The Nation October 26,2011

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Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Fraudsters dupe ex-governors on trial, says EFCC P4 Taiwo may face Parma in Italian Serie A duel today P41 Ekiti gives senior citizens N5,000 monthly stipend P10 www.thenationonlineng.net

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

VOL. 7, NO. 1925 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

Reps to IG: apologise to The Nation’s lawyer

ACN members arrested •Aregbesola: it’s an assault on me

By Adeniyi Adesina, Deputy Editor (News)

N

O fewer than 28 members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) travelling to Abuja were arrested yesterday in Lokoja, Kogi State.

The police gave no reason for the arrest of the ACN men, who were travelling in Osun State Government House vehicles.

The party Youth Leader, Mr Rasheed Adeniji, said last night that they were stopped at the Lokoja bridge after they protested the order by policemen to turn back.

Continued on page 4

N150.00

T

HE police got a bloody nose yesterday for their invasion of The Nation and arrest of its editors.

The House of Representatives asked the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Hafiz Ringim, to write a let-

•Ringim

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

ter of apology to this newspaper’s legal counsel, Mr. John Austin Unachukwu, for being unlawfully arrested in the course of rendering his professional service to his cli-

ents.

Four editors and three other employees were arrested by the police at the Lagos and Abuja offices of this newspaper on October 11.

Continued on page 4

ALS BEW ARE: Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) speaking at the presentation of 10 Amoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), 50 patrol vehicles, 200 bullet proof jackets and •CRIMIN CRIMINALS BEWARE 100 walkie-talkies to the Police at Lagos House, Alausa ... yesterday. Story on page 10.

PHOTO: MOSES OMOSEHIN

Subsidy won’t go in Jan. Committee of eminent Nigerians to manage cash

O •Mrs Alison-Madueke

PPONENTS of fuel subsidy removal may have won some respite, with the government shifting the January implementation date.

Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke yesterday said the subsidy would not go, until due consultations have been held with all Nigerians.

“We are still in the discussions with labour and other stakeholders. Until that is finished, I don’t think it is

‘

We are still in the discussions with labour and other stakeholders. Until that is finished, I don’t think it is right to give any definite date for the roll-out of the implementation of subsidy removal.

From Vincent Ikuomola, Perth, Australia

right to give any definite date for the roll-out of the implementation of subsidy removal. We are still in discussion with major stakeholders, in-

’

cluding the National Assembly,” she said.

Mrs Alison-Madueke spoke in Perth, Australia. She is on President Goodluck Jonathan’s delegation to the Commonwealth Heads of State

and Government Meeting (CHOGM) holding in that country.

The government, in its budget framework for 2012-2015 sent to the National Assembly, hinted of its intention to remove petroleum subsidy as from January.

The government claims that subsidy – of about N1.2 trillion, according to its officials – has benefited only a few individuals to the detriment of the generality of Nigerians for whom Continued on page 4

•MONEY P17 •SPORT P24 •LIFE P29•POLITICS P43 •INVESTORS P47

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

2

NEWS

Aviation concessionaires, Minister of Aviation Mrs Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi has revealed the Federal Government’s desire to review the concession agreements in the aviation sector, putting players such as Bi-courtney Aviation Services Limited, Pane Express Services, I-Cube West Africa and Maevis Nigeria Limited and others on the edge, reports KELVIN OSA- OKUNBOR

T

HE domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, also known as MM2, is a beauty to behold. It came out of the ruins of the burnt domestic airport. It is not just an airport. It is a place where people who are no passengers can also come to relax or discuss business in any of its restaurants or lounges. Its builder and manager, Bi-courtney Aviation Services, conceived it to also house a five-star hotel. But that dream is not achieved yet. The hotel part of the project remains stalled. That notwithstanding, many still cherish the ambience of the airport, which has a multiple storey-building car park.

The Olusegun Obasanjo administration had concessioned the airport to Bicourtney on a build, operate and transfer basis. The terms of the deal has been a subject of controversy.

Before the MM2 came into operation, domestic flights into Lagos were originating and terminating at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT). Bi-courtney claims that by its agreement with government, the management of the GAT was also supposed to be under it. Besides this, it also tried, through the government, to get all airline operators to relocate to the MM2. Many complied. Some refused.

Till today, the GAT is being managed by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). But, it is not only Bi-courtney that is alleging breach of contracts. The Ministry of Aviation is also accusing Bi-courtney and other concessionaires in the sector, such as Maevis, of short-changing it.

At the weekend, Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi said she inherited “horrible concession agreements” which no development-oriented administration should sustain.

She said:”More than 70 percent of concessions and leases in the sector are not performing and have not given us premium on the terms of the contracts.”

The minister, who spoke at an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, added: “We will review and cancel those agreements and leases that are not yielding the ex-

QUICK TAKES Bi-Courtney believes FAAN is shortchanging it Minister says 70 per cent of pacts are faulty Maevis denies owing FAAN N17 billion as claimed Bi-Courtney wants FAAN to turn over over N11b Unions threaten strike if Bi-Courtney gets GAT Court advised use of arbitratration Minister vows to terminate wrong pacts The sector will likely witness legal tussles pected dividends.”

For Bi-courtney, if anyone has failed to honour the agreement, it is FAAN. Not long ago, the company said FAAN should pay it the N11,083,206,267,80 collected as revenue from domestic flight operations of airlines at the GAT, since the September 2007 commencement of flight operations at the new terminal.

Chief Executive Officer, BiCourtney Aviation Services Limited Mrs Idunnu Oyebolu said FAAN’s claim that the company owes it over one billion naira was wrong.

FAAN, at the presentation of the 2010 budget to the Senate Committee on Aviation, told members of the committee that Bi-Courtney owes it over a billion naira.

Mrs Oyebolu said: “All revenues collected by FAAN from continuing domestic flight operations of airlines at FAAN’s general aviation terminal from the September 2007 commencement of flight operations at our MMA2 terminal to date rightfully belongs to BiCourtney Limited. FAAN’s management till date has refused to discuss our counter claims which arise from their obligation under the concession agreement between FAAN and Bi- Courtney Limited , guarantees and assures that all scheduled domestic flights in and out of FAAN’s airport in Lagos State shall during the concession period operate from the Murtala Muhammed Domestic Airport Terminal.”

She said the judgment of the Federal High Court of March 3, 2009 support the company’s claim. The

court had ordered FAAN to render an account of all such revenues that have accrued to it from domestic flight operations conducted from any terminal other than MMA2 in Lagos State after MMA2 became operational and all such revenues should be remitted to the concessionaire.

But, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN) said FAAN was right by not handing over the GAT to Bi-courtney. It also supports a review of the concession agreements in the sector, which it believes do not meet international standard.

National president of ATSSSAN Comrade Benjamin Okewu said since Bi-courtney did not build the GAT, it would be wrong to hand it over to it.

He said:” We have stated this time and again that although we are not against concessioning in the aviation sector, we contend that the agreement between BiCourtney Aviation Services Limited and FAAN does not meet prescribed international standards.

This is because of the lacuna that exists in the deal, which is causing

problems between FAAN and the Ministry of Aviation.

The Public Private Partnership deals, including Bi-Courtney , for the MMA2, Pan Express, and other are not in line with international standards. The agreement must be reviewed, even though there are pressures in high places to stop the review. Until they are reviewed, we cannot have peace in the aviation industry.

“For the MMA 2 deal to meet international standard, it must have a model. Until the processes are followed, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services deal will not work.”

Before his recent removal, former managing director of FAAN, Mr

‘

‘More than 70 percent of concessions and leases in the sector are not performing and have not given us premium on the terms of the contracts...We will review and cancel those agreements and leases that are not yielding the expected dividends’

‘

Richard Aisuebeogun, also spoke on another concessionaire, Maevis Nigeria Limited.

The FAAN initiated the termination of its deal to help automate collection of some revenues at the airport. FAAN said it was not sincere with the deal. But the company said the regulatory body should not be believed.

An executive director with the company, Ms Bosede Owolabi, said the company has collected and emitted into FAAN account over N32.5 billion and $12.2 million between August 1, 2008 and May 31, 2011.

The company had dragged FAAN to the Federal High Court in Lagos, which ordered both parties to use the arbitration option.

A source said: “When the proposal was sent from Maevis, all the input of FAAN Commercial Department on these areas that are causing confusion today were knocked off at the level of the ministry by the then Director of Legal Services and by the time a new agreement came out, it was different from the one that FAAN made input into and had corrected. Because of the input some FAAN staff

Baba Suwe’s N100 million suit for hearing today

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•Omidina

HE N100 million suit by popular comedian, Mr. Babatunde Omidina (alias Baba Suwe) against the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) will be heard today at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja.

He sued the agency over his arrest and detention for suspected drug trafficking.

His lawyer, Mr Kehinde Adegoke, said the NDLEA is yet to respond to the action.

“We have not been served yet.

Maybe they will serve us tomorrow (today),” he said.

The case has been assigned to

•Lawyer: NDLEA is yet to respond

By Joseph Jibueze

Justice Yetunde Idowu for adjudication.

In the fundamental rights enforcement application, the actor sought a declaration that his arrest and detention since October 13 by the NDLEA on suspicion of drug trafficking is in gross violation of his rights.

He is praying the court for an order to release him immediately from the unlawful detention in which he said he is being held

at the pleasure of the respondent.

Baba Suwe asked that N100 million be paid him as compensation from the NDLEA for alleged illegal and unconstitutional violation of his fundamental rights by the agency.

The applicant demanded a public apology from the NDLEA, to be published in conspicuous pages of two national dailies widely read in Nigeria.

Omidina was arrested on his way to Paris on suspicion that

he ingested substances suspected to be cocaine for the purpose of drug trafficking and has since detained him in its custody for investigation.

He claimed his children, dependants, relatives, friends and associates have been greatly worried and subjected to unnecessary trauma by his continued detention.

Omidina, on Monday, also challenged a decision of teh Federal High Court allowing NDLEA to keep him for 15 more days. He said the agency hid facts from the court to obtain the order.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

3

NEWS

govt set for battle over pacts • From left: The arrival hall of the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport; an Arik Air aircraft with the airline’s hostesses preparing for a flight at the General Aviation Terminal, which is a source of friction between the government and Bicourtney Aviation Services Limited; the multiplestorey building car park of the MM2; OduahOgiemwonyi; and Wale Babalakin, whose company built the MM2 on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement

Our problem with FAAN, by concessionaire

•Fagbemi

made in the initial proposal sent in by the concessionaire, about six of them were transferred out of Lagos.”

Owolabi said the allegations against the company are unfounded. She said: ”The need for the AOMS project arose during the

I-Courtney Aviation Service Limited and Maevis Nigeria Limited are two of the major concessionaires in the aviation sector. The two companies have said the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is to be blamed for the confusion and controversy that have trailed their concession pacts.

The Chief Executive Officer of Maevis Nigeria Limited, Mr Tunde Fagbemi said instead of being vilified, the company should be praised for helping to deploy technology to revolutionise the business of aviation in the country.

Fagbemi said: “We are here un-

B

der what you will refer to as PPP (public private partnership) project in which we deploy assets that are required to keep the operations of FAAN at internationally acceptable standard. And for them to meet the International Air Transport Association (IATA), simplifying the business model, all our airlines needed to be electronic ticket compliant with three dimensional boarding bar code compliant. ”That is the first assignment that we have. That assignment is beyond just serving FAAN; it is actually serving the entire aviation industry. So you know we have a contract with FAAN, we also have a

larger stakeholder, which is the entire travelling public whether they are Nigerians or international passengers.

And so, we realised that we have a very onerous task and a very onerous performance standard on our hands.

“The second thing that we have is that we are here to assist with the airport operations data base and data gathering. We also have two primary stakeholders.

There is the Federal government of Nigeria first, who must report to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as a contracting state on statistics regarding aviation transactions and operations in Nigeria. And the there is also the

Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which is our Public Private partner. We are also primarily in charge of their pricing and billing system, including the electronic transfer system. The issue with FAAN is a gap in communication, simple and some material misinformation by a few people.”

He said the company would do everything to ensure its pact lasts its life time. “Would we ensure that that agreement lasts its life time?

Yes. Would we do everything to defend our agreement with FAAN? Yes. We will also do everything to ensure that our agreement with FAAN does not go into jeopardy,” he said.

Aviation Sector Reforms in 2006 and the contracting process leading to the selection of the project partner under a PPP arrangement was quite rigorous, competitive and in line with due process.

“There were four companies that submitted proposals as fol-

lows; NAHCO/NATEC, SITA, Maevis-Unisys and SH Consortium. Following a thorough evaluation of the various proposals on this project, our company, Maevis Limited was adjudged to have presented the most robust and competitive tender.”

Besides Bi-courtney and Maevis, other concessionaires being queried include: Pane Express Services, I-Cube West Africa and others. The President of the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria, Comrade Benjamin Okewu said these concessionaire

agreements have not been favour of FAAN and its workers, but rather lopsided in favour of the concessionaires.

With a review of the agreements now imminent, the sector may be in for another round of legal battles, which stalled past moves.

Council polls: ACN accuses Fed Govt of subverting democracy

T

HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the Federal Government of using the security agencies to subvert democracy in Lagos State. It said the Federal Government must be held responsible for the crisis trailing the just-concluded local government elections in the state.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party alleged that the presidency and the police colluded to destabilise the polls.

The statement reads: “Efforts were made to drag other security agencies into the mix in a desperate attempt to concoct an undeserved victory for a party that is

almost non-existent in Lagos State, but the power of the people, exercised through their votes, won the day, to the chagrin of the anarchists, who are now crying blue murder.

“The meddlesome action of the presidency and the irresponsible and gross partisanship of the police, led to the situation in which hired PDP thugs occupied the Secretariat of the Ikoyi/Obalende council and declared victory for the PDP, even when the result was yet to be announced.

“The ignominious role of the security agencies emboldened the PDP thugs to chase away officials of LASIEC, who had to relocate to a safer place to collate and an-

nounce the result. The questions to be asked therefore are: What is the business of the federal government with local government elections?

“Why was it so desperate as to enlist the support of the Inspector-General of Police and a mercenary group in the SSS to subvert the elections in Lagos? Does this not constitute an abuse of federalism? If the elections had been held in a non-ACN state, would the police have given a special protection to anyone who is not a candidate as it did for a stalwart of the PDP in Lagos State?”

“The federal government is daily abusing its hold on the federal police, as it were, and things could

only get better with a state police.’’

The party described the criticism of the Lagos State council polls by PDP National Publicity Secretary Rufai Alkali as disingenuous, poorly thought out and badly articulated.

“Is Prof. Alkali, by his resort to the use of tired cliches of ‘massive rigging and manipulation of figures’ mistaking the ACN for the PDP, a party synonymous with electoral malfeasance? Is the Professor justifying the misuse of public funds in deploying police personnel from Abuja to ‘protect’ a non-candidate in the elections?

Can any other party apart from the PDP sponsor thugs to take

•Mohammed

over a council secretariat in any state and chase away electoral officials, even as the police fails to act?” ACN queried.

4

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

NEWS Reps to IG: apologise

Members arrested Continued from page 1

Adeniji said the policemen demanded to know their mission in Abuja after searching the vehicles in which they were traveling.

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola described the arrest of members of his party on a legitimate trip to Abuja as an affront.

“It is a declaration of war on my person as head of government if people in my vehicles are harassed this way. It is beyond anybody’s authority,” the governor said.

Aregbesola said there is no reason for “this humiliation on my person, my office and my people”.

He added: “No weapon or offensive thing was found on them. Their crime is that they were going to Abuja.

“They should tell Nigerians whether they are no longer welcome in Abuja.”

Continued from page 1

•From left: Lagos Lawyer, Femi Falana; an Ibadan High Court Judge, Justice Peter Ige; 1st Vice President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Blessira Kiri, and Justice Waheed Olaifa, at the NBA Ibadan branch law week in Ibadan ... yesterday PHOTO: NAN

Fraudsters dupe ex-governors on trial, says EFCC

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EMBERS of three syndicates which specialise in duping high-profile public figures being prosecuted or under investigation for corruption have been arrested bythe Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Their unsuspecting victims are deceived to part with large sums of money, the EFCC said yesterday.

One of the suspects, Kaduna-based Mohammed

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

Alameen Garba, who is also known as Moh’d Alameen Suleiman, was arrested on Saturday in Tundun Wada in the city.

He was paraded alongside Benue State-born 22-year-old Fidelis Tule, by the anti-graft agency yesterday.

Four ex-governors, some members of the House of Representatives and a Senator have fallen victims of the

syndicates. One of the victims lost N3 billion, the EFCC said.

EFCC spokesman Femi Babafemi said the agency was alerting the public to the activities of the dubious characters to avoid falling into their traps.

He urged the victims to come foreward with details of their stories.

Alameen was said to have approached Vice President Namadi Sambo to link him up with EFCC Chairman

Mrs. Farida Waziri to procure vehicles seized from highprofile suspects.

Tule was said to have printed EFCC identity card for himself which he used to dupe unsuspecting members of the public, seeking employment with the commission.

Babafemi said Alameen telephoned Mrs. Waziri over the sale of the vehicles.

Continued from page 10

They were detained, following a complaint by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who alleged that a letter published by the newspaper was forged.

Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon and News Coordinaor of the weekend titles Dapo Olufade were detained at the Force CID, Alagbon, Lagos. Managing Editor Alli and Abuja Bureau Chief Yomi Odunuga were detained at the Abuja Force Headquarters. Lawal was flown to Abuja to join them.

Also detained were Labour correspondent Dupe OlaoyeOsinkolu, Unachukwu and Chief Security Officer (CSO) Babajide Adegbenjo.

All but Alli were released the following day after police interrogation and search of their homes and offices. Alli was released two days later.

The decision of the lawmakers followed the consideration of the report by joint committees on Justice, Human Rights, Police Affairs and Media and Public Affairs on the arrest of the newspapermen.

The report was referred to the Committee of the Whole after which the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, asked the Chair of the joint committees to give the background of the report.

Chairman Alli Ahmad said the five-page report uncovered a breach of the constitu-

tion in the mode of arrest of the journalists. The purported forged letter was referred to the IGP by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Bello Adoke.

According to Ahmad, the AGF asked the IGP to investigate and keep him (AGF) abreast of progress and the eventual outcome of the investigation.

“It was discovered that the IG did not. Rather, he went on to arrest them and went to charge them to court, not considering the fact that sedition is no longer applicable in the Nigerian Constitution. We also found out that one Lemmy SK wrote a letter to former President Olusegun Obasanjo that he was responsible for forging his (Obasanjo’s) signature for the purpose of bringing attention to the fraud taking place in the organisations mentioned in the letter.

“Paragraph four of the report is about our recommendations that include an apology by the IGP to the company lawyer for being arrested while carrying out his duties,” he said.

In the consideration of the recommendations, Deputy House Leader Leo Ogor pointed out that the report is not explicit on the manner of arrest and detention which, it noted, is not done in good faith and capable of repudiating the democratic credentials of the country.

Continued on page 60

Oil subsidy won’t go in January, says Federal Government Continued from page 1

it is meant. It promised to plough back the cash saved from subsidy withdrawal to provision of infrastructure.

The minister also said the government has raised a team of eminent Nigerians to advise it on spending the cash.

The team will also manage the cash realised from the subsidy to ensure transparency and performance.

Though she declined to give the names of members of the panel, Mrs Alison-Madueke said the list is already before the President for approval.

The minister explained that the government opted for the removal of subsidy because all efforts made to curtail racketeering failed to yield the desired result.

She said President Jonathan insists that the people must get the full benefit from subsidy removal.

Her words: “It has become pertinent that we find other ways to utilise the vast resources that are been channeled into the subsidy which are not reaching the masses. This time around, once we reach an agreement with the various stakeholders and agree on a formula, major benefits will be put on the table.

“Government will not handle the implementation of these benefits, so that it will be open and transparent. As we speak, a committee of highly-respected Nigerians is being put together, who will monitor and advise government.

“There are major benefits that will cut across all major sectors of the economy. Some of them involve road works, major public maintenance work, and the ongoing mass transportation. There are schemes for skilled youths and also schemes for unskilled youth and of course there will be areas for maternity and child

ANPP, Oyo Assembly, Falana kick

O

PPOSITION All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Oyo State House of Assembly and activist lawyer Femi Falana, yesterday joined the campaign against the fuel subsidy removal plan of the federal government.

ANPP National chair Ogbonnaya Onu said the plan an “dictatorship rule instead of democratic rule”.

He said given the economic situation of the country, such amounted to action should not have been contemplated at this time.

Onu said President Goodluck Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should have made subsidy removal a campaign issue during the April elections to see the reaction of Nigerians.

His words: “Exportation of crude oil is gross inefficiency. With proper leadership, it will not happen. Government has refused to maintain refineries in the country. If we are refining our crude oil, the price will not be as it is now.

“All these deficiencies and inefficiencies should be corrected. This is a serious matter that needs debating by all and not just by a few people. Did anybody canvas the removal of fuel subsidy during the election? Nobody.

He said the ANPP disagrees with subsidy removal.

“That should not occur now that the cares. But we shall ensure that across the board, the package is robust and monitored.

“In the area of public works, we shall not go through the government channels, as usual. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be set up specifically to handle it so that we don’t get bogged down in the usual manner of process and procurement issues. We shall mobilise upfront, because deregulation subsidies are paid monthly and we cannot wait monthly to collect money. The money will be borrowed upfront from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and

From Joseph Okwuofu and Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

economy is weak. If Nigerians are not happy with what is happening, they should allow ANPP to produce the president. If those in power feel that the job is too much, they should just step aside. We are anxious to get this problem solved. In a democracy, you do not take decision without carrying the people along. That is the difference between a dictatorship and a democracy. Our refineries were deliberately made not to function.

“Removal of fuel subsidy will affect all Nigerians. It will adversely affect the cost of living for all Nigerians as the cost of food items, cost of transportation, cost of building materials, cost of labour, among many others, will rise sharply.

The ANPP also deplored the arrest of The Nation editors. “We are worried by the recent unlawful arrest and detention of senior editorial personnel of The Nation by security agents. This brazen use of force against journalists is unacceptable, especially in a democracy. There must be a difference between a dictatorship and a democracy. Infractions on the rights of either individuals or institutions by the media should be resolved by the courts.

Oyo State House of Asembly yesterday urged President Jonathan to con-

mobilisation will start immediately so that it will be clear that we intend to put our money where our mouth is this time around.

“Mr. President is adamant that if we remove subsidy, we must give Nigerians the full benefits and the full impact of that removal.”

She noted that the issue of cash from subsidy removal not reaching the people has been of great concern to the government, “we have fought hard to try to ensure that it does. I think all Nigerians will be very happy, we cannot please all the people all

duct a public debate before implementing the fuel subsidy removal plan.

The House took the decision after a debate under matters of urgent public importance raised by Fatai Salam.

Falana urged lawyers to rise up in stout condemnation of the planned fuel subsidy removal.

He spoke yesterday while delivering the 2011 Law Week Lecture of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ibadan Branch. His lecture was titled: “An Independent Judiciary - Panacea for a Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria”.

He said it is high time for Nigerian lawyers to join the struggle against fuel subsidy removal by making known their standpoint in the matter and working in consonance with the laws of the country in rejecting unpopular moves from government “because all of us may be consumed if we fail to take position.”

“Lawyers must be part of the struggle for a new society. Our lawyers must look at our laws and be part of the battle to save the country from internal colonialists who are agents of IMF and World Bank, who want to inflict harsh economic punishment on the Nigerian people.

“I am urging our lawyers to be part of the battle in the interest of all of us because you can only practise law if there is law and order in the country.”

the time but I think most Nigerians will be happy with the quantum and impact of all the parameters that we are putting in place to ensure that what we are saying will actually be done.”Shedding more light on why subsidies on petroleum products should go, Mrs AlisonMadueke said: “I think as painful as it is to us as a government, it is quite clear that subsidy has not worked in the manner in which they were intended for the Nigerian masses. The intention of course was to relieve the suffering of the masses across the board by ensuring that our

petroleum products are subsidised to give them a comfortable level of procuring the products, unfortunately, since we came into government as a continuum over a year ago, it has become quite clear that majority of the subsidies were actually going to the middle line operators.

“Take kerosene for example, government subsidises to the tune of about N105 per litre, the landing cost is about N145 per litre, we sell to the middle line operators at N40 per litre, which means that we are subsidising at N105 per litre and we expect

that it will reach the consumer or the masses at roughly N50 per liter. But as we all know, it reaches them at a higher cost. On the average right now, it cost N85 per litre. There has been time when it has been over N100 per litre. And this is very painful for us. We have flooded the market with the product, yet there is still some parts of the country where the product remains fairly high.

This means that the middle line operators are gaining both ways.

They receive the subsidy from government and at the same time charging the consumers double and sometimes more than double the price. In other words the masses are not gaining the benefit of this heavy subsidisation.”

She reiterated that all measures put in place to arrest the situation, including closing down businesses and stations, failed.

“A lot have been done already, operators, business and stations have been closed down, some suspended from service as punitive measures by our regulators, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). But the truth of the matter is that we are not in a military regime, the market forces of supply and demand have to be allowed to a certain extent. Yes, we are tightening up operations even as we speak; we are reforming our regulatory agencies as well. Because we need to be tight, we needed them to be working at the optimal level going forward, even in times of deregulation, when it happens,” she said.

The minister, who also spoke on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), said at the moment the situation is not in the hand of the executive as the bill is still before the National Assembly, adding that “It becomes almost illegal for the executive to officially write on the matter to the NASS.”

ADVERT HOTLINES: 01-280668, 08070591302, 08052592524 NEWSROOM: LAGOS – 01-8962807, ABUJA – 07028105302 COMPLAINTS: 01-8930678

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26 2011

5

NEWS

‘Why anti-smuggling battle is tough’ Idiroko is considered the most porous of Nigeria’s land borders, making the task of the Customs difficult. But the agency says it is up to the task, reports OLUKAYODE THOMAS

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HE Head of Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC), Deputy Comptroller of Customs Richard Oteri is a man loved and hated for different reasons at IdiIroko border, the hub of the command.

At this border town, one of the oldest between Nigeria and Benin Republic as well as Togo, the major business indigenes and visitors engage in is cross border trade.

Trading across the border is not bad in itself, but the problem is most of these traders or importers and exporters want to trade without paying the stipulated duties and other levies.

They also want to import or export prohibited items such as turkey, textiles and drugs. Many engage in human trafficking and other illegal trades.

In the battle against smugglers, Oteri revealed that he has lost some of his officers. “Many officers have been injured because of attack. I lost an officer recently. But we are appealing to the press to join in the fight, especially by educating these people in the local languages.”

Before Oteri took over, the number of vehicles duties were paid on monthly was around 20.

But statistics made available to The Nation shows that for April, duties were paid on 331 vehicles, by May the figure had risen to 478, and the figure for June was 731.

The number of vehicles duty was paid on in July doubled that of April and in May, it was 808, while that of August and September was 871 and 957.

When The Nation visited the command, Oteri took this reporter to two parks where seized exotic cars that ‘crossers’ attempted to bring into the country illegally were parked.

They included trailers and Lorries, loaded with goods.

Oteri told The Nation: “My task was to revitalise this place and increase revenue to government. Today, on vehicles alone 957 vehicles paid duty for September. Before now, you hardly get 20 vehicles a month. I can confidently say we are doing very well. From a little below 200 million naira, we now generate between 300 million naira and 400 million naira.”

He added: “Idi-Iroko border is very porous, so the task of policing is tough and challenging.

Then some indigenes believe that smuggling is their birthright so they use all means to achieve their aims. This brings a lot of risks and challenges, because we are talking of people that have acquired a lot of wealth from smuggling and will do anything to protect their interest. They have armed thugs with sophisticated weapons because the business must thrive.’’

But despite these challenges, Oteri is not deterred. “We have done so much, and the service has

helped us a lot. We were recently given brand new Toyota Hulix vehicles.”

Oteri faulted the argument by some workers of the NCS that one of the reasons why they aid and abet smugglers is because of poor remuneration and the need to secure their future.

“Any officer who says that is unfair to the current Comptroller General of NCS. In fact, I can say boldly that the person is a fake officer. Because under the present regime, we are not only paid as when due, we have a different salary scale, different from that of other civil servants. Then under the present C.G, we are paid the 13th month free. The new regime has really changed the life of officers and to whom much is given, much is expected. And the more revenue we generate, the more money we get. The C.G has also put in place house ownership scheme and good severance package.”

Oteri and his men have won some battles. Any hope that the war will be completely won one day?

“We are engaging the host community, we have a forum where we meet regularly to discuss. In most cases, the youths are not interested in the forum because they are unwilling to give up smuggling. The business is lucrative, so they are unwilling to stop it. Like The Nation pointed out, we have a lot of porous places like Imeko.

We thought of constructing a bar-

•Oteri

rier, but that will be tough because of the physical planning of the area, a house could have one half in Nigeria and the other half in Benin Republic.”

But for Oteri, the biggest challenge is the attitude of the people.

He said: ‘’They are unwilling to give up smuggling and we on our part; we are determined to force them out of business. Where persuasion and education have failed, we do our job.”

INEC’s DDC machines stolen From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday raised the alarm that some Direct Data Capture Machines (DDCMs), Internal Hard Disks (HDDs) and computer batteries from the Central Store of its Lagos State office were stolen.

According to a statement issued yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Kayode Idowu, of a total of 9,450 DDCMs allocated to Lagos State for the Voter Registration in January/February, 1,388 DDCMs were discovered missing.

On the stolen hard disks and batteries, he said: “A total of 2, 986 other DDCMs have their Internal Hard Disks stolen, while 644 DDCM batteries are missing.”

He went on: “Indications of the theft were first noticed on October 16, 2011, while the quantity of items involved was determined through an in-house audit concluded on October 24, 2011. Considering the volume, the theft might have taken place unnoticed over a slightly drawn-out period.”

NUJ condoles with Borno journalists THE National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr Mohammed Garba yesterday condoled with its Borno council over the killing of their colleague, Zakariya Isa of NTA Network Centre, Maiduguri.

Garba, who spoke in Maiduguri, said he received the news of the death of the Isa with shock.

“I have been following the trend of reporting by journalists in Borno since the eruption of violence in the state and without prejudice , they are fairing well in their write up,” he said.

The president appealed to Nigerians to know that journalists were charged with the responsibility of educating the public, saying that like any other individuals, they were bound to make mistakes.

‘Jigawa cannot pay N18,000 wage’

•ALL FOR ICAN: Principal Manager, Industrial Relations and Change Management, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Mrs. R.O Adegunwa (left), Assistant General Manager, Investment and Treasury, PHCN Abuja, Mr. Olorunda Olutayo and representative of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Phillips, at the 2011 Annual General Meeting of the PHCN District Society of ICAN, in Abuja

Gaddafi buried in unmarked grave M

UAMMAR Gaddafi was buried early yesterday in an unmarked grave in a modest Islamic ceremony, closing the book on his nearly 42-year rule of Libya and the eight-month civil war to oust him.

A Gaddafi nephew read a prayer for the dead before Gaddafi’s body - with those of his son Muatassim and former Defence Minister Abu Bakr Younis - were handed over for burial, said Ibrahim Beitalmal,

a spokesman for the military council in the port city of Misrata.

The bodies had been kept in cold storage in Misrata for four days before being taken under cover of darkness to the burial site, which Beitalmal said was “not far” from the city. As part of the ceremony, the bodies were washed in line with Islamic tradition. A Muslim cleric, a nephew of Gaddafi and sons of Abu Bakr then recited prayers before handing the bodies

over for burial, which took place at 5 a.m.

Libya’s new leaders have said they would not reveal the location of the grave, fearing it could be vandalised or turned into a shrine for the former dictator’s die-hard supporters.

Gaddafi was captured alive on Thursday as he tried to flee his hometown of Sirte, where he had been hiding since revolutionary forces swept into the capital, Tripo-

li, two months earlier.

He died later that day in unclear circumstances, and Libyan leaders have promised an investigation in response to international pressure to look into Gaddafi’s death. Video has emerged showing Gaddafi being beaten and abused by a mob after his capture, and researchers for the New York-based Human Rights Watch have said there are strong indications he was killed in custody.

THE Jigawa State Government has said it cannot pay the N18,000 minimum wage.

It said the wage was not captured in the state’s 2011 budget.

Governor Sule Lamido, who spoke while addressing reporters in Government House in Dutse, said the N18,000 minimum wage was not provided for in the 2011 Appropriation Bill.

He said: “The minimum wage was not captured in our 2011 budget and no provision for minimum wage there-in.

“We can not source funds outside the budget to pay new salaries and if we do that, it will amount to illegality.”

Estate agent docked over N3.6 m A 48-year-old estate agent was yesterday arraigned at an Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court, Lagos for allegedly defrauding a prospective tenant of N3.6 million.

The accused, Ochuko Akposibruke, is facing a four-count charge of conspiracy, collecting money under false pretence, stealing and fraud before Chief Magistrate Oyindamola Ogala.

The magistrate granted the accused N1 million bail, with two sureties in like sum, and adjourned the case till November 16 for further hearing.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

NEWS Osun ex-NLC chief killed by gunmen From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

A FORMER chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Osun State, Alhaji Sulaiman Oseni, has been killed by suspected gunmen in Ikirun, headquarters of Ifelodun Local Government Area.

The late NLC chief was gunned down on Monday at about 8pm in Olason Cyber Café inside the deceased’s Shopping Complex at Mabaroje Street near Monday Market on Osogbo/Ilorin highway in Ikirun.

The Café belongs to the deceased’s son.

A source, who pleaded not to be named, said the former NLC chief died before he got to the hospital where he was rushed to.

The source said the gunmen, suspected to be armed robbers after killing Oseni, went straight to Emiloju and Oke-Afo streets, where they robbed some traders.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Solomon Olusegun, said he was yet to be briefed.

There was no information on why the former labour activist, who was chair of the state chapter of the NLC between 2002 and 2006 was killed.

The late Oseni was also chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the state between 1998 and 2004.

He was buried amid tears yesterday in accordance with Islamic injunction in his Sawmill, Obaagun near Ikirun home.

Information and Strategy Commissioner Sauday Akere led the government delegation to the funeral.

Akere condemned the killing which, he described as callous. He urged the security operatives to fish out the killers and bring them to justice.

Another economic recession likely, says expert

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SENIOR Economist and Professor of Economics at Stern School of Business, Prof.

Nouriel Roubini, yesterday said developed economies may likely witness a devastating economic recession in the next few years unless the challenges in Euro zone are addressed.

He also said that the Chinese economic growth may witness hard landing soon.

He expressed regrets that many countries are running out of “policy bullets.”

He said the economic signals from Nigeria, Ghana and sub-Saharan countries are encouraging.

But he asked African countries to watch their back because shocks which may hurt developed economies will affect them too.

Roubini, who predicted the global financial crisis of 2008, made the prediction in a keynote address to 1,200 world business leaders at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Burswood Complex, Burswood in Australia.

Roubini, who was introduced as “Dr. Doom” to the audience, however said “I am Dr. Realist” trying to offer suggestions.

He said: “There is going to be a big recession in advanced economies; there is going to be a painful process of deep recession. This is about more than 50 per cent possibility. Although Aus-

‘Commonwealth population to hit one billion by 2020’

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THE Director-General of The Commonwealth Business Council, Dr. Mohan Kaul, yesterday said the population of member-nations of the organisation will be 1 billion by 2020.

He also said the organisation has no choice than to reform itself in line with modern challenges.

Kaul broke the news at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Business Forum in Burswood, Australia.

He said: “By 2020 the Commonwealth will contain over 1 billion middle class consumers and an amazing 40per cent of the entire global workforce - 25per cent in India alone.

“Despite the economic crisis, for the large majority of our countries, improvements have led to strong economic growth, averaging 5-7per cent in many of our developing countries over the past 10 years.”

tralia and Canada are doing well, the recession is likely to affect the United States, the UK and the Euro zone. I think the chances of recession are significant.

“If the Euro zone is able to control its economic crisis, the recession in developed economies will be mild. But if the zone could not, the recession could be as large as the collapse of Lehman in 2008.

“The recession is going to be severe in advanced economies but it depends very large on the Euro zone. Why

do I worry about Euro zone?

The problems of the Euro zone are chronic. There is banking crisis in the zone; there is liquidity crisis and it has ageing demographic outlook.

“The reaction of the zone has been disturbing as they claimed that they have a problem of liquidity rather than insolvency.

“The Europeans claimed that they have a plan. This plan is mostly financial engineering, not about economic growth. It is an unstable equilibrium of debt re-

duction and restructuring.

Unless you have economic growth, there will be political backlash against any austerity measure. The government is going to collapse.

Once you lose your market credibility, then you are in a big crisis. If the GDP keeps on falling, your debt goes up to the roof.

“The world is uncertain.

But I would say that there will be economic contractions in the US, Euro zone, in the UK and Japan.

“A number of factors suggested this recession. The US almost shut down its government this year because of deficits. The crisis in the Euro zone and the shocks coming from Tunisia, Libya and the Middle-East are not giving way. There is tension in financial markets.

“If you look at the market data, the Europe is already in recession now. We are now running out of policy bullets. On the fiscal side, the UK and the US are doing fiscal austerity.

He said the US is already feeling the signs of the coming recession.

He added: “The US economic growth for the first half of this year is less than one per cent. Some people attributed this to temporary factors; most people said they were just temporary shocks. The consensus is that by the second half of the year, the growth rate will be

Ogun House okays tenure extension for chairmen From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

THE Ogun State House of Assembly yesterday gave Governor Ibikunle Amosun its go ahead to extend the tenure of the Transition Committee Chairmen for the 20 local government areas by another three months..

Amosun had written to the Assembly, requesting for approval to elongate the tenure of the chairmen, who marked 100 days in office last week.

The passing of the resolution 017 followed a motion moved by Majority Leader Israel Jolaoso during yesterday’s sitting.

The passage of the resolution gave local government political appointees legality to stay in office till January 2012 when the state is expected to conduct election into the local government areas.

•Dr. Jonathan (second left), his wife Patience, Yakowa (left) Akpabio (second right) and Amosun at the dinner…yesterday PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

about 3.5per cent “In the US, the unemployment rate is about 9 per cent.

This has a negative effect on consumers’ income. President Barack Obama’s plan about fiscal stimulus is necessary but there is gridlock in the Congress. We are in a state of gridlock; it is going to be worse.

Replying a question from the Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Business Council, Mr. Paschal Dozie, the expert said: “If you look at Africa, many countries in East Africa like Rwanda and Botswana are doing well. In subSaharan Africa, Nigeria and Ghana have shown signs of economic growth. A number of these sub-Sahara African countries are now improving.

“But as long as the global economy grows, there will be positive effects on sub-Sahara Africa. If there is shock in US and Europe, of course it will have negative effects on sub-Sahara Africa.

Roubini also warned all banks against sliding into fresh stress because they cannot get any bail out.

“If banks witness any stress, it is not going to be possible to bail them out.

There are no fiscal resources available to support any banking crisis.”

On China, he said it must slow down to avert “hard landing.”

“In the short run, China is growing very fast. I don’t expect hard landing this year, not next year, because it will do anything necessary to retain eight per cent growth in the next eight months.

“In 2009, when there was a collapse of exports, China achieved a miracle of eightper cent growth. How? They did not increase consumption; they increased fixed investments from 42 per cent to 49 per cent “Half of GDP in China is fixed investments.

And it may be up to 80per cent of the GDP. Unless China changes its way, it may experience hard landing.”

On her part, the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, said: “All of us stand to suffer if the correct reforms are not forthcoming. The global financial market continues to fluctuate, more needs to be done.

“The road to economic recovery will not be easy but I remain optimistic. It is time we must prove ourselves that we are up to the task.”

Why Fed Govt must create jobs, expand economy, by Jonathan

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, five governors and four ministers yesterday met with key Australian investors in the mining and steel sector on how Nigeria can grow it’s economy beyond oil and gas.

He also said the increasing population of youths has made it imperative for the Federal Government to create jobs and expand the economy or else they might engage the government. He said Nigeria will diversify its economy towards agriculture, mines and solid minerals.

Jonathan, who spoke at a Nigerian-Australian presidential investors dinner at the Yatch Club, Royal Perth said no nation could afford to ignore such productive 50 per cent of it’s population under 35 years.

He met with the investors in company of Governors Isiaka Ajimobi(Oyo); Ibikunle Amosun(Ogun); Godswil Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Patrick Yakowa (Kaduna); and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe).

He said: “For now, we have a very huge population as disclosed by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga. In 2006, when we did our head count, Nigeria’s population was about 140.4m people. By our own 2.3 per cent growth rate projection, by the end of this month, we will be about 166m people.

“With the huge population, we pray that we should not grow at that rate. But the population is quite high and also even with this huge pop-

ulation, 50 per cent are actually below the age of 35.

“So actually we have very young people. These are the people you must find schools for, these are the people we must find jobs for because if you cannot engage them, they must engage you. “So, when we were coming to Australia for the Commonwealth Meeting, we said let have interaction with their investors because they are well known for solid minerals. We believe that Australian business men and women will have a lot to do in Nigeria in the area of mining solid minerals.

“We know that you are also into the area of oil and gas.

We know you also have a good gas reserve just like Nigeria. From estimate, we have

about 187 trillion cubic of gas but we are also told that from conservative estimate, we have about 300 trillion cubic yet to be discovered in the Niger Delta. So, our gas potential is also quite high.

“But the area of solid minerals is one area that we are quite passionate about. And in the next four years, this administration wants to pursue that vigorously. We want to develop agriculture potential, we want to produce enough food to feed our huge population. If we depend on imported food, I do not think we will meet foreign exchange required. ‘’We want to pursue agriculture and solid minerals to create job opportunities and stimulate local economy so that Nigeria will be able to

survive.”. On his part, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga said: “We have a good economy which is growing at an average of 7 per cent. In fact in 2008 our economy grew at 6.9 per cent; 7.5 per cent in 2009 and we were 7.85 per cent in 2010.

“We have a very strong debt to GDP ratio. We have a very big market given the population in the country. We are looking at agro-business and agro-allied industries. “We are working on about seven reforms. Nigeria is open for business, this is the beginning of a very, very long relationship.

“The Minister of Mines and Steel, Mohammed Sadat said: “Nigeria is ready to go, let no one be late for the transformation journey.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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NEWS ‘Night travels claimed 866 luxury buses in three years’ •Senate backs night journeys From Onyedi Ojiabor (Assistant Editor) and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

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•Chairman, DARR Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi (middle), being assisted by Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (second right); the Chairman, African Business Round Table, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur (left); and former Political Adviser to the President, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, as he cuts the cake to mark his 60th birthday at Daar Communications office, Asokoro, Abuja...yesterday

Nwabueze, others call for peoples’ Constitution

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EADER of a group of eminent Nigerians, The Patriots, Prof Ben Nwabueze (SAN), has said the challenge of producing a people’s Constitution needs to be resolved first for Nigeria to make progress.

He said any claim that the struggle for genuine democracy has borne fruits is misplaced until a peoples’ Constitution is made.

The constitutional lawyer

By Joseph Jibueze

and former Education Minister noted that other issues, including the proposed removal of fuel subsidy, would fall into place once the fundamental question about the country is answered.

Nwabueze spoke when he hosted the Project Nigeria Movement – National Consensus Group in his office in Lagos.

The group comprises The Patriots, the Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO), the Yoruba Unity Forum, the Ohaneze Ndigbo, the Leaders of Thought, among others.

The former Ohanaeze Ndigbo Secretary-General said all ethnic nationalities must be involved in producing the peoples’ Constitution, which he said this country has never had.

Tinubu, Fashola hail ACN victory at council poll •Governor: revenue formula should be reviewed •CNPP accepts results, berates PDP

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HE National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola yesterday hailed the victory of the ruling party at last Saturday’s local government election.

Tinubu, who described the ACN victory as well-deserved, urged the elected party members to justify their mandate by settling down to business.

“It is time to celebrate less and get back to work,” Tinubu said in a statement by his media office.

Fashola urged the Federal Government to review the revenue formula to make more resources available to local governments.

He said: “Beyond the victory, the Federal Government needs to urgently access more funds to frontally tackle the statutory challenge of primary healthcare and education to the people at the grassroots.”

Tinubu also spoke of plans to challenge the victory of rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in some wards.

Putting the Lagos PDP and other parties on notice, the former governor said: “ACN would challenge some councillorship results.”

He said the challenge would be done at the election tribunal, urging other aggrieved parties to follow the law.

By Emmanuel Oladesu (Deputy Political Editor) and Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

Tinubu said: “It is all about service and the people have made their choices on the persons they wish to govern them and the progressive platform on which they can realise their democratic yearnings.

“The people have demonstrated that they have faith in us and in our party, and what we stand for and believe in.”

Stressing the need to follow due process, the former governor cautioned against any aggrieved party resorting to self-help.

“We understand the desperation of some of their leaders around here who want to make a point to impress Abuja and continue to collect resources from Abuja. We know it is all about a financial war chest towards the 2015 elections. But we must put our people first in all we do, and must not sacrifice their interest in destructive politics.”

Fashola noted that it would inappropriate to blame council chiefs for nonperformance when the resources at their disposal is meagre, compared to those with the Federal Government with 52 per cent of the nation’s revenues.

Addressing reporters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on arrival from

Abuja, Fashola noted that the current revenue allocation formula cannot sustain the system, as it is skewed against states and local governments.

He said: “I want to first congratulate the ACN, my party, and all of the council chairmen and the councilors on their success at the polls. I also congratulate candidates of other parties who were successful in the polls.

“But let me say that we have a flawed Constitution, and let me also say that given the flaws in the Constitution, some of the ways that we can invigorate the local governments to improve service delivery is first to focus critically on the responsibilities that we have given them. I will choose also primary healthcare and primary education...”

The Lagos State chapter of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday accepted the results of the local government election. It said the election was free and fair.

CNPP congratulated the chairman of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), Justice Fatai Adeyinka (rtd), for conducting a transparent election that has rekindled hope about the survival of democracy at the grassroots.

The party berated the PDP for not accepting the results, saying its action was a tacit support for thuggery.

He said: “First and foremost, we must have to democratise the Nigerian Constitution. There cannot be democracy when we have not democratised our Constitution.

“Though Nigeria got democracy in 1999, the Constitution is yet to be democratised. So, our first concern is to democratise this Constitution through a people’s conference...”

HE joint Senate Committee on Police Affairs and Federal Character yesterday said 866 luxury buses were lost to night travels in three years.

Quoting statistics, the committee noted that from 2007 to 2010, the number of buses that crashed during night travels was 866 of 5,097 bus accidents.

The figures are contained in a report presented on the floor of the Senate by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Paulinus Nwagu.

At its sitting on October 5, the Senate had debated a motion on the need to prevent accidents on highways among commercial buses during night travels.

It referred the motion to the Joint Committee on Police Affairs Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs to probe the matter.

The committee said it held interactive sessions with stakeholders, including the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC); the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW); the representative of the Luxury Buses Association and the representative of the Police.

The committee noted that while night journeys are not the cause of dangers to travellers, but the infrastructure that are meant to support road activities during night journeys are either insufficient or absent.

It said the 866 bus crashes represent only 17 per cent of the number of road crashes with other causes like dangerous driving 17.6 per cent; dangerous overtaking 22.5 per cent; among others.

The report said casualties of night accidents are particularly prone to be left to their fate due to lack of rescue and medical services in the country.

It noted that poor visibility, especially caused by foggy or rainy weather, increase the danger at night.

The report also identified lack of secured rest areas or road camps to enable tired driver get some rest after long driving, as some of the causes of crashes at night.

The inability of travellers to get help in case of any mechanical problem, coupled with the higher risk of armed robbery and banditry, were also identified in the report.

It noted that the Nigeria Police is faced with inadequate patrol vehicles to assist travellers in emergencies.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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NEWS Robbery suspect killed in Edo From Osagie Otabor, Benin

A robbery suspect has been killed by the police in Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government of Edo State.

This is coming 24 hours after another suspect was killed on the Benin bye-pass.

The suspect was said to have been killed while members of his gang were robbing some students of the Ambrose Alli University, on the popular Poultry Road.

A policeman was injured in the shoot-out.

Items recovered are two cut to size single barrel guns, two laptops, one home theatre system with speakers, three wrist watches and five handsets.

Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Amos Opadoja confirmed the incident.

EFCC praised From Osagie Otabor, Benin

DEPUTY Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly Festus Ebea has hailed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecuting suspected ex-governors.

Ebea said the arrest and prosecution would improve Nigeria’s image.

He said: “The EFCC is doing well in trying to prosecute all these exgovernors, who stole public funds.

“It will be better for the nation and the citizens if they return all that they stole rather than going to jail with the loot.”

Amaechi explains governors’ stance on SWF

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IVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has said the Federal Government should allow states to access their funds in the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and contribute to the centre as they deem fit.

Amaechi, who is alsoChairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt at a colloquium to mark the Supreme Court judgment of October 25, 2007 that ushered him into office.

The colloquium has as its theme “Jurisprudence, Democracy and Rule of Law”.

Amaechi said: “The rule of law eliminates the rule of man completely .

“Governors agree that the Federal Government should save but the law has to be respected.

“What the Federal Gov-

NGF rejects deductions From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

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OVERNORS have backed rejection of the illegal deduction of N1.079 trillion fuel subsidy by the Federal Government .

The governors, after an emergency meeting in Abuja, also vowed to take their grievances to President Goodluck Jonathan, who is attending the Common Wealth Heads of Governments (CHOGM) meeting in Australia.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who read the communiqué at the end of the meeting said: “The Forum commended the decision of the states’ Commissioners of Finance and Accountants-General for rejecting the illegal deductions of N231.6billion at the October 2011 FAAC meeting.

“The Forum unanimously rejects all illegal deductions that amounted to N1.079 trillion for nine months in excess of the budgeted sum of N240billion for oil subsidy for the year .

“Members noted that the total deductions for last year were N500.6billion which has more than doubled to N1.264 trillion in the first nine months of this year suggesting erroneously that consumption has increased.”

From Clarice Azuatalam, Port Harcourt

ernment has done is merely kidnapping of our mon-

ey.”

According to him, the SWF like all things must fall within the ambit of the law.

The governor said the Federal Government is being economical with the truth.

He said it has spent N1.264 trillion, which is more than the N264 billion that was appropriated to it in the budget.

He challenged the National Assembly to ask the Executive why it spent more than its appropriatation.

Constitutional lawyer Prof. Itse Sagay applauded the Supreme Court judgment that ushered in Amaechi, saying it signaled the supremacy of the rule of law.

Sagay said the judgment ushered in a new operational philosophy of law and nourished the democratic culture.

He said it also made the courts shy away from the constraints of technicality.

Senate gets nominees for NDDC board

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•Mark

HE Federal Government yesterday submitted the names of the new Chairman and other members of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board to the Senate for approval and confirmation.

Senate President David Mark read a memo containing the names to senators yesterday.

The memo written by President Goodluck Jonathan requested the Senate to confirm

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

the nominees in accordance with the provisions of Section 5(3) of the NDDC Act. The memo noted that subsequent to the dissolution of the Governing Board of the NDDC on September 13, nominations for its reconstitution have been compiled in accordance with Section 2(1) of the NDDC Act. The nominees include Dr. Tarilah Tebepah (Bayelsa) Chairman; Edward Orubo (Bayelsa) member, Christian A. Obo (Rivers) Managing Director; Dr. Ibiamuno M. Aminigo (Rivers) member; Solomon Ogba (Delta) member.

L.E.J. Konboye (Delta) was nominated to serve as Executive Director (Finance &Administration).

Others are: Imaobong Johnson (Akwa Ibom) member; Edikan Eshett Eshett (Imo) Executive Director Projects; Peter C. Ezeobi (Imo); Dominic Aqua Edem (Cross River) member; Alloysius Nwagboso (Abia) member; Omogbemi O. Oladele (Ondo) member and Osahon Imaru (Edo)member.

For non oil mineral producing states, Senator Garba Yakubu Lado was nominated to represent the Northwest, Rima Shawulu Kwewum Northeast and Senator Tunde Ogbeha Northcentral.

Joe Jakpa was nominated to represent oil companies.

Bayelsa to pay minimum wage

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AYELSA State Governor Timipre Sylva has announced government’s decision to pay the N18,000 minimum wage to workers from this month.

Sylva made the announcement at a meeting with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) at the Government House, Yenagoa.

The governor also approved N92.9 million for local governments to implement the new Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) of primary health care workers.

Sylva said the government

has set up a committee to review the benefits paid to pensioners.

He announced that he has approved the release of funds for the purchase of a building to be used as “Labour House” by the NLC. Sylva also directed the Works and Transport Commissioner to ensure that the short stretch of road leading to the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) be built without delay.

The governor called on Labour to reciprocate government’s good gesture by ensuring that workers are punctual and take their work seriously to enhance their productivity.

Fed Govt orders consultant’s arrest From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

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HE Federal Government yesterday ordered the arrest of a consultant, Julius Akpovoka for allegedly extorting money from several project contractors handling the Niger Delta development projects.

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Godsday Orubebe announced this in Abuja after a meeting with contractors from Edo and Delta states.

According to him, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been briefed.

He said the Federal Government would terminate the appointments of contractors, especially in Edo and Delta states, who are found to be incapable of executing projects awarded to them in the Niger Delta.

His words: “Excuses will not be entertained from any contractor. Despite notices served on some of them, they were still working without supervision and direction.

“A task force has been set up to investigate the projects in Edo and Delta states.”

JNI: Muslims are being threatened From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

T

HE umbrella body of Muslims in the North, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), yesterday said Muslims are being threatened to vacate the Niger Delta.

The group’s Secretary General, Sheikh Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, said some Muslims have started leaving the area.

He frowned at the alleged call by the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that the government should legalise the ownership of fire arms.

Aliyu said such a call was uncalled for and not in the interest of the country.

He noted that “even without legalising ownership of firearms in the country, what is happening today?

“In countries where the ownership of firearms is legal such as the United States of America, what is happening there?

He alleged that Christian militias in Kaduna were also threatening to hunt down Arab nationals in Nigeria, saying that this was a serious threat to the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and the Arab countries.

Court adjourns Shell, Ogoni suit

T

HE Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has adjourned till February 1 a suit by the Ogoni people of Gokana Local Government against Anglo/ Dutch oil firm, Shell Petroleum Development Company.

The people are alleging that their source of livelihood had been destroyed by crude oil spillage occasioned by the activities of Shell.

At yesterday’s hearing, the three-member panel, headed

by Justice Dantijo Mohammed, took the submissions of counsel for both parties.

Shell’s lead counsel Richard Akinjide initially raised an objection to long adjourn-

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

ment. He said the matter should be quickly dispensed with, but Justice Mohammed insisted that election matters were being given priority.

The Ogoni people, on May 27 2000, said continuous and substantial flow of crude oil from Shell’s facilities onto their land devastated the environment and damaged their crops.

They filed a suit at the Federal High Court (FHC), Port Harcourt, claiming N10 billion.

Justice E. S. Chukwu on August 5, 200 awarded the peo-

ple N5 billion as special damages, N500 million as general damages and N2.5 million as cost of the action. The judgment debt has not been paid.

Shell appealed the judgment and filed an application for stay of execution, pending the determination of the appeal.

The displeased people also filed a cross-appeal.

They are praying the court for: “An order of mareva injunction, restraining the appellant/respondent (SPDC), pending the determination of this appeal, from disposing of, selling and/or otherwise transferring its interests in its assets in Nigeria.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

9

NEWS

Gunmen kill policeman in Yobe

Police arrest man over wife’s death A FTER five months of manhunt, the Niger State Police Command has arrested a man, Mohammed Jubrilu, for allegedly strangling his wife, Hadiza, to death in a hotel room in Tafa, last May. The suspect was said to have killed Hadiza, a graduate of Sociology from the University of Abuja, on May 19, last year, following her discovery that Jubrilu was a fraudster.

Hadiza had reportedly left her matrimonial home earlier for her father’s home in Ganma, near Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, after her discovery.

A police source in Minna,

From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

the Niger State capital, told The Nation yesterday that the suspect was apprehended at 1.30pm on Monday at the premises of a commercial bank in Abuja.

He said the police have detained Jubrilu at the Homicide Department.

Jubrilu, who initially denied any wrongdoing, reportedly confessed to killing Hadiza when police investigators confronted him with incriminating documents.

He had also denied knowl-

edge of a publication, where he reportedly said the police were looking for him over the death of his wife.

But Jubrilu is said to have pleaded that the killing “was a mistake” when police showed him the call logs from one of the GSM service providers, which showed the calls he reportedly made before and after the death of his wife.

Police spokesman Oguche Richard Adamu said investigations into the matter was going on. He said the suspect would be charged to court.

Hadiza’s father, a retired High Court Judge in Kwara

S

•Jubrilu...yesterday

State, Justice Kamaldeen Bello Atoyebi, hailed the police for the arrest. He urged the police to ensure that the suspect is brought to justice.

Maitama Sule canvasses improved welfare for police, others E

LDER statesman and First Republic Minister of Petroleum, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, has blamed the security lapses in the country on the inability of the Federal Government to take care of security agencies, particularly the Police.

Sule, who was Nigeira’s Permanent Representative in the United Nations (UN), spoke in Kano at the launch of Police Community Interactive Week, organised by the Kano State chapter of Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) and the state Police Command.

According to him, if officers and men of the Nigerian Police were well paid and mobilised, the country’s security challenges would have been averted.

He urged the Federal Government to carry out re-

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

forms, such as free education, free medical care, as well as better housing scheme in the Force to encourage its officers for more productivity.

The elder statesman noted that owing to the enormity of their responsibilities, police salaries should also be reviewed upwards to fight bribery and corruption within the Force.

He said: “Every person that happens to be in the saddle of leadership has three responsibilities on his shoulders: to protect the people; to protect their order; and to protect their property.

“Every department of government takes are of one or two of these responsibilities.

But there are two depart-

ments of the government which are responsible for all these three. The police are responsible for all these three. If somebody snatches something from you, you go to the police; if somebody tarnishes your reputation, you go to the police; if somebody kills a member of your family, you go to the police.

“The police are responsible, therefore, for helping the ruler to discharge the responsibilities God and the society have placed on his shoulder. Indeed, the world can never be governed by force, never by fear, even never by power. In the end, what governs is the mind; what conquers is the spirit.”

He hailed Kano Police Commissioner Ibrahim Idris for his outstanding perfor-

‘I was never Idris’ son in-law’

T

HE Kogi State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the December 3 election, Captain Idris Wada, has denied being the son in-law of Governor Ibrahim Idris.

Reacting to rumours about his relationship with the Idris family, Wada said he did not marry the governor’s

From Mohammed Bashir, Lokoja

daughter.

He said: “I have been saying this at several occasions that I did not marry Ibrahim Idris’ daughter. But people keep on saying that.

“My younger brother, Musa Wada, married one of Ibrahim Idris’ daughter, Asma’u, in 1995. Idris was not

a governor then; he was a businessman like me. We were and still are friends. My ambition has nothing whatsoever to do with Ibrahim Idris.

He is not my direct in-law as speculated.”

He urged the residents to divorce themselves of the belief that he is the governor’s son in-law, adding that he is sixty one years old.

Kwara PDP: we’re not afraid of rerun

T

HE Kwara State chapter of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said it is not worried over the recent judgment of the National/House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which annulled the election of the party’s candidate for Ilorin West Central.

The tribunal ordered a rerun of the election in the constituency.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mas’ud Adebimpe, PDP said though it has appealed the verdict, it is not afraid of a rerun.

It criticised some politicians for spreading rumours over the tribunal judgment.

The statement reads: “It has come to the attention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kwara State chapter, the campaign of calumny and falsehood being spread against the party by some inconsequential politicians.

“The colourless politicians, who have been parading themselves as opinion leaders, engage in disparaging both the party and its leadership since the pronouncement of the National/House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal which ordered a rerun in the Ilorin West Central State Constituency.

In the imagination of the self-serving politicians, the judgment has created fear in PDP circles.

“While the party would not be distracted by the antics of the unknown politicians, ‘doubting Thomases’ should know that the PDP is not only entrenched in the state, it is also the party Kwarans have given the mandate to lead them to the promised land.

“As a law-abiding party, we have appropriately appealed the judgment of the tribunal, and we are optimistic that PDP would triumph at the end of the day.

“The PDP, as a responsible party that respects the rule of law, has appealed the judgment and as soon as the case is disposed off in the higher court, we will abide by the rulings. But we are sure of victory.

The party, however, wishes to call on its numerous supporters to ignore the self-serving politicians, whose occupation is destruction and go about their normal businesses as there is no cause for alarm.

“We call on our members and supporters to remain calm and steadfast; the rumour that there has been palpable fear in our party was the imagination of drowning politicians, as PDP remains strong and united and the party to beat in the state.”

mance since he assumed office in the state, urging him to do more.

Idris restated his commitment to involve members of the community in fighting crime, noting that without Nigerians, it would be difficult to combat criminality.

Some police officers, who performed above average, were awarded certificates of commendation.

Among them are the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of No’mansland Police Division, Shu’abu Bello, A Superintendent of Police (SP), and Mua’wiyah Abdullahi Abubakar, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), who were rewarded for exemplary leadership in crime prevention and detection.

OME unidentified gunmen have shot dead a policeman at his home in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.

The police described the incident as a targeted killing.

There had been similar incidents in which dozens of residents were murdered by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.

The policeman was reportedly killed by two gunmen on a motorcycle.

Police Commissioner Sulaimon Lawal told AFP that the killers knocked on the policeman’s door on Monday.

He said: “The assailants shot him as soon as he opend the door and took off in their motorcycle.

“It was a clear case of a targetted killing because the compound the policeman was living in houses eight other policemen. But the killers singled him out.”

Lawal could not say who was behind the killing or if arrests had been made.

Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of bombings and shootings, often targeting police and soldiers. Most of the violence occurred in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

Benue tribunal dismisses ACN candidate’s motion

T

HE Court of Appeal sitting in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, yesterday dismissed the motion filed by Avine Agbum, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for Makurdi North.

Agbum is challenging the election of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Terhemen Tarzor, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The National/House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal had nullified the election of Tarzor and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to him and give same to Agbum.

Tarzor filed an appeal against the tribunal judgment.

Agbum also filed a motion

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

seeking an order of the court to stop the appeal.

He argued that the court would be biased following its pervious judgment on issues concerning the leave of court before pre-hearing notices.

Agbum urged the Appeal Court to stay action on the matter pending the decision of the Supreme Court on the prehearing notices.

Justice Ahmed Tsamiya upheld the argument of the counsel to Tarzor, Damian Dodo (SAN), who prayed the court to hold that the motion is incompetent because the petitioner failed to file his argument with it.

The court, therefore, dismissed the motion without cost and adjourned the matter till today for hearing.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

10

NEWS

Senior citizens get N5,000 in Ekiti

T

HEY were all smiles - and full of praises for a “worthy” idea.

Many indigent Ekiti senior citizens were elated by the government’s gesture as they got N5,000 each under the Social Security Scheme for the Elderly.

Governor Kayode Fayemi flagged off the scheme in IseEkiti.

Fayemi lamented the level of poverty in Africa, saying in the past, the aged were taken care of by an effective social system, but civilisation has broken the bonds of kinship.

Fayemi said while it might be impossible to bring back the kinship spirit, his administration would cater for the elderly.

He said the scheme would be free of gender or political bias.

The governor said: “Civilisation has eroded the kinship system; it is now everyone to himself and God for us all.

“Consequently, people live the latter part of their lives in abject poverty, with attendant diseases, emotional breakdown and frus-

•Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi with some beneficiaries of the scheme...yesterday From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

trating social disaffection.

“It is important for me to clarify that the payment of the N5,000 stipend to each of the registered beneficiaries that commenced today will be made regularly on the 25th of the month, when all workers

are getting paid.

“All complaints of inability to register during the enumeration of the elderly shall be looked into.

It is our intention to undertake a comprehensive review after the first six months of the programme.

“I assure you all that government has already put in motion the

process of drafting a legislation to back this initiative and ensure its sustainability on a long term.”

Commissioner for Labour, Productivity and Human Capital Development Mrs. Olubunmi Adelugba said the programme is the first in West Africa.

She said the programme com-

plements the ongoing free health services for the elderly in the state.

Mrs. Adelugba said any one who is 65 years and above, and had resided in the state for three years is qualified to benefit from the scheme.

A 75-year beneficiary from IsanEkiti, Mrs. Juliana Jegede, thanked the governor for the initiative.

Lagos donates 50 patrol vehicles, 10 APCs to police

L

AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola yesterday presented 50 patrol vehicles, 10 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), 100 walkie-talkie and 200 bulletproof jackets to the State Police Command.

The state government also recruited 300 trained drivers, including motorcyclists, for the police.

The handing over took place at the Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja.

Fashola condemned the neglect of the force by successive l governments and renewed the call for state

By Miriam Ndikanwu

police.

He said the state government has continued to pay N25,000 to policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

Fashola said: “When we started this journey in 2007, there was an urgent need to respond to security issues. We bought vehicles, but there was no time to train drivers.

So policemen had to drive the vehicles, even though they were not trained drivers. We achieved our desired goal, which was to abate crime, but

we knew that our job had not finished.

“Handing over police equipment has become a significant occasion in our country, because of the neglect of the force by different regimes and administrations that have governed the country.

“Provision of security equipment is not the responsibility of the state govern-

ment; it is the responsibility of the Federal Government.

“But any state government that understands the importance of security has to find a way to augment.

“These assets were procured with the taxes paid by the people; please use them judiciously, because without the people you won’t have jobs.

“You have my mandate to go out there and enforce the law, but you do not have my

mandate to brutalise our citizens.”

Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 2, Sulaimon Fakai received the equipment on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police.

Fakai said the command would repay the gesture with dedication to security matters.

Police Commissioner Yakubu Alkali thanked the government for its continuous support.

Fraudsters dupe ex-governors on trial, the late says EFCC impersonated Continued from page 4 President nor Vice President The EFCC boss consequently set up an investigation team which trailed and arrested the suspects.

Babafemi said, “So far, our operatives have succeeded in bursting three of the syndicates; as a result, some of their leaders have already been arrested. Our investigations have revealed that these syndicates have fully relaunched their criminal activity of extortion following the recent high-profile cases being handled by the commission.

“One of them who claims to be a relative of the late President (Umaru Musa) Yar’Adua and Vice-President Namadi Sambo goes by the names Moh’d Alameen Garba and Moh’d Alameen Suleiman.

“Before his arrest, he had succeeded in obtaining the sum of N50m from one of the accused persons in the Pension fraud case being currently prosecuted by the commission.”

Denying the allegation, Alameen said he neither

Sambo.

He said some politicians including Dr. Sani Shuaibu from Kogi State, who is facing trial by the EFCC in the pension scam, approached him for assistance and that he never duped anybody.

“I never impersonated the late President Yar ‘Adua; but we had a family relationship. I have been teaching the wife of Vice President Sambo since 2004.

I am an innocent victim of a frame up; God will judge all of us”, he said.

Tribunal upholds Lagos Speaker’s election

By Eric Ikhilae

T

HE Lagos State Legislative Election Petition Tribunal has dismissed a petition challenging the return of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji.

Ikuforiji was elected on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and is representing Ikeja Constituency 1.

The petitioner, Mrs. Olajumoke Sawyer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alleged that Ikuforiji falsified his age and presented fake degree certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The tribunal said the issue was a pre-election matter, which falls outside its jurisdiction, and dismissed the petition.

NDLEA impounds 316.65kg cannabis in govt vehicle

T

HE Lagos State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a vehicle carrying 316.65kg of cannabis on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

The drug was being conveyed in a Hilux vehicle carrying a government inscription. It was not immediately clear if the inscription wasfake or genuine.The vehicle was impounded and its occupants arrested.

The suspects, two women and a man, were travelling to Lagos from Owo in Ondo State.

They are Mr. Olasupo Taofeeq Olabode (31), a driver; Mrs. Rose Ossai (39); and Mrs. Grace Adejo (40).

Lagos NDLEA Commander Aliyu Sule said:

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

“This group, made up of suspected women cannabis merchants and two drivers, specialise in inter-state distribution of cannabis.

“They operate cleverly and smoothly, using official vehicles as a cover. We got the information and have been working hard to arrest them.

We must work hard to make Lagos drug-free.”

Aliyu said three members of the group, one driver and two women, are still at large.

The suspects have confessed to the crime.

Olabode said Ogidan Kayode, the driver of the official vehicle, introduced him to the business.

He said: “My daughter was ill and I needed N6,000 for her treatment. I met my colleague, Ogidan Kayode, for help and

he promised to assist. He later drove his official vehicle to my house in Akure, the Ondo State capital, and told me to convey cannabis from Owo to Lagos. That was how I got involved. All I wanted was to take care of my sick child, but unfortunately, we were arrested.”

Mrs. Ossai, a Lagos resident, said: “I was told that there is much profit in hemp sale. I entered into the trade because I wanted to pay my rent. I am a divorcee with four children. I sell kerosene and drinks; I beg for pardon in the interest of my children. This is my first time.”

Mrs. Adejo said: “I am a widow with two children. This is my second trip to Owo to buy cannabis. I have realised my mistake and pray for mercy because of my children. I used

to sell clothes in Jos, the Plateau State capital, to sustain my family after the death of my husband. “Unfortunately, I lost my shop and everything to the Jos crisis and relocated to Lagos, where I was lured into the cannabis trade.”

NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Ahmadu Giade said the use of government vehicles to convey drugs is an indication of the desperation of drug barons.

Giade said: “This is worrisome, because these are mothers distributing cannabis to other people’s children. I urge the public to report suspected cases of drug trafficking to the agency. The consequences of these drugs on the society are grave. Drug barons are constantly looking for who they will engage in their illicit trade and it is wise not to yield to their deception.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

11

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

When the price of oil in the international market fell from $140 per barrels some years ago to $40 per barrel, imagine what would have happened if we didn’t have the excess Crude Account as the saving grace.

-Dr Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance

Naira weakens at interbank, forex auction

World Bank to support govt’s agenda

T

From Olugbenga Adanikin,

HE naira weakened against the United States dollar at the official window and on the interbank market on Monday as increased demand squeezed greenback supply.

The local currency closed at 160.20 to the dollar on the interbank market, weaker than 159.20 at Friday’s close.

At the official window, the Central Bank sold $350 million at N150.01 to the dollar, short of the $421.25 million demanded. The regulator sold $250 million at N149.95 to the dollar at its last auction last week.

“Demand for the dollars seems to be rising again despite various measures by the Central Bank to curb demand at its auction,” one dealer said.

The CBN on Friday said it would sell dollars both directly into the market and at auctions, and raised the forex net open position limit of lenders to three per cent from one per cent of shareholders’ funds.

Net open position is the amount of dollars banks can hold relative to shareholders’ funds. The CBN lowered it to one per cent from five per cent on October 10 to free up dollar supply to the interbank market, but traders complained that the market was almost brought to a halt by the decision.

“With the increase in net open position, which became effective yesterday, a number of banks were buying up dollars to cover their position, putting pressure on the market,” another dealer said.

Traders said the naira could depreciate further in the week unless the apex bank injects more dollars into the market or dollar inflows from month-end sales by energy companies come in.

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$112/barrel Cocoa -$2,856/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,161/troy ounce Rubber -¢146.37pound MARKET CAPITALISATIONS NSE JSE NYSE LSE

-N6.747 trillion -Z5.112trillion -$10.84 trillion -£61.67 trillion RATES Inflation -9.3% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending-22.42% Prime lending -15.82% Savings rate -2% 91-day NTB -10.23% Time Deposit -7% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $30.8b FOREX CFA EUR £ $ ¥ SDR RIYAL

-

0.281 213.2 245.00 156.91 1.5652 245.8 40.57

Abuja

T

•Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank Plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede flanked by his wife Ofovwe and Prime Minister of Australia, Ms. Julia Gillard at a reception/dinner hosted by the Australian Prime Minister at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Perth, Australia.

Canada to invest in power, T others HE Canadian government is interested in Nigeria’s power sec-

tor.

Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria Chris Cooter and his Deputy, Mr Jean Gauthier, dropped the hint during a visit to the Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji.

In a statement by the Head, Media and Public Relations, Greyne Anosike, the High Commissioner, said: “There is a global awareness that something massive is unfolding in the power industry in Nigeria” and sought from the Minister areas of challenge that Canadian firms could participate in.

He further said: ”The air

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

indicates that something is enveloping in Nigeria’s capacity to lead the world.We are here to complement these efforts to resolve your electricity challenges and galvanise your industrial leadership of Africa.”

The envoys predicted an explosion of employment in the sector as soon as the reforms are through, allaying fears being entertained by workers on lay-offs.

Cooter said executives of Canadian companies will be visiting Nigeria soon to join other multinational

corporations in bidding for certain areas of the electricity sector, especially hydro where, he noted, Canada has the highest comparative advantage in the world.

He said such institutional structures, as bulk trader and focus on privatisation are already exciting global investors, adding that the country’s bidding process is helping matters and urged that the “leg remains on throttle” to stamp out institutional corruption.

Canada will go the whole hug with you,” the envoy pledged.

Nnaji expressed the country’s readness to partner with Canadian construction giants in the Mambilla and Gurara hy-

dro electric power projects expected to jointly produce 3,300MW of electricity.

He told the visiting Canadian envoys that reforms in the power sector have institutional and legislative backing and, as a result, their implementation has been procedurally systematic to avoid loopholes that ruined past efforts in the sector.

On the need to involve the state governments in the sector, Nnaji stated that the makers of Constitution put electricity in the Federal Exclusive Legislative list thereby imposing the authority to construct, produce, regulate and supervise the sector on the central government.

NCC warns MTN, Glo, Airtel over poor services

T

HE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday threatened to stop the three major mobile operators, MTN, Glo and Airtel from further sale of SIM cards from December, this year, if they fail to meet the target set by the Commission to improve on quality of service.

The three operators got a 30-day deadline, from November 1, this year, to re-

•May bar operators from selling SIM cards From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

verse the trend.

The Head, Media and Public Relations, Reuben Muoka, said the deadline followed the dismal performance by the operators on quality of service from the result of an independent monitoring exercise carried

out by the Commission across the country.

The result, he said, showed that the three operators failed to meet with four key performance indicators that are crucial for quality of service improvements.

The statement reads in part: “Consequently, the Commission has notified the three operators of its inten-

tion to issue a directive that with effect from November 30, 2011, any of the operators that fails to meet the targets will be barred from further sale of its SIM Cards or addition of any new subscriber to its network.

“Any new SIM card sold, or additional subscriber added to the network in contravention of the direction, will attract a penalty of N1 Million) per subscriber added.”

Okonjo-Iweala, others stall NNPC’s N450b probe

T

HE absence of key figures crucial to the investigation of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) alleged N450 billion debt to the Federation Account by the House of Representatives joint committees on Finance, Petroleum Resources (Upstream

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

and Downstream) and Gas Resources, yesterday led to its postponment by a week.

The non-attendance by the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Governor of the Central

Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the Minister for Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allson-Madueke as well as the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, attracted the anger of the members of the joint committee.

Committee members noted that the absence of the Finance Minister, a backbone to the hearing, was a slap on the legislature.

They also described as unacceptable the excuses by some government officials for the non-availability of their bosses.

HE World Bank has restated its commitment to support the Federal Government in its transformation agenda even as it expressed fear that the government may not realise its Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) target.

The new Country Director, Ms. Marie-Francoise Nelly, disclosed this during a press conference yesterday in Abuja.

She said the bank will assist in two major areas, such as job creation and addressing vulnerable diseases.

“I hate to say this, but Nigeria is not doing well on MDGs, particularly in health. I was surprised when I compared the number with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) because Congo is putting $13 per capital on health, but Nigeria put $45. It is quite clear that we are not going to make it by 2015, but what is important is direction,” she said.

While explaining that the global bank will focus its resources on non-oil sector in the next 10 years, she disclosed that the financial institution is financing 25 projects valued at over N4 billion in the country . While only 60 per cent of the projects are on course, the World Bank Country Director, however, said the balance has received disbursement from the bank.

Ecological Fund gets N36b From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

T I

O address ecological problems in the country, the Ecological Fund Office (EFO) has received N36 billion for 2011.

The Permanent Secretary , EFO, Dr. MacJohn Nwaobiala, disclosed this at a press conference on the ECO-Fair billed for Abuja from tomorrow to Friday.

According to him, N3billion, which is domiciled in an account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is released monthly for ecological problems.

Stressing that EFO is in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), he said approving powers for projects lie with the Presidency.

He said: “In terms of accruals to the Ecological Fund, what we get is about N3 billion monthly. And it is in such a way that the funds are domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and when projects are approved, the CBN will release the funds into a project account.”

The permanent secretary also disclosed that each state government is consulted before any Federal Government-funded Ecological project is awarded for the state.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

12

ISSUES

Interest rate hike: What impact on capital market?

The increase in Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again thrown up the contentious issue of appropriate mix of strategies for the attainment of monetary and price stability as well as the promotion of sustainable economic development.

TONIA OSUNDOLIRE reports.

F

OR the umpteenth time, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR).

About two weeks ago, it raised the MPR by 275 basis points from 9.25 per cent to 12 per cent per annum. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also decided to maintain the current symmetric corridor of +/-200 basis points around the MPR while increasing the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 4.0 per cent to 8.0 per cent. It also reduced the net open position (NOP) from 5.0 per cent to 1.0 per cent of shareholders’ funds with immediate effect.

In deciding to further tighten monetary policy, the MPC undertook some extensive reviews of the global and national economies. The CBN noted the decline in inflation, the spectre of declining oil prices, declining foreign reserves, increasing demand for foreign exchange (forex), fiscal dominance and capital flow rever-

•The Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE) building

sals and reviewed the options for tackling the economic issue.

One option is to protect reserves by reducing the supply of dollars at the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS), which may lead to a rapid depreciation of the naira and the emergence of a parallel market, resuling in further pressures on the naira, imported inflation and a general loss of confidence by investors. According to the CBN, the impact on price and exchange rate stability of the first option will be such as to undermine the key mandates of the apex bank.

The second option is to address monetary and liquidity conditions more aggressively by tightening liquidity and raising domestic interest rates, which would adequately tackle the challenges of fiscal expansion, especially with the anticipated capital releases in the fourth quarter as well as repayment of backlog of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) debt to the Federation

Account. This option would also provide an incentive for the reallocation of portfolios by improving real returns of holding the naira as a store of value as well as eventual increase on the rates paid on deposits and savings, thus reversing any tendency towards disintermediation and capital flight.

It was also posited that the liquidity tightening would increase the cost of foreign currency positions held for speculative purposes, and reduces the tendency to pre-pay dollar obligations with naira liabilities.

Downsides of high rates However, the MPC noted obvious disadvantages of further monetary tightening.

These include high lending rates, financial cost to the banking system and possible losses on fixed income instruments due to capital losses. Besides, tightening of liquidity would run the risk of slowdown in credit

growth.

But in assessing the downside of further monetary tightening, many analysts believed the apex bank underestimated the impact of the hike on the overall economy and particularly the struggling capital market. All over the world, it is a known fact that the investment that drives the economic growth and development of any country requires long term funding, which has a longer duration than most savers are willing to commit their hard-earned money.

The capital market is therefore very important to any economy because, it encourages savings and real investment in any healthy economic environment. Through the market, aggregate savings are channeled into real investment that increases the capital stock and therefore economic • Continued on page 13

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ISSUES

Interest rate hike: What impact on capital market?

• Continued from page 13

growth of the country. More so, the capital market synchronize the divergent preferences for portfolio managers and financial institutions and those of savers by mobilizing long – term funds for portfolio managers and financial institutions while providing avenues for savers to invest when the need arises through the secondary market, without affecting the operation of the firm, their savings had earlier financed. In other words, through the secondary market, the capital market converts long – term or perpetual investment enlarged and economic growth accelerate Analysts argued that persistent increase in interest rate might stall the recovery of the Nigerian capital market. If the rate of interest paid by banks to depositors is increased, investors will patronise the banks the more and fewer investors will invest in the capital market. This will lead to a decrease in capital investment in the economy. Hence, economic growth and development will be lowered, because the allocation of capital resources plays a crucial role in the determination of the rate of the nation’s output. If capital resources are not provided to those in the industries, or if capital is not made available to sectors which are capable of increasing production and productivity, the rate of the country’s growth will be retarded.

Stakeholders’ perspectives While urging government to reconsider its decision on the increase, they argued that there would be a massive sell-off of shares in the equity market as investors are already taking position by migrating to the money market. According to them, the hike in interest rate at this time has deterred the prospects of equity market rebound especially the selling pressures that characterise the yuletide holiday seasons.

Reacting to the development, the Registrar Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Capital Market Registrars, Mr. Walter Ogogo said, “the impact in the capital market is very simple; it means that the interest rate is on the increase and if someone wants to put his money on fixed deposits or money market, that person should be able to get something better in terms of interest.

“The motivation is that most persons will want to sell-off their shares and put the money in either fixed deposits or on money market instrument where the interest will be better, that will mean profit taking by the investors in the market will depress the market. He urged the apex bank to reconsider their decision on the issue.

“The market will come back gradually because what I know is that the economic team of the federal government is good enough to make the positive change that is needed. But the CBN current MPR pronouncement shows that they are temporarily thinking of the value of the naira, they are not thinking of the average investor in the capital market and we are in an economy where whatever you do in one side affects the other.

“So, definitely there will be a drawback. I am of the opinion that they (the regulator) should go back and draw a map of the way forward of the Nigerian Capital Market.”

The Managing Director, GTB Securities Limited, Mr. John Ogar said the impact of the rate hike on the equities market is negative, as it has the potential to accelerate the

sharp correction the market has witnessed since the apex began its monetary tightening programme.

According to him, “the rate hike means two things to quoted companies: credits become more expensive and so future sales and profit declines. Rate hikes also increase the cost of doing business and this can eat deep in profit margins.

He added, “investors will, therefore, fly to fixed income not only as a haven but also to earn positive real returns against the backdrop of rising fixed income yields. So, the continuous hike in the MPR will not give joy to equity investors.”

In his view, the Managing Director, Lamberth Securities Limited, David Adonri argued that the apex bank, in a bid to stabilize the foreign exchange market, have raised the benchmark rate (MPR) several times this year.

He pointed out that the last increase was monumental and beyond all expectations noting that this is already causing a decline on the stock market indicators.

“With MPR at 12 per cent, Nigeria’s real interest rate is now positive considering the fact that Inflation rate remains at single digit. The persistent increase of MPR has successfully forced inflation rate to single digit, thus giving the economy the leverage to experience non inflationary growth.

“However, whenever interest rate increases, financial assets migrate from equities market to the bond and money markets. This is the principal reason for the decline of the All Share Index (ASI) of the NSE since January this year. The high returns in the debt market together with continuing crisis of confidence in equities following the global financial meltdown, has shifted activities from equities to the debt market.”

Tunde Oyediran market consultant with Deloy Consultancy said, “he, who is on the ground fears no fall is the situation of the capital market with the CBN monetary policies. Ordinarily a raise in MPR impacts negatively on the capital market and with the level of drop we’ve witnessed in the market, I don’t know the worse that can happen beyond this.”

Multiplier effects Analysts said the increase in the interest rate will have a multiplier effect as it will not only affect the capital market but the real sector as a whole. Citing an example, the chief analyst of Crystal Investment Mr Tunde Oketunde said that the increase in rate can be likened to a simple demonstration of the bank not having enough fund to give out to the public for loan. “If an entrepreneur cannot have access to cheap fund in the capital market or even get loan from the bank, the possibility of expanding businesses will not be visible as such job creation opportunities will not be available. If the real sector is not developed the economy as a whole will experience difficulty in

• CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi

• CEO, NSE, Oscar Onyema

growth and the nation will be worst for it,” he said.

Even with the increasingly attractive valuation and corporate earnings reports of equities, the import of the MPR increase appeared to be weighing down recovery in stock market as fund managers appeared to be tilting their investment portfolios further away from equities, to take advantage of rates in the fixed income and money markets, especially with the current decline in inflation. The asset re-allocation occasioned by the latest increase contributed to the slow response of the market to impressive corporate earnings reports.

Balancing act No doubt the CBN should be concerned with ensuring monetary and price stability, but the functions of the apex bank transcends the narrow objectives of price sta-

• D-G SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh

• CIS President, Mike Itegboje

bility to include overall national economic management. According to the apex bank mandates, the CBN is saddled with the responsibility of promoting a sound financial system in Nigeria as well as advising the government on economic and financial policies. These two mandates underline the conspicuous dominance of the apex bank in national economic management. The responsibility of promoting sound financial system ultimately brings all strata of the financial services industry including the money market, capital market and insurance under the purview of the apex bank. This explains why the apex bank chairs the Financial Services Regulation Coordinating Committee (FSRCC) and similar bodies. Besides being the apex bank, the CBN in essence is the apex financial services regulator.

The economic and financial advisory function also broadens the

‘However, whenever interest rate increases, financial assets migrate from equities market to the bond and money markets. This is the principal reason for the decline of the All Share Index (ASI) of the NSE since January this year. The high returns in the debt market together with continuing crisis of confidence in equities following the global financial meltdown, has shifted activities from equities to the debt market’

apex bank’s influence beyond the realm of monetarism into fiscal management, putting it as the major driving force in national economic management.

Faced with monetary policy issues, there is need for the apex bank to be more constructive and broadminded with its policy formulation to ensure a balanced policy approach that takes into consideration the possible impacts of monetary decisions on the real sector, the capital market and capital formation process of the economy as well as the overall national objectives of economic growth and job creation. The apex bank and other regulatory agencies need to step up measures to support domestic production, increase investor confidence especially in the stock market as well as soothing and responsive to general growth trend. These can be done by engaging the FSRCC, which members include Securities and Exchange Commission (Sec), the National Insurance Commission (Naicom), Pension Commission and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), to constructively preview policy decisions and brainstorm on the best option in the overall interest of the economy, rather than the banking sector or the financial services sector. This will ensure that financial services sector provides holistic supports to the national economy and give the sector a strong voice within the new economic management team.

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MONEY

Infrastructure, funds delay MDAs’ e-salary T implementation

HE implementation of the online salary payment for ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) is being hindered by infrastructure deficit and paucity of funds, it was leant.

Sources told The Nation that 16 MDAs had keyed into the service; 18 are at the point of bridging the infrastructure gap and securing needed funds to begin the project that will allow them pay staff salaries and settle contractors online.

“It is good but the infrastructure have to be put in place. A company can have 35,000 customers operating in different banks, and will be credited or debited depending on the instruction at the same time.

And the company can be using only one account. One can draw the money from the company’s account and distribute it to different beneficiaries. Today, 18 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) will be joining the e-salaries. Also, 16 MDAs have already joined,” the source said.

In its commitment to e-payments, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) is stepping up the level of the Nigeria’s procurement reform through the commencement of the registration, categorisation and classification of Federal Government contractors, consultants and

Stories by Collins Nweze service providers.

Director-General of the Bureau, Engr. Emeka Ezeh, who spoke on the project said the registration is meant to revolutionise procurement and bring the nation closer to international best procurement practices.

The exercise, which is part of the bureau’s mandate as enshrined in the Public Procurement Act, 2007, will not only simplify the procurement process, but also “encourage more transparency and efficiency in the procurement process”.

The objective of the database, he stressed, is to register, classify and categorize contractors, consultants and service providers as a platform of verification by MDAs, other entities, and interested organisations.

It will also ensure that contractors, consultants and service providers of equal competencies and capabilities bid for specific jobs and the bureau is partnering with all concerned stakeholders to successfully develop this business model and infrastructure.

Engr. Ezeh emphasised that since its signing into law, the Bureau has been challenged by the need to effectively sensitise Federal Government functionaries, contractors, consultants, suppliers, service providers, civil society organisations, professional associations, stakeholders and the public about the provisions of the law and this planned registration is meant to create an electronic interface with stakeholders.

“We have also been concerned about deepening the capacities of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and their leaderships to attain full compliance with the provisions of the Act in order to leverage, harness and galvanize its fundamental objectives and principles to positively transform our developmental quests and the economy for the benefit of Nigeri-

ans,” he said.

According to him, “the usefulness of the Act in Government’s obvious responsibilities, particularly in implementing strategic and sustainable plans to develop infrastructural facilities cannot be overemphasised. These facilities include Power, Transportation, Health, Education, Defence, Agriculture, and Water Resources, amongst others.

CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Tunde Lemo said: “The progress made by the Federal Government in the electronic payments of salaries and contractors/suppliers, the growing acceptance among the citizens of innovations such as the ATM and mobile telephony and commitment by the banking community to improve the supporting infrastructure for seamless electronic payments were encour-

aging factors in the economy.

Other e-services being fine-tuned in the country is the e-dividend. It was sponsored by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and allows dividends to be paid simultaneously to shareholders through the Nigerian Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) bulk services. With that, shareholders do not need any dividend warrant. It was introduced because many shareholders especially the small ones are not collecting their dividends.

There are over N12 billion unclaimed dividends hanging in the accounts of quoted companies. For instance, if somebody has N500 to collect as dividend, and is based in Sokoto, he does not have to come to Lagos to get the fund as it can be paid directly into his account in any commercial bank within the country. However, shareholders of quoted companies cannot get value for e-payments unless the registrar know their account numbers.

Lender woos small savers

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TANBIC IBTC Bank has reiterated its commitment to financial inclusion by making banking easier and more accessible to operators in the informal sector through its Esusu product and services. The Esusu is an easy to use transaction and savings account product which forms part of the bank’s long-term strategy to build a “bank for the people”.

Speaking at a forum to reward Esusu agents from Lagos and Ibadan regions, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Sola David-Borha, said the product and supporting agent network enables individuals and businesses in the informal market segment to make financial transactions conveniently and at low cost.

“W e provide our customers with products and services that they can trust and embrace without fear of losing their money. Esusu takes the traditional mode of savings to a new level by deploying the very best processes and systems. The product allows the activation of various

personal finance pockets for those who want to save to meet specific future needs whilst giving customers the freedom to choose how much and when they want to save,” she explained.

She said the services on the Esusu banking platform are extended to everyone who can use them, including people at the lower rungs of the economic pyramid, traders and rural dwellers.

A unique blend of traditional banking practice and modern information technology, Stanbic IBTC’s Agent Network provides a channel for accessing alternative financial services by a diverse range of people who are currently underserved by formal banking, breaking down the walls that currently separate the unbanked from the much broader world of financial systems.

Head of Inclusion Banking Ada Phil-Ugochukwu said the bank’s targeting of the trader segment and the unbanked with Esusu portends huge benefits for the economy.

Vodafone African Business Leaders Forum coming

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EADERS from across the public and private sectors of Af rica are gearing up for the Vodafone African Business Leaders Forum (ABLF) 2011 slated for Accra, Ghana, from November 10 to 12.

The forum is designed to help business leaders in the public and private sectors to understand and strengthen their resolve to fight poverty and under-development on the continent.

It will provide a platform for business leaders in Africa and the Diaspora to share insights and debate business development options. Participants will have the opportunity of learning from the experiences of renowned entrepreneurs and prominent world-class business leadership experts. The highlevel networking sessions also provide opportunities for strategic business partnerships among delegates.

The event will also feature a Special Youth Summit, a forum for enterprising, energetic youth from Africa to debate issues, exchange ideas and foster beneficial friendships and partnerships.

The event is organised by BIA Conferences and Business & Financial Times,, in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana,

and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency Prof. John Atta Mills, President of the Republic of Ghana.

The theme for the forum is: ‘Enhancing Africa’s Business Opportunities through Effective Public-Private Partnerships.’

“This year’s forum will be the most promising ever, coming at a time when Africa is imbued with boundless hope and countless opportunities,” says Mrs. Edith Dankwa, Executive Director of the Business & Financial Times.

“We intend to realise a vision of a prosperous and confident Africa through beneficial exchanges across countries and borders, which will ultimately generate the ideas and actions to move the continent forward,” she added.

Key speakers expected at the forum include Mr. Kyle Whitehill, CEO of Vodafone Ghana; Dr. James Mwangi, CEO of Equity Bank, Kenya; Dr. Sam Jonah, CEO of Jonah Capital Group; Patrice Motsepe, Chairman of Africa Rainbow Minerals; Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group among others.

• Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa (left) and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Mr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo when the bank’s management visited the governor.

Banks set for cashless banking

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N Nigeria, almost everything is paid for in cash. In supermarkets, cheques are hardly acceptable, and when accepted, delivery of goods and services are only completed when the beneficiary gets value from the bank. So, Nigeria has remained a cash-based economy, despite growth in the banking sector and billions of naira invested in electronic banking over the years.

But all these may change if a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy limiting daily cash withdrawal and lodgments to N150,000 by individuals and N1 million by companies, effective June 1, 2012.

The apex bank took this step to curb dominance of cash in the economy with its implication for cost of cash management to the banking industry, security and money laundering. However, the policy did not come to many banks with proven track record performance in e-payment by surprise.

Already, First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Wema Bank and Diamond Bank, among others have developed tested and viable products/services tailored towards effective management of cashless banking.

For instance, at First Bank, the First Pay, a web-based payment platform designed and developed

to allow customers directly effect payment instructions from their offices online real time in a very secure and efficient manner is provided. Since the First Pay service is available over the web, payments and authorisations can be done regardless of location. The product is most suitable for clients who carry out bulk payments against their accounts in form of Salary Payment, Vendor/Supplier Payment, e-Dividend, Pensions among others regardless of account bank.

It gives the corporate the power to execute their payment instructions without first sending a physical instruction to the bank and waiting for the bank to effect the instructions.

With this service, customers can check their account balances anywhere, anytime; view consolidated bank account balances across banks; secure e-cheques as well as issue and upload e-cheques for Vendor/Supplier payments among other benefits. The bank has also introduced First Alert to give customers instant notification of every transaction that takes place in their accounts through e-mail or Short Messaging Service (SMS). It comes as transaction alert, trade alert, and first guard.

Also, trade alert gives customers instant notification of every stage of their trade finance from the point

of capturing Form ‘M’ to the stage of establishing their Letter of Credit (LC) while FirstMobile banking is a network independent mobile phone solution that provides financial services and other value added services using the mobile phone and a prepaid card.

It can be effected using network services, such as MTN, Airtel, Glo, Starcomms and enables users check their balances and transaction details, authorise payment verify account , electronic fund transfer among other services from home.

First Online, an internet banking service simply requires that a beneficiary has a savings or current account with the bank to enable him check account balances, see account activity, including uncleared effects among others.

Most of the e-payment products have been redesigned to fit emerging market demands.

FlashMeCash introduced by Fin Bank is a mobile payment solution designed specially to serve as a means of payment for goods and services through mobile phones and the internet. It offers the ability to make payments to third parties through the mobile phone or the internet using a virtual account. Money transfer, voucher purchase, bill payment and e-Network are some of those services.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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MONEY

Banks hike consumers’ loan rates TUC urges employers to

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ANKS have raised their lending rates, following the increase in interest rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).

The CBN increased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from nine per cent to 9.25 per cent by 50 basis points in September and further raised it to 12 per cent in October representing 275 basis points.

CBN increased the rate, regarded as the anchor rate for all monetary policy decisions, to gauge the barometer of the economy. Other reasons include mopping up the liquidity base, and checking the inflationary trends in the country.

The Nation learnt that banks increased their lending rates for manufacturers, mortgage and consumers’ loans.

The hike in consumers’ loan is going to have dire effects on workers. The loan is a soft loan banks grant their customers to buy cars, pay for their accommodation, pay their children school’ fees, among others. Banks give the loan on the basis of the salary or income of the applicants.

Findings showed that a branch of Sterling Bank at Egbeda, Lagos increased its rate for consumers’ loan from 20 to 22 per cent. The First City Monument Bank branch at Ikeja increased its from 16 to 18 per cent. A branch of Guaranty Trust Bank in Computer Village, Ikeja raised its from 17 to 19 per cent.

Union Bank branch at Akowonjo, increased its from 18 to 20 per cent.

Oceanic Bank Plc (Ikeja branch), 22 to 24 per cent; Skye Bank, 24 to 26

Storiesby Akinola Ajibade per cent. Sources close to the branches said the increase took effect from last week, adding that the rates are uniform in all the branches nationwide.

An analyst with Lagos Business School (LBS), Dr Austin Nwezie, said the decision of the banks to increase all the lending rates is right, in view of the current developments in the industry. Nwezie said increase in MPR is going to discourage borrowings and that the only way for banks to do good business is to in like manners review all their transaction rates.

He said: “Presently, Nigerians are still feeling the harsh effects of the economy. Salaries are small in many companies, while others are not paying regularly. The increase in lending rates for consumers’ loan means more hardships to them. Many customers would not be able to approach the banks for soft loans because of the increase in lending rates, and that means that they would not be able to meet most of their domestic obligations.”

He said the increase in lending rates would discourage many manufacturers from burrowing, and further compound their problems.

“With MPR now 12 per cent, many firms would find it difficult to fund their operations. Inability of companies to finance their operations means low capacity utilisation and productivity. Based

on this, we should be expecting a gale of retrenchment in most companies, especially those that produce consumables. This would further increase the pressure on the economy,” he added.

Also, the Executive Secretary, Association of Foods, Beverages, and Tobacco, Mr. Aderemi Adegboyega, said the increase in lending rates for consumers’ loan signifies more problems for many salary earners.

Adegboyega said the issue is going to have ripple effects on all aspects of the economy, advising Nigerians to spend relative to their incomes.

According to him, the auto dealers, school owners, and the traders would be affected by the increase in lending rates for consumers’ loan.

“The issue is a like a vicious cycle.

Everybody would be affected by the movement of MPR to 12 per cent and corresponding increase in all transaction charges issued by banks. For instance, lending rates to manufacturers now stand between 23 to 26 per cent.

Some banks charge higher, after factoring other costs. This means that manufacturers would produce at higher rates, and further transfer the costs to consumers. Mind you, the transporters would increase the cost of moving the goods from the factories to the consumers.

“At the end, consumers would bear the burden of paying heavily for goods,” he said.

• L-R: Specialist Oral Care, Unilever Asia, Dr Vaidehi Ketkar; Vice-President West Africa Common Wealth Dental Association, Professor Adeyemi Olusile and Director Unilever Nigeria, Mr David Okeme at the International Association of Dental Researchers (IADR) symposium in Abuja.

How MfBs can grow, by CBN

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N an attempt to drive the growth of micro finance institutions, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has advocated a more sustainable environment for the operators.

The Director, Development Finance Institution, CBN, Mr.Paul Nduka Eluhaiwe, said constant training of the operators is imperative for the growth of the sub-sector.

He spoke at skills acquistion programm for microfinance operators in Lagos.

Eluhaiwe, who represented CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi Lamido, said the right environment is needed for the microfinance sector to grow, adding that the apex bank had trained over 200 examiners to assess the microfinance to enhance its efficiency.

He said the sector had gone through series of reforms in the

country, adding that the bank recently set new operating guidelines that would enable the sector operate and contribute to the economic growth of the country.

According to him, the policy seeks to harmonise operating standards and provide a strategic platform for the evolution of microfinance institutions particularly MfBs. He said the existing non-deposit taking service providers, which continue to operate outside the purview of regulation and supervision of the CBN would be encouraged to make periodic returns on their operations for statistical purposes to the CBN. The apex bank said the policy would enhance the provision of diversified microfinance services on a sustainable basis for the economically active poor and low income standards. It would also provide appropriate machinery

for tracking activities of development partners and other non-bank service providers in the microfinance sub-sector of the Nigerian economy.

CBN had issued a circular in April, to explain the roles expected of microfinance banks in the country. In the circular, MfBs are expected to enhance the access of micro-entrepreneurs and low income households to financial services sector to enable them contribute to the growth of the economy. The circular defined microfinance services as loans, deposits, insurance, fund transfer and other ancillary non-financial products targeted at low-income clients.

The CBN said that before the emergence of MfBs, the people that were unserved or underserved by formal institutions usually found succour in nongovernmental organisations.

comply with tax laws

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HE Trade Union Congress (TUC) has endorsed the cur rent campaign of the Ogun State government to get employers comply with the Residency Rule provision of the nation’s Personal Income Tax Act. The Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) Laws state that an employee’s residence determines where the income tax is remitted. TUC general secretary, John Kolawole said that for long, employers had been breaking the law.

He noted that it was “improper, illegal and unfair” for employers in a state to continue to pay taxes to states where they work, rather than states where they live. He said that many employees reside in the border areas of Ogun State and commute to Lagos.

The TUC General Secretary said

Stories by Collins Nweze “corporate ignorance of the tax laws of the Federation” is not an excuse for the current scenario where companies remit incorrectly. “Wrongful employee tax remittance must stop, if we are to ever realise our dreams of building a standard living environment for our people. If someone lives in a specific state and works hard and sees his tax deducted every month, that person has expectations for the delivery of health, education, roads services and other amenities,’ he said.

According to him, taxation was designed to aid social and economic development, and in seeking to build a better society equipped with amenities for its residents Ogun state has started well with this awareness campaign.

FMBN advocates NHF, sectoral integration

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HE Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) Mr Gimba Ya’u Kumo has called for integration of the informal sector into the National Housing Fund (NHF) using cooperative societies.

The bank chief said the introduction of the informal sector unit will afford some classes of Nigerians like the akara seller, the road side motor mechanic among others, the opportunity to own residential houses, using the platform of their cooperative societies to access NHF loans for purchase of “subsidised” houses.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Yakowa, he said that the “initiative for cooperative housing for the informal sector will be launched by the Honourable Minister of Lands Housing and Urban Development in November this year.

He urged the governor to support the cooperative housing initiative by providing land for the construction of affordable mass housing for workers,

especially teachers in Kaduna State.

Yakowa canvassed for the need for FMBN to expand its services particularly in the area of infrastructure loans.

He insisted that if the infrastructure loan scope is expanded, it would help in early completion of housing projects being funded by bank in various parts of the country.

The governor urged the bank to release fresh infrastructure loan to Kaduna State Development and Property Company Limited, the state-owned housing development company, to enable the state expedite work on the completion of three housing estates being funded by FMBN in Zaria, Kafanchan and Barnawa.

He said that approving the loan will enable the state start thinking of how to make decent and affordable shelter available to people in the local government areas, with support of the bank.

The FMBN has funded the development of the three residential housing estates to the tune of N2.18 billion, where a total of 1,056 housing units are expected to be delivered.

Communication crucial to cashless banking’s success, says CBN

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HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed its readiness to work with the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) towards educating the public on the soon-to-start cashless banking initiative.

Speaking during a forum jointly organised by them in Lagos to discuss implementation of the initiative, CBN’s Deputy Governor (Operations), Mr TundeLemo, stressed the need for a comprehensive information management approach aimed at explaining the objectives and benefits of the initiative to all stakeholders.

He pointed out that the success or failure of any initiative, no matter how well meaning, is largely dependent on the buy-in of the ultimate beneficiaries of the initiative.

This, he said, can only be made possible by effective communication.

He the regulator will engage with the cream of professionals

saddled with the responsibility for information management in the industry..

ACAMB President, Mr. Babatunde Shofowora, explained that the association was committed to partnering with the CBN and other regulatory bodies to ensure that matters affecting the industry and the Nigerian banking public, such as the cashless society initiative, were effectively communicated.

He explained that the association initiated the forum on the cashless society initiative in view of its far-reaching implications for the public, pointing out that a meeting of minds by the two bodies was crucial for effective information dissemination regarding the initiative.

He announced the launch of a “One Bank, One Voice” initiative by the association to enable industry operators speak with one authoritative public voice on all policy initiatives that affect the Nigerian banking public.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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EDITORIAL/OPINION EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

COMMENT

1-6-3-3-4 mutation •The problem with education in Nigeria is less about the system than leadership

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T seems the education bureaucracy in Nigeria is happy splitting hairs over how to structure the school years while the rot in the system grows deeper.

Recently, the Federal Government, working on the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Education (PTFE,) announced plans to change the number and structure of years spent by the average student going through school. What obtains currently is 6-3-3-4; that is, six years of primary, three years of junior secondary, three years of senior secondary and four years of tertiary education.

Now the task force has effected a minor change in the education life cycle of the average child to be 1-6-3-3-4, the added year being a compulsory one-year early childhood education (ECE). Capturing the five- year-old pre-school kid in the education cycle is salutary and important. What this means is that a whole gamut of improvements will be brought to bear on what used to be a grey area of Nigeria’s

‘We expected the PTFE to make far-reaching recommendations on the issue of corruption which has eaten deep into Nigeria’s education sector. ...Though there is need for more funding, the ‘little’ made available ought to be judiciously deployed if we must get any results. As in other sectors of the economy, there is a clear lack of vision, passion and dedication to the flag across board’

education system. Being the foundation stage and the first schooling experience for the child, there is need for carefully prepared curriculum and standardised teaching methods. This will surely make for proper grounding for the pre-school child as against the current anything-goessituation.

Beyond this however, we dare say that the PTFE fell far short of the expectations of the citizenry. Education is the single most important catalytic factor of the modern age and certainly, the road to the future. It is a well-known fact that any nation that lags behind in it will continuously remain less developed and under-achieving in a post-modernist knowledge-based world. Although the terms of reference of the PTFE is not readily available to us, its very description as a task force and considering that many Nigerians are of the opinion that education has collapsed to the level of an emergency, early childhood education may be a minuscule aspect of the problem.

We expected the PTFE to make farreaching recommendations on the issue of corruption which has eaten deep into Nigeria’s education sector. According to the last auditor-general’s report made public in 2004, there were more cases of embezzlement and misappropriation in the education ministry, departments and agencies than any other sector. Though there is need for more funding, the ‘little’ made available ought to be judiciously deployed if we must get any results. As in other sectors of the economy, there is a clear lack of vision, passion and dedication to the flag across board. Apart from few exceptions, infrastructure has decayed inexorably in most parts of the coun-

try and where they are still functional, they are so obsolescent that they are not to be found anymore in any part of the world.

For instance, if the pre-school programme as recommended by the PTFE is introduced today, many of the kids will have to study under the shades of trees and write on bare floor. Where there are classrooms, the structures are so dilapidated and decrepit that the environments are suitable for anything else but learning. It is troubling that Nigeria has some of the worst education infrastructure to be found anywhere today.

Even in less endowed African countries, there has been marked improvement in school facilities and learning environments. Our best and brightest minds hardly end up in the school system anymore because the remuneration system has become beggarly and uncompetitive.

It is common knowledge, therefore, that the workforce, especially at the primary and secondary school levels, is largely made up of ill-trained and second-rate minds.

These are some of the issues Nigerians would have expected the PTFE to address in order to find a lasting solution to a most crucial and fundamental national problem. On our part, we suggest the following: 1)that remuneration of teachers be drastically reviewed upwards to attract the very best; 2) the Federal Government should hands-off primary and secondary education, whittle down its mammoth education bureaucracy and set up a joint task force with state governments to urgently upgrade education facilities across the country. We need a quick and radical rethink of our educational system.

Sad end •Col. Gaddafi was a hero who did not know when to exit the stage

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HE dramatic denouement to Libya’s crisis came with the killing of Colonel Muamar Gaddafi who ruled that country for 42 years, having assumed power at age 27 in 1969. The jubilation that followed his death underscores the indignation against him as one of the most eccentric tyrants in the world.

Gaddafi’s stronghold on power was destroyed with his authoritarian fortress battered beyond redemption. He abhorred any form of opposition to his leadership- to him, such must always be crushed. And the man vaingloriously referred to as ‘King of Kings’ extremely practised this until he met his waterloo on October 20.

For six months, he snubbed many opportunities opened for him to exit power.

He saw in the people’s uprising an illegitimate demand that must be ruthlessly trodden upon. Sadly, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)-aided revolution overran his hometown of Sirte where he was taking refuge until he was captured like a rat in a grubby culvert flood drain; beaten, dragged on the streets and eventually shot by rebels he once described as ‘rats’.

He betrayed cowardice when he reportedly begged the rebels not to shoot him, thus trying to escape a dose of the treatment he meted unto others while in power. That moment underscores the demystification of an autocrat that sought to defy history and its lessons. Everyone except Gaddafi and his clan saw his end coming; but, like every despotic leader with similar evil proclivity, he ignored the voice of reason.

Gaddafi and his sons saw Libya as their personal fiefdom, overstaying their welcome in the process. Within the Arab world and Africa, Gaddafi was a big regret because he ended as a villain in a country that ab initio proclaimed his heroism.

Gaddafi destroyed institutions of state and built a political cult typified by tyrannical cobwebs around him. He became famous for his unguarded contempt for other countries, especially the powerful ones. He reportedly sponsored international terrorism.

His despotism might be incontrovertible but his anti-imperialist and uncommon pan-African inclination cannot be faulted. No wonder his death and ouster from power was masterminded by NATO, the leadership of which he consistently denigrated until death. Libya under him scored high marks in the areas of health, education and general welfare, boasting of, in the process, one of the most remarkable economies in Africa. But one instructive lesson from Gaddafi’s abysmal end is that a prosperous economy devoid of political emancipation is no guarantee to sustain power.

The unexpected stirring of the Arab spring uprisings have now clearly shown that people’s voices can crush the iron fists of any tyrannical leader. Libyans caught the Arab spring contagion and the result was what led to the demise of Gaddafi.

He paid the ultimate price for his mulishness. His demise swings the spotlight on uprisings in Syria, Yemen, and on other dictators in countries around the globe that must henceforth, start counting their

days in power.

We hope now that Gaddafi is out of the picture, Libyans will forthwith have the opportunity to determine their own destiny in a new and democratic country. The challenges of fixing such badly damaged and ethnically diversified country can be enormous, but with sincerity of purpose from the new leadership, the challenges are not insurmountable. More importantly, the question at this juncture is whether the forces united in their common hatred of Gaddafi can come together and govern a country, like Libya, that has never known democracy. The test at the moment should be how to regain security in the cities that are still effectively under the control of local militias and awash with arms.

The superpowers that aided the ouster and eventual killing of Gaddafi should allow Libya to now develop at its own pace by avoiding being overbearing on, and dictatorial to the new leadership.

‘His despotism might be incontrovertible but his anti-imperialist and uncommon panAfrican inclination cannot be faulted ... But one instructive lesson from Gaddafi’s abysmal end is that a prosperous economy devoid of political emancipation is no guarantee to sustain power’

Two cheers for the malaria vaccine

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VACCINE to protect children against malaria has been shown moderately effective in a large clinical trial — an achievement that could save millions of lives. The vaccine, known as RTS,S and made by GlaxoSmithKline, is the first ever to be shown effective against a human disease caused by parasites. When tested in 6,000 infants ages 5 to 17 months in seven subSaharan nations, it reduced the risk of infection with severe malaria by 47 percent during the year after the shots, far less than the 90 percent efficacy rate typically sought for other vaccines. And there are other big hurdles still to surmount. There are hints that the protection may wane over time and results from administering a booster shot won’t be known until 2014.

Side effects could pose a problem; seizures and fevers were higher among children given the vaccine.

If final results of this ongoing study, which involves more than 15,000 children in all, show that the vaccine is safe and effective, the goal is to deploy it in 2015.

Glaxo has pledged to sell the vaccine at its manufacturing cost plus 5 percent that will be spent on research on malaria and neglected diseases. The company has not set a price, and, once it does, international donors and African health systems will have to find the resources to buy and administer it at a time of global recession.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation deserves major credit. Glaxo spent $300 million over 25 years to develop the vaccine for military personnel and travelers but was unwilling to pay for pediatric trials for impoverished nations without a partner. The Gates Foundation donated $200 million to drive the research to completion, and Glaxo expects to add another $100 million of its own.

The fight against malaria has made gains thanks to effective drug treatments, insecticide-treated bed nets and programs to spray the interior walls of houses. With the vaccine, health experts are talking with renewed optimism about eradicating malaria entirely (some countries already have). But it will take vigilance and money to stay ahead of resistant mosquitoes and parasites.

– New York Times

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

20

EDITORIAL/OPINION

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IR: It is shameful to hear from very senior members of the state executive that the only option left for the Abia State government to pay the new minimum wage and meet the pressure of returnees from troubled states is to disengage non-indigene staffs of the state civil service which will create space for their own. It goes to show that indeed the governor and his team which sat to deliberate and take this decision went for the lazy way out. They did not do a thorough job. A bit of patience, serious thinking would have gotten them a better idea to the solution.

The Abia State government is sowing the seed of hatred, vindictiveness, discrimination against Abia sons and daughters living and working in other states of the Southeast and Nigeria as a whole. The men in power in Abia State did not ponder at the effect if other states in the region or country decide to retaliate with this sort of senseless and insincere policy of theirs. The excuse that such a policy was done to Abians in the past by neighboring states is too childish to brandish.

The Ibos share a common history, affinity, language, culture, and as such a slap to one is a slap to all. The history of sack of non-indigenes in the South-east, did not start with Abia State Governor, TA Orji, it all began according to available records in 2002, by Chimaraoke Nnamani, former Enugu State governor, who then sent back nonEnugu State civil servants back to their states of origin. It was roundly condemned; in fact the then Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, condemned it but, did not retaliate.

The argument being presented by the aides of Abia State Governor, Chief Orji, for this irrational behavior is very regrettable, appalling,

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Abia State and non-indigene workers! ridiculous, and fails all logical analysis. It is the responsibility of government to think, plan and open new doors for economic development of their people. Agreed that south eastern states do not receive much from the federation account compared to other states, but if mismanagement, misappropriation, corruption, irrelevant trips, overbloated aides are checked, there will be enough to pay the minimum wage and still develop infrastruc-

tures in the states.

If all the governors of the Southeast will look inwards to raise their Internally Generated Revenue, they will surely create jobs for their people. Often, I have challenged the present and past Abia state government on the development of Aba; this city holds the magic wand on the economic development and financial muscle of Abia. Why has every government ignored it?

This non-indigene sack may no

doubt affect the political unity of the South-east states. Perhaps, those who are promoting this are not looking at the political future of Ndigbo in the country’s political space? This case has attracted enough criticisms that would have necessitated the governor to rescind the decision rather than allow it mar the unity of brothers. In Lagos, for instance, the state’s civil service is filled with mostly people from neighboring states and far yet, there is no hue

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• Uzodinma Nwaogbe Maitama – Abuja

Another view on post-JAMB test

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IR: In course of time, I have met two categories of parents: those whose children passed the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) test, and those whose children failed it. Naturally the one is happy with selfsatisfaction, while the other is sad or not happy. Ditto for the candidates themselves who passed and those who failed. But the hard reality is that the era of anything goes is over in the university admission system in Nigeria. And whoever sabotages that order should be ostracized.

When I realized the benefit of the post-UTME test as a teacher who likes to teach academically capable students, I started to fear that nobody should sabotage it, and that Nigeria should sustain it. Of course, my experience of the new development

is limited to University of Ilorin.

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) should look at the post-UTME matter this way. The West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) could ask JAMB to stop conducting UTME and that universities should simply admit those who have five credits including English, so as not to undermine their own integrity. But, since the two bodies have not asked JAMB not to re-examine their products, neither should JAMB complain about the post-UTME test.

The university, as the consumer of the UTME products reserves the right to do the test that it is now doing, and the positive result is there to see for anybody who is objective.

My other fear is in regard of the

allegation of extortion that we are reading about in newspapers. I appeal to universities to beware of abuse and perversion of what is good. Nigerians are saying that using the post-UTME test as another means of revenue is unacceptable. I agree.

Any university authority that is guilty should be sanctioned. I even thought there was a maximum amount of money fixed as chargeable for the test. Whatever it is, I know it cannot be free, because of the human and material resources that go into the exercise, but the amount must not be outrageous, and it must be accounted-for.

Several things that could degrade university education had been suggested in the past. One of such things was that we should stop conducting examinations and then

FRSC and vehicle number plate scarcity IR: Following the euphoria that greeted the establishment of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) by the Ibrahim Babangida administration in 1988, the Professor Wole Soyinka led agency quickly swung into action to truncate the anomalies and absurdity that had hitherto been created by road users. Such unethical road practices contributed to a lot of avoidable accidents and resultant deaths. FRSC main functions include educating drivers, motorists and other members of the public on proper use of the highways, issuance of Driver’s licence and production of vehicle plate numbers for the entire federation.

Getting a driver’s licence today from FRSC is a cumbersome task due to bureaucratic bottlenecks. Touts and fraudsters are having a field day by producing fake driver’s licences for

and cry over it.

The Abians who returned to the state were in no way sacked by the states they returned from. It was due to the crisis in such places hence, other south east states may have also witnessed such returnees and are battling to cope with it, so why is Abia government making issues out of this?

Let the government of Abia State recall and reinstate these sacked workers in the interest of peace, love, unity and progress of Igbo land. It is not wise to chase other children who for many years have served you because your children have just returned home; you can accommodate all of them in the interest of love and fairness.

Nigerians who can not afford to go through the excruciating stress and pains of getting a genuine driver’s licence.

In 2006, vehicle owners had to cough out as much as 45,000 naira to register a vehicle. Some citizens who travel to Lagos to buy vehicles had to lodge in hotels for weeks before getting the scarce commodity at an astronomical cost. Vulnerable and susceptible members of the public became victims of fake vehicle number plates which scammers started producing due to the lacuna that was created by this acute scarcity.

This was the situation before the charismatic former Governor of Lagos State, Ahmed Tinubu decided to take the bull by the horn by commencing the production of vehicle number plates for Lagos State only. By this bold step, the former defined the word fed-

eralism. Suddenly, every thing changed as potential vehicle owners were able to register their vehicles genuinely for less than 20,000 naira.

Now, for over three to four months, there has been another acute scarcity of vehicle plate numbers following announcement by FRSC that it will commence production of new vehicle plate numbers and will start the issuance on October 1. To the utter consternation of Nigerians, the FRSC is yet to issue a single number plate due to the inconsistencies in policies that have characterised government owned agencies. Lagos State had to stop production since September in order to comply with this obnoxious directive. Why put potential vehicle owners through this mess again? If FRSC had issues that needed to be resolved before the issuance of the new number plates, why not resolve it first?

Why not maintain the status quo until all necessary and relevant logistics are put into place? Do we need to privatise FRSC for it to be productive? Why embark on production of new number plates when there is nothing wrong with the old one? In other words, what is the rationale for this new policy?

Number plates vendors and car dealers are already feeling the pain as potential vehicle owners are not willing to buy untill the new number plate is out.

Every right thinking, and truly patriotic Nigerian should be worried about the state of anomie in the FRSC. The President should wield the big stick to save Nigerians from the tyranny of the FRSC. Time too to ameliorate the plight of car dealers, vendors and potential vehicle owners.

• Emmanuel Imoh Ekereuwe Abuja.

grade and certify students based only on continuous assessment (CA) and assignment. I had argued that examination is the final test of the students’ aggregate knowledge in Nigerian context. The latter is much more definite than the CA which some students can miss, and the assignment which a teacher may use his or her discretion to wave, while no teacher can wave examinations and get-away with it easily. External examiners re-examine examination marks!

Another of such suggestions was that credit in English be waved as an admission requirement for students who are talented in science subjects.

The proponents forgot that at least one foreign/international language is always required for university education whether you are in England, France, or anywhere else.

That may be because a university graduate is supposed to be universal to some extent. We are even lucky that English is already our lingua franca, and its prevalence is helping learners who want to learn. Talented scientists can develop themselves by other means if they cannot meet the requirement for university education.

In sum, the post-UTME test should not be discarded. I don’t know the history of its emergence, but I like it for its worth, and I don’t think it started because some universities were looking for money; rather in quest of advancing university education in Nigeria. The onus is on university administrators to ensure that the test is honourably done and it achieves the purpose of limiting university education to capable applicants.

• Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D, University of Ilorin.

21

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION

‘Oil to fuel’ noose at Nigerians’ neck; Oil to fuel’ minus Petrochemical sales = $$?

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IGERIAN politicians should stop hating Nigerians and cut their multi-billion naira greed -see the EFCC trials for megamismanagement of Tony N100,000,000,000+ by Marinho just three governors!

Imagine the good that money should have done! The true figure for mega-mismanagement is Ntrillions for all governors - more than the so-called ‘fuel subsidy’ which truthfully is only the money paid by government to cover-up its chronic monumental Corruption, Inefficiency, Incompetence and Negligence CIN, making Nigerians ‘fuel beggars’ and an international laughing stock without water, roads, power, education and health.

Nigeria depends on direction and grants and loans from the World Bank for roads/water projects, from Gates Foundation and Global Fund for HIV/AIDS/Tuberculosis/Malaria eradication, from Rotary/WHO for Polio Programmes, from the Carter Centre for Oncocerciasis Eradication, from DFID and US-PAC for education projects etc. Such international intervention is welcome and life-saving but it allows corrupt governments to claim ‘Government cannot do everything alone’ which translates into ‘Governments will do nothing’.

How is it possible for Nigeria to be cursed by such a consistent ‘plague of locust politicians’, with only a handful of shining exceptions? This is at a time of ‘Great Nigerian Need’ for ‘A Rare Breed of Selfless Politicians’ to provide urgent maximum good governance. Nigerians are not all greedy, godless and corrupt but most politicians are!

Will the ‘Nationalist Nigerians’ please step forward to lead!

Imagine Nigeria’s delivering mothers shamefully having to depend on foreign ‘aid programmes’? Foreign NGOs and governments will not forever give us the crumbs from their well-managed funds to fill the monumental potholes left by Nigerian governments CIN. Almost every Nigerian maternal death is an indictment on negligent Nigerian governments.

Government must leave the ‘so-called fuel subsidy’ as it is.

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UAMMAR Gaddafi, the despot who held Libya, a country of 6.5 million people, hostage for the whole of 42 years, is dead. Good news. The death or capture of many members of his inner circle and hardcore loyalists is also an important phase in the Libyan conundrum. With Gaddafi out of the way, it is the end of an era but the beginning of yet another challenging, perhaps, more tortuous era.

Except for those who reaped bountifully from his tyranny while it lasted, Gaddafi’s death came as a big relief to many in the country and across the globe. However, it does not mean that the bloodletting the world has witnessed in Libya these past eight months is about to end.

The huge arsenal of war the late tyrant amassed for the massacre of his people is still in the hands of his die-hard loyalists. This portends a constant threat of terrorism or residual insurgency in the country.

This is more so in view of recent experiences in Iraq where the exit of Saddam Hussein did not end the country’s insurgency.

Undoubtedly, the baton of leadership is currently in the hands of the National Transitional Council, NTC, an amalgamation of diverse groups in the Libyan imbroglio.

Though the fight over Libya has dramatically shifted from the battle field to the roundtable, it is still not very clear who the rebels really are.

The proclamation in Benghazi last Sunday signalling the end of the war is only the beginning of the transition.

The urgent task before the NTC now will be what form the country’s new security will take,

It is not a ‘subsidy’ but just fees paid by failed governments to cover their massive incompetence in achieving local refining capacity of 300,000 barrels/day to meet local needs. There is a resultant inability or refusal of politicians and civil servants of Nigeria to create and maintain adequate on-shore refinery capacity even though illegal bunkering daily loses millions. Many micro-refineries exist in the Niger Delta which could be harnessed for development. The inability to convert Nigeria’s God-given oil into Nigerian fuel for fellow Nigerians has created the ‘oil to fuel’ export-import loop paying for shipping, foreign refining and re-shipping- ‘Oilto-fuel round-tripping’. The loop costs government N1.5trillion –N1,500,000,000,000. Each section of the loop has hidden ‘controllers’ Nigerian politicians or businessman soaked and drowning in daily dollars, millions every single day –fat money-enough to silence on-shore refineries! What do ex-heads of state know of this chop-chop? That is the money the government now wants Nigerians to pay from their meagre salaries come January 1, 2012. This is now the noose around Nigerians’ collective neck– strangling us financially and extracting money from our pockets. The pirates are not only off the Somalia coast. We have pirate politicians perpetuating this fraud.

Who audits NNPC’s round-tripping of oil to fuel. What is the amount paid by the refineries abroad to NNPC and by NNPC to the Nigerian government for the sale of 30-odd petrochemical by-products of the barrels refining abroad for re-importing into Nigeria? NISER and universities should research this. Or perhaps we should ask which Nigerians have silently stolen, taken control or claim they ‘own’ the massive non-fuel components of every barrel of oil refined abroad for re-export to Nigeria. The petrochemicals include petroleum jelly, plastics produced by refining abroad for the last 30 years, Nigeria’s property but why is the money from their sale- at least a trillion or two a year, not mentioned during subsidy discussions?

Government should know that this fuel, though not cheap, is the only ‘benefit’ Nigerians get. Many EU countries give massive subsidies in agriculture, education, health and transport. But the World Bank, IMF staff here tells us the ‘subsidy’ only benefits the wealthy and its removal will not adversely

affect our poor or the poverty level. But every item, food, transport, rent, recreation has been increased in price by the market women, traders, drivers, landlords and teachers in anticipation. Foreigners should ask their cooks, stewards and drivers if the subsidy removal will affect them. This government should look elsewhere for the income it wants to replace its Corruption, Incompetence and Negligence. Government must decentralise and resurrect the refineries, stop ‘round-tripping’ of oil to fuel, give us 24/7 decentralised power –i.e. 100,000Mw by extreme measures and by ‘Any Means Necessary’ by 2012. How dare Nigeria seek $315m or N47,250,000,000, or less than one week’s national oil earnings from the World Bank to do roads and then turn around to send N30,000,000,000 to the sinkhole called National ID scam, I mean scheme.

The ‘Oil to fuel’ noose around Nigerians’ neck is a real threat to Nigeria. What is being presented as ‘Oil to fuel’ is less than half of the story. Someone is selling our petrochemicals abroad at the refineries. Where is that money? The so-called oil subsidy must be corrected to subtract that huge amount of ‘petrochemicals money’ before anyone talks of subsidy. In fact the ‘oil to fuel’ bi-product – petrochemicals- sold abroad is a huge profit for a few Nigerians. The Auditor General and the Ministry of Finance should provide the figures and render the answer to this arithmetical quiz: ‘Oil to fuel’ N1.5trillion minus petrochemical sales = profit for government and not a loss or cost or subsidy.

‘Who audits NNPC’s round-tripping of oil to fuel. What is the amount paid by the refineries abroad to NNPC and by NNPC to the Nigerian government for the sale of 30-odd petrochemical byproducts of the barrels refining abroad for re-importing into Nigeria? NISER and universities should research this’

Libya: winning the ‘peace’ and how it will demobilise, disarm and integrate the various militia groups that contributed to Gaddafi’s fall into the new security structures – military and police. So much depends on how the Council manages the situation on the ground. In that case, we need to examine two things: If the whole rebellion was to get rid of Gadaffi and his cohorts, well, we can say yes, what has happened so far is a success. But will the exit of Gaddafi pave the way for democracy in the country? It is doubtful.

The Libyan population has lived with the tyranny of a dictatorship for 42 years. The NTC needs to swiftly get its hands on the levers of power and kick-start the enormous pain of rebuilding a country plagued by evil all this while. It is heartwarming though, that the council has promised to put in place a provisional government within the next eight months or so. But the factors that will militate against an easy transition include the fact that Libya has no history of democracy.

How do we expect people who have no idea or semblance of democracy to evolve a pluralistic form of government any time soon? How will the new leaders convince the people to submit themselves to elections and manage the outcome of such elections, especially the temperament of likely losers? And how will the country deal with oil politics?

The climate of fear inherited from the Gaddafi era may not fizzle out so quickly. Mistrust, distrust,

“The only thing the country has going for it is that the people are largely homogenous. So, a more intractable issue of natural identity, now plaguing a country like Iraq, may not occur”

jealousy and envy characterised that era. People were too terrified and suspicious of one another to talk freely or debate issues. Those who dared to raise their voices were either killed or chased into exile. So, it will definitely take far longer time than anticipated to make the people accept institutions that are the forerunner to democracy – constitution, formation of political parties, elections and all that. The truth is that imbibing a democratic culture takes some time as democracy is not just about putting in place an electoral structure with the appropriate decision-making organs. Democracy slowly evolves with people having faith in the system. It cannot happen so suddenly and so quickly, as renegades from the discredited dictatorship of the past could get themselves back into government. It cuts across the various strata of the society - from the influential to the lowly placed - who need a role in the new government in order to put food on their family’s table. In fact, people are already changing sides to accommodate their desperation for survival.

As for the oil politics, oil is everything to Libya. It represents about 95 percent of the country’s export earnings and contributes more than 80 percent to government coffers. With its large size, 98 percent of the land is a vast desert, leaving less than two percent of land for agriculture; the economic artery of the country is oil and nothing else. Major oil companies will soon invade the country in search of oil deals. They will pay little or no attention to the erection of needed democratic structures.

Those who will sign contract papers for them will purportedly do so on behalf of the Libyan people.

In a continent replete with kleptomaniacs, how much of the proceeds

from this valuable product will get to the people in a transparent manner remains to be seen. The Gaddafi clan and the scavengers around them institutionalised corruption in the sale and export of oil. While they lived in obscene opulence, majority of the people simply looked on. Even though transparency in the public accounts system is an important ingredient of democracy, corruption in Libya may not end overnight. What may change are the major players in the maggoty game.

Beyond the institution of democracy and oil politics is the sober recognition of how quickly the temperature of national liberation can turn sour in the face of debilitating insecurity in the country. It all depends on how the NTC heals the wounds in the country by reconciling the people or takes revenge and settles scores. Gaddafi’s loyalists and surviving children could provide the rallying point for tribal violence and irredentism, if not now, but certainly later if urgent steps are not taken to genuinely achieve national reconciliation.

Also, the fact that NATO was fingered in the events leading to the capture and ultimate death of Gaddafi may cast a dark shadow on the legitimacy of the NTC and threaten regional support, especially from the Arab league. Inside Libya itself, the militias are hostile and poorly organized. Given its chaotic military structure in which individual brigades took orders from their commanders and their tribal leaders, it is doubtful if such militias will easily subscribe to orders from a national chain of command under the NTC. In particular, much of the fighting in the last phase of the insurrection was carried out under the control of militia commanders. Such commanders do not usually submit to civilian

Dele Agekameh control. This may be an obstacle to national coherence.

Significantly, Libyan tribes will be key players in the new era. But one thing to note is that political power was, in many respects, artificially created by Gaddafi’s divide-and-rule tactics. This could stir up competition among Libya’s ethnic groups, tribes and regions over the distribution of power and resources.

The only thing the country has going for it is that the people are largely homogenous. So, a more intractable issue of natural identity now plaguing a country like Iraq, may not occur. The country is only broken into small tribes but there are no strong ethnic or religious divisions which are normally the platforms for conflicts or a reluctance to share power. Though the absence of government institutions and an established civil society suggests that the road may be rough, Libya’s relative wealth, limited size, homogenous population and the people’s sense of ownership of the revolution, should aid a seamless transition to democracy and peace.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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EDITORIAL/OPINION FROM THE CELL PHONE ‘Tunji, the reactionaries refuse to learn from what is happening in the Arab world. They’ll learn their lesson the hard way. Those of them saying that it cannot happen here’ll later find out that they are deceiving themselves. It may happen sooner than expected. From Alhaji Adeboye Lawal, Felele, Ibadan’ presidency, the ministries, legislative asemblies, the oil industry, e t c. Anonymous

•Obasanjo

For Gbadegesin The danger this time is indeed incisive and frank. I would like you to throw more light on the activities of the house then then the Bankole saga (or have we forgotten him so soon?). Anonymous The time is coming, very soon, when no one will accept to be identified as a lawmaker at any level in Nigeria. This group of people are the ones impoverishing us as a nation.

We are getting wiser by the day. From Yuni Dabels Jos, Plateau State.

IBB is the right person to answer this? “Who killed Dele Giwa” Infact, had it been there is justice in this land IBB should not be a freeman today! because to my understanding, IBB is responsible! From Ibrahim Muazu Attahirullah, Gombe state.

All Nigerian politicians are the same wicked vampires - out to inflict deadly damage on the whole nation particularly the masses that voted them into office. God will judge them!

Anonymous Those of them who claim to be different should speak out against their wicked actions and we will know that they are different?

Anonymous Good piece sir. In Benue state, PDP bigwigs have connived wit the judiciary to deny the People’s mandate to ACN. The most surprising thing is that certificate forgery is about to be legalised in Nigeria in the case between Gov Suswam and kaki at the high court, Saror vs Suswam,and Ugba vs Suswam. From Jesse, Makurdi.

I am sure you can recall that the ‘oju o r’olari’ syndrone was heightened by OBJ. Rather than fix Ota road, he rides a helicopter from Muritala Muhammad International Airport, Ikeja, to his farm. Now, what are the legislators doing with cars? Most often they invite their ‘games’ to their Committee rooms.

Whenever they are in Abuja, they collect huge allowances, travel by air, get free accomodation and other perks from the same people they are ‘oversighting’. The way it is now, does it mean if you belong to four committees, then you have four ‘committee cars?’

It is either they think Nigerians are fools or they are incurable schizophrenics themselves!

Have a good day. From Prof. Regards. Olu. Thanks for your insightful and thought-provoking piece. However, as agents of social engineering, please try to situate issues rightly. You and I know very well that what we are practicing is oligarchy not democracy as 80 percent of all office holders were selected not elected. Please don’t join those that are using diction to legitimize illegality.

Thanks and may God continue to bless your efforts. Anonymous It is a pity that politicians in Nigeria are robbers. They rob our commonwealth. They are thieves. Tell me any reasonable thing they have contributed to uplift the masses. If it is well with them, it will never be well with their children. They must reap what they are sowing. Where is Gaddafi and his children.

From Nze Let this country be divided peacefully into three or expect a violent, mass revolt.

Let there be a national conference or bloody break up. Let there be a confab, to know if the ethnic groups still want to live together.

The advocates of one nigeria are doing so for selfish interests, they are the ones milking this country dry through their corupt practices in all the sectors of government in the

For Olatunji Dare It’s so unfortunate that our leaders fail to recognise they will die someday, then, judgement. I just pray his soul rest in peace. God bless you, dare. From Ansel, Minna On Dele Giwa case, ALLAH will not forgive Gen. Babangida and Akilu and their children too will share part of it. It’s quite unfortunate. From Ismail Akanbi, Ilorin One thing is sure. Whosoever murdered Dele Giwa has swallowed a long pistol and they must sleep standing. Florence ita giwa...

We shall see. From Stan whyte, Makurdi Re: who killed dele giwa? Quite a gory tale!

A pathetic incident and accident! May such never happen to anyone by any government again! I was doing my youth corp then and little implication did I know of that until i began to search for job and also now that one keeps a family. The killer needs to know that God watches and that, he/she will die also, one day. How will he die? He should confess publicly and repent, period! Who will want to lose a domesticated goat not to talk of a dynamic human called ‘dele Giwa’...R.I.P. Ameen. From Lanre Oseni, Lagos.

It remains an open secret that Dele Giwa’s death came through two security chiefs. One was assigned to level false and deadly allegations against him; the other was assigned to carry out the real act.Those who believe that we’re all equal before the law in this country should stop fooling themselves as some Nigerians are far far above the law.The killers and their principal are all alive but certainly they and their generations wont escape the impending wrath of God! It’s a matter of time. From Tunde Adeniji,Old Ife Road,Ibadan,Oyo State.

No arrests have been made, and nobody has been charged, much less (much more) prosecuted....Please educate me. Anonymous That was a very courageous piece. We have always known, but no one has ever come out to state it this plainly before. I hope you have taken out a life insurance. Those forces are still around and even more malevolent.

People with courage like yours are the only hope for our country. To think they wanted to contest election in Nigeria... Anonymous So surprising that the NATION’s reporters: Mohammed Haruna and Olatunji Dare are tackling themselves on d subjective, unbalanced and highly politicised reportage of the issue ‘WHO KILLED DELE GIWA’. The NATION has created the impression of a divided house, unideological tabloid of d medieval and a journalism of political divide. May I use this medium to inform you that the readers are tired of your inconsistencies, politicisation and typical-for-sale and confusion induced journalism.Thank you. Anonymous I seem to take time to editor’s column of every newspaper I read especially on past events of our leaders. Most of them I think, die very harsh, or horrible death, and so on.

I just shake my head and sometimes, tears drop down my eye. Now Dele Giwa, although he died before I was born. He died a terrible death (parcel bomb) and after 25 years the devil incarnates have never been prosecuted.

What a country! Please let justice prevail. Naija na wa o. From Bashir igbayilola Uncle Olatunji, based on your last question, this people are above the law. I’ll advice you to forget it or you become guilty. From Beast, Ado-Ekiti For Tunji Adegboyega Tunji, you have given us the information we don’t have about Ghadaffi, especially his background. I wish other African leaders read your column this morning (October 23). But you omitted his sex life. However, it is a well researched and powerful write-up. From Sina.

Tunji, the reactionaries refuse to learn from what is happening in the Arab world. They’ll learn their lesson the hard way. Those of them saying that it cannot happen here’ll later find out that they are deceiving themselves. It may happen sooner than expected. From Alhaji Adeboye Lawal, Felele, Ibadan.

Your position on the Libyan debacle and martyrdom of Ghadaffi was not contextualised in view of imperialism and resistance, the place of oil’s largest reserve in Africa, role of NATO, USA, the economic crisis in Europe and the role of collaborators among Libyans. Ghadaffi overstayed, no doubt, but without oil, the West would have looked the other way like in Cuba where Raul Castro succeeded Fidel. What happened in Libya was not revolution; there is a difference between autocentric revolution and externally sponsored mutiny. Revolution in the real sense should be ideological and focused like that in Russia in 1917, Cuba in 1959, Egypt in 1952, Libya in 1969, etc. With the exception of Cuba, others were against monarchy while Cuba ‘s was against the puppet of foreign capitalists and all were communism-induced.

Libya witnessed NATO and US-induced mutiny and not revolution. Ghadaffi was killed

by NATO because of oil. From Adewuyi Adegbite.

Arise Nigerians! What concerns you, me and other Nigerians is to canvass against removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government and start the campaign from there.

God bless good Nigerians. From Anonymous.

I read your article and enjoyed it but disagreed that it could happen in Nigeria. It is impossible! And if it is done, it can never be successful and purposeful like that of Libya.

This is because I see Nigerians turning it into a religious/tribal war, with Christians killing Muslims and burning mosques and Muslims killing Christians and burning churches.

In short, it will consume us rather than liberate us. So, pray it doesn’t happen. We need not warn Jonathan; he can take his time. It’s not likely in Nigeria. From Musa, Unilorin.

Your write-up on Ghadaffi was historically and intellectually sound and it is a piece of advice to us all. Thank you and please, keep writing. From Austin Eno, Lagos.

Your write-up on Ghadaffi was beautiful and balanced. Please keep it up. From Anonymous.

Tunji, I read your column on October 23.

You are a great man for calling Ghadaffi a coward. From FDC UBA, Obosi, Anambra State.

Your write-up on ‘A road we travelled before’ (October 16) is super. Ask them, who is afraid of The Nation newspaper. Those who want us to buy fuel at N180/litre are afraid of what The Nation can do to them. From Otunba Idera, (OFR).

For Gbenga Omotoso You are very correct in itemizing the problems that has enveloped the nation. But sorry for the pains of invasion and arrest. It was due to engine fatigue on the part of the President, you know these few days he suffered too many tensions. They have calmed him down now with sedatives. Just pray it works.

From Akin Malaolu Please use that unlawful detention of your Editor and Staff to try the Judiciary by suing FGN, IGP, AGF and Obasanjo. Keep telling the Truth. From Ignatius Onyejekwe, Orsu, Imo State.

Your piece titled ‘A distressful week’ is quite revealing. All I will tell you and your kind is that you guys should brace up for more battles. This country is on a free fall; nothing is working. Your profession is such that you must say the truth and there lies your dilemma. Are you going to close your eyes to the filth going on in the name of government or tell the truth with the hope that one

• Ghaddafi

day our leaders will be shamed enough to make amendments? What kind of people are we? I am so ashamed of myself.

From the refineries to power, education, agriculture, infrastructure and even the Judiciary is completely corrupted and yet our leaders will not want to hear the truth. Must we all pretend? Nigerians are dying of hunger in droves. Go to the hospitals and see the pretense we call health care. Anonymous I pray for you all at The Nation; you will overcome your enemies and those of Nigeria. May the fate of Gaddafi be their portion: they will be found hiding in a hole alone and helpless. From Irhete P I agree with you that any person who has problem of defamation with your company shld go to court as I have done against you, your company and others in Aba High court which is coming up today. From Victor Gbenga, your back page piece today again confirms Jourmalists’ self righteouness! Access to media and the right to report is no right to iInvade privacy! It is morally wrong to publish a private letter without the consent of the writer or it’s receipient! You in d media are embarrassing us! You are bent on forcing your opinion on us daily, and that is very bad. Would you pay the legal cost to Obasanjo if he goes to court? It’s very sad how you are behaving... Writing, criticising and condemning without restraint! You owe apology to Obj and your readers for the invasion and insulting our sensibilities. From Osakuni Every peace-loving Nigerian should rise up against this dastardly and uncivilsed action. It is crude and barbaric.The same way Obj unleashd terror on Odi and also the innocent allotees of the Federal land at Aboru in 2004. A leopard will never change its skin. Guy, don’t relent. From Joseph Sunday, Ibadan.

Is Chief OBJ the legitimate owner of this our great country? Why is OBJ still powerful in all governments that exist in Nigeria.

OBJ Should know that we are not under military regime, rather we are practising ‘demorcracy’ under the rule of law. Chief Obj, please allow our seasoned Editors in this country to do their legitimate duties creditably. This is a man who nearly died in jail under the military rule of Abacha and the entire members of the public, including the Editors of various organisations stood by him and he was released, thereafter he governed this country for eight consecutive years.

Please inform OBJ to leave this country alone because this nation belongs to all of us, not for OBJ family. Tell OBJ to tender apology to the entire people of this country for disrespecting the rule of law as well. From Comrade Oboh O M. I have said it to those who care to listen many times even during the presidential campaign that Jonathan can never be an effective president this country need at this time. Reasons; Obasanjo, experiene and P. D. P. The unfolding events does not surprise me. May god save us. Anonymous Nothing good come from evil, Obasanjo is evil. He will use Jonathan to do illegallity because he does not believe in rule of law. As for jonathan, he is a dove who behave like a tiger. Look what he did to Salami. Beware of Obasanjo and Jonathan. Timi Jacob, Bayelsa state

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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NATION SPORT

Dream Team for Amokachi declares for Eagles' job Morocco tourney N

IGERIA’S Olympic team will feature in an invitational tournament in Morocco from

November 7 before they set out for final training camp in Portugal.

The team is expected to depart Nigeria on November 4 for the competition, which is being bankrolled by global electronics company LG. MTNFootball.com exclusively revealed recently that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) were yet to decide which team will represent the country at the invitational tournament Eagles coach Samson Siasia was also keen to lead a home-based team to the competition.

Officials informed MTNFootball.com that no stone will be left unturned to ensure that the country’s remaining hope for international glory fly high after the recent failures of the Super Eagles and Super Falcons.

“The Dream Team will be given everything to succeed,” said the official.

“After the tournament in Morocco they will fly out to Faro, Portugal, for the final preparations.”

Participation in the competition will also afford the team the chance to have a first-hand feel of Morocco,

who will stage the final 2012 Olympic qualifiers from November 26.

Dream Team coach Austin Eguavoen is already in Europe discussing with the managers of clubs for the release of his players for the final qualifiers.

Nigeria are drawn with hosts Morocco, Algeria and Senegal in the first round of the qualifying tournament.

F • Eguavoen

fought duel between both clubs in Ijebu Ode, acknowledging that Dolphins were a good side but also claimed that Sunshine Stars ‘are a bit better’.

“The game on Sunday was a great game. Dolphins showed they are a very strong side but we also showed that we are better than them,” he said.

Sunshine Stars next travel to Kano to face third placed Kano Pillars and Ukeayima is well aware that a win will all but secure the title for his side.

“That match is a final for us. It will be a very difficult match because Pillars still have a chance of winning the (NPL) title. “They will be a hard nut to crack but we know what is at stake and I am sure we will not lose (in Kano),” he said.

2011/2012 CRICKET SEASON

Nigeria Cricket League begins Oct. 29

N

IGERIA Cricket Federation will on Saturday, October 29,2011 officially declare the 2011/2012 Cricket Season open.

A commemorative 40 Over cricket match between the reigning National Club Champions, BRF CC and a President's XI selected side comprising players who play in the Lagos League, will be played on the day at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval, Race Course Lagos. The match will commence at 11am.

BRF CC, just back from a pre-season training tour of Ghana, will be parading key players like Endurance

Ofem, Joshua Ogunlola, Sean Phillips, Ademola Onikoyi and Femi Solebo.

Roland Ilube, Team Manager for the President's XI has assembled a tough side featuring the likes of Femi Oduyebo, Emmanuel Okwudili,Ricky Sharma and other key players.

Mr. Kwesi Sagoe, President of Nigeria Cricket Federation and Chairman, Africa Cricket Association will declare the season open.

Cricket enthusiasts are cordially invited to the occasion to come enjoy what promises to be an exciting and thrilling match between the BRF CC and the President's XI.

Liverpool battles Chelsea for Nigerian teenager

L

IVERPOOL is ready to rival Chelsea for one of the hottest prospects in English football,

Nigeria-born Seyi Ojo. The MK Dons teenager has caught the eye of several Barclays Premier League scouts this season and it is understood that the Blues have already lodged a £2million bid for the 14-year-old midfielder.

Ojo missed the League One academy side's 1-0 win over Tottenham's youth in front on Monday night after earning another call-up to the England Under 16s

coaches’ instructor in Europe," Amokachi said.

The 38-year-old, now a football pundit on television, recalled leading the Super Eagles largely made up of players in the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) to win the Wafu Cup in 2010.

The former Rancher Bees' man also said he can manage the Super Eagles' stars "effectively."

"I have been there before (with the Super Eagles) when we won the WAFU Cup with players that are unknown. I brought out players like (Fengor) Ogude and Ahmed Musa.

So I can manage them effectively," he said.

Leave Jonathan out of Siasia's matter— Lagos SWAN

Sunshine will be Champs —Ukeyima S

UNSHINE Stars’ striker, Akombo Ukeyima believes Sunday’s 3-2 success against Dolphins is enough to see his side been crowned champions at the end of the 2010/2011 Nigeria Premier League (NPL) season.

Ukeayima who failed to score on Sunday played a starring role in the encounter as Sunshine pulled clear at the top of the table. With three rounds of games still to play, Sunshine has 67 points from 35 matches, three more than their closest challengers, Dolphins.

“We are champions already; they (Dolphins) know it and all we need to do now is to approach our last three games with seriousness,” Ukeyima told SuperSport.com.

The forward reflected on the hard

D

ANIEL Amokachi has made the pronouncement that he wants to become Nigeria manager when the position is vacant.

The former Nigeria striker said on a television show that he is yet to officially apply for the Super Eagles' head coach job, a position currently occupied by his ex-teammate, Samson Siasia.

Amokachi also known as 'The Bull' believes he is qualified to become Nigeria's next manager if the job becomes vacant.

"I've not applied for the job, but certainly I will do that if the position is declared vacant (by the Nigeria Football Federation).

"I have the certificate and I am now a

squad for this week's Victory Shield clash with Wales.

Despite playing two years above his age group, Ojo highly-rated star shone on his debut providing an an assist after coming off the bench in the 3-1 win over Northern Ireland earlier this month.

Liverpool, whose policy under director of football Damian Comolli is seemingly to snap up the best of British after the arrivals of the likes of Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, do not want to miss out on Ojo, according to the Mirror.

OLLOWING the crisis of Nigeria's failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and the question as to whether Super Eagles coach, Mr. Samson Siasia, should be retained or fired, there has been insinuations that the the football governing body and the sports establishment would have to consider the disposition of President Goodluck Jonathan in recognition of the fact that Mr. Siasia is the President's kinsman from Bayelsa State in the Southsouth region of Nigeria and firing Mr. Siasia may offend the President.

This disposition was first ascribed to the Hon. Minister of Sports, Yusuf Suleiman, who however, has refuted the statement, claiming that he was misquoted.

A number of publications have also quoted purported friends and agents of Mr. Siasia to be boasting as such and the issue has gradually come into the discourse of what the Nigeria Football Federation can or can not do under the circumstance.

Lagos SWAN views this colouration of the discussion as dangerous, unwarranted and unacceptable being that it borders on tribalism and nepotism which are inimical to good governance, the spirit of national unity, citizenship equality, peace, progress and the ideal of fairness which is a fundamental value of sports.

It further tends to cast Mr. President in bad light by misrepresenting his personality and character as disposed to favouritism, the preservation of sacred cows and the mortgage of national interest by condoning poor performance in the service of narrow, selfish and regional interest which are the very opposites of what we believe President Jonathan stands for and has continued to demonstrate.

We therefore urge all persons peddling such influence and invariably intimidating the sports establishment from carrying out its operations without fear or favour to immediately desist in the interest of national oneness and harmonious sense of belonging.

We wish to point out that refusal to heed this call would only be a recipe for a regime of all manners of sectional strife and protectionism in our sports and entire body politic.

We believe that the Nigeria Football Federation should be left to take full and unconstrained responsibility

and do its job while Mr. President should be spared his name, his office and his person being dragged into

SUPER EAGLES’COACH

Siasia to know fate on Friday S

AMSON Siasia will know his fate on Friday when the NFF's Executive Committee meets to decide whether or not to keep him as Nigeria coach.

"The Executive Committee will meet on Friday," NFF Chief Media Officer Ademola Olajire told KickOffNigeria.com.

Siasia failed to lead Nigeria to the African Nations Cup when his Super Eagles drew 2-2 at home to Guinea early this month, and there have been calls for him to be replaced as per the terms of his contract. But opinion remains divided in the country, with what

appears to be a majority of fans keen to see him stay on despite the setback.

The NFF's Technical Committee has made their recommendations to the Executive Committee, who will make a decision this week.

"We made two recommendations. One for what should happen if they want to keep him, and another for what should happen if they want to let him go," a top member of that committee told KickOffNigeria.com.

• Siasia Also to be decided on Friday is the fate of Super Falcons coach Uche Eucharia, who also failed to qualify her team for next year's Olympic Games, losing 4-3 on penalties to Cameroon after a 3-3 aggregate result.

Olajire said on Monday that Uche's contract with the NFF has lapsed and it is not expected to be renewed.

NATION SPORT Drogba begs Mikel

Eguavoen jets out to Italy today C N

IGERIA National U-23 coach Austin Eguavoen will on Wednesday head to Italy as he continues his tour of Europe for players to prosecute the upcoming Eight Nation CAF U-23 championship billed for Morocco next month.

Eguavoen who left the country last week in company of the NFF technical committee chairman, Barrister Chris Green, was in the Netherlands on Tuesday, where he had a meeting with the sporting director of PSV Eindhoven the club of Rabiu Ibrahim.

He also visited VVV Venlo to seek the possible release of Ahmed Musa, Alex Nkume, and Uchebo Okechukwu.

“The response from the club directors has so far been encouraging.

Those that I have met with have requested for some days to give us definite answers but from their body language I am confident we would get a favorable response” stated the

Olympic Eagles gaffer.

According to the team’s media officer, Arafat Aliu, Coach Eguavoen has already visited Sheffield Wednesday the club of Uchechi Daniels where he got a re-assurance of the release of the player and German club Mainz, the club of Anthony Ujah who have requested an invitation letter be sent apart from the notification letter already received by the club.

Eguavoen will on Wednesday hit Italy, to see Nnamdi Oduamadi (Torino), Obiora Nwankwo (Parma) and Daniel Adejo (Reggina).

The Dream Team V coach is expected back in the country at the weekend.

Nigeria is in revised Group A with host Morocco, Senegal and Algeria and opens the tournament against Morocco on 26th November in Tangiers.

The Eight Nation championship also serves as final Olympic qualification for Africa.

CARLINGCUP

Mikel seeks quarter-final berth • Aiyegbeni tackles Newcastle without Ameobi

N

IGERIA intertional Mikel Obi will aim for the quarter-final stage of the Carling Cup tonight with Chelseqa as they clash with Everton at the Goodison Park.

Chelsea and Everton faced each other just two weeks ago at Stamford Bridge with the Chelsea running out 3-1 winners on that occasion.

Both teams suffered indifferent fortunes in the league on the weekend with Everton beating Fulham 3-1 whilst Chelsea went down to local rivals QPR 1-0. A good performance and more importantly a win is crucial for both teams, although it is the Carling Cup, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas will be looking for a chance of early silverware to appease owner Roman Abramovich, And for Everton, David Moyes led team is still searching for his first piece of silverware and this represents a very good chance for him to break the duck.

At the Ewood Park , Nigeria's Yakubu Aiyegbeni will aim to lift the spirit of Blackburn fans as they face Newcastle without Shola Ameobi.

With Ameobi already sidelined for at least a month after pulling a

Five Barca players in 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or award

B

• Mikel Obi

ARCELONA reportedly dominate the 50-strong player shortlist for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or award.

Last year’s final three - Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez - are understood to be joined by Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, David Villa, Dani Alves, Eric Abidal and Alexis Sanchez this year. If Mundo Deportivo’s report proves correct, it means the Catalans hold 20% of the nominees’ list.

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil and Iker Casillas also make the shortlist, whilst Spain are the best represented nation with nine players catalogued.

Members of the FIFA Technical Committee have begun voting from that 50 on a final list of 23 nominees that will be announced in November 1’s edition of France Football.

The FIFA Ballon d’Or is in its second year of existence after the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards were combined in 2010. Last year’s inaugural player award was won by Messi whilst the coaching equivalent was given to Jose Mourinho.

By Bimbo Adesina hamstring in Saturday's win over Wigan Blackburn boss Steve Kean remains hopeful of winning over the Rovers fans who are calling for him to be sacked.

Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham at Ewood Park means Rovers have taken just five points from nine Barclays Premier League fixtures this term.

The Lancashire outfit are bottom of the table and have won only six of their 30 top-flight games since Kean replaced Sam Allardyce last December.

ITALIANSERIEA

Taiwo may face Parma tonight

N

IGERIA defender Taye Taiwo may be on duty tonight for AC Milan in Italia Serie A midweek clash at the San Siro as they face Parma after missing last Sunday encounter with Lecce.

Taiwo was last in action for Milan on October 19 when the Italian champions defeated BATE Borisov of Belarus 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League.

Milan comes into this match off a thrilling 4-3 come from behind victory over Lecce, conceding three goals in the first half. The main factor working in favour of the defending champions and the primary reason they have risen to 7th in the standing is the return of players from injury, coach Massimilliano Allegri will be

overjoyed at having the likes of Robinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Massimo Ambrosini amongst other back into the fold.

As for Parma, they come into this match in 14 th place and are coming off a 2-1 loss to newly promoted Atalanta.

That result broke what was a two match winning streak against two good Serie A teams in Napoli and Genoa, however while the main goal of this team is survival they have some good players and enough quality to push for a top half finish.

Parma are your typical mid table team that has a few class player in the squad whom make all the difference, the main player for this club since his arrival last season is forward Sebastian Giovinco.

HELSEA striker Didier Drogba has apologised to Nigeria international Mikel Obi and other teammates following his firsthalf sending-off in Sunday’s English Premier League clash against Queens Park Ranger (QPR).

Drogba was given a straight red card by referee Chris Foy for a two-footed lunge on Adel Taarabt, just minutes after Jose Bosingwa was dismissed. But after the match, Chelsea and QPR players were involved in a furious tunnel bust-up.

The result was overshadowed by allegations of racism against John Terry and ugly scenes after the final whistle.

Shola’s loss, Sammy’s gain

S

HOLA Ameobi’s misfortune could be his younger brother’s gain. Ameobi Snr was ruled out for at least four weeks with a hamstring problem suffered in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic.

And that could mean an opportunity for his sibling Sammy in tonight’s Carling Cup tie at Blackburn Rovers.

The teenager already has one Carling Cup goal to his name so far this season – a dramatic extra-time winner at Scunthorpe United – and he’s desperate to be involved at Ewood Park.

“Obviously, it’s a competition where younger players can get some experience,” Ameobi Jnr told the Gazette.

“The manager gave me an opportunity, and I took it. Hopefully, I’ll get another opportunity on Wednesday night. We’ve gone into every game this season confident we can win. We won’t be going into this one any different, and hopefully we can progress to the next round.”

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew Monday told of his frustration at losing Shola for up to six weeks.

The 30-year-old underlined his importance to the squad when he came off the bench to equalise against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.

While it could mean a place in the Blackburn squad for Sammy, the 19year-old isn’t happy at the circumstances, and he’s hopeful he can still has a part to play in the later rounds of the competition.

“I’m not happy about the fact Shola’s been injured, but it could mean an opportunity for me,” said Sammy, who yesterday met fans buying discounted season tickets at St James’s Park’s box office. If I get one, I want to take it. I’ve been working hard towards that. Hopefully, he can come back soon, and we’ll still be in the cup when he comes back! I saw him this morning, and he was still in high spirits, which is good. We want to win this competition. Hopefully, he’ll be able to participate.

GOVERNOR'S CUP 2ND LEG:

Lawal, Enosoregbe advance to second round •As Abinu,Akewula crash out

N

IGERIA’S Sheu Lawal and Clifford Enosoregbe booked their ways to the second round of the second leg of the ongoing Governor's Cup Lagos Tennis Championship with victories in their respective games.

The victories were made possible due to injuries sustained by their opponents in the first round matches played yesterday at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.

Candy Idoko, sheu Lawal's opponent, could not finish the first set of their game as he retired. The referee had to stop the tie in 4-1 scoreline, while Clifford Enosoregbe got the best out of his brother, Kingsley, who retired when the first set reached 6-4.

Lawal will now play South African

By Stella Bamawo Ruan Roelofse in today's second round match. Ruan beat Paterne Mamata of France 7-6,7-6.

Other Nigerian players who played their first round matches yesterday in the Etisalat/FCMB sponsored ITF tourney failed to scale the hurdles.

Sunday Maku got it rough in the hands of Number 3 seed, Indian Vishnu Vardhan who beat him 6-2,6-2.

Abdulmumini Babalola fell to another Indian star, number 2 seed, Karan Rastogi in 6-4,6-0 game.

Number 1 female player, Russian Nina Bratchikova was too much for Fatima Abinu who was defeated in straight sets of 6-0,6-0, while Abiola Akewula bowed to Donna Vekic in 60,6-0 tie.

In other results, Britain's Lolade Ogungbesan was sent out by Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in 6-1,6-0 match, Tadeja Majeric beat Egyptian Nour Azzouz who came to Lagos with her dad in 6-1,6-2 game.

Second round matches will be played today. According to the fixtures, top male seed, Slovakian Kamil Capkovic will face Yusuke Watanuki of Japan, Ivorian Terence Nugent battles Vishnu Vardhan of India, Nigerian Onyeka Mbanu plays Ante Pavic of Croatia.

In the women's singles, top seed, Bratchikova will settle scores with Vekic Donna of Croatia, Swizerland's Conny Perrin will play American teenager, Vickery Sachia, Tamaryn Hendler of Belgium takes on Indian Nidhi Chilumula, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine plays Agnes Szatmari of Romania, while South African Natasha Fourouclas battles Russian Ksenia Lykina.

RECOGNITION

CAPACITY

EMPOWERMENT

Community honours Suntai’s man

Govt to help abandoned children

Edo trains 20 women drivers

Taraba

26

Jigawa

28

Edo

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Email: news_extra@yahoo.com

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

Page 25

•Wife of the Adamawa State governor, Dr. Mrs. Halima Nyako (fifth from left) with some of the participants

North tackles HIV transmission T

HERE are concerted efforts in the North to prevent HIV-positive mothers from passing the virus to their babies. That way, HIV death and infection rate will not only be kept down, but babies who cannot protect themselves will be insulated against the pandemic.

Leading the crusade is the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which has organised a workshop for the 10 Northeastern states. The one-day seminar held in Yola, capital of Adamawa

UNICEF organises workshop Suntai’s wife urges more information From Fanen Ihyongo, Jalingo

State.

HIV/AIDS has been a major contributor to the persistently high maternal mortality in Nigeria and Africa. One of the most devastating consequences of HIV is

mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). The disease is responsible for 80% of maternal deaths in HIV positive expectant women within two years of delivery.

As at 2009, Nigeria was said to have the highest number of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the world. This means Ni-

geria has the highest burden of HIV disease among expectant women and children and contributes about 30% of the global burden.

Now, the good news. Mother-tochild transmission can be prevented, through the provision of quality services, including focus-

ing on economic, social and cultural barriers that prevent women from using services, such as Paediatric Care and Treatment. Children exposed to HIV are now diagnosed early, and those in need provided with timely access to care and treatment, said Dr. Asusuchi Okey Osuji, a children and AIDS specialist of UNICEF DFO, in his paper presented at the workshop.

•Continued on Page 26

Boys Scout inducts Suswam

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•Suswam

OVERNOR Gabriel Suswam of Benue State has been inaugurated as patron of the Boys’ Scout Movement.

The colourful ceremony, which was held at the Aminu Isah Kotangora Arts Theatre in Makurdi, was supervised by the Chief Scout of Nigeria, Mr Rufai Mohammed. He was assisted by the Chief Commissioner, Rev. Fr. Mathias Okpora with other state commissioners of scout present at the headquarters.

In his speech, the Benue State Scout Commissioner, Hon. T. S. Shangbum called for the intro-

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

duction of scouting activities in primary and secondary schools to instil discipline in the youth.

Shangbum made series of requests, among them are assistance from the state government to construct a befitting headquarter building, and for the Ministry of Land and Survey to issue Certificate of Occupancy(C of O) on their parcel of land in Makurdi.

The Chief Scout of Nigeria, in his remarks, said the history of scouting in Nigeria is as old as the nation, even as he said the

organisation is in dire need of young men to restore the lost glory of the organisation.

In his response, Suswam advised members of the scout movement to be in the vanguard of the war against indiscipline and corruption.

He identified indiscipline as the cause of corruption in the country. He therefore directed that scouting activities should be introduced in secondary schools in Benue State.

He said it is only an undisciplined public officer that would embezzle funds which are meant for the development of the peo-

ple. He pledged his total support for the Scout Movement of Nigeria.

The governor, on behalf of the state government, donated N5m to the organisation to enable it to carry out its statutory activities.

The Deputy Governor was decorated as the Deputy State Patron; the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly Terhemen Tarzoor was decorated as Makurdi Provincial Patron and Chief Judge of Benue State, and Justice Iorhemen Hwande was decorated as state president.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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Community honours Suntai’s man

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PECIAL Adviser to the Governor of Taraba State on Tourism, Dr. Yakubu TorAgbidye was honoured at the weekend by elder-officials of the NKST Church. Pastor Joseph Dekaa Fasega of the NKST Church, Tor Donga Benue State led the delegation to Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

Tor-Agbidye was decorated in Tiv cultural regalia and handed a spear and the Holy Bible. The spear, according to Tiv tradition, is a mark of honour while the Bible, which the NKST faithful said, signifies the sacred, hallowed or sanctified Word of God through which the recipient would be conferencing with the Almighty God and sourcing the wisdom on how best to serve the people of

From Fanen Ihyongo, Jalingo

Taraba State. This was done with the belief that “when the righteous rule, the people rejoice.”

The honour bestowed on TorAgbidye was to commemorate his appointment as Special Adviser on Tourism. The occasion took place at the Catholic Cathedral, Mile Six Jalingo.

Fasega, who guided the proceedings, said Tor-Agbidye was a man of proven integrity and deserved the appointment. He thanked Governor Danbaba Suntai for appointing TorAgbidye and other Tiv sons and daughters in his administration.

“Suntai deserves commendation for integrating the state’s di-

Suntai deserves commendation for integrating the state’s diverse ethnic groups, who often had political bickering among themselves, into his leadership fold. This has brought about peace in Taraba in the last four years

verse ethnic groups, who often had political bickering among themselves, into his leadership fold. This has brought about peace in Taraba in the last four years,” the cleric said.

The church urged Tor-Agbidye not to betray the confidence reposed in him by the governor and Taraba people. “Gold is given to only those who value gold,” one of them said.

Responding, the elated TorAgbidye thanked the church for doing him the honour. He said he was a member of the Danbaba Suntai Campaign Organisation that returned the governor to office for his second tenure, but Suntai never promised him any appointment. “Now that I have been appointed Special Adviser, I pray God to give me the wisdom to advise him (Suntai) astutely,” said the illustrious son.

The Bible, the Adviser said, would be his consultant on many issues.

Tor-Agbidye noted that Taraba is a toddler state, whose people are yearning for rapid development. He pledged to use his wealth of experience to develop Taraba’s tourism potential to a pedestal that tourism would become a major revenue earner for the state.

•Dr. Yakubu Tor-Agbidye, Special Adviser on Tourism, Taraba State

•Continued from Page 25 The workshop also sensitised the media on how best to take the HIV prevention message to the people.

The wife of Adamawa State governor, Mrs. Halima Murtala Nyako, who declared the workshop open, said substantial work on the fight and control of HIV/AIDS is all about information, advocacy and enlightenment.

“Let me quickly use this opportunity and call on all and sundry to support the fight of controlling HIV in our communities,” she said. “The fight is multi-sectoral and should be all-encompassing.”

Mrs Nyako said Adamawa State, according to the current National Survey on HIV/AIDS, has the least prevalence rate in the Northeast, with 3.8 per cent, simply because of her enlightment campaigns.

She said: “You have to tell the people that HIV is real. We went round the state for advocacy, in-

North tackles HIV transmission forming people, including traditional rulers and their subjects that the virus is real, but its transmission from mothers to children could be prevented.

“The problem is lack of information. When we embarked on the sensitisation tour, some of the traditional chiefs said they hadn’t heard about the virus. So, the media is the most important group in this campaign. Who would want their child to die if they know their health status? And knowing your status is paramount because it is then that you would know what to do.”

During the deliberation, Osuji stressed the need to break down every barrier hindering PLWHAs from leading happy lives.

He said: “The disparities of access, coverage and outcomes that exist across age, gender, geographic,

wealth and educational spectra can no longer be accepted as inevitable and AIDS response must seek to eliminate them. HIV does not discriminate, and neither should the AIDS response.

“In ensuring an AIDS-free generation and HIV survival through elimination of mother to child transmission, the media is challenged to begin to provide constructive accurate information in features, editorials and news publications, on issues and stories that will promote universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support for all in need, mobilise resources and advocate for the protection of the right of those infected and affected as our collective responsibility and challenge as individuals, families, communities, organised institutions and governments”.

UNICEF Communication Officer,

•Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chairmanship candidate in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Kehinde Bamigbetan and his wife, Fatimah casting their votes in Ifoshi Ward during the local government election in Lagos on Saturday

•

Mr. Samuel Kaalu, of the Bauchi Field Office, said the ultimate goal of the workshop was to sensitise the media on accurate information on virtual elimination of MTCT of HIVs in the 10 states by 2015, and contribute to the improvement in broader maternal and child health outcomes and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4, 5 and 6.

Kaalu added that the meeting would assist the media to syndicate and disseminate stories and promote key HIV/AIDS prevention messages and other issues of children and AIDS’s current areas of focus.

The meeting ended with a communiqué of commitment for a three-month work-plan by the participants.

NIPOST seeks Plateau community’s patronage

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HE Area Postal Manager of the Nigeria Postal Service, Plateau Territory, Mr. Olaku Jonah has intimated that NIPOST has overhauled its mail routes and mail movement schedule for the benefit of its customers, even as he called on residents of Plateau and Nasarawa states to take advantage of these to patronise his organisation for effective mail distribution services.

Jonah, represented by Senior Manager, Operations Mrs. Jedida Sambo, made this call as the Plateau Territory of the NIPOST joined its counterparts worldwide to celebrate this year’s Post Day. He urged residents in the states to disabuse their minds of the belief that the internet and GSM phones have taken over the functions of NIPOST, even as he added that NIPOST has effectively utilised information and communication technologies as recommended by the international postal standard to ensure customers are given efficient services.

From Marie-Therese Peter, Jos

He said: “The theme of the celebration is ‘The Post an Invaluable Public Service Worldwide.’” The Posts are faced with economic crisis and increased competitions but in this era of rapidly developing information technologies, we are still holding our own in ensuring vital communication link between people and businesses worldwide.

“In an attempt to improve the quality of services, the Post in Nigeria has overhauled her mail route and mail movement schedules for easy exchange of mails among states. Intra-city mail clearance is done twice a day to ensure that mails posted within working hours get to their destinations the same day.

However, NIPOST also showed appreciation to its numerous customers in the states and encouraged them to inform others that postal services are still reliable in the quest to share information between individuals and businesses.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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‘Let’s advocate better condition for women’

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IFE of Osun State governor, Mrs Sherifat Aregbesola has called on women holding political power to use their position to canvass for better deal for the women folk in the country.

She disclosed this while declaring open a two-day Induction Course on Protocol Practices and Related Matters organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare in collaboration with the Office of the Wife of Governor, for the wives of elected and appointed political office holders in the state.

The course was held at the Local Government Service Commission hall, Osogbo.

She called on participants to use the opportunity at their disposal to continue to seek ways of ensuring that issues of gender equality and economic transformation of the women.

According to her, issues such as the re-

duction of maternal mortality rate, breast, and cervical cancers, parenting, rape, HIV/AIDS, sex abuse, family planning, and many more should take priority on their agenda.

“Our energies and resources should be channeled towards providing information and organizing educative programmes on sexual and reproductive health, voluntary counselling and testing, prevention of mother-to-child transmission diseases, male and female condom availability and use, provision of anti-retroviral therapy, and generally elevating the status of women in our state, and beyond”, she stated.

Mrs Aregbesola disclosed further that the position the participants occupied are strategic and should exploit it to convey the pathetic situations of girls and women to their spouses, with a view to giving them

It is our responsibility as wives, mothers and leaders today, to prepare a suitable living environment for our daughters in this male-dominated world, and the future of our children unborn

T

HE Coalition for Good Governance and Economic Justice in Africa has commended the infrastructural rehabilitation across the 18 local government areas of Edo State.

The group particularly praised the state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for re-awarding some contracts going on in the state.

“The re-awarded contract for the dualisation of Airport Road in Benin City, the state capital, has rekindled our hopes towards genuine service delivery of this administration,” said the group’s Executive Director, Strategic Policy and Implementation in the state, Messer Victor I. Olusegun.

“The decision to re-award the dualisation of the Airport Road to Setraco Construction Company is commendable because that com-

a befitting living conditions.

“It is our responsibility as wives, mothers and leaders today, to prepare a suitable living environment for our daughters in this male-dominated world, and the future of our children unborn.

“Besides, this is cancer awareness month, I encourage us all to examine ourselves daily, and go for screening not only when we notice lumps or anything strange, but periodically, if possible get a total examination. Let us all remember that this lethal disease can be controlled if detected early. Spread the word about cancer”, said the governor’s wife.

She thanked Governor Rauf Aregbesola for giving women an opportunity to serve in his administration, pleading that women in the state will not hesitate to grab more of such opportunities if extended to them.

The governor’s wife assured that women in public office would not abuse the trust reposed in them, saying they would use their enterprising nature for the benefit of the state.

In her welcome address, the state commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs Adetoun Adegboyega disclosed that for any society to function maximally, every member of the society must contribute to it socio-economic development.

She added the all society could only attain it objectives when male and female

Group hails Edo’s re-awarded road contracts From Osagie Otabor, Benin City

pany has shown ability, competence, professionalism and technical know-how in handling other

projects in the state.

“Also re-awarded is the contract for the construction of IgarraEnwan-Uneme Osu-Damgbala-Oja Road, as both contracts were ear-

The re-awarded contract for the dualisation of Airport Road in Benin City, the state capital, has rekindled our hopes towards genuine service delivery of this administration

Mimiko to end flooding in Ondo

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NDO State government is making every effort to avert flooding in the state.

Already, the government has ordered the Ministry of Environment to dredge all rivers in the state and ensure free flow of water.

The ministry officials led by Commissioner Sola Ebiseni had visited some areas in Akure such as Ijoka, Oke-Ijebu, Oba-Ile, and Danjuma which are prone to ecological problems caused by River Ala. Ebiseni also inspected some areas in Okitipupa , Araromi seaside in Ilaje and Idanre councils.

Speaking with reporters shortly after the inspection, Ebiseni, a lawyer, said the ministry wants to use the opportunity of the season to channelise rivers in the state so that the people would be able to sleep with their two eyes closed during the rainy season.

Ebiseni noted that the protection of the oil-producing areas in the state is paramount to the present administration led by Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.

“Work has started in the riverside area,” he said. “We are going to put a stop to this erosion pollution caused by Alape River. At the end,

•Alhaja Aregbesola

are given equal role to play in its development process.

Speaking on the importance of the induction course, she maintained that it is aimed at ensuring that they perform their role effectively and efficiently.

Participants at the workshop include wives of political office holders, female political office holders as well as female political appointees.

•Sola Ebiseni (middle) during the inspection tour From Leke Akeredolu, Akure

the Araromi seaside will become another sandy beach and a tourist centre in Nigeria.”

He assured the people that the state would be free from flooding in the next rainy season.

The commissioner also appealed to the citizenry to stop constructing structures on land close to the river.

His words: “Most of those buildings are being affected by flooding because they have already erected

their structures on the path which the water should pass freely and at the end this will lead to collapsing of the building by the rain.

“Also, our people should stop dumping refuse in the river. On this note, the ministry will be meeting the landlords and community associations and charged them to monitor their environment by stopping the people from dumping refuse in the river”.

Ebiseni called for the cooperation of the people in order prevent flooding in the state in the next rainy season.

lier terminated because of poor execution by the initial contractor. For Governor Oshiomhole to also approve the dualisation of Mission and Upper Mission roads from Oba Ovonranmwen Square to Aduwawa Junction, the Storm Water control project and reconstruction of drains and associated roads around Airport road, as well as the construction of Iyekhe-Aviele Road shows that he means well.

“That is not all; Oshiomhole also approved the construction of IkhinElhueh Road, Ugoneki-UgieghuduEhor Road and the flood and erosion control work at Upper Lawani and environs. We all know the terrible situations of these roads and for any government to make bold steps to address these issues, such a government must be commended except if we are ingrates.

“Before now, we had a situation in which those elected took orders from one man who has never been elected. Somebody who has never been a councilor in his lifetime; yet in our political history, he dictated from one governor to another and during that period, none of these giant steps were taken, let alone the strict compliance and supervision of projects attached by the present Oshiomhole administration.

“The godfather, rather than assist in developing the state, fought Ambrose Alli but today everybody celebrates Ambrose Alli. After Alli, he fought Chief Odigie John Oyegun until they were dismissed by the military. Then Igbinedion came in and as long as he (Igbinedion) was taking orders, there was no vacancy in Osadebe Avenue but for as long as the godfather was dissatisfied, everybody was dissatisfied.

“It was like that until Igbinedion started asking questions and when he (Igbinedion) wanted to stand his ground; then the fight began until he left office so also was Prof.

Oserheimen Osunbor whom he fought to a standstill.

“When we say no to godfatherism, people will not understand what we mean; that those who have no responsibility to the people dictate to government and when the government is failing, they will lament the failure whereas, they were responsible for the failure. Godfatherism is not just about criminal manipulation of votes, it is also about criminal manipulation of the executive and today Governor Oshiomhole is a free governor.

“We want to say that the changes that are taking place in this state have nothing to do with Oshiomhole as a person. We want to believe it’s the will of God for Edo people and God chose to use Oshiomhole to re-define the politics of this state and arrest the arrogance of those who have underdeveloped the state for a very long time and to free us from that state in which one man determines the fate of everyone of us. Our people cannot continue to be enslaved.

What has been going on in the state is simply unacceptable.

“The transparency of his administration and people-oriented projects is noteworthy. We are assured that the whole projects he has initiated would not be abandoned.

The only force Oshiomhole has continue to respect is the force of the electorate and that is why today he is doing everything to meet the aspiration of the people of the state”.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

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• Governor Yuguda

AUCHI State government has spent over N5 billion for the provision and improvement of water supply in urban areas in the state,the Commissioner for Water Resources, Hon Sani Mohammed Burra, has said.

Burra disclosed this at the flag-off of the Global Hand Washing Day at Buturyal Village in Dass Local Government Area of the state .

Burra said the water projects were executed in Bauchi metropolis, Azare, Misau and Jama’are towns,besides those carried out in semi urban areas such as Kari, Gololo, Bogoro and in more than 300 rural communities across the state.

The state government also provided water for 70 boarding and day secondary schools,including health facilities at the cost of N1.5billion,and was still working to meet water supply challenges in Bauchi

Association donates computers to school HE Parent-Teacher Association of Gwammaja Model Primary School in Dala Local Government Area of Kano State has donated 50 chairs and two sets of computer to the school.

Presenting the items, the Chairman of the association, Alhaji Isa Salihu, said similar donations of books and other teaching materials had been made to the school in the past.

He advised the education department of the local government to deploy additional teaching staff and strive to provide a conducive atmosphere for learning in the school.

Receiving the chairs and computers on behalf of the school, the Chairman of the State

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Kano Universal Basic Education Board, Alhaji Yakubu Adamu, reiterated the commitment of the state government to raise educational standards.

He stressed the need for parents to rededicate themselves to the educational development of their children, describing education as “the best legacy you can bequeath to your children”.

The local council’s Education Secretary, Alhaji Nasir Ali, urged the school authorities to make the best use of the items and challenged the teachers to discharge their responsibilities efficiently.

Niger expends N3b on MDGS’ projects

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OVERNOR Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has said that the state government had spent about N3 billion on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) projects between 2008 and 2009.

Aliyu made the remark while receiving an award of‘“The International Millennium Development Ambassador” by Global Educator for All Initiative at Government House, Minna, saying the money was expended on quick-win projects and conditional cash transfer.

He cited some constraints militating against the country in meeting its MDGs’ targets by 2015, expressing the hope that the country could meet the target five years after the deadline.

Aliyu said that poverty was a major problem facing Nigeria and Africa as a whole, adding however, that Nigeria had no reason to be poor in view of its abundant human and material

Niger resources.

“Whether MDG or no MDG, we must eradicate extreme poverty; every citizen should be entitled to education and good healthcare. In Niger State, we have free education from primary to secondary school and we award scholarship to our students at tertiary level,” the governor stated.

He said the country might find it difficult to achieve the MDGs unless practical steps were taken to address the critical issues such as unemployment, good healthcare and education that had slowed down the nation’s progress.

According to him, even if Nigeria is not able to achieve the eight MDGs by 2015 “at least three quarter of the goals should be achieved before 2015”.

Community blames Shell for oil spill

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GBOMRO community in Uvwie Local Government of Delta State has blamed Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) for oil spills in the community.

The community leader, Tadafe Olugor,

said the spill occurred as a result of SPDC equipment failure on October 13.

It was gathered that the community had written to the House of Assembly through its Committee on Oil and Gas and Environment to prevail on Shell to compensate the community.

Lawmaker to award scholarship

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HIRTY-TWO Urhobo students in the Department of Languages and Linguistics, Delta State University, Abraka, are to enjoy scholarship awards from the senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Pius Ewherido.

Ewherido said this is to preserve the Urhobo language.

He made the promise in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government, shortly after appointing

From Polycarp Orosevwotu, Ughelli

his Liaison Officers.

He lamented that the people could no longer speak the language as fluently as they ought to.

“We don’t want the Urhobo language to go into extinction. The scholarship we are awarding is aimed at promoting the Urhobo language,” he said.

PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAM

NGO introduces scholarship for female students

Bauchi spends N5b on water

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Kano-based N o n Governmental Organisation (NGO), Ma’ajin Watari Foundation,has introduced a scholarship programme for indigent female students to study medicine in Nigerian universities.

The Coordinator, Dr Abba Ahmed, told journalists in Kano that

Bauchi From Austine Tsenzughul , Bauchi

metropolis.

The commissioner, who revealed that more than N700 million will be further expended on water supply in the state capital, said the Hand Washing will reduce at least 42 percent cases of diarrhoea,which is responsible for the death of 3.5 million children below five years yearly.

He urged Bauchi people to imbibe the culture of washing their hands with soap or ashes after visiting the toilet and before eating food.

In his remark,General Manager Bauchi State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) Engineer Garba Babaji advised the people to ensure personal hygiene by washing their hands always so as to prevent the transmission of bacteria and protozoa that causes diarrhoea, respiratory track,skin and eye infections.

Garba said the global hand washing directed at children and schools is to further “ foster support for a global and local culture of hand washing with soap and ashes”.

According to the commissioner, hand washing may be considered as more effective than any vaccine since it can be adopted as a “do it yourself vaccine “ and inculcating the habit of hand washing with soap essentially in children can save more lives than any medical intervention.”

The occasion was attended by traditional,religious and community leaders,including school children,government officials and politicians.

Jehovah’s Witnesses meet From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

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BOUT 2,000 Jehovah’s witnesses are expected at their annual three-day district convention at Ilerin-Ilesa , Osun State. Activities will kick off on November 4 According to a statement by the Convention News Representative, Mr. Rasaq Owolabi, 241 of such conventions would be held in 31 cities across the country.

He said the convention with the theme: “Let’s God Kingdom Come” would feature many Bible-based lectures, drama presentations as well as baptism of new members.

Owolabi also said the convention is focusing on a “God’s kingdom government that millions, perhaps billions, pray for,” noting that answer to the prayer would bring significant positive changes to mankind.

Group seeks support of women •Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan (middle) flanked from left by Mr William Etubiebi, Monsignor Bauchi Aninye, Pastor A.N. Agbikiri and Mr Kennedy Uwubiti, during the inauguration of the Delta State ministry Bursary and Scholarship Board by the governor at Government House, Asaba

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HE Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Desire of Nations Parish, Jabi is to organise a free cervical and breast cancer test for the public.

The host, Pastor Kunle Oloso disclosed this during the church Sunday service in Abuja, adding that medical experts will be embarking on the exercise.

According to him, the programme will hold on October 29, at 10 am at the church premises.

He said cancer has been a deadly disease that kills faster than HIV/Aids, stressing that there

A

BANDONED children and orphans in Kazaure Local Government Area in Jigawa State are to benefit from free education, while orphans are to get N4000 monthly for the upkeep.

The chairman, Alhaji Saleh Yahaya Taki disclosed this in his offfice during their inauguration of the committee that will handle the welfare of the orphans and abandoned children. He said the resolve by the council to give special attention to the orphans and abandoned children was borne out of compassion and need to secure the future of the innocent children.

Alhaji Taki explained that the need to secure the future of helpless orphans and abandoned children by giving them free education will also help the entire society, as rather than being liabilities to the people they will become independent and useful when they are educated.

“We cannot continue to make mistake ignoring orphans and abandoned children in our society and allow them to become uneducated and turnout to be criminals, we want to start correcting the mistakes made by past leaders and explore the potential of these categories of children in our midst”, he added.

Addressing the nine- man committee members, Alhaji Taki tasked them to carry out their assignment without reservation, and ensure that all abandoned children and orphans in Kazaure Local Government Area are covered by the programme.

He said:“ We are prepared to cater for all abandoned children and orphans in Kazaure town,

Abuja

Jigawa From Eunice Bosua, Dutse

and we will rely on this committee to give us an authentic list of the beneficiaries, so that the programme can start immediately”, he added.

Replying, the chairman of the committee, Alhaji Sunusi Tafida Adamu, praised the council and declare that the assignment is a noble one which they would carry out with all humility.

HE Kebbi chapter of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) has called on the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to involve the council in its regular activities.

The President of the chapter, Hadiza Nasarawa, made the request in Birnin Kebbi when executive members of the council visited the new Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Gulumbe.

She said the women were at the ministry to intimate the commissioner with the council’s manifesto and the achievements recorded since inception in 1993.

Nasarawa said the council had trained no fewer than 1,000 women in various skills and granted empowerment loans to different women groups.

is need for the church to be proactive in medical issues.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has said global cancer death toll is expected to increase from its current rate to 10.3 million by 2020 while the World Health Organization (WHO) said that about 8,000 Nigerian women died of the disease and 10,000 affected annually.

chairman said.

He told the losers to congratulate the winners and avoid unnecessary bitterness since they both reside in the same community, fetch water from the same tap, use the same car park, trade in the same market , buy fuel from the same filling station and recreate in the same area.

“Politics should not bring acrimony it is a show of strength, when the stronger person wins, the weaker person should team up with him in order to take the community to the next level of social, economic and p o l i t i c a l development”, Adepitan concluded •Adepitan casting his vote

Kano 100 female students would be selected from various female secondary schools in the state for the pilot programme in the year.

Ahmed, who is also the District Head of Kabo Local Government Area, added that the pilot programme was aimed at assisting indigent female students to pursue a career in medicine and related fields.

He added that the beneficiaries would be selected from the 44 local government areas of the state through a special examination to be conducted by the foundation in conjunction with the state Ministry of Education.

“We intend to continue with the

• Governor Kwankwaso programme every year by selecting 50 students for the award of the scholarship.

Academy to empower 800 women

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HY do Nigerians go to America or Europe to wash corpses if they know how to package some of our local products like charcoal, traditional black soap, dry fish, shear-butter, and even locally manufactured clothing materials such as adire, aso-oke, which could earn them foreign exchange? We lose so many of our talented youths to foreign countries on the excuse that they are looking for greener pastures”.

These were the words of Mrs. Aderonke Adeyemo, CEO, STEM Business Academy while addressing newsmen on the business summit slated for Saturday, October 29 at Excellence Hotel Ikeja, Lagos.

With alarming increase in graduate’s unemployment, it has been realised that to boost the economy, government and stakeholders need to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs to grow.

In its commitment to exposing Nigerian entrepreneurs to various opportunities available in export business, especially the non-oil products and services, which in the long run will boost the Small Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria, STEM Business Academy; a non-governmental organisation with interest in small and medium scale entrepreneur’s empowerment in collaboration with the telecommunication giant, MTN is organising the business summit.

The business summit, according to the organisers, is aimed at equipping and exposing Nigerian Small and Medium Scale Enterprise with the opportunities available in the export of non-oil products and services.

According to Mrs. Adeyemo, the need to

By Dada Aladelokun

expose Nigerian entrepreneurs to these new business opportunities becomes necessary because several businesses are operating below capacity for lack of adequate information.

She believes the best way to boost the economy is by building a strong and well equipped army of entrepreneurs across the nation, assisting several SME’s into exporting their goods and services and bringing several women’s business into limelight.

Six leading advocacy of SME expected at the seminar are: Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Bank of Industries (BOI), African Growth and Opportunity Acts (AGOA), Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Lagos Business School and Fate Foundation.

Foundation Business School, 10 registered businesses will be assisted with free registration with NEPC and Free B r a n d consultation will be given to five selected e x p o r t r e a d y participants. • Adeyemo

Adamawa to build 1000 houses

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• From left: Lagos State Health Education Officer, Mrs Omowunmi George; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs Omolara Erogbogbo; Brand Building Director, Unilever, Mr David Okeme and Assistant Director, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr David Akinola at the Lifebuoy Global Handwashing day in Lagos

From Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

Council chief to develop infrastructure HE Chairman of Mushin Local Government Hon. Olatunde Adepitan has expressed his gratitude’s to the electorate for believing in him and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) during the last local government election.

Adepitan, who has been re-elected for another three years, promised to ensure development of infrastructure in the council area, especially as it relates to roads, schools, healthcare and water.

According to Adepitan, “the rapid development we witnessed in the last three years was as a result of the wonderful support we received from the councillors who happen to belong to the same political party with me” He charged the electorate to give full support to the councilors and the political class in council.

“Democracy is about choice, while the majority will have a say, the majority will have their way. The election recently conducted has shown that Lagosians are solidly behind the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)”,the

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Govt to help abandoned children

Church plans free cancer test

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•From left: Mr Sanuel Olorunwa, Public Relations Officer; Mr Adegbuyi Kehinde, Secretary;, Mr Hyacinth Chinweuba, member, during the press conference by Coalition of Nigeria Civil Rights Groups on state of the nation in Maryland, Lagos

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BRIEFS

ICSAN holds 35th annual conference ENFORCEMENT of Statutory Provisions for Effective Corporate Governance is the theme of a conference being organised by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN).

The two-day conference takes place at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja between today and tomorrow.

The President of the Institute, Mr. Tunde Busari, told newsmen in Lagos that there was no better time to discuss corporate governance in the country than now.

He said the country was currently facing a number of challenges for lack of enforcement of the provisions of the laws

in the statute books.

According to him, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, keynote address, while the immediate past Secretaries and Administrators, London, is to be guest of honour.

An international President of the Institute from the United Kingdom, Mr. Gavin Downs, will also address the Conference.

Mr. Busari said the sub-themes of the conference include International Financial Reporting Standards: The Role of chartered Secretaries and Administrators, Asset Management Company of Nigeria and Debt Management in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges, as well as, Corporate Governance in the Public Sector: Challenges and Prospects.

DAMAWA State government plans to build to build more than 1000 houses in the state.

Governor Murtala Nyako, who laid the foundation stone of 1000 housing units at Kwana in Yola North Local Government Area of the state, promised developers easy access to land.

Nyako said his administration is determined to provide an enabling environment for private developers to meet housing challenges of the citizens.

He called on developers to avail themselves of the opportunity to invest in the state housing project, adding that the government has provided incentives for them as well as provision of infrastructure, such as roads, water supply and electricity.

He said some private developers have invested much in the state’s housing project to produce over 8000 houses within the few months. He said that with rate things are going in the state, Jimeta town may soon become mega city.

Speaking earlier, the state Commissioner for Land and Survey, Alhaji Abdurahaman Shaibu, disclosed that his ministry had made it possible to issue certificate of occupancy within 14 hours to any developer that wants to invest in the housing sector of the state.

He described the occasion as a milestone in the history of the state, stating that there is high indication that houses will be surplus in the state considering the high rate housing developers are trooping into the state to invest in housing projects.

Group praises PDP leadership A transformation-oriented group in the Edo State Peoples Democratic Party has commended the leadership of the party for the congress that saw the emergence of the present executive of the party. Thegroup particularly commended the reelection of Mr Dan Orbih as the chairman, Mr Felix Utubor as the secretary. For Mr Utubor, they

praised the PDP leadership of Igueben Local government on the confidence reposed in him and sees it as a square peg in a square hole.

The spokeperson, Mr. Inegbedion, urged party members to go about their peaceful electoral activities without being deterred by any threat but to resist intimidation from any quarters and stand up to reclaim the state for PDP.

•From right: Otunba Gani Adams with the overall winner Princess Aniefiok Anita representing Cross River State and the out-going pageant Ezenueka Evan Onyinye (right) at the 2011 Miss Olokun Festival Contest, at 50 Degree Event Centre, Oregun, Lagos PHOTO: RAHMAN SANUSI

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

Life

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Text only: 08023058761

The firing line of Nigerian Art – Page 34

Invisible Borders for Addis Ababa

‘Why I want to be king’ – Page 35

Adejumo returns ‘home’ with Ideas, Ideals – Page 36

A judge’s memoirs •The late Justice Somolu

• SEE PAGE 30

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A judge’s memoirs Thirty-five years after it was written, the memoirs of the late Justice Olujide Somolu attracted dignitaries, particularly from the Bench and the Bar, at its presentation at the exclusive Metropolitan Club in Lagos. The event brought back fond memories of the late judge. EVELYN OSAGIE reports.

•Justice Eso

•Alhaji Okunnu

•Prof. Oyebode unveiling the books

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T was a day lawyers went to court, but not for the usual legal niceties; it was a day family members, colleagues and admirers of the late Justice Olujide Somolu, gathered to celebrate him, with the launch of his memoirs in Lagos.

The book, entitled: Olumo: The mystique of an alluring symbol, held an enchanting air of mystery as guests thronged the Metropolitan Club, Lagos, for its public presentation.

None had a case to answer but the Somolu family, which drew many from the top echelon of the society for their patriarch. For them and many others, it was a day of reminiscences.

Everyone had kind words for the late judge who left his footprints in many fields. He was a teacher, journalist, lawyer, Senator, High Court Judge and Chief Justice.

He was described as brave, honest, quiet, and hardworking. The gathering urged Nigerians to emulate his virtues for the betterment of the society.

Throughout his life time, the magnificently-grafted splendour of his birthplace, the Olumo Rock, remained his muse. He says in his book: "I can say now that I thank God for giving me the light from which I have derived added satisfaction from a feeling of fulfilment. I can only hope and trust that I shall be able to leave in these new roles, equally worthy marks upon the sands of time as I had the opportunity to do earlier in the other spheres while I retain my focus on that ancient symbol of the faith and hope of my illustrious people, the mysterious and hallowed Olumo Rock."

Perhaps, the book would not have seen the light of day but for the dictates of the Almighty or the divine reward for the author's honesty, or both, the book was completed the same year Justice Somolu

passed on.

The book is a biography on his voyage in the legal profession, which he regarded as "a calling".

It was edited by his children - Justice Olukayode Olumuyiwa Somolu, Femi Somolu and Foluseke Somolu.

"In this 35th year since our father left us, we, his children, present his memoirs the story of his life as told by our father in his own words in 1976, the year of his death," Justice Olukayode Somolu wrote.

The book, which took three years to package, according to Olukayode, will address the ills in our society and the inability of Nigerians to do right. "It is sad that the whole world is expecting us to make giants strides; look at where we are today because of corruption!" he said.

The family said the book title took four weeks of brainstorming to bring to life.

"We fought and argued for four weeks for the choice of title before we were forced by our brother, the judge to, agree on: Olumo: The mystique of an alluring symbol.”

On the choice of title, Olukayode said: "If you read the prologue of the book, you would see that his focus in life was based on the spirituality that Olumo, as the guiding light of the Egba people, was what gave him the courage to shoulder the challenges in life. The rock provided refuge for the Egba in the days of the inter-tribal wars. It was our refuge. He was a selfmade man; but he went through every stage of life with God's guidance. The memoir gives an insight into his abiding faith in the unchallengeable hands of God in the destiny of man. In his case, this was firmly rooted in the symbolic relevance of Olumo Rock. Once you have faith and you're sincere, you would overcome whatever may come your way. Even orphans would get there. If you allow your 10 fingers to minister to your necessity, God would do the rest."

It took Foluseke, the baby of the family

•Justice Holloway and Chief Williams

•Foluseke Somolu (right), his wife, Tokunbo (second left) and brothers, Olukayode (left) and Femi

‘In this 35th year since our father left us, we, his children, present his memoirs - the story of his life as told by our father in his own words in 1976, the year of his death’ who was close to the late judge before his demise, to discover the manuscript, it was said.

"I was trying to write a biography of my father when I discovered that he had written his biography the same year he died. I found it in 1997 but they were so

old and in tatters. Somebody mentioned that he did not write about it when he was a journalist; he did. There were other volumes that was almost completely ruined.

So, we couldn't use it. But we were able to use this one. As a journalist that he was, •Continued on page 31

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As the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) opens this weekend in Calabar, Cross River State, the Artistic Director of the Abuja National Carnival, Prof. Rasaki Ojo Bakare, says he will no longer replicate NAFEST in Abuja Carnival; instead, he will make it contemporary and realistic in content, OZOLUA UHAKHEME Assistant Editor (Arts), reports

‘The contemporary nature will only increase participants at the carnival. However, being contemporary does not mean being foreign, especially in terms of content. In fact, being contemporary is being alive and realistic,” according to him’

‘We can’t replicate NAFEST in Abuja carnival’

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RTISTIC Director, Abuja National Carnival, Prof. Rasaki Ojo Bakare, has described the content of past editions of the Abuja carnival as unmarketable and heavily cultural for marketers to promote the carnival as a brand.

He said until this year, marketers of the carnival were not ready to fly with it because of its old content.

Bakare, who spoke with art writers in Lagos, explained that organisers have, therefore, redefined the scope and content of the annual carnival in tandem with the realities and trappings of carnivals across the globe. He noted that the Abuja Carnival has been christened ‘national’ to correct the misconception of perceiving it as an Abuja event. “There is a slight change in the nomenclature of Abuja Carnival. We have removed cultural from the carnival because it has been seen as a polished version of a cultural festival. To erase this, we have removed cultural. Many people are yet to know that the carnival is a national carnival. They see it as an FCT event. Hence the word, national to replace the old name,” he said.

He disclosed that from this year, the carnival, which will open on November, would gravitate towards contemporary as State partners are in support of the change. He also said: “Carnival brand is different from a traditional festival because it is a theatre on the street that celebrates extreme creativity. So, we are undertaking the education of the people in this regard. We already have NAFEST, so we can’t replicate that in Abuja Carnival. It is to celebrate uncommon weird and wild creativity. Carnival is the celebration of what you can create while traditional festival is the celebration of what we have. Interestingly, we never recorded a voice of dissent across the states when the idea of redefining the carnival came up.”

He assured Nigerians of a better, brighter carnival that is different from the old editions. But he noted that state contingents might not be able to bring all the contemporary

•Prof. Bakare

elements this year, adding that they would record significant appearance.

“The contemporary nature will only increase participants at the carnival. However, being contemporary does not mean being foreign, especially in terms of content. In fact, being contemporary is being alive and realistic,” according to him.

This year’s carnival, which has as theme, Carnival of Reconciliation, will open on November 26 to 29, with steel band

competition as additional menu at the feast that will also feature bush bar on November 27.

The theme, he said, is drawn from the realities on ground following the development that trailed the last general election. “It is a way to foster unity and bring together all the dissenting voices for the sake of Nigeria,” he added.

A new marketing agent, Anfield Logistics, has been appointed to market the annual festival.

On the famous Durbar, which could not hold last year, Bakare hinted that the event would hold as over 10 emirs form the Northern part of the country have indicated interest in participating. He added that for the first time, 10 emirs sent representatives to the stakeholders meeting in Abuja in June.

As part of incentives for tourists to Abuja during the carnival, hotel operators according to him, have resolved to give accommodation out at 50 per cent discount.

However, the perennial funding crisis is not over with the carnival organisers as the situation of funding is ‘frightening’. Notwithstanding, Prof. Bakare maintained that ‘we must make do this year and get better next year.’ He confessed that it is impossible in the interim to organize any carnival without government funding, saying, ‘to organise a carnival is a crazy job because even the madman on the street is your boss and you must convince him to be part.’

A judge’s memoirs •Continued from page 30

he had already typed it himself with his manual typewriter and made corrections here and there. I inherited that typewriter. So, what I did first was to photocopy all the pages. Although it was in tatters, we were able to fix it together. The bulk of the work was getting it typed into a soft copy on a computer," Foluseke said.

He said the late judge was quiet, honest, hardworking and focused. "He didn't act on impulse. I gained that from him. I used to sit with him while he was preparing for his cases. He believed in himself and in God. I also took from him his character and fortitude," he said.

Justice Kayode Eso (rtd) praised the family's efforts, saying: "I must congratulate his children for what they have done. The biography is that of a great man, who was great in every respect; a tale of his life, told by himself and which I recommend should be on every shelf, be it private, judicial, legal or academic."

Speaking of the late judge’s journalistic years, Justice Eso described him as very outspoken. He said the biographer practised journalism during "the era of 'publish and be damned “ militancy, a fitting response to the colonialist's amusement of the slave. Only the bravest, those who cared little about what happened to them, following such publication, survived the onslaught of the colonial hammer."

"He was a bold and stubborn man, possessing both attributes to a fault. He was the editor of the Nigerian Spokesman during the colonial years," Justice Eso said.

Justice Eso condemned the illegal arrest of some journalists in Lagos recently, saying it is pathetic that such is happening in a democratic state. He urged the Inspector-General (IG)of Police to look into the matter.

Justice Eso noted that the police chief should do this, "or the journalists should go to court to seek damages for the harm done to them in democratic Nigeria."

He also lamented the state of corruption, urging Nigerians to change their mindsets.

The Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, said of the late justice: "He was very rigid and uncompromising on principles and integrity. His autobiography is a must read for anybody who wishes this country well. He has left a great legacy for his children which, by the grace of God, they will not stain.”

•From left: Oba Gbadebo, Mr Ogunde and Prof. Akinyemi.

‘The biography is that of a great man, who was great in every respect; a tale of his life, told by himself and which I recommend should be on every shelf, be it private, judicial, legal or academic’ The book reviewer, Bashorun Jaiye Randle, described the book as a "masterpiece" and the late judge "a great man".

The book presenter, Prof. Akin Oyebode, said: "So enchanting is the work. The book has been extremely well written, a fact that can be explained because Somolu had all the tools to write a masterpiece.”

The Publisher, Florence and Lambard Nigeria Limited, Mrs Ronke Fetuga said: "By writing the book, Justice Somolu lives forever."

The Attorney-General of Ogun State, Mr Wemimo Ogunde (SAN), who represented Governor Ibikunle

PHOTOS: EVELYN OSAGIE

Amosun, said the memoirs call attention to the need for the establishment of a course on the history of the legal profession.

The event was attended by dignitaries, including Chief Akintola Williams; former Federal Commissioner for works, Alhaji Femi Okunnu; former Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi; Justice Akin Holloway; frontline industrialist, Alhaji Rasaq Okoya; Chief Badru Olaoguns; Chief Ladi Rotimi-Williams; Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi; and Mr Soji Awogbade, among others.

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The firing line of Nigerian Art

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S there an emergent avant garde in Nigerian art holding the fort in the firing line against political, economic, and social deprivations? The answer to this question is quite complicated. Last Friday, October 21, 2011, African students at the University of Texas at Austin, performed a series of dramatic sketches.

For about two hours under the twinkling stars of a moonless night, in the vast open space in front of the university’s Main Building, the students sang, danced, mimed, and recited poetry. It was never intended to be a professional performance, and it never rose to that level of accomplishment.

But the performance reminded me of a related event, which, on the surface, does not seem even remotely connected. In 1978, Dennis Brutus, the South African writer, published a collection of poems entitled Letters to Martha and Other Poems From a South African Prison. Martha, Brutus’s lover, was the protagonist to whom the poems are written as expressions of his passionate love for her. Although he was locked up and tortured in a cell in South Africa during the era of apartheid; although he was shot in the back as he tried to escape from prison, and although he was subsequently exiled and banned from South Africa by the repressive apartheid regime that ruled and subjugated most of southern Africa, Brutus did not lose his sense of humanity. More than anything, the fact and intensity of his brutality became for him the “stubborn” need for him to retain his sensitivity, compassion, and benevolence. His embrace of optimism shines clear in the luminosity and brightness of the verses that he wrote in captivity, as well as in exile.

But in African poesy, Brutus was not alone in this tenacious commitment to upholding humanising values. As Gerald Moore and Ulli Beier noted in the introduction to their anthology of African verses, The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry, a major reason for celebrating African poetry is clear: it lies in the sheer ability of African writers to uphold the universality of human grace, in spite of the difficult political contexts from which most of them produced. The editors felt compelled to publish the poems, not only to display the wide array of voices and talents in Africa, but also “her refusal to abandon those human values so long associated with her name….How many of these same poets have suffered imprisonment, banning, exile and even death in these years; how many African countries have been plunged into civil war or military dictatorship? Poets have been and still remain in the firing line. Nor could it be otherwise, for the alternative of averting their gaze from Africa’s unfolding drama simply does not exist for them.”

Tragedy is the sad footnote marking every page of African history especially since the beginning of western expansionism in the fifteenth century. But, as Aristotle noted, tragedy is also the highest source and product of creative expression, although he focused his study on drama. The dramatic art, however, encompasses visual, literary, musical, and mimetic contents and styles, as components of a unified vision. The great modernist philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, in his classic book, The Birth of Tragedy in the Spirit of Music, locates tragedy inside music. He shares the Yoruba proverbial view which insists that when carefully sung, you can dance to the rhythms of tragedy—Aifele kebosi ni ko see jo.

Augustino Neto, the Angolan poet and revolutionary, locates tragedy in the deafening traces of silence, after music dies. In “Hoisting the Flag,” he writes: When I returned the soldier arts had vanished from the town And you too My friend Liceu voice gladdening with hot rhythms of the land through nights of never-failing Saturdays, You too sacred and ancestral music resurgent in the sacred sway of the Ngola’s rhythm, You too had vanished When music vanishes, its rhythm continues to reverberate in the quiet spaces of the listeners’ mind. The visual arts of Africa are only understandable within this aesthetic of elegantly orchestrated tragedy, and it within this space that we may view the question of the actively firing line in Nigerian art. It is from the pores of African tragedy, therefore, that the artists of Africa secrete the creative juices that fuel their paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, performance arts, and other forms of visual cultural expressions. But these artists have learned, or have been birthed, to choreograph their images into optimistic genres that bloom and shine with human grace and optimism, even in the pit of the most brutal deprivations and repressive principalities.

Along the visual dimension, nobody expresses more eloquently the dissonance of tragic music in a visual language than the celebrated Nigerian printmaker, Bruce Onobrakpeya. His work has evolved through various stages, yet the same semantic consistency informs and concretizes his vision. In some exercises, Onobrakpeya fleshes out his characters, and the physical details of musculature and costume are evident and legible. The attempt to represent reality stands blatantly on the printed page, while the literal aspects of the compositions subordinate the metaphoric fig-

•Unokwa’s ancestral

•Vagarie

By Moyo Okediji ures of speech. Viewers discern men, women, and children performing various tasks ranging from the secular and mundane to the sacred and mysterious. In these factual-looking compositions, the metaphors of battles seem extraneous to the ordinary meaning of the work. Like a subterraneous interpretation, the second level of meaning, however, subverts the immediate significance of Onabrakpeya’s most prosaic artwork.

It is from the more stylized compositions that Onobrakpeya hits his highest chords of conflict, strife, and discord. Viewers of his early prints must be startled by the body of impressions that he devised as images on variable surfaces.

The lumpy and rutted patterns on the pitted plane of the printing paper warns viewers of the presence of a rough aesthetics, and the antonymic absence of smoothness, tranquility, and fluidity of life. To confront his “deep etching” lines is to come face for face with a body of work that celebrates the battered human body. His evokes a rocky plane that is so broken and bruised that the printing ink bleeds and sweats within the paper on which he prints his figures.

Deeply compressed beyond the surface of paper, Onobrakpeya’s figures recede behind convoluted terrains smeared with dry fluids and indented marks. Bent and badly broken, the printed bodies salute the viewer with proud strides and measured rhythms, as flag bearers of a tired battalion that refuses to surrender. This is the hot ground of the firing line.

On the printing paper, the figures on Onobrakpeya’s prints are vertically and horizontally arranged as metaphors of warriors. The framed battle lines are boldly drawn, and the bodies are decorated like heroic soldiers wearing broken medals of honour. They are ragged, but neatly delineated warriors who would not be taken prisoners, but are sworn to battle to the bitterest conclusion. The bold colors and shapes stand firm and strong, each column strategically positioned to reinforce adjacent ones, like a unit of subalterns arrayed before a strict master sergeant. The designs are tightly controlled, and each row draws on other rhythmic

arrangements that command hierarchy.

Because of his rugged handling of materials, Onobrakpeya’s work, therefore, does not function on the terrain of sweetened offerings associated with artists who preceded him, precursors including Aina Onabolu and Akinola Lasekan.

Onabolu and Lasekan’s works seem self-conscious, laborious, and almost elitist when juxtaposed against the urgency of Onobrakpeya’s lyricism, which apparently leaps from gutty places beyond the immediate reaches of the casual viewer.

Perhaps his emotional accessibility and his unbridled vulnerability lift him above many other artists of his generation. Many Nigerian printmakers, including David Dale, Moses Unokwa, and Olaniyi Ojo have benefitted from his styles. Beyond printmaking, his influences resonate in the paintings of Moses Ibanga’ Vagaries of Life, and Beauty Queen, in which the vertical patterns of color and shapes drape down the picture plane, in cascades of decorative motifs. In Eze Fidelis Odogwu’s copper work, Compatriots, he maintains a rhythmic order that Onobrakpeya’s work fiercely command.

Does it matter that these younger artists might not realize that they are drinking from the vessel of a warrior, and are, directly, bearing political arms on his behalf? Perhaps not.

Maybe the young ones simply feel that imitation is a creative form of hero-worshipping that might generate a measure of instant recognition and a fistful of fiscal rewards.

Nevertheless the sweet colours of the emerging generation of artists, the marching patterns, and their vigilant designs continue in the tradition of Denis Brutus’s camouflaged words. More immediately, they access the ornamental elegies of a most prominent fighter, and continue to reinforce the never-ending battles of the Zaria Rebels. They are the new advance guards of Nigerian art, rigorously minding the firing lines with aesthetic vigilance and graceful disdain. Does it matter really that they might know not the political ramifications of what they are doing? .To be continued next week.

•Okediji is of the University of Texas in Austin, USA

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Invisible Borders for Addis Ababa

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WELVE African artists, mainly Nigerians, will on November 2, hit the road to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to attend this year’s Invisible Border Trans-African Photography Initiative project.

The road trip, which will end on December 16, will take the contingents across about 12, 000 km to Addis Ababa, visiting on their way, capitals and major cities of Nigeria, Chad, Sudan and Ethiopia. It is the third edition of the yearly road trip project.

The approach will be a focus on revealing, through the art of photography, images of African life and people that usually go unnoticed in the media, all the while exploring themes centred on socio-political discourses prevalent on the continent.

With a group of 1o photographers and two writers, who will capture the essence of the road trip in words, this year’s Invisible Borders team will focus on the creation of artistic works with indigenous artists in the cities to be visited. The question of identity as it translates into style and modes of dressing, as well as issues, such as Women’s Rights, the role of economic world powers in the shaping of the African economy, nature and wildlife preservation/sustainability, as well as conflicts in the African soil will be considered as topics to be explored.

On the final leg of this year’s adventure, upon arrival in Addis Ababa at the end of November, a workshop involving local photographers, along with an exhibition featuring a selection of works produced during the road trip, will hold at the Museum of Modern Art of Addis Ababa, in collaboration with its Director, Aida Muluneh.

Following the success of the previous road trips, this year’s edition will also be made into a documentary film and book. Also, activities of the journey will be for exclu-

•Members of the Invisible Borders

By Ozolua Uhakheme Assistant Editor (Arts)

sive online posts from the writers, photographers, video logs from the film crew, and real-time testimonies from participants as the journey unfolds. This can be accessed via Invisible Borders’ blog (www.invisibleborders.blogspot.com) and social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, Creative Africa Network)...

LITERARY FEAST

Don makes case for indigenous languages

Book N Gauge hosts Omatseye’s Crocodile Girl

By Evelyn Osagie

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TEACHER at the Osun State University, Osogbo, Prof. Siyan Oyeweso, has expressed concerned over the sorry state of indigenous languages, which are facing serious threat from foreign languages. He blamed the gradual disappearance of indigenous languages on British role as the sole controller of political and socio-economic machinery of Nigeria.

He spoke at the recent annual conference of the Yoruba Studies Association of Nigeria (YSAN) organised at the university to reposition indigenous language. In his paper, entitled: The Tyranny of English Language and westernisation in Nigeria: The imperatives of indigenous Language and Cultural Promotion for Development, Oyeweso noted that colonial administration deliberately pursued a policy that discouraged the promotion of indigenous languages through the West African Education Ordinance, which was used to checkmate the Christian Missionaries who were seeking converts through the indigenous languages.

“The colonial government also used various means at its disposal to frustrate the activities of the missionaries who earlier promoted the learning of indigenous languages. During the colonial period, English Language gradually became the official language of government and administration, education, business, commerce, mass media and so on.”

According to him, there was alteration in all the facets of national life of colonial Nigeria as every aspect of the peoples’ culture was considered inferior to that of the British and the people had to learn the British ways to be able to participate effectively.

He observed that indigenous languages, particularly the mother tongue, should be promoted in the education sector to enhance the Nigeria’s development at all levels.

“Though, some reasons have been adduced in support for poor performance of students at examinations in Nigeria from the primary to the tertiary levels.

“The argument here is also that students do not do well in examinations because they do not have effective understanding, grasp and assimilation of the message since there was no corresponding interpretation of what they learnt in the mother’s tongue,” he added.

He therefore urged the governments at the various levels to as a matter of state policy, give prominence and sincere support to the teaching, learning and study of indigenous languages at all levels of education in the country.

He also said, scholars have suggested that the tyranny of English Language as basic requirement for admission to higher institutions of learning in Nigeria could be broken by a corresponding basic requirement of one of the indigenous languages for certain courses particularly in the liberal arts.

“The government and other stakeholders in the promotion of indigenous languages should formulate and imple-

This year’s participants are Amaize Ojeikere, Ray Daniels Okeugo, Chidinma Nnorom, Nana OforiattaAyim, Emmanuel Iduma, Ala Khier, Unoma Giese, Kemi Akin-Nibosun,Tom Saater, Uche Okpa-Iroha, Jumoke Sanwo and Emeka Okereke.

The initiative was founded in Nigeria in 2009 by Nigerian artists - mostly photographers - to effect changes in the subsector.

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•Oyeweso

By Musa Odoshimokhe

ment other policies and programmes that would restore the primacy of indigenous languages in Nigeria,” he said, noting that the Association of Nigerian Language Teachers (ANLAT) and other related bodies should intensify their efforts and activities meant for the promotion, preservation and appreciation of indigenous languages.

He stressed that the era of lip service to the promotion of indigenous languages is gone and that all that is needed now is retroactive measures to revamp the indigenous languages in Nigeria.

He further said: “At the individual level, there is a need for Nigerians to ensure that their young ones, particularly the children, are thoroughly grounded in the use of their mother’s tongues right from their childhood before they are exposed to the learning of English Language as a second language when they are mature.

“This is imperative against the background that the indigenous languages have become alien songs to the children in many households in Nigeria and the preference is for English Language. The implication of this development is that the young generations of Nigerians are not imbibing the cultural norms and values of their ethnic groups which indigenous languages would have imparted to them.

“There is a great danger for our cultural survival if the current linguistic situation, which relegates the indigenous languages to the background, is not reversed.”

HE monthly literary feast Book N Gauge organised

by Pulpfaction Book Club is set to whet literary zests again.

This month’s edition will feature The Nation’s Editorial Board Chair, Sam Omatseye. He will be reading from his novel, Crocodile Girl and his poetry collection on Saturday at Debonair Bookstore, Yaba Lagos by 2pm.

Omatseye will not be alone on the literary podium.

Chuma Nwokolo will also be reading from his Diairies of a Dead African, which is the club’s book of the month.

The event will also feature musical and spoken word performances from rave making Bez Idakula, Ruby, Efe Paul Azino and Plumbline.

Pulpfaction is an online book club dedicated to making reading hip and cool again. Our goal is to use new media platforms to bring readers together to engage with literary works via no-holds barred discussions. Thus, according to Adedotun Eyinade one of the brains behind the club, to this end, the website, www.pulpfaction.org.ng was launched alongside Facebook and Blackberrry groups and a twitter account.

“We have an online forum built in the website which we are doing our best at promoting.”

The book of the month selection programme, he said, was also started some months back to get members reading collectively and have intense discussions, centred on the themes discussed in the selected books.

They then decided to take it a step further by hosting a monthly event called Book N Gauge. “We envisioned it as the climax of all the month-long discussions on our virtual platforms. At Book N Gauge, we feature the authors we have chosen to read for the month and other writers. To spice it up, we also added acoustic music, poetry and spoken word performance.

The reception has been modest and we have witnessed the programme soar from being barely able to sit 40 people to one that where we had over 100 people in attendance. The conservative success notwithstanding, we are keen on upping the ante by increasing audience participation and our visibility in the media,” he •Omatseye said.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

36

The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

•G.easy motions

Adejumo returns ‘home’ with Ideas, Ideals

U

NTIL very recently, what most Nigerians remember about Niger Delta is kidnapping in the oil-rich region. But today, many are becoming more aware of the humanness of the people despite the harsh environmentpollution, spillage and degradation. Such unsung traits of the people are what artists such as Segun Adejumo is reliving in his drawings and paintings due for exhibition at Nettatal Luxury, Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on November 26. The exhibition is sponsored by Niger Delta Exploration and Production Plc. Specifically, Adejumo’s solo exhibition, Ideas and Ideals, is spot lighting the beauty and joy in the region as well as the abundant resources (human inclusive) in Niger Delta. Yet,

By Ozolua Uhakheme, Assistant Editor (Arts)

the images created by Adejumo on canvasses and papers will not only unveil those hidden beauty in the region, but it will also support the clarion calls for social change in the region. It is conceived in tandem with ‘dance the guns to silence, an old slogan by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Like majority of his paintings that are committed to womanhood, some of the paintings for this exhibition represent women from the South-South region as captured from various social functions. “The woman seen through his window is an object of fascination and muted respected,” according to Dapo Adeniyi in his foreword to the exhibition brochure.

The artist, who had his secondary education in Port

Justa posed with love from Accra

their trade at a time it was taboo for women to work as blacksmiths or goldsmiths. They were expected to relegate themselves to textiles, clay work and beading.

Constance has refused such relegation. She has ventured into a male dominated sector and carved a niche for herself. Starting with her pursuit of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sculpture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and her subsequent establishment of Accents and Arts Gallery Limited where she crafts some of the finest sculptures and furniture using wrought iron, she has become an inspiration onto many for her share tenacity and willingness to venture onto a road less travelled.

She approaches her work not only with the timeless skills embedded in her very genealogy but also with refined multiculturalism as a result of growing up in three different countries- Gambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, her finished products evoke a sense of wisdom and intelligence, simplicity and sophistication, individuality and universality.

Her work has not gone unnoticed. She has been featured on many local and international media such as Reuters News Agency for the Africa Channel, MNet’s Studio 53 and Metro TV’s Thank God its Friday.

F

OLLOWING the success of her debut solo art exhibition at the Artists Alliance Gallery in Accra, Ghana, in June, a Ghanaian artist, Constance Swaniker, will hold her second exhibition, Juxta Posed at the Nike Art Gallery in Lekki, Lagos on November 5. She will showcase various provocative pieces intended to jostle the viewer into some kind of a deeper awareness. In Killing Fields, Constance presents a beautiful and colourful garden with three offensive weapons perched right in the middle of it. The contrast is quite poignant. Her inspiration for this piece came from reading an article where children in conflict regions innocently playing in fields only to be maimed by landmines.

At a time when the world is in danger of extermination by virtue of conflicts, global warming, poverty, disease etc, Killing Fields is a revolutionary piece that is an apt representation of the destruction we cause to this beautiful world and thus a clarion call to save the planet.

She is inspired by the world within her and outside her.

Themes of transition, emancipation and resilience are but a few that run through her work. Her courage is not only evidenced in her work but also as a single mother raising two boys and managing a successful company with 40 employees and trailblazing a path for women and also men in hitherto unexplored grounds. In the piece Pretty Wings, Constance depicts a woman on her mark, ready to sprint off, with her head bowed down owing to all the challenges in her life. But the pretty wing on her back, about to lift her up, demonstrates her courage. Another arresting work is entitled Weapon of Mass Destruction and it’s in the form of a headless male torso.

Between his legs, in place of a male member, there hangs a

Harcourt, recalled that he is passionate about the works for the exhibition because some of the victims and key players in the Niger Delta crisis are not only known to him, but are his friends. He said there is an ideal of merry-making in the region and there is also a lot of greatness in the people.

“There are great writers such as Gabriel Okara, Elechi Amadi, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Alagoa and many more in other fields from the region. But, the paintings, if well viewed will reveal the critical issues of the region that are beyond beauty,” he said.

Ideas and Ideals, which will feature water colours, drawings in pen and ink, charcoal, and a large number of oil paintings, contains subtle messages on good governance that has eluded the country since independence. The exhibition will run till December 3.

•Swaniker

huge pistol. This appears to be the ultimate male boast but as the name implies, it is a violent representation of a cruel murderous bravado. It is a harrowing image in a continent where rape has been used deliberately as a weapon of war and where a lot of men still see it as part of the discourse between the sexes. This wonderful collection of 30 pieces reveals how far Constance has travelled in her life’s journey.

Her life stands in defiance of history, tradition, hegemony and the status quo. A descendant of the legendary Amartei Fiator, a member of the Amartse We family, a division within the Ga Clan and a famous goldsmith revered throughout the Asere Dynasty.

Constance hails from a heritage of excellent craftsmen who plied

38

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

When this project started, it seemed like a complete joke; that women who could not drive a car would be taught to drive a 42-seater bus. Today, what seemed impossible has turned out to be a huge success and something posterity will never forget

•Female trainee drivers with Governor Oshiomhole

I

T was with joy that the people of Edo State received the first set of trainee drivers in the state Intra City Bus Service popularly known as ‘Comrade Bus’.

Fifty trainee candidates made up of 30 females and 20 males were initially absorbed in the programme. Twenty females and 14 males have completed the exercise with very impressive ratings.

The comprehensive programme was made up of two modules: the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) training module for three months, initial driving skills development and driving methodology. Secondly, there was an in-house apprenticeship training for four months meant for confidence building, sharpening of skills for practical operational efficiency and public relations.

The idea is not only to provide young people with jobs, but also to open a new phase of educated drivers in the state.

Managing Director of the Intra

Edo trains 20 female drivers From Osagie Otabor, Benin City

City Bus Service, Mrs. Edugie Agbonlanhor said: “It is expected that it will lead to high level service delivery and stem the tide of pilferage. We are also of the candid opinion that this development will become an enduring and sustainable employment strategy for the overall wellbeing and progress of the Intra City Bus Service”.

She explained that judging from the overflowing joy and prayers for Oshiomhole by the passengers, “we can conveniently say without any doubt that there is no area of governance and delivery of democracy dividends where the governor has shown deep appreciation of the masses’ needs more than the provision of the ‘Comrade Buses’”.

Continuing, she said the intra-

•Commuters ply Abuja roads amid motorcycle fumes

city bus service is widely accepted by the people, adding that available statistics shows that within one year of commencement of business, the Comrade Buses recorded an average weekly turnover of 170,000 passengers and an average monthly turnover of 700,000 passengers with a total of about 9 million passenger turnover in the period of October 2010 to September 2011.

The commuter profile, according to Mrs. Agbonlanhor, ranges from students, market women, office workers, military and para-military ranks and officers, associations, religious bodies, top civil servants in the rank of Permanent Secretaries and the Comrade Governor, who often rides on the buses.

Investigation reveals that the preference for the buses has to do with the obvious advantages. Such

PHOTO: NAN

advantages include comfort, safety, availability and affordability, low fares.

It was learnt that apart from being a viable source of employment generation to numerous Edo citizens, the Comrade buses have also been deployed into emergency evacuation of Edo citizens where they were under threat. An instance was when the state citizens on the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Bauchi and its students in the University of Maiduguri, Borno State were ferried home on the bus.

Within one year of its life, the intra-city bus service has remarkably alleviated commuters’ hitherto enduring transportation problems, and also set the pace for other services elsewhere in the country.

It is the first to adopt the E-payment system to minimise cases of pilfering and the first in the country to train, employ and deploy female 42-seater bus drivers, which was the sole initiative of the Comrade Governor for women empowerment.

One of the female trainee drivers, Miss Ashuma Sarah said: “In February, when this project started, it seemed to many as a complete joke; that women who could not drive a car would be taught how to drive a 42-seater bus.

But today, what seemed impossible has turned out to be a huge success and something posterity will never forget.

“What the Comrade Governor has achieved is quite a feat which was borne out of perseverance orchestrated on the platform of intelligence and determination, giving credence to the fact that nothing is impossible.

“We feel very favoured to be part of the female drivers’initiative aimed at giving meaning to the girl-child. We feel obliged also to continually put in our best to sustain this initiative and we pledge our absolute loyalty to this project and also promise not to fail you, Sir. You will not regret the funds

spent on this project”.

The Governor disclosed that the initiative of the female trainee drivers of the Comrade Bus Scheme is aimed at ensuring gender equality, maintaining that no society can attain full potentials when a particular sex is restricted to certain jobs. He assured that with the training received by the female drivers, commuter’s safety is guaranteed.

Besides, the Governor had launched the Edo Traffic Management Agency (EDSTMA) to help reduce the carnage caused by reckless driving. While urging the Traffic managers to be civil in their dealings with traffic offenders, he said, “even when an offence has been committed, such as wrong parking, we must be civil in our methods. We must even wear a smile while being firm on the issue. The important thing is to keep our eyes on the board. I have seen elsewhere in the world where policemen do their jobs with a smile.

While we must be firm, we must not insult people, we must not abuse people,” he noted.

The Governor warned men of the traffic agency to shun corrupt tendencies, saying anyone caught will be prosecuted. His words, “We are going to put private monitors with secret cameras to monitor the ongoings. If you are caught in extortion, we will take you to court and ensure that the rule of law prevails and you are brought to justice”.

While expressing the hope that the officers will take their work seriously, he noted that government has done a lot of work on building and expanding roads across the state as part of general urban renewal.

The Commissioner for Transport Mr. Victor Enoghama said recent statistics showed that a total 29,715 Nigerians were killed in road accidents between 2005 and 2010, while 118,993 of the victims recorded various degrees of injuries in accidents involving 53,000 vehicles.

He appealed to the private sector to partner with the state government to develop the transport sector in the state.

UCE

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

39

ART

E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

ONA trajectory: The disputable claims of a traducer

“E

ntitled Onaism, a lino print by Kunle Filani expresses in one Image and one word, the most significant artistic movement among Yoruba artists, especially since independence….

His instantaneous flash of genius reveals to us in one breath and one stroke a rare insight into contemporary Nigerian aesthetics ….” Moyo Okediji (in Kurio Africana Vol 1:2, 1990) The self-adulating essay Beyond Dispute: Origins, Travails of Ona written by Moyo Okediji and published recently in some Nigerian Newspapers sparked off series of enchanting on-line comments by informed scholars and artists especially from abroad. The article was designed to diminish the efforts of co-founders of Ona Group of Artists and attribute the founding, fostering and funding to himself.

Blinded by egotism, Okediji committed series of historical blunders. He presented fiction for fact, let out streams of invective on my person and indeed became spurious in his specious suzerainty claims. The essay ended up becoming parochial, pathetic and petty.

I was initially reluctant to join issues with Okediji whose contrivance was to belittle my efforts as a prominent pioneering member of Ona Group. I wanted to avoid seeming self glorification while recounting my contributions to the formation of Ona. Moreover, as a matter of principle, I have conceptually jettisoned competitive bravado; an act that conceits the soul. I am always conscious of the fact that winning a rat-race does not turn you to a cat. But as necessity would have it, I am compelled to intervene in the contestation of Ona formation having been implicitly drawn into the debate.

It was strategic to delay the rejoinder, not only because my present job is highly demanding both in ethics and time, but also to conciliate my response in consequence of the appeals made by respectable scholars and connoisseurs.

Most importantly, I needed to gather relevant materials to justify my role in the formation of Ona, thereby situating my narrative in appropriate historical context.

It must be clearly stated that I am not aversed to individual members innocuously proclaiming personal contributions towards the development of Onaism as an art movement. Each person’s case is bound to be peculiar but not necessarily pernicious. Indeed, pontificating through historical narratives should be limited to edifying purposes. It therefore behoves the five Ona pioneers to elucidate on the overriding impulses that characterised the emergence of Onaism as a definable movement in Modern Nigerian art.

Ondo beginnings: In My End Is My Beginning – T.S Eliot “Recently ONA, another group of 7 practising artists emerged in Ondo State. …. Among the ONA group, Kunle Filani’s art for instance portrays linear characteristics, and is quite different from Tola Wewe and Segun Adejemiluwa’s expressions Donatus Akatakpo (Nigeria (sic) Art In Crisis of Identity – In Newbreed, July 31, 1988).

The above quotation in Newbreed, July edition 1988, emphasised that there was a group in Ondo State named ONA; the first time Ona Group of artists was mentioned in print media. Donatus Akatakpo was a 1979 graduate of Ife School and very close to Moyo Okediji, Tola Wewe and me.

He obtained his MFA degree at the University of Benin, where Okediji and I also did, although in different classes in the early eighties. Akatakpo and I actually lectured together at Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, between 1985 and 1986 when he resigned his appointment and took up a job in

By Kunle Filani

Lagos.

The import of Donatus Akatakpo’s article in the Newbreed Magazine is the indisputable documentation it offered about the place of formation, group name ad some members of the Ona Group. Indeed the initiating members were lecturers at the Adeyemi College of Education Ondo, and the then Ondo State College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti. The core ones were Kunle Filani, Tola Wewe, Bankole Ojo, Segun Adejemilua and Opeyemi Arije.

After the resignation of Donatus Akatakpo from the Art Department at Adeyemi College of Education, I facilitated the employment of Tola Wewe as a lecturer in 1987. Tola Wewe was a regular visitor to Ondo town while researching his M.A thesis at the University of Ibadan. As a 1983 graduate of Ife, he bonded with Akatakpo and I both as artist colleague and friend. He stayed with me while processing his employment and few months after securing the appointment, he rented a flat thereafter. It was around this period in 1987 that I initiated the need to form a group with him before inviting others to join.

It is crucial to differentiate the Ona Group initiated in 1987 from Atunda Group as not being the same as wrongly claimed

by Moyo Okediji in his article. Atunda was formed in 1991 and led by Eben Sheba who was lecturing at Ikere-Ekiti. The membership did not include Kunle Filani and Tola Wewe.

The claim by Okediji that Solomon Irifere (sic) was a member of Atunda is also false. Mike Irifere championed the formation of another group named Wazobia in 1992 also in Ondo town.

In negation to the lackluster picture painted by Okediji that Ondo town in the eighties was uninspiring, and that those of us in Adeyemi College, Ondo were disgruntled with our job, Ondo town was indeed a boisterous cultural and social haven. Adeyemi College of Education that was established in 1961 in Ondo and later became a satellite campus of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, was very conducive for robust scholarship and radical creative tendencies. A cursory look into some of our activities in Ondo that served as impetus for creative groupings may be apposite.

In the mid-eighties, comradeship among some young and like-minded lecturers at Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo developed into bonds of affinity. The friendship metamorphosed into a coterie nicknamed Ilu. Ilu members often socialized together and engaged in illuminating critique of the unfortunate military leadership that pauperized Nigeria’s economy. The group became critical of the local academic and administrative hierarchies of the College, thereby attracting radical labels from Management, staff and students.

Ilu also aligned with a progressive group in Ondo town named Ondo Study Group, ably led by Dr. Olusegun Mimiko who is the dynamic Governor of Ondo State. Ondo Study Group on regular occasions met and discussed the challenges of leadership in a developing political climate and the need for democratic ideals in Africa.

Ilu members equally challenged and encouraged one another to uphold the tenets of teaching, research and community service while engaging in best practices in their individual academic disciplines. The members were Kunle Filani, Tunde Babawale, Ojo Olorunleke, Gboyega Ajayi and Tola Wewe. There was no dull moment in Ondo, and we all consolidated on our socio-political experiences and used such to further challenge our academic and creative sensibilities.

It was within the Ondo milieu of dynamic engagements that Tola Wewe and I started Ona Group of artists. I articulated the group’s name by elaborating on the peculiarities of Yoruba artforms and motifs. I also justified the need to conflate the two since they are mutually embedded in Yoruba aes-

•Filani

thetics. Noting that forms and motifs in various African traditions derived inspiration from similar circumstances, it became obvious that the appropriation of Ona visual philosophy was not limited in scope to the Yoruba only. Onaism therefore emerged as a platform where intrinsic Yoruba creative cultures could be interrogated by others. My drawings, prints and paintings in the eighties attested to the matching of the theory with practice. This was why Moyo Okediji in his article that I quoted in the beginning of this essay celebrated my 1986 Lino-print titled Onaism - Ija lo’de ti orin di owe. - conflict breeds pejorative tenor to otherwise innocent songs.

During this period, my activism was not limited to Ona Group. I was involved in other professional and intellectual associations. For example I was the General Secretary of Ondo Resident Artists (1988 – 1991), the elected Assistant General Secretary and later the Acting Secretary of Nigerian Folklore Society ably led by G.G. Darah and later S.O. Williams (1988 – 1994). I was also a strong member of Nigerian Society of Education Through Art (NSEA) and of course the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA). Okediji’s tenuous argument that “Filani, as a young man, was not disposed to the leadership commitments that he now seems to ably handle….” is visibly mischievous. As a matter of fact, in 1989, after the retirement of both Chief R.A. Ajidahun and Mr. S.B. Faturoti (Those I described in a 1991 exhibition essay as Provincial Monuments) I was appointed the Head of Department of Fine and Applied Arts, a position I responsibly handled till I left for Lagos in 1992.

Ife Confluence and matters arising It was not until February 1989, after an exhibition titled “Contemporary Ife” that some of us who were participants and alumni of the department started discussing the need to redefine and proclaim the emerging Ife School to a wider audience by coming together as formidable professional group. Since Tola Wewe and I had initiated the Ona group in Ondo, and Moyo Okediji was gathering materials for a new journal named Kurio Africana, it was convenient but not necessarily expedient to align interests by consolidating Ona group afresh and making Kurio Africana its official scholarly journal.

The inaugural exhibition entitled “Ona I: Maiden Exhibition” was held in April, 1989 at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. The catalogue of the exhibition reflected the results of our collective deliberations as proclaimed in our manifesto. Five of us namely Moyo Okediji, Kunle Filani, Tola Wewe, Bolaji Campbell and Tunde Nasiru became the pioneering members of the new Ona Group. We agreed not to share executive positions, but rather share responsibilities based on the capabilities and capacities of individual members. Bolaji Campbell and Tunde Nasiru were Post-graduate students but later got employed as lecturers after completing their MFA programme. We were all alumni of O.A.U, Ife and we made Ife our official headquarters.

‘We are the largest cinema chain in Nigeria’

T

HE Executive Director, Silverbird Cinema, Mr Jonathan MurrayBruce, is not a strange name in Nigeria’s movie industry. He spoke on the state of cinema business and plans.

What is the state of cinema business?

First, part of my responsibility is to run our cinema business in Nigeria, ensure we get good films from our distributors, maintain the look and feel, expand the business and making sure our movie goers are happy and satisfied.

We are the largest cinema chain in Nigeria with 34 screens spread across five locations.

We show hundreds of films a year, and serve hundreds of thousands of customers per year and we are still growing.

What is the relationship between Silverbird Cinema and Silverbird distribution?

Silverbird Distribution acquires the rights to distribute movies from their studios/producers to the cinemas within their territory.

•Murray-Bruce

They negotiate the contract terms and assist with publicity for their films. Silverbird Cinema is an exhibitor who exhibits films received from distributors (SBD being one of them).

Why do you reject movies at Silverbird?

It is all based upon the economic benefits that each film is projected to bring to the table.

Silverbird does not reject films, however, Silverbird Film Distribution like any other cinema distributor in the world, can preview and advise on films meant for cinema and the ones meant for DVD release.We choose the films that we feel will be the most appealing to our audience. Let it be noted that even abroad not all movies make it to the big screen.

There has been negative publicity surrounding Silverbird and Nollywood. Why? There are some people that have said Silverbird does not support Nollywood. It’s not true. As a matter of fact, we have increased our viewings of Nollywood movies. During the last six months, we have exhibited a minimum of two Nigerian movies every month and if all goes well, we plan on doing more. In addition, we assist with some of the publicity for the films exhibited at our cinema. Silverbird Cinemas will occasionally showcase a Nollywood movie through red carpet premiers like they do in

Hollywood. To date, we are proud to say that we have exhibited and premiered a number of successful Nollywood films. The fact that we publicise these movies through our media branch gives us an advantage over our competitors.

Silverbird believes in Nollywood and we hope to establish an even better relationship with the community from now and into the future.

What are your plans for your cinema’s future?

We plan on expanding our cinemas across Nigeria and beyond Nigerian soil, and we are opening a new cinema in Ikeja this year, we are in the process of upgrading to digital projection technology, eventually we will expand our cinemas all across Nigeria.

What are your plans for the entertainment industry?

We believe that Nigeria needs entertainment as much as entertainment needs Nigeria and Silverbird will play a big part in being the guiding light as this industry explodes in the future.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

40

ART E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

T

HERE is something genuinely unsettling about an echo that won’t abate, a voice that won’t go, that won’t be silenced! And genielike, sprouting from within, from without, between, betwixt and thunderously rocking the peace of your earth..? Surely, the mandate stripper is perpetually a nervous condition. Constantly in flight from itself and the people; and on its heels a thousand hollers! Somewhere around the bend it buckles under, and the people dust up their mandate, returning home at dawn to start up their life all over again.

It is precisely that tortuous walk to this new dawn that our gathering here is all about.

And if the cause of egalitarianism and social justice ever fascinated your crusading sensibilities like it did Obafemi Awolowo and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti; or if, in the cause of your critical appraisal of the civic space you ever once had taken a swipe at the atavistic and indecorous energies sold on selfperpetuation and muffling of the people’s voice, then you would appreciate the effort of Messrs Adaramodu and Jamiu in detailing the stolen mandate of the Ekiti.

Long Walk to a New Dawn could as well have been titled Lest We Forget or A River that Forgets its Source. And as our traditional aphorism reflects on the latter, such a river runs dry!

For too long our immediate experiences have become sudden hieroglyphs awaiting the expertise of future, sometimes suspect decipherers, and for which society continually pays direly. In documenting and interpreting the peculiar social and legal struggles of the Ekiti opposition and its arrow head, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, particularly between 2007 and 2010, this narrative invariably gestures back to an activist resilience of the gruesome era of military dictatorship in this land; and in addition, subversion and the possibility of victory to the finer nuances of the human will.

There is every reason to believe that this initiative will profoundly affect the attitude of the Nigerian state in relation to institutional corruption, political brigandage and electoral heist. The authors, while lending an insider perspective to the backgrounds of the 2007 Elections in Ekiti, provide an eyewitness account of, and counter narratives of the events that led to the hegemonic narratives the ruling party had woven to institutionalise, using the INEC, the tyrannical and unconstitutional imposition of Mr. Segun Oni on the Ekiti people. Long Walk to a New Dawn is, therefore, a narrative of the restive pre-moments and moments of the first Ekiti Election tribunal, as well as the processes and decisions of the second tribunal. Its coverage is also inclusive of the various events of various Court of Appeal sessions and the re-run election, which came with the usual ruling party inspired seasons of anomie, electioneering fraud and the unleashing of violence and terror on hapless citizens — a time-worn strategy of the African sit-tight. The account of the events leading to the murky announcement of Mr. Oni as winner by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Gabriel Okafor is particularly well portrayed in the prologue of the book, and as if you had been there with the authors, you picked muted voices that nudged on the REC, and he eventually blurted: “This is the end of the story” It was, however, a ruse. The story had only just begun! It is the story of a long walk to freedom. You would be right to insist that Fayemi’s walk might be eclipsed by Madiba’s longer and tortuous odyssey out of the suppressive grips of Apartheid; but it is expedient to observe that Fayemi reminds us of Madiba; he reminds us of Ghandi and his pacifist engagement of brutal and imperial history. Indeed, rummaging through the authors’ shelve of well-woven words and brilliantly delivered propositions would convince you that Kayode Fayemi’s walk to freedom and justice is metonymic of the resoluteness of the human spirit. From Okemesi-Ekiti to South Sudan, and from Cabinda to Rwanda, that radical spirit of the human continues to transcend the imprisoning manacles of Inequality, oppression and corruption. This is the utmost signification of the Fayemi story, and this forty-two month old demonstration of indefatigable willpower is what the authors have wisely enunciated in this timely historical documentation.

The story might have been commandeered in Aso Rock and executed by Olusegun Obasanjo’s aide, Akin Osuntokun at the INEC headquarters at Onigari GRA, yet it is to

BOOK REVIEW Title: Long Walk to a New Dawn: An Account of the Struggle and Liberation of Ekiti People

Author: Yemi Adaramodu and Hakeem Jamiu, 2011 Dr Sola Olorunyomi, Institute of African Studies University of Ibadan

Reviewer:

Lest we forget Adaramodu and Jamiu we must now turn to unmask the interstitial details and variegated experiences that led to the enthronement of political sham in Ekiti State; the temporary silencing of truth and the eventual vindication of justice and equity. In a society whose conscience has been seared by the hot irons of corruption and injustice, the authors’ critical insights serve as a necessity that galvanises all of us, and especially the country’s corrupt dominant political class out of such contingent intransigence.

Besides adding a most exegetic and insightful prologue and epilogue, the authors have distilled, for posterity, their commentary in eight unmistakably poignant chapters. The first chapter unapologetically reconstructs what the authors call the invasion of the South-West by the PDP. Using Obasanjo as bait, the authors affirm, the PDP, inspired by the so-called Northern Oligarchy, actively gained control of the region. The exception, as we all remember is that deviant and uncanny AD Governor who, all by himself, wrestled off Lagos from the reaching hands of the PDP. The chapter specifically chronicles the tenure of Ayodele Falase, who is noted to have catalysed some infrastructural development in Ado Ekiti, but inaugurated a style of governance that was characteristic of the violence, reckless thievery and manipulation of the do-or-die politics of the ruling party at the centre. The authors insist that the ambivalence of Fayose’s Ekiti, and the crux of his problems consisted in the fact that the slightly noticeable achievement of the governor almost left the state treasury empty. This reign of terror eventually led to a state of emergency and an ignoble exit for the former governor. The chapter ends with the emergence of Fayemi as the AC gubernatorial candidate, and the various signatory accolades and support from such activists as Wole Soyinka, who averred that “the task that was begun in the dire days of the dictator, Sanni Abacha, remains unfinished.” Apparently, it was because of the need to complete that task that Fayemi chose to serve the people of Ekiti.

Having explicated the details that led to the stealing of the mandate of the Ekiti people, Adaramodu and Jamiu in the next chapter erect a stage for the understanding of the first Ekiti Election Petition Tribunal, as well as the consequent crises of legitimacy and popular acceptability that had begun to confront Segun Oni. There were particularly a lot of crises at the House of Assembly and Local Government elections and a pathetic potpourri of political conflicts. The various antics of Oni to suppress divergent voices and views are also highlighted in the chapter.

By relying on the verified sources of various national dailies and online media resources, the authors are able to indict a PDP-led state at war with its own people. The third and fourth chapters is a focus on the intrigues, processes and dynamics that led to the verdict of the first Ekiti Elections Petitions Tribunal and the Appeal Petition as well as the verdict of the first appeal court.

In terms of style, Adaramodu and Jamiu’s language is replete with vivid metaphors brimming with the memories descriptive details of the processes that led to Fayemi’s regaining of a stolen mandate. Their language is direct, assuring and unhindered.

The pages are laden with a style rooted in the writers’ understanding of the events, having participated actively in the struggle.

The fifth chapter has the title: “The Second Ekiti Elections Petitions Tribunal”. Here, the authors did a good job in giving impeccable details of events at the second election petitions tribunal. They presented a full cast of the actors in the dramatic proceedings of the tribunal. The Action Congress (AC) had about 47 witnesses cutting across different strata of Fayemi’s carnival of loyalists. There

were party agents, election monitors, observers and journalists. The list of legal luminaries that took up the Fayemi case is also impressive. The writers chronicled several sentiments and antics that were thrown up by the opposition to stall the proceedings and numb the long hands of the law. Perhaps the most significant of these would be the JUSUN strike. But beyond putting up a good fight for truth in the courtroom, Fayemi’s men fought vehemently with their unrelenting pens and endless propaganda. Possibly, the vehemence and painstaking arguments of the Fayemi team of lawyers, despite the gnomic posture of the incumbent, led to the split judgement of the tribunal on May 5th, 2010.

There are quite a number of fascinating indices in the chapter. The first is the populist stance of Adaramodu and Jamiu in celebrating the staunch stance of the common man of Ekiti for democracy. At points where they should have recoiled into their shells because of the booming of enemy guns in a time of peace, they refused to embrace cowardice. What about the exploits of Chief (Mrs) Ebun Adeyemo, as x-rayed from page 178 to 181? Does this not remind us of the exploits of Moremi of Ife, Queen Idia of Benin and Queen Amina of Zazzau? Does it not make the historical mind to rewind to the bravery of the Amazons in the then Dahomey kingdom? However, the authors get a minus for giving the likely to be erroneous impression that she (Chief (Mrs) Ebun Adeyemo) was the singular constituent of the Ekiti Progressive Women Alliance. I sincerely hope Ekiti women will not turn this into a gender war against the authors.

The authors’ nose for details is equally commendable. But there exists some minor oversights.

First, the authors may need to find alternatives for some not-too-common legal terms in the text. This will aid accessibility for the readers. Second, accounts that amount to secondary plots tend to be too long in the chapter. The disservice they offer is breaking the flow of thought and making it difficult to reconcile the different parts of the main plot. They should also watch out for such spelling errors as ‘she let an called the Ekiti Progressive Women Alliance’ (p.178) and ‘leagal’ (for legal) (p.205).

Chapter Six, in my opinion, represents the climax and the denouement of this text. It contains events preceding the long sought victory and the victory itself. It starts with a prelude that attempts to make an in-road into the sub-consciousness of the Ekiti citizenry.

The people were preoccupied with the thoughts: “Are we not going to be robbed again”? Will this judgement be different from previous judgements that would affirm the victory of the incumbent?” (p.271). These apparent interrogations represented the mood of the Ekiti people before the verdict of the second appeal court at Ilorin. The authors described what happened on the judgement day and presented an undiluted text of the judgement, as given on October 15th, 2010. The Appeal Court, sitting at Ilorin, affirmed the minority judgement and discarded the majority judgement of the lower court and declared Dr John Olukayode Fayemi as the bona fide governor of Ekiti.

The court also seriously indicted INEC for treating election matters in shrouded manners. What follows the text of the judgment are ample evidences from the election period to clearly show how INEC messed up its already soiled linen.

There are numerous touches of ingenuity in the writing of the chapter. The first notable one is the way the authors present the fact that an unstable polity engenders disillusionment, without being extremely psychoanalytic. In the prelude to the chapter, the people of Ekiti are painted as living in tension and anxiety before the verdict. What about the part on juju at the premises of the Appeal Court in Ilorin? Such a story is like a double-edged sword. It provides a kind of fascination, almost bothering on profound delectation, to some who have the same frame of mind as Governor Fayemi (as portrayed in his reaction to it, on page 272). For the common folks, ‘no be laughing matter o’. I must also commend the writers’ portraiture of Fayemi’s religious views, without letting it degenerate into a biography. It indicates a primary preoccupation with issues, not vain celebration of figures. Perhaps a little excerpt on matters spiritual during this struggle would be apposite. First on the governor: The attitude of Dr. Fayemi to anything juju or metaphysical is indifference. He would always tell whoever comes to him to do something to neutralise the diabolical moves of the PDP that he only believes in God and he is an ardent Catholic. Though he would not do anything involving fetish, he would not discourage whoever believes in such from pursuing it. A very funny occasion was in August 2010 shortly before the judgement of the 2nd Appeal Court when some elders in his Isan town came to tell him that a particular black cat believed to belong to witches and found out to have been possessed by evil spirits therefore militating against the victory of Dr. Fayemi at the tribunals had been killed. Dr. Fayemi simply replied them that what they have done was wickedness to animals and they should seek for forgiveness.

Such is his belief in spiritual matters. His position about spiritual matters is that he has gone beyond religion to spiritualism and this he expressed copiously in his book, ‘Out of the Shadows’. He expressed the same dismissive attitude when Yemi Adaramodu was afflicted with a strange ailment in June 2008. Adaramodu complained of hearing strange voices and seeing creatures that were not of the earthly being. He couldn’t sleep and he became restless. Dr. Fayemi dismissed Adaramodu’s ailment as mere cerebral malaria occasioned by lack of rest and he consequently instructed his family doctor to place him on sedation so that he could rest.

Not the contrary opinion of those present that Adaramodu was suffering from a spiritual attack could change the belief of Dr. Fayemi.

He got better after about one month in a hospital.

Dr. Fayemi’s Deputy, Funmi Olayinka, is not different in her approach to spiritual matters. During the struggle, especially after the questionable judgment of Justice Bwala on May 5, 2010, a group of women who claimed to have conducted a spiritual investigation into why we are always losing at the tribunals claimed that Mrs Olayinka is an Ogbanje and that it is her spirit that was working against the struggle. They then suggested to Yemi Adaramodu, Hakeem Jamiu and Gbenga Agbeyo to tell the Deputy to make some sacrifices to appease her ‘spiritual colleagues’. So who would give her such a sensitive message? Hakeem and Gbenga Agbeyo gave the assignment to Yemi Adaramodu who tactically dodged the assignment. When Yemi saw Mrs Olayinka, he could only tell her to increase the frequency of her prayers while those at the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation would also increase theirs!

If you are looking for an epilogue that represents the culmination of events in this text, Chapter Seven is it. It begins with an account of a change in the status of Dr Kayode Fayemi, from a gubernatorial candidate to a governor. It further rides on the arguments of a reputable legal pundit like Akin Oyebode to unequivocally assert that Mr. Segun Oni was never a governor, not minding “the wishful thinking of his confederates”. The authors, Adaramodu and Jamiu, went on to state the symbolic nature of the venue for the inauguration ceremony of Fayemi as the governor of Ekiti.

They describe the euphoria of the day and go into giving the six phases of the road to Dr Fayemi’s victory at the polls. The penultimate part of the chapter contains Governor Fayemi’s speech at the inauguration ceremony. Really, the speech strikes two conflictual but reconcilable chords in one. It possesses the brazen tone of Malcolm X’s historical “The Ballot or the Bullet” and the graciously conciliatory note of Jeferson’s first inaugural address at Washington.

42

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

43

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

Following the controversies trailing the recent national, governorship and state assembly elections in Ebonyi State, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has engaged the rival People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in another round of battle at the tribunals. OGBONNAYA OBINNA reports the travails of the party.

Tribunal rulings unsettle Ebonyi ANPP T

HE judgment last week by the Justice Henry Olusiyi-led elec tion petition tribunal sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, on the national and state assembly election petitions, including the judgment of the Appeal Court in Enugu, seem to have dealt a big blow to the leadership and members of the opposition All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) in the state.

Before the constitution of the tribunal, ANPP had expressed optimism that the party would reclaim its stolen mandate both in the governorship, state assembly and the National Assembly elections. However, the hundreds of ANPP supporters who thronged the tribunal were shocked at the judgment. They went back home disappointed, with the allegation of compromise on the part of the tribunal.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on April 28 announced the victory of the ANPP’s candidates for Ezza North West and Ezza North East state constituencies at the election. It was a victory that was celebrated for one month. But soon after the declaration by INEC, the PDP candidate headed for the tribunal to challenge the declaration.

The election which was described by both international and local observers as the freest and fairest in the state was described by the opposition party as the worst election ever conducted in the state by the INEC. The opposition and ruling parties had alleged massive destruction of lives and property during the polls.

Both the PDP and ANPP accused each other of unleashing mayhem on their respective supporters.

Before the judgment that dealt the heavy blow on the ANPP, the party had boasted that it would reclaim the Senate seat from the Senator Representing Ebonyi Central Senatorial zone, Senator Paulinus Nwagu of the PDP who was declared winner by INEC in a controversial circumstance.

Other seats the party had claimed were stolen from it include the governorship being contested by a two-term Senator in the state, Senator Julius Ucha. The other positions the party is also battling to reclaim at the tribunal include the Ebonyi/Ohaukwu Federal Constituency won by Hon Peter Ogali. Ogali election is being contested by the younger brother to former Ebonyi State Governor Dr. Sam Egwu whose wife openly campaigned against the re-election of Chief Martin Elechi.

It is believed that with Egwu’s support, his brother, Joseph would get landslide victory, but the reverse was the case. The candidate of the ANPP has also approached the tribunal, challenging the election of Ezza South/ Ikwo Federal Constituency won by Hon Tobias Okwuru. Also, PDP’s Hon Ogodo Ali Nnome is challenging the election of ANPP’s Hon Peter Edeh of Ezza North/ Ishielu Federal Constituency.

In his judgment, Justice Olusiyi, declared Deacon Celestine Nworji of the PDP winner of the election, for scoring the highest votes cast in the said election. In the judgment delivered amidst tight security, the tribunal upheld the results from Nweke Okpuru polling unit in Inyere ward where the petitioner scored 760 votes as against 21 scored by the first respondent.

• Elechi

• Ucha

‘We toured the 13 local government areas in the state campaigning while the opposition parties were busy intimidating, harassing and brutalizing our supporters. We are still optimistic that the security agencies in the state will prosecute those that killed and maimed hundreds of our supporters’ - PDP

‘It is unfortunate that the judgments are going this way. We still have a long way to go in building and nurturing this nascent democracy of ours because the judiciary that is supposed to be the last hope of the common man is not up and doing yet’ - ANPP

Justice Olusiyi ruled that the electoral officer had no powers to exclude the results from the polling unit, having been collated and declared earlier by the presiding officer. He added that with the result of the ward added, the PDP candidate won the election in Ezza North West.

The Tribunal noted that the INEC, during the proceedings of the tribunal, failed to present any witness to justify its decision to exclude the result from the total result collated and declared.

Justice Olusiyi pointed out that a certified copy of the judgment would be made available to the 3rd respondent and the parties involved. And when made available, the deposed candidate of the ANPP declared that he would appeal the judgment at the Appeal Court sitting in Enugu. However, with the judgment, one begins to wonder if there is still hope for the ANPP. Political analysts have observed the judgment nullifying the election of Hon Enyi C. Enyi has heated up the towns in Ezza North Local Government, hence they have called for full security measures in the areas to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

Reason: The town had awaited the judgment of the governorship election petition tribunal into the April 28 governorship election between Chief Martin Elechi and Senator Julius Ucha. It is believed that the recent judgment may have angered the ANPP. The national and state assembly election petitions tribunal has taken most of the addresses in the different petitions brought before it by both the PDP and the ANPP. For the petitioners, the judgment day is near as

the respondents struggle to convince the tribunal members of the genuineness of their victory.

However, the eventual outcome of the entire proceedings which began shortly after the election when they filed their petitions may not have come to many as a surprise, especially those who followed the trial from inception. Many believe that the ground for the nullification of the election of the minority leader of the state House of Assembly was not the fault of the respondent but that of INEC. The tribunal had ruled that the INEC lacked the right to exclude a result declared and collated by a presiding officer adding

that the electoral body did not appear in court to justify its action.

The tribunal’s chairman thus ruled that the PDP candidate won the election.

On the governorship election petition, many political analysts argued that not pleading the case as a ground for the dismissal of the forensic result was not enough, while others believed that the opposition party wanted to steal victory through the back door.

At the Appeal Court, Justice Abdulkadir, with Justices Okoro, Lokulu Sodipe, Yakubu, and Oseji, dismissed the appeal by the ANPP candidate with cost as unmeritorious and lacking judicial competence.

The petitioners had asked the tribunal to declare that the results declared were invalid because of corrupt practices during the election, an assertion the petitioner alleged that he proved with the result of the forensic examination. According to analysts, he who asserts must prove and the question waiting for answers are: would the acceptance of the forensic examination result have given victory to Senator Ucha? If yes, what options are left for him since the Appeal Court sitting in Enugu also upheld the earlier ruling by the tribunal? So demoralizing was the inability of the petitioners counsel to convince the tribunal and the Appeal Court to accept the forensic result in which they alleged corrupt practices which they believe the result would have revealed.

Most of the voters believe that the ANPP was never ready for the election and had relied on the irregularities with a view to getting the election nullified. They hold to it that if the governorship election is conducted10 times again, the PDP candidate will still win convincingly.

What bothers the opposition parties, especially the ANPP supporters, is the manner and way the first judgment that they had expected to be a consolation went. The tribunal had taken most of the addresses and judgment was being awaited. The addresses taken and judgments reserved include the petitions brought before it by the candidate of the ANPP in Ebonyi Central Chief Innocent Ugo Chima against PDP’s Chief Paulinus Igwe Nwagu.

Also reserved for judgment is the petition brought against the member representing Ezza North/Ishielu Federal Constituency, Hon Peter Edeh by PDP’s Hon Ogodo Ali Nnome, challenging his declaration by the INEC as the winner of the April election.

Reacting to the ruling, a stakeholder of the ANPP, Chief Friday Agwu said: “Before now we had confidence in the judiciary but today the judiciary seems to have been compromised. How would you ask somebody to go and examine the ballot papers only for you to turn round and ask him not to present the result of his findings? It is unfortunate that the judgments are going this way. We still have a long way to go in building and nurturing this nascent democracy of ours because the judiciary that is supposed to be the last hope of the common man is not up and doing yet.

“The ANPP in the state has lost confidence completely in the election petition tribunal members - both the governorship and the state and national assembly matters. We came to the tribunal with high hope that we would reclaim our stolen mandate because everybody in the state is aware that the ANPP won both the governorship and national assembly elections in the state, but the INEC rigged the election in favour of PDP. We will wait again till 2015 to take our chance, hoping that the people of the state will do what is right once again.”

Addressing party faithful at the party secretariat, PDP chairman in the state, Chief Ugoji Amaoti said that the party won the election landslide and wondered why the opposition party would dream of going to the tribunal in the first place. The ANPP, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and other political parties in the state never prepared for the election because of they didn’t have hope of winning the election. We toured the 13 local government areas in the state campaigning for party while the opposition parties were busy intimidating, harassing and brutalizing our supporters. We are still optimistic that the security agencies in the state will prosecute those that killed and maimed hundreds of our supporters both in Izzi, Ezza North and Ezza South Local Government Areas of the state.

• From left: Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) Commissioners, Mr Chris Ogbe; Chief Chuks Egbo and Chairman Dr Boniface Ene addressing a news conference on the forthcoming local government election in the state.

44

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

45

4.

Bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) procedures specified in the World Bank’s Guidelines: Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits, and is open to all bidders from Eligible Source Countries as defined in the Guidelines.

5.

Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from Taraba State Health Systems Development Project II, at Essential Drugs Programme Premises, Behind Taraba State Broadcasting Service (TSBS) Office Complex, Jalingo, Taraba State – Nigeria and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 9:00am – 4:00pm, Mondays – Fridays.

6.

Qualifications requirements include: Verifiable evidence of similar job executed, audited financial report for the last 3 years, manufacturers authorization letter. A margin of preference for certain goods manufactured domestically shall not be applied. Additional details are provided in the Bidding Documents.

7.

A complete set of Bidding Documents in English may be purchased by interested bidders on the submission of a written application to the address below and upon payment of a non refundable fee of Ten Thousand Naira (N10, 000) Only or its equivalent in a freely convertible currency. The method of payment will be by cash or bank draft to Taraba State Health Systems Development Project II. The Bidding Documents will be sent by courier service on request or to be collected by representative of the bidder.

8.

Bids must be delivered to the address below at or before 10:00 am, Tuesday 29th November 2011. Electronic bidding will not be permitted. Late bids will be rejected.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend in person at General Sani Abacha State Secretariat Conference Hall Jalingo – Taraba state at 10:30 am , Tuesday 29th November 2011. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security of at least 2.5% of bid price or an equivalent amount in a freely convertible currency. The bid security shall be in the form of a bank draft or bank guarantee as in the form provided in the bidding document from a reputable commercial bank in Nigeria.

9.

The address referred to above is: The Project Manager, Taraba State Health Systems Development Project II, at Essential Drugs Programme Premises, Behind Taraba State Broadcasting Service (TSBS) Office Complex, Jalingo, Taraba State – Nigeria.

Telephone: +23480343530816, +2348036156915 Electronic mail address: bjpaninga@yahoo.com, drdgarba@yahoo.com

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26 2011

46 PUBLIC NOTICE I formerly known and addressed as EDEH CHRISTIAN now wish to be known and addressed as EDEH CHRISTIAN CHUKWUMA (Male).

My date of birth was wrongly written as 12th Feb. 1984 instead of 1st Feb. 1991.

Former documents remain valid. This is to confirm that my date of birth is 1st Feb. 1991. General public take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE ADESOYE: I, formerly known and addressed as MRS. ABIODUN SELIMOT ADESOYE, now wish to be known and addressed as MS. ABIODUN SELIMOT OLAYINKA. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Immigration and general public take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE DIAMOND SOLID FRIENDS CLUB OF NIGERIA This is to inform the general public that the above named Club has applied for registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission under Part C of Companies And Allied Matters Act, Cap, C 20 L.F.N 2004.

THE TRUSTEE ARE: 1 . MR. OKECHUKWU OGBAJI 2 . MR AMARACHUKWU ANYANETO 3. MR. CHUKWUEMEKA OTTIS 4. MR. CHRISTIAN AZUBUIKE 5. MR. NDIDI OBIORA. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To propagate peace, unity and love of God among members.

2. To assist and help members financially when in need.

3. To assist the less privileged in the society.

Any objection(s) should forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent ,off Aguiyi Ironsi Street ,P.M.B 198 , Maitama, Abuja within twenty-eight (28) days of this publication.

I.C EZECHIEFOH & CO GOD’S GUIDE CHAMBERS (SOLICITORS &ADVOCATES) 51, ARAKALE RD, AKURE ONDO STATE. (08037208084)

NEWS

Ahmed approves N300m for road repairs

T

HE Kwara state Governor, Alhaji AbdulFatah Ahmed has approved a sum of N300 million to the state Roads Maintenance Agency (KWAMA) for road rehabilitation.

A breakdown of the amount shows that the agency receives N25 million per month for road repairs and construction.

The state government is also poised to rehabilitate federal roads in the state which have social and economic importance to the people.

Governor Ahmed added that the approval was based on the importance of an efficient road network to eco-

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

nomic and social activities of the people.

He said the approval was also part of his efforts to resurrect the maintenance culture in public works in order to protect government investment in such utilities.

In a statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on media and communication, Dr Muyideen Akorede said the move was designed to ease vehicular and human traffic in the metropolis.

Ahmed said “the state government would award supplementary contracts where KWAMA’s budget falls short of the scale of

road rehabilitation required in a particular month.”

On the issue of dilapidated federal roads in the state, he said government was prepared to rehabilitate such roads and seek a refund from the federal government, adding that roads were vital to the welfare of the people who he said are more interested viable infrastructure rather than in who was responsible for such utilities.

Governor Ahmed said the state government has concluded plans to open up other areas of the state with new roads based on their potential to support other key sectors of the state economy such as energy,

health, solid mineral development, agriculture and education.

The on-going road projects in Ilorin include the A’ Division to ITC, PakataSooto Street, the widening of the road shoulder on Kulende-Zango Road to Oyun Bridge, Ola Olu-CBN Road and Obaro Road, GRA. The state government has also awarded contracts for key roads outside the state capital such as the Oko Bridge and Road, the Chikanda-Kosobosu Road Project, the Construction of Oko-Odofin, Igbana-Odo Ase Road, Offa-Irra Road, Eruku Township Road, and the Omu-Aran TownshipLandmark University Road among others.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

47

THE NATION

INVESTORS Banking stocks rise by 14% E

MERGING reports on the operations of banks in the third quarter of the year have showed improvements in key fundamentals of banks with average current earnings yield of about 14 per cent. This suggests an increase in actual dividends by most banks.

Interim reports and accounts of eight banks that have so far released their nine-month operational results for the period ended September 30, 2011 showed growths in incomes and profitability, which analysts said could boost the secondary market valuations of banking stocks.

At the opening prices yesterday, all banking stocks carried double-digit earnings yield with yields ranging from 10 per cent to 21 per cent. Average industry yield stands at 13.9 per cent.

Earnings yield measures the return on investment for the investors, although the dividend payment policy of the company may determine the proportion of the earnings to be distributed, subject to the approval of shareholders.

Earnings per share within the banking industry ranged from 12 kobo to 137 kobo with industry average of 65 kobo per share. Earnings per share represents the distributable earnings that could be paid out entirely or partly to shareholders or retain in the reserves of the company, depending on the company's dividend policy and the consent of the shareholders at the general meeting.

The third quarter reports indicated that Zenith Bank so far has the highest earnings per share of 137 kobo but

By Taofik Salako

Sterling Bank has the highest earnings yield at 21 per cent.

The reports showed earnings per share of 128 kobo for Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), 72 kobo for Access Bank, 71 kobo for Skye Bank, 49 kobo for First City Monument Bank (FCMB), 29 kobo for Sterling Bank, 23 kobo for Ecobank Nigeria and 21 kobo for Wema Bank Plc. However, at opening market price of 66 kobo per share at the stock market yesterday, Wema Bank has the second highest earnings yield in the industry with a yield of 18 per cent, indicating a major upside for the bank.

Highest-priced stocks including GTBank and Zenith Bank were at the bottom of the yields' ladder, implying that investors might have factored in expectations of the third quarter report into the pricing. GTBank has earnings yield of 9.6 per cent while Zenith Bank carried a yield of 11.2 per cent.

The reports further showed Access Bank with earnings yield of about 14 per cent, Ecobank Nigeria with 10 per cent, Skye Bank with 15 per cent while FCMB recorded 12 per cent.

GTBank had increased gross earnings to N126.14 billion in third quarter 2011 as against N107.17 billion posted in the comparable period of 2010. Profit after tax stood at N37.92 billion compared with N28.82 billion.

Zenith Bank posted gross earnings of N182.96 billion as against N139.60 billion while profit after tax stood at N42.95 billion as against

N31.13 billion 2010.

Access Bank's total revenue stood at N82.17 billion in 2011 as against N77.95 billion while profit after tax rose from N9.56 billion to N12.81 billion.

Also, Ecobank Nigeria grew revenue to N43.54 billion from N36.87 billion while profit after tax jumped to N3.15 billion as against N869 million in 2010.

Wema Bank showed marginal declines across key indices with gross earnings of N20.33 billion as against N24.09 billion in the comparable period of 2010. Profit after tax dropped to N1.54

billion compared with N1.79 billion.

Sterling Bank increased gross earnings to N28.04 billion as against N23.15 billion while net profit after tax stood at N3.7 billion as against N5.34 billion.

Skye Bank showed gross earnings of N73.29 billion in 2011 as against N66.17 billion in the comparable period of 2010. Profit after tax rose from N8.55 billion in third quarter 2010 to N9.37 billion in 2011.

Interim report of FCMB showed a growth of 73 per cent in the group's profit after tax to N7.9 billion from

N4.6 billion same period last year. Profit before tax similarly grew to N9.9 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 62 per cent.

The bank said growth in year-on-year profitability was driven by a 41 per cent increase in net interest income and a 29 per cent growth in non interest income with operating income growth implying 36 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

FCMB said its operating income benefited largely from balance sheet growth due to increased patronage, the higher interest rate environment and the sustained gen-

eration of non-interest income.

Other major areas of growth indicated by the FCMB report included gross revenue which rose by 23 per cent from N45 billion in the previous year to N55 billion in September 2011. Total assets also went up by 13 per cent to N611 billion, facilitated by deposit growth of 11 per cent to N371 billion for same period and quality risk asset opportunities.

The board of FCMB has assured that it would sustain and improve on the performance indicators in the last quarter of the year.

• R-L: Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema and President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers(CIS), Mr. Mike Itegboje, at the Benin City Trading Floor of the NSE during the 15th Stockbrokers Annual Conference.

NSE: imperatives, challenges of demutualisation

T

HE Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is on the path of changing its corporate status from the current member-owned limited by guarantee entity to a publicly owned company with the recent inauguration of a 21-member technical committee on demutualisation.

The Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Senator Udo Udoma, who inaugurated the technical committee headed by Mr Asue Ighodalo outlined that the core mandate of the committee was to review and advise on the proc-

By Tonia Osundolire

esses of demutualisation of the NSE in line with international best practices.

Demutualisation is the process of changing a member-owned stock exchange, otherwise known as mutual exchange, to a corporate entity owned by shareholders. In a mutual exchange, the three functions of ownership, management and trading are concentrated into a single group. Here, the broker members of the exchange are both

CIS tasks new stockbrokers on ethics THE Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) has charged new members of the profession to abide with ethics and code of best practices for stockbrokers.

Speaking at the induction of 79 associate members and the 15th Stockbrokers' Annual Conference in Benin, Edo State, President of CIS, Mr. Mike Itegboje, urged the newly brokers to maintain high standard and integrity, which are the hallmarks of the

stockbroking profession.

With the induction, the stockbrokers who had passed the necessary examination of the Institute can now trade on the floors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Itegboje said as custodians of trusts, the stockbrokers should always ensure that their "word is their bond" and be good ambassador of the capital market. •Continued on page 48

the owners and the traders on the exchange and they will further manage the exchange as well. This can sometimes lead to conflict of interest in decision making. A demutualised exchange, on the other hand, has all these three functions clearly segregated, i.e. the ownership, management and trading are in separate hands.

Many analysts have said a mutualised exchange does not provide the flexibility to adequately meet emerging operating challenges including capital and tech-

nological requirements. Hence demutualisation is seen as the panacea for their problems. However, implementing a demutualisation programme represents a wholesale corporate cultural transformation - changing every dimension of an exchange.

Exchanges are seen as platforms for creating fair and efficient capital markets, with a duty to protect the public interest. In mature markets, exchanges face competition and are typically not saddled with an exclusive public policy role. Ac-

cordingly, demutualisation program has a greater probability of success and facilitates a truly global business.

There are obvious advantages to demutualisation. Demutualised entities have wider access to capital and can have wider horizons compared with mutualised exchanges.

This gives the demutualised exchange a competitive edge in winning business and a better position to embrace the technology evolution. The major •Continued on page 48

South African firm to float ETF on NSE A SOUTH African firm, ABSA Capital, plans to float a gold-backed Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

ABSA Capital is working with Vetiva Capital Management Limited to introduce the gold-backed ETF called NewGold to give investors on the NSE the opportunity to invest, own and trade in gold when the fund is listed.

Speaking at a training programme on ETFs organised by the NSE and ABSA in Lagos, Batsile

By Tonia Osundolire

Ngomane, Associate Principal, Investment, ABSA Capital, said Nigerian investors will enjoy the enormous opportunities presented by the soon-to-be listed product.

She said investors in the fund will indirectly own gold bars in form of debentures, with assurances on safety of their funds.

She said NewGold ETF would give investors the opportunity to invest directly in gold bullion, especially as the fund tracks the

price of gold in the global market.

According to her, each NewGold security, which is also listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), is equivalent to approximately 1/ 100 ounces of gold bullion, held in a secure depository on behalf of investors.

"Accordingly, each security is backed by physical gold and the value of a NewGold ETF security will appreciate or depreciate in accordance with the fluctuations in the price of gold bullion," Ngomane said.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

48

THE NATION INVESTORS NSE: Imperatives, challenges of demutualisation •Continued from page 47 weakness of a mutual exchange is its constitution. Mutual exchanges are, ultimately, geared to maintaining their members' interests.

The interests of the members are not necessarily the same as those of the exchange; they are disparate.

The separation of shareholders, management, and users in a demutualised exchange makes for better strategic decision-making, rather than protecting vested interests.

However, demutualisation also comes with certain challenges that may have lasting impact on the performance of the exchange unless they were adequately addressed at the review and implementation stages. One of the most difficult aspects of demutualisation is the adoption of the correct corporate structure. Corporate structure is the first rung of the demutualization ladder and will adversely affect all other stages unless the optimal solution is implemented. There are no blueprints or templates for this so it's easy to get the wrong structure for the organisation.

In considering the corporate structure, there are several thorny issues that need to be addressed including kind of share structure to be put into place, allowable percentage shareholding per shareholder, mechanism for resolution of conflicts of interest between different interest groups, composition of the operating board structure non executives, market practitioners, users, shareholders and the disposal of the residual power of the self-regulatory organisation (SRO) status of the exchange.

Many analysts have commended the ongoing demutualisation of NSE and the oversights being provided by SEC. Demutualisation is a part of the overall reform that SEC is putting in place to reposition the capital market. The Commission is also set to audit shareholders associations as part of the overall efforts to restore confidence in the capital market.

Prior to these, the Commission had set up two committees: to review the structure of the market and the code of corporate governance for public companies. The recommendations of the two committees have since been largely imple-

mented.

In particular, a new code of corporate governance for public companies has been issued by the Commission and it came into effect on April 1, 2011.

Also in furtherance of the implementation of the Market Structure Committee report, some new rules have been issued and existing ones amended. All these are being compiled by SEC in a single document

CIS tasks new stockbrokers on ethics •Continued from page 47 He urged them to contribute to the efforts aimed at restoring investors' confidence to the capital market, adding that the only way to do that was to ensure that investors were treated fairly and transparently in all their dealings.

Meanwhile, stockbrokers scored the 15th Annual Conference high. The conference focused on how to the capital market could be used to solve the infrastructure challenges in the nation.

FACTS

C

ONGLOMERATES are particularly named because of the several distinct businesses they combine under a single business name.

A conglomerate may be involved in nearly every sector of the economy as well as each chain of production. UAC of Nigeria (UACN) Plc and AG Leventis (Nigeria) Plc are two of the oldest surviving and earliest listed companies in Nigeria. As conglomerates, their interests span foods and beverages, automobile, real estate, hotel, general trade and merchandise.

While AG Leventis has eight business lines, UACN's group consists of 11. With strongly competitive products, 80-year-old UACN and 53-year old AG Leventis are historical Nigerian companies with strong linkages and roles in the evolution of the Nigerian economy. UACN, the larger and broader of the two conglomerates, meanwhile has over the years transformed into a largely Nigerian-owned company while AG Leventis remained mostly a foreign-owned company. Both companies appeared to be trailing the same growth pattern with declines in sales and profitability.

Sales Generation Both UACN and Ag Leventis witnessed decline in their sales in the immediate past business year but the proportion of decline left UACN worse than its competitor.

UACN's group turnover dropped by 7.76 per cent in 2010, overwhelming increase of 5.3 per cent recorded in 2009 thus leaving the conglomerate with average twoyear turnover decrease of 1.23 per cent. AG Leventis' sales dropped by 1.7 per cent in 2010 compared with an increase of 21 per cent in 2009, indicating a two-year positive average growth rate of about 10 per cent.

Profitability UACN has witnessed consistent decline in profitability in recent years but its descent has been measured and reluctant compared with the major slump in profitability suffered by AG Leventis in the immediate past business year.

UACN's profit before tax had declined by 8.8 per cent in 2009 and worsened to 12.3 per cent drop in 2010, putting average profit decline

for ease of reference. The Commission has also been taking steps to improve the governance structure of the NSE and to ensure that capital market operations are conducted in accordance with the highest global standards.

An illustration of this was the highly transparent process, conducted by the Council of the Exchange, in line with the directives of the Commission, for the ap-

pointment of the new executive management team of the Exchange.

It's obvious now that the next challenge in improving governance of the Exchange is the ongoing effort by the SEC to ensure that the Exchange is demutualised by a process that conforms to global standards.

There is no gainsaying the fact that it must be a process that ensures fairness and openness, as well as the protection of the national interest. This is the onerous task of the Ighodalo's technical committee on demutualisation.

TO

The Managing Director of Mission Securities Limited, Mr Ayo Oguntayo, noted that the CIS was able to drive home the need for government to source for long term funds from the capital market to finance infrastructure in the country.

Also, the Chairman of the Conference Organising Committee, Dr. Joseph Ologun, said the theme of the conference was highly instructive and very apt at this time.

"We have discussed about infrastructure at a time when almost all our infrastructure

have decayed or even nonexistence. And I think with the communiqué that we will forward to the government, it will think of how best to upgrade our infrastructure," he said.

Ologun added that he was glad that the conference started and ended well.

"All members enjoyed themselves and everybody has given a good assessment of the conference from the planning and the general arrangement. I am happy to have been part of a very successful conference," he said.

FACTS

AG Leventis vs UACN: two surviving conglomerates

By Taofik Salako

over the years at 10.55 per cent. AG Leventis grew pre-tax profit by 1.1 per cent in 2009 but this gain was overwhelmed by 55.3 per cent decline in 2010, indicating a two-year average growth rate of -27 per cent.

In terms of the underlying profit making ability, UACN appeared stronger although its year-on-year margin inched downward during the last business year.

UACN recorded a pre-tax profit margin of 13.6 per cent in 2010 as against 14.3 per cent in 2009, representing average margin of 13.95 per cent over the years. Ag Leventis' pre-tax profit margin slumped from 13 per cent in 2009 to 5.9 per cent in 2010, indicating a two-year average margin of about

FACTS TO FACTS Turnover growth Gross profit growth Pre-tax profit growth Gross margin Pre-tax profit margin Net profit growth Return on Assets Return on Equity

9.5 per cent.

Also, UACN's net earnings have been on the decline in recent years at an average rate of about 11 per cent. Net profit had dropped by 9.8 per cent in 2009 and further slipped by 11.8 per cent in 2010. AG Leventis on the other hand increased net profit by about 12 per cent in 2009 but lost about 29 per cent in 2010, ending with a negative two-year average decline of 8.5 per cent.

Actual Returns Both companies have shown declines in their returns in recent years but actual returns to shareholders by UACN remained better. AG Leventis' return on total assets dropped from 6.4 per cent in 2009 to 3.9 per cent in 2010, indicating an average return of about 5.2

per cent. Actual return to shareholders, as measured by return on equity, to below average at 7.2 per cent in 2010 as against 10.3 per cent in 2009 and two-year average of 8.75 per cent.

UACN's return to shareholders also dropped below average in 2010 at 11.96 per cent compared with 13.74 per cent in 2009 and twoyear average of 12.85 per cent.

The Bottom-line The diversity of operations of conglomerates is expected to serve as cushions for them in minor economic corrections. But in a crossnational economic slowdown such as witnessed in recent years, conglomerates are apparently not immune from the regressive trend.

Both UACN and AG Leventis ob-

2010 %

2009 %

Average %

-7.76

5.3 7.7 -8.8 27.9 14.3 -9.8 6.6 13.74

-1.23 3.85 -10.55 13.95 13.95 -10.8 3.3 12.85

13.6 -11.8 11.96

viously need to break new growth opportunities to serve as platforms for profit growths.

AG Leventis (Nig)

UACN

-12.3

•Chairman, UACN, Udoma Udo Udoma

Pre-tax profit margin (UACN)

Turnover growth Gross profit growth Pre-tax profit growth Gross margin Pre-tax profit margin Net profit growth Return on Assets Return on Equity

2010 %

2009 %

Average %

-1.7 -4.5 -55.3 26.2 5.9 -28.6 3.9 7.2

21.1

9.7 -2.25 -27.1 26.55 9.45 -8.45 5.15 8.75

1.1 26.9 13.0 11.7 6.4 10.3

Pre-tax profit margin (AG Leventis)

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

49

50

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

51

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

52

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 25-10-11 2ND-TIER SECURITIES Company Name

No of Deals (N) 1 1 4 6

FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC PRESCO PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.50 0.50 8.00

10,000 250,000 29,092 289,092

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

2.04 6.00

50,000 346,140 396,140

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

1.79

139,164 139,164

5,000.00 125,000.00 233,501.00 363,501.00

AIR SERVICES Company Name

No of Deals (N) 3 50 53

AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

102,000.00 2,045,622.35 2,147,622.35

AUTOMOBILE & TYRE Company Name

No of Deals (N) 17 17

R. T. BRISCOE (NIGERIA) PLC Sector Totals

237,546.27 237,546.27

BANKING Company Name

No of Deals (N) 112 59 17 38 81 491 523 41 173 31 192 9 28 314 2,109

ACCESS BANK PLC DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK NIGERIA PLC FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC FIDELITY BANK PLC FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC GTBANK PLC STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC SKYE BANK PLC. STERLING BANK PLC UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC. UNITYBANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC ZENITH BANK PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

5.30 3.35 2.20 4.00 1.73 9.52 13.60 9.50 4.66 1.42 3.25 0.60 0.64 12.27

3,041,186 4,105,315 260,309 23,823,940 4,140,742 10,036,036 13,011,452 2,896,000 18,794,644 2,557,892 10,661,856 1,209,700 811,634 41,918,383 137,269,089

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

4.24 202.00 6.00 90.21

10,000 97,746 3,990 1,473,909 1,585,645

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

16,102,881.34 13,559,056.43 578,223.13 95,278,997.31 7,143,534.29 96,078,219.29 179,652,653.07 27,535,772.80 86,787,050.46 3,551,617.63 34,181,376.95 725,880.00 521,713.56 521,720,808.68 1,083,417,784.94

Banking, oil stocks add N22b to capital market M

ARKET values of quoted shares in creased by N22 billion yesterday as a bullish rally orchestrated by highly capitalised banking and oil and gas stocks coloured the overall market situation.

Aggregate market capitalisation of all quoted companies rose from N6.412 trillion to N6.433 trillion, while the All Share Index (ASI), the benchmark value index, rose from 20,255.22 points to 20,278.16 points, representing an increase of 0.11 per cent.

Sectoral analysis of the pricing trend showed that the positive general market situation was due to gains within the highly capitalized stocks, especially within the banking and oil and gas sectors.

The NSE 30 Index, which measures price changes within the group of 30 most capitalised stocks, appreciated from 900.16 points to 900.80 points. The NSE Banking Index also improved

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

from 287.57 points to 290.16 points, while the NSE Oil and Gas Index inched up to 245.74 points, against its opening index of 245.60 points.

However, the NSE Food and Beverages Index dropped from 628.06 points to 626.01 points. The NSE Insurance Index also slipped from 146.88 points to 146.31 points. The decline in the food and beverages outlook was largely due to losses recorded by Dangote Sugar Refinery, which lost 19 kobo to close at N6.01.

The performance of the insurance sector was adversely impacted by losses recorded by Guaranty Trust Assurance and Prestige Assurance, which lost 6.0 kobo each to close at N1.20 and N1.30 respectively.

Meanwhile, gains by the three most capitalised

banks- Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), Zenith Bank and First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), rallied the banking sectors and top league of the market.

GTB, now the most capitalized bank, added 30 kobo to close at N13.60. Zenith Bank, the second most capitalised bank, gained 7.0 kobo to close at N12.27, while FBN added 2.0 kobo to close at N9.52 per share.

Oando, which reported net profit of N10 billion for third quarter, yesterday, gained 5.0 kobo to close at N29.05 per share. Ninemonth report of Oando, showed that turnover rose to N392.30 billion as against N277.52 billion in 2010.

Profit before tax stood at N19.37 billion as against N13.95 billion, while profit after tax increased from N7.56 billion to N10.17 billion.

Turnover stood at 200.37 million shares valued at N1.79 billion in 3,796 deals.

BREWERIES Company Name

No of Deals (N) 1 51 2 131 185

CHAMPION BREWERIES PLC GUINNESS NIGERIA PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC Sector Totals

40,300.00 19,549,395.00 22,743.00 132,717,898.88 152,330,336.88

BUILDING MATERIALS Company Name

No of Deals (N) 108 9 10 42 169

ASHAKA CEMENT PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTHERN NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC Sector Totals

14.00 5.00 100.00 39.00

466,821 165,000 19,504 520,801 1,172,126

6,516,717.08 829,793.50 1,888,950.80 20,313,643.63 29,549,105.01

CHEMICAL & PAINTS Company Name

No of Deals (N) 25 25

CHEMICAL AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

18.91

79,098 79,098

1,492,719.95 1,492,719.95

COMMERCIAL/SERVICES Company Name

No of Deals (N) 7 8 15

COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.50 2.17

1,000,000 297,000 1,297,000

500,000.00 644,330.00 1,144,330.00

COMPUTER & OFFICE EQUIPMENT Company Name

No of Deals (N) 1 1 2

NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

6.33 3.09

50,000 1,000 51,000

316,500.00 2,940.00 319,440.00

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 25-10-11 Company Name IKEJA HOTEL PLC TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 30 1 31

No of Deals (N) 1 38 56 61 65 221

JOHN HOLT PLC PZ CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC UAC OF NIGERIA PLC UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 9 11

No of Deals (N) 21 21

JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 8 8

CUTIX PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

6.19 30.00 0.69 30.03 26.50

2,160 3,642,325 5,226,628 756,103 1,387,725 11,014,941

12,722.40 112,503,141.77 3,485,353.36 22,899,203.58 37,369,688.04 176,270,109.15

No of Deals 2 2 4

No of Deals (N) 11 28 88 55 32 8 2 13 50 8 295

7-UP BOTTLING CO. PLC CADBURY NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIGERIA PLC HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC P. S. MANDRIDES PLC NATIONAL SALT COMPANY NIGERIA PLC NESTLE NIGERIA PLC UTC NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

38.43

75,067 75,067

2,745,248.39 2,745,248.39

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

1.70

351,941 351,941

607,658.66 607,658.66

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

48.00 13.99 6.05 6.01 60.00 2.62 5.66 4.00 401.00 0.50

19,473 190,495 712,707 1,408,410 110,038 33,800 1,559 107,009 48,625 99,000 2,731,116

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

930,366.53 2,659,980.77 4,309,405.17 8,644,628.48 6,614,779.56 92,311.70 8,574.50 446,359.71 19,544,076.32 49,500.00 43,299,982.74

HEALTHCARE Company Name EVANS MEDICALPLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXOSMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 1 8 4 10 25 48

HOTEL & TOURISM

Quotation(N) 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,000,000 500,000.00 150,000 75,000.00 1,150,000 575,000.00

Quotation(N) 0.57 2.45 0.50 1.20 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.30 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded Value 4,670,457 308,350 3,138,800 414,729 463,000 10,500 640,000 1,794,356 207,000 330 13,625,279 25,272,801

Quotation(N) 0.86

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 145,900 119,638.00 145,900 119,638.00

Quotation(N) 0.78

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 3,283,000 2,622,998.15 3,283,000 2,622,998.15

Quotation(N) 1.71

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 409,055 702,826.50 409,055 702,826.50

INSURANCE Company Name AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INSURANCE PLC GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC GUARANTY TRUST ASSURANCE PLC LAW UNION AND ROCK INSURANCE PLC. MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC N.E.M. INSURANCE CO. (NIG.) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC. UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 39 8 5 11 4 2 5 21 5 1 16 117

of Shares (N) 2,672,554.18 738,706.20 1,569,400.00 509,337.70 231,500.00 5,250.00 320,000.00 904,596.81 269,100.00 165.00 6,812,639.50 14,033,249.39

Company Name C&I LEASING PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 7 7 MARITIME

Company Name JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 49 49 PACKAGING

FOOD/BEVERAGES & TOBACCO Company Name

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 2,650 18,815.00 74,559 428,351.45 77,209 447,166.45

LEASING

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY Company Name

Quotation(N) 6.95 5.75

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Company Name CHAMS PLC STARCOMMS PLC Sector Totals

CONSTRUCTION Company Name

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,876,050 4,058,599.00 100 411.00 1,876,150 4,059,010.00

INDUSTRIAL/DOMESTIC PRODUCTS Company Name B. O. C. GASES NIGERIA PLC VITAFOAM NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

CONGLOMERATES Company Name

Quotation(N) 2.15 4.32

0.91 1.14 27.00 2.46 1.65

3,960 166,000 4,900 149,840 1,033,721 1,358,421

3,762.00 188,850.00 129,571.40 359,404.00 1,607,471.49 2,289,058.89

Company Name NIGERIAN BAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 32 32

PETROLEUM(MARKETING) Company Name MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC CONOIL PLC ETERNA OIL & GAS PLC. FORTE OIL PLC MOBIL OIL NIGERIA PLC. OANDO PLC TOTAL NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 9 22 33 13 18 201 8 304

Quotation(N) 63.86 35.00 4.98 9.12 141.00 29.05 200.00

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 20,660 1,253,442.20 19,414 659,520.58 470,062 2,228,932.20 88,382 845,815.74 16,531 2,247,941.73 8,460,658 245,832,883.70 1,765 335,400.00 9,077,472 253,403,936.15

PRINTING & PUBLISHING Company Name ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LONGMAN NIGERIA PLC UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 1 7 10

Quotation(N) 2.47 4.42 3.61

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,900 4,465.00 3,000 12,600.00 114,433 414,337.46 119,333 431,402.46

Quotation(N) 12.20

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 223,774 2,745,161.30 223,774 2,745,161.30

REAL ESTATE Company Name UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 16 16

ROAD TRANSPORTATION Company Name ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 2

Quotation(N) 0.51

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 23,773 12,124.23 23,773 12,124.23

THE FOREIGN LISTINGS Company Name ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED Sector Totals Overall Totals

No of Deals 32 32

Quotation(N) 11.70

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 844,413 9,748,966.01 844,413 9,748,966.01

3,789

200,312,720

1,785,115,922.87

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

53

MONEY LINK

Govt targets multinationals for FDIs T

HE Federal Government is to engage leading multinational and multilateral agencies in policy dialogue with a view to achieving a common policy agenda that would quicken inflow of foreign direct investments into Nigeria.

Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, yesterday in Lagos, said the nation’s economy should attract more foreign direct investments, and as such would implement policies to create the enabling environment for foreign investments.

Usman, who spoke at a press conference on the forthcoming 17th Nigerian Economic Summit, said government would use the opportunity of the summit to dialogue with chief executives of large corporations from across the continents and multilateral agencies on policy formulation and implementation, adding that given the continuous growth of the economy, Nigerian is at a point where it should attract more global investors that will undertake the necessary investments that will boost every sector of the nation’s economy and create jobs and wealth for the people.

“There is a global understanding now that Africa in general and Nigeria in particular, is the new investor’s haven. We will use the economic summit to create the necessary momentum and galvanise international investor support that will boost the Nigerian economy,” Usman said, emphasising that “government would particularly market Nigeria’s vast resources, population and other comparative advantages to investors to woo investments, especially to fill the

By Taofik Salako

infrastructural gap.”

He said the theme of the economic summit: ‘Attracting Foreign Direct Investment Through Global Partnerships,’ was chosen to address the challenges impeding the ability of the coun-

try to harness the abundant human and natural resources as well as showcase the abundant possibilities within the economy.

“The gathering will also discuss and agree on what policy changes are necessary to attract strong global investors, what actions will make people leave

their country to make things happen in ours, what opportunities will be too difficult to ignore, what incentives will attract the right technology and skills, what changes will work for our mutual benefit and what disincentives must be expunged from our economic system,” Usman

Lagos pensioners receive N5.8b retirement bonds LAGOS State Government has presented about N5.8 billion as retirement bonds to 1,121 pensioners that retired from the state’s service.

The State Governor, Babaunde Fashola, revealed this during the presentation of the fourth batch of retirement bonds worth N2.3 billion to 471 retirees.

While presenting the certificates, he said the sum represents the retirees’ accrued pension rights made up of gratuity and pension entitlements for the years spent in service.

nessed in its remission of the third and fourth batch of the retirement bond.

He said the government would take a closer look at some of the challenges associated with the pension fund administration, with a view to streamlining its management.

The Director-General, Lagos State Pension Commission, Adekunle Hussain, who also spoke at the occassion, said reports on investments embarked upon by some of the retirees who have re-

By Miriam Ndikanwu

He described the development as a demonstration of the government’s commitment to the present and future welfare of its workers, while urging them to make invest in businesses where they have the requisite skills and experience.

Fashola ststed that the implementation of the N18, 000 minimum wage that increased its personnel and recurrent costs to over N2.4 billion monthly, contributed immensely to the challenges wit-

L

AST week’s revision of Ni geria’s rating by Fitch from negative to stable has been attributed to the appointment of strong economic team by the Federal Government.

The Co-ordinating Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was pulled from the World Bank to join the administration.

She has a broadened Ministry that enables her oversee other agencies of government.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is also a member of economic team.

So also is former Goldman Sachs executive, now Minister of Trade and

week as impressive earnings releases spurred cumulative gains for the week. The market closed up with a 195 basis points appreciation in the benchmark Index.

“We expect more favourable earnings releases to boost the level of activities in the market this week. It is also expected that renewed confidence in the banking sector will continue to lend support to equities in the medium term to long term,” it said.

Also in a weekly review of the market, it said liquidity levels remained low in the money market, with brief respite coming from inflow of about N316.5 billion credit into the market which stabilised the

By Collins Nweze

Investment, Olusegun Agagu among others.

Analysts at Afrinvest West Africa Limited, an investment and research firm, said the revision to Nigeria’s ratings came in on the back of the increased likelihood of sustaining the reforms in the banking sector as well as the Capital market.

Fitch also affirmed Nigeria’s longterm foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BB-’ and Long-term local currency IDR at ‘BB’ while it also affirmed the Short-term rating at ‘B’ and Country Ceiling at ‘BB’.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian equity market reversed its bearish trend last

Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM Amount

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-10-2011 “ 14-10-2011

GAINERS AS AT 25-14-11 SYMBOL NCR CUSTODYINS FIDSON STERLNBANK DIAMONDBNK ETERNAOIL NEIMETH UACN RTBRISCOE NAHCO

O/PRICE 6.03 2.34 1.09 1.36 3.21 4.78 1.59 29.00 1.73 5.81

C/PRICE 6.33 4.45 1.14 1.42 3.35 4.98 1.65 30.03 1.79 6.00

CHANGE 0.30 0.11 0.05 0.06 0.14 0.20 0.06 1.03 0.06 0.19

LOSER AS AT 25-10-11 SYMBOL UPL IKEJAHOTEL GTASSURE UNITYBNK ECOBANK PRESTIGE AIICO PZ DANGSUGAR WEMABANK

O/PRICE 3.80 2.26 1.26 0.63 2.31 1.36 0.59 31.00 6.20 0.66

C/PRICE 3.61 2.15 1.20 0.60 2.20 1.30 0.57 30.00 6.01 0.64

Amount

Exchange

Sold ($)

Rate (N)

Date

250m

266m

250m

150.8

19-10-11

400m

296m

296m

150.8

17-10-11

400m

591m

591m

150.7

12-10-11

EXHANGE RATE 26-08-11 CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Currency

INTERBANK RATES

Amount

Offered ($) Demanded ($)

MANAGED FUNDS Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

Interbank.

It also expects liquidity to improve further this week on the back of anticipated The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) inflows. The projection is that interbank rates will remaining at current levels, with the possibility of a downward adjustment by the end of the week.

Demand for the dollar at the official market for last week stood at $563.6 million, 55.1 per cent less than the $1.3 billion demanded at both auctions in the previous week. The naira subsequently closed at N149.95 to the dollar last week with a five kobo appreciation.

DATA BANK

Tenor

OBB Rate Call Rate

ceived their retirement bond have further encouraged the government to continue to strive and improve on its efficiency.

Hussain, said the retirees have purchased vehicles for transportation, some have started trading, while some others have opened fashion outlets where they have recruited personnel and are now employers of labour.

“I rejoice with all the retirees here today because you are about to join the league of financially empowered retirees,” he stated.

Nigeria’s stable rating triggered by strong economic team, say analysts

FGN BONDS

NIDF NESF

stated.

He assured that government would implement policy initiatives that may arise from the summit, noting that previous recommendations were used as inputs in designing the Vision 20:2020 and other government’s strategies.

Year Start Offer

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

NGN USD

147.6000

149.7100

149.95

-2.11

NGN GBP

239.4810

244.0123

238.00

-2.57

NGN EUR

212.4997

207.9023

207.24

-1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

Bureau de Change 162.0000

153.0000

160.5000

-2.30

(S/N) Parallel Market

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

NSE CAP Index

NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N)

13-09-11 N6.7026tr 21,018.52

14-09-11 N6.760tr 21,199.16

% Change -0.87% -0.86%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS

(S/N)

Name

153.0000

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

Oct ’11

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

12%

Standing Lending Rate ,, Deposit Rate ,, Liquidity Ratio Cash Return Rate Inflation Rate

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00% 12.10%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00% 12.10%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 3.00% 10.3%

Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 118.31 100.28 0.76 1.02 0.91 1,639.36 8.24 1.39 1.87 7,230.13 193.00

9.08 1.00 118.14 99.71 0.74 1.02 0.90 1,634.12 7.84 1.33 1.80 7,028.67 191.08

ARM AGGRESSIVE KAKAWA GUARANTEED STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND THE LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL BGL SAPPHIRE FUND BGL NUBIAN FUND NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY THE DISCOVERY FUND • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED

CHANGE 0.19 0.11 0.06 0.03 0.11 0.06 0.02 1.00 0.19 0.02

• STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

Rate (Previous) 24 Aug, 2011 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 26, Aug, 2011 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK Previous

Current

04 July, 2011

07, Aug, 2011

Bank

8.5000

9.5000

P/Court

8.0833

9.0833

Movement

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55

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

NEWS

G

Imo to pay workers N20,000

OVERNOR Rochas Okorocha of Imo State yesterday approved N20,000 minimum wage for the state civil servants.

The governor, who spoke during an interaction with workers at the state secretariat in Owerri, said the approval takes effect from last April.

He promised that the arrears would be paid and urged the workers to take their duties seriously. He warned against hiding of files which, he said, slows down the development of the state.

Okorocha said ghost workers would be flushed out, adding that the state government would punish erring civil servants.

The governor urged the state commissioners to generate revenue in their ministries to enable government pay the new minimum wage.

Nigeria Labour Congress Chairman, Imo State chapter, Comrade Reginald Any-

From Emma Mgbeahurike, Owerri

adike, hailed the governor’s gesture.

He assured of the workers support to the state government.

Okorocha’s Special Assistant on Print Media Ebere Uzoukwa has said the approval of N20,000 is a fulfillment of the governor’s promise to cushion the suffering of Imo workers, if voted into power.

Uzoukwa said the gesture is a demonstration of Okorocha’s kindness and commitment towards raising the standard of living of public servants.

Addressing reporters shortly after Okorocha announced the approval in Owerri, Uzoukwa said the policies and programmes of Imo Rescue Mission are designed to transform the state.

He said the present administration would reposition the

civil service.

“It is on record today that Okorocha is the only governor in Nigeria that has sacrificed a reasonable percentage of his security vote and salary to make Imo better. He had equally sacrificed the pleasure and comfort derivable from that office for the well-being of Imo people.

That shows sacrifice and strong political will of a visionary leader with a large heart. Most of us, who are his foot-soldiers, are not surprised that Imo is paying more than the Federal Government in terms of minimum wage,” he said.

The governor’s aide urged the workers to reciprocate the governor’s gesture.

“Much is expected from whom much is given.The workers should queue into the visions of Imo Rescue Mission by renewing their commitment to quality service delivery.”

Tribunal puts off verdict on Elechi From Ogbonnaya Obinna, Abakaliki

•Elechi

T

HE Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abakaliki,

T

Ebonyi State, yesterday postponed ruling on the governorship election held in April. It said it would communicate the new date to the counsel representing the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)governorship candidate Senator Julius Ucha.

Ucha challenged the election of Governor Martin Elechi of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

Justice Henry Olusiyi said the tribunal’s judgment would be fair, transparent and

in line with the provision of the Constitution.

Justice Olusiyi said members do not have any personal interest in the matter.

He hailed counsel to the governorship candidates for their comportment and understanding.

In his adoption of written addresses, Ucha’s counsel, Prof Ilochi Okafor urged the tribunal to uphold the petition. He argued that in a matter like this, what should be determined is who won the highest number of valid votes in the election.

Abia maintains stand

HE Abia State Government has maintained its stand that the alleged gang rape of a female student of the state university never took place in the institution.

A Human Rights Group had said the rape incident occured at the Abia State University , Uturu.

Addressing reporters in Umuahia, Commissioner for Information and Strategy Don Ubani said the state government’s preliminary investigation into the matter proved that it did not occur in the university.

Ubani said the state government frowns at anything that

From Ugochukwu Eke, Umuahia

debases human beings, adding that the government would ensure that the culprits are brought to book.

He said: “Our preliminary investigation into the matter made us to make our stand over the issue clear that such despicable action never took place in our university.

“Abia State government does not take it lightly anything that borders on criminality or immorality, we will always condemn it. This was what made us to start our own investigation into the matter without delay.

“We did not stop there, as we allowed other government agencies like the university authority, police and the student union government to conduct their own investigations into the matter. And all of them came out with the same report that it never happened in the university”.

He said the Commissioner of Police, Bala Hassan,said investigation carried out on the alleged rape did not find anything.

Ubani said the government even urged the public to volunteer information that would help to unravel the culprits.

Tribunal voids Ekwunife’s election

T

HE First Anambra State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Awka yesterday nullified the election of Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, as the member of the House of Representatives for the Anaocha/Njikoka/ Dunukofia federal constit-

From Adimike George, Onitsha

uency.

Delivering judgment on a petition filed by the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Dozie Nwankwo, and his party, the tribunal said Ekwunife of the All Pro-

gressives Grand Alliance was not duly elected.

Justice Y. Muhktar said the election was inconclusive and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct rerun elections in four wards and one polling unit where elections were cancelled.

Enugu labour leader to be arraigned for murder

S

ELF- ACCLAIMED Labour leader in Enugu State, Comrade Osmond Ugwu, is expected to be arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court in Enugu today for alleged attempted murder.

Ugwu and some workers in his camp allegedly attacked and assaulted a police officer of their meeting.

The meeting, tagged prayer session, was holding while labour leaders were meeting in Enugu with the government on how to resolve the labour crisis in the state.

But the police were alleged-

From Chris Oji, Enugu

ly informed that the Ugwuled workers were mobilising to disrupt the Labour/Government meeting.

Some detectives deployed in the area were allegedly attacked by the workers.

A policeman, who is now receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital, had his head broken, according to police sources.

Some arrests had been made. Those arrested would have been arraigned yesterday but some of Ugwu’s followers besieged the court

premises.

Enugu State Police Commissioner Danazumi Doma confirmed the incident.

Commissioner for Information Chuks Ugwuoke said the case is between the police and Osmond Ugwu, since Ugwu is no longer an employee of the state government.

He said: “The Enugu State Civil Service Commission has all the details but I am informed authoritatively that the said worker absconded from his duty post at the Enugu Liaison office in Lagos, since July.

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60

NEWS

Reps to IG: apologise •Continued from page 4

Minority Whip Samson Osagie said the mode of arrest was not contradicted by the police, Femi Gbajabiamila, Minority Leader, reminded the lawmakers that the mode of arrest was well debated and established on the floor of the House, adding: “The mode of arrest and detention cannot be divorced from the investigation.”

Kamil Akinlabi opined that the House’s efforts on the report may be in vain, after all, adding that the court ought to have the final say, if anyone’s right has been infringed upon.

Friday Itulah disagreed. He said it is not the tradition of the House not to intervene when injustice is seen to have been committed.

Rules and Business Committee chair Sam Tsokwa explained that the efforts of the House neither added nor reduced the provision of the Constitution on the mode of arrest and detention of the victims.

To Samuel Adejare, the matter should not be personalised. He was commenting on the recommendation for the IGP to apologise to Unachukwu.

He said: “No one is disputing the right of the police to arrest; we are not saying the IG should apologise to the editors or the lawyer on the basis of being arrested but the mode and manner with which the operation was carried out.

“No one is asking the IG to apologise for arresting them, but we should not encourage the manner of that arrest.”

Nkoyo Toyo backed her colleague that it was the mode of arrest that was wrong.

House Leader Mulikat Akande-Adeola objected to the recommendation that the IGP should henceforth be held responsible for any further illegal mode of arrest by the police of any law abiding Nigerian.

She said the IGP should not be held liable for the activities of his officers and men since he may be unaware of their activities some of the time.

Solomon Adeola, Chairman, Public Ac-

count, said sentiments should be discarded that the IGP must be responsible for his men and officers, noting that law abiding Nigerians have the right not to be manhandled by the police when they have issues with the law.

He said the IG ought to have given the right orientation and training to his officers and men in the conduct of their duties.

While the lawmakers condemned the manner in which the arrests were carried out, they however stressed that Unachukwu’s arrest was indefensible.

The House mandated the IGP to apologise to him on behalf of the Police.

The House also encouraged the IGP to continue with the investigation on the veracity of the letter and get to the root of the matter with a view to prosecuting anyone found to be involved in any criminal conduct.

The joint committee met on October 18 after the resolution of the House on October 13 on a motion by Zakari Mohammed, Chairman, House Committee on Media Public Affairs, on the arrest of the four editors and four others was referred to the joint committee on Justice, Human rights and Police Affairs.

The joint committee was mandated to investigate and report back to the House in one week.

According to the report, testimonies were received from Ringim, Abdulrahman Eihikhene, ACSC, Citizen Rights Dept. of the Federal Ministry of Justice which stood in for the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

Testimonies were also received from Mr. Mohammed Garba, President, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ogienagbon and Unachukwu.

The report revealed that Obasanjo wrote on October 5 to the IGP, complaining that the published letter was forged, and requested for “an immediate investigation of the matter by the Police and prosecution of all persons found to have been involved”.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

61

NATION SPORT

I'm not under pressure over Siasia's issue—Maigari

N

IGERIA Football Federation (NFF) president Aminu Maigari has revealed that he is not under any pressure to retain or sack Super Eagles’ chief coach Samson Siasia.

Maigari said decision on the fate of the coach was delayed because of the Super Falcons' 2012 Olympic qualifers against the Lionesses of Cameroon.

"Now that we are through with that, the board will meet to take a final decision on the recommendations of the technical committee. I can tell you that no person has discussed that with me," Maigari stated.

The NFF boss said the tech-

From Patrick Ngwaogu and Andrew Abah, Abuja nical committee’s decision on the chief coach would be in the interest of Nigerian football, saying that the downward trend in the country's football will soon be a thing of the past.

Afolabi eyes Austria League Cup quarters

N

IGERIAN international Rabiu Afolabi will be in contention for the Austria League Cup quater-finals as Red Bull Salz-

Court adjourns ruling on Lulu, Ogunjobi, Ojo-Oba

J

USTICE Donatus Okoruwa of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday again adjourned ruling on the corruption case brought against the four former chieftains of the NFF comprising of Sani Lulu Abdullahi (President), Amanze Uchegbulam (Vice President 1), Taiwo Ogunjobi (Technical Committee Chairman) and Bolaji Ojooba (General Secretary) till the 12th of December, 2011.

This adjournment became the

He added that the present NFF board provided a conducive environment for both the players and coaches to operate.

Maigari called for the support of all Nigerians to return the country's football back on track

From Patrick Ngwaogu eighth time that ruling on the jurisdiction of the eligibility of the Court to hear the case would be deferred. The accused who were all in court before 8.00am, waited patiently until 9.45am when it became evident that the case would not be called for mention, before they were given another date for the ruling. All the former football chieftains were in court, and displayed no emotion of frustration.

burg faces LASK Linz at the Red Bull Arena.

Red Bull who are now under intense pressure will be aiming for victory. Their opponents LASK will be trying their best to knock the hosts out of the last 16 with the help of the magic of the cup.

Over the next 10 days three very important matches are due which could prove pivotal in Salzburg's season. Three wins from those are needed to get the club back on track for success.

LASK Linz won 1-0 on their last visit to Salzburg on 9 April.

That was the first match under Ricardo Moniz.

Things then continue in the league from Saturday. The Red Bulls face SV Ried, who currently have the same number of points. Three points are desperately needed after just one point from four league games.

FIFA panel plans to reduce red cards

A

FIFA panel proposed Tuesday that referees be more lenient with players who foul in the penalty area.

The FIFA Task Force Football 2014 led by Franz Beckenbauer agreed that the so-called “triple punishment” of penalty, red card and suspension is too severe.

Red cards would still be given

for handball offenses that stop a certain goal, under the 20-member panel’s proposal.

FIFA’s head of refereeing, Massimo Busacca, said the proposal would have stopped him sending off South Africa’s goalkeeper in a 2010 World Cup match against Uruguay.

Busacca was required to dismiss Itumeleng Khune for bring-

1ST NUGA HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP :

OAU,ABU record victories

O

BAFEMI Awolowo University (OAU), IleIfe and the Ahmadu Belo University (ABU) Zaria recorded victories at the maiden edition of the Hockey Championship on Tuesday holding at the OAU Sports Complex on Tuesday.

The hockey championship that is being sponsored by Hotlink Sports Shop in conjunction with OAU Sports Council and being supported

by Industrial General Insurance (IGI) has lived to its billing being the first of its kind in the anal of the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA).

In the group B match played, OAU team led by its energetic skipper, David Ogbuke had difficulty to penetrate the defence line of their opponent from University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAAB) throughout the first half of the tension soaked game while they managed to score the lone goal of the game in the 43 minutes by the skipper in a goal mount scramble.

However, the NUGA games champion efforts to increase the tally proved abortive as the Dr Osigwe Cyril led Abeokuta based team de-

By Stella Bamawo fended well to maintain the score-line despite mounting pressures from the home side just as they gave a good account of themselves to the admiration of the OAU supporters who thronged the venue to cheer all the teams.

Similarly, ABU hockey team coached by Ndana Baba Abdullahi had the mince meat of their opponent, University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka as they scored two un-replied goals in each half of their group A match decided at the complex.

Kichem Gomerep score the curtail raiser in the 32 minutes of the game to give his team a slim lead before Abubakar Musa increase the tally in the 52 minutes thus gave his side a resounding and comfortable lead in the group chart.

Moreover, the UNN team frantic moves to reduce the goal deficit failed to materialize as every progress made almost resulted to another goal from the highly determined Zaria based team who claimed to have set their pace in motion for the championship.

ing down Luis Suarez despite only slight contact. South Africa lost 3-0 and Khune missed the final group-stage match against France.

“This is one of the changes we would want to see, when the goalkeeper challenges but finds the (forward’s) legs,” said Busacca, who is part of the expert panel.

2012 NATIONS CUP OUSTER:

Amodu writes off local league

By David Onyeka HE Former Super Eagles Coach Amodu Shuiabu has blamed the lackluster local league for the inability of the country to qualify for 2012 Nations Cup slated for Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Amodu said: “Nigeria has a bad domestic league. The only solution is the need to work on the league in terms of the personnel and structure. Nigeria needs to go back grassroot football if they want to attain and build a strong and a better Super Eagles team in the near future.

However, he recalled while he was in charge of the Eagles team as a coach, that most Nigerians blamed him for being too soft on the players but he said as a coach he doesn’t have any option because they are the only option left to him as coach. “ You have to pamper them, because they are the only available players Nigeria have and they play their club football in Europe such as the English premier League (EPL),German League, Spanish League, French League and so on.”

T

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

63

Tomorrow in THE NATION

www.thenationonlineng.net

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL.7 NO.1925

‘What this shows is that journalists remain endangered species even in a democracy. This is the point the House of Representatives was trying to make when it intervened in the matter on October 18. ’ LAWAL OGIENAGBON

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

I

N what was clearly a reflection of Nigeria’s poor reading – and writing – habit last year’s celebration of the country’s Golden Jubilee witnessed few publications about its History. Elsewhere, perhaps even in countries less literate than Nigeria, a country celebrating its 50 years of existence would have been literally flooded with books about its past, present and future.

This embarrassment of the poverty of literature about the country on its 50th Anniversary was the greater considering the fact that Nigeria has produced arguably Africa’s most celebrated novelist, Chinua Achebe, whose highly regarded classic, Things Fall Apart, celebrated its 50th year of publication a year ahead of Nigeria’s. This is not to mention the other fact that the country has been the first to produce black Africa’s first Nobel Literature Laureate, Mr Wole Soyinka.

Happily, however, there were a few brave efforts at producing comprehensive histories of the country to mark its Golden Jubilee. This reviewer is aware of at least three such efforts, all of them by newspaper publishers. He was indeed involved initially with the attempt by the Federal Ministry of Information and Communication, jointly with the now comatose Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN), to produce one of these three books. In the end a little known 1st October Publications Limited took over the publication from the two and titled the book NIGERIA AT 50: A COMPENDIUM - The Official and Authoritative Book about Nigeria.

The two rival publishers to 1st October Publications Limited of the story of Nigeria at 50 were Leadership and Sun newspaper companies. Leadership, which publishes from Abuja, titled its 440-page book Nigeria @ 50: A Review of the Last 50 Years and a Preview of the Next 50. Sun titled its own simply and more imaginatively as NIGERIA’S GOLDEN BOOK: Celebrating a rich past and a bright future.

Of the three, however, the Sun’s GOLDEN BOOK has so far enjoyed the widest publicity, what with the country-wide tour of the country by its Managing Director/Editorin-Chief, Mr. Tony Onyima, during which he has introduced the book to some of the country’s leading citizens.

The 509-page book is divided into five sections –actually six – beginning with an account of the country’s colonial history up to the civil war in 1967 in Section 01. This section starts from page 40. The book then ends with an un-numbered Epilogue entitled “To the Future With Hope,” on page 509, making it the sixth and final section.

Following the Contents page there is a useful 23-page section of the basic facts about Nigeria and its 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory in alphabetical order.

There are, however, some errors of commissions and omissions in this section. For example, in a brief one paragraph profile of Nigeria’s “Political History,” the book describes Flora Shaw who famously coined Nigeria’s name from its biggest river, the Niger, as “the mistress of Lord Lugard.”

Lugard was the British colonial official who

People and Politics By MOHAMMED HARUNA ndajika@yahoo.com

The Sun’s Nigeria’s Golden Book

•Map of Nigeria

amalgamated Northern and Southern Nigeria in 1914.

Here The Sun was merely repeating what has become a popular fable about the relationship between Lugard and Miss Shaw. A mistress, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is “a woman having a sexual relationship with a man married to someone else.”

Miss Shaw was Lugard’s fiancée not his mistress.

And the difference is not trivial considering how this fable about Miss Shaw being the colonial governor’s consort has often been held out even by otherwise seriousminded people as proof positive that Nigeria couldn’t have been a more frivolous creation whose disintegration is inevitable.

In that same short paragraph, the publishers said Nigeria was “originally made of four regions – the Northern, Western, MidWestern and Eastern Region.” This is obviously an egregious error. Nigeria, as every elementary school boy knows, was originally made of three regions – the North, East and West. The Mid-West was not created until three years after the country’s Independence.

There are also a few not-so-minor errors in the states’ facts files. For example, the book lists Hausa as the only indigenous language in Kebbi State. Nothing could be further from the truth. At least one significant Nigerian ethnic group is missing from what ought to have been a list of several indig-

RIPPLES THERE’S HOPE FOR THE MENTALLY ILL– Cleric

...even as the SANE ones are HOPELESS?

enous languages in the state. This is the Dakarkari, famous as a warrior-like ethnic group that has contributed more than its fair share of the rank and file of the Nigerian military, including a former army chief, Lt-General Ishaya Bamaiyi.

Similarly in Ondo State, Yoruba, the publishers said, is the only indigenous language. This, again, is not true. There are indigenous Ijaws, among others. Also in Niger State, the third of the languages listed as spoken in the state is Kambari, not Gambari, a word the Yoruba generally use pejoratively to refer to the Hausa.

Worse still is the case of Kaduna where the book lists Hausa as the only indigenous language, conspicuously leaving out the Gwari, the Antyap, and a host of other indigenous languages in Southern Kaduna.

The book also suffers generally from a lack of rigour that should characterise a book that is meant to be a definitive authority on the history of a country. On page 100 the book, for example, repeats, as a matter of fact, the popular fiction that historically the North has been a parasite on the South, a parasitism supposedly accentuated by the discovery of oil in the South.

Yet a more clear sighted peep into our history would have shown that long after the amalgamation in 1914 and even for a while after the discovery of oil in the late fifties, the North, with its vast land and abundant agricultural produce, livestock and mineral resources like tin, subsidised the budgets of the South. As pointed out by Malam Adamu Fika, the Wazirin Fika and a former Head of Service of the Federal Government, in a widely published rebuttal of the North as parasite, this notion couldn’t have been wider off the mark.

The Wazirin Fika’s rebuttal, published in several newspapers in May last year, deserves to be quoted extensively if only to expose the injury this fallacy of the North as the nation’s parasite does to the country’s History. “It is,” he said, “clear from the foregoing schedules that during the first forty years of unification of Nigeria it was only in 1919 and 1920 that the revenue contributions from the South marginally exceeded those from the North. In 1919, the South contributed £575,890 compared with the North’s £555,040 giving difference of £20,850 in favour of the South. On the expenditure side, the Government actual expenditure

HARDBALL

T

HIS is not yet time for Hardball to wade fully into the fuel subsidy controversy. He will do so soon. For now, he is satisfied that everyone is having his say, and doing so raucously, threatening fire and brimstone against dissenting voices and policymakers. So far, the debate is suffused with name-calling, while the substantial issue of whether there is in fact any subsidy in the first place has been shrouded in thick smoke.

The President Goodluck Jonathan government has been consistent in throwing caviar to the general. During the last general elections, he and his aides tried unsuccessfully to whip up ethnic sentiments in some parts of the country. Hardball was one of those who denounced the president’s infuriating plunge into populism. Now, on the subsidy argument, his aides and other freelance supporters are again appealing to

Fat cats among fuel subsidy pigeons popular sentiment. Realising full well that the Nigerian ordinary man, who is also famously described as the poor man, harbours deep animosity towards the rich, the government subsidy demolition squad has described the few oil barons profiting immensely from the subsidy as fat cats.

Cats, you will recall, have pride of place in Nigerian folklore. Like owls, their folkloric quality tends towards the dark arts, as they are constantly imbued with awful metaphysical properties. But whether the poor man can transfer his loathing for the rich to the cats of our metaphysical acquaintance is another thing entirely. But there we have it.

on services in the North was £350,279 compared with the actual expenditure on services in the South of £1,154,307. In effect the North could still be regarded as having contributed more if the combined effect of revenue and expenditure were taken into account.

“In 1920, the south contributed £588,210 compared with the £579,210 contributed by the North, giving a difference of only £9,745.

On the expenditure side, the Government spent the sum of £509,515 on services in the North and £1,900,973 on services in the South.

“During the period of forty years the contribution of Northern Provinces to the central fund totalled about £18,000,000 compared with about £8,000,000 contributed by the Southern Provinces. On the expenditure side, the Government spent a total of about £13,000,000 on the services in the Southern Provinces compared with about £6,000,000 on provincial services in the North. In other words, the North contributed almost 225% more than the entire South, but itself received only 46% of the share the South got out of the common pool.

“Contributing to the central revenue fund and receiving less spent on the Provincial Services in the North was not the only sacrifice made by the North. A number of projects and services which should have been more properly charged directly on the central fund were in fact financed by the Native Administrations in the North.”

But even now that oil has since replaced agriculture and commerce as the main source of government revenue, it is mere propaganda to single out the North as the country’s parasite. The truth is, oil has turned at least virtually all the elites of this country into parasites, regardless of where they come from and what god they worship. And indeed if anything, the Southern elites, considering their control of the oil sector and of the country’s economy and the bureaucracy, have been even more parasitic than their Northern counterparts, as exemplified by the recent financial scandal that has surrounded the management of the well endowed Niger Delta Development Commission.

Having identified some of the book’s shortcomings, I must commend the publishers for embarking on what has been the most independent of the few attempts at producing a definitive History of Nigeria as it celebrated its Golden Jubilee last year. The publishers also deserve praise for the book’s high quality printing and production. And as President Jonathan said in his Forward, Nigerians would find it useful as a source of education and research on the first 50 years of existence of Nigeria as an independent country.

D

PENTASCOPE

EAR Mohammed, Just read your column (of last week).

Pentascope is Dutch, not Danish.

Clem Baiye I stand corrected.

Mohammed

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•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above According to the government, the fatsos are the reason our education system is in tatters, assuming we can call our education process a system. The cats are also the reason hospitals are wrecked, roads are a death trap, and wages are poor. It is a miracle cats, fat or lean, are not yet blamed for failed marriages.

Perhaps, in future advertisements, the government will tell us why since subsidies began to be removed none of these demons was ever amenable to correction.

Hilariously, however, some sniggering commentators are even asking the government to name the fat cats. Such insolence!

Have these impudent commentators no shame? Do they not know they are asking the government to commit self-immolation? The only name we are ever going to get is what the government has graciously disclosed: fat cats. They will give us nothing else, nothing by way of hard facts and statistics; only name-calling.

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