries stemmed from the

By

Harry Iwuala disappearing fans and the goals drought that has hit football at the senior level. For those of us that are not particularly good at data gathering, we don’t need a Google search to know that it’s been way back when the Super Eagles hit the goals button. Calabar tore the trends that have been of concern on the two fronts. As early as 12noon, the peaceful fans were in orderly queues waiting to buy tickets while those who already had tickets took their places in both the

covered and open gallery. By the time the match kicked off, the stands were completely occupied with thousands still seeking access to get into the 15, 000- 20, 000 capacity UJ Esuene Stadium. And by the time the South African referee ended the game, the Super Eagles had re-invented the golden era of goals glut.

Expectedly, the glory rush began right on the pitch, some justifiably and others, the usual suspects who sneak away to apportion blames when the going gets awry.

But let’s we forget what went on the pitch in the euphoria of glory grabbing. Coach Stephen Keshi is the biggest beneficiary of the spirited performance of some (not all) of the players who tested action in Calabar. I actually admire his candour and style of not singling out a player for bashing but there comes a time when we call a shovel by its name. Because I am not Keshi, permit me to name names here.

Ambrose Efe may have scored the first goal of the day but that was about all that he did right on the day. It has been argued that average players outside the country should not be made a drain on the scarce resources of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) when we can select same quality of players from

Let's support Eagles to succeed- Runsewe •Says it would have been a very big shame if Nigeria didn't qualify

Director General of Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Otunba Segun Runsewe has called for all Nigerians to rally round the Super Eagles in order to succeed in the Africa Nations Cup holding in January in South Africa. The sports loving DG who was cornered in Calabar after Eagles impressive 6-1 pounding of the visiting Lone Stars of Liberia last Saturday pleaded that the qualification of the team to the continent’s biggest tournament should serve as a turning point for all football stakeholders including the aggrieved ones to sheath their swords and rally round the team morally and spiritually to be able to win the coveted Trophy Nigeria last won in 1994. Runsewe spoke with NationSport Abuja Correspondent, Seguin Ogunjimi in Calabar shortly after the match at his Metropolitan Hotel. Excerpts: From Segun Ogunjimi, Abuja impressive and also encouraging. But I am happy about the victory. This victory will now send jitters to the spines of our opponents in South Africa when the competition begins in January.

Initially I did not see all these goals coming because I thought it’s going to be a 1, 2 goal margin, but it ended 6-1. I think it is good one for us and I believe we should build on it after this.

What should Keshi and the Nigeria Football Federation do to have a fulfilling tournament in South Africa?

For those of us who know Stephen Keshi very well, he is a very, well organised coach. He is a disciplined person and he believes very strongly in building a strong team. I must warn here that they must realise that we still have a lot of work to do. It is not yet Uhuru with the kind of team that played today, we still need a stronger formation, a stronger style and a formidable team that can coordinate and play team work. So what they need to do is to discourage age cheats and encourage physical players and where necessary in any department of the team that they need to invite foreign based players they should please not hesitate to do that.

But it has been so far so good because they performed brilliantly today.

Are you disappointed that President Goodluck Jonathan did not watch the match live

as expected by the players?

No, not at all. Mr. President was very busy with urgent matters that concerned the flood victims.

You know he was very busy moving round to bring relief and hope to the affected persons. This I believe kept him away from the match.

But Mr President sent his love to the team and was ably represented. As we speak now he would be celebrating with other Nigerians for this great victory and qualification for the Africa Nations Cup. He has always been behind the team.

What is the import of this qualification and what impact would it have on Nigeria and Tourism Corporation in particular?

It means a lot and I must tell you it would have been the biggest shame in the history of African football if Nigeria did not qualify to the Cup of Nations back to back for the second time. It would have been a big, shame. It means a lot. You have to understand that Tourism and Sports work together. So qualifying for the Cup of Nations today is going to add value to our international image to the entire world. It will help us to make more friends that would come to Nigeria. In today’s (Saturday’s) match I brought a whole cultural group to the stadium, I branded the national team players, their coaches, officials too. The reason is that wherever they

go now, they should be seen as proud Nigerians. So the Eagles qualification to the Africa Nations Cup means a lot for us.

Let me tell you a big fact now.

At the 2010 FIFA World Cup which was hosted by South Africa, South Africa Tourism made $1 billion aside others.

This invariably will help the nation to build its economy even in term of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). So our •Odibe qualification means a lot. It has added value to us as a nation, and will help showcase to the entire world that when you talk about football Nigeria cannot be relegated to nowhere. For example before today’s (Saturday’s) match we adopted the strategy we employed in London that helped to bring fans to the stadia there. I know that Calabar is not a state where the people are used to football.

So I had to come to Calabar

•Keshi

leaving everything I was doing in Abuja to personally motivate the fans to watch the Eagles match against Liberia.

Three hours before the match the cultural group were outside the stadium dancing and entertaining the fans with different dance steps of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

This actually brought people closer and encouraged them to enter the stadium to watch the match. Those that didn’t want to buy tickets were encouraged to do so and we had a full capacity which actually gingered the players to put in their all in the match. At the end of the day Nigeria was victorious and we are now in the finals of the competition that would be hosted by South Africa.

the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) at less cost. Perhaps, Efe was off duty on the day but it will not be the first time fans will query his inclusion in national team squads even at the junior levels he rose from. He merits no future in a Super Eagles that is being expected to win the Nations Cup in South Africa.

Same goes for Nwankwo Obiora whose physicality left one wondering if he was made for Rugby and perhaps foot brawl. I recall Nwankwo’s presence in Samson Siasia’s unsuccessful junior team at a tournament in Cairo and the brows that were raised about how he got included in the team ahead of some of the lads late Coach Tella took to South Korea.

Nwankwo has never played differently from what we saw in that failed junior team he captained.

Next is Emmanuel Emenike and we are getting tired of references to his scoring form at the Russian club. Emenike will not be the first player who is attuned to club performance than to national team fruitfulness. I suspect he will not be the last either but Keshi must begin to consider other options that will spare us the uncoordinated run-around Emenike puts on display each time he spots the national colours. Somehow, I didn’t get to see the Liberian lone goal but there was unanimity of voices placing the blame on Vincent Enyeama. When Enyeama had his spat with former Coach, Samson Siasia, he drew sympathies from some who eventually blamed Nigeria’s loss to Guinea on Dele Ayenugba. It appears Enyeama is becoming too comfortable for our safety and Keshi must work to either shrug him off the comfort zone or edge him out of the first squad.

The absence of Joseph Yobo showed that the domestic league is not as decrepit as some people will have us believe. Godfrey Obuabuna of Sunshine Stars and Egwueke of Heartland gave steely cover to Enyeama and Obuabuna showed sufficient presence in all actions around our vital area, making clearances and timely tackles when needed.

Did anyone miss Yobo?

There are more of such qualities in the domestic league but we need the coach to show faith and take risks on them if they will flourish.

When we build domestic league stars from national teams, fans may have reason to watch the home games again.

More importantly, Keshi needs to grow a playing philosophy that can be stamped on the team. We have had nearly one year of experimenting with a battalion of players and the time has come for fans to close their eyes and name at least 15 players as regular squad members. Again, I don’t have the stats but we have had over 30 domestic league players, some of who have moved overseas and yet another over 30 Europebased players. The national team camp is not a training ground but a place where different playing tendencies are melted into a philosophy.

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

I

T is very important that I start with sincere appreciation of the Nigeria Football Federation to all persons and institutions who contributed in one way or the other to the qualification of the Super Eagles for next year’s African Cup of Nations finals.

A year ago, we were all in shock and sorrow following the failure of the team to qualify for the 2012 finals that were staged in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, and after the first leg ended 2-2 in Monrovia, I must confess that there were real fears.

My biggest appreciation is to His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) who was personally present at the team’s training session before the first leg match. The President’s challenge to the team that he wants to be in South Africa next year for the Cup of Nations and that only the Super Eagles’ qualification for the finals would made that possible, had a positive motivational effect on players and technical crew.

I must also appreciate the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke (CON), whose magnanimity and uncommon hospitality has seen to the continued progress of the Super Eagles and Golden Eaglets; his adorable wife Barr.

Obioma Liyel Imoke who is always at match venues and; the Deputy Governor, Barr.

S

UPER Eagles deserve some kudos for hammering Lone Stars of Liberia 6-1 in Calabar in the 2013 African Cup of Nations final qualifier last weekend.

It was a stroll in the pack and a return to the past when the grass was greener in the camp of the senior national team. Nigerians, wherever they are world over, can raise their heads once again and walk tall as the Eagles played to strength in years. The quality was not in doubt from the beginning. The Nigerians players were superior to the Liberians in tactical and technical aspects of the game and it showed when it mattered most. Good to be noted is that they took most of the chances that came their way though the performance could be better. They got the job done and got the result, which was the goal, and the ticket ahead the boastful Liberians whose confidence was buried in the quick sands on a night that would be remembered for a long time.

However, the celebration must stop now. The patting on the back should cease forthwith. Real work should begin for both the technical crew and the egg heads in the Glass House in Abuja. Eagles are far away from a team which could give confidence when the going gets tough.

The best in African football would converge on South Africa in January and the home advantage factor won’t count. We need a team that we can beat our cheat for, one that will not go to the Madiba country to disgrace the flag.

Coach Stephen Keshi has showed some flexibility to criticism considering the changes he ringed in the side so far and I hope he has noticed areas where work needed to be done in the team despite the huge win. The team is far from arriving but has a long way to go in being addressed as top notch. He needs to stick to a first eleven that would gel by playing together in a string of friendly

Inside The

Glass House WITH AMINU MAIGARI

A year to cherish!

Efiok Cobham; commissioners, traditional rulers, members of the Cross River State House of Assembly special advisers and; the good people of Cross River State.

T h e H o n .

Minister/Chairman, National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has been a pillar of strength in so many areas. I also appreciate the Director General of the NSC, Chief (Dr) Patrick Ekeji and directors in the NSC. As we flew back from Monrovia in the early hours of Sunday, 9th September, I reminded Coach Stephen Keshi of President Jonathan’s challenge. He nodded and said the team would do everything to qualify.

A number of positives have come out of the way the team approached the match against Liberia in Calabar last Saturday. I am delighted that

each time we have our backs to the wall, we are able to fight back hard and do everything to triumph.

The Liberians played a few pranks before flying into Calabar, and engaged in more pranks on arrival simply because they thought they had a chance. You can’t blame them, really.

The Super Eagles had the chance to take the game by the scruff in Monrovia but did not and the Liberians felt they could come here and cause an upset. They definitely did not bargain for what they got.

How best to start such a game than scoring in the very first minute to quickly put a defining line between both teams, as Efe Ambrose did!

And when Ahmed Musa scored with some minutes to the end of the first half, the Eagles became a bit more comfortable. At 6-1, it was difficult to blame the Eagles for

wasting a number of chances.

And at the end, chairman of the Technical Sub-Committee, Barr.

Chris Green met me on the way to the dressing room and said: “President, I told you we would qualify. Congratulations. Now, what we should be doing is to flog these small teams well and they will learn to respect us.”

Nigeria football is definitely gaining its respect back after the unsettling meltdown of Year 2011. It was, to all intents and purposes, an odd year.

This year, 2012, has been a marvelous one, and even the critics of the NFF should rise from their seats and applaud. We started the year with a positive display by the home-based professionals holding Cup of Nations-bound Angola to a 0-0 draw in a senior international friendly match at the National Stadium, Abuja. And then the women teams took over.

The U-17 girls spanked Kenya home and away to reach the

second round of qualification series for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and; slammed Zambia also home and away to qualify for the finals in Azerbaijan.

The Super Eagles (home legion) spanked Liberia 2-0 in Monrovia in another friendly, before the team drew 0-0 with Rwanda in Kigali at the start of the 2013 Cup of Nations qualification race.

The U-20 girls walked over Sierra Leone and then tamed Liberia home and away in their own series for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. In the final round, they defeated their counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo 7-0 on aggregate to qualify for the finals in Japan.

The Super Falcons then hit Zimbabwe 3-0 in Harare at the start of their series for the 8th A f r i c a n W o m e n Championship. (They would win the return leg 4-0 in Lagos).

At the start of their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying series, the Super Eagles pipped Namibia 1-0 in Calabar, before drawing 1-1 with Malawi in Blantyre. Back in Calabar, they defeated Rwanda 2-0 to edge into the final round of qualifiers for the 2013 African Cup of Nations.

As well, the home-based legion that has been given a sense of belonging in the team has received quality exposure with matches against Egypt,

Eagles: Beyond Liberia victory matches. The time for bringing in new players with each game for trial should be discarded.

There is no time for further experimentation. The Nations Cup is three months away and the Eagles have not come near a team that can challenge for the diadem. A lot of tinkering is needed to be done in their passing, delivery and team game. These were the major weak points noticed in that memorable game.

The early goal destroyed the game plan of the visitors and added to the confidence level of the Eagles, yet we should not measure our strength with the massacre of our West African neighbors in Calabar. We would like to see whether the players would rise up to the occasion when they play a more tested opposition in future. Liberia is not just it.

Chelsea’s John Mikel Obi proved his class beyond any reasonable doubt and it showed in the game that he is an experienced and tested hand who has played among and against the best in Europe.

He was my man of the match and with his sterling contribution to the result; it shows that he has more to contribute to the aspirations of the senior national team in international football. His commitment was not in doubt and his performance should have silenced his critics for now.

Keshi’s decision to abandon the 4-2-4 formation for a more resourceful one is a welcome development and one hopes he sticks to that in future with changes necessary when the occasion demands. The wingers must be told to eschew selfishness. It was glaring that Victor Moses and Ahmed Musa showed it in the game.

They should be told to play more for the team and pursue personal goals. Wingers are providers but score once in a while when the opportunity

AKINLOYE

AT LARGE

08050246155 atlarge84@yahoo.com presents itself. Those who assist in goal scoring are now given recognition in modern football.

Eagles cannot afford to lose matches in the midfield. Victory goes to a team which stamps its authority in the middle. The midfield is the engine-room and success in a game of football is usually a question of numbers.

Keshi should bolster the midfield and improve the ball wining prowess of his players ahead South Africa.

The defence should be stronger with Keshi, a former defender, in charge of the national team. It should be the strongest point in Eagles. In Calabar, it was the weakest of all the departments. The major through pass which got to the box ended in the Liberia only goal. The constant changes in guard have ensured that there is no stability in the back four.

Keshi should make up his mind on the players he wants to use at the back so that they can play with some understanding.

Strikers Emmanuel Emenike and Brown Ideye are still searching for break-through in the attack and Uche Ikechukwu proved he can always be depended on for scoring. It is better to have a team where almost all the players can score than one which the responsibility would be on the shoulders of one person to the hurt of the team. The strikers are usually marked out in games and goals usually come to those who are dexterous in the course of a match. Goals would come to the duo if they are kept much longer in the team. The coach would be tempted to invite China-based

Peter Utaka and Obafemi Martins of Levante, Spain in his drive to solve his attacking problems, but what Emenike and Ideye need now is exposure to be able to transfer club form to the national side.

Eagles are seen by many as a work in progress. The proponents must be ready to tax their patience and accept sour results to wait for a stronger team to emerge from the rebuilding. The foundation has been laid and the structure in place; what Keshi should be doing now is putting in the fittings to strengthen the house and make beautiful to behold.

He needs to change his orientation to friendly matches.

The caliber of teams to be played in preparation for the final leg should improve. Eagles did not play Senegal earlier in the year for the sole reason that the team was not ready for such a high profile game. Now is the time to play such oppositions. Our quality and character would be tested in such games and we would be able to know whether we can hold our own in the competition proper. If you do not want to lose, then you cannot be a winner.

IN BOX Please, permit me to solicit for your help to reach governments of Lagos and Oyo (through your highly vibrant newspaper column) for the imortalisation of my dad—Jide Johnson, the corner kick specialist (who died 27 years ago) for his exploits in soccer and administration. Sir, I have watched over the years accomplished stars being rewarded and imortalised but not so my dad, but why? Just

recently, the newspapers were awashed with the stories of those (to be honoured by the Lagos government) that have made impact over the years in the FA Cup, his name was conspicuously missing.

Muyiwa Daniel wrote in his column about this time last year that Lagos government should rehabilitate and rename the Onikan Stadium after him, yet no one is listening. I look up to you for the best you can do in this regard.

Muyiwa Jide-Johnson.

Peru and Niger Republic.

The U-20 girls stormed Japan after good preparation in Korea Republic and impressed everyone, including FIFA President Sepp Blatter, even as they finished fourth at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Back home, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) hosted the girls to a Presidential Dinner and rewarded them with N1 million each.

In Azerbaijan, the U-17 girls were unlucky to lose to France on penalties in the quarter finals despite a recordequalling 11-0 spanking of the host nation in a group phase match.

African champions, Flying Eagles started off their 2013 African Youth Championship qualification race with a 4-1 aggregate win over Tanzania, and then reached the finals by beating South Africa 4-2 on aggregate.

The Golden Eaglets have been on a magnificent run, dismissing Niger Republic 10-1 and then sweeping past Guinea 3-0 in the second round, first leg in Calabar last Sunday.

Above all, the Cup of Nations ticket won by the Super Eagles continues to tickle Nigerian ball fans as it sees a return of our country to the continental football’s biggest party.

Sunshine, You Must Shine In Cairo...

I am not one of those who have given up on Sunshine Stars FC and feels that they are up against an insurmountable mountain against Al Ahly in Cairo tomorrow.

Football is not mathematics and I believe that the second leg of the semi final of the CAF Champions League will only bring out the best in the Sunshine FC boys, if they put their minds to it and believe in themselves.

The strike action embarked upon by the players which meant they had only four days of training before the first leg in Ijebu-Ode was unnecessary.

Nonetheless, the 3-3 scoreline makes tomorrow’s tie delicately poised and should Sunshine Stars FC score first, they could just carry the day to the shock of the pundits.

Go for it, boys, you can do it!

•Ahmed Musa •Mikel

38

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

GUS 9 contestants’ profiles

The Gate Keeper’s fortune Kofya Brown 25 years old, from Cross River State and currently studying computer science at the university of Benin. Like every calabar woman she loves cooking. She isalso a model and an artiste. Her best friend is her seven years old daughter whom she loves very dearly.

Ogbuefi Michael 24 years old,from Anambra State, has a Bachelor's degree in Human Physiology from the University of Port Harcourt. This young man believes that whatever won't kill him will only make him stronger. His ambition is to become the first Ibo man to become the president of Nigeria.

Udodi Onyinyechuk wu 23 years old from Anambra State and a graduate of the University of Nigeria Nsukka. She is a model and a one time face of Anambra State. She loves teaching and in her spare time she works as a private tutor.

Priscillia

Haruna Nuhu Zigwayi

T

HE Nigerian Breweries Plc has an ally in Godswill Akpabio, Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom, host state, Gulder Ultimate Search 9. It is the belief of the organisers that the viewing public would have been treated to the best of reality TV programming.

In his words, Governor Akpabio said: “this year's search will be an uncommon search.”

He made the assertion when he received the 12 contestants for this year's Gulder Ultimate Search.

The odds appear to favour Gulder Ultimate Search as the reality TV programme to leave an indelible imprint in the minds of viewers and die-hard fans of the show.

Firstly, the Gulder Ultimate Search 9 special media parley staged in Lagos had an official government delegation of the host state present. This was a first in the annals of Gulder Ultimate Search.

Soon to follow was the return of Dominic Mudabai, Michael Nwachukwu and Christopher Okagbue, winners of Gulder Ultimate Search 4, 5 and 8 respectively, as Gatekeepers for Gulder Ultimate Search 9.

This was also a first. Just like Shock Therapy, Chidi Mokeme was 'unleashed' to an astonished audience at the Gulder Ultimate Search 9 Final Selection Party as Season 9 Host. Mokeme hosted the first two editions of the show.

Little wonder Gov. Akpabio described Gulder Ultimate Search 9 as the reality TV show to look out for. As he entered the banquet hall of the Akwa Ibom State government house to receive the 12 contestants for this year's edition, he jocularly described them as 'ajebutters' who looked like 'Kings and Queens'; wondering how they will survive in the jungle. They indeed looked like royalty as they adorned the Akwa Ibom traditional attire comprising traditional caps/ head gears; blouses and wrappers.

27 Years old from Kaduna State and a graduate of Architectural Science from the Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State. He is also a certified project manager and he's presently working towards more self development courses.

Ezeh Priscillia 24 years old, from Enugu State and currently an undergraduate, studying History and Diplomatic studies at the university of Abuja.

Her ambition is to become a top Actress.

Eronmose Ojezele Paschal 24 years from Edo State and currently a final year student of applied mathematics, University of Benin.

Eclectic and loves adventure, he is an avid reader and has a blog that deals on issues relating to today's youth.

Bornford Patience

Adah Uleh James

22 years old from Bayelsa State and currently an undergraduate of the university of Port-Harcourt studying Linguistics and Communication Studies.

Bornford Patience is also a make up Artiste and plans to become a successful broadcaster in future.

25 years old, from Benue State and a graduate of Physics, Benue State University. His ambition is to become a renowned motivational speaker and a super model. He also plans to own a multinational marketing communications agency in future.

Ifet Iniobong

Uzoma Oluchi Osimpka

26 years old, from Mbrit -Itam in Itu Local Government Area of AkwaIbomState.He is a graduate of Petroleum and Gas Engineering, university of Lagos and he is currently a youth corp member serving our dear country in Benue State. Ifet grew up wanting to become a Naval officer.

Ifet laughs a lot and believes that laughter is the music of the soul and one of the keys to a youthful look.

27 years old from Abia State and a graduate of Education Economics from Abia State university. She is a top actress and an entrepreneur. She currently stars in Tinsel, About to wed and a long list of TV soaps. Uzor says she loves fashion but she is not a prisoner to it.

Ujam Chukwunonso Emmanuel 26 years old, from Enugu State and currently studying sociology at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Ujam's is an Artist and has starred in many movies. Ujam's says children are his inspiration.

Ojueromi Ayo 22 years old from Ondo State and currently a student of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos. Her ambition is to become a great presenter and start a programme of her own that will reach millions of people around the globe.

&

LIFE

Society Profile

THE NATION, Saturday, OCTOBER 20, 2012

STYLE Gossip Interviews

39

SEE PAGES 44 & 45

Life without my mother -Aisha Babangida-Shinkafi

40

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

With KAYODE ALFRED

E-mail:kayflex2@yahoo.com

Phillip Oduoza, wife celebrate Tony Elumelu

Society Profile

Gossip Interviews

TEL:08035733605

When bigwigs gathered for Alex Ekwueme

S

ome Nigerians are too important to be easily forgotten. One of them is Second Republic Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme. It is only fitting that such a selfless statesman and one of the pillars of democracy in Nigeria is celebrated whenever the opportunity arises.

That exactly was what happened on Tuesday when the elder statesman clocked 80. Grey haired with sagely wisdom, Ekwueme remains one of the patriots the nation should be proud of. To this end, the central organizing committee of his 80th birthday, comprising eminent persons like the PDP Chairman, Alh. Bamanga Tukur; Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan,; Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN); Ambassador Maitama Sule; Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu; Thisday publisher, Prince Nduka Obiagbena; Mrs. Chidi Ekwueme Onyemelukwe, Pastor GoodHeart Obi Ekwueme and Former CBN governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo organised a colloquium with the theme: Nigerian Federalism: Building on the Ekwueme Legacy.

The event took place at Thisday Dome, Abuja on Tuesday, and it was a roll call of who is who in the Nigerian social, political and economic space. Former heads of state, Senate presidents, speakers of House of Reps, governors and politicians were in attendance.

T

he Group Managing Director of UBA, Phillip Oduoza and his wife, Jumai, recently organised a reception in honour of Mr. Tony Elumelu, following the honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) conferred on him by the Federal Government recently.

It will be recalled that torrents of congratulatory messages have poured in since Elumelu was conferred with the award. And as would be expected, the reception was a well attended event. It attracted the movers and shakers of the Nigerian business, political, media, entertainment and social sectors. Among them were Oscar Onyema; Aliko Dangote; Wilie and Nkiru Anumundu; Dele Momodu; Niyi Adebanjo; Alex Otti and wife; Albert Okumagba; Rita Dominic; Kanayo O. Kanayo; John Momoh; Jite Okoloko; Chief I. C Ogbue; Chief Kola Jamodu; Frank Aigbogun; Funke Opeke; Emeka Izeze; Leo Stan Ekeh and Pastor Tony Rapu and his wife, among others.

The Oduozas were the perfect hosts, moving from group to group and ensuring that everyone had the best of time. Guests were treated to the choice wines and sumptuous meals. The special guest of honour, Elumelu, and his wife, Awele, were all smiles as they mingled freely with guests.

&STYLE

LIFE

Happy times for Maryam Abacha

S

ince the untimely death of their breadwinner, it had been one unpalatable story or the other for the late Gen. Sani Abacha family. The family was on tenterhooks as the Federal Government made frantic efforts to retrieve the loot of its late patriach. The attendant arraignment of his son, Mohammed, and the faceoff between former Jigawa State governor, Saminu Turaki and Maryam Abacha over the latter's refusal to allow her daughter, Rekia, to get married to the former, were among the family's many headaches.

In fact, the sad tales appeared endless until recently when things started looking up for the family. A few days ago, one of the sons of the former head of state, Sadiq, got married to his heartthrob of many years, Huda Fadoul Khaloud, in Abuja. It

Paul in s a r a f e Ad tes e l p m o c Rock al r Cathed

F

or members of Pastor Paul Adefarasin-led House on the Rock Church, songs of joy and thanksgiving have become the order.

Their church building, Rock Cathedral, which gulped about N3.1 billion, has finally been completed and it looks majestic.

Happenstances gathered that the multibillion naira edifice, which sits on 32, 000 square metres, can sit at least 14, 000 worshipers in the church auditorium and another 10,000 within the church premises. The Rock Cathedral, also known as Millennium Temple, is situated along the Lekki Epe Express way, close to Liberty Hall.

Previously, House on the Rock Members used the Expo Hall of the Eko Hotel for their services.

Dimeji Bankole restructures

J

ust when he appeared to have disappeared from the minds of many, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, who took a sabbatical from the political and social scenes after he left power, is staging a comeback.

Those who should know say Bankole is quietly putting structures in place to re-launch himself into political reckoning. They say he is still very close to the powers that be, especially in the House of Representatives.

According to an inside source, he is now a regular face in Abeokuta, Ogun State as he nurses a tall ambition for 2015.

&STYLE

LIFE

Society Profile

Gossip Interviews

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

?FATGBEMS oil's boss goes home

D

eath is the ultimate fate of every mortal.

Yet, each time it occurs, the shock is almost too much to bear.

A few days ago, Alhaji Fatai Olamilekan Akanmu Gbemisola, popularly known as FATGBEMS, gave up the ghost after a protracted battle with cancer. The oil and gas magnate had been full of life and was a true philanthropist.

His conglomerate had steadily risen since its inception in 1986. It is made up of companies like Fatgbems Petroleums, Fatgbems Tyres, Fatgbems Gas and Sandop Oil. He also had interest in Dhastor International Limited where he was the chairman.

He was until his death a high chief in Egbaland.

The man of means gave up the ghost in the early hours of Friday October 12, 2012 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

Happenstances gathered that the Egba high chief had undergone two successful surgeries in London before returning to Nigeria for his daughter's wedding. He continued chemotherapy here in Nigeria and only relapsed after a trip to Texas, USA. He has since been buried according to Muslim rites but family and friends are still mourning his demise.

Mobola Akinruntan plans double for LOGIN

D

electable and charming seamstress, Princess Mobola Akinruntan, is putting finishing touches to her plans towards the yuletide as she plans to officially launch her fashion outfit, LOGIN, in the festive month of December.

The launch, which will attract high flyers, top shots and bigwigs, judging from Mobola's background, will also be used to stage a children fashion show where LOGIN's new collection will be unveiled.

LOGIN House of Fashion, which made its debut about a year ago, majors in men, ladies and children wears.

Since its inception, it has gradually moved itself up the ladder in the Lagos fashion circle.

Mobola, lovely daughter of oil baron and monarch, Oba Obateru Akinruntan, is one lady who knows what she wants. She studied in a reputable fashion institute in London before she relocated to Nigeria to float LOGIN.

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TEL:08035733605

Caroline Danjuma's new role

Bimbo Odukoya's daughter set for the altar

C

aroline Danjuma recently proved that she is a lady with a large heart with the major role she played when one of her husband's daughters, Mary, got married in Lagos. She proudly acted as the biological mother of the bride. Those who attended the event recalled that many of the guests were pleasantly surprised when Caroline stood in line as the mother of the bride.

At the event, everyone deferred to the beautiful Akwa-Ibom-born actress as she performed the role perfectly at the Civic Centre, Lagos, even though she is only a couple of years older than her step-daughter bride.

Caroline, who is now very quiet on the social scene, was overheard joking with one of the guests at the event that she is now a full time housewife as a result of an unfortunate incident that rocked her marriage to its foundation.

In the wake of the crisis, Musa her husband has been lavishing her with exotic gifts; an indication of his unflinching love for Caroline.

L

ovely daughter of the late Pastor Bimbo Odukoya of the Fountain of Life Church is getting set to don her bridal assortments and stroll down the aisle with her sweetheart of many years.

After getting engaged in an elaborate introduction ceremony in July, the happy couple is ready for the ageless institution of marriage.

The brilliant and amazingly gifted crooner, Tolu, who recently featured the elegant stallion, Onyeka Onwenu, in her song, will be proudly wedded to Olumide Ijogun, one of the directors at Oba Otudeko's Honeywell Group of Companies.

The wedding, slated for November 3, 2012, will kick off with an engagement ceremony in the morning. The church service will follow immediately at the Fountain of Life Church, after which reception will take place at Balmoral Events, Oregun, Lagos.

Arrangements are in top gear to ensure that the day is made a memorable one for the young couple. Party planners and extras have been engaged to ensure that all goes well.

The wedding, though coming seven long years after her mother's death in the crash of Port-Harcourt bound Sosoliso Airline Flight 1145 on December 10, 2005, is certainly one that would have made her mother proud.

Scott Tommey pampers

self with private jet

T

hat Scott Tommey is doing well for himself as one of the smartest entrepreneurs around is a fact that can hardly be disputed. And saying that the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Osmoserve Global Limited has an exquisite taste would amount to stating the obvious.

Information reaching Happenstances now is that a few days ago, he acquired a brand new private jet as a birthday gift for himself. Those who sighted the private jet informed Happenstances that the Bombadier Challenger is one of the latest and most luxurious jets around.

Some of his close friends are still celebrating the new acquisition with him in London where he is currently taking a short break from his tedious schedule.

42

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

All about cocktail dress Y

OU can wear a cocktail dress to events like semiformal dinner, or to other formal occasions.

The most popular cocktail dress of all is a little black dress, but it also comes in all shapes, sizes and length. When selecting a cocktail dress, you should consider the current trend, your wardrobe and your height.

Your height is important because, depending on trends, cocktail dresses vary, some are knee length, while others end around two inches above the ankle also called tea-length cocktail dress and ankle length called as ballerina length. But this is also associated with evening gowns. Materials used for cocktail dresses vary from silk to satin to chiffon. Its totally your decision.

•Dola

Tips

Y

•Ngozi Princewill Utchay

•Genevieve Nnaji

OU shouldn’t wear a sequined gown if you are going casual. It is for more formal occasions, such as a wedding or anniversary party.

The shoes that you select can also set off a cocktail dress.

If you are sporting a shorter length, the shoes become an important focal point, and hence, you should wear nice shoes.

When choosing the colour of your cocktail dress, you should keep in mind that during this season, floral prints, light pink, sky blue, pale green and yellow, as well as other pastels look good during this time.

For a cold get-together, gray, crimson, black, dark brown and dark blue cocktail dresses are quite flattering.

Do not try to fit into a dress that is cut too low or is too tight; the result could be disastrous.

43

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Accessorise with stylish bangles!

I

T’S a trend that is not terribly luxurious to try.

Bangles change per season. Now all manner of bangles are the in-thing: tiny silver and gold bangles, strands bangles, cuff bangles, wooden bangles, plastic bangles, leather bangles, mesh/wired bangles have almost swept away all other brands of wrist ornament.

They add beauty to the wrist and one’s look and they are sassily catchy and stylish. To cap it all, the look of these bangles and bracelets provides you a chance to create fashion statement with the simplest and the most elegant of fashion item!

Tips

•Susan Peters •Misi Molu

•Buki Tijani •Matida

E-zone Africa showcases Independent Fashion Expo E-Zone Africa organized a fashion show to herald Nigeria’s 52nd Independent anniversary celebration, tagged ”INDEPENDENT FASHION EXPO”. The event which was rated as the first show in the sub-region had in attendance celebrities, top designers and supermodels.

The event aimed to promote budding talents, especially designers and models in the suregion and across African countries. It is also meant to create a platform for new entrants into the prospective creativity industry. The show was endorsed and sponsored by Lorna Nigeria Limited, makers of Darling and Amigos Hair product. It was also supported by major corporate organisations including Eagles Eye Concept, MIIT technology services, Solar Print and Multiple Vision Limited.

According to the coordinator of E-Zone Africa, Mr Oredola Adeola, the show is aimed at giving hope to the hopeless and creating opportunities around talents and creativity as a way of reducing the rate of unemployment in the country. It is expected that at the end of the show, every participants would be re-orientated with regard to the avenues of marketing and branding of skills.

•If you are looking for bangles, try latest handpainted wood or plastic bangles. Wooden bangles which are mostly studded with gemstones are good for casual and daytime events while stranded cuff is mostly for socials.

•Keep size in mind. Bangles come in many different widths. Some bangles are smaller than others and can become lost if layered with larger bracelets.

•Avoid wearing too many. Bangle bracelets are often sold in multiples at very low prices.

Owing to this, it can be tempting to purchase many and pile them on. Remember, as with all other accessories, moderation is important.

•For an informal outing, mix up designs, colours and textiles. Homogeneity is to be avoided when wearing bangles. These bracelets are an excellent opportunity to combine colours and designs for a unique look. So, don’t go for perfect uniformity. However, try to combine colours that complement one another.

44

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Like the queen of hearts, Aisha Babangida-Shinkafi's love for the underprivileged is apparent in her continual quest to impact positively on their lives, courtesy of her Better Life Project (BLP). “I know God brought me into this world to do just what I am doing because I have never enjoyed doing something so rewarding as this and I am totally enjoying it," she enthused. Aisha has evolved from the proverbial silver spooned-kid to a self-driven compassionate being. In this chat with KAYODE OLANSHILE ALFRED, Aisha bares her mind on her BLP dream and sundry issues.

‘Lessons life has taught me’

Y

OU have touched many lives through your Better Life Project (BLP). How does it make you feel when you see people relieved from their hardship?

I feel fulfilled and truly inspired. Inspired to do more, fulfilled that people smile thereafter. This will enable them secure their children’s future, learn skills and education.

So, how many people have benefited from your BLP? There is absolutely no way I am going to count the number of people I might have supported. That defeats the art of giving from your heart. But I know that we are creating an enabling environment for them to learn through adult literacy programs, to learn skills through skills acquisition programs. This, we have, God willing, been able to get a lot of women involved and participating in the programs. So, if along the line, they are in their thousands, then I have to do more.

How far would you say better life has succeeded in pursuing this vision and mission?

BLP is work in progress. It is not something we rush into, because it involves lives. It is a legacy for me, for you, for my children, our children and their children. So we are getting there steadily but firmly. It is also important that the structures are in place. I have one mission in life right now with the BLP, and that is to educate and empower millions of families, especially women. With the support we have from amazing families, friends and various organisations, we will succeed, God willing.

Is Better Life Project in line with your late mother’s vision?

Absolutely! Empowering women with

•Aisha education and skills is the only way forward for the rural women. So, we have continued that way, with added programs such as the ”Servant Learners’’. We embarked on the Servant Learner Program to give the youths an opportunity to interact, live and impact with the rural people in their own environment.

Then, there is the Village Community Feeding Programme. During the of Ramadan, it was an exceptional success, thanks to the Dangote Group, that graciously and generously supported the feeding program with food items. The BLP awards scholarship to children from various communities with our

Scholarship Program so that they can further their education.

What are you doing differently that your mom didn’t do with the project?

I tell people that God brought me into this world to do just what I am doing because I have never enjoyed doing something so rewarding as this and I am totally enjoying it. So, everything we are doing or will do has been and will be in line with my mother’s vision. I just finetune the little details. And the exciting thing is that I physically participate and enjoy being in the villages.

What are the major challenges of your project?

Well, we thank God we have not encountered any major challenges. But as I said, this is because of the devoted family and friends that support us endlessly. Personally, my only challenge is not being able to be here and there always.

What is the greatest lesson life has taught you?

Never ever take anyone for granted and learn to respect and appreciate every single person I meet in life.

Would you say you have enough time for your family?

Totally! They are my priority and my passion.

Your role as a wife?

45

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

‘

I have very strong parents who instilled the teachings of Allah, the importance of prayers, charity, and humility in my siblings and me. I am trying to instill that into my kids and those close to me

’

I'm still clinging to hope she's alive, says millionaire whose wife vanished at sea

•Looking drawn Carol Unwin, the husband of a missing millionaire yachtswoman Mary Unwin pictured yesterday in Bideford, North Devon

T

My role is to nourish, learn, appreciate, respect and love unconditionally.

Who are your role models?

My parents have been and will always be my role models. But I have a few people that do inspire me. First is Mohammed Yunus. Then, there is an amazing woman in Justice Mary Odili.

When did you discover that the most important part of one’s life is to be prayerful and be close to God? Allah SWT has always been in my life.

But seeing what other people less fortunate than me go through has brought me even closer to God. I have very strong parents who instilled the teachings of Allah,

the importance of prayers, charity, and humility in my siblings and me. I am trying to instill that into my kids and those close to me.

What gives you the greatest joy in life?

Putting a smile on people and being around loved ones.

What do you like about being a Nigerian woman?

Well, I walk with my head held high being a Nigerian woman, and enjoying the admiration of being a Nigerian.

Which of the Nigerian women do you like, admire and look up to?

They are a lot, but as I said, Justice Odili, Senator Zainab Kure, I could go on and on.

HIS is the first picture of the millionaire husband of missing Mary Unwin who vanished in a new £32,000 yacht days after they bought it together.

Property developer Carol Unwin, 61, looked drawn as he carried out chores near the couple’s £400,000 cottage.

He has been at the home since wreckage was found and was yesterday seen going out briefly to visit a bank before driving away in a Porsche.

Last night Mr Unwin expressed his hope that his wife would be found alive. ‘I still have hope,’ he said. ‘Nothing is certain until she is found – be that dead or alive.’

The last picture of 65-year-old Mrs Unwin shows her preparing to set sail solo on the 31ft yacht named Seagair.

With stormy weather closing in, she left the small Cornish fishing harbour of Mousehole on Saturday afternoon.

She was reported missing hours later and a search was begun, but hopes of her survival faded after the wreckage was found further along the coast.

Rescuers found no sign of anyone and have yet to identify the wreckage as coming from her boat.

Police have now taken over from coastguards in the search for the mother of four, who remarried her husband earlier this month after they divorced in 2009.

She took possession of the yacht last Thursday from a broker in Falmouth and was determined to sail around Land’s End and back to her home in Bideford, North Devon, despite being told the route was too

•Mary treacherous for even experienced sailors.

She told her husband to go home in the car and sailed off alone on the 120 mile journey. After leaving Falmouth on Friday, she made her way to Mousehole, about 25 miles further along the South Cornwall coast. The last image of her was captured by a holidaymaker on Saturday afternoon while taking snaps of the picturesque harbour.

The eldest daughter of Mrs Unwin – whose first name is Ona but who is known by her middle name Mary – last night echoed Mr Unwin’s hope that she will be found alive.

Allison van Langerak, 46, added that her mother was ‘an experienced and confident sailor’ who had recently undertaken a refresher course.

Culled from Daily Mail

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

46

say that I want in him, he too will see them in me so that we blend. He has to be somebody who works, somebody who pays bills and I can support him.

But he is got to be the head. ‘’Money to me is important in marriage. We must not deceive ourselves because when the buck is on the man alone or on the woman alone, the marriage will suffer. It is better if both parties contribute to the upkeep of the home. I won’t expect the man to carry all the burden of paying the bills in our home alone. Though some men could say that they will take care of everything, that their woman should just be, but these days, there are very few men who can comfortably say that.

It is not even good for the woman. The issue of who brings more will not be a matter in my marriage. What will matter will be that both parties are contributing because sometimes, I could get a better job than my man or he could get a better job than me. So who brings in more will not matter but money will be very important in the marriage that I get into. ‘’Sex and romance will be very important to me because even the Bible says that women should make themselves presentable and attractive to their men. I’ll look good at all times so that my husband desires me at all times.

Some women after having one or two babies, forget themselves, believing that at least they are in the house, he will always return to them. Mine will not be like that. And also my man must make sure that he impresses me. Spend time with each other. ‘’I am definitely going to re-marry again. There are definitely options, but I cannot do an exam and fail it twice.

Though I do not know how soon, but when the time comes, you will know it.’’

Continued from page 22 believe it is precious; it forms the bedrock of our society because from marriage, we get kids and a family comes to be. My ideal man is a man that loves God, fears God and lives his life according to the dictates of God. ‘’Money, romance and sex are all going to be very important in the marriage that I will get into, just like they are important in all other marriages. I can liken it to a three-leg stool. If one of the legs is missing, it will affect the stool and that will not let it stand well. And that will cause problem.

So money, romance and sex will be very necessary in my own marriage. ‘’Basically, I am just looking for a man that I can be on the same wave length with. Basically again, when I get married, I will be a woman who the Bible describes as a wife and will want my husband to be the man that the Bible describes as a husband. I am single now; I am not married yet because I am totally focused on my career. ‘’I believe that there is time for everything. I’m not a person that believes that she should do all at the same time. I do things one after the other. So right now, I am on my career.

At the right time, marriage will happen for me. I am expecting it to happen in some couple of years’ time because right now, I have a lot to do career-wise. I am from a large family and I will accept my in-laws for who they are too.’’

Stella Monye ‘’Marriage to me is supposed to be a resting place if someone finds the right partner because two heads are better than one. You can help each other. I do not have a high expectation for my dream man because one cannot find a perfect man. Even I am not perfect. I am not looking for that kind of perfection.

But I want a man with some standard. I do not like men that lie. I don’t like lazy men. I like men who are up and doing.

But that does not mean that I expect him to pay all my bills. At least let me have a feeling that you are responsible. ‘’I’m looking forward to a marriage that my partner and I will love each other, with the love of God because the so called love that we practise ordinarily does not last. But when you love me and I love you with the love of God, at every point, we will be reasonable. I’m looking forward to the kind of marriage that will give me confidence, peace and I should be able to trust my partner all the time. I should be able to feel good about returning home to my man. ‘’Money is important in marriage.

Gone are the days when the man bears the burden alone. These days, couples must partner in money matters. It’s not business as usual again because of the challenges we have in the world now. If there’s no money, trouble will start in the home. ‘’I’ll like to get married someday, but I am not going to jump into it because I am looking for security. I have gone far beyond that. A whole lot of ladies jump into marriage because they want a man that will be bringing food to them. Not me, I am up and doing. I want a man that I will be in partnership with and will feel good about. That is the kind of person I want to marry. That is the kind of person that I want to be seeing every day. I don’t want to marry my enemy. I won’t marry out of ulterior motive. I’ll rather be single and free than go into marriage that will strain me unnecessarily.’’

Queen Ure ‘’Every woman wants to be married but where a woman is not married, it could be perhaps because such ladies may not have found the person who they think they should be married to. So they hang in and wait as singles. As for me, any time I want to marry, I will marry. Marrying to me is not a problem.

To me, it’s not about being married; it’s about being happily married. And then for me, things just come, 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

•Stella

•Ure

Our ideal men, by super single music stars now. It is time and I am ready. So it has flowed to me. I allow things to happen, things flows to me. So if marriage happens to me, why not? I will allow it.

It is a beautiful thing.’’

Ara ‘’Marriage to me is an institution ordained by God wherein both parties should see each other as help mates, friends and then lovers. It is a union that should have room for trust and forgiveness. And can only be discontinued on the only ground that the Bible allows for divorce. This is because there are couples who though still love each other but can’t continue a marriage because maybe the wife cheated on the husband or the husband cheated on the wife. Violence in

marriage by either the man beating the woman, or the woman regularly beating the man as the case is these days, can lead to death. So I cannot tolerate that kind of marriage. To me, marriage is an institution that must be respected because it was ordained by God. ‘’My ideal man must be one who has a good relationship with God, one who has a good heart, one who is a hardworking man and somebody who is genuine, honest, sociable and trustworthy. He must have a forgiving spirit: Somebody who I like and earns my respect, somebody who cares for people. I don’t want to talk about good looks, because it is not much of the good looks but however somebody that I will be attracted to, and he too will be attracted to me. All these things that I

Bouqui ‘’Marriage is the union of two soul mates and they are supposed to help each other to carry out each other’s vision. A woman in marriage must be submissive to her husband. And submission in marriage to me means that the man is the head, while the woman is the sub head, that is, she is the sub of the man’s mission. Marriage again to me is the readiness of two people to take up the challenges of life together come what may. ‘’I expect that my man will understand the passion that I have for Christ, he should understand the kind of career that I am into and love God the way I love God even more. He must be a man after God’s heart. He must love me crazy, and appreciates what I do. He must be my number one fan. ‘’My husband-to-be must be a provider and protector. He must have a job, a vision which we can build on. The way he relates to the people around him will also matter. The way he relates around his family members before we marry will also matter. He has to have a large heart. I can tell all that from the way he relates with people around him.

He must not be the type who does anything for money. Somebody who is ready to go through due process to achieve his goal. ‘’Money will be used as a tool to get what we want, that is, money will be our servant. Some people will do anything to get money. I don’t support that kind of thing. Romance will be to keep the flame burning in my own marriage when it comes. It is very necessary. A lot of people after a while in marriage forget this. So they lose the marriage because they don’t romance anymore. And God created sex. I don’t know why He did, but sex is to foster and energise the marriage. I won’t expect that my husband will deprive me of sex. And I won’t do so too. All these will be important in my marriage. ‘’I am not married because I haven’t found that person that I can live with for the rest of my life. I see a lot of marriages crashing around me. So I guess that will affect the way I go about choosing my life partner. The Bible says that there is a time for everything. So I am waiting for God’s time and God’s appointed man.’’

THE NATION, Saturday, October 20, 2012

47

BELLVIEW CRASH:

•Odugbemi (middle) and some members of the community

Make us a tourist destination, Lisa community tells govt •Govt: We’ll fix road soon

L

ISA, a sedate community in Ogun State, became a renowned tourism centre a few years back, but for a very negative reason. Buried in the bowels of mother earth in the sleepy village are the remains of some 117 people, most whom were VIP (very important people) who perished in the October 22, 2005 Bellview plane crash.

That brought the hitherto unknown community into a sad reckoning. And to keep the memories of the dead alive, a memorial arcade was built at the site, with symbolic tombs for each of the victims. The road from Ijoko to Lisa was also constructed.

The community recorded a large traffic of both local and international tourists in the early days of the accident, but the euphoria that greeted the building of the arcade has since died down.

The community is, therefore, appealing to the government to make the place a tourism destination.

It said the major road leading to it is in a deplorable state, while the Lisa Memorial Arcade and Garden, a joint project of the federal and Ogun governments to immortalise the crash victims, has been abandoned.

The community urged the Ogun Ministry of Culture and Tourism to take care of the arcade and put in place facilities that will make it a tourist destination to create employment.

It has been taken over by weeds, while the marble stones where names of the victims were written in their •Fallen-off marbles containing victims' names individual tombs, have collapsed.

An annual memorial service instituted by former President n Joseph JIBUEZE n Olusegun Obasanjo in conjunction with Gateway Tourism Corporation is no longer the situation of the monument by putting in observed. place measures that will make it a befitting The Baale of the town, Chief Oladele tourist centre in Ogun State.

Odugbemi, said Lisa has suffered enough in “As at the time of building the arcade, 2.7 the hands of past Ogun administrations as hectares of land was acquired by the there is “no single government presence” government for the purpose of putting up there. tourism facilities around it, but this land is Speaking when the Ogun Commissioner lying fallow. Besides, the memory of the plane for Culture and Tourism, Chief Olu Odeyemi, crash victims should be kept alive in a very paid an official visit to the town, the royal decent manner. father added that the town risks being cut off “The road that leads to Lisa needs to be from its neighbours. rehabilitated as it is in a very bad state. It is Odugbemi said: “The memorial arcade always very difficult going out and coming may go the way of other white elephant into Lisa through it, especially during rainy projects in Nigeria if nothing is urgently done season. The community might be cut off from to this monument that has been neglected. other communities if something urgent is not “We appeal to the government to reverse

•Entrance to the arcade overgrown with weed

•From left: Adefunmiloye, Odeyemi and Odugbemi inspecting a 'bare' tourists resgiter at the arcade

done to put the road in good shape.”

The community also wants the annual memorial service for the crash victims to be resuscitated, and urged the commissioner to help upset the salaries of two guards working at the arcade.

The Vice-Chairman, Lisa Community Development Association, Mr Adeyinka Adefunmiloye, added that the few ongoing projects in the community – a police station, a market and a health centre – were initiated and financed by Odugbemi.

“We therefore appeal to the listening government of Senator Ibikunle Amosun through the Honourable Commissioner to hasten the upgrade of our Baale to a fullfledged Oba, as this is long overdue,” he said.

The commissioner said the government

would address the challenges facing Lisa. “By the grace of God, the issue of the bad road leading to Lisa will be a thing of the past before we leave this administration.

“The state of the arcade is unfortunate, with fallen-off marble inscriptions. The arcade is Ogun State’s baby. We’re going to start the rescue right from now. It should bounce back to what it should look like.

“China and Dubai live on tourism. Our arcade will be a place to be proud of. If the road is opened up, it won’t take us an hour to get here. We’ll leave no stone unturned,” Odeyemi said.

The commissioner added that “capable hands” would be “dispatched down” to man the health centre, adding that he would ensure that Lisa market became bigger.

48 INTERVIEW

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa is an amazon. The TV personality-turned politician is currently the Chairman of House Committee on Diaspora of the Federal House of Representatives. She recently turned 50. She spoke with KAYODE ALFRED on her journey so far in life, especially her transmutation from broadcasting to politics

My life at 50 –Abike Dabiri-Erewa Y

OU recently turned 50, how does it feel to hit the golden jubilee?

We thank God for His many mercies. Glory be to God that one is alive to be 50. I thank God for growing in good health. I thank God for every new day. They say life begins at 50, and I absolutely agree, because with a great family, a great husband, lovely children, a wonderful job, good health… what more can you ask for?

Some people believe that at 50, if you are lucky, you have more money, less energy and no time.

Is this also applicable to you?

I don’t know about more money (laughter), but I won’t say less energy. My husband keeps saying where do you get all this energy from? If you live a healthy lifestyle, you will have a lot of energy. But of course, you should not deceive yourself that you are 20 years younger. 50 years doesn’t mean you are less energetic. In fact, I’m doing my exercises more than before. Nothing really has changed. I feel happier and better at 50 than ever. I give all the glory to God. There are some things I wouldn’t do again.

I remember in those days when I was 20 years, in Lagos, there were three prominent night clubs, Faze 2, Paradizo and Fantasyland. You just hopped from one to the other in taxis – but you can’t do that now. There are some things you wouldn’t do now that you are 50 years, and there are some things you will continue to do. I have maintained the same lifestyle, the same person.

What was your childhood like?

Growing up was fun with a

lovely family. I remember I came back from St. Theresa’s College Ibadan, during one of the holidays, my cousins just came in from England and were staying with us at Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos. One of them put a frying pan on the fire, and we started dancing to the music of Sunny Ade. We forgot the pan on the fire and it got burnt. I had to carry it with my bare hands. The scar is still there today on my right hand.

I was about 13 or 14 at the time. I was rushed to the hospital and the nurses said they gave me an award as the most courageous child of the year because I had saved our house from being burnt.

I also remember a few of the pranks we played in secondary school, like jumping the fence to buy ‘Iya Akeem’s rice’. It was ‘Ofada’ rice. We were there on this particular day without being aware that the vice-principal had seen us. She waited for us to come back before calling us to give us our punishment. That was St. Theresa’s College, Ibadan. Then the good days at University of Ife, I had so much fun on campus.

Driving from Ife to Lagos was also fun.

Now, from Lagos to Ibadan, you can spend 10 hours because of bad roads. We were three sisters and we used to alternate cooking.

I didn’t like cooking. When it was my turn, I found a way to dodge and begged the two other girls. My younger sister would agree, but my elder sister would not agree. It was a lot of fun growing up. I also remember my days in Ikorodu.

Ikorodu was home to everybody, especially during the festivities. I remember one of the times we came to Ikorodu, my sister and I were going somewhere and we saw two rams heading our way.

I’m generally scared of any kind

•Abike Dabiri-Erewa

of animal, so we ran. I went in one direction and she went in the other, which was our way home.

So I went missing. My parents were really worried, they looked

for me, but they knew I would be okay. But you can’t say that today.

I was kept in the Baale’s house who gave me food. I wasn’t worried. They asked me who my fa-

ther was, and I said Ashafa instead of Erogbogbo. I was in primary school at the time. By the time they walked round every household, they knew they would find me, and they found me comfortably in the Baale’s house, playing with his children. That can’t happen today.

Are your parents still alive?

Yes, my father is 86, while my mother is 82. In fact, this year, they will mark their 60th wedding anniversary. As I turn 50, I have a sister who is equally turning 60, so it is turning out to be a three in one family celebration.

Which one of your parents inspired you the most?

Both of them. I have a father who was quite strict, and a mother who was in-between. We had the fear of our father who made it a point of duty to run whenever we saw him coming. We had sympathy from our mother. Whenever we wanted to do something terrible, we would remember the two of them and immediately do the right thing. Their combination gave us a good balance. They both taught me to be content.

Contentment is a virtue, and any person who has it, has it all. You will be surprised that you might be happier with N50, 000 in your pocket than somebody with N50 million in his pocket. My father had a great sense of humour, and he is a wonderful person to be with. My mother is a very kind woman; she taught us kindness and giving. She can sacrifice her eyes to save someone. The most important thing probably is that they brought us up with a lot of love and not a whole lot of money.

The name Abike Dabiri is a household name and has been so for some years now. From NTA days of Frank Olize’s Sunday Sunday Newsline. What has kept the brand, Abike Dabiri going strong?

I have been active right from my days at the University of Ife. Students used to chant ‘Abix Eros’ in action. We even had a live band where we entertained on campus.

It was me, Magdalene and two other guys. One of them is late now. I would say it is the grace of God that has kept me going as well as some principles I cherish.

Integrity should be your watchword, no matter what. Most importantly, you must have the fear of God in whatever you do.

When I wanted to go into politics, I was told that politics was dirty. If you are dirty, you play dirty. Just be who you are and don’t try to be another person.

Believe in yourself, have faith in yourself and be fair to others. The greatest love of all is the love you have yourself. If you love yourself, you will love those around you. If you love those around you, you wouldn’t be destroying people.

Rather, you’ll strive to make things better. May be l have been lucky.

When I was going into politics, I didn’t know what to expect. But today, I really thank Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he stood by me. When I wanted to contest, it was like where was she coming from? But Asiwaju said these were the kind of women we should encourage. He has encouraged women a lot. His wife too has been amazing. Of course, the people of Ikorodu too proved themselves, the elders and women in particular. When I went into politics, I started out with the women. I was attending the ward meeting for five months before I

INTERVIEW 49

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

‘What I missed about NTA’

took a decision. I went to Asiwaju and he gave me tremendous support and he is doing that till today. I was also lucky that when I got to the House of Representatives, a new committee was created which was media committee. It was a place I was very comfortable in.

Do you miss your years at NTA? Definitely. I was there for 15 years. I still miss television, it’s a part of me, and I intend to still do a few things on television as time goes on.

What will you say is the

highpoint of your 50 years on earth?

There are too many of those moments to single out one. Having my children, marrying Mr. Erewa.

Most of my happy memories are with my family. Winning my first, second and third elections has also been happy moments for me.

I have so many of them. I have a few sad moments, but it’s nothing to dwell on.

What about when your first marriage broke up, wasn’t that your sad moment also?

No, because we didn’t just break up. It broke up over a period of

time. He went abroad and never came back. It was painful, but I didn’t dwell on it. I concentrated on my children and my job.

Do you still communicate with him?

Yes. When it’s necessary, we do.

Do you miss not having a girl?

Yes, but I love my boys. I love children, and would have loved to have more, like six or seven, like my mother (laughs). But God said two. Then again, I have two more from my husband, making four, so I thank God for my boys. With them, I do not miss anything. I have lovely nieces, Tomi and

Tosin. There are many girls around me. Mary, the miracle baby is still on my scholarship, she is in SS III now.

You don’t have a child for your second husband, is there a reason?

It is not a priority. We did not get married because we wanted children. We are married because we love each other and the companionship is great. We are not interested in more babies, we already have four, and we are only waiting for grandchildren. Our marriage is based on a solid relationship.

What does friendship mean to you, and when and where did your friendship with Funmi Ajila and Enitan Allen start?

Friendship means everything.

For Funmi Ajila and Enitan Allen, we have been friends for over 22 years; our friendship is based on understanding and love. I have other friends too, Bimpe Ashafa, Yemisi Ibrahim, we are very close.

Being a Muslim, do you have a Muslim name?

Kafayat. I am a practising Muslim. I went to Catholic schools, but I am from a strong Muslim family.

I love and practise my religion. But people make the mistake of thinking that religion should be political. It should be between you and your God. Islam is a religion of peace and bliss; it is a religion where you are one with your God. Saying your prayer five times daily becomes a part of you. My husband is a Christian, but he is not bothered. He is very supportive of it.

Would you say you have lived a full life at 50?

I said life begins at 50 and you are talking about seeing it all and living a full life? (Laughs) how is that possible? 50 is the new 40 – life began at 40 in those days, but today, life begins at 50. There is still a whole lot to do. Success is not about age or money; it is about the number of lives you have touched. I need to touch more lives and reach out to more people. Life is just beginning at 50.

AT 50, is there anything you want God to give you?

Good health, long life, prosperity, everlasting peace, abundance of provision, a whole lot of knowledge, righteousness, good character and a good name.

Talking of a good name, how much of those issues that have rubbished the House of Representatives, would you say have tarnished your good name?

Whenever there is anything wrong with the Reps, I’m part of the institution, so I feel bad about it. We all have to help build that institution; it is the weakest arm of the government. The parliament is the bastion of democracy. As time goes on, I’m sure we will appreciate the institution better.

You are in your third term in the House of Reps, are you likely to run a fourth time?

I thank God for the privilege of a third term in parliament. I still have three more years to serve. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

On two occasions, it has been rumoured that you are gunning for the post of the Deputy Governor of Lagos; do you have any plans in that direction?

•Abike Dabiri-Erewa

‘

Fifty is the new 40 – life began at 40 in those days, but today, life begins at 50. There is still a whole lot to do. Success is not about age or money; it is about the number of lives you have touched. I need to touch more lives and reach out to more people. Life is just beginning at 50

’

You don’t gun for deputy governor. It is a privilege for me and an honour. I went into politics at a time when it was a risk.

People were not ready to take such risks, but we did. Now everyone wants to contest, which is all good, but parliament is a place for cerebral people, you need to read a lot. We need to put our best in the parliament.

50

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Is he being unfaithful to you?

A Reasons why men cheat PPROXIMATELY 40 percent of men seek sexual satisfaction outside their relationships, estimates Kat Hertlein, Ph.D., professor of human development at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas and a marriage and family therapist.

That number hasn’t changed much since 1950, when the famous Kinsey sex study found that 50 percent of men cheat at some point in their marriages.

Why They Cheat

The No.1 reason: Men crave sexual “variety,” according to David Buss, professor of psychology at the University of Texas and author of The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating (BasicBooks).

“They’ve evolved the desire to be with different women,” he says.

That’s because it’s very simple for men to reproduce one act of sex versus nine months of pregnancy for women- so to create as many offspring as possible they’re biologically programmed to mate with many women.

So after thousands of generations, “this has forged in the male brain a desire for sexual variety.”

Other top reasons men cheat? They’re unhappy with their mates - and extra-marital sex is cheaper and easier to get these days, Buss says.

And “power wives” beware: Being married to a high-profile guy ups the odds he’ll wander.

“Women are attracted to men who have power and status, so public figures usually have plenty of opportunity,” Buss says. Whether your guy is a political animal, an A-list celeb or just a cubicle-mate, his motivation to cheat is the same, according to one relationship expert.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, there’s a simple reason why: boredom,” says Steve Santagati, author of The Manual: A True Bad Boy Explains How Men Think, Date and Mate – and What Women Can Do to Come Out on Top (Crown).

Here are nine excuses guys give for doing the extra-marital mambo: 1. She ain’t what she used to be: The typical man can’t resist the temptation of riper fruit, especially if the woman in his life has let herself go.

“If she got lazy or gained weight or just doesn’t take care of herself, a guy will start looking at other women,” Santagati says.

Women who want to keep their men on a short leash need to take a “good, hard look in the mirror,” he adds. And men should do the same. He might be a complete slob and still be demanding perfection from her. “It’s the typical double standard.” For their part, guys should also make an effort to rediscover the spark at home. “Make her feel pretty, even if you’re lying,” he advises. “Tell her how beautiful she is and how much you appreciate it. It will make her feel sexy and she’ll want to make you happy.”

That attention can lead to a more satisfying sex life, agrees Sue Johnson, a professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Ottawa and author of Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love (Little Brown and Company).

“All the evidence shows that when (women) feel safe and connected, you’re better at tak-

Men like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, Jesse James and John Edwards have it all: talent, fame, money, and a beautiful family. Yet with everything to lose, they were accused of cheating on their wives. Why would men throw it all away? The answers may surprise you. Here are 9 reasons. Plus, will he cheat? Rate his risk with our quiz... ing care of your partner.”

2. No one loves a ball buster: Perhaps nothing will drive a married man into the arms of another woman faster than a nagging wife.

She’s like a mosquito,” Santagati says. “He doesn’t want to have sex with her; he wants to (swat her away).”

The more viable option: hot sex with a more “understanding” woman.

Hogwash, says Steven Solomon, Ph.D., author of Intimacy After Infidelity: How to Rebuild & Affair-Proof Your Marriage (New Harbinger).

“A woman didn’t do something that excuses cheating.”

Whatever the relationship dynamic, it’s not that healthy to begin with if it leads to infidelity, Solomon says.

3. She just doesn’t “get” me: Men who cheat say they don’t feel understood by their mate.

But it’s not always the woman.

Mostly they’re either angry or afraid to connect.

“It’s easier for men to go outside the relationship than work it out with their partner,” says UNLV’s Hertlein.

“We see this ‘triangulation’ a lot.”

A deep-seated fear of intimacy can be hard for some guys to overcome. And they’re more likely to cheat again, especially if they don’t go to couples therapy, Hertlein says.

4. It’s the thrill: Most guys

who have affairs are getting in touch with their inner caveman: They like to play with fire. ”It adds a level of danger,” Santagati says, “and danger adds to the excitement.”

By keeping surprise and sizzle in your sex life, a woman can keep the home fires burning so hot that her man won’t have any reason to cheat.

But that’s not the whole story.

Solomon says men also cheat because of fear, loneliness or anger.

“The betraying partner’s failure to deal with these feelings is what causes him to be unfaithful,” he says.

5. Blame it on the “hunter”: Often, married men who cheat can’t quite explain their motivation.

They just find themselves compelled to bust out of their day-to-day routine in search of something new. It’s a primitive instinct that dates back to their role as hunter and gatherer – only this time, they’re hunting and gathering new women.

“Maybe he married too young,” Santagati says, “or he just feels as if he hasn’t seen everything.”

Women can protect themselves by getting wise to this behavior early in the relationship – and getting out.

Santagati suggests you can find out more about a man’s dating history by watching how he acts in a room full of

Taiwo and Kehinde Ajibike during their birthday celebration recently

gorgeous women.

If you can’t rein him in when your romance is new, you’ll never control him down the road when your life together is more settled. “The first three months are critical,” he says.

6. Biology, baby: “It’s our biological nature to be with as many females as possible,” Santagati says. “Once we’ve seen a woman naked several times, it becomes commonplace. It doesn’t matter if you’re Jessica Alba or Sienna Miller, we become accustomed to your body and want to experience something different – different lips, different body types. We’re only monogamous because we realize that love and friendship are more important than getting laid.”

But Juliet Williams, associate professor of women’s studies at UCLA disagrees. “No matter how stunningly high the number of male cheaters, we know it’s not biological,” she says. “There are still a higher percentage of men who are monogamous.”

Whether it’s evolution, biology or simple novelty, infidelity researchers agree that men do seek different sex partners. However, the decision whether to cheat is entirely in a man’s control.

“Most men don’t act on those desires because they don’t want to jeopardize social reputations or marriages,” says University of Texas’ Buss.

“Former President Jimmy Carter, for example, told an interviewer that he had ‘lust in his heart’ but as far as we knew, he never acted on it,” he says.

7. It’s just sex: For most guys, sex and love are two entirely different things.We really believe, ‘I can still love my wife and want to have sex with other women.’ We separate it in our brains,” Santagati says.

That rationale allows guys to cheat guilt-free, with one notable exception: “Any guilt that a man has after sex isn’t about the sex itself, it’s about the consequences,” Santagati says. “Will she be a stalker? Will my wife find out?

“If a guy is in a committed, monogamous relationship, he should ask himself one question before he cheats: Is it worth it? He should consider the worst-case scenario, meaning that his wife finds out and is now brokenhearted. Is it worth it?”

8. Not tonight, dear: Let’s face it. Men want more sex than women.

So when their partner is tired from wrangling kids all day and unwilling to try new things, even the most loyal hubbies get bored and go looking for nookie.

More sexually permissive men who don’t have equally adventurous partners are also more apt to wander, says UNLV’s Hertlein. Their sexual values are just not compatible.

9. Because we can: OK, we’re guys, remember? It’s hard to resist temptation, especially when it’s at our fingertips.

Thanks to the Internet, it’s easier for men to cheat anytime, anywhere… while they’re watching TV or on the laptop in bed next to their sleeping wives.

“We’re not talking about penis and vaginas,” Hertlein says. “Cheating is defined as anything that breaches a relationship contract.”

“That includes “sexy communication and flirting that’s kept secret from your partner.”

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

So, your husband cheats!

I

have this very good friend who loves her husband to bits. And when it comes to respect, she comes tops in the ratings of good women. You need to see her and her husband together; you would pray to have a marriage as sweet as theirs.

One day while emptying his trousers pockets before putting them in the washing machine, she knew what they were even before she brought them out. Of course, I was the first person she told about it and the laughter in her voice as she shared her discovery with me shocked me.

She said, “Ade, you won’t believe what I found in Jade’s pockets today… guess”.

Well, not missing the excitement in her voice, I answered, “Crips Dollar note!”

She hissed and said, “You don’t know more money.

Anyway, let me save you the trouble of taking another guess. I found condoms in his pocket.”

You could hear a pin drop with my silence. …. Maybe they gave them to him at one of those seminars where they lecture people about HIV/AIDS. Maybe it was meant to be a joke on his wife. Maybe…

She brought me out of the many questions as to what loving and dedicated Jade would be doing with condoms in his pocket. “Ade, I have always suspected that behind my husband’s goody-goody nature, he might be catching his fun somewhere else with some women.

Hmm… at least he has the decency to use condoms. That way, we wouldn’t be exposed to issues of children born out of wedlock or worse still, infections.”

And that was it. I doubt if my friend ever shared her discovery with her husband till date and that was many years ago. She went on being a loving and respectful wife and before long, the husband became ‘born-again’ and their marriage couldn’t be described as anything but one of the best.

I don’t expect all women to be that passive in the face of their husbands’ infidelity. Some have to voice it out and say their minds as they grief about the fear of the unknown. But when women go overboard and show their husbands fire when they find out he has erred, I am amazed.

Some of my male friends have been through hell in the last few weeks just because their wives saw some text messages of got some phone calls from females. I have found myself offering some words of comfort to them and giving them advises about how to run their homes perfectly, but I wonder at times if I have the right words for such situations.

I was therefore happy when Lara Wise, one of my former colleagues (in The News/Tempo), treated the issue of infidelity on her Facebook page. I spoke with her and she agreed with me that I should share it today.

So if your husband is cheating on you and you feel you want to bring the roof down, take a few minutes and read about the reasons men cheat and another woman’s perspective on cheating.

Whatever your opinion is about husbands and the cheating game, enjoy the joke I’m signing off with and

Joke: The Cheating Husband A married man was having an affair with his secretary.

One day, their passions overcame them and they took off for her house, where they made passionate love all afternoon. Exhausted from the wild sex, they fell asleep, awakening at around 8:00 pm. As the man threw on his clothes, he told the woman to take his shoes outside and rub them through the grass and dirt. Mystified, she nonetheless complied. He slipped into his shoes and drove home.

“Where have you been?” demanded his wife when he entered the house.

“Darling, I can’t lie to you,” the husband said. “I’ve been having an affair with my secretary and we had sex all afternoon. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until eight o’clock.”

The wife glanced down at his shoes and said, “You lying bastard! You’ve been playing golf!”

Lost Contacts Please I want to be connected with Mr. Isidor Thompson Ebong or Anietie Ebong Isidor both were working with Tantalizers and they are from Abak lga, AkwaIbom state. The last time we met was at Agidingbi, Ikeja Lagos, my name is U. M Felix.

(07034458667). Thanks.

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

(08033155803).

51

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

S

HORTLY after that en counter, Henry and I met up. He came to our office one day and I went up to his father’s office to see him. He was of average height, with a slim, compact body and a face that looked so much like his dad. He was dressed in a navy suit, a light blue shirt and tie and he looked really cool.

“He’s really cute,” I remember thinking as his dad introduced us and we shook hands. Since it was our first meeting, I thought things would be a bit awkward between us, but it wasn’t so.

After his dad left us alone to as he put it, ‘so you two can get to know each other,’ we sat and chatted for some time. He worked in human resources in a large construction company in town and was also doing a parttime course in Law. At the end of that first meeting with Henry, I had to reconsider my attitude towards the whole issue. The truth was that I was seriously attracted to him and I could feel a connection to him that I had not felt for any guy for sometime.

It was for that reason that I agreed to a date with him when he asked if he could take me out at the weekend.

“So, how was it? Do you like my son? And are you going to marry him?”

Henry’s dad asked me anxiously after he had gone. We had seen him off in his car and I was making my way to my own department.

“I don’t know if I will marry him but I think I like him,” I replied, smiling at him a little.

“I’m glad to hear that. At least that’s one hurdle cleared. The next step is to meet your parents so we can commence with the marriage rites...” he stated.

“Marriage rites, ke?” I said and burst into laughter. “Sir, you are moving a bit too fast for me! I just met your son for

Bride of winter (2) the first time today and you are already planning the wedding. We have to get to know each other, see if we are compatible before we can start thinking about such things,” I pointed out.

He sighed then.

“You are right, my dear.

You see, in our parents’ days, things were done differently. Parents picked wives for their children- all they did was take the girl of their choice home to the son and he accepted her

whether he liked the girl or not. But, you young ones these days, you like to make your own choice...” he said.

“That’s true, sir. This is the 21st century and we like to choose our own partners,” I concurred.

“I hope you choose my boy,” he said, smiling.

I laughed again.

“Well, let’s wait and see!”

I said before going to my office.

I went out with Henry that weekend and I really had fun. We seemed to have

The MD of the Lagos Airport Hotel, Lagos, Chief Kayode Adenigba, displaying the plaque of the award given to him by the Ikole mornach, Ekiti State.

so much in common and we chatted as if we had known each other for years.

I smiled, remembering what his dad said earlier in the week.

“Can I share in the joke?” Henry asked. He was taking me home at the end of the date.

I turned to him and said: “It’s your dad o! Do you know he is already making plans for our wedding?”

“Wow! That’s quick-just like daddy.

He doesn’t like wasting time once he’s made up his mind about something.

So, what did you say to him?” he asked, as he tried to avoid hitting an okada rider with two passengers who was speeding on the highway as if he was being pursued by the devil himself.

“I told him it

was too soon. That we barely know each other...” I stated, glancing at him.

He nodded.

“That should make him calm down,” he stated. Then turning to me, he asked: “But how long do you think we need to get to know each other before we move to the next level?” he queried.

“Hmm...” I stated, pretending to think deeply, then said: “How about 50 years?”

I noted in a teasing tone.

“What!” he exclaimed. “ But we’ll be too old by then to be talking about marriage!”

“Well, that’s the idea,” I quipped and laughed.

“You are funny,” he said, laughing as well. * * * “Na wa for you o, Abby!

We hardly see you these days. Wetin dey happen?” asked my friend Carole. She had come with Tari, my other close friend to visit me one weekend some months later.

“No mind am. It’s that her new catch that’s turning her brain upside down!” stated Tari.

Carole looked at me in

surprise.

“Is that so? But you told us that you were not interested when his old man first approached you on his behalf?” she noted.

“Ha! And you believe her? She was lying! She has fallen flat for him o!” Tari said, a smirk on her face.

“Is that so?” Carole repeated, turning to me.

I was busily filing my toenails and I looked up.

“I changed my mind. A girl can change her mind, can’t she?” I asked sarcastically and resumed my toe filing.

I looked up just in time to see both of them exchanging glances, then they burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I queried, frowning.

“What’s changing your mind got to do with this? Just say the truth; that you’ve fallen madly in love with him! And any day you don’t see him, you feel sad...” said Tari.

I shook my head.

“You know something?

You girls have a problemyou talk too much and your busy body is something else.

If you don’t have anything better to do, than stick your long noses in my business, then you can go and help me wash my dirty clothes in the bathroom..” I stated firmly.

“Deny it all you want, but I know I’m right. Abi, no be so?” Tari said to Carole.

“Na so o!” she replied and they slapped hands and laughed again.

I ignored them and bent down once more to my toe nails..

Much later, when I

‘

You know something? You girls have a problem- you talk too much and your busy body is something else. If you don’t have anything better to do, than stick your long noses in my business, then you can go and help me wash my dirty clothes in the bathroom..

’

thought back to what my friends said, I had to agree that they were right. I had fallen for Henry in a big way and within a short time, he had become a very important part of my life. He was on my mind most of the timeeven when I was at work, all I could think about was him.

It was a strange feeling for me. I had been in relationships before and even been in love a few times but this was different. I didn’t believe in all these fairytale ideas of love at first sight but from the way I felt, it looked as if that was what had happened to me with regards to Henry.

I lay down on the couch and was about to start reading a novel I had borrowed from Carole when my mobile rang. It was Henry.

“So, how’s my baby doing today?” he asked in his deep, baritone voice.

“I’m cool. I’m just missing you, that’s all,” I replied, happy to hear from him. He had travelled out of town the previous week on official business and I missed him terribly.

“I miss you too. So, how have you been keeping yourself busy?” he asked again.

“Nothing much. Just work. And right now, I’m chilling at home because of the public holiday. If you had not abandoned me and travelled, at least we would have gone out,” I stated petulantly.

He laughed.

“You know that’s not true.

I will never abandon you.

This trip was important,” he stated.

“Yeah, you are right. Just hurry up and come home to me, ok?” I said.

“Alright, baby. Just take care of yourself for me,” he added.

“I’ll do that, honey,” I stated. We chatted for sometime before hanging up.

On his return the following week, I went to spend the weekend with him. He still lived at home with his parents and other siblings in a large house in the city.

That evening, I was in his room watching a movie on TV when Henry came in with a tray of drinks.

“What are we celebrating?” I asked, looking up at him curiously.

He opened a soft drink for me and as he raised the glass which had been turned upside down on the tray, I saw a ring sparkling there.

“What’s this?” I asked, reaching for it but he quickly picked it up and going down on one knee stated: “I know my dad beat me to it but this is something I still want to do,” he said.

Then sounding very serious, he asked: “Abby, darling, will you marry me?”

I felt so touched that all I could do was nod my head and rush into his arms.

He laughed then said: “I take that as a yes, then,” he noted before slipping the ring on my finger.

That was how Henry and I became formally engaged.

But before we could start planning our future together, a letter arrived from a childhood friend of his that was based abroad that put our plans on hold...

FAMIL Y HEAL TH AMILY HEALTH

52

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Keys to a lasting marriage (3)

Dear Reader, It’s my privilege again, this wonderful week, to bring you the Word of God concerning marriage.

So far, we have discussed the concept and the keys to having a lasting marriage. This week, I shall be teaching on the hindrances to a lasting marriage.

There is war that rages within. This battle goes on everyday. Sometimes, one party gains the upper hand, and another time the other party sings a victory song. As long as we are in this temple of clay, the battle lines are drawn.

By the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary, we are without excuse. If we yield to the flesh, we shall reap corruption, death; but if we yield to the spirit, we shall reap life! It’s a matter of choice (Galatians 6:8).

Marriage does not automatically leave a man above the works of the flesh. Yielding to the flesh accounts for the heartache many born-again couples experience in their homes today.

What are these works?

They are impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, spiritism…hatred, complaints and criticisms, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own group (Galatians 5:19-20).

Let’s find out how a few vices can steal peace and joy from marriage, hinder a marriage from lasting, and how to combat them.

D

•Slothfulness Laziness is a work of the flesh. Good homes and marriages don’t just drop from heaven; they are made to happen! God had to first work for six days, creating the world before He rested (Genesis2.2). You must be ready to do what it takes, before you can enjoy rest, peace and honour in your marriage.

If there is any indication of laziness in you, get rid of it now, because the fruit of laziness is shame, whether it is spiritual (laziness in studying the Word of God, prayer) or physical, doing house hold chores or caring for the family (Proverbs.10:5). Nobody loves a lazy person.

Slothfulness is a destroyer of families. Many know what to do to improve the state of their families, but they simply won’t do it or they do it for a while and give up. You must co-operate with God for your marriage to work.

Receive grace to be diligent, so you can enjoy your marriage, in Jesus’ name.

Idolatry God commanded man in Exodus 20:3 saying: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Nothing should come before your relationship with God, whether it is a car, jewelry, children, or even your spouse. Your love for God should not be replaced with a love for money, shoes or any other thing (Matthew 22:37).

There is another dimension to idolatry. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 15:23: For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. Stubbornness is equated with idolatry. This means that before God, stubbornness is a grievous sin as the worship of graven images!

What does it mean to be stubborn?

It means to be adamant, to be fixed in purpose or opinion, to refuse positive changes. God hates it!

Flee stubbornness! Be flexible with your spouse. Allow mercy and compassion, and God will not let you

Your persistent back and neck pain

What you would want to know; what you can do?

Continued from last week

Mechanical problems Age ;The intervertebral disks ,pieces of disk shaped soft bones which lie between the hard bones of the vertebrae lose water as you grow older. They are usually in two parts, an outer annulus fibrosus which behaves like Dunlop tyre , and an inner gel like part ,the nucleus pulposus, from about 70 or 80% of water at the age of 10 to about 10 % in individuals older than 60 years. Loss of water reduces the capacity to act as shock absorber, bone to bone contact then causes, more bone formation(spur) resulting in the tissue degeneration that is characteristic of some types of osteoarthritis Joints of the vertebral column like the other joints in the body obeys Hilton’s law , which means that the persistent back pain you are having could be coming from other components of the spinal unit such as excessive pull on muscle, or it’s tendon, ligament strain or sprain(actual tears), and herniated or ruptured disks.

Injuries: large wounds can occur from road traffic accidents and result in acute back pain, but small wounds , microtrauma may cause slowly progressive but incapacitating low back pain, of a chronic nature lasting over three months Medical conditions These include arthritis, osteoarthritis, narrowing of the spinal canal, , a sinus shaped curvature of the spine(scoliosis), forward shifting of one vertebra on the one below it(sponylolisthesis,) Others are pregnancy; kidney stones or infections; endometriosis, which is the buildup of uterine tissue in places outside the uterus; and fibromyalgia, a condition of widespread muscle pain and fatigue.

Emotional stress and other post traumatic situations can affect the body in many ways, including causing back muscles to go tense or spastic over long periods of time DANGER FLAGS The presence of numbness or tingling particularly in the upper and lower extremities If your pain is severe and doesn’t improve with medication and rest, Persistent pain after a fall or an injury Pain along with any of the following problems: unexplained weight loss, numbness or tingling sensation, wasting of groups of muscle, fever, not responding to commonly used drugs Diagnosis First is to ask questions and try get answers; a medical history , family, social or life style history followed by a physical exam, The history and exam will assist the Doctor decide what forther steps to take Laboratory Tests X rays: If findings suggest a fracture , lateral bending(scoliosis), forward bending(kyphosis, shift(spodylolisthesis, or joint inflammation(osteoarthritis.More sophisticated tests can be done, but only at a higher level of consultation because of the risks involved and the cost of having these tests

done Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI):Using a strong magnetic force instead of radiation to create an image.

Scan from the machine produces pictures of soft tissues, such as ligaments, muscle tendons, and blood vessels.

For cases such as an infection, tumor, inflammation, or pressure on a nerve.

•Computed tomography (CT) scan: Shows spinal structures that cannot be seen on traditional x rays. Your doctor may order a CT scan to look for problems including herniated disks, tumors, or spinal stenosis.

Blood tests Complete blood count (CBC), which could point to problems such as infection or inflammation •Hb genotype, Retroviral screening, after adequate counseling.

•Tb screening, blood or sputum AFBX3 •Level of calcium •Hormone profile for those women in transitional menopause •C-reactive protein (CRP), •HLA-B27, a test to identify a genetic marker in the blood that is more common in people with ankylosing spondylitis (a form of arthritis that affects the spine and sacroiliac joints) •Urine MCS for reactive arthritis (a form of arthritis that occurs following infection in another part of the body, usually the genitourinary tract).

Treatment depends on what type , acute or chronic.

Acute Back Pain Exercises or surgery are not usually advisable for acute back pain, except in exceptional cases where surgery may be needed to prevent or halt further damage Simple pain killers, sustain same or pre morbid level of physical activities, physiotherapy as early as possible Chronic Back Pain Considered under two basic considerations

experience shame in your home.

Anger We all get angry at one time or the other, but the difference between this and the work of the flesh is sin. The Bible says that: Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath. (Ephesians 4:26) By holding to anger, you open the door to sin.

If you get upset about the way your spouse does certain things at certain times, rather than exploding and speaking cruel words which can cause irreparable damage, control your emotions and take a walk or pray, until you cool down.

Anger is a killer, and must be dealt with. It puts asunder faster than fornication. One may not kill physically, yet by angry words or even silence, you can kill a person’s spirit. It has the same consequences as murder. Learn to control it!

To be free from these hindrances in your marriage, you need to put God first in anything you do. He is the One Who can help you out, because He is the Founder and the Originator of marriage. To do this you need to accept Him as your personal Lord and Saviour. Let Him into your heart, and then you will see changes in your marriage. If you are ready, please say this prayer with me, 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 08170268670 email: drmikeoyakhire@yahoo.com 1. Conservative, Non surgical. 2.Surgical Physicians will nearly always try nonsurgical treatments before recommending surgery.

Following are some of the more commonly used treatments for chronic back pain .Nonsurgical Treatments Thermotherapy Heat dilates blood vessels, and alters the sensation of pain. Cold numbs pain and reduces inflammation Exercise: First see your doctor for detailed physical examination before starting any exercise programe Flexion: forward bending———reduces pressure on nerves; (2) stretch muscles of the back and hips, (3) strengthen abdominal and buttock muscles Extension: backward bending exercise —These strengthens the muscles that are attached to the spine and also open up spaces within the spinal unit Most helpful for referred pain,, which is felt in areas of the body outside where it came from Stretching: The goal of stretching exercises, as their name suggest, is to stretch and improve the extension of muscles and other soft tissues of the back. This can reduce back stiffness and improve range of motion.

Aerobic: Aim to achieve at least 30 minutes of cardiovascular(aerobic)exercise three times a week. Aerobic exercises target the large muscles of the body and include brisk walking, jogging, and swimming. It is good to void rigorous exercise and those involving twisting , rapid forward flexion, and extension Because they are capable of causing high intradiscal pressure ,and worsen any existing disc disease. Do hand exercise, clench and open your fists, do same for your toes Avoid excessive use of your head and neck when working with your PC Do head and neck exercise, by very gently bending , nodding and rotating your head Get up and stroll. School kids should be given time to relax after normal school hours Behavior modification: Good posture at all times especially while you do daily activities, house hold chores and those involving heavy lifting, pushing, or pulling, Adopt healthy life styles— exercise regularly and moderately Encourage relaxation, and regular sleep, pattern and make sustained efforts at dropping bad habits, such as smoking , hard drugs and junk diet.

Eat a healthy diet of plants, fiber greens etc Get enough calcium and vitamin D every day.

Support your back when working with a table and a chair . keep your back straight when lifting heavy objects Sit preferably with back rest, and change positions from time to time Use soft pillows, avoid falling asleep on chairs and stools.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

FAMIL Y HEAL TH AMILY HEALTH

Our common emotions

Coping with diseases with Prof. Dayo Oyekole

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)

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UR emotions are the physical expressions of the love and hate within us. When we love or hate something or someone, it is expressed in our mind and mental activity, in our actions, in our pre-emptions, and in our reactions.

Our emotions are expressed in our words, in the things we say, and in the way we say them. Our emotions are expressed in our deeds, in the things we do, and in the way we do them. Our emotions are expressed in our pre-emptions and in how we pre-empt. Our emotions are expressed in our reactions, and in how we react.

The emotions that are born of love typically move us towards what we love. We want, for example to be with what is loved, to have what we love, to promote what we love, to enhance what we love, to protect and defend what we love, or to improve what we love. Such emotions typically connect us with what is loved or connect us with the good of what we love, or disconnect us from what is evil to what we love. The end of the emotions that emanate from love is to be good to what is loved, to do good to what is loved, and to give good to what is loved.

The emotions of compassion, affection, respect, empathy, (CARE) are chief amongst those that typically emanate from love and connect us with what is loved. Within society (i.e. family, business, nation, the world), they lead to care.

Many emotions typically emanate from love to result in some good going out of us and some good coming to us, e.g., awe, contentment, desire, enthusiasm, euphoria, excitement, gratitude, grief, happiness, interest, joy, passion, peace, pity, pleasure, pride, remorse, satisfaction, trust, wonder, zeal, etc.

The emotions that are born of hate typically move us away from what we hate. We want, for example, to ignore what we hate, to escape from what we hate, to reject what we hate, to block what we hate, to diminish what we hate, to limit what we hate, or to destroy what we hate. Such emotions typically disconnect us from what we hate or disconnect us from the good of what we hate or connect us to what is evil to what we hate. The end of the emotions that emanate from hate is to be

evil to what we hate, to do evil to what we hate, and to give evil to what we hate.

The emotions of anger, callousness, resentment, indifference, and dread (ACRID) are chief amongst those that typically emanate from hate and disconnect us from what is hated. They make society acrid; i.e., they give society a bitter taste.

Many emotions typically emanate from hate to result in some evil going out of us and some evil coming to us: anxiety, contempt , despair, disgust, distrust, embarrassment, envy, fear, frustration , greed, panic, shock, terror, etc.

Many emotions can be born out of both love and hate and through them we are able to be good and do good to what we love and be evil or do evil to what we hate: anxiety, awe, curiosity, daring, disappointment , embarrassment, excitement, guilt , hurt, pleasure, satisfaction, shame, shock, shyness, sadness, suffering , surprise, worry , zeal, etc.

When within the family, there are many problems, recurrent problems, difficult problems, or even any type of problems, one helpful way of resolving issues might be to try to understand the emotions that are playing out, the dominant emotions, the recurring emotions, and the lingering emotions.

Knowing and understanding our dominant emotions, our recurring emotions, and our lingering emotions is important and helpful for a healthy family life as emotions relate people with one another and relate people with their environment and therefor determine our individual wellbeing as well as our communal wellbeing.

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

Blindness in Nigeria: A public health challenge awaiting our collective action! underutilization leading to low productivity of ophthalmologist, and other eye care team members.

Ignorance of available services, fear due to poor information on eye health issues, and poverty which is responsible for inability to make out-of-pocket payments for care services, as well as a misplaced value system continues to enhance the gloomy statistics above.

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LINDNESS encompasses several degrees of inability to see, ranging from the simple impairments in seeing objects, to a total lack of sight.

Blindness is no respecter of race, age or gender, as long as anybody has eyes, he is at risk of blindness from several causes, and this is the universality of blindness!

Basic causes of blindness include: Congenital (i.e. developmental defect before birth); Acquired (disorders that develop after birth). In the second group; Infections, Injuries, Non-Communicable disorders, Ageing, are some of the known causes.

In 1999, in response to the observed trend in blindness data available the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), which showed that unless active action is taken, a total 75million persons (based on projections from available blindness prevention data) would be blind worldwide by the year 2020, a movement called VISION2020: The Right To Sight was launched, and annually on the second Thursday of every month of October, an advocacy day for this movement is observed.

By the year 2010, that is, 10 years down the lane, the impact of the activities mounted up had revealed a 10 to 13 percent reduction in visual impairment across board. Put simply, the initiative and all it entails has proven to be “effective”!

The Burden Of Blindness In The Land According to the published reports of the recently conducted (between 20052007) first National Survey on Blindness in Nigeria, at least 4 Nigerians out of a hundred (4.2 percent) are blind, and even after issuing spectacles for best correction, the rate still remains as high as not less than 3 of 100!

It also revealed that in every 100 blind Nigerians, Catarract was accountable for 43 of them, while Glaucoma accounted for another 17, Corneal Scars due to the triad of Vitamin A Deficiency+Measles+Use Of Traditional Eyemedicines accounted for another 8, while the remaining 32 would be due to Uncorrected Refractive Error, Aphakia, Trachoma, and several Noncommunicable Disoders.

Furthermore, the study implied that at least 1 million Nigerians are blind, and another 3 million are visually impaired!

Similar findings were true of such surveys by India (2005), and Pakistan (2003).

In fact, the International Agency for Pre-

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vention of Blindness (IAPB) in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO) embarked on the activities of VISION2020: The Right To Sight in view such data.

And till date, 90 percent of all visually impaired worldwide live in developing countries, 65 percent of them are aged above 50 years, 19 million children are visually impaired, but the earth-shaking reality is: 80-90 percent Of Visual Impairement Is Avoidable Or Ammenable To Control!

Why Such A Burden?

The 3 Cardinal resources in any system are Manpower, Material and Money, and a proper application of all these has always held the promise of achieving whatever goals set by such a system.

A look at our total Health Care Sector, within which the eye care system can be found, has a lot to say about such a burden as ours.

1. Manpower For Eye Health: The survey revealed a human resource for eye health that is inadequate, ineffective and mal-distributed. Not less than 80 percent of the total population of ophthalmologists are based in the urban areas, while 70 percent Nigerians live in rural areas!

There is a further geopolitically inequitable distribution of manpower as there could be up to 4times the number of health workers in one zone as compared to another!

There is also manpower

2. Material Resources For Eye Health: There is a minimum level of infrastructure needed to achieve the onerous task of VISION2020: The Right To Sight by any national government and what we have on ground suffers from quality as well as quantity. Eye care is one field that is highly dependent on technology, with the rate of equipment engineering and procedural innovations on the international scene so rapid that even the average ophthalmologist is kept on his/her toes just to keep abreast of the changes. The lack of optimal enabling environment for this is a major cause of low productivity.

The services available at our centres may not be acceptable to the people due to socio-cultural issues, and it may be the reason that the survey detected that only about 47 out of 100 eyes treated for straight forward cataract had formal cataract surgery, while another 43 eyes had the traditional cataract surgery (couching!) which is usually of poor outcome, and the rest 10 eyes had complicated cataracts necessitating the choice for formal care often times.

We have outdated equipments sitting down in many of our secondary and tertiary centres, thus making training of eye care HR an arduous task for the trainers; retention strategies are poorly elucidated, giving room for continuous brain drain, and unending attrition, hence the rich venture often into Health Tourism Schemes in foreign lands, to sort out their needs, while the 80 percent continue to languish in darkness and ‘pain’ If the suggestions above are accepted, it will soon be clear to our INGOs who are getting donor-fatigued gradually, that a new dawn has come to our National Prevention of Blindness efforts, and the whole sub-Saharan Africa shall indeed have hope that before the year 2020, avoidable blindness shall no more be burdensome.

To be continued

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EXUALLY Transmitted Diseases are popularly called venereal diseases.

They are contagious diseases, easily transmitted by sexual contact from an infected person to a sexual partner who is otherwise healthy.

The germs causing these diseases vary a great deal, but all depend on the warmth and moisture of the sexual organs for survival. They readily penetrate the delicate skin and moist membranes that come in contact during sexual intercourse. Once the germs have invaded the tissues of the sex organs, they propagate and spread to other tissues, even throughout the body in some cases.

The sexually transmitted diseases cause various kinds of suffering with tragic results as damage to an unborn child, infertility and even premature death. Once established in a person’s body, the disease tends to persist, if untreated, for the duration of life. Syphilis and Gonorrhoea are the best-known venereal diseases, but the range also includes genital herpes, candidiasis and warts, as well as trichomoniasis, chancroid, staphylococcal infections and Lymphogranuloma venereum.

In spite of our present knowledge of these diseases and in spite of the availability of effective treatment, the number of cases of sexually transmitted illness has increased so alarmingly that they are virtually out of control. Changes in public attitudes towards sexual matters, widespread use of contraceptive pills and the emergence of resistant strains of organisms seem to have contributed to the increase of these diseases.

The symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases vary, depending on the causative agent. There may be abnormal discharge from the sexual organ, with foul odour and itching sensations, as in Gonorrhoea, Trichomoniasis and Candidiasis. There may be ulcers and pinching sensations as in Genital Herpes Simplex, Staphylococcus, Syphilis,

Chancroid and Granuloma inguinale. Thirdly, there are those characterized by the appearance of lumps and bumps in the private parts, as observed in cases of genital warts and Lymphogranuloma venereum.

Prevention It should be well understood that when a sexually transmitted disease is diagnosed in a man or woman, the disease has probably already passed on to the sexual partner, it is therefore important that both should treated to prevent re-infection.

Also, it is strongly advised that any suspicion of a venereal disease or of possible exposure to infection, calls for urgent medical attention. In fact, prolonged cases of venereal infections have been shown to predispose one to more dangerous infections such as HIV/ AIDS. Treatment/Control In Holistic Lifecare, it is strongly advocated that in order to avoid suffering in the midst of plenty, we must turn to NATURE. Some of the natural remedies being advanced for the treatment and control of sexually transmitted diseases include the extracts of local herbs such as Allium cepa, Senna alata and Plumbago zeylanica.

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.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Bar Beach has become a semilake that is gradually being taken over by the reclaimed sand. In the next few months, Bar Beach will give way to one of the most ambitious urban development project in the whole of Africa- that is the reclamation of land from the Atlantic Ocean and turning it into a high yielding, up-scale zone that makes both Victoria Island and the Lagos Marina look obsolete. Despite the gradual phasing out of the beach, there were still vendors and urchins that are still scrapping out a living, despite the disappearing water.

It was as if the more they stay, the greater the chances that there might be a reversal.

Walking on water

•Eyo dancers entertaining tourists

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HE deserts, to many people, are huge heaps of wasteland with seemingly no tourism value. After all, many think, what would one be doing in a vast sand dunes that look alike? But in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), tour operators put together leisure trips to these huge expanse of sand in the country. They built exciting content around them. Thousands today troop to that country just to experience a safari in the desert. For those who have experienced a desert safari, it is an enjoyable sight. The thrill and excitement is much- the break-neck speed of fourwheel drive through the undulating sands, the late evening view of the sun from the wilderness,the sand barging as the land cruisers speed by, it is best experi-

Exploring the essence of Lagos enced. It is a feeling like no other. The tour operators built a product and a tour content out of nothing. It turned out to be a hit with the rest of the world and now it is a multi-billion dollar business.

For many Lagosians, as those living in Lagos are called, there is this false sense of familiarity with the mega-city that the idea of going on a leisure tour seems rather unreasonable. After all, it is a city that one lives and daily plots how to navi-

gate through the ‘landmines’ of traffic gridlock and other things that make Lagos peculiar to itself. So, there is nothing to see.

When the opportunity to go on tour of the city came, the first question was that what is there to see that one had not seen at one time or the other? It turned out to be a wrong perception. Indeed, a tour of Lagos is exciting and something individuals, families and organizations could undertake. It gives one

a better opportunity to understand the city better.

The tour was packaged by S.J. Tours. The take off point was at the end of the Ahmadu Bello Way, linking Adetokunbo Ademola Street, beside Kuramo Beach. The tour guide, Mrs. Abiola Ogunbiyi urged every member of the tour team to visit the Bar Beach as this might just be the last time one might have the opportunity to see the beach.

Indeed, all that is left of what used to be known as

The next stop was the corporate headquarters of the Eko Atlantic City. Here, the local tourists were shown an audio-visual stimulation of what the Eko Atlantic City would look like when completed. It is best seen and also difficult to fully conceptualise.

As if to confirm what one had just seen, there was a drive to the land reclamation site. It becomes a little unreal as one drove deep into what used to be the Bar Beach water fall reclaimed from the ocean.

After driving for close to 10 minutes, the vehicle stopped at the waterfront near what is now referred to as the Lagos Wall. It was built with a reinforced concrete barrier that has been scientifically tested to withstand ocean surge. It is expected to last for about 1000 years. Here one sees the much touted final solution to ocean surge in Lagos.

The land so far reclaimed from the ocean is almost twice the size of Lagos and it has not ended. The reclamation is still on, demarcations of

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After driving for close to 10 minutes, the vehicle stopped at the waterfront near what is now referred to as the Lagos Wall. ... It is expected to last for about 1000 years. Here one sees the much touted final solution to ocean surge in Lagos

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choice land acquired by individuals and corporate organisations is also on.

Peep into the past

•Artifact at the National Museum

Tourism News Law makers rate NCPC performance high

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HE House of Repre sentatives Committee on Foreign Affairs has commended the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) for its implementation of capital projects for the 2012 appropriation.

The Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Dahiru Saleh and a member of the Committee, Mr. Sekonte Davies gave the pass mark during an oversight visit to the Commission in Abuja recently.

The committee members were in NCPC specifically to assess the level of implementation of the capital budget meant for the building of pilgrims reception Camp and offices for staff.

Members of the committee were conducted round the Commission’s building by

the Executive Secretary of NCPC, Mr. John Kennedy Opara and his management staff. At the site of the pilgrims reception camp which is ongoing, they were impressed by the progress of work. The work on the twostorey building has progressed significantly.

At the end of the site tour and supervision of the project, the Deputy Chairman affirmed that progress of work was about 90 percent.

He advised the commission to have a rolling plan for its capital budgets so that those that could not be completed in the 2012 appropriation could be carried over to 2013 for completion.

Earlier, Opara briefed members of the committee on the activities of the commission, its progress and

Oronna Festival holds next

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•L-R: Senator Isa Galahundu, Mr. John Kennedy, ES. NCPC and Senator Dahiru Kuta during a recent visit by the Senators challenges.

He explained that the Commission was able to acquire its corporate head office building through the cooperation of the members of the House committee as appropriated then.

The Executive Secretary explained that the Commission embarked on pre- visit to Israel, Rome and Greece in April 2012, to ascertain the state of things in these countries, preparatory for the 2012 pilgrimage exercise.

HE 2012 edition of Oronna Festival, a cultural celebration by the Ilaro people of Ogun State, will hold from November 24 to December. The first has been held in the last 19 years and it brings together sons and daughters of the town together to celebrate their common heritage.

Speaking on this year’s edition, the chairman of the planning committee, Chief Kayoed Odunaro said this year’s edition will be one of the best editions of the festival and the event formerly known as Oronna Day will now be called Oronna Ilaro Festival. The new nomenclature captures the essence of the event as a potpouri programme of culture, tourism, educational and health awareness. The new name

•Governor Ibikunle Amosu also claims ownership of the brand for Ilaro in Ogun State, SouthWest, Nigeria, to be differentiated from other similarly named celebrations elsewhere in Nigeria.

The theme of this year’s

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

•Chief Nike Okundaye (right) waving goodbye to tourists

According to the tour itinerary, the next point was the National Museum, Onikan.

If the trip to the Eko Atlantic City was a trip into the future, the museum was a return back in time. Right from artifacts of thousands of years back to those of the recent past, the museum captures them succinctly. The most poignant is the section that captures Nigeria’s leadership past and present.

Here, apart from portraits of the past leaders, the ill-fated 1976 coup that consumed the then Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed is well documented at the museum. The Mercedez Benz limousine he was riding in, with its bullet ridddled body is well captured. It makes the incident internally vivid in the imagination of visitors to the museum.

and danced enthusiastically that many of the tourists had no choice but to join. At Nike Gallery, many of the tourists confessed to having an experience of a life time.

Chief Nike Davies Okundaye is an individual who understands the import of tourism in the life of a de-

veloping country and as such, collaborated with the S.J. Tours, the tour operators, to put together the tour experience.

The group were treated to hot akara (beans cake) and puff puff (doughnut) from a woman who was frying it in front of the building. Next was a les-

son in textile art. Every tourist was given a piece of clothe to test his or her dyeing skill after being taught the fundamentals. Like little children, each tourist’s face disssolved into smiles watching the dyed material transform into a spectrum of colours. It was not over yet.

The next was a lesson in traditional dance. This was after the Eyo dancers had finished entertaining.

The dance lesson was both entertaining and also an exercise. The experience at the gallery was both educational and entertaing that none wanted to leave. But they had to go.

Chief Nike Okundaye was on hand to say good bye to the tourists. The tour group was to head for Lekki market but this was cancelled because it was already late. So, Terra Kulture, an all-inclusive leisure spot was the next port of call. Here, one had an opportunity to enjoy the best of local cuisines in an ambience that was trulyAfrican. the impression one got from the tour is that it is important, once in a while, for individuals, groups and corporate organisations to embark on such tours.

If one takes time out to tour Lagos, one discovers the soul of this enigmatic city.

Essence of a people

Arts captures the totality of a people’s life. In Lagos, nowhere is this captured broadly within the same building like what is seen at Nike Gallery, Lekki, off the Victoria Island-Ajah Expressway.

At the entrance to welcome the tour group was a local dance troupe that drummed

ext month celebration is “Festival of New Beginning. He also spoke about the origin of the festival: “Oronna Day/Festival could be traced to the very beginning of Ilaro shortly after it was founded by Aro, a brave hunter and farmer from Oyo Ile sometime in the middle of the 17th century. Not long afterwards, the Ilaro settlement (from Ilu Aro) was under the threat of invasion by the notorious and fearful Dahomean army. The people sent messages to warriors and princes in Oyo to join him in protecting the fertile land from the marauding Dahomean fighters.

One of the Oyo Princes and warriors that answered that call was Oronna who won many battles and became a generalissimo in the defense of Ilaro from Dahomeans and

•Dance lesson at Nike Gallery

other attackers. Oronna’s exploits was so great that he was recognized as superhuman and in time assumed a deity figure. It is belief that Oronna enjoyed special support from Odua, the deity of the ancient town of Itolu as well as other deities from Oyo. No enemy dared challenge Ilaro to war and even in death, Oronna pledged to defend Ilaro people. He is reputed to have disappeared from the earth following a provocation, leaving the tail of a long chain tied to his waist as exit point from the earth. The point of his disappearance is now the famous “Oronna Shrine” which is now a tourist centre in Ogun State. It is at this shrine that all kings of Ilaro are crowned. Most Ilaro people are called “Omo Oronna”.

This appellation is shared only with our kith and kin in Oke- Iho in Oyo.

Top hotels line up at Akwaaba

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HE best Hotels in Africa will be at the African Travel Market taking place in Lagos from the 22nd of October to the 24th to showcase their services.

All the great hotel chains in Africa will compete in different markets and Nigeria, with the largest travelling audience in Africa presents a huge opportunity to extend their connections, tidy up businesses and meet new customers.

The Starwood group 0f Sheraton,Meridien and Fourpoints by Sheraton will be there to rub shoulders with the new comers like Movenpick. The South African group includes, Protea, Sun International, Legacy group , Lonrho and

Southern Sun, While from Ghana, will be the Golden Beach Hotels, African Regent, Fiesta Royale and Travel Express. The Zimbabwe chain of African Sun will be there along with their best western brand.

Holiday Inn, Accra will be showcasing too. First timers like Best Western Port Harcourt will be joining the old hands at the exciting 3day exhibition.

The Gambian Hotels will be there in large numbers too. The hospitality seminar with the theme “(1) 5 star or fallen star: Standardizing Hotels in Nigeria with Mr. Alex Gassuer, The Area Manager Starwood Group (owners of Sheraton, Le Meridien and Four Points Hotels) will be on Wednesday the 24th of October.

7-star luxury hotel berths in Nigeria

•Chief Sunny Odogwu signing the agreement

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HE growing profile of Lagos as one of the cit ies where top hopitality brands are currently jostling to make their presence felt was boosted early this week with the signing of an agrement for the hospitality management group, the Starwood. The agreement signing involved the owners of the hotel, the construction company, Koray and management Group, Starwood. The hotel was initially designated as a Le Meridien’s four-star property brand. The project is being constructed by the Koray Construction Company, a leading construction company in Turkey.

Initially designated as a Le Meridien, it was later raised as a luxury collection brand. According to the West African Regional Manager of the Starwood Group, Mr. Alexander Gassuer, the hotel when completed will be the ‘key that unlocks the world’s most treasured destinations.’

In his address, the Chairman of the Robert Dyson and Diket Limited, owning company of the hotel, Chief Sunny Odogwu expressed his happiness that the realisation of the hotel dream was becoming a reality. He said the property, when completed, will be the ‘first Starwood 7-plus star Luxury Collection mixed Resort and Apartment in SubRegion Africa.’

He said the construction of the hotel project was painstakingly done to reflect, so that it will have a 7-star luxury finishing. His words: “During the construction of the project, and while the development was on the 14th floor, the promoters and developers had the intuition to visit other foreign countries in Europe, Ameri-

•A prototype of the hotel

can and Asia to ascertain whether their thoughts and designs of the ongoing project fall within the standard visualised to be the finished 7+star development.

The enlightenment and success achieved during the trip convinced us to return to the drawing board, if we were to achieve the envisaged objective.

“We re-assessed and re-arranged the financial structure and the appointment of a renowned foreign contractor to achieve a first-class finishing. On completion of the construction, you will all agree that the delay of the finished product was worth it.

“Consequently, Starwood considered it prudent to upgrade the product from Le Meridien Brand to lucxury Collection Brand, which is being launched today. Furthermore, it is the custom of Starwood to identify with or give the development the name of the historical founder of the town on which the property is located. This will be done with the cooperation of the Lagos State Government who are fully represented here on this occasion.”

Chief Odogwu used the opportunity to thank both the Federal and the Lagos State governments for their support, saying the hotel will be named after a historic individual in Lagos. He said: “Without the support of the Lagos State Government, the incentives of the Federal Government of Nigeria, especially the Federal Ministry of Finance, the cooperation of first-class and experienced consultants, it is doubtful if any private sector organisation would ever think of embarking on such a project and hope to succeed.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Willie Obiano – Another feather to honour-laden cap C HIEF Willie Obiano carries a spark that lights up any arena he enters like a burst of fireflies in a dark, moonless night.

And it has very little to do with his well cultivated sartorial style; or his regal carriage which was there long before he took his first chieftancy title. Nor is it his infectious humour and kindred spirit that strikes instant connectivity with anyone that comes his way regardless of age or class. Obiano is far more nuanced than that. And it’s all perhaps because the Aguleri high chief has managed to squeeze into one personality, as much complexity as simplicity.

Perhaps no one in recent memory closely approximates what Chinua Achebe may have had in mind when he choose the title, A Man of the People for his apocalyptic novel that prophesied the Nigeria Civil War as Chief Willie Maduabuchi Obiano. However, unlike Chief Honorable Nanga, Achebe’s central character in A Man of the People who was a noisy, flatulent politician who drew insincere adulation from his beggarly constituents, Chief Obiano who holds the title of Akpokuedike (loosely translated as the buzz of the warrior) is a brilliant banker and astute administrator who is well loved by his Aguleri people in Anambra State.

Essentially, the story of Chief Obiano is a tale of a life of solid personal achievements. Until recently, Chief Obiano was the number two man at Fidelity Bank Plc, as the Executive Director in charge of Business Banking after a glittering banking career that saw him rise through the ranks and heading virtually every important segment of the bank including corporate banking, non-bank financial institutions, treasury, foreign operations, oil and gas financing, telecommunications, aviation and several other businesses where he showed tremendous leadership skills and a rare people’s touch.

Prior to berthing at Fidelity Bank, Obiano had had an auspicious beginning at First Bank Nigeria and Texaco Nigeria Plc where he was the Chief Internal Auditor for years.

At Fidelity, what mostly stood Chief Obiano out was his rare human touch; a deep connection with the people which resonated throughout the bank and a large reservoir of knowledge of the subtleties of banking and a keen sense of the present and how it connects to the future, which most bankers who have fallen by the way side never seemed to have. Obiano knew banking well enough to know that the banker’s reputation is like a house of straws; one bad move and all the years of struggle would go up in a plume of smoke. But Obiano left Fidelity on a high. He was well loved by the ordinary staff and respected by the management and the board. At the bank’s annual dinners and social events, AkpokueAguleri, as he was fondly called by friends and colleagues always stood out. Being a man of style, his remarkable haircut and aristocratic fashion taste always marked him out in the crowd. Smiling comes easy to Chief Obiano as does his hearty gentleman laughter that draws instant fellow feelings from the people around him.

Chief Obiano’s social skills were also well known outside Fidelity Bank as most of his closest friends are members of the armed

•Willie Obiano James EZE forces, para-military, royal fathers, professionals like doctors, lawyers, fellow bankers and brilliant architects and engineers, among others. He is also deeply connected to the clergy and the church.

Obiano is a devout Catholic whose commitment to the church is deep. It is perhaps ironic that a man with his high social skills and a profound love for tradition is also deeply involved with the church.

It is all part of the high art of personality code-mixing which Obiano has perfected in his simple but complex personality.

Obiano’s involvement with the church began rather early. Following his early education in mission schools, Chief Obiano has never really strayed too far from the church. His keen interest in the church of Jesus Christ has led him into accepting different roles in the service of God including but not restricted to being the patron of Catholic Women Association, Missionary of St. Paul’s Society, Catholic Women’s Organization, Catholic Laity Council of Nigeria and the Grand Pillar of St. Gerald Catholic Church, among others.

All things considered, perhaps the most startling thing about Chief Obiano is his astonishing brilliance. For someone with his profound social skills, it is almost unbelievable to note just how acute his intellect works. Obiano holds a Second Class Upper Division in Accounting from the University of Lagos and an MBA in Marketing from the same school. He is a class member of the

Harvard Business School and Stanford University, both in the USA. He is also both Fellow and patron of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). In the course of his career, Obiano attended numerous courses including Credit and Trade Services at Citi Bank, New York, Treasury and Money Market at Northwest London, Emerging Markets at FIM Bank, Malta and Managing Integration Process at Houston Texas, USA in 2006.

As is the case with people who live a life of meaning, AkpokuedikeAguleri’s life is spiced up with numerous humanitarian gestures that heal the world. Obiano is a committed philanthropist, a cheerful giver who finds contentment in easing the pain of people in need. However, Akpokuedike has a different attitude to philanthropy – he never makes his interventions public. He likes affecting lives silently. Just recently, he made a bold intervention to alleviate the suffering of the victims of the flood that engulfed half of Anambra State.

There are times when Chief Obiano comes across as the quintessence of the archetypal Igbo man of means who delights in his largeness of heart to the people. He loves people and there is always something about him that draws people towards him.

Not surprising, Chief Obiano has been a recipient of many awards and honours in recognition of his eternal warmth, public spirit, candour and generous contributions to society. In May this year, Obiano received the honour of the 1stUSAfrica’s Distinguished Banker of the Year award in Houston, Texas, USA. In addition to being honoured by the people of Aguleri as the Akpokuedike of Aguleri Kingdom, Chief Obiano also holds the revered title of OtunbaAtayase of Ilemeso-Ekiti in Ekiti State. This later recognition from Oba David AdegboyegaOyewunmi (Fasemi II) of IlemesoEkiti underscores his bridge-building capacity and a natural inclination to bond with people from diverse cultures.

Needless to say, more honours have continued to trail Chief Obiano. As the saying goes, if a man makes a better mouse-trap than his peers. The world would make a beaten-path to his door.

People and society whose lives he has touched are beginning to look back in gratefulness.

It is partly for this reason and everything else that the Board of Governors and Trustees of Wisconsin International University, USA, has decided to confer on him, the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership, honoris causa, today. It is a richly deserved honour for someone who has made his mark as a thoroughbred professional and as a man of means.

To some people, after a rewarding career in the private sector, this great honour would be the crowning glory of a life in full. But Chief Obiano’s incredible energy and pursuit of excellence will most likely not allow him any long lasting feeling of fulfilment. It is almost certain thatAkpokuedikeAguleri will always find a newer and more challenging territory to tame and bring under his firm hands. Only time will tell.

•Mr. James Eze wrote from Lagos

READER’S VIEW

NAFDAC’s new anti-counterfeiting strategies

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HE menace of counterfeit and substandard drugs is no doubt one that has been on the front burner of national discourse as far as the safety of the health of Nigerians is concerned.

This led to the setting up of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) by the Federal Government in 1993 with a clear mandate of safeguarding the health of the nation through the provision of effective regulation of the food, drug and chemical sector of the economy. While NAFDAC’s mandate covers the food and chemical industry, it is the drug market that draws the most attention, no doubt because of the pivotal role the sector plays in the health of the nation and because of the lucrativeness of the sector which makes it attractive to unscrupulous counterfeiters out to profit at the expense of the safety of Nigerians.

Over the years, successive Directors-General of the Agency have come up with different strategies to curb the menace of fake drugs and each in his or her own way has helped to significantly address the problems working together with officers of the Agency. According to studies conducted by NAFDAC from 2001 to 2012, there is a positive trend in the progressive decline in the incidence of counterfeit medicines in Nigeria. In 2001, counterfeits stood at 40% due largely to the indefatigable effort of the NAFDAC team under the then Director-General, Prof. Dora Akunyuli, this was reduced to 16.7% in 2005. Shortly before she left the agency, however, there were threats of resurgence of the incidence as counterfeiters too have not rested and have also continued to come up with novel ways of evading detection

by NAFDAC and other law enforcement agencies. A study carried out in 2008 shortly before the arrival of the current Director-General of the agency, Dr. Paul Orhii, on the Quality of AntiMalarials in Sub-Saharan Africa (QAMSA) puts the incidence of the faking of anti-malarial drugs at 64%, which led the new DG declaring a zero tolerance war on counterfeits shortly after assuming office.

In the past, a common strategy adopted by NAFDAC is the use of NAFDAC registration number on packages to be able to detect fake drugs.

But drug counterfeiters taking, advantage of the growing access and sophistication in printing technology now manufacture fake drugs affixed with fake NAFDAC registration number and package them in such a way that they closely resemble the

Durojaiye OLUMUYIWA original registered by NAFDAC, thereby circumventing the checks put in place by the Agency.

It is in realization of this fact that the current administration of Dr. Paul Orhii came up with a strategy that is not just only effective but one that is also guaranteed to place the agency many steps ahead of the counterfeiters in such a way that every of their move is anticipated, checked and thwarted by the agency. One such strategy is the introduction of cutting-edge technology by Dr. Orhii that has provided a more profound method of detecting counterfeits on the spot. Technology like the TRUSCAN machine, for example, have been deployed by the agency at the ports and entry points of the nation to carry out on the-spotcheck of drugs before they are cleared into the country. The Agency’s officers have also gone to the 36 states of the federation and the FCT with the TRUSCAN machine, paying unscheduled visits to medicine outlets to fish out counterfeit drugs and destroy them. NAFDAC, as the first medicine regulatory agency in the world ever to deploy the technology and its effectiveness in curbing the menace of fake drugs has not only drawn the attention of international medicine regulatory agencies, but has also made the agency’s DG, Dr. Orhii the toast of the moment among foreign governments and in the industry.

Other technologies deployed by the agency to fight counterfeiters are the text messaging system (Mobile Authentication System) that puts the power of drug detection into the hands of the consumers who can send a direct message using the code on the drug they are about to purchase to verify whether it is genuine or fake. There are also other additional technologies like the black eye and the Radio Frequency System technology introduced by the agency to help in the detection of fake drugs.

The result speak for itself: three and a half years after Dr. Orhii came on board, the incidence of counterfeiting has been reduced drastically by the Agency. A national survey on quality of medicines using TRUSCAN device was conducted by NAFDAC across the 36 states and the FCT between January 2010 and April 2012. The result of the survey showed that the incidence of counterfeiting has been reduced to 6.4%. Another survey on the quality of medicines was conducted in Lagos

•Paul Orhii State in May, 2012, using the TRUSCAN device.

Tests carried out on medicines comprising antimalarial, anti-biotics, anti-diabetes and antiinflammatories showed that counterfeiting was at 3.8% in the state which is significantly less than the national average. Lagos is less than the national average in this regard because of the emphasis placed by NAFDAC on the state as it is the main transmitting line to the nation. In addition, the agency’s enforcement directorate is domiciled in Lagos, a factor which has increased the level of surveillance, the level of awareness and enforcement efforts.

These results in so short a period has drawn the attention of regulatory agencies in Kenya and Sierra Leone who have sent people to study NAFDAC’s success in the use of cutting-edge technologies. Dr. Orhii has been invited three times by the Council of Foreign Relations in America to explain how NAFDAC is winning the war using cutting-edge technology. Interestingly, part of the DG’s lecture was used by the Council of Foreign Relations in its report to President Obama which also formed part of the US President’s submission at the G8 Summit in May this year.

Another strategy introduced by NAFDAC is the WHO-Pre-qualification pursued by the agency

for Nigerian pharmaceutical companies. This is a paradigm shift introduced by Dr. Orhii who felt that it is just not enough condemning China and India for the importation of fake drugs into the country, but for national security reasons also, Nigeria must increase its self-sufficiency in the availability of drugs. This new approach signals NAFDAC’s shift from just merely acting the policeman, to an agency that is a catalyst for national development. NAFDAC hopes through the granting of WHO-Pre-qualification to Nigerian pharmaceutical companies to increase the acceptability of Nigerian drug exports abroad so as to increase their revenue generating capacity and provide prospects for the employment of researchers, laboratory technologists etc by the industry to drive the development of the industry at home.

So far, WHO has visited Nigeria three times and six pharmaceutical companies have the prospects of getting WHO-Pre-qualification for some of their products.

To further increase the chances of as many pharmaceutical companies as possible to meet the requirement of WHO for Prequalification, NAFDAC has been at the forefront of pushing for a 200 billion naira intervention fund for the pharmaceutical industry that would enable the industry to put in place all the needed infrastructure that would help them meet the best global standards. All these are further predicated on the need to enable Nigerian pharmaceutical companies to meet local demands for quality drugs which in the long run will help to effectively eradicate counterfeit drugs imported into the country.

Knowing full well that the fight against fake drugs cannot be left for one person alone to wage, Dr. Orhii had, when coming on board as NAFDAC DG, solicited the support of Nigerians in winning the war against fake drugs. Thus, the agency’s doors are open to those who have ideas to contribute that would help in the successful eradication of the incidence of fake drugs in the country. NAFDAC, under Dr. Orhii, is not only keen on eradicating fake drugs, but is also keen on taking the agency to a higher level, making it not only the foremost regulatory agency in Africa, but also one to be reckoned with in the world.

As the counterfeiters are striving hard, NAFDAC is also striving harder to get ahead of them.

•Durojaiye Olumuyiwa is a Public Affairs Analyst

NEWS 57

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Fresh killings at UNIPORT’s host community B

ARELY two weeks after four undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) were murdered at OmuokiriAluu, three persons including another student of the institution have been shot dead at Choba, one of the university’s host communities.

Also killed in the Thursday night incident were the student’s girlfriend and a young man who had just completed his national service in Port Harcourt.

There is uneasy calm in UNIPORT’s host communities, especially OmuokiriAluu, Ikwerre Local Govern-

•Student, two others shot by SUV-driving gunmen •Uneasy calm over threats of another attack Bisi OLANIYI, Port Harcourt

ment Area, Rivers State, over threats of reprisals by kinsmen of the four students who were lynched on October 5.

The three latest victims were shot at close range at about 10 pm on Thursday by unknown gunmen driving a sport utility vehicle (SUV).

The names of the victims were unavailable at press time.

It was learnt that the deceased persons had gone out for a drink to celebrate the passing out of the NYSC member , but on their way back rammed

into a shop with their car.

It was gathered that the owner of the shop accosted the occupants of the car.

An argument soon ensued between the two parties and in a matter of minutes, the gunmen arrived the scene and opened fire on the trio.

They then zoomed off without taking anything from their victims.

The Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command, Mr. Ben Ugwuegbulam, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP),

confirmed the incident, but said he had no details.

The Deputy Registrar (Information) of the university, Dr. Williams Wodi, in a telephone interview yesterday said: “After the protest of October 8, UNIPORT was shut on October 9. I am not in a position to comment on students who ought to be in their parents’ homes. We are awaiting police reaction.”

Meanwhile,OmuokiriAluu where four students of UNIPORT were murdered on October 5, is tensed following

alleged threats by kinsmen of the murdered students to attack the community.

The victims, Biringa Chiadika Lordson (20), Year Two, Theatre Arts, U2010/ 1805036; Ugonna Kelechi Obuzor (18), Year Two, Geology, U2010/5565149; Mike Lloyd Toku (19), Year Two, Civil Engineering, U2010/ 3010094 and Tekena Erikena (20), a Certificate student in the Faculty of Education, were lynched for allegedly stealing mobile phones and laptops.

Spokesman for the um-

brella organisation of Aluu Clan, the Ogbakor Aluu, Mr. Garshon Benson, said the threats to attack OmuokiriAluu were real.

Benson urged security agencies to be alive to their responsibilities, with a view to preventing further destruction of lives and property.

Two of the lynched students hailed from Okrika in Rivers State.

The murder sparked a massive protest at Choba Junction on the East-West Road on October 9.

Joint military/police operation smashes suspected terrorist group in Gombe

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JOINT military and police operation in the early hours of yesterday smashed a criminal gang in Gombe, arresting 88 per-

VP inaugurates committee on Dicon

Vincent OHONBAMU, Gombe sons suspected to be terrorists.

Briefing newsmen on the breakthrough, the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Iyanda Sule, said he was called by the Commandant of 301 Artillery in the state capital, Col

Joseph Iwara, around 04:30 am to provide men for joint raids of Anguwan-Uku at Arawa area of the metropolis.

He said they immediately responded to the operation that led to the arrest of a group of 88 notorious criminals.

Items recovered from them

include three AK 47 rifles, one Barreta pistol, eight magazines, one boot of AK 47 rifle, 163 live ammunition and 24 GSM phones.

Other items later recovered at the scene included the butt of a military rifle, 34 improvised explosive device (IED)

chargers and two Sambwa water used for producing IEDs. The commissioner said the items later discovered indicated that the group was probably a terrorist group, adding that they were still investigating the development.

He appealed to the people

Vincent IKUOMOLA, Abuja

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ICE President, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, yesterday inaugurated the Presidential Committee on Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON).

The committee’s main responsibility is to look into the structure, operations and activities of DICON with particular reference to its effect on military procurement and production of military equipment in Nigeria.

Inaugurating the committee the Vice President said the defence industry is necessary for “the development of national capacity for defence hardware and other facilities.”

Sambo expressed optimism that “with the calibre of people the Committee would properly execute its assignment to bring the result that would meet the expectation of the country’s national development objectives and to transform the Defence Industry in Nigeria to a higher level”.

The terms of reference of the Committee are: to review the DICON Act to position it to effectively carry out its regulatory functions to ensure compliance with guidelines in the procurement in the country; to determine ways to encourage private sector participation not just in the activities of DICON but also in the production of military equipment; to propose a sustainable funding framework to enhance the development of defence equipment in Nigeria; to determine ways to encourage patronage of foreign countries; to consider or otherwise the establishment of training institute. The Committee has four weeks to complete its assignment.

Those in the Committee are: the Attorney-Genera of the Federation and Minister of Justice; the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance; Ministers of Works; Interior; Trade and Investment; Defence; National Planning; Police Affairs; Aviation; Transport; Science and Technology; Others are DG, DICON; DG, Bureau of Public Procurement; DG, Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission; Commandant, NDA; Rep of National Security Adviser; Reps of all Service Chiefs; Rep of Inspector General of Police; Secretary to the Government of the Federation serves as the Secretariat.

•President Goodluck Jonathan (left) with the leader of the coup of 22nd March 2012 in Mali, Capt.

Ahmadou Aya Sanogo, after a meeting in Bamako on Friday.

Police invade Capital Oil boss’ house, recover documents, posh cars

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LAIN clothe detectives from the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Milverton, Ikoyi, Lagos on Wednesday stormed the Omole Phase 2 residence of detained Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, Dr. Ifeanyi Uba. The team led by one Supol Soji was said to have taken away some documents and three posh cars belonging to the oil magnate.

It was not immediately clear on whose order the team acted, as sources familiar with the investigation wondered what could have led to the invasion and confiscation of the property of the detainee, who has been in the custody of the SFU since October 9.

According to the sources, all documents relating to the transactions under scrutiny had since been submitted to the police and nothing was withheld by Uba. The invasion and seizure of his posh cars, they said, were unwarranted.

Uba and some management staff of the company were detained after they honoured an invitation extended to the company by the police at SFU. Their continued detention

Emeka UGWUANYI prompted them to approach a Federal High Court in Lagos to enforce their fundamental rights.

The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, after hearing the arguments of Uba's lawyer, Joseph Nwobike, SAN, and the lawyer to the SFU, Godwin Obla, has fixed ruling on the application for Monday, October 22.

Mr. Soro Nwoko, a lawyer, said the policemen who carried out the operation must have had an ulterior motive and urged the

Inspector General, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, to order investigation into the illegal act.

He said, given that the accused persons had been in the custody of the police for about 11 days and a suit challenging their continued detention was currently before a competent court of law, invading his house and confiscating his property when the court had not given an order to that effect amounted to an affront on the judiciary and a further violation of the fundamental rights of the detainees, who should be deemed inno-

cent, having not been pronounced guilty by any court of law.

"On whose order did the police confiscate his cars? Is it on the orders of the Inspector-General or the commissioner in charge of the SFU? This is uncalled for because the value of those cars is nothing to compare with the amount under investigation. I can tell you there is more to that and Police authorities should call the officers to order because this is becoming a humiliation," Nwoko said.

of Gombe State to remain calm as the Command was doing everything possible to safeguard their lives and property.

He also urged the people to to trust the police and other security agencies by giving useful information that would lead to the arrest of criminals with the aim of making the entire state crime-free

Nigerian embassy in Germany attacked THE Nigerian Embassy in Berlin was attacked with paint bombs by unknown persons on Wednesday night, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

A police spokesman said that unknown attackers threw glass bottles filled with a thick and sticky liquid at the front of the building in Neue Jakobstraße, (The name of the street where the embassy is situated).

The spokesman said the police had handed over the investigation of the incident to state security authorities, adding that political motive may not be ruled out in the attack.

The police said security workers noticed the damage to the building on Thursday morning.

The spokesman said that on Monday, 120 activists, members of the “Refugee Protest March in Berlin campaign” gathered in front of the Nigerian Embassy to demonstrate against the practice of deporting asylum seekers from Germany.

According to him, 14 of the activists illegally entered to the embassy, in order to “occupy’’ it as part of the protest march.

He explained that those who entered the premises were later ejected by security officials while 25 of the protesters were temporarily detained and later released.

The spokesman stated that the demonstrators accused the embassy workers of “working closely with the German state to ensure that the processing of the largest number of deportations from Africa came from Nigeria.”

EFCC traces retiree’s N16m loot to secret account in Bermuda Island

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HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday said it had seized about N16.068 million traced to a secret account of a retired public officer.

But the commission refused to disclose the identity of the said officer.

A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the commission, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the looted money was seized in Bermuda Island.

The statement said: “The EFCC has traced and taken pos-

Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation session of US$103,762.00 invested in Bermuda Island by a retired Nigerian public officer.

The taking over of the asset owned by the public officer, who is being prosecuted by the EFCC at a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, followed a court order granted by an FCT High Court on October 17, 2012.

“Bermuda Island is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the North Atlantic Ocean, located off the East Coast of the United States . It is situated

around 1,770 km (1,100 mi) Northeast of Miami, Florida.

“EFCC’s action is in compliance with Section 6(e) of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004, which empowers the Commission to adopt measures to identify, trace, freeze, confiscate or seize proceeds derived from terrorist activities, economic and financial crimes related offences or properties whose values correspond to such proceeds.

“The commission is hereby advising all citizens that there is no hiding place for any Nigerian who may want to courier the proceed of illicit wealth to

foreign lands as the Commission, working with relevant intelligence units, has the capacity to trace and seize such proceeds.

“Among the three prayers granted the EFCC by the court is ‘An order freezing the said sum of $103,762.00, being the property of the Accused/Respondent held in an Investment Vehicle in Bermuda, with an initial deposit of $100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Dollars, a partial redemption of which the Accused/Respondent has requested for’ “

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

58 NEWS

Chinese, three soldiers, eight others killed in Maiduguri

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T WAS another bloody day for residents of Maiduguri, yesterday, with the killing a Chinese construction worker, three soldiers and eight others by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.

It was gathered that the Chinese was shot by suspected Boko Haram members at his company’s construction site.

He later died at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), where he rushed to for treatment after

House committee on works condemns quality of road project in Kebbi

Michael OLUGBODE, Maiduguri the shooting.

There was pandemonium in the town as the story of killing spread, sparking off fears among the Chinese community in the town.

At the Lagos Street axis of the town, where the Chinese was killed, two other people were allegedly killed by soldiers in the milieu that followed. Several houses were allegedly set ablaze, forcing the residents to flee the area.

Three soldiers were also said to have lost their lives when the terrorists attacked a military checkpoint in the town.

In other parts of the town, no fewer than eight people, including a pharmacist, automobile technician and some traders were killed by suspected members of the sect.

The pharmacist was killed at Old Maiduguri, while five people were slaughtered at Bayan quarters. Two others were killed at the Abbaganaram area in the morning of Friday.

Many Mosques in the town remained shut for the better part of the day, as men of the JTF confronted members of the sect in a gun battle that lasted for several hours, leaving the people scampering for safety.

The major areas where the battle took place were the Hausari ward, Budum and Makera, where soldiers engaged members of the sect in gun duel.

A pickup van belonging to one of the security services was seen burnt beyond recog-

nition at the Makera area of the town.

As at the time of filing this report last night, the number of the dead could not be ascertained, as many areas were cordoned off by soldiers.

The major markets in the town, namely Baga, Gamboru and Monday markets, were forced to close early.

The Military has refuse to speak on the killings as the Spokesman of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa lines were switch off.

Khadijat SAIDU, Birnin Kebbi

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HE House Committee on Works has condemned the quality and low pace of work on the 60Km road in Jega and Koko Local Government Areas of Kebbi State. The committee was led by the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Works Hon. (Engr.)

Mohammad Ali Wudid.

Hon Wudid, who made the remark while inspecting the rehabilitation of the road contract awarded to PAETOS Ltd, at the cost of N996 Million, and billed to be completed in January, 2013, said that he was not satisfied with the quality and level of work done by the contractor.

The committee went on to direct the Kebbi State government, through the Ministry of Works, to monitor the contractor and report any irregularity to the House of Representatives for appropriate action.

“We are going to come back here before the expiration of the lifespan of this contract, and if nothing better is done, we will invite the Hon. Minister of Works to explain to us the reason behind the delay. We are carrying out this oversight function without fear or favour,” he added.

Hon. Engr. Mudid explained that the rehabilitation of the 60Km road was a palliative measure to save Nigerians from the frequent road accidents as a result of the deplorable condition of the road.

He announced that the main contract for the reconstruction of the road was in the pipeline as the Federal Government is gearing towards the total reconstruction of the road, and maintained that the House of Representatives was solidly behind the take off of the project.

In his reaction, the member, House Committee on Works, representing Argungu Federal Constituency, Hon. Garba Musa Gulma, charged the people of Kebbi to mobilize to ensure that the contractor handling the rehabilitation work adheres strictly to specifications and contract period.

He expressed dissatisfaction with the level of work done so far, and warned the contractor to hasten up and complete the rehabilitation work before the total reconstruction work would commence.

•Relief materials for Anambra flood victims

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Flood sacks Bayelsa monarch from palace

HE palace of one of the oldest monarchs in Nigeria has been submerged by the ravaging flood in Bayelsa State.

The palace of King W.S Joshua Igbugburu X (JP) CON, Ibenanawei of Bomo Kingdom in Ekowe community in the Southern Ijaw area, who is also the pioneer Chairman Bayelsa State Council of traditional rulers, was submerged, including other communities in the monarch’s kingdom.

The submerged communities include Diebu Opuama, Polobubou, Nagiama, Peremabiri, Ofonibiri, Eniwari, Emete, Igbomotoru 1&2, Ozezebiri and others.

Taking journalists round the affected riverine communises,

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Isaac OMBE,Yenagoa King Igbugburu lamented that his palace which was built in the 1950s when he came on board has been submerged by the ravaging flood and himself rendered homeless.

“During A!my visit to all the communities in my domain, I discovered that many people and houses, including my palace have been submerged by the flood and we have been rendered homeless, with no shelter or food.”

“I appeal to the operators of relief materials, chairmen of local government councils, committees and other leaders to think of the masses first so

as to project the good gesture of President Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson,” added the King.

In a similar development, the state government says the state is looking beyond the after effects of the flood.

Rear Admiral Gbaribiogha John Jonah, the Deputy Governor of the state who gave the hint when he received over three trucks of relief materials donated by the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Yenagoa Thursday noted that what is worrisome to the state government is how the current disaster will be managed after the flood.

“Managing disaster after the flood is important”, noted the

worried Deputy Governor who reminded the management of the multinational oil Company to be prepared to accommodate a plethora of demands frits host Communities after the flood.

He further lamented that over one third of Yenagoa the state capital was affected by the flood in spite of the massive drainage and sand filling that had taken place.

While lauding the large number of relief materials donated to cushion the effects of the flood, the deputy governor, who is also the chairman of the state committee on relief management and distribution noted that as partners, the state will continue to seek for assistance from NAOC.

Herdsmen kill 10 in Nasarawa

HE killings in part of the north have continued with the killing of ten people in Angwan Alaku, near Kadarko, Nasarawa State, by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

The attack, which left several people injured, also claimed the life of a little child, who allegedly drowned while fleeing the fighting.

When contacted, the Police PPRO, Nicholas Ocholi, confirmed the incident, could not confirm the number of the

Johnny DANJUMA, Lafia

dead, and that conflicting figures were being given by the people.

As at the time of filing this report yesterday, bodies of those killed were brought to the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, in military vehicle.

Those who spoke on the killings said the victims were busy processing garri when

the suspected herdsmen swooped on them.

Peaking with The Nation, the youth leader in the area, Ayuba Peter, said the corpses of the victims were recovered from the surrounding bushes by the villagers the day after the killings took place.

Peter, who decried the killings, however, wondered what could be responsible for the killings, as, according to him, “the Eggo and the Fulani people are not known to have

had any misunderstanding.”

Efforts by the governments of Benue and Nasarawa States to bring the warring sides to a roundtable have not yielded any positive result, as fighting has continued unabated.

A community leader who spoke on the fighting at a displaced people camp in Kadarko, called on the Nasarawa State government to immediately wade into the crises and “proffer solutions before it snowballs into another war.”

Protesters storm Abuja over impeachment of Kogi Speaker

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HE last may not have been heard of the controversial impeachment of the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello, as his supporters stormed Abuja, yesterday, asking for his reinstatement.

The protesters, numbering over 200, under the auspices of “Kogi sons and daughters in Abuja “marched to the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice, located at the Central Business District (CDB) chanting solidarity songs and denouncing the action.

They carried banners bearing

...as Conference of Speakers wade in Sanni ONOGU, Abuja different messages, some of which read: “Kogi sons and daughters in Abuja: We say no to cash/carry legislators. No to Wuruwuru impeachment.”, “Wada is our problem. Ibro is our major problem.”

The protest was led by the Anti-Corruption Network, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) based in Abuja.

Executive Secretary of the Network, Hon Dino Melaye, said it was high time the At-

torney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, call the perpetrators of the “lawlessness” in Kogi to order.”

The former House of Representatives member gave the AGF a 72-hour ultimatum to condemn the illegal action publicly as the chief law officer of the Federation.

He said Adoke’s condemnation has become necessary to prevent a national disgrace and a dangerous precedent, and

vowed that angry Nigerians would have no choice but to occupy Adoke’s office if he fails to speak before the expiration of the ultimatum.

The Chief Security Officer of the Ministry of Justice, who simply identified himself as Mr. Y. Abdullahi, received the Network’s petition on behalf of Adoke.

According to a copy of the petition made available to The Nation, the group said it was unconstitutional for a Speaker to be impeached without the constitutionally required twothird majority of the House.

Flood: Delta lawmaker seeks supplementary budget Polycarp OROSEVWOTU, Warri

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EMBER representing Delta Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Pius Akpo Ewherido, at the weekend advocated for supplementary budget by the Federal Government to cushion the effect of the displaced flood victims across the country.

He has also charged the Federal Government to act swiftly by involving the para-military and the military by a way of evacuating the victims that are trapped by the ravaging flood, saying that this is the most critical time that the services of the navy are most needed to avert issues of casualties.

Ewherido, in a statement at Okwagbe community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, while donating food items to flood victims, said the Federal Government has tried, but there was more to be done, saying that what the Federal Government had released was not commensurate with the current problem faced by the flood victims.

Kidnapped Calabar kids regain freedom •Family pays N1m ransom Nicholas KALU

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OUR days after two pupils were abducted by masked gun at Esuk Otu Street of Murtala Mohammed Highway in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, the children have re-united with their family. The children were released yesterday after the family paid a one million naira ransom.

The children, Emmanuel, 10 and Agbo, four were abducted on Tuesday morning while their mother, Mrs. Juliet Eko James was taking them to school.

The kidnappers had been keeping in touch with the children’s father, Johnson Eko James, through their mother’s phone which they seized.

According to the family, yesterday morning, the kidnappers called to demand for 10 million naira. The father pleaded with them that he had raised only one million naira. They threatened him that if he did not raise the amount, they were going to kill the children. The family said they begged the kidnappers and after much pleading, the finally agreed to the one million naira that the fathered raised.

The kidnappers later called to give instruction on how to bring the money to them.

The father was instructed to go to a place, Okomita, in Akamkpa council area close to Biase and leave the money and they warned the family against informing the police.

After the money was dropped, the kidnappers called children’s father and asked him to go back to Calabar, that the children had been dropped at the Specilaist Hospital, along the highway. That was where the children were later picked up.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Ekweremadu, Ihedioha, Anyim others for South East Economic Summit

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EPUTY Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and his House of Representatives counterpart, Emeka Ihedioha would be the high profile members of the National Assembly from the South East who would grace the South East Economic Summit.

The chairman of the Central Planning Committee, Chief Chris Obiefuna told reporters that the two leaders of the National Assembly have confirmed their participation in the summit which comes up November 7 to 9th.

Expected also is the Secretary to the Federal Government, Anyim Pius Anyim and all the governors of the South East zone.

The summit is the diligent initiative of the organized private sector in the South East led by the South East Chambers of Commerce Forum and strongly supported by the governments of the South East.

Ekweremadu will chair the Political Agenda session during the grand finale which would feature Ihedioha and Senator Uche Chukwumerije as lead panelists to discuss the future of Ndigbo in Nigeria.

Others who have confirmed their participation in the summit include the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu; former

Chris OJI, Enugu Economic Asdviser to the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof. Osita Ogbu; former chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group.

Mazi Sam Ohuabuanwa and MD/CEO of ABC transport, Mr. Frank Nneji.

Also confirming their participation are CEO of Juhel Group, Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye; Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi; Director-General of Raw Materials Research and Development Council and CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Engr. Gerald Ilukwe.

This year’s summit would dwell mainly on agriculture and infrastructure in the South East zone with specialists and experts in various fields delivering lectures.

The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina would present the lead paper, “Re-building Agriculture”.

A paper on infrastructure would be delivered by the DG, Lagos State PPP office, Ayo Gbeleyi as well as that of Chidi Izuwah, ED, PPP Resource Centre, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, the Presidency, Abuja.

Obiefuna said with the wave of confirmations of participation and the unique packaging, the 2012

Remodelled terminal of Lagos airport for commissioning

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HE newly remodelled General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, will be commissioned in Lagos on Monday, October 22, 2012 by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.

It will be the first terminal to be commissioned, among the 11 airports that are currently undergoing remodelling under the first phase of the Airport Remodelling Project.

According to the General Manager Corporate Services, of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Yakubu Dati, the new terminal occupies a total floor area of about 4000 square metres, with maximum passenger capacity of about 400, at peak periods.

Dati explained that the departures and arrivals lounges have been increased to about 829 square metres and 982 square metres, respectively while the check-in-area occupies an area of about 1550 square metres. The increase will make passenger facilitation and cargo processing faster and easier.

He said the story of the terminal began in November, 2011, when the old terminal building that was built in the 1950s was demolished. The new terminal underwent a total reconstruction from the foundation and the resulting edifice is a testimony to the resilience and determination towards

Kelvin OKUNBOR turning around the aviation sector.

It would be recalled that on assumption of office as the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, promised to transform the aviation industry, in line with the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government.

The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. George Uriese has pursued these goals and translated the vision to concrete reality under the direction of the Minister.

Recently, the Minister led an international road show which has attracted tremendous support from the international investors.

Already an MoU has been signed between the governments of Nigeria and China for the construction of five new airport terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port-Harcourt and Enugu.

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edition of the summit promises to eclipse the highly successful 2011 summit which was attended by over

1000 participants.

“It will also fulfill the critical objective of providing the long overdue platform

for bringing together the best, the great and the celebrated people of the South East in an efforts to chart a

•Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, presenting protective eye glasses to beneficiaries of the Free Eye Surgical Expedition project jointly sponsored by the State Government, Indo Eye Care Foundation, India and Rotary Club, Palm Groove, Lagos, at the State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta, at the weekend.

Flood kills mother, daughter as boat capsizes in Anambra flood community

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HE people of Umudara village, Ihite, Ihiala community in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State are still in grieve over the death of Mrs. Afugwobi and her daughter, Edith, who were drowned in the flooded community when they went to harvest their cassava.

The incident happened at the farmland as Mrs. Afugwobi and her daughter, Edith, an SSIII student of First Foundation Secondary School, Ihiala became major victims of the flooded communities in Anambra State.

The local canoe capsized, resulting in the death of the victims.

Eyewitness said the deceased were returning after harvesting some of the cassava when their boat capsized and they fell into the

Odogwu EMEKA Odogwu, Nnewi water and were unable to swim to safety. Probably, the load of the cassava fell on them.

Proprietor of First Foundation Secondary School, Ihiala, Mr. Nduka Onyemueze, said the community, especially those at the riverine areas have been complaining of negelect.

Mr. Onyemueze further lamented that the recent devastating effects of the flood which he said, apart from resulting in the death of his student and her mother whom he described as very brilliant has also resulted in an untold hardship in the community.

“It pains us that the state and Federal Government and even individuals have

forgotten everything about us. They forgot that Ihiala, especially the food producing villages comprising Umudara, Umuduru, Umuezeawala, Umuedike and Amaduru have been seriously submerged and no help has come from anywhere.

Apart from the recent devastation and injuries caused by the flood when it took the lives of mother and daughter who unfortunately was my student, we have been faced with challenges of confronting the invasion of water animals, like dangerous snakes and other reptiles,” he said.

The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ralph Uzoigwe said he was yet to be furnished with details of the death of the woman and her daughter.

Man arranged for murder of Ekiti varsity student

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35-year-old man, Tope Longe, was on yesterday arraigned before an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court for allegedly killing one Yusuf Abiola, a student of the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti.

According to reports, the accused, residing at No. 3 Olora Estate, Adebayo Road, Ado-Ekiti drove dangerously and caused the death of Abiola by knocking him down.

The prosecutor, Sgt.Caleb Leramo, told the court that Longe drove a Honda

Accord car and commit the alleged crime.

Leramo said the accused committed the offence on September 26, at about 7:30 p.m. at Osekita Estate via Ekiti State University (EKSU) at Iworoko area of Ado-Ekiti, in the Ado-Ekiti Magisterial district.

The prosecutor stated further that the offence was contrary to and punishable under section 18 of the Road Traffic Act of the Federation.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the onecount-charge.

The defense counsel, Mr

Ayedun Olufemi, prayed the court to grant bail to his client, promising that the accused would make himself available throughout the trial.

However, the prosecutor sought an adjournment of the case for him to be properly briefed.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Richard Adegboye, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N100,000 and two substantial sureties, one of whom must be a civil servant.

He adjourned the case till November 5 for mention.

Failed contract: EFCC quizzes Anambra monarch

five-man team of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday stormed Ikenga community in Aguata Local Government Area to interrogate the traditional ruler of the palace Igwe Ezeobi Onweneme over failed contract.

The contract worth six million, five hundred thousand naira (N6.5m) was to build a community-based water scheme which involved the drilling of boreholes in the community. Following the non-execution of the project which was facilitated in 2010 by Senator Ikechukwu Obiora, which was allegedly hijacked by the monarch,

new roadmap for the economic and political resurgence of the zone,” said Obiefuna.

Nwanosike ONU, Awka the community petitioned the graft agency.

The community leaders comprising the President-General, Oliver Ebom, his vice, Ifeanyi Ewelu and the Secretary-General, Eugene Okoli, alleged that the monarch diverted the contract sum.

According to the letter, “we most humbly urge the Commission to investigate this act of fraud committed against Ikenga community and bring the culprit to justice.”

However, when the EFCC members invaded the community yesterday at about 11.20am, the

monarch, who The Nation gathered was jittery, told the team that he was not the contractor of the project. The contracting firm that handled the project was SIMIDIA S and I International Limited.

Though the monarch was not picked by the EFCC, members of the anti-graft agency were totally disappointed that what the contract money was used for was renovation of a small market in the village.

EFCC, The Nation also gathered questioned the PresidentGeneral of the community, Oliver Ebom and some other community leaders during the visit.

The Nation gathered yesterday

that the anti-graft agency may invite the leaders of the community again to its office that may culminate in the arrest of the traditional ruler any moment soon.

But before now, the monarch had reportedly written a letter to the Minister, Federal Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, confirming that the project had been executed.

He also commended the Federal Government and the ministry for making it possible for the renovation of their market through Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adding that the community was only waiting for the commissioning.

33 drown as bus plunges into river in Ogun Ernest NWOKOLO, Abeokuta O fewer than 33 persons were feared dead by drowning yesterday when a coaster bus loaded with passengers veered-off a bridge and plunged into a river at J4, Ogbere-Ijebu stretch of the SAgamu-Ore expressway, The Nation gathered.

The long mediumrange luxury bus was yet to be found as it was and swept away by the tide. But there were three lucky survivors including a pregnant woman who was found hanging on atree branches, the Unit Commander, Ijebu-Ode Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC), Mr Seidu Isah Osilama, said.

Osilama said the FRSC operatives arrived at the scene of the accident a few minutes after the accident occurred and they were able to rescue the three survivors because they fell off the bus and landed on a tree.

He said rescue effort would require crane and divers to ascertain the location of the bus and the passengers inside the water.

According to him, no one knew the exact numbers of passengers in the bus or the casualty figure as they were still buried in the water.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

Why I’m quiting

—Open letter to Ojukwu by ex-Biafra’s US PR aide Robert S. Goldstein, Public Relations Representative of Biafra in the United States, sent this open letter of resignation to his boss then, the Biafran’ warlord, Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. It was first published in the Morning Post, Lagos, August 17, 1968.

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S your Public Relation’s Representative in the United States, it is my distasteful duty to tender my resignation based on the following points: POINT 1 - In November of 1967 when we met in Umuahia, you and your cabinet were very impressive. You told me of the woes of your little Republic, that thousands of people had died, were dying and more were prepared to die for freedom’s sake.

You and your cabinet told me you believed that world opinion would help your cause if you could get your story across.

You expressed the opinion that very few if any people in the United States knew of the plight of the Biafrans.

You asked me to tell the world that Britain had teamed up with Russia in a conspiracy with the Federal Government of Nigeria to murder every Ibo in Biafra. You suggested I use my talent to induce the Press to write about the Biafran side of the war, as at that time all news came out of Lagos.

You will recall that I did not take the assignment that day but stayed on several days before deciding to take that job to help win the peace.

At that time I stated to you and your cabinet that I was taking the assignment making it crystal clear I would try my best to help win the peace not the war.

POINT TWO - I immediately arranged the first world press conference in Biafra inviting the US Press as well as journalists and television people from England, France, Switzerland, Africa and other parts of the globe. This was the first news break through.

I arranged regular trips into Biafra for the world Press, helped set up stringers, etc., so that your statements and the statements of your cabinet would be heard.

At that time, I was absolutely positive you were right and your cause was a just one in the best interests of the free world and your countrymen.

POINT THREE - Finally the Republic of Biafra was recognised first by Tanzania, then quickly followed by Gabon, the Ivory Coast and Zambia. Our public relations work was paying off, world opinion was starting to side with us.

Peace talks were arranged at Kampala. I thought that if anyone walked away from the table it would be the Federal Government. But to my dismay it was Biafra that left the conference. After all the fighting and killing, I knew that peace would not come easy but I could not understand leaving the peace conference until the last point was negotiated and the avenue explored.

POINT FOUR - Then urgent telex messages were received from ‘Biafra’ telling of tens of thousands of people starving in the refugee camps, the villages, the bush country - stating if something weren’t done in the next few months over a million women, children and aged would be starved to death.

I immediately contacted the press, urgently petitioned the State Department for action on their part. Food, medicine and milk were sent to the only available ports open for immediate shipment to ‘Biafra’ via land routes through Federal and Biafra territory, under the auspices of world organisations such as the International Red Cross among others.

Then came the incredible answer from ‘Biafra’ that land corridors could not be acceptable until there was a complete ceasefire, and that an airlift was the only solution to feed the starving.

You then appeared before the various Heads of State and representatives of the OAU at Niamey in Niger. I fully expected you to at least accept the world help that was offered your starving throngs. However,

•The late Ojukwu you delayed, hoping to use these unfortunates with world sympathy on their side as a tool to further your ambition to achieve war concessions at the upcoming peace talks in Addis Ababa. Thus innocent victims continue to perish needlessly of starvation, the most agonising death that can befall any living creature.

POINT FIVE - This was incredible to me. I am now convinced that I have been used by you and your cabinet to help in military adventures of your origin....using your starving hordes as hostages to negotiate a victory.

If at some later date, following the isuance of this letter, you do concede to allow a mercy land corridor...would you expect me to agree to espouse before the world press the incredible delay of your decision? What explanation could I honestly give for the needless prolongation of this horror?

Inconceivable acts I pray this communication may in some small way influence you to move affirmatively, allowing the mercy land corridor to be born.

It is inconceivable to me that you would stop the feeding of thousands of your countrymen (under auspicies of world organizations such as the International Red Cross, World Council of Churches and many more) via a land corridor which is the only practical way to bring in food to help at this time. It is inconcivable to me that men of good faith would try to twist world opinion in such a manner as to deceive people into believing that the starvation and hunger that is consuming ‘Biafra’ is a plot of Britian, Nigeria and others to commit genocide.

POINT SIX - I cannot in all conscience serve you any longer. Nor can I be a party to suppressing the fact that your starving thousands have the food, medicine and milk available to them.....it can and is ready to be delivered through international organisations to you. Only your constant refusal has stopped its delivery.

I am this date, tendering my resignation and am returning to Mr. Collins Obih of the African Continental Bank all the fees you have given me (Letter of Credit No. 354 $400,000 US.) I have sent your representative in New York a bond in the amount of 800.000 pounds that I was holding in your behalf. I have also this date, sent the bond of 200,000 pounds issues by the Central Bank of Nigeria back to them for disposal.

POINT SEVEN - I am now convinced that one Nigeria is the only solution to peace. I also call upon you Mr. Ojukwu to allow your starving people to be fed. Their wellbeing is of deep concern to me as well as other right thinking people of the world.

Your acting in the utmost haste in this matter is in my opinion the first step toward any lasting peace in your country.”

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THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 19-10-12

Nestle rallies to N684

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HE Nigerian equity market continued streak of landmark achievements as the benchmark indices sustained uptrend with a further 9 basis points gain. This brings to four consecutive sessions out of five this week.

Also, Nestle Nigerian Plc gained 4 kobo yesterday to hit its highest price at N684.00. Nestle is the highest priced stock on the floor.

The on-going Q3 earnings season continued to provide fundamentals for the market budding uptrend. Access Bank reported its Q3 earnings. It grew both gross earnings and profit after tax by 87.99 per cent and 161.08 per cent at N162.28 billion and N35.68 billion respectively.

On every 100 kobo put into use within the period, 15 per cent of it was returned as equity profit. The report further stated that Q3 earning per share of 155 kobo was posted compared to 76 kobo attained in similar period of the previous year.

It would be recalled that

Tonia Osundolire

GT Bank also reported its quarter three results on Thursday.

However, bullish investors hunting for bargain stocks dominated traded log as reflected by volume and value of trade in this order; 58 per cent and 58.6 per cent respectively.

In summary, lead indicator; NSE-ASI gained additional 24.85 absolute points, representing 0.09 per cent appreciation, to close higher at 27,296.35 points.

Similarly, market weight indicated by Market Capitalisation gained additional N8 billion, also representing 0.09 per cent growth, to close higher at N8.698 trillion.

In all, investors traded 313.287 million shares worth N3.197 billion across 4,586 deals. The Financial Services sector, which remained the toast of investors maintained the lead with 239.295 million shares worth N2.441 billion across 2,796 deals.

Others with relatively high volume were Conglomerates, Services, Consumer Goods, Agriculture, Oil & Gas and Industrial Goods with 29.906 million shares, 14.012 million shares, 13.419 million shares, 6.482 million shares, 5.386 million shares and 2.416 million shares.

On the price movement tables, a total of 51 equities recorded price change with 30 appreciating while the remaining 21 reduced in value.

DN Meyer led gainers table with an increase of N0.26 to close at N2.93 followed by UPL with a price gain of N0.23 to close at N4.83.

Also on the table were Chemical and Allied Products (CAP), Livestock, Betaglass, Eterna, UTC, Skye Bank, Unity Bank and Access Bank with price gain of N1.48, N0.08, N0.47, N0.10, N0.03, N0.15, N0.02 and N0.30.

On the flip side, Custodian Insurance led the list with a drop of N0.10 to close at N1.40 followed by Wema Bank with a dip of N0.03 to close at N0.57.

Others were Arbico, Evans Medical, Continental Insurance, Neimeth, Mansard, Prestige, Royal Exchange and ETI with price gain of N0.42, N0.06, N0.04, N0.06, N0.08, N0.02, N0.02 and N0.40.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 19-10-12

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

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SPORT EXTRA GLO SOCCER ACADEMY

Ghana screening ends in Accra

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HE technical team of the Glo Soccer Academy on Thursday blew the final whistle to close proceedings for the first leg of a three-nation soccer talent screening campaign for what has been described as the sub-region’s biggest soccer talent hunt and TV realty show.

Sixteen (16) Ghanaian youth have been short-listed by the coaches in a screening programme which was fiercely contested in six days of rigorous auditioning in three cities.

As had been widely expected, Accra presented the largest number of participants vying for placements in this prestigious soccer training programme, registering over 1000 teenagers for screening as against about 500 in Kumasi and another 500 in Tamale.

By the time the final whistle sounded at Accra’s Lizzy Sports Complex, a total of over 2000 male teenagers looking to launch a career in football and literally soar to glory on the wings of the Glo Soccer Academy, had been rigorously screened in the three Ghanaian cities under the close watch of ex-internationals and celebrity coaches including Tijani Babangida, Tony Baffoe, goalkeepers’ trainer Zion Ogunfeyimi and Abdul ‘Golden Boy’ Razak.

Registered academy aspirants are kitted and taken through basic pitch workouts and light exercises including jogging, aerobics and push-ups. The numbers are then split into

• 16 best talents selected teams for the actual evaluation and selection by the coaches.

‘As they play, we look out for a host of qualities key among which were ball control, personal composure and team play, the players’ understanding of rules of the game and the exhibition of special skills,’ said Academy Coach Tony Baffoe, a veteran who plied his trade in the Bundeslega and was in defence for the Black Stars in the 1980s.

Coach Tijani Babangida, in his day, a prominent player for Dutch premiere side Ajax and

Nigeria’s Super Eagles, told journalists after his first encounter with Ghanaian teenagers in Kumasi that the skills exhibited by the youngsters signpost a winsome future for Ghana football.

‘In Kumasi, the kids displayed amazing skills for their age and personally never in my entire football career have I seen so many left-footed players in the game. Once these boys begin using their right feet like everybody else, they’ll become the most sought after players in the game’, Babangida said.

Osun U-20 Talent Hunt kicks off Oct 29

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S part of efforts to enhance the development of Osun State youths through football, Walcat/Sam D’Or Entertainment in conjunction with the Osun State Ministry of Youths, Sports and Special Needs and the Osun State Football Association, has concluded arrangements to organize the maiden edition of Osun U20 Talent Hunt tagged Osun 2012.

The tournament, according to a release from the director Sam D’Or Entertainment, the Technical Partner/Consultant, Sunny Oyeyemi, is expected to be a 15-day event which will be an open invitation to grassroots football clubs in the

nook and crannies of the state of Osun and beyond.

Oyeyemi, who is also a player agent further stated that the tournament is designed to serve as the largest recruitment platform for local and foreign football scouts/agents and club officials to discover hidden talents in the state, and expected at the tournament are 30 grassroots teams across the state.

The tournament which the organisers said will be strictly for youths of Under 20 will kickstart from October 28 to November 11, 2012. Interested teams can get the competition form at the office of the Osun State Football Association with #7, 500.

Tottering Super Eagles • Continued from back page role. He also is a prolific goal-scorer. He is younger than those playing the roles in the Eagles. Is anyone suprirsed that the two young men in the Eagles -Victor Moses and Ahmed Musa- shone like million stars? Age is the key for good football. The average age of most teams in the game now is 23. No one in the Eagles, except Moses, is less than 28. Forget what they have on their international passports.

Nigeria’s best player on Saturday was Moses. This is not because he scored a brace, but his deft touches, his inter-play with his mates and the skill with which he scored the goals, showed a future Africa Footballer of Year- if we can assemble a winning team. Moses can play better than he did on Saturday, but Keshi must find him an intelligent right back to complement his efforts. If Taiye Taiwo was right footed, he would have brought the best from Moses and we would have been talking of a harvest of goals. With a menacing right wing, no opposition will dare attack, using their left footed players because they would be too busy defending or retrieving the ball from inside their net against the Eagles.

Efe Ambrose isn’t a good player. He scored our first goal, but was a misfit. He ran the most on the pitch, yet his contribution stopped after 58 seconds, with the first goal.

Keshi can return to the experiment he did in Benin City in his first game when he switched Yusuf Ayila to the central defence.

Keshi is thinking of drafting Nedum Onouha into the team. He is a utility player. I have seen him play in all the defensive positions for Manchester City and now Queens Park Rangers in England. It is also good to know that goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama is playing regularly after a torrid time on the bench in France. He is our best. His recent poor form was because of match rustiness. His substitutes are good goalkeepers, but they need to wait for sometime, if Enyeama finds his form. Anyway, the rivalry is good for competitions.

The Eagles urgently need younger players with international exposure from foreign leagues. Victor Anichebe, Chuka Aneke, who plays for Arsenal but has been loaned out to play frequently and, of course, returnee Osaze Odemwingie will strengthen the squad.

Nosa Igiebor did better this time. He was poor in Monrovia, though he looked timid in front of the yawning net. I’m excited that Joel Obi has started playing again. He will make an awesome midfield quartet, playing with Mikel, Moses and Obiora Nwankwo.

Nwankwo was the gem against Liberia. He played flawlessly. He impressed me at the botched U-23 side at the London 2012 Olympic Games qualifier in Morocco last year.

He is temperamental, but Keshi can talk him out of this.

Is there anything to cheer from the Eagles going forward? I doubt it, if the opponents are Cote d’ Ivoire, resurgent Algeria, Ghana and Morocco in Africa.

As for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, we had better not qualify if what we saw against the Liberians is used as a yardstick. Glad to hear Keshi say that he doesn’t have a team yet. That is the truth, Big Boss. Will Keshi give Brown Ideye and Ogenyi Onazi several trials like he did with Emenike and other fringe players? Your guess is as good as mine.

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20-10-2012

TOMORROWPUNCHLINE IN THE NATION

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL.7, NO. 2284

Why must you roll the carpets out to welcome someone who did not bid you goodbye when she was travelling? Even if she was not capable of doing that, should her aides too not have explained at least a little of what the issue was as she was leaving the country, or even after she had left?

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NE of the sources of contention in Nigeria’s current political system is the power granted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the constitution to de-register political parties that do not comply with the Electoral Act. In this regard, the commission recently reiterated its determination to ensure that parties meet requisite conditions before they are allowed to field candidates for elections. In the words of INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, “It is good to have a multi-party system and to allow as many parties as possible to register but we really need to sanitise the process of registering parties. This will ensure that only the most deserving in terms of programmes, their constitution and their physical presence in states and in localities that are registered”. Ordinarily, Jega’s position may be perceived as restricting the horizons of participatory democracy which many believe was broadened by the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi’s judicial success in de-regulating the registration of political parties. Those who reason this way see the existence of a multiplicity of parties as an end in itself – a demonstration of rights and an exercise of liberty.

However, is there a nexus between a country’s party system and the broader goals of political evolution and national development?

A legitimate goal in a multi-ethnic, culturally complex polity like ours will be promoting national cohesion as a basis for political stability. It is obvious that a system of limited number of parties will more likely help achieve this than an unrestricted party system. What are the lessons of the June 12, 1993, presidential election regarded as the freest and fairest in the country’s history in this regard? Did the twoparty system not play a part in the much celebrated national spread and success of the election – its pan-Nigerian character? Are we giving sufficient attention to the structure and administration of political parties? Arguably this institution is more central to the state than any other; it is the platform on which members of two critical arms of government – the legislature and the executive – emerge. Yet, parties continue to be run in a largely informal manner. This is unlike the Babangida administration’s transition programme during which parties were registered by government and had functional offices at all levels with party officials democratically elected and formally remunerated.

Of course the idea of trying to ensure that all members of the government created National Republican Convention (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) were ‘equal founders and joiners’ was largely utopian and unrealistic. Individuals have varying degrees of orien-

Re-thinking Nigeria’s party system

•Jega

tation to politics. The degree of an individual’s interest in party activities and public affairs depend on what students of political behaviour describe as a person’s ‘sense of political efficacy’. Some individuals are more willing to expend their time, energy, resources and energy on politics than others. These political personality types are more likely to participate more actively in and have more influence within the party and polity than others. In any case, a fundamental contradiction of the Babangida transition programme was that its Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was widening social equality at the economic level while its Political Transition Programme (PTP) was seek-

ing to equalize participation and influence in the political sphere! A logical impossibility.

Yet, the institutionalization of a more formal party system with specified boundaries will demonstrably have a beneficial impact on the political system and there can be no better example than the celebrated June 12 presidential election. During the IBB transition programme, I was one of those who criticised the NRC and SDP as nothing but artificial parties and government parastatals. We attributed their quick capitulation after the annulment of the election to the fact that they were purportedly ‘inorganic’ parties. But if we follow this logic, why did the purportedly organic parties of the first and second republics – Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), Action Group (AG), Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), National Party of Nigeria (NPN), Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) and the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) literarily vanish into thin air when they were peremptorily banned by the military usurpers of political power. This is unlike the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, which survived and ultimately triumphed over apartheid after decades of persecution, harassment, torture and outright ban.

Now, I do not want to be misunderstood.

The IBB regime’s annulment of the presidential election exposed the motive behind the highly regimented party system, which created two parties, foisted manifestoes on them and located them by fiat ideologically a little to the right and a little to the left of the regime’s neo-liberal

—Tunji Adegboyega Structural Adjustment Programme. It needed a highly regulated and controlled party system to legitimate and consolidate its extreme deregulation of the economy, which had the consequences of dramatically increasing poverty and inequality. But the outcome of the election and the regime’s inability to contain the implications of the annulment only illustrates what the late Professor Aaron Gana described as ‘the limits of political engineering’. But whatever, its motives the truth is that the regime’s more formal and regulated party system facilitated the best and most pan-Nigerian election in the country’s history.

The present chaotic party system is ultimately subversive of the national goal of deepening democratic development. it encourages a oneparty dominant system where a veritable behemoth in control of the centre since 1999, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), profits from the existence of a multiplicity of largely unviable parties that compound the problems of evolving a cohesive, potent and viable opposition. A fundamental re-thinking of the current dysfunctional party system has become imperative.

…Welcoming the Dame The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, looked quite radiant on her return to the country on Wednesday after a six-week stay in Germany. Her remarks were quite interesting, even impressive in parts. She told us everything that was not wrong with her. She does not have a terminal illness. She did not undergo cosmetic surgery. She did not have a tummy tuck. She was never in hospital. But where was she and why was she there? The nation remains in the dark. She faulted the logic of those who, citing Sani Abacha, Stella Obasanjo and Umaru Yar’Adua, say “that anybody that goes to the Villa or Aso Rock will die”. How about those who went there with their families and came out alive, she asked? Smart thinking. She sounded romantic: “My husband loves me as I am and I am pleased with how God created me, I cannot add to it”. She sounded spiritual: “God has said it all, that when two or three are gathered in His name, that he will be with them.”

The Dame sure knows the scriptures. Shout Alleluia somebody! Above all, she sounded presidential: “God has given me a second chance to come and work with women of Nigeria, children and the less privileged. I have come to serve Nigeria. I have come to work with Nigerians. I am there for them”. Pray, who did we vote for? Are we blessed with two Presidents?

All the same, it’s nice to have the Dame back.

There surely will be no dull moment at the Villa.

Ade Ojeikere on Saturday talk2adeojeikere@yahoo.com

Tottering Super Eagles

T

HESE are interesting times for Nige rian football. Hitherto, it was a deluge of criticisms about the way the game was being administered and the ineptitude of the coaches, who didn’t have the courage to discipline the Super Eagles’ foreign legion.

Most people cringed at the conduct and the passion that our Europe-based boys exhibited during Nigeria’s matches. They sneered at the lackadaisical attitude of our players on the pitch. They played as if nothing was at stake.

Put simply, the Eagles’ convulsive style of play forced many fans to the clinics to check their blood pressure after every uninspiring outing.

Many spiritualists have been disappointed by the outcome of the Eagles matches. But don’t our opponents recognise the efficacy of prayers? Doesn’t the Holy Book detest slothfulness?

Since last Saturday, the mood of football fans has changed. A new dawn is being celebrated. The drum beats of a resurgent Super Eagles is deafening. No one is bothered about Liberia’s pedigree in global football competitions. Years past, Liberia was a piece

of cake. Beating Liberia should be the norm.

Countries, such as Liberia ought to surrender even before the kick-off when pitched against Nigeria in a football match. What the wild celebrations portend is that we will waste precious time backslapping and shouting at the roof top, forgetting that others have left us behind.

Sadly, the reality from the Liberia conquest is that our best legs are in Europe. And I’m glad that Stephen Keshi recognises this fact. Nine of the starting 11 men came from Europe. The two home-based played because we didn’t have men in the foreign legion in those positions. It hurts though that the goal conceded came from a defensive error of the best home-based defender.

The home-based stars couldn’t compete with the others, perhaps because the domestic league is off. I hope people are reading this. Again, Keshi should accept that he would be judged not by what he does on the field in training, but by what the players showcase during matches.

Therefore, he must learn to accommodate their idiosyncrasies to get the desired results.

This is not to say that players should be disciplined. Coaches get the best from their players through personal contacts. With Keshi’s

feats and pedigree in the beautiful game, no player would be rude to him. Rather, they would be prepared to learn from him.

The truth about the Saturday game is that the Eagles tottered, despite the 58 seconds first goal. They barely were able to string passes together just as they played without a plan. Perhaps, they forgot all that they were taught in training. Our second goal was scrappy, except from the bravado show of the scorer Ahmed Musa in burying the ball at the back of the net.

After the second goal, I looked at the Eagles’ bench. Keshi’s countenance told the story of what I saw on the pitch. He kept scratching his head, apparently remembering his playing days. I don’t blame him. He was an excellent, strong and zestful player.

He got up most times to shout out instructions, yet he wasn’t impressed. As for the fans, they were satisfied, but the coach was certainly looking beyond the minnows.

The argument can be made that they stay together to train but their experience ought to have counted. It never did because we struggled for the better part of the first.

Emmanule Emenike was the worst culprit.

He was anonymous, except for that bone crushing pass that Musa squeezed into the

net. He needs to take a cue from the way Mikel executed the goal he laid on Victor Moses’ head for the fourth goal. Why the coaches took so long to substitute Emenike accounted for the anxious moments that the Liberians created for our players. I always wonder what these coaches see in Emenike who couldn’t dribble past his marker and does not he know how to open up the space for his mates to make the darting run at goal.

He certainly shouldn’t be at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

Kudos must go to Keshi for fielding Musa instead of Ikechukwu Uche. I was excited when I saw the change because Ike Uche can be wasteful with goal-scoring chances. Ike Uche did miss quite a few in the second half, despite scoring Nigeria’s fifth goal. What I took away from Keshi’s decision to drop Ike Uche is that he knows that he needs taller, stronger and faster strikers for the Africa Cup of Nations. Good thinking.

Keshi’s revelation that he has Newcastle of England striker Shola Ameobi and Everton’s Victor Anichebe bowled me over.

I can’t wait to see how they will blend, when the team plays the 4-3-3 formation. Keshi should always seek Sydney Sam’s consent to play for Nigeria. This idea of waiting for the boy to show interest won’t pay him. Nigerians are impatient. They will call for his sack, if the team fails. Sam will give his team depth, especially in the attacking midfield

•Continued on Page 63

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